The Sun.
London, England, 1828-03-08 00:00:00

CATHOLIC ASSOCIATION.

The Marquis of.LONDONDERRY again pointed their
Lordships' attention to the conduct of the Catholic Associa-
tion as reported in th&l4l papers. A Noble Lord opposite,
it was stated, had authorised .a member of the Association
to make some statements in his name. He deprecated
measures of this kind, which was making the Ro-
man Catholic Association a channel of communication
With the Irish Catholics.. These political demagogues as-
sumed 'a more dangerous character, when they made use of
the authority of Members of that House, and professed to
state their sentiments. Lie wished particularly to call
the attention of their Lordships to a letter read in the
Catholic Association from a Noble Lord not in that House.
Amongst other things, the letter stated that Lord Lansdowne
Lord Carlisle, and Mr. Tierney would have brought on the
Catholi,!: Question, had they remained in power. But the Ca-
tholics were recommended not to place any reliance on the
present Cher:lntent, for that as at present constituted, it was
worse even than the Government of Lord I,iverpool. De-
clarations of this kind, clothed the AsSociation in an au-
thority which they otherwise could net have. To that
letter he begged to call the attention of the. House, and
would first read it. It was as follows :--

Dear Sir—l am anxious before your next meeting, Feb.
12, 1828, to write to you on a subject which. is much
misrepresented, and which, I think, it is due both to'
Lord Lansdowne and the Catholics of Ireland, should be
placed in a right point of vim._ It has been asserted in
Parliament, and industriously put about inprivate, that if.
Ilie.change had not taken place, the Catholic QuPation
would again have been postponed. •
• [took the liberty of troubling you on this subject, for-
tunately before any change was contemplated. For the
Catholics you can answer yourself, that they would not be
so unmindful of their own wrongs as to give way, to any
Administration whatever, the constant assertion of the in-
justice that is done to them.
for Lord Lansdowne, Mr. Tierney, and Lord Carlisle,
I am prepared to assure you now; as I (lid on a former oc-
casion, that they and their friends were most anxious the
question should he brought on, and that it would have had,
.as it always has had, all the support that, as individuals,
they could have given it.
For this opinion, J can have no abjection now, or at any
other time, to have my name used. On the formation of
the late Government, 1 thought it my duty, us an Irishman,
to give such advice to my Catholic countrymen, as I thought
most to their interest to pursue. I thought the agitation of
that (*tion at that moment, proposed as it was attempted
t°l,ollone, by the bitterest opponents of the Catholics, would
have*lnbarrassed the formation of the Government, and I
recommended a postponement of the question—but you will
do me the justice to remember, that I stated distinctly
then, that it was only for that moment, and, indeed, if I
could have proposed any thing further, I must have been
insane, to suppose that the Catholic people of Ireland
would ever consent to so disgraceful a proposition. I will,
however, say no more On this subjeit, leaving to you, if
von think fit, to set it right, and I Ally think it due both

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to Lortriansdowne and the Catholics, that it should be
htly understood.
The present posture of affairs is a hopeless one, as I
really think the Government, as at present constituted, al-
most worse than that of. Lord Liverpool. Mr. Lamb, in-
deed, has the beetiiitentions towards Ireland,and LordAngle-
sea goes with the same intentions ; but what can be hoped
from them, orlii p such Government, after Mr. Peers speech
last year, he which he took to the Home Secretary the com-
plete controul of Ireland. I approve entirely of your re-
solution Shout-Trish Metibeiv—l mean the spirit of it, and
'with the frankness with which I have alWays given yon my
opinion, I will take the liberty of saying, I do not approve
of your declaring all 'enemies to Ireland. I wish all the
counties in Ireland could be prevailed upon to feel this, and
instruct their Members,that it is idle to support a Govern-
ment to keep their places, and vote againit them only on
one question. On the subject, Mr. Brownlow's speech last
week was admirable, and I only wish I could bear the same
sentiments expressed by every Irish Member. I should
then have better hopes of Ireland. I ought, really, to make
many apologies for the length of this letter, which I hope
you will excuse, and believe me,
Your faithful humble servant,
(Signed) DUNGANNON.
A speech of Mr. O'Connell'a followed the-letter alluded to,
in which some observations weremade on the Marquis of
Anglesea; 'and 'some personalities thrown out against himself
which he of course treated with the contempt they deserved,
coming from' such a quarter. It was said the Marquie
of Anglesea regretted' some hasty expressions he had
used against the Catholics ; but he (elle Marquis of Lon-
donderry) was convinced the Marquis of Anglesea never eu-
thorised such statements to be made in the Catholic Associa-
tion. If he could unmask the posture in which those mis-
chievous spirits stood, who were trying to govern Ireland, he
thought he should be doing a great benefit to that country.
Lord CLIFDEN, after the speech of the Noble Mar-
quis, felt it his duty to trouble the House with a few
words—first, as to himself, be would say that he never
authorised the gentlemae alluded to, to fnake the state-
went which it appeared he 'had been described as having
--Made. Perini* there had been a mistake in the report
of that gentleman's speech. Reporters certainly did re-
port wenderfnlly well, -but of course they were sometimes
liable- to commit errors: So much for himself then.
He would now refer -to that Catholic Association to
which the Noble Marquis had so severely alluded. It
was now thirty-five years since Asspciations amongst the
Catholics had been carried on in some shape or other,
for the purpose of petitioning Parliament for those rights
to which the Catholics conceived themselves entitled.
Fronv4793, when an Act was passed to putalown the
Conventibn—and such an Act as would have actually pre-
vented the two Houses of Parliament from meeting, if they
had -not been especially exempted from its operations—.'
down to the present time, various laws had been passed for
the suppression of such assemblies, but they had produced
no 'effect whatever. The present. Association rose a few
years since, and their Lordships might rely upon it, with
all their united force, they could never put it &nen. He
assured their Lordships that he was not friendly to the
course pursued by the Association, and deeply lamented the
intemperance so repeatedlybetrayed by its memhers. It
was a fact,, however, that as much party
.spirit had
been manifested upon many occasions by the Pro-
testants, as had ever been shewn by the Catholics—
And it must be confessed, that there was some excuse to be
made for the complaints which were continually making-
by one party,. although tittered in a tone too violent--but
no such excuse could be, made for the other for the violent
feelings which they had from time to time betrayed, be-
cause they had no grievance to complain of. The refusal
on the part-of the Government to grant Catholics an equali-
zation of those civil rights which every British subject
ought to enjoy, was the primary cause of the Association,
and an attempt now to put a stop to its formidable ad-
vancement, would be indeed a fruitless effort ; they might
drive them, to be sure, from their present retreats, and
force them to hold their meetings even in cellars ; but yet
they would meet in spite of attempts to prevent them, until
the grand question was set at rest, until both Islands, be 7
came identified vith each other. In short, the only way
to put down the Catholic Association was to grant Eman-
cipation. . -
The MarqUis et LANSDOWNE said that he had never
authorized any communication to be made in his name
to the Catholic Association. He thought it most unwise
to debate on the speeches made at the Association, which
should be disregarded in that House. He slid not mean
to defend the Catholic Arsociation, but in justice to. the
statement, that lie 'and some Noble Friends intended to
have brought forward the Catholic Question had they stop-
ped in office, he felt himself bound to state that he had
made such a declaration with a view to contradict a state-
ment to a contrary effect, made at a public meeting in
Ireland. If called upon to say when he would bring the
great,motion forward, his answer would be, that he would
give due notice of such an event. When he did .so it
would be, not because required so to do by the Catholic
Association, or even by the Catholics of Ireland, but be-
cause of his impression as to its effect, not only upon the
Catholics, but upon the empire at large. That Association,,
although composed of great talent, was certainly wanting
in discretion, and certainly deficient as to the mode by
which they should bring that great talent to bear upon
their interests.. -He :„.had-rnade no inquiries. of them, be-
cause he did not think them qualified to act, nor would he
deal with any body of men, except for the well-being of the
whole empire. He was far froni-wishing that the Cathoe
liei'keoeietion had power; lie wished, indeed,
~,thatetheyv
bad. not the power of irritating, as they had irritated, by
langfirtge far from being dignified or wise, He would,
however, treat such language,. used under such circum-
stances, with total disregard, rather than give it import-
ance by making it the subject of discussions in 'that House.
Lord RODEN expressed a hope that the interference of
his Majesty's Ministers would put down that abominable
nuisance, the Roman Catholic Association.
The Marquis of LONDONDERRY had referred, not
to the declarations made, or to the speeches delivered, but to
the letter Written to a notorious member of the Catholic As-
sociation by a.: Noble Lord who sat in- the Other House of
Parliamenti---At six o'clock their Lordships Adjourned.