The Sun.
London, England, 1825-02-11 00:00:00

l'oda sheuld he fouttliwith taken into their consideration. The
fl°n• Bart. then quotes the opinion of Mr. Burke, Mr. Grattan
and others in support of the view Which he took of the question
before the House. He agreed with the Right Hon. Secretaryff of
.
State for Foreign Affairs, that if the course of Lord Welles ey's
GOvernment had trot been interfered with, it would have con-
ferred prospective benefit upon the country. But lie drew
W NI,
a distinction between Lord Wellesley and Lord ells' leY,s
administration, and contended that Lord Wellesley had had
were
no opportunity of acting upon his own views. They
thwarted by a divided Cabinet. In that Cabinet, out of the
six which composed it, including Lord Wellesley, fourthing
oPpesed to him. lie would venture to say that no such .
as a Catholic Association would have existed in the country it
Lord Wellesley had not been tied up by this state of things.te
He believed that no measure of the House could reach. the
Association, without repealing all the laws which gave liberty
and protection to the subject. He would say, therefore, let
Association alone; let the Orange Societies really be discoun-
tenanced; and let the Bible Society put a stop to their attempts_e
at proselytism, and Mr. O'Connell and the Leaders of th
Association would then be unable to excite disturbance or
alarm, The present measure ought not, in common sense, in
common prudence, or in common honesty, to be passed ; but it.
Passed, it might do infinite mischief, while it would neverwurk
the effect intended. The intelligence of the people had
ma-
terially advanced and they consequently felt much
of
fmporre
strongly the sense of injury or oppression. The Charge
Magee to his Clergy had made a great impression upon the.
Minds of the Catholic body, and largely contributed to the pre-
p vention of tranquillity amongst them. He trusted that this Bill
would not pass, for it would be considered as an act of the English
People against the Irish. It was time that they should open
their eyes, and look to' the necessary results of what they were
fui,ul" ' • and he should not consider that lie had done his duty,
he did not warn the House against what he conceived must be
the inevitable result of such a course.—(Cheers from the Oppo-
stion)
t,,t,ii
the--- M
svhat would an lion. :ember, whom he saw opposite,
north of Ireland, say upon this subject? " Put downs
-thereatholic Association," he knew, he would say ; but wa
leysng
I, else He had been accustomed to hear it coupled
,111 Ireland with nothing more nor less than doubling the armyi.
efts shelved the feeling and the expectation of all parties, arnh
mplored the II ouse to pause in this first step of a careerwhic
must be ruinous and fatal to the empire.
Illr. LESLIE. FOSTER commenced his observations in, a
Ptone which was not distinctly audible. Be described the Ca-
dc Association as a body exercising all the functions of a
Piament, identifying itself with the mass of the Catholic po-
P,ulation, end being the common focus of discontent and irrita-
tion, It was true that the debates and acts of the Assembly
were open to the public to a certain extent ; but for the manage-
enent and application of its monies a Committee constantly sat,
whose Proceedings were not reported, and who, as he had be en
well informed, were in daily correspondence with a large body
of men in ail parts of Ireland. The nature of the Parliansentary
Functions assumed by this assembly had been so fully describedi.
t'Y his Right Hon. Friend, that it would be unnecessary for him
again to enumerate them to the House. The chief of these I
undoubtedly considered to be the levying of what was called the
Rent. The manner in which this wasdone appeared to him to be
not less objectionable than the measure itself—he meant through
the medium of the priests. Was it:proper, he would ask, that the
chapels dedicated to religious purposes alone should become the
teasittry desaoufa scene where all the feelings of every political ani-
party hatred were aroused ? Putting out of view
the Purposes to which such funds might be applied, the moment
the rent had been paid by the Catholic an undue confidence
was raised in his mind as to something which was to be done in
tr„hel.lalf, and an equally undue apprehension was excited in
- Mimi of the Protestant, thus creati a severance of what.
ler union existed between them. Theng moment the Catholic
tent was collected in a district, adieu to all harmony be-
, -en the two sects, and, consequently, to the peace and
(re • .
7,lllNuillity inseparable from a state of mutual canfidence.—
is was one of the features of theca se which he thought im-
hperiously called upon the House to put the Association down.
t was scarcely necessary for him to repeat the allusion which
" ‘ead been made to the invocation upon the hatred borne to
rangemen ; he would only do so for the purpose of shewing its
application and effect. It must be retnemb'sred, that this was
chiefly addressed to the Catholics of the West and South of Ire-
ia.nd, He was one who regretted that Orange Associations ex-
isted at all ; and in those parts of the kingdom they were cer-
tainly unknown. The Catholic population there were in the
habit of hearing denunciations of Orange Magistrates and
Orange Police, and considered such parties only to be Orange-
Men. But after the circulation of this address, every one who
did not subscribe to the Rent would be considered as Orange-
men by these ignorant and deluded people; and consequently'
they were taught by the Catholic Association to bear hatred
against the entire Protestant community. Let the house
look to the consequence of this, and say whether the Catholic
Association should be suffered to continue unmolested in
its career. Would not this inevitably lead to similar feelings
and similar combination on the other side ? Hon. Members
Might argue upon speculative opinions in that House, but he
was acquainted with the fact that such feelings had already
Item engendered in many parts of Ireland. In one instance,
'the alarm created in the minds of the Protestant inhabitants
drove them to the act of taking up arms in the expectation
of being attacked. The alarm he believed was unfounded.—
‘lfear, hear, from the Opposition.)—He believed to have been
thunfounded, but it was a natural consequence growing out of
e conduct of the Association.—(Cheers.)—The inhabitants of
the town, to which he alluded, sat up the whole of a particular
night, in constant fear of their lives. Was this a state of things
to be tolerated ?—(Cheers.)—Let them suppose that any acci-
u
°;ntal circumstance had occured on that night, such as the
firing
Ilea gull by a poacher, or the casual burning of a cottage. The
'.
xt morning would have seen the two sects arranged against
r'acb other in deadly strife. Was it right, then, to leave in ex-
ence a body whose avowed object was to sow disunion and
;°4ta llitY throughout the country—to implant hatred on both
thereby to impede and counteract whatever was proposed
tOe,be done for the amelioration of the country. Was it
tight to leave them encouraging the hopes of the Catholic
Peasantry by visions which could never be realized—which
could certainly never be realized by the measure con-
tendedvi for by Honourable Gentlemen opposite. Their ar-
ti?Ut was not so great in pursuit of political rights; it was
eir belief in the spritual superiority of their faith, which
wass, most readily acted upon. They never would have
subscribed to the rent if it had been demanded for that ob-
stieet, for they would have no confidence in the money being
aod aPPlled• The Catholic Association, therefore, wisely
ores another course, and, by a union with the priests,
th„,ls upon the religious feelings of the people. The Ca-
Pence 'Joe Clergy, who were supported by the peasantry at an ex-
tsaionfe 200,0001. per annum, levied this further sum at
time and by the same means. There was another
::Powerful objection to the acts of the Association, which had
,t
?tbeen noticed by the House. It was generally the practice
Jus
' me most violent politicians to respect private character, and
pto enter the bounds of domestic society. But this body
eened and exercised the power of invading the privacy of
host to
Nve' arid of becoming the judges of a man's private conduct.
a haissa landlord to his tenant, as a father to his child, as
cl 7 raced, his guest, or in whatever relative situation he could
private conduct was to be laid before the Asso-
ciation, and they denounce him to the country. The practical
_ existed
of such a denunciation, in such a state of society
t443,rxisted in Ireland, when a man was held up as a traitor or a
',Out, might easily be conceived. Another influence of
beech he complained was the unconstitutional power such a
chic
must possess in the return of Members; an influence
;‘,Tch he conceived to be contrary to the freedom of election.— '
elelth regard to the claim of the Association for the merit of'!
Vill`..U. existing tranquillity in Ireland, he was ready to admit it in
.:e degree. He allowed that they had enjoined peace to all
,°_,ge. uuder their subjection. But it was only conditionally,
4,Q" until" their claims had been laid before Parliament.--
:•_nese calm they had produced was, therefore, only a state of 1
t",,,u.t_ thless expectation which excited a heat in the minds of the
,„`°Ple not to he allayed, he was sure, even by the granting of
ca7cination. But he had the satisfaction of looking to other
Petit "'
from which he hoped and expected permanent pros-
4yrte.__Y and happiness for Ireland. He believed that country
etos have been so well employed as at the present moment;
capita?
___t
awes the true cause of her tranquillity. Briti.sh
of Capin already. finding its way into Ireland, and in spite
train. , it would bring peace and prosperity in its
The system of exclusion which had repressed the
; trade of Ireland had not been long removed ; but since that
Ject was effected by the Right Hon. Member for Liverpool,
I astrlost rapid increase had taken place. In the cotton trade '
1 inn advance had been made, that it bid fair in a few
Ys to exceed in extent the whole linen trade of Ireland.
I
) ~1:11P Honourable Member then stated the annual increase
sTvt appeared upon the returns of the imports and exports.
whichtalso congratulated the House upon the improvement
where had followed upon the relaxation of the Distillery Laws.
0 bee had been an increase of prosperity in Ireland. Capital
0 `,`U, been flowing into the proper channel with rapidity be-
ri •remet the expectation of the most sanguine economist. Provi-
-I°ll3 were never more abundant. The measures of Govern..
iont had promised peace and security. The tithe commuta-
,l shad
had been found advantageous. He was not unwil-
ling to
r extend tranquillity to the Catholic Association ; but it ap-
Peared to him that body occasioned the interruption of tran-
quillity. He, for one, could never concede the power claimed.
e The firmness
of Government alone could meet the evil. When
0 the Convention was held at Duncannon and Athlone, the mea-
t sure of Parliament judiciously applied, proved a remedy for
it disorder. It was his firm belief that the present Catholic Atom-
If ciation was averse to good order : the elements of
_peace and
a PtusPerity had been springing up in Ireland, and Parliament
Id