The Statesman.
London, England, 1812-04-24 00:00:00

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arev .
acts, and an altera(iett, of the whole Constitution
frOm the first establiihment of the Protestant lieli-
ion
England down to the present tinie. The
a Cathol!cs insisted upon full emancipation ;
not satisfied to wait for any gradual course, they
demanded the instantaneous, sudden, and total
repeal of all the acts with which they w ere dissatisfied.
In the reigns of Elizabeth and Charles the First, the
acts of unifortnity were intended to be perpetual,
and in tl.e Act of Union with Scotland, these Acts
were again welted, and declared as operative in
England, Ireland, and Wales, and the town of Ber:
wick upon Tweed. But not only were those de-
clared fundamental articles in the Union with Scot.
land, it was en article in the Union with Ireland,
that the English and Irish Church should'be the same
forever.' Our.modern philosophers and orators, it
*SI true, declared that these ought to be repealed ;
but he should look rather to the Acts themselves,
and the grounds on which they were formed, than to
their opinions. Another circumstance was, that the
King was bound to support "the Church, as by law
established, 'yet this pledge he was called upon to
sacrifice; to what was deluiively called Catholic
Emancipation. The Catholics had full religious li-
berty—they had the same security for their lives
and properties, that all other subjects•of tl.is country
possessed; and they- were only required to take the
same test and oathi—if they agreed to fake them,
they could have as much liberty, and as much
political . poweri. They bad as much suurity ,
for their Meitied, as any Subjects ;of any nation on'
the face. of the earth. Could it be said that the
subjects of. France. and Germany possessed such
liberty of actioii, and such security of property ?
They debited complete (11107 through. the Empire ;
in the army, in' the nati.'und in the State, and
that at' the expence and In defiance of the two
Acts he_ bad mentioned.. The Mom- must- see

that the 'Kim was okliged to swear that ha would in-
violably maintain the Protestaut religion. Now, if
all the securities were demolished, how coulti that
oath be maintained ? The measure would not only
go against the Coronation Oath, bat against the prin-
ciples of the union with Scotland and Ireland, and
that for the purpose, of gratifying the ambition of
those persons who were hostile to the State.
lie should presently read a proof, to show that no
person could be a true Roman Catholic who did not
feel such hostility. It was 'contended that they
had a right to religious liberty, yet who were those
in whose favour this right was-insisted on?—the
most intolerant religious body that ,had ever ap-
peared on the face of the earth. They were more
intolerant than the Mahotnetanta'themseivei. • What
was it that established the Isquiaitirboas-Whittiras it
that dictated the very last ConstitutiotVeldisised.byl
the Cortes in Spain It was Shen ditstolgaad_that the I
Catholic religion should
.be the taF9T religkop4;taf. the
Sthte, and the only one toleii-ted: .rtfY Deems of
the Councils were almost matters of faith' With' the
followers of this religion.; and in owe of !hose De-
crees, it was set down that.; when they were weak,
roptivcs of policy should .restrain them, but when
they were powerful, it was gt their-,Awn discretion
to oppress thoie wro diffeted from them in faith.
In Ireland, they did not meet With any disturbance
to their religious liberty—what tight then bad they
to petition for what they enjoyed? lie was so far a
friend to religious liberty, when it was not hostile to
the state, that he thoeght all the people were enti-
tled to possess it—but in Ireland it was never denied
to-them, • The second ground
. upon which the advo-
cates of the measure went, was that of the
rismbers, wealth, and power of the Catholics of
1: .ai.d. On assertion it ties stated, and no-
thing bet assertion was adduced in support of it, that

there were four millions of Catholics in Ireland,
and tharthe Protestants did not amount to one in
•ten of this popuia!ion. There was now a Bill in
Parliament to which lie was a great friend, which
would go to aacariain the real state of the popula-
tion. But taking Bat present from the beat source,
that of the calculation made by the collectors of
Jleartb-money, it .would amount to• a number much
inferior. In the parishes of Lisburn and Glans it,
the most' thantifactaring and populous parts of the
whole country,'they would find, taking in children
and ell, atilt 'the ealiulaticn was about fire audit,
quarter,• What must be the state of it in miserable.l
huts? • Upon The whole they would find-reason/fel
conclude, OW. the population of the wholtskiugdoorl
ditindesceed three millions five hundred thousand.
On a calcktlation taken by a !lomat% Catholic Bishop
in the year. libt, the population was -estimated at,
two millions, one million three hundred and fifty'
thousand of which were Roman- Catholics. It was
supposed that since that period they could not
lease increased to so great a number, especially
when they considered the constant migrations
from that country were incredible.--In Britain
they had not added nOore than eight • millions
to the population in the same space of time.,
For all this mighty show of numbers there was 'lathing.
but assertion on the other side, and be hoped that one
assertion was as good as another. With respect to
their wealth, it was stated at a prodigious rate. The
;entlemen who alluded to it confined their obserra-
tinus to the personal property alone, and for a very
good reason—because they were aware that they had
no real property. Ile would venture to say, that of
the real property of the kingdom, they did not pos-
sess one out of forty-nine parts; and as to the com-
mercial property, they had not a tenth part. The
Right Hon. Gentleman had said, that -this measure
carried with it the sense of the Protestants of Ireland.,
It was true there are many petitions on the table;
but he was aware, that applications had been made to
several Grand Juries for the purpose, and scouted as
soon as they were proposed. Other steps wore then
adopted, and petitions were surreptitiously sent about.
Those petitions received some counteuance, particu-
larly from the Gentlemen of the Opposition. One
person was threatened, if he did not sign tbe peti-
tian, that his house and goods would be set, fire
to; and every poor Protestant, in a retail business
in Dublin, was instantly threatened with the loss
of his business, if he did not sign the petition.—
Thls petition was kept in a private room in the
Coinmercial Coffee Ilouse of Dublin, and if any
person demanded to see it, he was asked if he would
sign it, and if he answered in tke negative, it was
not shewn to him. Besides, the Gentleman who
had presented the' Petition had stated, that the sig-
natures were not iv the 'original hand-writing) but