THE POPE AND THE QUEEN.
Son—As a lover of fair play, I feel sure that you will allow me a line in your journal to remark, (in reply to your article in the last Spectator,)-that it was impossible for the Pope to have consulted the English Government in the arrangements of the new hierarchy. The English Parliament formally refused (when the "Diplomatic Relations Bill" was discussed) to recognize the Pope except as Sovereign of the Boman States. As such, he manifestly has nothing to do with English affairs, either spiritual or temporal; nor could he of his own accord enter into negotiations with a power which has refused to entertain diplomatic relations with him in his spiritual capacity. Had the Imperial Parliament condescended to treat him as a friendly spiritual power, remembering that he is the spiritual head of one third of the in- habitants of these islands, there can be little doubt that the conduct of the Pope would have been everything that the most sensitive of rational Pro- testants could have desired.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant, AN ENGLISH CATHOLIC.
Previous page
