The National Register.
London, England, 1811-08-25 00:00:00

SUNDAY, AUGUST 25, 1811.

N°.191.

POLITICAL DlSQuismoly.

No. 177.

IRISH CATHOLICS.

It is painful, at this momentous crisis, to see fresh
differences arising between the Government and
Catholics of Ireland. It is painful, not, as we have
already observed, because the safety of the public
peace is likely to be endangered, but because such
contentions sink the dignity of our national cha-
racter. Alone and unconquered, we have long
stood in the midst of an enslaved world, and yielded
to timid and oppressed States, the most glorious and
encouraging example of unshaken independence.
We have kindled them with our own spirit, assisted
them with our wealth, and bled in their defence :
and whilst we are incessantly endeavouring to im-
press upon their minds the absolute necessity of
union, to insure the ultimate triumph of th°ir
cause, let us not ourselves be a divided people. •As
we.are become the shield of nations, it is doubly
our duty to collect our strength, prevent its wa3te
by . every possible means, and put it forth only-
against the enemies of human freedom. And as
want of unanimity is the first step to weakness, let
us, before it is too late, sincerely attempt to remedy
the threatened evil effectually.
These observations, occasioned by the late events
in Ireland, are not solely addressed to Government,
which has power to forgive ; but to the Catholics
themselves, whose duty is, for the present, to for-
bear, until the legality of the course which they are
pursuing shall have been determined. When they
resolved to form a House of Delegates, invested
with the same powers of deliberati4.l and settle-
ment as the House of Representatives acknowledged
by the Constitution, it was natural that they should
awaken the jealousy of Government, which would
have been unworthy the high trust reposed in it, had
it not taken notice of such an innovation. In order
to prevent meetings, which, experience had proved,
were not solely dedicated to the purpose of framing
a Petipon, but which opened a wide field for impru-
dent and useless discussions, a Proclamation was
issued, announcing the opinion of Government on
the subject, and its intention to execute what it con
ceived to he its constitutional duties, and

end to this Irish Catholic Parliament, by

and trial both of its members and electors,
Va. IV. CXCI.

A_

p R Yrr 9d.

hoped, however, during the interval wut, a suc-
ceeded the issuing of . the Proclamati aad the
election of Delegates, that a 'riddle course would
have been discovered, which, by removing the
difficulties in which both parties were involved,
would have enabled the Catholics to frame •an
efficien; Petition, without rendering them obnoxious
to prosecutions. This hope was defeated by the Ca-
tholics themselves, who, strong in fancied right, and
careleis of the violent impulse they gave to the pnblic
mind in a country so lately convulsed, not only
denied the authority of Government to interfere in
their proceedipgs, but derided its Proclamation, as
an instrument of mock terror, not of power, the
threats of which it would never dare to enforces
Instead of seeking to conciliate, they openly boasted
of their determination to pursue a course of direct
and steady opposition, in order, they .asserted, to
bring the case before a Jury, and obtain the sanc-
tion of the law. Had this been their oniy, and
certainly not an illaudable aim, they woui.d have
proceeded with sober moderation. But they NN
to be considered as victims persecuted by intole-
rance, and therefore raised a loud outcry against
the injustice and rancorous hostility of their oppo-
nents, who, however, had only supplied them with
an opportunity of proving:, in a legal Manner, the
existence of those rights which they pretended to
possess, and which, if real, investigation would
cause to be immediately recognised. Persevering
in their career of opposition and defiance, they
elected Delegates under the very eye of the Irish
Government, which, in consequence, put in force the
derided Proclamation, issued warrants, and arrested
several Electors, whose trial, which will shortly
take place, must at length set this question at rest;
though not perhaps the Catholic. s, whose conduct,:l
since this step has been adopted, has assumed a de- •
cided character of impropriety. Enccuraged by
the forbearance of Government, who, willinv to
display the utmost tenderness towards tnem, has
not followed the arrest of the Dublin Electors by
that of any others in the cout4a-e, they have dared
to attribute this moderation to impotence an.d fear.
Such language, and we find it repeated in
,every
. . .;! print in the Catholic interest, if not crisninal,. is at
least highly imprudent.
.e willing to ascribe it to the blind fanaticism
often unmeaning in its expressions ; other-
might be considered as little short of a

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