Star.
London, England, 1828-04-03 00:00:00

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14 Tvli7Pit i 4was read at length, and ordered to lie upon
the table.

CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION.

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The Marquis of LAPSDOWN rpse and said, as the
House was going to adjourn for the Easter recess, he.
took the present opportunity of calling their Lordships
attention to a subject of the deepest importance, which
had on frequent occasions engaged the set ions consider-
ation of both Houses of Parliament, and would, doubt-
less, be again discussed before their Lordships during
the present Session. The subject to which he alluded
was contained in a Petition he then held in his hand
and which proceeded • from a considerable number of
his Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects in Ireland, pray.
ing that the Honourable House would fix the easliest
Opportunity for taking into consideration the laws af-
fecting them, and that the Government would adopt
measures for the speedy removal of their grievances.
In presenting the Petition which he then held, and
which contained a full and complete account of all
those civil disabilities under which his Majesty's Roman
Catholic subjects were forced to labour, and of which its
own character was sufficient to prove the importance
that attached itselt to the subs ct to which it referred,
he would decline for the present making any obser-
%Onions, did not a strong sense of duty prevail upon
him to explain, in a few words, the grounds upon
which, with a mind unchanged—(Hear, hear)-
-with a determinatioh as firm as it was lasting—
(Hear, hear I)—with a tesolaticn strengthened by the
length of time in which the measure had continued in
wavering,uncertainty, and by a sense of the vett im-
portance which attaches itself to a sstibject,lisfliih it was
impossible could longer continuo tiaecided—(Hear!)
—he was found again to come-lolivard as the humble,
and yet tie zeal• us adnocate of a cause, founded upon
the sure basis of, jugice and cy--(Cheers). His
Lordship proceeded to st..ts, that he was not now pre
pared (oracle specific day on which he should being
the subject"for discussion beloce the House; he would,
however, take care that sufficient pievious notice should
begiven. He was anxious, as he had before said, in a
Mar words, to state the grounds upon which he con-
tinued to be the warm friend to Catholic Emancipation;
and although it was not usual upon such occasions to
go into a detail, he felt himself called upon to account
for the motives which should influence him in bringing
the measure before their Lordships, and which for many
reasons he deemed to be most expedient should precede
the measure that had already come before the House,
and which his Noble Friend near him (Lord Holland)
had given notice of his intention to bring forward for
discussi .n at a very early period after the recess. Both
subjects were somewhat analogous, and for the same
reason % hich influenced him to form a judgment on the
one in which he was then engaged. he deemed it both
impolitic and unwise to press the discussion of either of
them. When it became his duty to bring forward the
measure, I.e would then state more clearly and explicitly
the various motives w hich influenced him in the course
he had taken, and he would now confine himself to the
chief reasons. It had riot yet been mentioned whether
it was die intention of Government to renew the Act
which had been passed in both Houses of Parliament.
called " The Roman Catholic Association Act," and
which would expire during the present Session; nor
*as it his intention at present to ask any question upon
the subject. He had on a former occasion stated in-
ranee s in which the existence of the Catholic Associa-
tion had prov d detrimental to the best interests of the
Ca.holics of Ireland. He felt assured that in many in-
stance, it had; and yet he would feel himself called
upon to oppose the introduction of any measure to put
down the Association, because, under existing circum-
stances, such an attempt would be wicked and nugatory.
He could not, however, shut his eyes against the evils
attending the existence of such an Association, and the
ill consequences which had resulted, and neti.t continue
to ie-ult, from such a measure; and yet he could not
ate !low a stop could in justice be pur to such a system,
while Ireland was permitted to remain as it was; and
the only way to put down all illegal Associations was.
not by laws of restriction—(Hear, hear)—but by laws
of peace and coi.ciliation, and by allowing the public
openiou of Ireland to pass through those legal channels,
by which alone it could be rendered effectually beuefi-
coal to the country, and conducive to the strength and
prosperity of the Empire—(Cheers). Those were partly
the motives which influenced him to come forward in
support of the measure—he declared himself an enemy
to the Catholic Association as it now existed, and he
wished to secure the only means that could put a final
stop to its operations, which was, that of granting Ca-
tholic Emancipation. There were, however, motives
girt weightier nature, and they were the sense which
be entertained of the justice, the pol.cy, the necessity
of conceding to them those rights to which, as British
subjects, they were entitled. The Noble Marquis again
stated-his inability for fixing any specific day for the
introduction of the measure, and concluded by moving
that the Petition be read at length.

The Petition was accordingly read,and ordered to lay on the table.
The Noble Marquis then presented Petitions to the same effect
from the Roman Catholics of Uoscommon and Tipperary, which
were laid ea the table.
Lord HOLLAND rose, he said, to present a Petition
coming from the same source, and similar to that which
his Nt.ble Friend (the Marquis of Lansdow•n) had just
submitted to their Lordships, but embracing only a
branch of the grievances under sv;ii:h the Catholics of
Ireland laboured. What the Petitioners complained of
was. the use of the epithets idt.latrous and superstitious,
in reference to the doctrince of transubstantiation. All
the individuals of the, greatest weight, as well in that as
in the other House, who were opposed to the claims of
the It, Man Catholics, distinctly disclaimed any inten-
tion to interfere with the religious or speculative opi-
nions of any part of his Majesty's subjects. Where,
then, was the necessity for denouncing those opinions
as idolatrous and superstitious? It might be urged
that that very obncsious opinion with regard to the su•
premacy of the Pope, could only be reached through
this denunciation; but he (Lord Holland) hoped to be
able to prove to their Lordships that such was not the
case. The elect' ine of the supremacy of the Pope did,
indeed, include the doctrine of transubstantiation, for it
was one of the tenets of the Church over which the
Pope presided—but it was not equally true that the
doctrine of transubstantiation included that of the su-

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premacy of the Pope—there were, in fact, hundred,
and thousands who believed in transubstantiation, and
who did not acknowledge the supremacy of the Pope.
The Greek and Armenian Churches, for example, both
professed a belief in transubstantiation, and half the
Armenian sad the entire of the Greek Church had no
ewattectioe whatever with the Papal See. History, and,
is a particular manner, the ki,tory of England, proved
that those doctrines were absolutely distinct. To whom
were the people of England indebted for the benefit of
being released from Papal jurisdiction ? Who destroyed
the power of the Pope in Englaad P Was it not Henry
the Eighth ? And if any one during the reign of that
Monarch bad gm to the foot of the Throne, and
.de-
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