Star.
London, England, 1812-02-04 00:00:00

not the

I in charm tistaken by the mast cal.
,
ious, or by the Most pervers, p
among t .amptillity of Irelaud.--.-
(liar, i the motion, he should
apply tl he h rd tri make, princr,
pally to .:cmplehled of, which the
•
Roman ,fer, abstaining from enter-
ing fort .be legality or illegality
of the ...'onvention Act. He ...
should which dictated those si
measure estension and coutinua.'t
tion of r 3fficient fir him to states
that the unqualified and determined opposition ma,
nifested Ly the Government to the Roman Catholih
proceedings, had produced in them a cooling of dis..
content and dissatisfaction. In the view which he
ook er( the subject, it equally affected the Roman •
Cathollt. and theTrotestant interests ; for the Pra-
testants of that kingdom conceived their own se-
curity best suited in
e!tilltsrauft4vising the eonects4ssiOn...
the • •
low subjects. n c '
House to. the various discussions which herd already
taken place, he should net repeat the arguments of
the friends of the Reman Catholics ; he should not
travel back to the Cr uncils of the Lateran and of
'!'rent ; nor should he think it requisite to enqMre
into the policy adopted by King William :qui Queen
Anne, which perhaps were justified by the necessity
of the case, but which had imposed on them a sort of
degiatian; servitude.—Since that period, however.
rmtch had been ilone fee. their te.i..f within the 1.• st
fiery years, but the e!isabilities, ro far as they embra e
the ..rin:iples of exclusion, still remained. Theae
di,a;l;:ities cluld no! be considered in any other light
than in that of reproach, and as on the part of The
Government, a wanton infliction of disgrace on nearly
fie whole of the population of Ireland. Ile knew it
haei been contended that the removal of them would
not ;ttlect the great majority, ft that the prie-ate sol- ,
diet or sailit would not lea his situation bettered by
the elevation of his officer to the li4zhest rank in th
army el- navy, by the resumption by the nobility of
t! .e y seats in P.oliantent, or the preferment
of th,sni to the higlie•a offices in the State. That such
etsctrines should he held forli, was, in his opinion,
contsary to the general and best feel:ngs of litimal
natures. (Hear, hear.) To the removal there weri..7;,,
two dosses et objections stated : firs', that the prinak, ;
ciple was dangerous and ought not to he recognised ;
and the second class object to the time in which the
subject is briarght forward. To these object;ons
he would reply, by desiring the house to look at the
population of Ireland, in respect to the Catholics,
and to the statement of their leaders, who deny that'
their object is to build a Catholic hierarchy on the
Protestant establishment. When the Union was ef-
fected, it was on the understanding that the intention
of the Goverinnent was to give relief ; hot how bad
those expectations been realised t The Noble Lord
then passed an eulogium on the exertions of Mr. Pot
and Mr. Grattan in the Catholic Cause, and then re-
ferred to the second objection, as to time, conceiving
that under the present situation of affairs on the Con-
enent, with a population so 'daze as that of Ireland,
the House ought to grasp the present moment, in
opposition to the objections thus urged, and by al
spontaneous measure atone for the series of injustice
and oppression which, since the connection of Eng-
land with Ireland, had disgraced the former country.
The adoption of the motion would add a grace to
the measure, wl.ich would secure the affections of a
noble and generous hearted people. (Hear, b.dir .)
He did not wish to press the House to an unqualitiell
acquiescence with all the claims of the R 'man Ca-
tholics, but to enter, enquire into, and deliberate
uFon those claims. This was not the time to pro-
crastinate, when the whole of the Powers c,f Europe
were witl:n the cuntroul of an enemy who had col-
ducted the battles on the Continent with an energy
hitherto unparal.eled. It bad been stated, that the
conduct of the Catholics in urging their claims was a
stepping stone to their ambition." Whit was the
conduct of the Catholics in answer to this reproach ?
They endured it with patience—they evinced their
loyalty and affection by manning the navy and re-
cruiting the army. Was it right to proceed with se-
verity against such persons—to suspect their loyalty
—to disappoint their hopes—and to hold them forth
to their feliow•sul.jects as engaged in a d.irk conspi.
racy to endanger the safety of theStatel (hear, hear:)
He thought he was justified in asserting that Govern-
ment had produced that state of things of which they
now complained, but which loudly demands expla-
nation. The Noble Lord concluded with moving
as a Resolution—

'• That the House do resolve itself into a Committee of the
whole House, to take into consideration the present State of
IttLut.i."

The Marquis. of TAVISTOCK seconCed the mo-
tion, agreeing with all his Noble Friend had advan-
ced in support of it. •
Sir JOHN NICHOL,L. qbserved, that the speech
of the Noble Lord related chiefly to the state of die
Catholic clrrg.. It was a question that had been -
frequently discussed. To come at a tight conclu-
sion, it would be necessary to separate it from gene-
ral typics. Mich had been sa'd in former debites,
as to the natural rights and constitutional privileges
of the Catholics—of their emancipation :as if they
were in a state of slavery—as if they were in a state
of persecution—(Hear, hear.) Much had been said
toq on the blessings of Civil and Religious Liberty.
He trusted, however, that there was hardly an intel-
ligent person who did not abhor and detest intole-
rance—who did not hold the blessings of Civil and
Religious Liberty in the greatest respect. It was not
necessary to cease to be a Christian in order to be.
come a bigot ; but if those who valued civil and re-
ligious liberty were to be liable to the imputation of
having raised the cry of "'the Church is in danger;"
and of " no Popery," as an artful attempt to runaway
with the natural rights of one class of his Majesty's