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

opinion respecting the Catholic Associations. He (Mr.
Brownlow) would say that such an Association as the
latter would not be allowed in England; and although
no legal opinion had been given, yet he considered that
it was at variance not only with the laws, but with tie
constitution of the country. He thought that the Ca.
tholic Association had transgressed the spirit of the
laws and of the constitution, and he was anxious that
the Right Honourable Gentleman should have givea
his opinion upon it.

Mr. PLUNKETT begged to offer a few observations
in answer to what had fallen from the Honourable

Member who had just sat down, and the Ilonourab1;
Member for Surrey (Mr. H. Sumner), respecting his
(Mr. Plunkett's) opinion with regard to the Catholic As.
sociation. tie would throw himself upon the camit,:.r
and fairness of the Haase whether they had a right
press him for his legal opinion upon the subject?—
, (Hear). The Honourable Member who presente,i :Le
Petition stated that the Roman Catholic Asviiiati:.:lll.ld

violated the it of the laws and constitution. W,„ Ile
(Mr. Plunkett), being the public prosecutor of 1%111,4
bound to give his opinion respecting the legality of
this Association ?—(Hear.) Ile would say, in answer
to what bad fallen f►om the Honourable Member for

n tequirett. Surrey, that the Roman Catholic Associatio
to be narrowly watched. He thought that it was cal.
culated to endanger the public peace, and was calcu.
lated to injure the cause of the Roman Catholics, unfor.
tunately, rather than benefit them. Still he was ready
,to say, and he would not be drawn into a di.cussion urr
the subject, that the Orange Associations were illegal,
and he would still maintain the right to exercise Lis

own discretion respecting them, but be would not give
a legal opinion respecting the Catholic Association.
Mr. Secretary CANNING, though not bound to pay
any attention to the call made upon the Ministers of his
MiajeAy's Government, was anxious to exempt himselt
from any blame. The Hon. Gentleman had disappointed
him, inasmuch as that he had produced no specific
substantial subject, upon W Lich an opinion could be ei-
pressed one way or the other, as he (Mr. Canning) Lad
reason to expect. Ile did not agree that any Gentleman
had a light, upon the mete loans of presenting a peti-
tion, to call on the Ministers of his Majesty's Govern-
ment to raise and eti.cuss a question connected with the
weightiest affairs of the Empire. He, for one, would
not admit that obligation. Ile held, on the contrary,
that such a course was full of inconvenience. 'the mo-
tion which the Honourable Gentleman made, however,
was merely that a petition should he allowed to lie on
the table. To that be could have no'object:on, Ile
would not have objected, had the Honourable Gentie-
man proposed to refer the petition to the Irish Cornnft•
tee now sitting up stairs, reserving any thing which !e
might have to say upon the whole matter until it had
been made the subject of a particular motion. But nf
all things which could he asked of the Administration of
a Government in that house, surely the most imp -0
would be that of requiting them to lay down the law
to the House ; to demand a legal opinion of them
where the law was only supposed to be indefinite, was
surely the most mistaken notion of their functions which
could be conceived. He hoped that when they did
offer their opinions, they would always be expressed in
a manner which would claim respect from the House.
For his own part, he sought no more of that respect ;It
consideration of the station which he had the honour to
hold in the Government, than might be claimed as n ell
by any other Member of Parliament. Out of that flown
it would be his duty, in doubtful cases of an ordinal r
character, to consult the Law Officers of the Cro,..:i!.
Though he was free from any responsibility as to ditecl-
ing the opinions of the House upon such a paint, Low-
' ever, lie could have had no difficulty its expressing his
opinion generally upon the character of these Asqkia-
tions. Out the most difficult of all duties which evtr
could devolve upon a Government, was that exerci-e of
prudence and firmness which was requited of them by
the use to which free institutions were occasionally ap-
plied, and the feelings and expressions to which
institutions gave rise. There was the nice question to
decide, whether success in the end would retrieve all the
hazard of a conflict—whether there was not tour dan-
ger in a strenuous opposition to things of no lasting im-
portance, than could be incurred by passiveness and
forbearance—whether the strong arm of the law could
effect the whole object aimed at ; or, failing to do than,
if the first endeavour would still he deemed wise awl
expedient—whether, in shat, there would not he mac
danger, and infinitely more of ulterior evil, to be dreaded,
by having to come out of Court defeated, and tollowed
by the insolent triumph of a party already too little
submissive to rule, than could be apprehended troth
passing by an evil, destined from its very nature, and the
agents engaged in it, to sink into speedy insignificatiCt.
Then, if the opinion of Ministers should be, after the
most faithful deliberation, that there was no law for the
case, another question would interpose itself—ought
they to apply to the Legislature to enact a law? It
could by no means follow that the House must deem it
wise to create a law for the case. In that, again, they
must be determined by circumstances, moving in their
deliberations wisely, cautiously—timidly, he had almost
said—not timidly as to the mere sense of danger, but
in the comparison between exigencies of the period, and
the probabilities of future and contingent dangers. As
at present advised in his own mind, he certainly would
give no opinion upon the applicability of the existing
law ; neither would he be tempted by anything which
the Hon. Gentleman might say, to go into a discus-
sion upon one of the gravest subjects which could be
agitated in that House. It was not necessary for hint
to express any opinion after this upon the Catholic Asso-
ciations, which were always more dangerous to the in-
terests of the Catholic body than to those of the country
at large. Wishing well to the peace of Ireland, but
doubting, from the temper in which the Honourable
Gentleman had brought forward the Petition, that any
thing which could occur in the present discussion would
be found conducive to that end, he earnettly wished to
see a conclusion put to it; and with that view could
have no objection to the referring of the Petition to the
Committee sitting upon the disturbances in the Sout:l4
of Ireland.
The SPEAKER said, there was some mistake re-
specting the Motion which was before the Hotte. The
Honourable Member who had given notice on the sub-
ject applied to him to know whether, if in putting his
name down upon the Speaker's paper for the presenta-
tion of the Petition, he could come forward afterwards
and move that it should be referred to a Committee
above stairs? The answer he (the Speaker) gave was,
that it could not be complied with ; for according to
Sessional rule certain days in each week were named in
which the orders of the day had precedence of motions,
and this was one of those days. Besides, the custom of
the House was, that notice of motions of importance