The Sun.
London, England, 1829-03-06 00:00:00

• L.O GTIQUI W gne ,i:e 1,1,1 .1 •.
tail PO so in what I urn about to submit, less from a\ty
Personal object of vindicating the measure 'than from at-
'tempting to satisfy the great hotly of 'ths,t people, that
there is more evil to be apprehended 'from abandoning di?
goestirm than from bringing it !nrward, and this fact has
4tirtriisql the force hf demer'itration to my own mind.
Slr, I cannot thiti; rnntinuing the present system o'
'exclusion in Ireleeid, flume who urge the'responsit!ility
q.. 1 a ineassire Must determine to what extent tiaey
'will push ,c4ert,in principles, and if they lt-re !ta't'i:fied
4!• c iwt pushing those principles to ja 4:errt,titt extent
An. end isgerin.; the esti!,,,slvitent 'they Wish to pre-
,tt-v-, it is n.,t inconsistent with toe .cettrse they have pur-
.l,l, hut it is their linty, to it;t•-ise measures not exactly
consonant in tlm.e. they ye here•of,,re urged.—
( hear.)—Sirt 1 ant a4,mit to addre,s an
I,undei upoet;ints—opon a practical view of this

I 01.11 net seeieg to enter into env slieewetion
envoi abetract pesrote--hots any disquieitiee 1st-reek
upon the theoelee (If facts ; but I em etsing to start.
the gtotresde viten which I, as a Wnister of 'the Ceceen,
feel ',soma to advise, rather than a cerithmea reeittence to
the eat'. rtainine of this question, a deliiietette consideration
of iv. Sir, the outline of my argfineteet is this—that we
ar',•e placed in a position in wltieh we cannot remain—
( Hear, hear, hear )—in a position in which it is 0:1,
slew. that something reenst he dome—(hear, hear' —that
we ronnot rem lin stationary—that there that de-
gree of oral in divided ceuncile and Aieunited cabinets
th ,t is no loneer to he telerstrettl.—(Great cheers.)_
Tiat is my fire: peeitiortse--(Hear, hear.)---,1 do not
is,y at p,eseot what 14 tie. 1 t tom done under Teich cir-
cumstances. 3ly next position is, supposing that is
established, and suppesing it to he admitted that a
united Goverronent must be formed, my next position
is that Government will have the choice of one of tee,
Catlr4(4i -ot action—that they must either advanee or recede
--(hssar, hear, hear,)—.that they roues either grant
further political concessions, or That they must retract
those whic7, have already been granted ; that they must
either remove those barriers which obstruct the flow of
the waters which ere pressing upon them, or they
enwst roll hack the torrent which has been setting
in upon them for the last forty yeere.eo-(Hear.)—
I am asked what new light has broken in Upon rte now?
Ts saw it in 1525, an,' I then advised a course different
to what I advised before. lam told it is net a view
which the Melees of Lords and Commons took before, and
because those difference's rusted on farmer occasions, there
is no reason why the same should not exist now. Why, Sir,
is the existence of politica always the same ? Does it fellow
'that beeline Parliament may have been divided for five
years, that therefore it is to continuee° for 20 or 30 years?
Ave three political events like numbers in mathematics,
'or like moral truisms, without change ? is it not possible
;that those evils which may he durable far ten years, may
67 their continuance and intensity, force on a change?
'gut, Sir, so far as my personal course is con-
trssted, allow me to say, that in the year 1925,
when L being Minister for the Home Department, was
in a minority on the Catholic Question, I felt this at least,
that as a Minister I tnthi not remain eh:ISO-eel with the
management of Irish affairs with a minority on the
question that had the most impatant relations to them.
Sir, I did then seek to be relieved from the duties
which had devolved odors me. I stated to Lord
Liverpool that its my opinion the time was come
when I ought to he relieved froth the eliaree of those
iitTe is. I ',AY°, further to state that it wis notified to me
that my -retirement from office would have involved
also .'ne retirement of Lord Liverpool and others,
:or had I retired, I should have caused a diseolutien of
Parliament. Sir, I hold its my hand proof of this fact.—
I wish to be spared the pain of referring niyself to the let-
ters which passed ten the occasion ; but I will cemmuni-
rate them to any Hon. Gentleman who may wish to Fee
them, The feet is as I have "tate! it. Ilad I retired at
that time, my retirement would have determined the retire-
ment of Lord Liverpool, and the dissolution of the Govern-
ment. When I entered public life, it was under the
Auspices of Lord Liverpool, and I could not bring myself
to resolve upon =fig painful task of determinieg that Noble
Lord's retirement from office by any act. of mine. Such,
Sir, were the motives which at that period induced nie,
neield against my inclination, to remain a Member of the
Cabinet. A new Parliament was elected in 1826. In
1527 this House decided against considering the Catholic
question; but in 1828, last year, it took a different view
of the subject ; and although it slid not pass a Bill, it
aereed to a Resolution favourable to the principle of adjust-
;taunt. Jnilging by the present with reference to the past,
I felt that this House had fairly expressed the sense of the
people.--end that, being decidedly in favour of the claims,
it followed that they meet, ere long, he conceded. Sir, it
is A painful thing for any man to act in a way contrary to
his preconceived opinions ; still more s-hen, in doing so, he
eeeiratee himself front his friends, and exposes hitritelf to
the charge of inconsistency. The events of the last six
weeks may convince any one that this is no easy task. In
the words of that magnificent passage of Dryden—
" 'Tis said with ease, but, oli, how hardly try'd
By haughty souie, to human honour ty'd !
0 slierp eonvuleive pangs of agoineing pride !"
(The Right Hon. Gentleman appeared for a few moment.
to be much agitated, and the House rang with cries of
" hear, hear, hear.")—When, Sir, I felt last year that the
case was as I have stated it to be, I determined to take the
course which I had wished to take in 18,25 ; but with
this difference, that I intimated to the Noble Duke at the
head of hie Majesty's Government, not ooly that I was
anxious to retire from office, hut that I felt so strongly the
current it; public opinion was setting in in favour of the
Catholic Claims, that In whetecer situation I might find
myself, I should not Consider myself
,justified in making-
aey further oppoeitien to those claims.—( Hear. hear. )
To that I afterwards added, that whatever privet,' and per-
eional ?sacrifice it might inflict upon me, I was prepared,
after the events of tee last year, to submit to it, in the sup-
port of any measure which I might consider compatilde
with the safety of the Protestant Establishment. Sir,
my former communications te the House, I detailed the
information which i poswesed reepeeting the present state
of Leland. 1 attempted to sh.,w that in teat country so-
ciel intercourse wee poisoned by the state of thing, as re-
garding this question ; that family was eet against family.
that the fountains of justice were rendered impure, and
that the public tranquillity was disturbed. What, Sir,
was the answer to all tine? That it was "an old story."
That it was a repetition of facts with which we had been
familiar fur twenty years, and therefore, that it atfortled
no reason for a change tif policy. Why, Sir, because it
is an old et iry—obecause it is a statement of evils which
have continue! year after year to exist, that I have been
indueed to undertake to bring before the House the mea-
sure which I aural~ presently propose. The circumstance
of its twine " an tilt! story" may furnish Hon. Gentlemen
with matter of sarcasm aeeinet me rersonally ; hut it is
no way applicable against the ari;iimeot of the necessity of
taking some step on the subject. That these evils have
existed for twenty years is one of the points which
lam must anxious to urge. It is one of the main point's
on which I rest the merits of my case. I believe, Sir, that I
now echo the sentiments of every reasonable man in the
country, I believe that the universal voice of the Em-
pire supports me when I say that sotnething must be done.
(Cheering.) I repeat it, Sir, something must be
done. I ask the House to go back with inn to a
remote period. I ask them to look at the Go-
vernments of this country for the last thirty-five yeare, and
to see the bearing which this question has had upon those
Governments---the distraction that it has caused, and
the weakness which it has produced by having been
suffered to remain as an open question—(Checre.)—l
ask them to look at tie course pursued by the Parlia-
ments of this country with respect to this question, and to
consider itsbearings upon the divisions of those Parliaments,
its hearings also upon the Councils of the King—and the
evil it has caused in all the deliberations upon the state
of Ireland.—(Hear, hear, heac.)—When this is done,
Sir, the House will agree with me, that something must
be done—they will confirm my opinion that
the Administration of Officers in Ireland should
he carried on upon the same ptinciple as those of
England.—(Great cheers.) With respect to the Govern-
meets of the country, this question has produced nothing
hut dissension fir thirty-five years. (Cheers.) When Mr.
Pitt took into his councils the Duke of Portland, Lord
Fitzwilliam, and Mr. Windham, then there was disunion in
the Cabinet. Lord Fitwilliam was appointed to the Go-
vernment of Ireland, professing as he did different opinions
from those which governed the Cabinensnd from that period
to this present there was nothing but disunion. lie left
Ireland in 1794, and why?--on acconnt of the Catholic
Question. Soon afterwards Mr. Pitt retired, and the
Government war dissolved. What was the cause of its
diseolution ?—The Catholic Question.—(Cheering. )—ln
1804 Mr. Pitt resumed office ; in 1806 another Govern.
most succeeded, which, in about eighteen months came
to a termination, and what was the cause ? the
difficulty of the Catholic Question. It also led to the
disselistion of the Government of Lords Grenville and
Grey in 1807, and in that year Mr. Perceval undertook to
form a government decidedly opposed to Emancipation. Till
his death resistance to the Catholic question was main-
tained ; but that resistance was not established on any
permanent grounds, for Lord Castlereagh and Sir.
Canning formed part of his administration, and
were advocates for Catholic Emancipation, though
they waived the then consideration of the question, owing