The Statesman.
London, England, 1810-01-25 00:00:00

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which I then cherished thetrairt tope of rendering
this great service to my country.
Among these measures, I pointed out the pro.
pout of vesting io the Crown an effectual negative
on the appointment of you's. 131 shops. That sug.
gestion hid previously been broight forward in the
House of Commons, to meet the just expectations,
lot cF Any bigotted or interested champions of in.
toleraece, but of men of the purest intentions and
must enlightened judgment—men willing to du
all Plaice to tho loyalty.of your present Bishops,
yet not uoreasonkliyalarmed at any possibility, by
which functions or zilch extensive influence might 1
liereaftor be connected with a foreign interest, bus.
tile to the tranquillity of your country—a danger
recently very much increased by tne captivity and
deposition of the Head of your Church, by the sci.
zero of his dominions, and by the declared inten-
tion of that hostile government to assume in future
the exclusive nomination of his successors. The

suggestion thus opened to Rirliament, produced
there impressions highly favourable to your cause;
it was received as the surest indication of those

dispositions, without which all concession must
he nugatory, and all couciliation hopeless. ,To
my mind it had been recommended by long re-
flection. It had formed a part of the' original
conception of those measures as consequent upon
the Union. It was now again bronght forward
with the concurrence of the.two individuals, from

whose opinions those generally prcPalent among

your body might best be inferred : of the agent
of the very persons to whose office it related, and
of your Lordship, to whom, in addition to every
other claim to respect and ecrolldenci, the exclusive
charge of the petition had recently been committed.
What I said on the subject, in the House of
Lords, .was spoken in the hearing of both, and
I received from both, while the impression was yet

recent on your minds, the most grAtifying
ac-
knowledgments of your satisfaction in all that I.
had stated.
It was never, I believe, Imagined by any of us,
that what then passed could be binding on the
opinions of the petitioners. 'rite Roman Catholics
of Ireland are not a corporal l body. They speak
through no common organ. Their various wishes
and interests, like those of their fellow.subjects,
can he collected only from general information ;
and any opinions, erroneously attributed to them,
they, like all other persons, are fully entitled to
disclaim.

I learnt, however, with deep and heartfelt re.
gret, the subsequent proceedings which took place
in Ireland, in consequence of this suggestion. To
discuss the grounds of those proceedings would be
foreign from my present purpose. Their etket
obviously must be, not only to revive expiring
prejudices, but to clog with fresh embarrassment
every future consideration of any of the measures
connected with your petitions. To myself un-
questionably the difficulty of originating at this
Limo any fresh discussion of those measures, does,
in such circumstances, appear almost insuperable.
Let me not, however, be misunderstood. When
I speak of the necessity of combining, with the
accomplishment of j our wishes, provisions of just
security to others, I am no less desirous of con-
sulting every reasonable apprehension 0,1 your
part.
To the forms, indeed, of these securities, or to
the particular details of the proposed arrangements,
I attach comparatively little importauce. A per-
tinacious adherence to such details, in opposition
even to groundless prejudice, I consider as the re-
verse of legislative wisdom. I look only to their
substantial purposes—the safety of our owll emelt-
lishments, the mottosl good will of all our fellow
subjects, and the harmony of the United King-
dom.
'That adequate arrangements may be made for
all these purposes, consistently with the strictest
adherence, on your part, to your own religious te-
nets, is the persuasion which you have long been
labouring to establish,- and of which I have
uni-
(ortnly professed my own conviction.
Were it otherwise, I should indeed despair.
' But that these objects may be reconciled, in so
lir at least as respects the appointment of your
Bishops, is known with undeniable certainty. It
is proved by the acquiescence of your Church, in
similar arrangements under other Governments, by
the sentiments which many of yourselves still en-
tertain, as to the proposal suggested in 1808, and,
most of all, by the express Consent formerly given
to that proposal, in a declaration signed by the
most considerable of your own Bishops.
I see, therefore, in the present state of this sub.
ject, much unexpected embarrassment, and many
difficulties, which re,neived discussion, in the prey
sent moment, must, instead of smoothing, inevita-
bly aggravate. There is, however, no ground
for ultimate discouragement. The sentiment of
reciprocal confidence, the spirit of :withal conci-
liation, would surmount far greater obstacles. ,
But nothing, permit me to remark it, can in tic
! mean time ho more injurious to your cause, than
any attempt, by partial and precipitate decisions,
to prejudge its separate branches, or to limit its
utireserved discussion. No course can he more
grateful to your opponents none more embarras-
sing to your supporters.
To Parliament, n hen any more favoutrable con-
juncture for this discussion 0.111 arise, every infor-
mation may properly be supplied, every wish im-
parted; evaty apprehension (-immunities ted. There
only, by a systematic andscomprehensive arrange-
ment of this extenXive subject, can all its difficulties
be surmounted, all its relations finally adjusted.
To be effective and permanent, such an arrange-
ment must be metually satisfactory.
This is alike the interest of every melober of the
British Empire, but to none more important than
to the Catholics of Ireland. The stability of all
your civil rights, both of those which you already
enjoy, and of those to which you seek to be ad-
mitted, essentially depends on the tranqedlity and
harmony of your country, on banishing from it
every hostile influence, and composing all its in.
tarsal differences.

Theso opintbns I have expressed to your Lord.
ship with the freedom of a ttiuti and zeiquits adro.
Sat* of your cause. On thFse grounds alone have