The National Register. — London, England, 1812-06-28 00:00:00

JUNE es. - the duty of Parliament to come to a final decision on this most portal)t question. These were the principles on which his arguments and his motion would be grounded. The concessions required had been withheld on the ground, that to give them would constitute a serious innovation on the constitution ; he must ask, at what period of our history it was they conceived iis principle at its utmost per fection ? when it was defined, where built, when it received the finishing hand, anti at what precise time it was incorporated into the Constitution of the Empire ? Must the House look hack to that period when the lust and pride of Henry VII I. induced him to interfere, and, though one of the greatest tyrants that ever existed, to produce that blessing—the Reformation ? when that Monarch wreaked his vengeance equally on Cirtholic and on Protes tant ; when those who were for the Pope were hanged, and those who were against him were burned ; when, in lieu of constitutional guards, proclamations were the order of the day ? Was it in the reign of Elizabeth, of which the latter years were oppressive u p.m the sub_ jest ? When she exercised most of the cruelties which her pride. cesser had exercised, inflicting on the sect which the early pate of her reign had overthrown, the barberities which that sect had inflicted on th cc of the reformed religion ? Would they go to the reign of Charles the First, or would they come down to liter times, to shew at what period the Constitution was so fix:'',, with respect to the Catholics, that the system ought not to be altered ? He would ask those most clamorous for the continuance of the disabilities, who were net aexious to depart from ancient usage, when and where the wis. dom of our ancestors was to be found, which should induce them to seecl nil for a system which flourished for a short time, hut which Ii been gradually ping to decay f;or the last 5D years. It was for them to shew to the House where the hazard of innovation l!y. Re laxations had been tried, and no dam; followed. A Roman Gene ral, when the army he had defeated were his prisoners, sent to an ancient Senator, les father, to know what he should do with the van quished army. The answer to the message was, " Dismiss them uoransomed and unarmed." This answer not seeming correct to the Captain, he dispatched the messenger again to the Oracle. The se cond reply was—" Exterminate them to the last man." The coil. tract between the two answers so astonished the Commander, that he conceived the intellects of his father were hopaired, And he sent again, and he was brought to the camp. When asked how he reconciled the two answers, he replied,—" My first council .was to send off the vanquished, and in so doieg you would have conferred a benefit on your country, for you would have secured to it the everlasting grati tude of a brave and power ful people." Being required to explain his second answer, he replied,—" My second council was the conse wince of your not attending to my first ; for if you exterminated that :elm, you had resolved not to grant mercy to, you would have got rid of a determined evenly." Instead of attending to this advice, he neither exterminated nor conciliated, but passed them home under a yoke. Our policy was somewhat similar towards the Catholics; we neither conciliated nor exterminated them, but degrading them, made them our enemies. It was curious what sort of oaths the Sovereigns of Scotland took. King William and Queen Mary had, in the oath which they took to govern that kingdom, a clause to this effect We swear to be careful to root out all heretics, convicted by the true Kirk of Scotland and of God, of any crimes." Now what mode did they take of rooting out these heretics ? Why, Kng William remonstrated against the oath ; but the Commissioners told him, the, be must put his own construction upon it, and being of opinion that it meant no such thing, he consequently swallowed the oath. Ac cording to the Catholic religion, yet not believing an oath could bind them, lie had himself drswn up one for the Catholics to take, in order to give the Protestants security. It had been said, that when the Catholics complained, they should look abroad. He (Mr. C.) did , not like to teach them to look abroad, and if they did do so, they would not be likely to derive great consolation from the view. There were those who, referring to the transactions of ancient times, held I them up to deter any concession to the Catholics. Good God ! what would be said of the Catholics, if they, adverting to the cruelties of the Anabaptists of Munster, to the blood-thirstiness of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, represented them as the tenets of the reformers ? To such inferences we should object ; but the Catholics had as much tight. to refer to them, as we to the practices of their progenitors.— Such horrible attrocities in cold blood, only proved the danger of al lowing religious to mix with political feeling. It had been said, that .Parliament ought not to give political power to Irish Catholics. They hal given it. They had given the elective franchise to them. Under the circumstances of a separate Parliament, he could easily understand Why any hesitation should take place, with respect to the admission of Catholics into that Parliament, lest they should out-number the Pjotestants ; but, in the Parliament of the United Empire, lie had no difficulty in saying, that a hundred Catholic Gentlemen would be less d ingerous (if, indeed, danger were a term at all applicable in the pre sent case), than a large body of Catholic Electors let loose to follow he dictates of their own inclination, and who perhaps would exact from their Representatives greater deference to their inclinations, from I the want of sympathy which must exist between them. It had been I refused to admit the distinguished for rank, for talents, and for virtue, and the common herd had been permitted to enter the pale of con -47,1_00. The concession roust be complete. I f the proposition were * 4 c by piece -meal it wou ld bs from time t o ti me rejected. lit had ~~P ,`~ TILE NATIONAL REGISTER. IMP 389 been sad in another place, that when the Catholics were asked give security for the existing establishments, they repl ed " Shew the danger to them." A fair answer. It the Catholics did not see t dangers, how could they suggest the security. Let not Great Brit t shut her eyes to the example of other countries. In the great empi of Russia existed a Catholic establishment, and Episcop acy. not d pendant on the Pope, except spiritually. In France, the Cethuo Church experienced a liberty from the thraldom of the Pope, whie i it did not enjoy even in the days of Louis XIV. When we saw ei this, when we saw that it was impossible the Pope could recover ii power ; when we saw the mitigated spirit which prevailed in modele tunes, and which mitigated and allayed the violence of religious di , . sentions, surely we could not consider it difficult to unite with co t. cession to the Catholics security to the Protestant Church. He cols eluded by moving the following Resolution :—" That the House will, early in the next Session of Parliament, take into its most serio le consideration, the state •of the Laws atieeting his Majesty's Rom , n Catholic subjects of Great Britain and lit hied, with a view to such afinal and concilietory adjustment as may be conducive to the peace and strength ot the Un'ted Kingdom, to the stability of the Protestant esta list:meet, and to the general satisfaction and concord ot all classe s of his Majesty's subjects." General Merenew called upon the House to adopt the Amend meet which he should propose to them, which was to omit all th words after the word " that" for the purpose of substituting the fel i lowing t " the Claims of the Catholics of Great Britain and Ireland 11 be taken into immedhoe consideration, and that the House will te -1 I I solv e itselve itself into n Committee of the whole House for that pus pose on Thursday next." Mr. W. Pose, spoke in favour of the Motion. Mr. R VDER opposed it. Mr. M. Fitzgerald, Mr. Fuller, Sir J. Newport, Mr. Marryatt, and Mr. Martin spoke in faveur of the Catholics. Mr. M. MONTAGUE was against the Motion. Mr. PARNELL and Mr. W. BOOTLE were for the motion, but th.: latter would not pledge himself to go farther. Sir J. NICHOL opposed the motion. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER and . Mr. BANKS were in favour of taking the Catholic claims intc, consideration. • Mr. G e eeeets observed, that it the opinions ot those who formed the Government were changed, he could easily conceive that such I i change might be justified by circumstances, and he would not call the present a victory gained over them ; to him it appeared, that they had gained a victory over themselves. Lord Ceseseereecu declared, that if he were not that night to concur in the motion of the Right Hon. Gentleman, his conduct would work an abandonment of those principles which he had al e ways avowed, and which had uniformly regulated his conduct.— Feeling as he always had, the necessity of endeavouring to adm te Catholics into the Constitution, when the di ff iculties which it had opposed that measure were lessened or removed, when the temper of the Catholics, and the circumstances of the times would, in hi , opinion, justify its being attempted to be done, if no one else had taken up the subject, he himself would have telt it his duty to have brought it forward. (Hear, hear, hear!) The obstatees which had formerly stood in its way were such, that, in his opinion, to bring it forward could have but the effect ot injuriously agitating the public mind. Those obstacles to which he particnlarly alluded, existed lio longer. He wished to be understood, that he only expressed his owe ineiviigual sentiments, as the other Members of the Cabinet had done theirs. He then noticed that anomaly in the Constitution which was presented by the situation of the Englieh Catholic s , whose conduct had been go unexceptionable, that it had never subjected them even to the least charge of imprudence, yet they were , not only labouring under all the disabilities complained of by the Catholics of Ireland, but they were exposed to the penal laws, the operation of w h ich was such, that the humanity of the times would not s uffer them to be en forced. When he looked on this, he had always felt that the• Const itution could not rest securely till some alteration was effected. Thin struck him the more forcibly, when he considered that in Scotland a Catholic might fill the highest offices in the State,while their situation was such as he had described in England. lki, .had,. however, never looked forward to a concession of the Catholic claims as a measure that could be either wise or politic, unless it were accompanied wit ii safeguards, which would sufficiently guarantee the safety of the Con, stitution. With.respect to the securities necessary to begiven, he had never looked to any that went to impose any th'ng at variance with the principles of their religion ; he had never wished tor any cone cessions that would degrade or dishonour them, or that were not as valuable to be conceded by them as to be received by the Protestants. He had wished for no securities which the Catholics had not tecoge nised in other countries, as compatible with the principles of their religion. He had wished to follow the example of our Catholic ance s t o rs, in the measures they took for gua rdin g against the effect, of foreign influence. As to what had bean said ut the Pope, ho would say that, however feeble he might be in the hands of the i Tyrant of France, he would be formidable o,F,ngland, and still morn so in Irelatid. It had been said that the Pope had ‘not nominated east Irish Catholic Bishop fora conside rable numletrof years. He dooot, ed the correctness of this statement, but it it wareoorrect, it was to be remembered that if that contended for were allowed, he might AMU, WIIIII