The National Register. — London, England, 1812-02-02 00:00:00

Allan • THE. NATIONAL REGISTER. It ihe Catholics were •Ato'Wed to form,a 'Convention, why might not the counties send deputies to assemble in convention, and to petition for peace ;• if they sat for one day they might sit for another ; if for one week, for many weeks, and through a whole Session. What would then he the situation of the country ? The subjects of taxes, the support of armies, the ability 'of the people to sustain those taxes, the expediency and' extent of the military establishment, every thing relating to finance and the vital interests of the State would come under their discussion. When the question was first started, the temperate and conciliating conduct of Govern ment had been such, that if the Catholic leaders had entertained any respect for the Government, they would have desisted ; instead of which, they had an Aggregate Meeting on the 9th of July, and proceeded in their mea sures by combination. The Government next issued a proclamation, and the very next day a counter procla mation was issued by the Aggregate Meeting ; the Duke of Richmond's proclamation to-day, and to-morrow the pro clamation of Lord Fingal,at direct hostility with each other. As the speech of a Noble Marquis, to which we have already alluded, is by far the most important, we shall subjoin the passages which have excited so much surprize, as proceeding from such a quarter. 64 Upon these principles it is that I hold any restraints upon any class of subjects, which preclude them from the_possession and enjoyment of any rights or immu nities accessible to any other class of subjects, are in themselves evils, and only tolerable when the amount of the danger from their removal exceeds the mischief's of their continuance. The danger, I will admit, may be greater, if so, I say hold to your restraints ; but, if the contrary he the case, there is no principle of prudent po licy or a sound discretion that will justify the continuance of restraints beyond the actual necessity. If we wish to insure concord we must take down much of the vehe mence on both parts ; we must take down the pomp and parade and ostentation of the claim of right on one hand, and from the violence and fury of intemperate zeal on the other. But upon the general ground I will ask whe ther it is not expedient that the restrictions should be taken off the Catholics ? Ir, my opinion, an opinion formed upon the best and most deliberate consideration which I have been able to give the subject, the removal of those restrictions would be not only not dangerous, but would afford an. additional security to the Protestant Es tablishments of the Empire, and more particularly in ( Hear, hear, hear ! ) I am not now disposed or prepared to state what may be the precise extent or mea sures of security which may be necessary in order to provide for the future safety of these establishments. It -has always been my opinion, that the best mode of pro-'1 *iding for the real interests of the Empire, would be to dis- arm the distinctions respecting political rights of that rancour vdiich embodies the discontents of the coun ti y—to remove that principle of separation of the people, which holds the 'dissatisfied and disaffected connected against the common interest, and prevents that union of heart and sentiment which is the best foundation of a nation's welfare. Upon the closest and best consideration which I have given the question, therefore, I am persuaded that every restriction ought to he removed—but in such a manner, that the Legislature might have the opportunity of discussing the principle and terms of the reenovalin every stage of the business, and be thereby enabled to combine, with the release of the Catholics from their disabilities, the enactment - of adequate securities for the protection of, the Protestant Establishments." . FBj, IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS. MONDAY, JAN. 27. The Distillation Bill was ordered to be printed on the motion of the Earl of Liverpool, *ho gave notice that if the prints were on the table, a noble Friend of his would move the second reading on Wednesday. Mr. Graham, Inspect or of Convicts, presented a Report of the state of the Convicts in the River Thames and IVledway, and at Portsmouth.— Ordered to lie on the table.—Adjourned. TUESDAY, lAN•2S. The Committee on Appeals was adjourned till Monday. The Committee of Privileges sat a few minutes on the Stafford Peer age, and postponed the further proceedings until Tuesday next.—Ad journed. 'WEDNESDAY, JAN. 29. The Sugar Importation Bill and the Malt Duty Bill were severally committed, and the report of each ordered to be brought up. The discussion on the Distillery Prohibition Bill was postponed ; and the other business of the day, as to appeals and private matters, being adjusted, the House adjourned to Friday. FRIDAY, JANUARY 31. A Message frcnn the Commons brought up the Household and House hold Officers' Bills, which were read a first tim e, and ordered to be read a second time on uesday. STATE OF IRELAND. The Order of the Day having been read, Earl FITZWILLIAM began to address their Lordships in a tone only audible below the bar, at short intervals. He said, that a subject so un fortunately momentous as the present should be brought before the regular jurisdiction of the country as peedily as possible. He believed he might challenge the House, for the last century, to produce an instance of a subject being brought before it of importance equal to the present. It was fit that. their Lordships, as protectors not only of their own rights, but of those of the rest of the nation, should protect the interests of a great and valuable portion of the empire. The dreadful state in which he considered that country (Ireland) to he, was suet:, that he did not think it safe to defer the consideration of this great question any longer; and` particularly when he reflected at the great differences which exist in that state are between the Government and the people ; not the lowa orders of the people, but the men of the first rank, wealth, and influ ence in that country. The ground of this evil, he considered, was their being deprived of the common right of citizens. Whatever reeerion the subject might that night meet with from their Lordships, it must he revived again and again, until this g rievance be remedied—(Hero, hear ! j—lthough prima facie it might appear to arise from religious prejudices, yet they would find that not one particle of religion had oc casioned the dissatisfaction which now prevails among all ranks in lie- • land. It was the deprivation of their rights in the community which ought to have been their birth-right, which occasioned those alarming differences; and would any one say that men should be deprived of those rights because they believed in the doctrine of transubstantiation, or wor shipped the Virgin Mary ? Could not a man he as loyal a subject who believed in such things, as he who did not ? How, then, could they jiio tify the depriving so great a body of men of those natural rights, which belong to every one ? and if the Catholics are thus excluded from the common rights of men, was their dissatisfaction to be wondered at? His Lordship here entered into a detail of the treatment of the Catho lics since the latter end of Charles the Second's reign, in which ex elusion of the Catholics first began, to show, that notwithstanding th e way in which they had been tre ated, the Catholics lied still been loyal subjects ; and had denied, that any man could produce a well-foundA suspicion, that they were naturally prone to disloyalty. In the army or the navy they could not rise; nor could they represent their fellows subjects in Parliament : now he wished to know where he could and a constitutional reason to justify such policy .? Wherever a large body of men were excluded from the benefits which others enjoyed, under the same Government, the minds of such men must be irritated against :hat Government. But, he trusted, that the day was near hand, when an end would be put to all such exclusions. He contended, that it was the undoubted - right of the subject to petition the Throne or Parliament but when a jealous Government, afraid of their obtaining the objecti ch of their petitions, proceeded to prev ent that ri g ht, that must happen wh had occurred • but • lately, and was occurring i n Ireland, namely, the greatest differences between the Government and the People. He couht not bring himself to think , tha t the p roceedings of the Irish Govern' , ment were very honourable or dignified in these matters ; it would have I been mud' more so, if it had allowed the Catholics to Petition that I House, and have openly and fairly discussed it. He wondered, in rno• mentous times like the present, how a Government could expect assist ance of a people, whom it had deprived of its rights. Hi 4 LordShitt concluded by moving—" That the limise should resolve itself In a Committee, to enquire into the present state of the affairs of Irelerel. The Duke . of InsdNsuutE seconded the motion. He hoped tbe' T