The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-03-10 00:00:00

CATHOLICS.
The EARL of Kim:B'l'oN wished to make- an observation I
in allusion to a petition which he had presented on a former even- I
ing, front the barony of Cordons in the county of Cork, in favour
of Catholic Emancipation. It had been said that tee petition wan
not signed by a majority of the Protestants of that barony, but be
could take it upon himulf to say that the Protestants whit had
signed the petition in question possessed four-fifths of the landed
property of that barony.
The Call of DARNLEY said that he had a petition entrusted
to his care. and which the petitioners were anxious to have ',resent-
ed at an tasty period of the Seesions, but he had postponed the pre-
sentation of it in conseqeence of the important debates which had
itecupieil the at teneon of their Lordahips. • The commercial distrees
WWI a subject which ',mened so much the attention of Parliament
mid of the public, elm thtire was but little time for thediscuasion of
other topics; and the question of Slavery hail been so pressed upon
Parliament, that the two subjects occupied the entire attention of
hot!' Houses. The zeal of the people to press upon Government
the amelioration of tie condition of slaves in the Colonies was
highly creditable to English feeling, and his Lordship honed to
see the day when there would be an end to slavery : and whilst he
Approved of tite zeal in favour of slaves in the West Indies. his
Lordship's humanity was not so discursive as to prefer the eman-
cipation of the blacks to that of the Irish, who were not less tin.
fortunate in their sl?uation. The peasant in Ireland was not better
off than the stave in the West Indio,. He hail not the common
necessaries of life; and his Lordship hoped the time was not fay
distant when some measure of relief would be afforded by Par-
liament. It wnuld not be necessary then to enter fully upon the
subject ; but whenever it was before their Lordships he would state
his sentiments without reserve. He regretted to observe that the
penitent' who were most active in promoting petitions for the aboli-
tban of slavery were the same persons who had culled upon their
Lordships not to grant emancipation to the Catholics of Ireland ;
and his Lordship would assure the House that without emanci-
pation Ireland never could Timmer. It was a measure upon
which all enlists to improve the condition of that country must be
founded, and without which all other measure's must prove abtir.
tire. A Bill for the emancipation of the Catholics had passed the
• other house of Parliament in the last Session; but when it was
presented at the bar of their hardships' what was its fate?
Why, it was rejected—not upon arguments, but upon false pre.
tenses. Ile alluded to the observations which had fallen from the
Noble Earl on the Woolsack. and to the observations which had
fallen upon that occasion front the Noble Earl at the head of the
Treasury It had been said of the • Reiman Catholics that they
maintained a divided allegiance. It was a matter of just com-
plaint with the Catholics that such charges should be made against
them. when they had so often denied them upon oath, and when
they never hesiteted to swear an undivided allegiance to his Ma-
jesty. It was absurd to make such complaints of that body, or
to exclude them from the benefits of the Constitution. They Mid
already the command of fleets and of armies. The Noble
Earl opposite might depend upon it that his observations
dosing the Sessions of Parliament had caused an uneasy
feeling and a soreness Which it would be very difficult to re-
move. Hs Lordship must allow that the conduct of sonic of the
Catholics since the last Session of Parliament had been most in-
discreet, bat great allowances should he made for those who had
been deprived of their just rights, and whose exclusion was aggra-
vated by the most unjust charges against their character es men,
and their allegiance as subjects. He hoped the Noble Earl (Li-
verpool) had seen a pamphlet which had been addressed to him by
Dr. Doyle. ',The Earl of Liverpool said he had noel Then lie
ought to have seen it. and though he (lord Darnley) was of the Es-
tablished Church, he must acknowledge that the pamphlet was
written in the spirit of Christianity, and with a good humour and
a good temper which did great credit to the learned writer. The
petition which he had to present was from Drogheda; it was signed
by 2,500 persona ; it was well written and well digested. and he
hoped it would meet due attention from their Lordships. His
Lordship moved that the petition be read. Atter it had been read,
his Lordship moved that it be printed.
The Earl of LIVERPOOL. thought that whatever importance
the Noble Lori might attach to the petition, it would not be a pro-
per course to have at printed, as it might he a dangerous president.
He was happy to observe that the Noble Harl did not press for a
debate on the important subject of the petition ,• but whenever a
proper occasion arose, he (Lord Liverpool) would not shrink from
tee tree exercise of his opinions, and he would be equally ready to
mien the reason upon which he tounded such opinions. It was
not his Lordship's intention at present to provoke any discus.
sio 1, but he could not avoid alluding to the sunpositiote that he
had wowed the Roman Catholics of perjury. He disclaimed the
intentioa of wishing to convey any such itnpetetion. ( Hear, heer.)
I He admitted that in acknowledging the civil jurisdiction of his
Majesty the Catholics swore to what they thought was true. But
it was :mother question how tar the spiritual jurisdiction of a lb-
Taira Power, which they acknowledged, was iticonsistent with their
duties as subjects. Wnether he was right or wrong in the view
wMch he had taken upon that point he did not theta mean to (lia-
nas, but he would not shrink from it whenever a proper oppor-
tunity presented itself. Ile must again say that lie had not accused
the Catholics of making any declarations contrary to what they be-
lieved to be truce—Laid oo the table.