The Sun.
London, England, 1828-05-14 00:00:00

SPIRIT Or TirE ritli3Lig JOURNALS,

The most irksome task that ever was undertaken
is that of attempting to re-argue a debated question;
on one side of which the -reasenings cannot be re-
futed, and on the other need not. Such is the con-
trast afforded by the Catholic; Question, still before
the tiibintal of the House of Commons-, notWithL
ataedieg one preliminary . vote. The speeches of
Sit. Francis Burdett and-the Knight ut Kerry, cover
'almost the whole of that vast subject ; both brought
forward all thepersuasive power of the highest autho-
rities, dead and living, that could be betteficially ap..
pealed-to, and-all the natural ecgeney and force of
truth, independent of persoftal authority. For the
Treaty of Limerick, however, it is, fair to say, that
we care little or nothing. That it was not observed
by our ancestors: 140 years ago, is trianifeat
any man (special .pleaders. excepted) Who will
but read-the Treaty. That it Ntia.s bold and cruelly
violated, matters not a *thing now. The wrongs
sustained by the Catholics of the 19th century, re--
quire no aggravation from these inflicted during the
16th and 17th On their forefathers. Our positioh
is this :--The Catholics being men possessed of
human principlei and affertions, .having as citizens
the same interests with ourselves, the same love of
life, the same sense of duty and honour, the same
respect for property and law—an equal capacity for
the discharge of obligations, municipal and moral,
with the average of any Protestant community,
ought not to -be deprived of prima. facie rights, or
degraded by peculiar disabilities. That is their case
in point of justice: in point of political urgency it
is this,-that what the Catholics have a right to, al-
though they UPW solicit it at our hends, they will
wrest from us, if we do net peaceably grant it;
keeping in the mean time the whole British em-
pire m constant approximation to a state of 6%11
was. These two propositions comprehend the sub-
stance of the great question of emancipation.--
We have searched with anxious, but ineffectual in-
dustry, for any argument worth grave consideration
advanced in the course of these long debates against
the -proposed reform of the policy of Great Britain
t' wards the bulk of the Irish people. With diligence
*equally assiduous, and, rejoiced we are to add, no lcs
frititlens than indefatigable, has our eye followed the
names of the successive speakers, to ascertain whe-
ther any reputation cotild be found among them, so
high and overpowering as to cover the lack of reason
beneath the shade of personal authority. All that is
Intellectual or illustrious in character has ranged itself
Ern the side of wleatever is most convincing in discus-
Sion. • To the speech of Mr. Peel we have referred
already. Who then came after the Right Hon.
Gentle Man in support of the same cause ? Another
;Alicia! persote Lord Eldon's protee, whose observa-
tions we have Mitch satisfaction in assuring the learned
gentleman and the party generally, we find it im-
possible to reply to, and we shall therefore decline the
.enterprise. Whom, again, have woe against Mr. Peel,
SieNicholas, Tindal, Mr. George Bankes, Admiral
Evans, and the. Learned Attornerpeneral 1" There
appear on the opposite side, and .in support of reli-
. gious peace; not. a few-of those-then, the survivors
elf a noble generation, who have for many.years oc-
'mpled the -foremost rank amongst' the friends of
liberty, the -enlightened statesmen and phijusophic
:patriots of thiS realm. Let the reader turn but to
,thettanics of those senators and their speeches, wino
asSisted the worthy mover of the recent resolution,
Jo obtain his. hard earned triumph over an. enemy un-
worthy of hilts and them; next, let the conjoint ar-
,gurnent, ititelligence; and reputation, of the advocates
for equal rights under a free constitution; be weighed
ne'ainst those of their befflecrthOugh licit yet resigned
"antagonists; and, in conclusion, let the experhaient
'be Crowned-by an unbiassed consideratioq whether,
:ever, upon any political question in 'English history,
there has appeared...such
.a. long, protracted contest
heiweii forces essentially so unequal,—where all the
mind has been opposed with yo much •suecese.by
prejudice resting on mete numbers ! But it would
he absurd to imagine that, the battle is finally won,
and,still more so, that the. fruits of it are placed be.
yond the power of resumption. Two facts have
besu•stated•in -the course-of the last few days, .which
to some• persons are most dishonourable.. First; that
=any Members' avowedly friends to emancipation,
have absented' themselves from the House of Com-
mie:as lather than vote in tt s'econd instance against
the pleastrie of the Count. • Secondly, that other
friends of the ineasere will not iiiv4 it their, support,
;until a strong majorityis,exhibited iu its favour, in-
dependent of them. We .trust that -both such
classes of time-servers tvill --live to be exposed,
and irretrievably disgraced. The wretched slave of
`Royal -.caprice' and prejudice can hope for nothing
but obloquy from the ptiblic, and contemptuous in-
Itatitilde from this quarter lot Which he sa:ctilices his
principles ansliriencrs.; while the .only-leSs-vile eoin-
,proniiser of his fixed OPluien fOrt4 , inglorious im-
munities of a iniSealled , eircumsp,ection, will earn no
,better title than that of traitor from those against
_whom finally declares, and coward fronts the vic-
torious party with whom, at- the eleventh hours he
.co-operates. Men disposed to act as we have hinted
at, ought to look about them now. They are at
this moment marked men. If they attend the fu-
ture divisions on the several stages of the measure
which is to be founded on the Vote of Monday night,
'they may yet- redeem their character, and secure a
:place among the friends of freedom and ,national
national
tranquillity : if not, we have already' foretOld their
:fate. Sir Francis Burdett, it will be seen by last
night's proceedings, has, at the importunate request
IA Mr. Peel, put off to Friday next his proposition
to communicate the .vote of the House of Commons
:to_ the Lords, and to desire their concurrence. We
trust that no manoeuvre will be put in preparation to
turn this delay to account against the Catholics, and
that the favourable majority will be rather enlarged
than weakened : at present, it As hardly of calibre
enough to make an impression oat the repugnants of other House of Parliament. —Times. -
An unworthy attempt was made while the re-
porters were excluded from the gallery, by the op-
ponents of the Catholic Claims, to negative the
resolution to Which the House had' just agreed, by
taking advantage of the absence of many of the
supporters of the question, (who had left the House
in confidence that no further discussion would arise)
to call for a
second divisions on the sakvo raerseohluatvioi)iyi
being proposed in 'the .Committee.
to say that this disingenuous attempt was frustrated
straightforwardti.tdferinination of
by the manly and
Mr: Ward, Membedr far.votd intei thecimin oritoyndloten'x'vo'v
said, though he
not give his countenance to so unfair aproceedis,
,We trust, under these ctircumstances ,he friends 'of
religious liberty will riot relax in their attendance
,tnting the prOgress of those measures which may
he °rounded on the vote of Monday
The discussion which took Owe. last night in the
.
house of Commons Ow the proposa .1 of a grant of
money to the son of the late Mr. Canning,
now heir
to a peerage, will at least .recall feelings. of
-solicits
t' )r the loss of that. eminent statesman.
The
opposed and sup Porte- by persorshofgrtainet
highest character in the realm. The nation, which
is always happy .to see the King distribute honours,
does., no doubt, wince, in the present state of its
finance, at any application of that money of which it
feels that itself has-,s 6 great need ; but, at the end of
.the late war"
with how lavish an hand Were pen-
sions granted 'to the military commanders who had
been made lords,—not for one, or even two and
--three lives, but for ever l . And- it has been ob-
served by 'one of the acutest of modern historians,
'that it is a proof of barbarism when the rewards
of a state arc conferredon,the profesaors of arms
Only, and those who
serve 'their country in
civil capacities labour„ under
comparativeaxli neglect.
•
The attempt to draW upon mr. cn
• ug's lank
exchequer, or, proposed pension, for the expense of
be was tine Of4eiai
hose public Messures which
adviser, and which measures may_ not have met the
approbation of the person thus opposing the grant,.aits
is a new device in politics.M
We wish that r. a-
ning's genius could have inspired any other meinbcl
to deal with:the author of that device as he deserved.
This was just an occasion to have called forth