The National Register. — London, England, 1812-04-26 00:00:00

.25t ro which he had the honour to belong, and he would state the motives which directed the vote he meant to give that night—. " I - lonio sum, humane= nil a me alienum puto." The wisdom of Government. he thought, was shown by tolerating all religions. By such wise und whulesome indulgence alone could any gt - eat State maintain tranquillity, or retain in peace and accord the con ea!, she might make, or the territory which.she might acquire. Such %ea! , the indisputably sound policy of the great antagonist with whom the country was at present engaged, and it was wise to take lessons from an enemy, and adopt a course which alone could render us able to con teed with him. It the memorialists in their petitions had not been so full, explicit, and eatisfactory on the subject of the Pope's supremacy, he should, undoubtedly, have thought it. necessary to say something on that head; but they had obviated all fair objection, and be need only add, that the doctrine had lung ago and frequently been renounced by the Pope's themselves in their negociatione with the Sovereigns of Eu rope, as well as by the Decree of the Council of Constance. His Royal Ilighness here took a survey of our own history, with a view to prove the supremacy of the Civil Government. l longlyo ng gly deplored the ne cessity which the Catholics of Ireland had lain under, of seeking in a foreien country, that education which would not be afforded them at home. To deprive any man of the fair means of gaining a lthe i ill velihood, sees palpable if:justice, h o w soever so p histry might try to gild por sweeten the draught. Exclueions were unnatural, and contrary to the spirit of the Constitution, and the Catholics were entitled to all the pri vileges and indulgence which were extended to any other class of dissen t. rs from the Chuch stablishment. Tere was no encroachment to he dr.. aded while the e Constitutional were maintained. He could see no objection to the prayer of the Petitions, and thought that. the religi ous subjects of tkose realms should he as sisters of oue family. Nor %weld there, on inquiry, be found so material a difference between the esse ntial forms of the Romiell Ch u r c h and our own, as m i g ht be aperehended. In the ceremony of visiting the sick, the doctrine of abco.ution was copied from the Romish form, and the dignities and ra dations in our Hierarchy were feehioned from the tosu same origin. Pope Had nut for a long time been teigaged in warfere pport the a .:ainst the power which attacked him ? And were we not still in triendly league and alliance with Catholic powers, and Catholic commu nities. There, then, our conduct gave the lie to our prejudices. He heti heard it said, the present was not the fit time fur granting what was asked. No time was unsuitable to the concession of right, and it could never be yielded too soon. lie could easily conceive a disposition at times in people to be turbulent, but he could by no means perceive the fitness of trying to quell turbulence by aggravating the cause of it. To the generous, tractable, and amenable temper of th e Irish people, hie Royal Highuess paid a most warm and liberal compliment. But the ci it and religious disabilitien uoder which they laboured could not tail to gall them. When he was in Rome he saw two pictures of their Ma j. sue , :, which were the objects there oi public esteem and vemeration.-- fyr his part, he had very glitveiy and attentively considered the subject, aed tee object of the petitions before their Lordships. They had come %woo his meditation on a recent occasion, when a severe and alarmi n g i o oisposition had led him to contemplate Ls probable death with calm Christian resignation. At that awful moment, he had considered what wes the most acceptable service he could render to God, and the sug gtsti ih -arising to his conscience to follow the dictates of charity, meek• oess, and indulgence, set forth his example in the practice of our blessed Redeem._ r. hie would repeat, that with the bulwarks which the Con• stit town had provided, there was no danger in acceding to the Catholic and vto etched indeed must be the foundation of that church, which could be shaken by an ac: totot.rince and equity. The yielding those claims to the Catholics ~ ‘ttAild hind the two countries in bonds of affectitoi and mutual confidence, more valid, firm, and ef f icacious, than any Acts of Parliament, and contribute more essentially than any other ineesure to the permanent security of the empire. His Royal I iehness conciudtel N jib observing, that he could not sit down or free hie conscience without giving his h iocty vote for the motion of the No ble Earl. Lord REDESDALit said, the view he had of the sub j ect now under co nsideration, differed entirely feum that of the Noble Persons who had moved and seconded it. Ile felt convinced, that so tar from pro ducing security, it would only increase the dangers and difficulties which it was rvpresented as teading to remove. The laws ofkcting the Catholic body had been fountled on long experience, not indehd an ex perience procet.dieg from what had taken place in the darker times tit the world, hut an experVoce, collecoel in doles when the human mind re was, perhaps, more enlightened that at any former period. I:very ‘o..ct was, in the nature of thini,s, obliged to he, more or less, a political party; and, in conformity to this principle, it could not be dc 'hat the Catholics were: also a political party. The some may be leisertea of all other religious stet; in the State. The question then lerot v.-ould be possible to prioerve good order in the State, after the.:.emktion to political power of ]:arty differing so fundamentally in - .titoso Such a measure would be much less dangerous in an eoe.lao• ,vernmeet than in a free one lil-.e that of England. When Lrioo! abic:lute, he c an contruul the views of any sect by io ,tant teo.b.O. io..loi;etl power ; bit the case was not the same uneer the ion: at lf the Ronvin Cathodes were admitted to all he, Coo t!:• would e..!5t a great political body ..• ; ; coobli innents of the kingdom, so tar as THE NATIONAL REGISTER. APRIL 26 those establishments were connected with religion. It was impossible It could be otherwise, for men would still be men. The desire of ob. taining power and emolument could not but influence the mind. Be fore the relaxation of the penal laws in Ireland, the language of the Ro om Catholics, and all their writers, breathed nothing but conciliation and humility, the writings in particular of Dr. O'Leary, one of their most melons and able advocates; but the very moment that a standing place was pined by them, their language from that of humility and con ciliation, became immediately the language of intimidation. Such was the language of the Petition now presented, such was also their state ment of grievances, which was full of falsehoods and threatening lan.: guage. They refused to Government even a negative upon the appoint ment of their Ministers. They aspired to those situations of the State in which it was part of the duty to advise the disposal of all the Church Patronage of the Crown ; and y et the y would not give to the Sovereign the most contracted negative in the appointment of their Bishops. In the county of Galway, at a Meeting over which Lord Ffrench presided, they had entered into resolutions not to support any Member ef Par liament unless he ,first pledged himself to the full support of all their claims.—He was convinced that whoever voted for the measure, should reckon upon the certain loss of the Protestant Church of Ire m lan :td.— (Cries of hear! from the Opposition.) —The going into a Con,tee would, he was certain, tend to no good; he could not, therefo..e. vote for the motion. The Marquis WELLESLET supported the question, w an hetherd conjured their - Lordships to reflect on the great important . point, taut es tablishment was best supported bypenalties, or by charity, peace, harmony, the principles of the revolution, the character of liberty, and the general safety of this great state. The Earl of LIVERPOOL opposed the motion, and the Marquis of DOWNSHIRM and Lord BrRON supported it. The Earl of Mola A said the Catholics came as freeborn men demand ing their birthright, and it fell upon Ministers to prove they were un worthy of the right. He knew there had been duubts on the question among the people of this country ; he knew, and with the extreme of anguish, that there were doubts in the mind of an Illustrious Person. who had been once presumed to be the friend of the Catholics. But if his judgment was bewildered for a moment, he (Lord M.) would ad jure the country not to withdraw its confidence from him. He was still full of regard for the general interest, of respect for constitutional free dom, and of zeal for the happiness of the nation. This was 'aid from an intimate knowledge of the fact, and it was to be hoped the House would rely upon the testimony now g iven. Lords G R ENVILLE and HOLLAND spoke on the same side, and the LORD CHANCELLOR against the motion.—A division then took place — Contents, 76 ; Proxies, 35-102.—Non• contents, 103 ; Proxies, 71-174 -.Majority against the motion, 72.--Adjourned to Thursday. Thursday and Friday no business of importance occured. -____- HOUSE OF COMMONS. MONDAY, APRIL 20. Mr. El tioT and others presented a variety of Petitions, praying the abolitiot. of all pena l laws on account of a difference of belief in princi ples of religion; these petitions were from nearly the same persons as stated in the proceedings of the Lords on this day. They were all re ceived, and ordered to lie on the Table. On bringing up the Report of the Bill for making Bank notes arin a legal tender, Sir T.Turton, Air. Taylor, Lord Folkstone, Mr. Bg, and others, renewed their objections to the Bill; after which the House di vided, and the number s were—For bringing up the Report, 138; agathst it, 29; majority in favour of the Report, 109.—The Report was then brought tip, and agreed to. Lord A. Mimi:TON proposed a Clause, the effect of which was, that after the Proprietors of Bank Stock should have divided a certain sum per cent. if any thing remained, the overplus should be formed into a fund, to be at the disposal of Parliament. Mr. MANNING opposed the Clause. For 15 years previou os th edivi he re strictions, the Bank divided 61. us. 6d. per cent. and at I -resent t deed was 101. Os. CI a profit not so large as that made by many oth,l trading companies. After a few words from Mr. Bit ouGtl Ax in favour of, and Mr. VAN siTTART against the Clause, it was If gatived without a diviiion. Mr. G. Jo ON SON then proposed a Clause to limit the issue of Dz.:II:- paper to a certain sum.—Mr. MANNINe; and Mr. BAKING opposed the el.tus.:.—Mr. H O RNER supported it.----Nlr. W. S mrrn, in observing on the Re ,triction acts, said it was not merely a restriction on paying in gold, but it v.'a.s a restriction front paying at all; iitwe the 13.mk i!ivii,.; one note in payment for another, was no more a payment than her it wotill be for a man, on his note of hand becoming due, offering anotnotc of hand in payment.—The Clause wits then negatived without a divisi" The hill was then re -committed, and s2veral verbal Amendny.nti were made. The House resumed; th e Report was received; and die li Bill ordered to be read a third time to-morrow.—Adjourned at two o'clock. - --- TUFSTIAT. AP IT A Committee was appointed to try t 11,.: attriti of the Wootton B:is I