Star.
London, England, 1805-05-14 00:00:00

101.1.04
a
argument to confnle the Catholics under a- ‘grada-
lion, dcferves to he examined. Do you think the
Cathnrcs n..t worthy to be united at all ?—lf In, any
office filled by them would, of entitle, be ill executed.
But shat would he the confequence of this principle
in every profeflion and trade ?—1 may tell a man
going to the Bat, you may pflibly fecceed, you may
make money, but do you exped to he Chancellor?
It be abfurd for every individual to expect to
be Chancellor, but would it be nothing to tell a man
that lie never could he Chancellor ? Apply it to trade.
A man c. iatmencing bufinefs may be very well pleated
to make a living, with fomething over—but what
would be the confequence of laying it down that no
man's lot hire fhould ever exceed a million ? All fuch
refiriCtions damp ardour, difcourage enterprize, and
unnerve indultry. Place the limit where you pleafe,
Ilill unit limit hasa molt unfavourable influence on the
fpring and activity of the human mind. Few men
may ever make a million, but fill to draw any line by
which the gains of trade should be confined, would
be to &frog the fpirit and energy of a commercial
country. Do we not hear it laid, and are we not
proud to hear i: (aid, by many perfons in this country,
who have :nen front (mall beginnings, " thank GOD
I am a member of a community, where by induflry,
perfererarce, and good conduit, I am permitted, if
I can, to acquire and to enjoy a fortune, equal to that
of the lint Doke in the land ?" Are thefe not cheering
and encouraging confederations; are they not calcu
laud to annulate indultry and to call forth the powers
of the mind ? But what would be the confequence,
if nut only a limit was afligned, but if a particular
dal- of men in the fate were marked out, and re-
ftrained from advantages, which their neighbours
were permitted freely to enjoy ? The cafe may be put
Qiil more f tong, when applied to profeflions. Let
me ask any Gentleman, it it would not damp the ar-
dour of hope, and the energy of exertion, to tell a
man going to the bar, that he might indeed make a
little money by practice, bur that the bonours of the
profeflion were (hut againa him ? Nay, would it not
operate fatally, not tidy on,the zeal of competition,
and the viour of induflry, but might it not operate
too on parents, to deter them from encouraging and
cultivating the talents of their children? It may be
very stile indeed, that many parents are ridiculous in
their hopes of the future eminence of their children ;
bin, the hope that their children may difinguifhthem-
hives often too affords them the means and oppor-
tunity to do fo. And are thefe incitements to induf.
try, theft inducements to cherifh and cultivate talents,
not diminithed by the confideration that, even at the
bar, a Catholic can but run a certain way in the race
with his competitor ; and that, however he may de-
ferve, lie cannot gain the prize ? Apply it now to the
military career, and the cafe appears the (lrongell
of all. Does any man enter into that profeflion for
the fake of a lubtilience ? Are not glory and fame the
grand incentives ? Vet what mutt be the feelings of
the Lieutenant, of the Captain, animated with all the
ardour of thole feelings which tender arms the noble([
profeilion, when he refleas on all he has Peen, all he
has done, all he has Peen others do, when he combines
and compares the meafutes of the Commander, and
thinks how he, in limilar circumffances, would have
acted, what mull be his feelings when he remembers
with a figh—" But I never can command an army ?
'Tis trite I may be a Colonel, but I never can have
a ftiperinr command." Mull not there difireartening
reflections in a profeflion, the foul oP which is glory,
chill ever y generous ardour, and deaden every fpring
of enter prize ? A man of honour may (lilt expofe or
facrifice his life ; but how cruel the diltinaion, how
painful the recollea ion, that while others afpire to the
highell rank and fame, he is for ever precluded from
the proud eminence of chief command ? How can
the military fpirit and entlitniafrn fupport a man
under difcouragements like flick ? And is it nothing
to the Hate thus to reprefs talents that mull prove its
glory And defence ?
Even in the gradation of other offices, the limit
beyond which there is no afcent is of the worki influ-
ence upon the charader. The human mind requires
all the helps and props which circumstances can give
to incite to virtue, and to deter from vice. Ido not
mean to fay, that becattfc a man has reached fomell
thing beyond which he cannot go, that then he is to
become indifferent to reputation. Few might fay,
that then quocunque modo rein was was to be the fole
object. But furely it will not be denied, that an in-
dolence, an indifference might fpring up when the
flimulus to exertion was withdrawn. A man might
do his bare duty par maniere d'acquit, but it would-be
abfurd to expect zeal from the mars, particularly if
the limit of advancement was ittelf to operate as a
fort of brand and degradation. And if there are
bar (nips, is not the bitternefs of them aggravated
when it is telt by fo many—when this degraded con-
dition is the lot of three fourths of the whole people
of Ireland—of one fifth of all his Majelly's European
fubjeas ?

So far then as to the operation of the reflriaions
as they apply to the limitation of the King's Prero-
gative. On this head, however, I may take notice
of the office of Sheriffs, from which Catholics are at
prefent excluded. But furely if there be any danger
to be apprehended from entrulling the office of
Sheriffs to Catholics, good care would be taken that
no fuch perfons fhould be nominated.
The next point is the effed of the rellrillions, fo far
as they affea the right of fitting in Parliament. It
is well known that during the reigns of Queen Eliza-
beth, King James I. Charles I. and down to about
1678, Catholics fat and voted in Parliament ; and I
defy the molt zealous hiftorians to thew that any mil
chief arofe from their doing to. Even Mr. Locke,
who approves the Tell Ad, fays of Catholics being in
Parliament, that it was " very fate and beneficial to
the country."—lt ceafed about the time of the Popifh
Plot, about which, I believe, all who have fet them.
(elves impartially to confider the tranf4dion, mull
have a very decided opinion. Neverthelefs, during
that period, when the Ration was routed to the ut-
moit pitch of alarm, when nothing was heard of but
confpiracies of the rapid minority to murder the via
Protellant majority, when the King's life was to be
affaileJ, the filver bullets prepared, and the King of
Spain ready to land in England to fupport the Catho-
lic pat ty—under the fever which all thofe monttrous
horrors infpired, Catholic Peers were deprived of the
right to lit in Parliament. In fad,this attack on them
was the only thing which the zeal and fury of the
Ines had left to be done againft them. As to the re-
ttriaioss of the right of Catholics to fit in the Houle of