Star.
London, England, 1829-03-14 00:00:00

PUCE S

time that he had hat occasion to present such a p
tion from the same body of mem but ne West. d. toms
all that he had seen of late, and flora the measures
which he was happy to find were now ab ut to be calor
tied into effect, he might be permitted to hope that he
now presented their petition far the last time When be
considered those persons who bad on former occasions,
both in this and the other House of Pal liament—pee•
sons who, by their death, or other circumstances. ha
ceased to devote any longer their talent, and ineueni:e
in porn aing the public good—he plainly saw that •t
was owing to the exertions and talents of such wrist
men that they ottei the great measure o t e Goo
vernment saw necessary for the prosperity of the county).
He telt that he now rose under more (avowable aus-
pices to advocate the cause of that great body of his
Majesty's subjects, who were represented by the twenty
or thirty thousand indigo/Juan' whose nano-, sett at-
tached to the petition that he should have the lion ow
to present, and who, by their or.e ience to the law,,
and their subjection to the legal authorities,:had
proved themselves fit to receive th,sgeb.cbiantii,otiyistanselholiubido.
talky of Parliament.• With regard to the merits or
demerits of the Roman Catholic •
oat now make any remaik. but 1.11 was felopy to be en-
abled to sty ;hat that association, the mislay offsprin
of those laws of exclusion which had tot, long es istesf—
that association, he was h •ppy to say, in oh-die ice to
the wishes and in miticipatio.t of the commands oh Par-
liament, stood dissolved. The question hl.l been here
agitated for now more than thirty years, since which
pitiod the Cartolics were considerably increased in
numbers; and he could prove to their Lordships that,
iii proportion as their numbers hid iocieued, 55 also
education bad increased among the people; so al .°
*catch had increased; and in like manlier ill those
qualities which entitled them to be partakers (SO, be-
nefits of a fie • constitution. With regard to the eaten.
'ion of education amongst the people of I eland, I.e
could, by documents that he had oeceived, plainly show
that education had r f late been really mended je
that country. In the year 1811 the number of posoue
educated in the sc•tools for whom their ',mesas bad
paid were 55 000 Protestants and 145,000 Roman C 4;
shone', which made an average of two and a ha I It .
man Catholics to one Protestant. lii the )eat 182 e the
numbers educated, including pose abs paid and those
who did not p .y,were,iif Pio estants,l42,l6o; of It m
Catholics, 421,023. The docume. t. town whei ce s o
ha.l made tl.e calculation he consideteJ to sepre.ent
fairly the state ot education iu Ireland ; and t e had
!peat satisfaction in stating. that the inbebnants of
that country were not only in a state of trailoidity
and obedience to the laws, but had been greatly
proving in morality, and clime had greatly dunk.
flashed. In comparing the crimes emoinutted in
England mid !relate!, he found that there sat a
great, a comparative difference, and that less ce tines had
been committed in Ireland, to a degree that wou d
doubtless .toptise their Lot &hips, whinier; bet mod
what he himself cools! have exee.te.f. ti had teen
only able to procure elecumente freou.tvien.y.thre .coso-
lies on 4.604 but th se were the c. unties stitch its t
been of late more distmbed thous others. In coaptiong
the amount of the numbei iiperset siermstaallt eba
its ehoie counties, be licund the nomber ee ediy
out ut porniatiaa of fOCJ,ooo—less that or eu, tit-
tees tbous,oerL—lssollingland and Wake the persona
stionitAily indicted to the year 1825 moon ed to
165 064 t of to a poi ulation t f 12.218.000, one to every,
750. He telt it a sa.i facii-n in staking th solo. melt'.
oecause he MI :teed there v e e Rainy or r.p.m..1, eh
a country of Roman CaIirDISLI eSel y de Col?' o .01
crime and bloodshed must exist to a degree gr ater
than was elsewhere to be found. Hiving dole se. he
was Una illiog :o t event much longer upon their Lord-
dupe time. It was SIMS no less thaw thirty moss si• ce
tee great question of Catholic Eni4ncipation became
the subject of considesation in Parliament, and in the
Louise of which pet iod be had masked the posrests of
favourable opinion. He had witn• ',sett loopy p s,ons
come into Parliament greatly ;Modica.' as' not r e
Catholics. and he had seen those peT,OfISIO n lu chair
their view., and, fioin being Must pre jodiceJ, tecosi
decidedly libeiol. He had seen them truounce their
(comer upiaions, and bee e the friends AA the advo.
cue, of liberality. t e course o f that time he had
seen many men of meat talent, and oicinguished tor
then political knowledge, sent to Ireland, who were
decidedly averse to Concession, but who, after a short
period, renounced their opposition to the question, and
even declared upon the spot that they were then de.ero
mined to support it. While he saw so .massy fu •11, pos-
sessed of great talent, (4:invested in 'hair poli.icai op-
tion after they bad been fly time in Irelancs, be w.csCil
venture to challenge any ewe in shoe, hint an inoai.ce
in which a man of tweet and political Enoa hum., or
Q..e who'hail distinguished himself in the Sta e. upon
being sent to Leland, had subserpeney renounced his
sentiments of liberality, and become fas curable to a stir..
t-ni of coercion. The It man C 'thole. s had besides in
heir favour •the opiition of the BAr, a hotly 0601 m-heel
for their great lea n.og and lespectabolus in the retinal ya
He admitted that a great body t f the 'Cagy of the
listablished Church were hostile to the settiement of
the Catholic Q session in the manner which was now
psopoad ; but still many most tespecteb.e members of
idiot body were in 'avow of concession. The ran UM..
verities entertained different view, upon rye subject—
°afoul being opposed to Emancipation, and Como, edge
an favour ot it. When such an occurrence took place
AS a petition hi favour of R -man Catholic E ssancipa.
tion from that University, in which the very walls we uld
seem to remind the members of scot met is of a cr n-
trary description—when such an occurrence look place.
it ought, in some degree, to 'taiga!e the spirt ebensioas
of those who feared so much danger as the result of
the proposed concession.. With regard to the name •
of the measure he, for one, never contemplated the
pas-ing of a comprehensive a.eAsule of relict itloot
such reasonable securities as could not offend the feel-
ings or principles of the Ronson Catholics. Amongst
these maniocs, however, he could nut include themes-
sore fouthe distranchisemeac ‘f the forty shilling free-
holders. He had always thought that the state of tihi
electoral body in Ireland was (on gtound. peculiar
itself) a fit object fur the consideirition of the.' Lord- •
ships. The system of the forty shilling freeholders
placed those persons in a false ielatien, was attended
with in6ni.e abuse, produced a disorganizing rife. t on
the whole population, and was a great source of down
to the ft eeholdet s themselves—(•r Hear,* from t e Dike
of .Wellington). It was sot, tbeiefore, in refereuce to
the individuals:possessed of the Otaechise th ha oto.