I know that there are many in this house, and many in this country, who think—­and I am free to admit that I was formerly of the same opinion myself—­that the state ought to have some security for the church against the proceedings of the Roman Catholic clergy, besides the oaths imposed on them by the Act of Parliament I confess that on examining into the question, and upon looking more minutely than I had before leisure to do, at the various acts of Parliament by which the church of England is constituted, and which form the foundation on which it rests, I can think of no sort of arrangement capable of being carried into execution in this country which can add to the security of the established church.  I beg your Lordships to attend for a moment whilst I explain the situation of the kingdom of Prussia with respect to the Roman Catholic religion.  The King of Prussia exercises the power which he does over the Roman Catholic church, in her various dominions, under different concordats made with the Pope:  in Silesia, under a concordat made by Buonaparte with the Pope; and in the territories on the right bank of the Rhine, under the concordat made by the former sovereigns of those countries with the Pope.  Each of these concordats supposes that the Pope possesses some power in the country, which he is enabled to concede to the sovereign with whom the concordat is made.  That is a point which we can never yield to any sovereign whatever.  There is no sovereign, be he who he may, who has any power in this country to confer upon his majesty.  We must keep our sovereign clear from such transactions.  We can, therefore, have no security of that description,—­not even a veto, on the appointment of a Roman Catholic bishop, without detracting, in some degree, from the authority and dignity of the sovereign, and without admitting that the Pope has something to concede to his Majesty.

Now let us suppose another security.  Suppose it were arranged that his Majesty should have the nomination of the Catholic bishops.  If he nominated them, he must also give them a jurisdiction—­he must give them a diocese.  I should like to know in what part of Ireland or England the king could fix upon a spot where he could, consistently with the oath he has taken, nominate a Catholic bishop, or give him a diocese?  The king is sworn to maintain the rights and privileges of the bishops, and of the clergy of this realm, and of the churches committed to their charge.  Now, consistently with that oath, how could the king appoint a bishop of the Roman Catholic religion; and would not the Established church lose more than it gained by the assumption of such a power on the part of his Majesty?  Then, my Lords, there is another security, which some noble Lords think it desirable to have,—­namely, the obtaining, by government, of copies of all correspondence between the Catholic clergy and the Court of Rome; and the supervising of that correspondence, in order to prevent any danger resulting to the Established