The Sun.
London, England, 1810-01-25 00:00:00

THE CATHOLIC CLAIMS.

LETTER FROM LORD 'GRP.NVILLE TO THE EARL. OF

FINGAL,

• • Catnelfore-Housee-lare.
":IV LORD-I hive the horioar to address this
Leiter to your Lordship, in .reply to• that which I
received" from you, respecting the. Petition with:
.. Which yesf are•charged. This form of communica-
tion I consider as most' satisfatiory • to.your:Lorde
It
,is also best calculated to do justice to the
sentiments of Some of the most distinguished advee
cotes of your cause, in concurrence with whom my
' derision has been taken.
I must in the first place assure your Lordship,
that my opinion remains urichanged as to the ob-•
jeet of your Petition. It 'would, I think, be-en act
of undeeiable wtsdom and: justice to communicate
to our fellow subjects professing the -Roman Ca-
tholic Religion, the lull enjoyment • of our Civil
Constitution.= 'Such a measure, accompanied by
suitable atrangements, maturely prepared, and de-
liberately adopted,
,would, I am confident, above
all others, give strength and -union •to the Emeiree
and increased security to its religious. and civil este-
-blishments. Your Lordship is well aware, that oh
this conviaion only have I supported it., \l'o those
establishments I am unalterably attached ;., their
inviolable maintenance. I have ever considered •as
essential to all the. dearest interests of my country.
Bu; they rest, I am certain, on foundations much
too- firm ; they are far too deeply rooted in the
affections of that community to which they dis-
peOse . the blessings of•eeligion, order, and liberty,
to require the aeventitious 'and dangerous support
of partial restrietioea, fruitful-in discontent, but, for
.
security, w~holiy inefficient.
With' respect ta the -present application- tO.Par-
, . liamear, -I. knew note•except from. public report,
that such a measure 'Was in contemplation ;
that -it was the wish of the Petitioners to plaCe
their Petition in my hands. - • --,
I have twice-'already, at the reqUest of the Ca=,/
tbelics of Irelind, moved 'the House of. Lads to
take this eubje'rt into considartion. I did not, in
eithercase, thiek myself responsible far your deter-
- mitiation es to the time of agitating the.question :
a determination which, in- the first instance, I had
not suggested; and which- in the last I had in- my
pl'ace in Partiament publicly dissuaded. Recent
' events had•in both cases imposed upon' me a 'pee's-
liat duty, not merely tor my own honour' but in
justice also to your cause, to prove, by my con
dud, 'on the earliest occasion atidrded by yourselves,
that no change of public situation, no prejudice, no
'6l.tunnyi no. clamour, coald'either va.i.er suppress
my , opinions on, this great national question. 'Thin
duty I. willingly performed. Deeply impressed with
the importance of the measures which I- recom-
mended, I have sPared•no sacrifice, omitted no ex-
ertion, by which I could contribute to their accom-
plishment. -And•if I could now deceive myself with
a hope, that-a renewai of my Weak• efforts, in the
present moment, could expedite or facilitate their'
ultimate SUCCeSti, it would Le my highest gratification
once more to stand forward as the chosen advocate
of national conciliation.
Circumstanced as this question now is, both in
England and in Ireland, it is, •on the contrary, my
deliberate opinion, that, no motion grounded on
your petition could,
,at this time, in any hands, cer-
tainly not in mine,. be, brought forward, witheirt
, great and permanent disalvantage to its object.
-This opinion is founded, not only on the present
known ch-poseions of Government and Parliament,
but also on the unexpected difficulties which have
arisen-in Ireland, °nettle impressions whith 'they-
may create; and the embarrassments 'which they
unavoidably produce: .
It would be an invidious task for me to recapitu-
. late in 'this place, the transactions of the last three
years, br to diadess the temper and spirit, the lan-
guage audethe conduct of hiSvMajesty's Minisiera
towards your body; • nor would 'it become me to
censure; though I May be permitteS to lament, the
decisions of the Legislature.
To' ihe,se two-topics it is sufficient briefly to have
adverted. •T 1 obsfieles e- frith, in the present rho-
,
nfent,• they oppoSt to airy favourable consideration
of your 'cause, and the'achatilages which they afford •,
to the anisieptesenietions .of your edveraltries, are
too obvious •to. requite' explanation.
- - Mane circumstances compel ate to speak to yocr
Lordship'
.more at large of the recent proceedings in
Ireland ; With reference both to their origin-and to
their consequences: -Forthis purpciSe, r must beg
'leave' to recall to your I.Jrdship's recollection, the
'rounds on whieheili&' consideration of these Peti-
tions have uniformly been- .retemmeneed
That whieryEiTilfaTe-aslaed.,..aod which has
• heeas supported by the greatest 'Statesmen of our
time, Now ncemere, is not iu its natutee. single or
tniconnes‘:ied measure. Its oksaa..are, the peace
tad happiness of Irelaed; and the union of the ems
pire, iii affeacon, as well as. in gOvernment. , Vain,
indeed, would-lA' the -hope of accomplishing such
purposes,, solely by the repeal of a fe.v retnaining
disqualifications,' which, by a strange anomaly, are
still left subsisting amidst the ruins of a whole code
of proicriptioil. TO itiaptate to you this visionary
pretension, has been the artifice of your optie-
news: The views of your friends have.been more'
eilarged.
• With the just and . salutary extension of Civil,
• eights to your body,
.must be combined, if tran-
quility and union be our object, • other extensive nick
complicated arrangements. All due provision must
• he made for the inviolable maietessanee of the
•
gious and civil establishments of lII'S' United Kitig-
doni. sMuth must be done for'mutual conciliation
—much for common safety; many contending in-
terests : must be reconciled, many jealousies allayed,
Many long cherished and mutually destitielive pre-
judices eradicated. •
-Such, at. leasa; hate always been my own de-
clared opinions.. When this matter was last under
the consideration of Parliament, I had occasion. to
dwell, With particular earnestness, .on this neces-
pity ; I invited the suggestions of others for pro-
viding for it ; and I enumerated several measures
which eight years before had been in the contem-
plation of Government, in conjunction with which

I then cherished the vain hope of tendering -this
&Teat set% ice to nay country.

_ Among these measures, I pointed out the Ko-
posalsot vesting in the Cr-own ati,effeolual. negative
on the- appointinent of your l 3 bops. That sug-
gestion had previously been broughtforward in the
liouse,of Commons, to meet the just expeaations,
not of any bigotted or interested champions of in-
tolerance, but or men of the purest' intentions 'and
most enlightened 'judgment. .Mt ist willing to do
all justice .to the loyalty of
.yotir -Present Bishops,
yet not unreasonably alltmed at any possibility, by
which functions of. suet) extensive infl.,ence might
hereafter be cOnneded with a foreign, interest, hos-
tiles to the tranquility of your country. A danger
recently very much increased' by the captivity and
deposition of the Bead of your Church, by thesei-
zure of his dothinions, and by the declared inten-
tion of that
_hostile government to assume in future

the exclush4 nomination rif leis swzcesors.

The

suggestion thus opemd, to 'Parliament,- produced j
there impressi6ns highly favourable to your cause;
it'wis received assthe surest indiCatiott of those dis.,
positions, without which all concession must be nu-
gatory, and.all conciliation hopeless. To my mini
iChad been recommended by long refi;tdion.: It
had formed a part of the original conception. of,
those measures as consequent upon the Union. It
was now again brought .forvt.ard with the concur.-
rence of the two individuals; irom- whose opinions
those generally prevalent among. your body might
best be inferred ; of the agent .of the very persons
to whose office it related, and of your Lordship;, to
whom,, in addition to every other cittim. to resped
and confidence,, the exclusite charge.of the petition-,
had recently been comtnitted. What I said on• the
subjeo, in-the House of Lords,,,was spoken in the
hearing of. both, and rekeived..from both, while .
the impression was yet recent On your minds, 'the.
smost gratifymg.aCknowledgmcv,ts. of yoursatisfac-
tion in all that I had stated.-

:.It was never, I believe, imagined by any of. us,
that what then passed could be binding on the opi-
nions of the petitioners. The Roman Catholics of
Ireland a►e not a corporate body. They speak
through no' common organ. Thtir various wishes
and intexests, like those of their fellow-subje4s,
can be colleted only from general information ;
and-any opinions, erroneously attributed to them,
they, like all other persons, are_tiallyeniitled to' dis-,
claim. ,

I learnt,' however, with deep and heart-felt re-
gret, the subsequent proceedings which iook place
in Ireland, in consequence of this suggestion. To
discUis. the grounds of, those proceedings would be
foreign from my present purpose. Their effeel ob-
v;iously mast be, not only to revive expiring prpid.
• dices, but to clog with fresh embarrassment every
future consideration of, any of the measures cop-
netted with your petitions, . To myself unquestion-
ably the difficulty ,of Originating at this
_time any
fresh discussion of thoSe measures, does, in such cif--
einxistances, appear almost insuperable. 7.
Let me not, however, be-misunderstood, When
I speak of the necessity of combining,- with the ac-
complishment of your, wishes, provisions of just
security to others, I am no less desirous Of consult,.
itt every reasonable apprehension on your part.
To the forms, indeed, of these securities) or to
the particullr.dutails of the proposed arrangements,
I attach comparatively little importance. A perti-
nacious -adherence to Bch details, in opposition
even to groundless prejudice, I consider as the reverse
of leigislative wisdom. I look only to their substan-.
purposes;, the,safety of our own establishments,
the mutual good will of all of our fellow subjeds,•
and the harmony of the United Kingdom.
That adequate arrartgt•meiits any be made for all

these purposes, consistently with tile strictest adhe-
,rence, on your part, to your own nligions tenets,
is the. persuasion which you have long been labour-
ing'to establish, and of which I have uniformly pro-
fessed my own conViaieu. ' •
'Were it otherwise, I should indeed despair. But
t'.',at these objects may be reconciled, in so. far at
leat as respe&s the appointment of your Bishops, is
known. with undeniable certainty. It is proved by.
the acquiescence of your Church in Similar ;arrange-
ments under other Governments, by the sentiments
which many of yourselves still entertain as to the
proposal suggeted in 1808, and, most of all, by the
express consent formerly given to that proposal, in'
a declaration signed by the most cOnsidsrable of your
own Bishops. •
- I see, therefore, in the, present state of this seb-
jea, much unexpeaed embarrassment, and 'many
difficulties; which renewed discussion, in the present
moment, must, instead of smoothing, inevitably
aggravate. There is, however, no ground for ulti-
mate. discouragement. The sentiment of reciprocal
confidence, the spirit. of mutual conciliation; would
surmount far greater obstacles.
But nothing, permit me to remark, it, can in the
mean time be more injurious to your cause, than
any attempt, by partial and precipitate ,decisions,. to
prejudge its separate branches, or to limit its unre-
served discussion.. No course ean•be more grateful
to your opponents„ none more embarrassing to your
supporters..
To Parliament,_ ithen any more favourable cm-
junaure for this discussion shall arise, every infer-
mation may properly be' supplied, every wish
_parted, every apprehension communicated. There
only, by a systematic and comprehensive arrange-
ment of this eitenSive subject; can all its difficulties
be surmounted, all_ its, relations finally adjusted.--;
To be effective and, perinanent, suck an arrange-
ment must be mutually satisfactory.
• This is alike the interest of eVery•inembyr of the
British empire, but to none more important than to
the-Catholics of Ireland. The
sstability .of .all your
'civil rights, both of those which you already enjoy,
'and of those "to which you seek to, be adriutted; es-
sentially depends on the, tranquility and harmony of,
your country, on banishing from it every hostile in-
fluence, and composing all its internal differences.
These opinions I have expressed to your' Lord-
ship with the freedorn.Of a' tried •and zealous ad-
vgeate,sof your cause. On these grounds alone haVe
I ever attempted to do justice to it; -To have argued
it on any other would have been a dereliEtion of my
own principles.
I need hardly *s•add, that by the same principles,

Imy present concitid midst equally be direaeti.--.
i should the petitioners continue to entertain the de-