Star.
London, England, 1829-03-07 00:00:00

•
-11 aye a little present. ease. they 'ay they can't
; tiarne.a lull to suppress the Catholic Association with:.
•• nut granting • Catholic Emancipation. This was the
c mpact with the Catholics of It eland; but did the peo-
ple of England gain any eq•lsailent for what they gave
II.? The s.ttlement of 1688 et As intended by their an.
castor's so be is permanent as any hunsau institution—
' 'nom[ to be given away in barter—but now the secniity of
' Tliat'settlement was to be bartered for a Bill to suppress
• Ole' Catt.olicAssociation, and that 8.11 gave little ;fiance
of mote than temporary tranquillity in Ireland. We were
piing to bre.k in upon the pritiaiples of the revolivine'
of 1638, fir the purpose of putch.u.ing a precertouvl
truce with Vie CatholicAssociatian: The King S Speech
recommended to take the whole subject of the state of
Ireland into consideraion ; the measure had bten in-,
tt °doted without sufficient notice. He hoped time %solid
be .Jorded frt itslutl discussion—to allow the lull ex-.
pressiou of the opinion of the people on a measure more
important than any that had been submitted to Partial-
liiei.t since the accession i f the present family—( Hear).
'Mt. NORTH said, the Hodborable Gentleman wb.i
'ad just sat down, said the measure now ploposed
*veld riot estkhltsh trarqiiillity in Ireland. lb had
waited with anxiety to hear Com the Hon. Gentlemair
the ineisure• he had to ',foliose which was to put t.• 11
shame the measure of his Right Hon. Friend, end effec.l
toally tranquillize Ireland. He had waited with
,anxiety, but had experienced nothing but disappoint.'
stint, for the Hon. Gentleman had come to a most
lame and impotent conclusion. The Hon. Gentleman'
said the Catholics had ulterior objects, and the messing'
saes no security; but the question was, did we part,
• with afty security ? He was attached to the Established
'Church by all the feelings of his nature—by all the ha-
. bits of his life—by ties of ' friendship and of gratitude;
and if we were to part with any of the securities of that
Chutek he would as soon part with his tight hand.
Bat was -it a security to be the cause, the degradation,
and misery of the people; to be the barrier that kept
the people divided, and prevented them joining hand
. and heart in•promoting.the prosperity of the country?
' The measure would give the seanity of removing the,
• . s
. dissensions by which the people were distracted and di.'
aided, would slake man feel that religion was the ne-
ce•sity of his nature, and engendered the kindliest feel.
ings of humanity. He would ask the Honourable Mem-
• bet for OxfordOir It. Inglis), whether he thought the
present state of the Church in Ireland could c.induce
to religious feeling? It plucked out the heart of le-
figion, which was charity ; it put a canker in every
heart, and was prepared to put a dagger in every hand.
The Clergy de-tended from the pulpit, where they
Iflnuld preach peace, to mix in the assemblies of an in•
flamed people, and preach' ivil war? Were these the
means by which they would• suppiirt the Church and
preserve tranquilli.y in Ireland? As a native of Ire-
lend, if he had any partiality; it was for his Protestant
countrymen rather than his Catholic; but tie would
. •tell the Honourable Gentleman that such a state as
that' of Ireland 'etorld• not ex;st with tranquillity'in any
pOnntryon the gl'Obe; ' The cause was not in the nature
s.s." F of* itawn et, but. in the law—in the idolised awes
'
..tidancy veltteh• had so many idolatrous worshil.pers—
(Hear). They say the Constituti•in of 1688 is now •to
be broken in upon,. -but the ascendancy in Ireland
had _hip practically gone fox' the last fifteen years.
.:-.'ffie ascendancy which they now worship is the
poet of one that is depatted, and only exists a phantom
`"in their imaginations. They say that this measure
4 Oil to give. ..power 'to the Catholics of Ireland. He
would tell them thit power was'not in their gift. The
' Catholics of Ireland risen a Wier beyond them, which
' though not now io be given, may be regula ed. Abu-
i sion had been made to brute force; be set uld ask those
:who-made it, were we to call up a brute force into re•
- hellion, or enlist it in your service and make it contri-
bute to the security and prosperity and greatness of the
Xmpire? Every part of the speech of the Hon. Gen-
tleman who spoke last manifested his.ignorance of Ire-
. land, but most when he talked of this measure as the
price of putting down the Catholic Association. He
would tell him • that 'the Catholic Association should
pever appear, •and yet direct agitation should distract
the land. The courts of law should be the theatres
i of agitation. A father brings an action for the
seduction of his daughter.—it becomes a party question,
and agitates the -whole errantly. A Magistrate accepts
of bail or refuses to accept of bail—he essay be right Or
he may be wrong ; in either case agitation is the result.
The chapel must be open for worship: the preacher
' will pant with one hand to the silenced Association—.
with the other -to .the altar of their common suffer.
ing—(Hear, hear). There was but ore remedy—the
I remedy provided by the wisdom of the Ministers and
. 1 . the benevolence of the Sovereign—the remedy Of equal
r law--b.{Hear, hear). Bring the Catholic Association
' ~ into, that House, plant on a British stock those etre,
-'• berant Irish bianctes, and they would bear generous
4(14, of which they need - not be ashamed: The
• Revolution of 1688 proved the right of. Parliament to,
legislate in all cases for the good of the people:.-those
religious people who thought otherwise, read it as the
Devil read S:ripture—(Hear, and a laugh). There was
no cause to complain of being taken by suiptise, as no
measure was ever more debated. Those who made that
complaint showed themselves incapable of discovering
the signs of the times. They remind him of old Dobson,.
in Mrs. Thiele's is Three Warnings,* who was surprised
•
at the approach of death, though he was grown deaf,
I and bline, and lame, which appeared to be their case.
1 They appeared to be like that stiff necked generation
I •
who would net be persuaded though one rose from the
dead. He thought the Noble Duke at the head of the
I Government, and the Right Hon. Gentleman, bad
r achieved the noblest of victories, and had forever entitled
themselves to the gratitude of a loyal and grateful people.
it The Earl of UXBRIDGE observed, that during me
r litho* speech 01 tn. Risk Hon.Secietary•Of State last
t eight. whichu & edopied teur bolus in Wetting, be had
I. not been able to detect alit outline or pled of an 'equi-
p valent to the Protestant irasidi he could denominate a
F wonky against eneroiclunent on the part of the Ca•
If iholie.- He regretted extremely the •part which the
y
Bight:Hoe. Sec tetarj had taken on this beca‘ion.- He
s• toorrneeted the manly firnsness with 'whit!! that Rigtit
am Gentleman had wrovredflar diffeivnt sedtiments,
iff when be, though toenu .ng part et the administration of
Nr.Civsning. it:hosed to barter consistency' for a tam.
da porary pipe/inky. Would to GOD he'herl coritimiedt i
Iry Mitintain ,tiri same sensiments to this. hrur ; tor if the
st moo in oat Protestant Coatitotion t Auld be port by
to i asp Wage it speeld be .:by rise di! et et those' with
Ell, whom it a detintifst ideistified tothe rinks Of the inetie:
mg t' 'Or H. *MN initieJe 4, 'that aie soldier h‘e•Vailt
di. e .I,lel'..nitt) c isfirsi', 'his' iy,inPiettiy had: altalts he a.
slit itticiath aacitid 'lna ards' hi; Catholic Mow' evelii7,-
iisoN , sue.,, whet hi s.rit. the *au' aurisfier'ot Persi,ns'of that
ea-• p..;:;nr,l-ii•ss 110
..1,11 heti en st ',ear kvot. the:dsf •odervol
is. I, el, 50,,,,5t, y ; sod lbdt I.- cling was heiglitated by the
:an secolaction 4.1 rle VA .Cll u. • blovion of all rafrgirrustili..
by' 1 i ran MII4,O7TCh ChArietel tieA their •CritiTti-qia she Vas
lee. 94.114' tivOiri and prodigallyshed& • their i I d
, .
.. rug I '"'
dent in t) e delete, eof.a • Protestant throne. He regte.tc.'
ant • the 1,110,,ge which had been used so intereps-
. At

rawly at the public meetings of the Catholic Alio,*
citation, because, as they seemed to be determined to'
abolish tithes, and had designated the union its
horrible measure which ought to be repealed, extreme
excitement and alarm had been the consequence.
He saw, in common with thoolficial supporters of the
I measure. the danger to attach the 'country was exposed.
and he felt the time was now arrive! selian it btscame
eve.), man to speak his sentiment. boldly. He was
prepared to make a -concession on grounds of p
anJ expediency, when the case was cleat l 7 made out
that such was necessary, which he would t,ace sternly
refused were ten' thousand bayonets at his breast in or.
der to extort it from his fears. It had been said this
country had only to exert itself and stretch forth it.
arm. and it could immediately put down the Catholics,
it they ems appeared in array against the constituted
nthoritie., and the appeal had been made to the pre
cedent of 1798. when this country was plunged into all
the horrors of a civil war. Could any one recollect
without horror the fatal precedent of t le Irish rebellion
—the loss in fife—the destitution of whole families—
the de.truction and cruelty which characterised that
per iod ?

" it is excellent
" To have a giant's strength. but it is tyrannous
" To use It like a giant."

With these sentiments. he confessed he felt anxious that
the rights of the establishedchuich should be protected ;
and he hoped the securities intended to be offered would
be such as would ensure general satisfaction. He trusted
the bood now intended to be granted would be as
thankfully received by the Catholics as he must say it
was liberally offered by Government, and that the whole
arrangement would tend to the amelioratioa of the
condition and foal prosperity of Ireland.
The Marquis of BLANDFORD almost felt it neces-
sary that be should preface the few observations he had
to make by some apology for his previous silence. He
maintained that it the House sanctioned the presint
audacious invasion of the Constitution, it would break
the trust reposed in it as the representatives of the people
of England, who, tie contended, were taken by surprise
by the most unexpected announcement of Ministers at
the opening of the Session. Was it right, he asked, for
the Government to.peisist in measures to which public
teeling st as so ►trongly opposed? Ile confidently
answered no; for he contended, vat constituted as the
House was then, it did not express the alarms. the just
alarms, it the pi ople for the safety of the Protestant
institutions cf the coun,ry—(Hear). Ministers should
first have taken the Ueliberate opinions of the public
before they puoceeded with their intended invasion of
the Cor►strtutir'n. It was asserted by a distinguished
periodical writer. as a sort of apology for the present
measure. that a change if policy was necessary when
the enemy had become ten times too strong for the ex-
isting means of defence. Bit he asked, ss by was the
.nemy permitted 'to grow ten times too strong? He
trusted the House would join with him in cond. maing
the timid, uncotistitutional, temporising policy of Ms.
nisters—the rather as, notwithstanding the long state•
malt of the Right Hon. Secretary for the Home De.
partment, he maintained the intended measure was not
a choice between civil war and a repeal of the penal•
laws against the Catholics, but between a civil war and
an unqualified concession to the demands of Jesuits and
Jacobins. A peril so dangerous to them all be was
sure would not be submitted to.

Mr. ESICOURT defended himself from the impu-
tation which the speech of the Right Hun. Gentleman
(Mr. Peel) was calculated to cast upon hien, in that pas-
'sage which referred to his silence opon the subject of
the Catholic Claims. He had always considered the
powers of the Right Hon. Gent. to be so much beyond
his own in the awrocacy of the rights of the Established
Church, that he rested his hopes upon the. Right Hon.
Gentleman's ezert•ons, and refaited from obtruding his
opinions upon the House. His opinions, however, Mere
not the less firmly fitedagainst the propriety or policy
of concession. arid he had invariably supported them to
the atm ist extent of his power. Ihe Right Honourable
Gentleman had declared, when attempting to answer
the arguments of those who pressed for an appeal to the
people. that the Parliament of 1826 might be said to ex-
press very fairly the opinions of the country upon this
questi•in. The Right Hon. Gentleman, however, seemed
to forget that this Parliameut was chosen during the
'Administration of Lord Liverpool, and that the country
relied with confidence upon the known attachment of
that Noble Lord to those principles which his Right Hon.
Friend then also professed with so much seal. This
fact, in his opinion, tended much to allay that alarm
and suspicion which would have beers felt under dif•
ferent circumstances; and he contended that the Go.
vernment would not act fairly by the people unless it
permitted them to declare that alteration in their opi-
nions to which a different state of circumstance. must
have given rise. The Honourable Member then pro.
ceeded, amidst expressions of impatience from the
House, which rendered the greater part of his °laser •
vatiens inaudible, to comment upon die nature of the
Constitution as established in 1688, and to argue. that
as that Constitution was established by a Parliament
chosen expressly for the purpose, so they ought now to
have a, Parliament chosen expressly to consider the great
and important alterations which are about to be intro-
duced into that Settlement which they effected. He
contended that the Preamble of the Act of Settlement
telly bore him out in the assertion, that it was intended
to exclude a Popish King: and Popish Council'', and I
that no alteration ought to be made in that Settlement
without the consent of the people. He also contended
that the provisions now about to be introduced as an
amendment of that Act, contained no security for the in-
tegrity of the Pt6testant establishments ; end he directed
the attention of the Right Hon.Gent.(Nlr.Peel) and of the
' Hon. and LiarnedGent. near him(tbe Solicitor General),
to the declaration contained in the clever and ingenious
speech of the Hnnoutable Member for Colchester (Mr.
Harvey), that the effect of this change-ran effect upon
which he congratulated the House and the country—
would
be to diminish and curtail the overgrown emo-
luments of the Church. When such sentiments as these
were openly Avowed, and when the measures which
emanated from the Governineot had a direct tendency
to promote their, success, it was. not extraordinary that
the Clergy should stand forms; d to defend their pro-
perty!. The Hon. Member concluded by repeating his
obpctions tis the innovations contemplated by his Ma.
je,tes Government. '
Sir T. LETHBRIDGE priged.the indulgence of the,
House whilst he eaplained 4is reasons for taking an
oppo,ite cuersy to wlfai he tad On on former occa.
.sidtis. It 04i plllOl4 `to him to &elate from his old
tilende.'boe he hid .it' ditty, ti peift:ris to the empire,,
'units Which no resifortsihility or dit6culty would deter
.4111116- lid had :loaf said that the m 'merit %mild not
mite- Oki. the three estates 'of the millet might enter-
/ion the q estitin-i-this moment had -time arrived, and
sue WiUtild.seilisolt.itirlere teas, in his opinion,' no other
!isisrof ineestitg the difficultied tif'the Country. If he
1 .
,iereve:io.eartit.itheappeehended no excitement through.
rut the empire after this measure should be carried. he
mould say what be did himself believe, but he thought

. •
-this the best choice of difficulties. In his arnscienee
he belie veil thit the feeling of the co.untry was very
isnch altered reipecung it. He was now contending
in the face of the majority of hii constituents, toot
the questioo should be settled. The Hon. %Nisbet
had slid that that there were no securities in this mea-
sate. He begged leave to differ from the H in. Mem•
'bet, though true u was that there were no restrictions,
but he bad hoard adequate reasons from his Right Hon.
Friend fir inviting them.
.He-was astonished to hear
Gentlemen lay that they 'air no reason fir the conver-
siim of his Hon. Friend. Was not his Right limo.
Friend's speech fraught with reasons. which he (Sir
Thomas Lethbridge) was lure wiwltl, tie long, convince
the count' y ? The Hon. Nlenther'for Oxford said that
'he saw no danger to the Protestant. Ascendancy. He
(Sir Thomas) saw none, because it wis in the keeping of
I those who were firm supporters of it. Was not the e a
firm security for the Protestant Constitution in the,
feeling which prevailed both within and without tts•
House of Commons? Was there not a security in tit,
House of Lords? He felt convinced that there was.
and for that reason he would give his support to Minis.
ters for doing that which, under present circumstances.
it was become imperative on them to do.
Colonel SIBTHOR PE was astonished at the wonder.
ful changes which had taken place on this subject ; in
fact, the changes were so rapid that he was at a loss to
know in what • pat t of the. House tolod his friend
where to take his seat. It was On uncommon thing now.
a-days to see the most inveterate opponent become she
most strenuous advocate. With ;es; ect to the proposed
m-asure, there were certain individuals who seemed in-
clined to force it down the throats of the House, in the
same manner in which ball. and drenches were forced
down the throats cf disordered horse.. It would appear
that the sole object of the Right Hon. Secretary was to
conciliate 'and please the Roman Catholics; but he
could assure the Hon. Gentleman that the bitter and
vindictive spirit of the C..tholic., should they be per-
'touted to have power, would n .t rest until they had
succeeded in wheel:ins the established religion of the
country.
S.r J. NEWPORT observed, that after a long life,
which had been spent in watching to promote the best in-
terms of the country, he trusted that he might be per.
omitted to say a few words. It was allowed on all hands,
that the present state of things could not last. lie heard
people call for the protection of theCnnstitution of 1688,
who represented places which opposed that Constitu-
tion for a century. He would ask any person.who knew
any thing of Ireland, if she reaped any benefit from that
Constitution ? If he • ere asked for seeur ties. he would
say that the IlleilaUle itself was security —es it would
place all his Majesty's subjects, of whatever religious
denomination, under one banner fur the protection of
the Empire. But in the existing state of things. the
Stale rribbet itself of its best interests—the affeciions
of the people. %Yoh respect to the measure itself, he
would say, that it should gratify every reasonable man.
In conceding to the Bill for distr., chiming the 40..
freeholders, he ntu.t make a paramount sacrifice of
principle, but he was ready to make th rt sacrifice to
.purchase such a benefit for his country—though he was
'well swami, that in making this declaration, be was
taking upon himself no Small share of obloquy; but he
had lived long enough to know that a conscientious
discharge of public duty was the be.t reward a public
man could receive. He hoe* the charge of inconsistency
made.against the Right Hon. Secretary • as personally
directed against him—:perionally. not on public, but
on private grounds; but public men in their consitta
should 'guided by circumstance., and not on ant
pre-conceived opinions. His object in intruding himself
on their notice, was to declare his adherence to the
measute as it pow stood; yet at a sacrifice which the
public good tequired.
Mr. HIJSKISSON could not forbear adverting to
the argurikitts Of. the Member for Oxford (Mr. East.
hope), which. were so extraordinary that he thought he
must have misconceived him ; if so, he would afford him
an opportunity for explanation. The Honourable
Member had referred to the Constitution of 1688, and
in speaking of a measure which was brought before the
House at the recommendation of the Crown, had said
that this Parliament was incompetent to judge of it.,
but that a Convention should be assembled similar'
to that of 1688, to consider the question. Did the..
Honourable Member know . that the first act of the
Convention Parliament was to declare that the Crown
had been abdicated, and was then vacan. ? He (Mi.
Husktsson) would say that the present Parliam'ent was
as fit and competent to judge of the q session as army
Parliament which had sat for the last 20 years would
have been ; but it was pre-eminently so when the sub-
ject for discussion was recommended by the Crown.
Having listened to the propitious spirit in which his
Right Hun. Friend had laid before the Muse hia pro-
posed measure, be could not refrain from expressing his
unqualified gratification at the whole of his speech.
Never did he hear words fall froM a Minister of the
Crown with more delight than when he heard his Rt.
Hon. Friend say that the principle of the measure would
be an equality of tights, without any restriction; he
thought that he adapted the measure for that pi inciple,as
his manner was as straightforward and simple as could
be devised. He was happy t m find there was nothing in the
measure which implied any imaginary dangerconcerning
which they had beard so much—no rest, octions or cir-
cumstances to meet pretended danger. It had been
stated, that there *as no reference in the Bill to secu-
rities for 'the Establish:A Church; was there not suffi-
cient securities fur it in the Constitution—in the Union
with Scotland—in the public feeling of the country on
the subject? His Right lion. Fliendnow came f •rwatd
for the first time, to deal out justice to a people of un•
doubted loyalty and constant attachment to the Consti.
tution. As tar as the English Catholics were concerned,
there was not a shadow of pretence 'or security. But the
'state of Ireland might afford some ground for reqiiiring
'security for the E.tablished Chiirch of that country.
'They a ere nosv doing fur the Roman Catholics of Bog.
lend what they ought long ago to have d0m..% a reward
foe the patience with which they bad submitted to (he
'multiplied wrongs which they had experienced. He
w. uld say a few words respecting the lii.h Catholic
Association. An Hon. Member asked why, as the Ad-
ministration were united as to the a enure for sop.
pressing that body in 1825, when they found that mea.
sure ineffectual, they did not come down to Parliament
and introduce a new measure? His answer to that was,
that when it had been brought for ward ion Parliament, it
met with a decided resistance, and a hung and angry
discussion took place, but still it passed into a law ;but
the result of all this was, that the people of Ireland!
thought their grievances should be aken,into coasidera.
Lion ; and the most influential pa. t of the Association re-
commendeda disstAution of that body, for which theh
friends on this side the water felt thankful, and endear
Touted to prom to CathilmEntancipation as far as • as in
their power. tie would ask, in the state in which Ireland
was, after the rejecti of that measure, how could Mi.
nine's propose a second measure (sr the more effectual
suppression of their feelings ? could they come to Par
liameut and ask them to pass a law, the effect of which

•1

mold be to teepees', the who!e of the British COilqtite•
000 in Ireland? If they had d Iteland_eo'lit I
'-been a .state . f clot sae i s c:etN. Ile, .1.1.
formed a dere. minatnin. the C.th. lip 1. *.tion .;
came under console, ti .1 to lend any :
WIC which would ne t:se ext ncti, n e British
Co..stitutuni ice that part of the emoire. He chivied the
agitators f the Association as meth a, any Meniher
of that House could do; he Would put an ea. inguisher
on 'all Parliaments except that in which .t ey sere
now sitting ; and upon all Exchequers eitcypt the Kiri;
Exchequer. He thought it dangeious to place the pen-
ole in a situation wherein they should Itask Inc protec-
ti,n from any other quarter but from th • law. The
only way to put down the Association was by college-
sum, and his wish was, to present the b while it
could be considered such; for if they h tone.
acted in that way, the 'emit would inevitably have been
parley and compromise. He agreed entirely in the
opinion of Mr.Bui ke, who sa d that the gr Lest wisdona
to Government was to groi t, at a proper time, that .
which could not be longer withheld.
Mr. ES moult wished it to be enderstood that he
never said a single word reflecting on the character of
Vie present House of Commons; all he meant to say
was, that a new Pailiainent was the punier tribunal to
decide whether the Constitution of England was to be
changed or not.
Mr. BATLEY did not, deny that the preset t Parlia-
ment was constitutionally competent to try the present
question ; but he thought it was not the fittest tribunal
for such a purpose. lie would ak, what securities did
Government propose? Why, according to the new mea-
sures, it was true there might be a Protestant King; but
th n them might be a Catholic Cabinet and a Catholic
eiliament. He nea r would consent to pull down the
adamantine pillars of the. Constitution to substitute '
Popery. and he leased slavery.
Mr. L. PEEL rose under a strong sense of the im-
portance of the question, and requested that the few
obaivations. he had to make might obtain a hearing.
He could not do justice to his constituents, and the high
regard he entertained for the Protestant Establishment.
it he gave a silent vote. The Honourable Member did
not act upon the vain hope that any thing be could say
would -nod off the blow aimed at the Constitution. All
he could say would be but the taint echo of mem raised •
in the defence 01 the country and its laws. In his op.
position to further concessions to the Roman Catholics,
he was influenced by no low or ungenerous suspicion. It • • •
was not to the Roman Catholics be objected, but the Res.
man Catholic religion. It had been said by the ablest ad.' •
Tecate the Catholscs ever had,Archdeacon Potts, that the.
Catholics could not send Protestants to Parliament who
would sympatha: in their feelings. • Roman Catholic
Members. upon the same principle, could Dever enter
into the feelings of Protestants. Let the House consi-
der what could be the eff•ct of the proposed change.
It must destroy the union between the Protestant Reli-
gion and the State. The measure was a rapid advance
upon the best feelings of the country. Tne rivalship .
which had existed so long between the Protestant and
Roman Catholic Religions would be increased. 11 the
Established Church enjoyed all the temporalities,
would not the Romish Church cell for a restora ion
oh some of those possessions which they considered
that they had been deprived t f? In the examination of
the circumstances under which concessions v ere made,
the fist question applied to securities. It was said
that the Constitute n would be secure, because the num•
her of It Cothotics admitted to PM ham-tit would
tie so trifling, that there could be no dancer. It was.'
however, to be observed, that the Roman Catholic.* were
daily increasing in number., and in twenty years they
might advance from one filth to one third ..1 the pops!.
lotion of the country. He te:urned thanks to the thin.
Member fooGlouce-ter for the candour and honesty w oh
which he had declared his opinion that night. The
danger which threatened the Church could 5101 be co i-
'ceded. He admitted that the question could not remain
•liasettled, but it should be regulated by a fair appeal
to the ci untry. If Ministers• had made that appeal,
they might have furnished an Administration, and
have been the means of supporting the itotitutions
~f the country. It was said an appeal had been made,
but he should say it never was made on this question.
He believed that it was the-general opinion throughout
the country, that Catholics were not fit to be env listed
with political poeer in a Protestant State. If the only
terms upon which Proteitants could purchase the quie-
tude and allegiance lithe Roman Catholics was placing
the Constitution in their hands, he should say it was a
piece he never would consent to pay—(Hear). With
these feelings the Hon Member opposed the ineaute.
He be:ievedhe was right io his opposition, but sincerely
hoped he was wrong.
Sir FRANCIS BURDETT said, that if the 'Hoot!
were to take the state of things existing among them-
selves as a taste of the feeling which prevailed amongst
the public, they would easily i•nagine the feeling of
bitterness with which every consideration of this q .es-
lion was mixed up in Ireland. He had felt very little
disposed to say any thing on this question, which not
only was thread-bare, but Which had been in a manner so
completely thrashed out, as to put it out of the power
of mortal man t 6 say any thing new -upon the subject.
He however wished to say a few words in answer to the
observations which had been made by the Hon. Member
for Aldboiough. That Hon. Member had described
the people of Ireland as Priest., ',den; but he belittled
that it wand be much more correct to say that the
Priests were ridden by the people, than that the people
were ridden by the Priests—(Cries of " Oh, oh," " No,
no," and " Hear, hear",. If *embers doubted "Ilia 's.
section, he should refer them to the sentiments expressed
not long since by the (lover cement, who bad complained •
that the R email Catholic Priests, having lost their in?
Bootee over their fl• cks. there remained scarcely- any
ho?e for the preservation of oat (pointy i that coveter..
The late election in Clare clearly proved the coriectneu
of this statement—(Cries of " Oh"). kji.tsasbcrne out
in his assertiora by the facts which hod been stated to
him, mid when he had justice at Iris side he should as re-
solutely defend the gigots and character of au Irish Kno
man Catholic Priest as of an English Aichbislicip. The
tracts. as stated by all partici, clearly showed the necessity
of some change, apd no man had yet been bold enough
to propose any measure id the room of that which had
been adopted by his Maje Sty's Government. As to the
danger, he believed that thaeffect of the measures would
be to unite all Pi otestants in one bond, against the pos-
sibility of all encroachments, which he did not believe
the Roman Catlicili:s. would attempt to make, but that
they would, in thaspitit of gratitude and conciliation.
meet the Parliameet in the benevolent and just cause
which they hid jest adopted. He was as semeiotic was
(I his own exister.ce that the Itosnan.Catholic subjects •
of his Majesty, when admitted to political power, would .
be AS Githful and loyal as any other class of his subj. ens. .
Mrs DUNCOMBE said that lie was anxious to el-
press his strong, decided, he hoped consistent and con.
scientiors, opposition to the measure of his Majesty's
MI-misters. Whatever semblance of security may as
company this measure, there was no doubt that the
measua was one of unqualified and unconditional