Star.
London, England, 1821-03-01 00:00:00

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Nor eabi he *ter, cevlude his observations upon
the topic, than by reading the preamble to the 19th
of George 111. which was to this effect:—" Whereas
it must tend greatly to the happiness and prosperity
of the country, that the subjects of all denomina-
tions should be placed upon an equal footing," &c.
The Noble Lord concluded, by moving " fhat the
Petition be brought up."
Lord GLENORCHY, in seconding the Motion,
said it would not be necessary for him to enter into
a detail of the hardships which the Petitioners were
undergoing: he should merely state, that they la-
boured under a more severe series of enactments than
the Irish Roman Catholics, and that the refusal of
their prayer would amount to a declaration that the
House was determined to refuse the common right
of every man—of following the dictates of his judg-
ment in his worship of the CREATOR—(Hear, hear).
When the Petition was about to be read,

Lord NUGENT requested that the Clerk would
take the trouble to read this Petition in a distinct and
audible voice. _

•' The Petition was then read, and that part of it ia,
which the Petitioners disclaimed the acknowledg-
ment.of any in any foreign Potentate—
civil, spiritual, or ecclesiastical—was received with
cheers.—The Petition being read, and ordered to be
printed,
Lord NUGENT said, it might not be inappropri-
ate to state, that of the Barons who signed Magna
Charta at Runnymede, only four representatives-now
survived—and these,four representatives signed this
very Petition—(Cheers).

CLAIMS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLICS or IRELAND.
Mr. PLUNKETT said, he held in his hand a Pe-
tition, whtth, from the number of signatures, their
respectability, wealth, and talent, and from the means
they had of being acquainted with the sentiments of
their countrymen at late, he thought himself enti-
tled to consider as the Petition of the great body
of the Roman Catholics of Ireland, so far as it sought
redress. A similar Petition was, about a year and a
half ago, laid before the House. It was presented
by his lamented friend Mr. Grattan, and came before
the House supported not only by the authority of
his great name, but by the resistless force of his elo-
. quence. It was not his design at this moment to at-
tempt to express those feelings with which his heart
was filled by the name of that excellent man, or to
trouble the House with the declaration of his senti-
ments of the friend by whose confidence he had been
honoured—by whose wisdom he had been enlight-
ened, and by whose example he had been guided.
His eulogy was already pronounced, by lips whose
eloquence he would not disparage by attempting to
rival. These honours, which his services to his
native country had deserved, were amply rendered
to his tomb by the high and liberal of this country ;
and his death, like his life, was a bond of convention
between the two counts ies. He would not weaken these
eulogiums, or disturb the solemnity of his obsequies,
by any feeble praise and unavailing sorrow of his.
The subject to which he was immediately about to
call the atten';on of the House, was one in which
that good man felt earnestly. It took early posses-
sion of his heart and feelings, and kept itself in them
to the last moment of his existence. Even at his
latest hour, he would have willingly laid down his
life in asserting the rights' and liberties of his native
land. But deeply as he felt this question, as a friend
to his native country, he had always considered it in
a more extended point of view : he felt that it was
an imperial question—one in which the liberties and
happiness of all the subjects of the British Empire
were involved. Mr. Grattan was alive to fame—to
that fame which attended upon virtuous conduct. It
clung to him whilst on earth ; yet, if he felt " that
last infirmity of noble minds," no man ever more
deeply despised that hollow and heartless popularity
T hiclr was won by subserviency, and retained by a
des eliction of principle—(Hear, hear).—He would
scountenarce no underhand means for obtaining suc-
cess, and he felt that the question could never be
carried unless the Protestant mind was thoroughly
reconciled to its justice and policy—(Hear,
—ln following the steps of that great man, at a
humble and measureless distance, he (Mr. Plunkett)
could only say, that he was actuated by the same
conviction. He concluded by moving " That the
Petition be brought up."
Mr. JA NIES BROWNE seconded the motion.
The Petition was then read, laid on the table, and
ordered to be printed.
Similar Petitions were presented by Mr. PLAN-
KETTfrom the Roman Catholics of the parishes of
St. Andrew, St. Mark, St. Anne, and St. Peter's,
Dublin; and another from the .Roman Catholics of
_ the County and City of Waterford, which were read,
and ordered to be printed.
Mr. PLUNKETT then rose, in pursuance of his
•notice, to submit a proposition to the House upon the
claims of the Roman Catholics of Ireland. He said
that, having fulfilled his duty as a Representative on
the part of native country, and, in some measure,
those of a friend, it remained for him to discharge
those of a Member of that House. He desired that
he might be considered as bringing forwaid, upon
this occasion, not the grievances of a particular body,
but as standing there, as a Member of the Legisla-
ture, in behalf of the Roman Catholics and the Pro-
testants of the Empire, calling on the House to take
into consideration the relative situation in which they
stood—a situation which justified the imputation of
persecution and oppression on one side, and the com-
plaint of injustice and injury on the other; and
which, if lett much longer without the application of
a remedy, might be found to produce dangers and
disadvantages incalculable to both. His object then
• was, to attain an end which was just and politic, by
what was just and politic. If, then, however, it was
one of justice, its attainment would be attended with
concord, because concord was the effect of justice.,
He believed also that it would be attended with sa-
tisfaction and warm feelings of gratitude. The lat-i
ter was an object of impend, consequence. If it were
supposed that he brought the question forward as a
palliative, to divert the public attention, and to get
rid of the bad humours which were floating in the
country, this would be, not only to undervalue the
importance of the question itself, but totally to mis-
conceive his object. He begged leave to say, too,
Qat& itoinan Catholics did not want to agitate or
distittir nlitietiiiiatily the feelings of this *country.
On their part, he mould take the liberty to say, that