Star.
London, England, 1824-06-01 00:00:00

'4on Niatured and dispassionate judgment. Indeed,'
if he had any prejudice at all on the question, it would,
not be a prejudice in favour of these Petitioners. It
would rather be the other way. He was convinced of
the justice of the cause of the Petitioners, of its urgency,
and of its ultimate '
success—(Hear, hear, hear). He
was convinced that it was absolutely certain it would
succeed sooner or later; that its success was indeed as
certain as any event depending upon physical causes.
He repeated, that he had no wish to draw discussion
upon the sabject at that moment. His only desire was
to state his own individual opinion. He concluded by
moving that the Petition be brought up.—The Petition
was accordingly brought up, read, and ordered to lie
on the table, and be printed.
A Message from the Lords here announced their Lordships'
assent to several Bills.

'inducing me to deviate troth that even course which
I have -hitherto pursued, with what degree of pro-
priety I will leave this .HOuse and the Country to,
judge—(Hear, hear)—and which it is my determine-
non steadily and fearlessly to move in for the future.—
(Hear). The HonouVable Member may, above all
things, assure himself, that in the prosecution of my
duty as the Law Offiaer. and Public Prosecutor of
t' he Crown in Ireland, it is my intention to exercise
no left-handed justice--( Loud cries of Hear, hear);—
and that every transgtesSion of the law, from whatever
cparter or from whatever party it may emanate—
(Hear, hear!)—shall, when it comes under my cogni-
sance, be prosecuted with strict and impartial justice.
With respect to the H'6nourable Member himself, who
has this evening not only expressed himself the advocate
and vindicator of the Orange Association in Ireland,
but openly avowed himself a member of that body,
which I, as the Attorney General of Ireland, have pro-
nounced and do pronounce to be illegal—(icar, hear)
I can assure the Honourable Member, that if he will
furnish me with satisfactory proofs of the truth of his
assertion, neither my respect for his rank, his wealth,
nor the station which he holds amongst his party, will
prevent me from doing my duty in enforcing the penal-
ties of the law against him—(Hear, hear, hear!) Now,
Sir, one word as to the Catholic Association, with respect
to the legality or illegality of which I do not feel myself
bound to express any opinion at present; I can only
say, that nobody is more convinced than I am, not even
the Honourable Member himself, of the necessity of at-
tending to and closely watching its proceedings—(Hear,
hear !)—and while I have the honour to occupy the
situation which I now hold, I can as' ure the House (to
that portion of the House who know me the assurance
is I trust unnecessary) that I shall not be wanting, whe-
ther as a Legislator or a Public Prosecutor, to the faith-
ful, conscientious, and impartial di• charge of my duty.
After the avowal which the Honour able Member has
'just made, I will not a--l; him why he has confined him-
self to a reprobation of the Catholic Association, having
never originated or joined in any motion tor the sup-
pression of the Or a;ige which are at least
equally dangerous to the tettce of the country, and have
been pronounced illegal by this House. The Honour.
able Member may per haps think he has discharged his
duty by declaring, as he has done to-night, that he did
not approve or their meeting in procession ; but I tell
the honourable Member for Armagh, who has had the
boldness to come forward in the face of this House,
and avow his connection with a society which die laws
nt liis country have denounced—(l-lear)—a society
which has perpetuated the discontents of Ireland, and
which has marked its pi ogress by scenes of violence
and outrage and blood—(!'fear, hear)—that he has but
imperfectly dicharged his duty by thus partially dis-
countenancing their proceedings. If Gentlemen (like
the Honourable 'Member) of high birth, large fortune,
and prominent station, will lend themselves to such a
Society, and condescend to mix with the lowest dregs
of mankind, they may find it difficult, when the hour
of retribution comes, to disengage themselves from their
associates. I would therefore recommend the Honeur-
able Member to reflect seriously upon this subject, and
when he has done so, he may perhaps find that Ike
advice with which he has favoured me this evening,
might have been as well kept to himself:"—(Hear).
Mr. M. FITZGERALD said, that from the period of
the King's visit to Ireland, donir to nearly the prevent
moment, the Roman Catholics had a disposition to bury
their animosities in oblivion, and to shake hands with
their opponents. They had only abandoned this pacific
disposition, because the Protestant party had assumed
an attitude of defiance—( Hear).
Sir T. LETIIBRIDGE supported the Petition, and
contended that the Orange Societies in Ireland were only
established to counteract the influence of the Catholic
Association. He thought that the Honourable Member
(Mr. Brownlow) was entitled to the thanks of the whole
empire for having brought the subject before the House.
Mr. C. IdUTCIIINSON had heard the remarks of the
Learned Attorney-General for Ireland with infinite satis-
faction, and be hoped that they had met with the appro-
bation 01. all his colleagues. It was useless for the Right
11,atonrable Secretary for Foreign Affairs to flatter him-
self that he had discharged his duty to the empire, whilst
he left the Catholics of Ireland in their present state of
oppression. He gave the Right Honourable Gentleman
credit for the liberal policy which he had pursued since
he came into office, with the exception of all that related
to the Spanish war ; but he would not have done all
that was expected of him until he had redeemed the
pledge which he had given to the Catholic population
of lielan,l—(llear).
Colonel TRENCH observed, that whatever the inten-
tions of the Catholic Board might be, their proceedings
were most disastrous to Ireland. He had looked at the
proceedings of that self-constituted Parliament, under
its Protector, O'Connell, with great alarm. They had
recently recommended that the Catholic population in
every part of Ireland should give every facility to the.
collection of tithes in kind. The interpretation which he
put upon this insidious proposition was, that it was in-
tended to prevent the Protestant Clergy from getting
any tithes at all. Ile believed that the Catholic Asso-
ciation wished to see Catholic supremacy established in
Ireland; and lie was sorry to say that he had heard lan-
gua4e in that House tending to a similar object.
Mr. H. SUMNER supported the Petition, and corn.'
plained of the conduct of the Irish Attorney-General in
withholding an explanation upon the legality or ille-
gality of these most dangerous Catholic Associations.
Mr. E. WARRE expressed his surprise that this sub-
ject should have been taken up in the tone and manner
which had been adopted by those who supported the Pe-
tition, as if there was nothing worthy of the considera-
tion of Parliament in that which was unconsciously ad-
mitted by his Honourable Friend who presented the Pe-
tition—that the Catholic population of Ireland were so
feelingly alive to the question of their religious rights,
that there was scarcely man, woman, or child among
them who was not able to couch a Petition to Parliament
in proper terms upon that subject.
Mr. BROWNLOW rose to reply. He complained
that the Right Hon. Gentleman the Attorney-General
for Ireland had not stated whether the Catholic Asso-
ciation was legal or not—(Hear, hear). He had as-
serted that if he (Mr. Brownlow) would give him infor-
mation respecting the Orange Associations of Ireland,
he
information ( tlreA t to rhnee Ay-General)
re.n
Be rraol )wwthoouwl p)
rosecuteready th e
tom
vTeh
to
better
their
ropurt nhi
nterc yi Orangep—l e (s Hweea
rre,
Associationsh ear)
understood,.
werewb
yass
oc
konn
iv nouwi
cnnhc, e that am moret
more
ee
would they be taken from under the cloud by which
on many occasions they were obscured. The Right
Hon. Gentleman had expressly said, that the Orange As•
sociations were illegal; but be had declined giving as

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