The Sun.
London, England, 1825-02-19 00:00:00

MOTION.

Mr. BROUGHAM-1n rising to submit to the House the.
proposition to which I gave notice last night, I feel the' anxiety
naturally to be expected in an individual who, in the absence
of a more powerful advocate, undertakes to call the attention ef
the !louse of Parliament to one of the most important subjects
that has ever been brought forward. At almost any other
period, and with almost any ordinary measure, so far from re-
,garding the motion with which I shall conclude as matter of
grave_ argument and great moment, I should rather have con.:
'-sideretrit a mere matter oleourse.—(lleur common

Cases it seems to have been eonsis'tent.with the firms and practice
of the House; and befitting its wisdom. mot its justice, never to
condemn any party until'they have. been heard. If accusation
has been brought forward, •the course, I apprehend; 'haS been
riot to refuse theparty an opportunity of efu nag what had been
laid to his charge. But, from sonic symptoms whiell I thought
could perceive last night, and from some indicati(his' of a dis-
position tohurry with impetuosity which I fancied rdiscerned in
the manner in which the measureagainst the Catholic .s ociation-
was propounded, my mind has received the most pain fuli rnpres-
sion, that thepropOsition I am ab'out to make,' Ins.tead of being
conceded as a Matter of course, as I thipk it ought to be, and buC•
for these symptoms Should haVe expected it would have been,
is about-to be contested and-resisted with AS; Much pertinaeity
as any the mast controverted part of the question. I find to
.my great, to my unspeakable astonishment, that some 'Hon.
Gentlemen are not satisfied with having made up their Minds
upon a hasty, in pert refuted, in part corrected', altogether
plained, diminished and weakened statement of facts, the only
basis upon which the measure ail be" rested at all, are deter-
mined to go still further, and to refuse tote convinced. When
these faCts adduced are proposed to be investigated-when the
parties charged demand an inquiry—when the accused come be-
fore you, and, according to the allusion of the Hon. Baronet., the
Member for Westminster, cry "Strike, but hear !" those same
Hon. Gentlemen who so readily swallowed the Statement, al-
ready found capable of disproof to a great degree, even without
inquiry, are prepared to go much further, and tOsay, "Decide
we will, but hear we will not"-(Hear !)—This one sentence is
the cause of the alarm and anxiety I feel ; for I cannot disguise
my conviction, that a question of More fearful import never was
submitted to Parliament than this will prove, if the House shali
be disposed immediately and at once to reject the prayer of the
petitioners. Good God 1 are you to resist the players of six
millions of people, who claim an opportubity of vindicating
themselves from unjust aspersions ? Are you to throw the
doors of this House wide open for the hearing of priVate corn-
plaints—to allow Counsel and witnesses in matters of
Im
com-
paratively small moment, o this great case, of all others, to
convict, sentence, aye and execute at once, Without trial. (H ear) ?
I cannot bring myself to believe that this House will incur so .
frightful a responsibility. Then let us look to the situation in
which we are placed. I propose attempting once again to go
into this great and portentous subject, and I derive to myself
even a sort of encouragement from this circumstance, that the
more monstrous the alternative, the more impossible for me to
believe that I shall find it adopted. And, notwithstanding the
time and attention which this House has devoted to this sub-
ject, notwithstanding that night after night Petitions have even
been presented, and discussion has taken place in every stage
of this ill-omened measure; it is my Opinion that further dis-
cussion is necessary, because the question I am now about to
submit, with all the earnestness and anxiety which I think the
importance of its reception, and the tremendous consequences
of not granting this demand, call for, seems to me to stand
clear from all other questions upon the merits of the till. If
this Bill is to pass, 1 should he most anxious to pave the way
for it by hearing the parties at the Bar. The more important
the question—the more dreadful the.consequences—the more
anxious do I feel to adopt this course ; because, if you bring in
the measure after this, you take away all possibility of cavil
from your door, and prevent any man fronesaying that you
have condemned the Catholic Body unheard ; because these
rights of the Catholics can only be consistently abridged and
taken away upon the ground of facts. Facts have been stated
to exist, but 1 am authorised here to tell this House, that there
is a cloud of witnesses ready to disprove them.—(hear, hear !)
This is not like any ordinary question with respect to foreign
trade—it is unlike a question as to the consolidation of the
Excise and Custom Laws, or any other question on which a
man who reads the Statutes on the subject would be'sufliciently
informed.. It was not like the abuses in the Courts of Chan-
cery, and here came in the argument as to notoriety. 'When
the Honourable Member • for Lincoln presented his Petition
against the abuses in the Court. of Chancery, he dial not confine
himself to mere statement ; he laid facts before the House, and
backed those facts with all the powers of eloquence and inge-
nuity, and ridicule, which he called in play. on the occasion.
Is it not too much, then, to refuse the admission of facts on the
present occasion ? The Catholics of Ireland are anxious and
ready to meet this question fairly. They have got evidence to
contradict the allegations against them, and they authorise me,
in their name, to tell this House, that they have a cloud of evi-
dence, parole and documentary, with which they are ready to
substantiate every particular of their most crying wrongs. It is
much then to refuse to hear them. It is much, on the state-
ment of an individual, pledging himself that he is so authorised
to produce evidence; to say " we don't care ; we must go on ;
we don't care one rush for your evidence; a delay of even
forty-eight hours would be dangerous ; we don't want to see
these Petitions ; they lititint us continhallY ; we have enough
ill-treated the Catholics—we had rather not come face to face
with them—we have done them harm enough already—we are
determined to carry the Bill, and therefore we will add insult to
injury." Sir, I eritertaip-no manner of doubt that if you open
your door to this evidence, you will shut it to this Bill. -Now,
Sir, example is worth a great deal more than reasoning ; and I
think I can shew you that even a slight subject may admit
of a good deal of light. The house cannot 'forget
the small and choice collection of facts introduced by
the Right Honourable Gentleman on the other side. In the
case of Hanley the soldier, when I first heard of it, rupder-
stood it was a case of prosecution Of the Catholic Association.
overwhelming this poor man by a combination ofall the weight
and influence of the Catholic Body, and supported by the
. strength of the purse formed by the Catholic-rent. That..was
the gist. of the argument ; and when you were told that all this
rdigunis feeling was armed against him for the purpose of
overwhelming him, would not every man in his senses have
;- supposed that Hanley was both a Protestant and an t'ranga-
i man ? I never doubted it for a moment; but, Sir,- he was a
Catholic and an Irishman. The Catholic Association prbsa-
cuted this Catholic for administering unlawful oaths ; and thusa
you see, how good it is to inquire into facts, and not. rush
ignorantly into opinions and measures when evidence can he
adduced ; and 1 challenge the strictest inquiry,—l invite she
most close cross-examination—and I wish this to be. the gatins
let through which the eviderce should run. When that evi-
dence is thoroughly sifted, I pledge myself to quiet the cla-
mours which are raised, that the Catholic A: s xiation is decid-
edly hostile to 'the high Church establishment. o far fessoi
that being co, the most eminent indiv:deals ranong those who
• compose that e‘sseciation, however sincere tkeir love May he
for their religion - however conscientious their devotion to. 41.,
interests of their own Church—how much sosver they ma
smart under the Established Church, they deprecate the ides:
of transferring one tithe part of one tithe sheaf from the Pio •
testant to the Catholic hierarchy. Why, this speaks volumes.
Now, Sit, these are the samples of the evidence' we are peepared
to produce ; and I desire to be distinctly inarstisede that there
is no pretence for saying that delay is our objects-that.wpewesh
to postpone the second reading. I desire it to". he unites:stop:l
that the witnesses are all here in Londou. BetweeintiVenty and
thirty of them have already arrived, and before the House has
gone through the examination of them, the rest will be here.
It is not to make a speech that they conic here. The'inot
splendid talents have never been denied them. The greatness
of their accomplishments has been 'conceded' on all hauds
the subject of just panegyric. But it is not to hear them de-
'claim, or to hear them reason, that they wish to come to the
bar of this House, but to clear their own conduct; to explain
their own motives which-are aspersed; to vindicate their own
Association which has been aspersed ; to vindicate their owu
countrymen who have been aspersed, and to maintain their
own religion which has been aspersed. These are the higher
objects they have in view. But, however repugnant you may_
be to their telling their own story, however unwilling_ ,
ac;::
may be to hear them clear themselves at your hare
r
morally certain, if you dhl acquiesce in the prayer
ci,n
n ttcr
petition, you would. come out of the inquiry I'
successful or not,
lics would depart from your bar, whether
the hearts of
carrying to the bosom of their country, and
'delight at your
conciliation.
iasahtthci
oodnl memberscs,
Io
If then,
at
ust_h;eoleh,natvai.l:::h
satisfied with yourselves ; and those who represeiimtne Cattoa
he
their countrymen, affection, gratitude,
nnare, is all that jaa,
Te'laseno,(Hear, hear
treatment of them, which, with this
can do, namely, to.gag.the people of sr',
You increase their penal disqualification.ea -s the language or spirit
them justice. lam not now while you refuse
talkitTal history of this country,
of party t. but I ask aou when, iu
t conciliating the tlics
had you a better opportunity
°,d- leaders, and the most di
You have the most tiistinoulls,'.
sociation ; you have, in fact, all
•Tecifering to solemnize a compact. of
Pepresentatives of the people Of
the
h ought to be the Representatives
,of
England, or those
accede to this 'propesition, you may
the people, refuse,
eino see thskigh. ont day he re-
!)-.—lt May be well :for 'you to
live
tto del):
joreo.-
a t this Association:—it- May be well for Lord
itlheaeryoungest man- among
iicsvuherr
0:00;nte lore

..`t:.~;