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to its domestic and sternal enoseue._
ed he could prove it to be, so tar as to lay a ground
for his intended motion, in a state, comparatively'.
of the most deplorable misery. T 9 the present un-
fortunate situation of Ireland, he observed, various
causes eontributetl,and some of the is: incipalnf them
he should endeavour to explain to their Lordships.
In this view, what strack him as one of the most
prominent, was the consideration of tythes, which,
under the existing regulations, and in the way in
which they were collet ed in Ireland, wrie to be
regarded as an intolerable grievance. Their Lord-
ships would recollea. that the great body of the
peasantry and the lower order of the people in that
country were of the Roman Catholic persuasion, in
a proportion Of at least nine.tenths ; these were
liable to the pas ment of tvt e, fur the maintenance
of a church of which they were not swig serso
in addition to what they eeetributed to the sup-
port of the clergy of their own communion,
and thus had they, the lower and poorer orders of
the people, a peasantry, perhaps the most distressed
of any in existence, to pay a docble tax. Let thent-
Lordships consider the point, put it to their own
feelings, it was what none of them could approve nf.
In his conclusions on this part of the subject, he was
borne out by the opinions of the insurgent chiefs.
Doors Nl,Nevin and Emmett, on their examina-
tion, on being questioned as to the point, said
the Roman Catholic peasantry of Ireland did
not care a farthing about emancipation ; what
they wished for was, the abolition of tythes.—
He next expatiated on the distressed sitnation
of the Irish peasantry, which he described 21;
greatly aggravated by the present tythe system
in that country. *LIMAS well known,thet the principal
food of the Irish peasants was potatoes For the
grounds on which that .. /IX was raised. the peasant
paid very high rent; four, five, and, in some cases.
' even to ten pounds a year rent ; added to this, the
cultivation of the potatne required a greater pt °-
portion of manual labour than any other vegetable,
and from those the tythe was rigidly treaded ; a
grievance. which those combined consiieratiors
greatly aggravated. His Lordship expatiated sl
great deal on the salutary consequences, a hich, he
conceived, would result to Ireland, and to the em.
pire at large, from Catholic emancipation, and
seamed to argue, from a variety of proceedings
which took place in Ireland, and from the language
held out from various qoartars, particularly fiord
the year 1793, to the completion of the measure of
Union,that the Catholics were led to iinagioe, if they
were not promised it in terms, that their coostatt-
tional emancipation would be one of tit( earliest re-
sults of the Uuioa. That such might ie that event
safely and beneficially take place, he stated, was the
opinion and sentiment of some of the most eel, brr e
.statesmen and writes' of that station, who, in
ne-al, inculcated such a principle: some of dr ei
were referred to by his Lordship, as well as
speech of the Lord Lieuten Int to the Irish Pl,.' -
ament in 1793; of which the proje Fled ameliora-
tion of the state of die Irish Catholics and peasantry
formed a leading feature ; and the addrt s.es from
certain Roman Catholic nivotings in the Counties of
Wexford, Waterford, and Cork, with the answer of
the then Secretary o the Lord Lieutenant, Lord
Castlereagh, were, on the seine principle, referred
to by his Lordship. He continued to expatiate
upon tit- salutary effens which, he argued. would
attend Catholic emancipation, and come en el on
what he thought th injustice and oporessii n o cot:-
filming the present system with respell to tee Irish
Cathoacs. He Ce.cribed the wretched and miser-
able situation of the Irish peasantry a:in a great de-
gree owing to these odious toototints ;
referring, as lie proceeued, to toe opinions of various
writers upon the subject, and on the state of Ireland
—they were ill clothed, ill fed, and ill lodged I the
luxury of shoes. stockings, or meat food, which
their country so abundantly pi oduced, was un-
known to them. And these he contrasted with
the situation of the corresponding classes of the
inhabitants of South Rtitain, where a different
j system, civil and ecclesiastical. prevailed. He
dwelt upon the generous and effodionote dispo-
sitions ot that peasantry; and, gcncrolly speak-
ing, when loft to themselves, on their docility
and inoffensive demeanour. He lamented the
late decision of Pathamuut on ti-e sti!•jeat of
Irish Catholic emancipation, and adverted to the
fears which seemed to be entertained, in a legis-
latire point of yam-, of smit a meesurt as ground-
' less and absurd. No serious injl: yto either church
'or state could ever be apprehended from the intro-
dation of perhaps seven or eight Irish Catholic
Commoners into a legislative assembly of between
six and seven hundred Protestants; nor from the
circumstance of eleven or twelve Catholic Peers
taking their seats among their Lordships. Besides,
in that point of view, some degree of I.:stile:lion
may be well interposed ; for instance, those who
changed their religion from the Protestaid to the
Catholic, should not be allowed to st in Patlia.
ment. He only threw th:s out as a ge wool idea.
He was a strong advocate for the ponoples of
tol!tatton ; genuine Chrisliimity went not to citslaitt
religious establishments in a state ; 110,1 he pane-
gyrised use system adopted in Ames ;ea with re.
sped to religion, where every sienore'ootion of
Christians was equal in the eve -
alike eligible to the admioistr.
neither were the Irish Catholic
as their fellow-suhjent of the
in cehn parts of His Majesty'
adverted particularly to those
forming a great majority of
that part of the Empire, had their
ed in their favour ; and why, he
Coronation Oath of the Sovereegi
ing, with reaped to the Catholics
net suffered to affed those of Cry
ficial effeds, either in a view of
policy, of the system adopted s.
nada ; he dwelt' shettly, and referred
thority of certain writers en that -

he tvttst-

1

•y denomination of
tye of ifse lavr, and
rating government ;
plies sl well treated
to same persitacion.
y's dominions. He
e of (7aitada, whet.
the inhtbitantt • f
air religion estahl s
e woieht 1C34 the
iign to be held
Ph!! of Ireland, aiid
tnada ? Ott the bene-
internal or external
I with rEsiteset to Ca-
referred to the co-
at Stit+tat *'itch, he