ment stood forward as an exception to the tolerant spirit of the age, and, by so doing, exposed a defenceless side not only to the taunts, but also to the weapons of her enemies.

"Were there, then, any imminent and overwhelming dangers, to justify the denial of claims, the concession of which was so loudly demanded by justice, good faith, sound policy? It had been said, that to emancipate the Catholics was to give them political power. To that assertion he replied, that it would give them no power which they had not at present; it would only remove from them a stigma by which they were unjustly, in his opinion, disgraced. Emancipation would enable four or five noblemen of the oldest and most illustrious families in the kingdom to take in the House of Lords that station of which their ancestors had been deprived; it would enable some respectable noblemen in Ireland to exercise the privileges belonging to the peerage of that country; it would enable the freeholders of Ireland to elect Catholics to represent them in Parliament. But was the danger arising from the admission of four Catholic peers into the House of Lords, and twenty or thirty members into the House of Commons, sufficient to balance the well-grounded discontent of six millions of intelligent and active subjects, indignant at the injury they received from the withholding of their rights?

"There was one circumstance which justified this anticipation, and which would render disappointment doubly severe. When the king of England visited his Irish dominions, he went thither to assure his Catholic subjects of

the completion of their just and laudable wishes. To be allowed to come within the presence of the king had always been considered as equivalent to a pardon of the criminal; and it was considered a proof of the ferocity of James 2nd, that, after admitting the unfortunate duke of Monmouth to his presence, he had permitted the penalties of the law to be executed against him. When the king received the Catholics of Ireland with honour into his presence, it was giving the nation an assurance that their disabilities should be done away. They construed his majesty's conduct in that light; and the letter which lord Sidmouth wrote to the lord-lieutenant, by his majesty's desire, justified them in that construction of it. In that letter were the following paragraphs:

"I am further commanded to state, that the testimonies of dutiful and affectionate attachment, which his majesty has received from all classes and descriptions of his Irish subjects, have made the deepest impression on his mind, and that he looks forward to the period when he shall revisit them with the strongest feelings of satisfaction. His majesty trusts, that, in the mean time, not only the spirit of loyal union, which now SO generally exists, will remain unabated, and unimpaired, but that every cause of irritation will be avoided and discountenanced; mutual forbearance and good-will observed and encouraged, and a security be thus afforded for the continuance of that concord amongst themselves, which is not less essential to his majesty's happiness than to their own, and which it has been the chief object of his majesty, during his residence in

this country, to cherish and pro

mote.

"His Majesty well knows the generosity and warmth of heart, which distinguish the character of his faithful people in Ireland; and he leaves them with a heart full of affection towards them, and with a confident and gratifying persuasion, that this parting admonition and injunction of their sovereign will not be given in vain."

"Such language must be considered as the statement of his majesty's sentiments upon the subject; and it would be in the highest degree unbecoming to suppose, that his majesty had elevated with one hand the hopes of the people of Ireland, in order to enjoy the miserable pleasure of dashing them to the earth with the other. A change must take place; and emancipation was the only change which had ever been even proposed. So far from its being thought practicable to maintain the present system, the house had heard men of all opinions, actuated by the most contrary motives, with feelings not only averse, but absolutely hostile, to each other, all concurring in stating, that the present system could not by any possibility be suffered to last longer. To those, therefore, opposed to his views he would "If you cannot agree with my propositions, I have a right to call upon you for your measure, and to ask you what alternative you have to propose ?" Lord Morpeth seconded the resolution. "He knew not," he said, "how parliament could, at the present day, deny civil privileges to men against whom no fault could be alleged; whilst, on the other hand, no correspondent merit was found among those who confined

say,

such privileges to themselves, which could sanction any such exclusive advantage. He held it to be clear, that the Catholics were attached to the constitution, and, at the same time, were exasperated by being excluded from its benefits. He admitted, that much had been done of late years for the Roman Catholics. But a benefit conferred was not received with perfect satisfaction, unless it was perfect and complete; and the feeling of gratitude must be weakened, when a grievance of a positive nature was suffered to remain. We had been lately on the brink of war with a foreign power; had that war taken place, and had the Catholics of Ireland, disgusted with the treatment which they had received, refused to join our armies, how much would such an event have distracted the attention, and paralysed the efforts, of the country? Yet, situated as the Roman Catholics at present were, with what grace could the state ask of them to fight its battles? a state, which, sending the Catholic forth to shed his blood as a soldier in its defence in the field, refused to requite his services as a citizen in the senate, and rewarded his glories and his triumphs with degrading suspicions, dishonourable jealousies, and galling disabilities. In the uncontrollable course of events, a period might arrive, when the firm and heartfelt union of the Roman Catholics of Ireland with their Protestant fellow-subjects, would be of paramount importance to the public welfare. He would ask those gentlemen, who were prepared to oppose the resolution of this night, whether they were contented with the present state of things in Ireland? If they were not, what system did they

mean to substitute in its stead? Until this question were answered, it was in vain to attack Catholic doctrines, Catholic priests, or Catholic lawyers. Papal supremacy, and divided supremacy, which were made pretexts for depriving the Catholics of political privileges, would be very amusing subjects of speculation, if his majesty happened to have no Roman Catholic subjects. But having Roman Catholic subjects, it was not beneficial for his majesty's do minions to deprive them, on account of these disputed points, of their civil privileges, to reject their claims, and thrust them without the pale of the constitution, instead of soothing their feelings by conciliation and kindness. Was it not monstrous to proclaim that a large, numerous, and wealthy body of men-that peers, illustrious for their high descent, for their honour, and unblemished conduct-the descendants of men, who had fought the battles and settled the liberties of England were the followers and supporters of a church, the doctrines of which were incompatible with the principles of civil freedom? Were they to be deprived of rights which their fellow-subjects enjoyed, because they were unwilling to give up the religion which they professed, and the abjuration of which would justly draw down on them contempt and scorn? It was argued, that, if Catholic emancipation were granted, such a measure would, in effect, remove the bulwarks of the Protestant church. Now, he had always considered it to be one of the great distinctions of the Protestant church, that it did not stand in need of such temporal props and bulwarks. Many persons said,

"We sympathize with the distress of our fellow-subjects in Ireland; but how much of it would be removed by Catholic emancipation?" He would not attach more importance to this measure than it was worth; but because it would not create capital

because it would not provide food for the hungry and clothing for the naked-because it would not at once rain down manna on the impoverished land-was it, therefore to be rejected as useless? Was it nothing to dispel the many angry feelings which now prevailed-to see irritation soothed-to have confidence restored ?"

Mr. G. Dawson opposed the resolution, and entered particularly into the effects resulting from the power of the Irish priesthood, and the use which they made of it towards furthering political purposes. It was, he said, from what he found in history, and from the general conduct of the Roman Catholics when in power, that he opposed the granting of any further concessions to them. What, he would ask, was the cause of the many wars which had from time to time desolated Ireland? It was to be found in the machinations of the Roman Catholic priesthood, and the unceasing desire which they cherished to overturn the Protestant religion. It was this which had cost so many Protestant lives in the reign of Elizabeth; it was this, and not a desire to restore the exiled family, which had armed the Irish against Cromwell; it was this which made them use their ascendancy during the reign of James 2nd to expel Protestant judges from the courts of justice, and Protestant clergymen from their places of worship, to confiscate the estates of Protes

tant subjects, and issue writs of attainder against many of the first Protestant gentlemen in the country. It was to these ends that the priesthood still employed their power over the laity. That the Catholics of Ireland were united, was true; but to say that the disqualifying laws were the cause of that union was not correct. The bond of union between the Roman Catholic aristocracy and the peasantry was, in fact, the Roman Catholic priesthood. It was not founded on a communion of interests; it was not built on a conviction, that such an union was necessary, but was entered into on the mere authority of the priest. It was not effected by an exhortation, calling on those parties to join in a struggle for civil rights. It was not brought about by painting the glory which would attend the success of such a struggle ;no, the priest advised them to unite as the followers of the holy Catholic church ;-alluded to its former greatness and to its present distressed state; predicted the overthrow of the established religion; called on every Roman Catholic to be true to his faith; and required of him to use his best efforts to procure for the Roman Catholics of Ireland the restoration of Catholic power and of Catholic supremacy. Such was the manner in which that bond of union was cemented. If any one doubted it, it would only be requisite for him to attend to what was now going forward in Ireland. He would there find an association constituted and conducting itself in such a manner as but too plainly to evince the object which it had in view; he would there see men who were already triumphantly anticipating the entry of French

steam-boats into the harbours of Ireland, laden with arms and ammunition, to afford aid in effecting the re-establishment of the Catholic dominion. The Roman Catholic priests had been applauded for their gross and scurrilous attacks on the Protestant clergy; these priests had taught the people that emancipation would effect nothing for them, unless it were to be accompanied with the total annihilation of the Protestant establishment; and such was the wretched situation of the Protestants in Ireland, that they could not meet for the purpose of establishing a school, or forming a bible society, without being exposed to the insults and revilings of the Catholics. Every Protestant magistrate and judge was reviled and persecuted; unless he chose to become a tool in the hands of the Catholics, all the influence of the press was exerted against him for the purpose of vilifying his character and conduct. But the chief mischief which resulted from their proceedings, was, that it had the effect of totally disorganizing society. A new set of men had of late come forward in Ireland, he meant the Catholic priests, who, no longer satisfied with enjoying a spiritual despotism, were making every exertion to procure political influence. This body of men had established a power, inconsistent with the constitution, insulting to the landlord, and ruinous to the tenant, but against which the law afforded no remedy. In a constitutional point of view, he could not look upon the conduct of these men without great alarm; but the mischiefs, which they caused in private life, were of a most distressing nature. They had succeeded in bursting asunder the ties which had bound the land

lord and the tenant together they had eradicated all feelings of kindness from the breast of the former, and all feelings of gratitude from the breast of the latter. The elective franchise in Ireland was a right conferred by the landlord on his tenant, who, for a season was a mere trustee of it for him. The system itself was foul and defective, but the mischief of it was not lessened by transferring the privilege from the landlord to the priest; it were much better to leave it in the hands of its legitimate owner. Putting aside all political considerations, this conduct of the priests had a dreadful effect on the unfortunate tenants. It plunged them into distress, caused them to be ejected from their farms, and brought total ruin on them and their families; and the only consolation, which those who were reduced to this state of wretchedness derived, was, that they were held up as victims and martyrs by the Catholic de magogues. It was, indeed, true, that the priests had succeeded, in almost every instance, in separating the tenants from their landlords; but this success was not caused by fair recommendations or persuasion; it was the result of the most foul influence, and solely brought about by terrifying the imaginations of the ignorant tenantry by threats of eternal punishment. These priests had denied the communion and extreme unction to such as had voted in favour of those candidates who were averse to Catholic emancipation; they had used the power with which they were invested by the church, not in enlightening the minds of these poor creatures, but in exciting them to oppose their benefactors; and, to effect this object,

they had not spared threats of vengeance both in this world and in the next. This was no idle declamation: the facts, which he had stated, were incontrovertible truths; and he had documents in his possession relating to the Waterford election, which fully corroborated his assertion. Only a short time previous to the election, when the demagogues were already busy in misrepresenting the Protestant noblemen who were hostile to their views, but before the priesthood had yet interfered with the spiritual influence of the church, the Catholic tenantry of lord Waterford had voluntarily presented an address to him, in which they expressed their indignation at the calumnies which they heard circulated against his lordship as the friend of intolerance, and the professed enemy of their holy religion. They were aware, they said, of the purposes for which these arts were practised; but pledged themselves, when the day of trial came, to prove by their exertions to forward his lordships' interest, how sensibly they felt the comforts they enjoyed, and how deeply they were grateful for the kindness and liberality of the noble family to whom they owed them. This address was signed by five hundred and ten individuals; it was their own spontaneous act, the expression of natural sentiments which stood out against the intrigues of the merely political agitator. But the priests were brought into play, and, would it be believed, that, within a few months after the presentation of this address, the greater part of those who signed it actually voted against lord Waterford? Was it likely that this vote was the free act of the tenants them