HISTORY, 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT 
 
 POLICY OF ENGLAND 
 
 TOWARDS 
 
 IRELAND. 
 
 ^Q^TOj^ 
 
 " When the complaints of a brave and powerful people are observed, to increase in proportioix; 
 to the wrongs they have suffered; when, instead of sinking into sufijiission, thej" ar«,roused to 
 resistance, the time will soon arrive at which every inferior consideration luu^^t ^ieM tp tiie 
 security of the sovereign, and to the general safety of the state. Th^fe is a momcj^tJdiffifioter 
 and danger, at which flatteiy and falsehood can no longer deceive^and simplici|y|tilU^2ii^H>' 
 longer be misled. Let us suppose it arrived."— Junius. "/^ ' ■"■ ^ "*•' v- 
 
 
 %.• . .:-gv 
 
 -*^,A^ 
 
 LONDON : 
 EDWARD MOXON, DOVER STREET. 
 
 1845. 
 
LONDON : 
 BRADBITRY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRTARS, 
 
 "WiLUAM H. Floyd 
 
 CO.IX3CTICN. 
 
 i » - » • - • • 
 
 ■ 1 ' , 
 

 PREFACE. 
 
 Whoever has watched the course of events^ from 
 the commencement of the Repeal Agitation down 
 to the close of the debate on Lord John Russell^s 
 motion in February, 1844, cannot fail to perceive 
 that a fresh Catholic question has been started ; and 
 they who are acquainted with the rise, progress, and 
 end of aU great poHtical questions in this country 
 during the last half century, can hardly doubt that 
 some great change in Irish pohcy will ine\dtably be 
 made, though in all probability not without a strug- 
 gle, the duration of which it would be rash to pre- 
 dict. There certainly was little or nothing in the 
 first view of this debate which promised the near 
 approach of such a result. The leaders of the 
 Government declared emphatically that they would 
 not consent to any alteration of that ecclesiastical 
 policy which is generally felt to be the real and 
 essential (though hitherto unacknowledged) object 
 
 2 '^ i\ > 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 of contest. They would neither alienate the reve- 
 nues of the Protestant Church, nor pay the Catholic 
 clergy. On the other hand, the opposition presented 
 a variety of incongruous opinions ; and the question 
 of redressing Irish grievances seemed settled for the 
 time by a majority of 100 against any inquiry into 
 their causes or effects. But it is impossible not to 
 be struck vi^ith the very remarkable change in the 
 tone and temper in which the Irish discussion was 
 then carried on, and still more with the altered 
 state of opinion which now prevails in society on 
 this topic. It is difficult to meet with any one 
 in or out of Parhament who does not admit 
 that something must be done/^ and the whole of 
 the minority of 226, with no inconsiderable por- 
 tion of the majority against Lord John Russell^s 
 motion, not only avowed this conviction, but appeared 
 (however undecided or disagreeing on specific mea- 
 sures) impressed with the necessity of laying the 
 foundation of a real and permanent union between 
 the two countries. Much difference of opinion pre- 
 vails as to the nature of the measures that would be 
 
 * In March 1829, Sir Robert Peel spoke as follows in the House 
 of Commons : — " We camiot determine on remaining idle spectators 
 of the discord and distm-bances of Ireland. The miiversal voice of 
 the country declares that something must be done. I am but echoing 
 the sentiments of all reasonable men when I repeat, that soraetliing 
 must be done." 
 
PREFACE. VU 
 
 requisite for this end — to what the people of England 
 could be brought to consent, and what the people of 
 Ireland would be content to receive. But even 
 those who are most vehemently opposed to any 
 change in the appropriation of Church property, 
 admit that, by some means or other, the Catholics 
 must be satisfied. It is clear enough that the reason 
 why more exphcit opinions have not been expressed, 
 and more definite plans proposed, has been the 
 apprehension of shocking or excitmg the prejudices 
 of the people of this country ; and it is the difficulty, 
 and at the same time the necessity, of vanquishing 
 these prejudices, which presents one of the most 
 formidable obstacles to the great work of estabhshing 
 tranquillity and peace. The good people of England 
 have, for the most part, sucked in with their mothers' 
 milk a disHke to the Catholic rehgion, and they 
 have been accustomed to associate its profession in 
 Ireland with turbulence, disaffection, the perpetra- 
 tion of revolting crimes, and all the evils of a vast 
 moral and social disorganisation. This impression, 
 which had its origin at an earher period, was con- 
 firmed and exasperated by a bloody and extermi- 
 nating ci\dl war ; and for a long time it grew with 
 the gi'owth, and strengthened with the strength 
 of public opinion. It caused a nation, naturally 
 just and hmnane, to regard with complacency 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 the enactment of the penal code. It was the 
 chief source of George the Third^s popularity, 
 and it explains the remarkable political phenomenon 
 of the successful resistance so long opposed to 
 Catholic Emancipation, though supported by the 
 wisdom, zeal, and eloquence, of the greatest states- 
 men and orators whom our age has produced. But 
 the mighty mass of those who are elevated enough 
 in life to reason and reflect, though tenacious of 
 their early prepossessions, are accustomed to observe 
 a just proportion between their efforts and their 
 objects ; and while they would strive to the death 
 against any invasion of their own rights and 
 privileges, or against any attempt to impose upon 
 them a pohtical or rehgious yoke, would not be 
 disposed to make the same sacrifices, merely to 
 maintain an ascendancy over a people determined 
 no longer to endure it. So long as the question 
 is merely speculative, and no effects flow fi'om it 
 but such as operate upon the welfare of Ireland 
 herself, resolute No-popery Englishmen will feel 
 little, either of remorse or fear, on account of the 
 poverty and discontent which they have been ac- 
 customed to see or hear of: but if they should 
 begin to find their own material interests in jeopardy, 
 if trade were to diminish and taxation to increase, a 
 new Light of hberality and toleration would infallibly 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 dawn upon theii' minds ; they would ask themselves 
 whether the questions which arouse all the feelings 
 and passions of Irishmen, really concern Englishmen 
 in any sensible degree : a prudent English Protes- 
 tant, when he finds himself compelled to pay for 
 the reinforcement of the army in Ireland, will con- 
 sider what interest he or his children have in main- 
 taining the Irish church, in defiance of the wishes 
 of the great majority of the Irish people. There is 
 no nation in the world more ill-informed, and more 
 under the influence of false and erroneous impres- 
 sions than the Enghsh, in respect to the interna- 
 tional transactions of England and Ireland,* and the 
 practical working of Catholicism in its connection 
 with Protestant states. All the sources of know- 
 ledge have been poisoned by polemical bigotry, or 
 party misrepresentation. No history has been so 
 perverted and disfigui'ed for the purposes of faction 
 or fanaticism as that of Ireland. Irish agitators 
 who harangue monster meetings on the Hill of Tara, 
 exciting the combustible passions of their country- 
 men by fabulous narratives of Saxon cruelty, are not 
 more culpable, and are far more excusable, than the 
 
 * " It is a great misfoi'tune of this country, that the people of 
 England know less of it than they Icnow, perhaps, of any other nation 
 in Europe, Their impressions, I do really beHeve, are received 
 from newspapers, published for the set piu'pose of deceiving them." — 
 Lord Clare's Speech on Catholic Relief Bill. 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 orators of Exeter Hall^ wlio strive to resuscitate the 
 languid Anti-Popery zeal of Englislimen, by raving 
 about the massacre of 1641, and the theology of 
 Peter Dens. What the people of England want is 
 knowledge of the truth, in order that they may be 
 led by it to cast away their ancient prejudices, and 
 to deal with Ireland in a spirit of wisdom and jus- 
 tice. They who wiU patiently and candidly trace 
 the whole course of Irish calamities and crimes, 
 through their unbroken chain of causes and effects, 
 "vvill be obhged to confess that the Irish Catholics 
 are neither more nor less than what our policy has 
 made them ; and that according to every principle of 
 human nature, and every historical analogy, such 
 poHcy could not possibly have made them different 
 from what they are. Violence, oppression, and in- 
 sult, win inevitably beget hatred, resistance, and 
 revenge. From the savage state in which we found, 
 but from which we never endeavoured to reclaim 
 and elevate them, we reduced them to the condi- 
 tion of slaves, and we never ceased to despise, till 
 they compelled us to fear them. 
 
 It is the object of the following pages to present 
 an intelligible narrative of the policy which England 
 has pursued towards Ireland throughout the whole 
 period of thefr connection, with its changes, its incon- 
 sistencies, and its effects. 
 
PREFACE. XI 
 
 In stating tliis case^ the recorded opinions and 
 arguments of some of tlie greatest authorities who 
 have written or spoken upon Irish affairs have been 
 produced^ like witnesses, in support of an indictment. 
 The conduct of England has neither been extenuated 
 nor aggravated, and many painful details (especially 
 those of the Rebellion of 1798) have been passed 
 lightly over, from reluctance to revive scenes and 
 deeds of violence and cruelty, the description of 
 which is not essential to my purpose. I have shown 
 the principle on which Ecclesiastical affairs are ma- 
 naged in other countries, and, in contrast and com- 
 parison with them, have described the character of 
 our own — of that system, if system it can be called, 
 which is based upon no principle, or in which some 
 half-abandoned, half-asserted principle is perpetually 
 struggling with necessity or expediency, and produc- 
 ing a state of danger and disaffection in one di\dsion 
 of the Empire, of alarm and distrust in the other, and 
 of bitter animosity in both. From want of sufficient 
 local and technical knowledge to deal with such im- 
 portant subjects, I have refrained from entering into 
 the various secular grievances of Ireland ; nor is it 
 necessary to dilate upon the question of Repeal. In 
 Ireland it would be useless, in England superfluous, 
 to waste words upon this colossal bubble. Every- 
 body in this country, and almost all calm and 
 
Xll PREFACE. 
 
 rational observers elsewhere^ regard it as a comedy 
 of an indefinite number of acts, whicli tlie migbty 
 manager, ^' for divers unknown reasons," thinks fit 
 to persist in representing. Certain symptoms, how- 
 ever, indicate that the speculation is no longer quite 
 so attractive, or so productive, as it has been, and it 
 is not difficult to beheve that there must be some 
 limit to the credulity of the Irish people, and that 
 they will, sooner or later, discover that Repeal, hke 
 the phantom ship, though constantly pursued, is 
 never approached. 
 
 *' Thus on and on 
 
 Till day was gone, 
 And the Moon through Heaven did hie her ; 
 
 He swept the main, 
 
 But all in vain. 
 That boat seemed never the nigher." 
 
 It is difficult to determine how far the influence of 
 Mr. O^Connell over his countrymen is, as yet, mate- 
 rially or permanently impaired. It is his misfortune, 
 as well as theirs, that he has put them upon a false 
 scent, and hallooed them so vehemently on it, that, 
 if he wished it, he is now unable to whistle them 
 off; and he is compelled to prolong the hopeless 
 chase, for fear of being devoured by his own dis- 
 appointed pack. Recent circumstances have, how- 
 ever, shown that his authority is by no means so 
 paramount and undisputed as it was; and his own 
 
PREFACE. Xlll 
 
 conduct has e\dnced signs of weakness and perplexity 
 very unlike the ■sdgonr and decision of his earlier 
 days. The eagerness with which he has jumped from 
 one foohsh novelty to another, allying himself one 
 day with the federalism of Mr. Grey Porter, and the 
 next with the Orangeism of the Kev. Tresham Gregg, 
 has excited no inconsiderable feeling both of ridicule 
 and disapprobation. Unhappily, Mr. O^Connell's 
 personal position is a great obstacle to peace. The 
 rent, indeed, for accepting which he has been so 
 reviled, instead of being discreditable, ought to be 
 deemed honoiu^able to him, as a national acknow- 
 ledgment of his services. Nor is it otherwise than 
 fit and just, that a man who has relinquished abun- 
 dant sources of professional emolimient, in order to 
 devote himself to his country, should be remunerated 
 by the country for his personal sacrifices in her 
 cause. It would be unjust to Mr. O^Connell to sus- 
 pect that he has been exclusively, or even mainly, 
 influenced in his pohtical conduct by mercenary con- 
 siderations. It may be conceded that his ruling 
 passion has been love of Ireland, and that he has 
 courted power as the instrument of advancing her 
 prosperity. But with every disposition to render 
 him fair and impartial justice (as the following pages 
 will show), and allowing that his motives may have 
 been quite as much patriotic as personal during a 
 
XIV PREFACE. 
 
 great part of liis political career^ it is impossible^ by 
 the most charitable construction, to excuse his con- 
 duct in heaping incessantly fresh fuel on the repeal 
 agitation, and straining all his energies to defeat 
 every beneficial and concihatory measure proposed 
 for Ireland, and to keep ahve those feehngs of inter- 
 national estrangement, which all wise and good men 
 of both countries are striving to extinguish. 
 
 In attempting to show the disgrace, as well as the 
 danger, of lea\4ng matters as they are, and the 
 justice and wisdom of establishing the principle of 
 concurrent endowment in Ireland, I have pui'posely 
 abstained from oiFering any positive and definite 
 suggestion as to time and circumstances, knowing 
 weU how many difficulties surround the question ; 
 and that, provided the recognition of the principle 
 be obtained, all the details had better be left to the 
 discretion of those on whom the executive respon- 
 sibihty must ultimately rest. Difficulties, however, 
 disappear when they are boldly faced ; and the 
 Minister who will cheerfully encounter them, may 
 trust to the goodness of his cause, and to the disin- 
 terested support of all moderate and reasonable 
 men. 
 
 It only remains to add, that I have no pretension 
 to bring forward any new matter upon a question so 
 completely exhausted, nor to do more than by 
 
PREFACE. XV 
 
 putting together facts and arguments, the greater 
 part of which must be abeady familiar to those who 
 have studied Irish history or attended to Irish 
 affaii's, to place the subject in such a point of view, 
 as to draw a more general and impartial attention 
 to its deep interest and its paramount importance. 
 
 As a suggestion to increase the efficiency of 
 Maynooth is contained in the following pages, it 
 appears necessary to state that this work had passed 
 through the press before Parliament met, and there- 
 fore, before the intentions of Government to propose 
 such a measm-e had been announced. 
 
 March 15, 1845. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 27, note, for " in England" read " in L'eland" 
 
 — 51, for " ordinances,'" read " adversaries.''^ 
 
 — 64, last line, omit " a." 
 
 — 156, for "are attributable,^'' read "are not" 
 
 — 239, for " even" read " never." 
 
 — 292, note, for " Cumming" read " Canning." 
 
 — 351, for « StocJcdale's," read « UrsMne's." 
 Pages 11, 15, 21, 23, for "ye" read "the." 
 
PAST AND PRESENT POLICY 
 
 OF 
 
 ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 
 
 CHAPTER I.— PART I. 
 
 TT is unnecessary to attempt any description of the 
 history of Ireland before the English Invasion^ 
 or the state of the country at that time ; it is well 
 known that it was a frightful scene of anarchy and 
 savage warfare,, and that the people were degraded 
 by uncouth manners, and barbarous customs and 
 laws. Any invader who had accomplished a civihsing 
 conquest, and estabhshed a ci^dlising settlement, 
 would have been a mighty benefactor to the land. 
 Such, indeed, was the intention of Henry the Second, 
 (though his performance was very far from commen- 
 surate with it,) but nothing could be more hypocri- 
 tical and unjust, than the pretext he employed to 
 attain his object. Being destitute of any cause 
 or pretence for a hostile aggression, he called in 
 religion to his aid; and first acknowledging that 
 
 / 
 
Z PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 all the islands in wliicli Christianity was planted 
 belonged to the Holy See, he despatched John of 
 SaUsbiuT to Eome, with a request to Pope Adi'ian 
 the Fourth, that he would give him authority to 
 subdue the Irish, ^^in order that he might reform 
 them/^ Adi'ian issued the desired Bull, (taking care 
 to insert in it advantageous stipulations for the 
 Church of Rome) ; and tliis fai'ce, acted between the 
 pope and the king (mutually conceding, in order to 
 abet each other^s usurpations, what neither of them 
 had a shadow of right to grant), was the original and 
 only title which the Enghsh crown possessed to the 
 sovereignty of Ireland.* 
 
 The king^s enterprise was exceedingly well timed : 
 no sense of coromon danger could extinguish the 
 vindictive feuds of the Irish, and the success which 
 attended Heniy when he landed in person in Ireland, 
 renders it probable, that if he had been at leisure to 
 devote himself to the conquest of the country, that 
 object would have been attained, and centui'ies of 
 e\-il and misery would have been consequently pre- 
 vented. His kincbiess to the Irish, the disposition he 
 evinced to be their protector rather than then' enemy, 
 the redress he afforded them against the violence and 
 exactions of his own followers, together with the teiTor 
 of his arms, brought aboutthe submission of the greater 
 part of the native princes ; and finally, that of Rode- 
 rick, King of Connaught, the chief ruler, who acknow- 
 
 Littleton, vol. v., p. 108. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 6 
 
 ledged himself to be his vassal — at a great council 
 which was held either at Lismore or Dublin^ (it seems 
 uncertain which_,)* the laws of England were received 
 by all present, and oaths were taken to observe them. 
 
 Such was the connexion which the EngUsh lawyers 
 say originated in conquest^ or in a feudal compact of 
 the Irish chiefs with the English crown ; but what- 
 ever may have been its origin, the king's continental 
 or domestic embarrassments put a sudden stop to its 
 progress_, and instead of the conquest of the whole 
 island, and subjugation of the people, all that he 
 actually accomplished was, the establishment of a 
 colonial settlement.f 
 
 The real founders of this settlement, however, 
 were Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, and the two 
 brothers, Fitzstephen and Fitzgerald, who began the 
 enterprise without the king^s leave, though they after- 
 wards obtained an ambiguous permission from him, 
 and submitted to his authority. After Hem'y^s 
 departure, their power was left uncontrolled; and 
 forgetful of his promises and professions to the native 
 chiefs, and conscious that his sovereignty depended 
 on the valour and fidehty of the Anglo-Nomian 
 barons, t he made them la^ish grants of honours and 
 territories ; and as either policy or necessity dictated 
 the same coui'se to his successors, the whole island 
 (except Dublin and the maritime towns,) was divided 
 
 * Littleton, vol. v., p. Ill, 117. 
 
 f Lord Clare's Speech on the Union. % Plowden, vol. i., p. 34. 
 
 b2 
 
4 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 before the end of tlie tliirteeutli centuiy, (and some 
 of it in tlie 12tli_,) between ten English families.* 
 But the natives were not disposed to submit to these 
 usurpations, and as they endeavoui^ed to defend their 
 possessions and repel the aggressors, the country was 
 soon reduced to a worse state of anarchy and civil war 
 than that which preceded the Invasion.f For half 
 a centuiythe Enghsh power continued to extend itself, 
 though gradually, and with many vicissitudes of victory 
 and defeat : the laws of England, and the charters of 
 Enghsh liberty, were nominally, at least, introduced 
 into Ireland, though (as will presently be seen) the 
 natives derived little, if any, benefit therefrom. Pri- 
 vileges were granted to the towns — the division into 
 counties was begun, and sheriffs and judges were ap- 
 pointed. It appears certain, that Henry the Second 
 was sincerely desii'ous of estabhshing peace, order, 
 and justice, throughout Ireland; nor were his suc- 
 cessors indisposed to follow out his wise and bene- 
 ficent intentions. But they were too constantly 
 occupied with French wars, crusades, or domestic 
 rebellions, to find leisure for making any determined 
 and sustained effort to complete the reduction of the 
 country ; and the fierce and independent spirit of the 
 Enghsh settlers disdained all but a nominal subordi- 
 nation to the royal authority, by which they knew 
 that theii' encroachments and tyranny would be 
 
 * Hallam's Const. Hist., vol. iii., p. 465. 
 •f Plowden, vol, i., p. 3-4. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 5 
 
 restrained.* The kings of England^ it lias been 
 already said^ were conscious that their sovereignty 
 over Ireland, imperfect as it was, could only be main- 
 tained by these proud and rapacious chiefs, and they 
 were therefore compelled to deal with them in a 
 spirit partly of menace, and partly of connivance, the 
 effect of wliich was to leave all real power in their 
 hands. The circumstances of the two countries, 
 perhaps, rendered such a state of things inevitable ; 
 but certain it is, that none could be more anomalous 
 in character, or more disastrous to Ireland, and it is 
 my object, in this brief sketch, to show that the state 
 in which Ireland was, the moral condition of the 
 people, and their temper and disposition towards the 
 British connexion, were the result (and the only 
 result that could be expected) of the treatment wliich 
 they experienced at the hands of the English govern- 
 ment; however that treatment may have been the 
 effect of untoward circumstances rather than of the 
 dehberate policy of the superior state. The actual 
 condition of the country was this : — the Anglo-Irish 
 colony was fed by a constant succession of fresh 
 adventurers, who, owning a nominal allegiance, 
 acted in a spiiit of real independence of the British 
 crown j the whole island was in a state of incessant 
 warfare — these turbulent barons were perpetually 
 
 * " England," says Sir J. Da vies, " never sent over sufficient either 
 of men or treasures to defend the Pale, much less reduce that wliicli 
 was lost, or finish the conquest of the island." — Tracts, p. 69. 
 
6 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 quarrelling and fighting. The Irish cliieftains^ when 
 not engaged in defending themselves against the 
 Enghsh_, were always at war with each other ; and as 
 the vanquished party in these feuds generally in- 
 voked the assistance of some powerful Enghshman, 
 alliances were frequent between English lords and 
 Irish kings, without, however, such temporary con- 
 nexions leading to any amalgamation of the two 
 races, or any mitigation of international hostility. 
 Though the Enghsh lords were fi'equentty in rebellion 
 against the king^s authority, whenever that authority 
 was put forth in earnest it was always found sufficient 
 to crush the offender j and the more easily, because 
 rivals were never wanting to take part in his over- 
 throw, and claim a share in the distribution of his 
 spoils. In the midst of all this confusion and 
 anarchy the only thing which savoured of steadiness 
 and consistency was the uniform practice of the 
 Enghsh settlers to oppress and plunder the natives, 
 and enrich themselves at their expense ; and so far 
 from being desirous either to pacify or civihse the 
 country, thefr systematic object was to prolong 
 those desolating wars and feuds, which supplied the 
 means, as well as the pretext, for confiscation. The 
 poHcy of the English government it is not very easy 
 to describe, because it fluctuated with the circum- 
 stances of the times, or the disposition of the reign- 
 ing monarch ; but it appears to have been generally 
 formed upon a calculation of the most effectual 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 7 
 
 mode of maintaining its own precarious authority. 
 The history of that period exhibits a vast confusion_, 
 and the influence of different interests and passions, 
 operating in various ways^ ahnost always violently, 
 and seldom beneficially, on the whole mass of society; 
 and all that appears certain is, that Ireland partook 
 less than any country in western Europe of the im- 
 provement which was in progress between the twelfth 
 and sixteenth centuries. 
 
 It has been akeady seen that the greater part of 
 the native chiefs submitted to Henry the Second; but 
 having originally stipulated for the use of their own 
 laws, they afterwards found that they were excluded, 
 in consequence, from the pale of English justice, and 
 regarded as ahens, if not enemies, in our courts.* 
 As long as they were able to preserve their indepen- 
 dence, this was of little moment ; but as the English 
 power at various periods made itself very sensibly 
 felt, even in the remotest districts, many of the Irish 
 soon began to perceive that it was a great object to 
 them to place themselves within the protection of 
 the Enghsh law; accordingly, letters of denization 
 were granted from time to time to many individuals 
 of Irish descent, which gave them all the privileges 
 of Enghsh subjects ; and these were granted without 
 any difiiculty by the English government, or those 
 who represented it in Dublin.f The general estab- 
 lishment of the Enghsh laws, the protection they 
 
 * Hallam, vol. iii., p. 468. f lb. vol. iii., p. 469. 
 
8 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 afforded^ and the allegiance they involved, would 
 have bestowed an immense benefit on the country, 
 and have had the most powerful effect in extending 
 the blessings of civilisation and improvement ; but 
 the same reasons which made this boon so desirable 
 for the natives, rendered it very unpalatable to the 
 English lords : and as this is one of the most im- 
 portant points of Irish history, and one of the cir- 
 cumstances which had the most fatal influence upon 
 the destinies of the country, it deserves to be con- 
 sidered with particular attention. In 1278, the 
 first instance occurred of a general apphcation for 
 permission to live under the Enghsh law, and 8000 
 marks were offered for this favour.* The king 
 (Edward the First) was disposed to grant it, and 
 commanded Ufford (the justiciary) to summon a 
 parliament for the pui'pose of considering the peti- 
 tion and making a bargain with the petitioners : 
 but it was the interest of the men in power to oppose 
 the gradual coalition of the Irish and English races, 
 which, by pacifying and composing the country, 
 would have arrested the free course of their oppres- 
 sions, and counteracted their rapacious designs. 
 Accordingly a convention of the barons was evaded by 
 a variety of subterfuges and pretences, which, when 
 the king was engaged in more ui'gent affau's, were 
 found sufficient to frustrate his wise and beneficent 
 
 * Mr. Hallam says, it probably proceeded from some of the small 
 septs dwelling amongst the colonists. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 9 
 
 intentions. Two years afterwards the application 
 was renewed, and this time the king peremptorily 
 commanded that a parliament should be summoned, 
 and his mandate obeyed. It is doubtful whether 
 the parhament ever assembled, and, if it did, by 
 what expedient the obnoxious concession was got rid 
 of j but it is certain that the Irish did not obtain the 
 rehef they so earnestly sought.* 
 
 In the reign of Edward the Third, and in an 
 interval of tranquillity, a petition was presented 
 to the king, praying that aU distinctions might be 
 abohshed, and a general naturalisation act be 
 granted, to supersede the necessity of particular 
 letters of denization : but the great English lords, 
 who exercised all manner of royal jurisdiction, and 
 pretended to be the proprietors of all the lands, 
 resisted every attempt to admit the Irish to a parti- 
 cipation of our laws and constitution. f The Irish 
 who inhabited the conquered lands were in the con- 
 dition of slaves and \dlleins, and, as such, were more 
 profitable to their lords than if they had been free 
 subjects of the king. They therefore opposed this 
 approximation to a union, because it "would have 
 abridged and cut oflP a great part of their greatness : 
 they persuaded the King of England that it was 
 unfit to communicate the lawes of England unto 
 them, that it was best policie to hold them as ahens 
 and enemies, and prosecute them with a continual 
 
 * Lelajid, vol. i., p. 243. t Plowden, vol. i., p. 38. 
 
 B 3 
 
10 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 warre : the troth is, that those great English lords 
 did to the uttermost of their power crosse and T\ith- 
 stand the enfranchisement of the Irish, for the 
 causes before expressed, whence I must still clear 
 and acquit the crown and state of England of negli- 
 gence or ill-pohc}^"* 
 
 The rejection by the Irish parliament of the 
 respectful supphcation which had been offered to the 
 crown of England, excited a deep resentment, and 
 was the immediate cause of an insurrection, pro- 
 jected with unusual concert, and executed with 
 greater violence, than had been for some time ex- 
 perienced.f 
 
 The reflections of Sir John Davies depict the pohcy 
 of the Enghsh Government to Ireland in a manner 
 equally striking and comprehensive : — " I note as a 
 great defect in the civil policy of this kingdom, that 
 for the space of 350 years after the conquest first 
 attempted the Enghsh laws were not communicated 
 to the Irish, nor the benefit and protection thereof 
 allowed to them, though they earnestly desired and 
 sought the same ; for as long as they were out of the 
 protection of the law, so as every Englishman might 
 oppress, spoile, and kill them without controulment, 
 howe was it possible that they should be other than 
 outlaws and enemies to the crown of England ? If 
 the king would not admit them to the condition 
 of subjects, how could they learn to obey him as 
 
 Davies's Tracts, p. 102. f Leland, vol. i., p. 290. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 11 
 
 sovereign V^ The concluding sentence of tliis passage 
 was equally descriptive and prophetic : — " In a word, 
 if the English could neither in peace govern them 
 by lawe, nor could in warre root them out by the 
 sword, must they not needes be prickes in their 
 eyes, and thornes in their sides, until the world's 
 end V' 
 
 Notwithstanding the unceasing conflicts between 
 the Enghsh and the natives, great numbers of the 
 former had not only fallen away from their obe- 
 dience, but had become mere Ii'isli in their language, 
 dress, and customs ; rejecting the Enghsh laws, and 
 adopting the Irish, with whom they contracted many 
 marriages and alliances. It was chiefly to correct 
 this degeneracy, as it was considered, that the par- 
 hament of Kilkenny was held in 1366. The two 
 estates sat together, and passed the ordinance known 
 as the Statute of Kilkenny.* The severe penalties 
 bv which this act was enforced had a considerable 
 efi'ect in restraining and reforming the old Enghsh ; 
 but it contained no provision calculated to concihate 
 the Irish, or mitigate the evils of their condition. 
 Accordingly the country was very soon embroiled in 
 
 * " Alliances by marriage, nurture of infants, and gossipred with 
 the Ii-ish, are made High Treason. Agam, if anie man of Englisli 
 race should use an Irish name, Irish language, or Irish apparell, «)r 
 any other guise or fasliion of the Irish, of his head-lands or tenements, 
 the same should be seised till he had given security to conform him- 
 self in all points to ye English manner of living." — Baties^s Tracts, 
 Plcncden, vol. vi., p. 41. 
 
12 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 fresh disorders^ and during the whole reign of Edward 
 the Third the state of Ireland continued to deterio- 
 rate, and the English interest to decline. The king 
 was too much occupied by foreign conquest to be 
 able to attend to Irish affairs, and when he did 
 interfere, it was generally by some odious act of 
 violence or extortion. Incessant hostihties prevented 
 the introduction of all the arts which contribute to 
 comfort or refinement. Foreigners would not ven- 
 tui'e where they were so insecure and unprotected ; 
 and the new adventurers, who were constantly pass- 
 ing over from England, increased the dissensions, 
 without contributing to the improvement of the 
 country. Eor 200 years (from this period to the 
 reign of Henry the Eighth) the history of Ireland 
 presents the same revolting spectacle, varied only by 
 the rise and fall of the great famihes of the Des- 
 monds, the Ormonds, and the Kildares, as they suc- 
 cessively vanquished or supplanted each other. The 
 bulk of the people continued in the same state of 
 degradation, turbulence and proscription, never 
 completely subdued, and always miserably oppressed. 
 The reader of Irish history will find many examples 
 of the Enghsh law ha^dng been imposed upon rebel- 
 hous chieftains, or treaties concluded with others for 
 its introduction into their territories ; and this may 
 appear inconsistent with the fact (on which so much 
 stress has been laid) of the systematic refusal of the 
 English government to take the Irish within the pale 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 13 
 
 of its legislation ; but two things, quite distinct, are 
 comprehended witliin the general term of English 
 law. The Irish considered that the grant and the 
 reception of the EngHsh laws involved the correlative 
 duties of protection on one side, and allegiance on the 
 other. The English lords had no objection to accept 
 their allegiance, but had no notion of affording them 
 protection. What they desired was, that the Irish 
 should renounce the Brehon law, abandon their 
 ancient customs, and adopt those of England. The 
 custom (pecuhar to Ireland) of giving out children to 
 be nursed by fosterers, called gossipred, cemented the 
 ties which united the different tribes, and the feudal 
 connection between the chiefs and the people. The 
 foster children were more attached to, and beloved by, 
 their foster parents, than their natural kindi'ed ; and, 
 instead of those of higher rank feehng degraded by 
 their fraternity with the childi'en of low degree, the 
 latter felt elevated by the connection to the level of 
 the former. Swift^s ballad of "O'Roui-ke^s Feast" 
 gives a good notion of the sentiment of the foster 
 brother : — 
 
 " O'Rourke's noble feast 
 Shall ne'er be forgot. 
 By those who were there 
 Or by those who were not. 
 
 The Earl of Kildare, 
 
 And Moynalta his brother : 
 So proud as they are, 
 
 / VMS nursed hy their mother." 
 
14* PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 To prevent the fraternising effects of fostering, an 
 act was passed in tlie 28tli Henry tlie Eighth, making 
 it treason for any of the king's subjects to marry, or 
 foster themselves, or their children, with any Irish 
 persons not being the king's true subjects, &c. 
 
 The reign of Henry the Eighth opens a fresh and 
 important chapter of Irish history; and it may be here 
 worth while to anticipate a question not unhkely to 
 be asked, " TMiat have these ancient and forgotten 
 grievances to do with the present state of Ireland, 
 and the questions now in agitation?'' It is in my 
 opinion impossible to form a fair and impartial judg- 
 ment upon Irish affairs, or to arrive at sound conclu- 
 sions upon present poHtical questions, without know- 
 ing, and keeping studiously in ^dew, the whole course 
 of Irish history. It has been I think demonstrated, 
 that the social and pohtical condition of Ireland, its 
 ignorance, disaffection to England, and its moral and 
 intellectual backwardness, were attributable to the 
 selfish policy and misrule of its Enghsh lords and 
 masters. Those events, therefore, are Hnked with 
 succeeding transactions in such an unbroken chain of 
 connection, that it is indispensable to exhibit and 
 explain them as forming part of a constant succession 
 of causes and effects. 
 
 In the reign of Henry the Eighth such ^-igorous 
 and successful measures were adopted for extending 
 the roval authoritv, and the Irish chieftains were so 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 15 
 
 generally inclined to submission and obedience, * that 
 if a policy at once just and firm had then been adopted 
 towards the natives, it is reasonable to believe that 
 order would have been established, and peace and 
 security have led to civilisation and improvement : but 
 fatally at this time a new and fruitful source of divi- 
 sion and disorder arose in the shape of rehgion. As 
 soon as Henry the Eighth had procured the acknow- 
 ledgment of his supremacy in England, he proceeded 
 to estabhsh it in Ireland, f The authority of the 
 government did not at this time extend beyond the 
 Pale, or about twenty miles round Dublin. In the 
 parliament which was assembled every precaution 
 was taken to secure a subservient majority, and the 
 Act of Supremacy was accordingly passed; though not 
 without an opposition so \iolent, that it was deemed 
 prudent to rest satisfied with a silent acquiescence in 
 its provisions, and it certainly never was enforced in 
 the same manner as in England. { This was the first 
 attempt that was made to introduce the Keformation 
 
 * The general submission of the Irish dynasts and princes did not 
 take place till quite the end of this reign. 
 
 -f- Hallam, vol. iii., p. 486. 
 
 " It was long before ye authority of the Crown was completely substi- 
 tuted for that of the Pope, and ye ecclesiastical appointments continued 
 very irregular, between 1536 and 1547. Three bishops (Clonmacnoise, 
 Down, and Clonfert) were appointed by Pope Paid the Third, who 
 were all confirmed by Henry the Eighth on their plighting submission 
 to him. In one iiistauce, when there were rival appointments by 
 the Pope and the King, the Pope's presentee got ye better of the 
 King's, and kept possession of ye see." — Mant, vol. i., p. 168-9. 
 
 X Lord Clare's Speech on the Union. 
 
16 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 into Ireland. " In every other nation (says Lord 
 Clare) the establishment of the reformed religion has 
 been the result of inquuy and conAdction; but Ireland 
 was sunk below the reach of cuiiositj^ and specula- 
 tion, and it was equally hopeless and impolitic to call 
 upon the people to abjure the religion of their ances- 
 tors, and to subscribe to new doctrines they were 
 utterly incapable of understanding/^ * 
 
 In England, Henry had comparatively Httle diffi- 
 culty in the accomplishment of his will. The tame 
 and terrified subserviency of all classes of his subjects 
 procured an almost universal submission to those 
 measures of reformation, which were in fact bv no 
 means unpalatable to the majority of the nation. 
 The only very eminent men who rejected the supre- 
 macy were Fisher and More; and though one was 
 the most illustrious statesman in the kingdom, and 
 the other the man whom the king was most bound 
 to regard with reverence and affection, without the 
 slightest scruple or touch of remorse he sent them 
 both to the block. Nothing is more marvellous than 
 the fact (for fact I think it is) that this sensual, 
 bloody, and capricious t}Tant, was not an unpopular 
 king. He was not indeed beloved, but he was feared, 
 respected, and obeyed by his subjects ; and the only 
 way of accounting for this is, that his religious reforms 
 or alterations, by which the Papal power was over- 
 tlu'own, while the principal doctrines of the Catholic 
 
 * Lord Clare's Speech on the Union. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 17 
 
 faitli were retained^ were really congenial to the wishes 
 and feelings of the great mass of the English people. 
 But in Ireland it was a very different matter : the 
 whole nation both within and without the Pale were 
 Cathohcs,* and the Reformation^ with its train of new 
 doctrines^ was utterly unknown. Browne^ an Augus- 
 tine friar, was appointed archbishop of Dublin, and 
 sent over to establish '' the king^s supremacy /^ but he 
 found that he himself, with the ministers and im- 
 mediate dependents of the court, were the only Pro- 
 testants in the country. Some rough but ineffectual 
 attempts were made to introduce the new doctrine, 
 not by persuasion and instruction, but by force; and 
 a hot and bitter contest arose between the archbishop 
 of Dublin,t and Cromer the primate and archbishop 
 
 * Plowden, vol. i., p. 53, 58. 
 
 t Bro^v^le soon fell into disgrace with the king, who ascribed to his 
 neghgence the small progress wMch the Reformation made in Ireland. 
 Henry's letter to his archbishop is highly characteristic. After telling 
 him all that he had expected from his zeal, he proceeds as follows : — 
 " Yet nevertheless, as we do both partly perceive, and partly by sun- 
 dry advertisements and ways be mformed, the good opinion we had 
 of you is in a mamier utterly frustrate ; for neither do ye give your- 
 self to the instruction of our people there in ye word of God, nor frame 
 yourself to stand us in any stead for the furtherance of our aflfairs. 
 Such is your lightness of behaviour, and such is ye elation of your 
 mind in pride, that glorying in foolish ceremonies, and dehghtuig in 
 we and us ; in your dream comparing yourself so near to a pi-ince in 
 honour and estimation, that all virtue and honesty is almost banished 
 from you. Reform yom'self, therefore, with this gentle advertisement ; 
 
 and we shall put your former neghgence in obhvion. 
 
 . . . . If this \\all not serve to induce you to it, but that you will 
 still so persevere in your fond folly and ingrate ungentleness, that ye 
 
18 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 of Armagli_, who resisted with great spirit such impious 
 innovations. This dispute, the plunder of churches 
 and monasteries, and the desecration of then' sacred 
 ornaments as objects of superstitious idolatry, were 
 the onlymodes in which the Reformation waspresented 
 to the Irish. Hitherto, though enemies in race, the 
 English and the Irish had been united in a common 
 religious faith, and were members of the same church; 
 but, to borrow the language of Burke, ^' it will not be 
 foreign to our pui'pose to take a short re\dew of the 
 extraordinary policy which has been held with regard 
 to rehgion in that kingdom. From the time our 
 ancestors took possession of it, the most able anti- 
 quaries are of opinion, and Archbishop Usher has, I 
 think, shown, that a rehgion not very remote from 
 the present Protestant persuasion was that of the 
 Irish before the union of that kingdom to the crown 
 of England. If this was not dii'cctly the fact, it at 
 least seems very probable that Papal authority was 
 much lower in Ireland than in other countries. This 
 union was made under the authority of an arbitrary 
 grant of Pope Adrian, in order that the church of 
 Ireland should be reduced to the same ser\itude with 
 
 those which were nearer to his see What is 
 
 extraordinary is, that for a veiy long time, even quite 
 down to the Reformation, and in theii' most solemn 
 
 cannot remember that we be able for the non doing 
 
 thereof, to put another man of more virtue and honesty in your place, 
 &C."-: — ManVs Hist, of Irish Churchy vol. i., p. 126. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 19 
 
 acts, the kings of England founded their title only 
 on this grant. They called for obedience from the 
 people of Ireland, not on principles of subjection, but 
 as vassals and mesne lords between them and the 
 popes; and they omitted no measure of force or policy 
 to establish that Papal authority, with all the dis- 
 tinguishing articles of rehgion connected with it, and 
 to make it take deep root in the minds of the people. 
 
 ^Tien by every expedient of force and 
 
 pohcy, by a war of some centuries, by extirpating a 
 number of the old, and by bringing in a number of 
 new people full of those opinions, and intending to 
 propagate them, they had fully compassed their object, 
 — ^they suddenly took another turn, commenced an 
 opposite persecution, made heavy laws, carried on 
 mighty wars, inflicted and suffered the worst evils, 
 extirpated the mass of the old, brought in new in- 
 habitants, and continue at this day an oppressive 
 
 system To eradicate opinions which for 
 
 400 years they had been endeavouring by the same 
 
 violent means to establish They compelled 
 
 the people to submit to the pope's authority in its 
 most extravagant and unbounded sense; and now 
 they refuse to tolerate them in the most moderate 
 
 and chastised sentiments concerning it ! 
 
 No country since the world began has suffered so 
 much on account of religion, or been so variously 
 harassed both for popery and protestantism."* 
 
 * Tracts on the Popery Laws, p. 374, 377. 
 
20 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OP 
 
 The language and sentiments of tliis gi'eat man 
 are so franght witli msdom^ liberality_, and justice, 
 that the strongest arguments that can be found in 
 support of my own views, are those which his writings 
 furnish. The people could hardly fail to be plunged 
 in astonishment and horror, when they suddenly 
 found their ancient religion attacked and reddled ; 
 and when, without any better reason than the 
 declared mil and pleasure of the English despot, 
 they were commanded to transfer their spiritual 
 allegiance from the pope to himself. — " If the people 
 are in error," says Mr. Burke, " to inform them is 
 not only fair but charitable ; to drive them, to attempt 
 to eradicate, by violence, a wide-spreading and esta- 
 blished religious opinion, is a strain of the most 
 manifest injustice." Accordingly, such measures 
 produced their natural results :* the people were 
 confirmed in their allegiance to the pope, as well 
 
 * Nothing cau be more striking and true than the description 
 which Lord Clare, m one of his admirable speeches, gives of the 
 feeling of the Irish people with regard to the Reformation and its 
 causes : — " That the people of this coimtry have been uniformly and 
 unalterably devoted to the Popish faith is a truth too notorious to be 
 disputed ; while the other nations of Europe were engaged in reli- 
 gious controversy and mnovation, they were in a state of barbarism 
 and ignorance ; old habits of licentious power had long engaged them 
 in acts of resistance to the British power, and therefore the example 
 of the Enghsh settlers would alone have been sufficient to make the 
 Reformation odious ; but from the first moment the Act of Uniformity 
 was promulgated in the country, the habitual aversion of the nation 
 to the English name and nation, heated by rehgious antipathy, 
 became savage and inveterate." — Speech on Catholic Relief Bill, 
 March 15, 1793. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 21 
 
 as their attacliment to the Catholic faith ; and the 
 violence of rehgious bigotry was superadded to the 
 old festering sore of national antipathy. 
 
 On the accession of Edward the Sixth, the Pro- 
 tector Somerset determined to introduce the Litui'gy 
 of the Church of England into Ireland; but the 
 attempts * that were made during this short reign 
 to advance the Reformation were so soon counteracted, 
 and all innovations done away with by his successor, 
 that both these reigns may be passed over without 
 fui'ther comment. 
 
 It is impossible to imagine a more difficult task 
 than that which devolved upon Elizabeth when she 
 succeeded to the throne ; and it is necessary to bear 
 in mind the maxims of ecclesiastical government 
 which universally obtained in those days, in order to 
 form a fair judgment of her pohcy. It was held to 
 be the duty of the state to maintain the true religion, 
 and its right to determine what was the truth : 
 according^, the prudent and sagacious men Avho 
 drew up the formulas of religious belief, felt the 
 expediency of making them comprehensive and 
 elastic, in order to draw the greatest possible num- 
 
 * The attempts seem to have been very slight. " No parhament 
 was called dm-mg this period ; and uo efforts are recorded to have 
 
 been made either by ye EngUsh or Irish government 
 
 The majority of the bishops as well as ye inferior clergy, were 
 decidedly attached to the popish creed and practice." — Mant, vol. i., 
 p. 188. In this reign, also, the king confirmed a bishop whom the 
 pope had appointed. — Ih. vol. i., 190, and vol. v., p. 2'21. 
 
22 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 ber witliin tlie pale of tlie new establishment ; and 
 it was with this view that the Ai'ticles and Liturgy 
 were framed, rather than npon a rigorous conviction 
 and demonstration of the absolute truth of all the 
 doctrines which they expressed or imphed. Tolera- 
 tion was a principle, at that time, unknown and 
 unthought of : as soon, therefore, as the Queen had 
 fixed the Protestant Church on a stable basis in Eng- 
 land, she proceeded, as a matter of coui'se, to do the 
 same in Ireland. A parliament was held, which, as 
 usual, was packed by the management of the court ; 
 the ecclesiastical laws of supremacy and conformity 
 were enacted; the book of Common Prayer was 
 substituted for the mass ; all were bound to attend 
 the pubhc worship, and eveiy other was interdicted.* 
 To us, at the present day, and with our notions, it is 
 difficult to say whether the absui^dity or the injustice 
 appears the greater, of thrusting down the throats 
 of a whole community, a religion which they regarded 
 not only with disbelief but with abhorrence. 
 
 "An ecclesiastical estabhshment," says IMr.Hallam, 
 *^ can have no advantages relatively to the community 
 
 * Hallam, vol. iii., p. 488. 
 
 " And," says Lord Clare, " what seems to be a solecism in the his- 
 torj' of legislation, in the body of the act, by which the use of the 
 English Litm'gy, and a strict conformity to it, are enjomed mider 
 Severe penalties, a clause is introduced, reciting, that Enghsh minis- 
 ters cannot be found to serve in Irish churches ; that the Irish people 
 did not understand the Enghsh language ; that the church service 
 cannot be celebrated in Irish, as well for the difficulty of getting it 
 printed, as that few in the realm can read." — Speech on the Union. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 23 
 
 where it exists, but its tendency to promote good 
 order and virtue, religious knowledge and edification; 
 — but to accomplish this end, it must be the choice 
 of the people, and not merely that of the govern- 
 ment — it should exist for the people, in the people, 
 and ^Yith. the people. This, indeed, is so manifest, 
 that the government of Ehzabeth never contem- 
 plated the separation of a great majority as licensed 
 dissidents from the ordinances estabhshed for their 
 instruction. It was presumed that the church and 
 commonwealth were two denominations of the same 
 society,* and that every man in Ireland who apper- 
 tained to the one, ought to embrace, and, in due 
 season, would embrace, the communion of the other; 
 — there might be ignorance, or obstinacy, or feeble- 
 ness of conscience, for a time — but that the pre- 
 judices of a majority should ultimately prevail, so as 
 to determine the national faith; that it should obtain 
 even a legitimate indulgence, for its own mode of 
 worship, was abominable before God, and incom- 
 patible with the sovereignty." f 
 
 Such reasoning as tlris was unquestionably con- 
 formable to the prevailing maxims ; and the govern- 
 ment of Elizabeth is less obnoxious to censure for 
 forcibly estabhshing the Protestant rehgion in Ire- 
 
 * " We hold that there is not any man of the Church of England 
 bnt ye same man is also a member of ye commonwealth, nor any man 
 a member of ye commonwealth ivhich is not also of the Church of 
 England^ — Hooker^ b. viii. e. 1, 2. 
 
 \ Hallam, iii., 490. 
 
24 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 land^ than for tlie omissiou of all tlie moral appliances, 
 and all the reasonable means, wliicli might have 
 afforded it a chance of success. No systematic plan 
 was ever adopted for concihating the Irish, for 
 administering the ci^'il government in a spii'it of 
 justice and humanity, and for promoting the cause 
 of the Reformation by such methods of instruction as 
 might render it intelligible and acceptable to tne 
 people.* On the contrary, a deputy, who was dis- 
 posed to treat them with benignity and moderation, 
 was sure to be discountenanced, and probably dis- 
 graced — and the effect of the ecclesiastical measures 
 was, the destruction of a Cathohc, without the sub- 
 stitution of a Protestant, church — the chiu'ch was in 
 ruins — the people had no benefit from any spiritual 
 estabhshment of any kind — and rebgion itself, 
 instead of being a blessing, became the cui'se and the 
 torment of the land. 
 
 One of the ablest and best of the English viceroys 
 was Sir John Perrot, He had induced an unusual 
 disposition to loyalty, and had diffused a spirit of 
 submission to the EngUsh laws among the native 
 Irish. The success of his endeavoui's to concihate 
 the Irish chiefs, and the tranquillity Avhich his 
 moderation had produced, encouraged him to form 
 
 * " As for religion, there was but small appearances of it ; the 
 churches uncovered, the clergy scattered, and scarce the being of a 
 God known to those ignorant and barbarous people." — RepoH to Privy 
 Council in 1565. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 25 
 
 extensive schemes of reformation and improvement. 
 But the queen was averse to plans which would have 
 been attended with expense ; and some of her coun- 
 sellors represented that " if the countr}^ was reduced 
 to order and ci^ility it would acquire power, con- 
 sequence, and riches; the inhabitants would be 
 alienated from England, and throw themselves into 
 the arms of some foreign power, or erect themselves 
 into an independent state : it was better , therefore, 
 to connive at their disorders, as a weak and dis- 
 ordered people could never detach themselves from 
 the crown of England/^* These maxims found 
 favour in the comicils and parhament of England; 
 the wise and beneficent government of the ^ice- 
 roY, and his regard for the rights of the native 
 Irish, only exposed him to suspicion and reproach : 
 in the end he grew impatient of the mahce and 
 ingratitude which he experienced, and petitioned 
 the queen to relieve him fi'om a burthen which the 
 perverseness of her subjects of the Enghsh race 
 rendered intolerable.f 
 
 Such was the system of government : and the 
 state of rehgion will appear from a letter addressed 
 by Sir Hemy Sidney to the queen in 1575. After 
 alluding to his " discom'ses on the condition of the 
 provinces,^^ he proceeds : { " And now, most dear 
 Mistress and most honoured Sovereign, I addi'ess 
 
 * Leland, vol. ii., p. 291. f lb. vol. ii., p. 320. 
 
 X The spelling is modernised. 
 
 c 
 
26 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 to you, as to the only sovereign salve given to this 
 vour sore and sick realm, tlie lamentable state of tlie 
 most noble and principal limb thereof^ tbe Cburch I 
 mean, as foul, deformed, and cruelly crushed, as any 
 other part thereof. I would not have beheved, if I 
 had not for a great part viewed the same tln-oughout 
 the whole realm, and was advertised in the bishop- 
 ric of Meath (the best inhabited county in all this 
 realm) to ]Mr. Hugh Bradie, a godly minister of the 
 gospel, who went from church to church himself, 
 and found that there were witlnn his diocese 224 
 parish churches, of which 105 are impropriated to 
 sundry possessions now of your highness, and all 
 leased out for years, or in fee-farm, and great gain 
 reaped out of them above the rent which your 
 majesty receiveth. No parson or vicar resident on 
 any of them, and a very simple or sorry curate for 
 the most part appointed to serve therein; among 
 which curates only eighteen were found able to 
 speak Enghsh ; the rest Insh priests, or rather Irish 
 rogues, having very little Latin, less learning or 
 
 civility In many places the very walls of the 
 
 churches down; very few churches covered; win- 
 dows or doors ruined or spoiled. There are fifty-two 
 other parish churches in the same diocese which 
 have ^TLcars better served or maintained than the 
 others, but badly. There are fifty-two more which 
 pertain to divers particular lords, and these, though 
 in better estate, yet far from well. If this be the 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 27 
 
 estate of the cliiircli in tlie best peopled diocese, it is 
 easy for your majesty to conjecture in what case the 
 rest is, where little or no reformation, either of 
 
 religion or manners, has yet been planted 
 
 If I should write unto your majesty what spoil 
 hath been, and is, of bishoprics and bishoprics, 
 partly by the prelates themselves, partly by the 
 potentates, their noisome neighboui's, I should make 
 too long a Hbel of this my letter ; but your majesty 
 may beheve that on the face of the earth there is not 
 a church in so miserable a case/^ 
 
 Such was the condition of a church which was 
 half a century before rich and flourishing, an object 
 of reverence, and a source of consolation to the peo- 
 ple. It was now despoiled of its revenues ; the 
 sacred edifices were in ruins : * the clergy were 
 either ignorant of the language of their flocks, or 
 illiterate and unci^dlised intruders: and the only 
 ritual permitted by the laws was one of which the 
 people neither comprehended the language, nor 
 believed the doctrines : — and this was called " esta- 
 blishing a 7^eformationJ' 
 
 The reduction of the island was just completed 
 
 * Spenser says, in his « View of the State of Ireland," " Whatever 
 disorders you see in the Church of England you may find in Enghmd 
 as many more, namely, gross sinning, greedy covetousness, fleshly in- 
 contuiency, careless sloth, and generally all disordered life in the com- 
 mon clergjTuan ; " " they Hve hke lawmen, neither read the scriptures, 
 nor preach, nor administer the communion ; baptism they do, and take 
 tythes and offerings," &ic. 
 
 c2 
 
 ^.^JJ^(y^^ 
 
28 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 (by the suppression of Tyrone's rebellion) at the 
 death of EKzabeth. The reign of James the First 
 was the real era of connection between the two 
 islands. He found resistance broken down, and the 
 English law acknowledged ;* and it was his object to 
 establish throughout the whole island the reforma- 
 tion which his predecessors had only been able to 
 extend to the churches or districts within the pale. 
 It was reported, when James first came to the 
 throne, that he was not unfavourable to the Catho- 
 lics, and these reports encouraged the people in 
 various parts to infringe the laws by the pubhc 
 exercise of their rehgion. After some fi'uitless re- 
 monstrances, this boldness was put down by the 
 firmness of the deputy (Mountjoy), and soon after 
 the king issued a proclamation in which he declared 
 he would admit no liberty of conscience, and this 
 announcement was followed by measures of great 
 severity against the delinquents. f 
 
 Ireland, J before the time of James the Fii'st, had 
 no regular government or parliamentary constitution : 
 and he laid the foundation of the existing establish- 
 ments in church and state, in both of which the 
 Puritans soon obtained a great ascendancy. § At 
 
 * At the end of Elizabeth's reign, *' the act of uniformity ceased 
 to be enforced, and the violation of it was connived at when popery 
 resumed its ascendancy over the populace." — Mant, vol. i., p. 338. 
 
 ■f Plowden, vol. i., p. 100. 
 
 X Lcjrd Clare's Speech on the Union. 
 
 § Plowden, vol. i., p. lOL 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 29 
 
 Jameses accession there were hardly any Protestants 
 among the old inhabitants of English blood, and none 
 at all among the native Irish * : the distinctions, how- 
 ever, of English and Irish, were nearly effaced by 
 those of Protestant and Papist, and ever since, the 
 whole nation has clung to the Popish faith as a com- 
 mon bond of union, and pledge of animosityt against 
 England. The physical strength of the country 
 being thus arrayed against the English colony and 
 government, the latter were compelled to treat the 
 old inhabitants as a conquered people, and to govern 
 them by an Enghsh and Protestant connection. Such 
 is the account which Lord Clare gives of the spirit 
 of James the Eirst^s government, § and such, perhaps, 
 the circumstances unavoidably and of necessity made 
 it. The Puritan party, which had now got the upper 
 hand, was inflamed with hatred and bigotry against 
 the Cathohcs, and the first act of the Parhament, 
 convened in 1605, was to express their indignation 
 at the indulgence which had been shown to them, 
 
 * Gheogegan says (p. 422), that during the reigns of Henry the 
 Eiglith, Edward the Sixth, Ehzabeth, and James the First, not sixty 
 of the Irish embraced the Protestant rehgion. 
 
 t Lord Clare's Speech on the Union. 
 
 § The professed policy of James the First was to miite the inhabi- 
 tants, and abolish all odious distinctions ; the real poUcy of his minis- 
 ters and then" successors, was to distinguish them into two parties, 
 that of loyal and affectionate subjects, containing only the late adven- 
 turers and servants of the crown, and that of the disaffected and dan- 
 gerous, containing all the rest of the mhabitants. — Leland, vol. iii., 
 p. 88. 
 
30 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 tliougli it is not easy to discover in what tliat in- 
 dulgence consisted.* 
 
 Religious parties ran so highj that " the Reformers 
 looked with abhorrence on the partisans of idolatry, 
 while the Romanists, with equal rancour, inveighed 
 against heresy and apostacy/^t The proceedings of 
 the dominant party corresponded with their senti- 
 ments ; confiscation was the order of the day ; com- 
 missions were appointed to inquire into titles to 
 land I ; obsolete claims were revived, and advantage 
 taken of trivial flaws and informalities. " There are 
 not wanting proofs,^^ says Leland, '^ of the most 
 iniquitous practices, of hardened cruelty, of vile 
 perjuiy, and scandalous subornation employed to 
 despoil the fair and unoffending proprietor of his 
 inheritance/^ The seed that was thus sown produced 
 its natui'al fruit : an uninterrupted course of vexa- 
 tious oppression on one side created on the other, a 
 determination to rise against the oppressors when- 
 ever a fit opportunity for so doing should present 
 itself. § They bided their time, and in 1641 that 
 time arrived ; they made one wild and desperate effort 
 to recover their freedom; it was the ires leonum 
 vincla recusantum — it was the out-pouring of an 
 
 * Plowden, vol. i., p. 102. 
 
 t Leland, vol. ii., p. 439. 
 
 X It was notorious in many instances, that the possessors had no 
 legal titles to their lands, therefore, there was some gi'ound for the 
 proceeding if it had been fau'ly conducted. 
 
 § Plowden, vol. i., p. 112. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 31 
 
 accumulation of national and sectarian hatred. They 
 rose, and perpetrated that dreadful massacre, which 
 was afterwards so fearfully revenged— ^which has been 
 the eternal reproach of the Cathohcs, and has fur- 
 nished an excuse for all the severities and privations 
 that have since been inflicted upon them. 
 
 Many_, however, fancied that this insurrection was 
 unprovoked, inasmuch as the Catholics had been 
 treated with peculiar indulgence during the reign 
 of Charles the First. The arbitrary but \igorous 
 administration of Strafford had, indeed, produced 
 an unusual obedience and tranquillity, but the spirit 
 of the government was always the same : the people 
 continued to profess and to exercise their ancient 
 rehgion, but the government, though they never 
 attempted by persuasion, by the diffusion of know- 
 ledge, or by any of the arts of superior civilisation 
 to spread the reformed faith amongst them, never 
 failed to disturb and persecute the Cathohcs when- 
 ever they could, and as severely as they dared — all 
 they cared for, was to enforce an outward conformity, 
 with or without an inward conversion. Charles, who 
 never was sincere or true in any transaction of his 
 hfe, began by evincing some disposition to favour 
 the Cathohcs, which proved so displeasing to the 
 Protestants, that it was very soon abandoned : the 
 penal laws* were ordered to be rigidly enforced, and 
 directions were given to pro\ade for the army by 
 
 * Plowden, vol. i., p. 117. 
 
32 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 fines, imposed on the Catliolics, for not attending the 
 Protestant worship.* When Strafford arrived in 
 Ireland, he found the church pretty much in the 
 condition described by Sir Henry Sidney, in 1575 f; 
 and Bishop Bedell says, " that the Enghsh had all 
 along neglected the Irish as a nation, not only 
 conquered, but undisciplinable, and that the clergy 
 had scarce considered them as a part of their charge, 
 but had left them wholly in the hands of their own 
 priests, without taking any other care of them, but 
 the making them pay their tithes. J 
 
 The same excellent prelate (in a letter to Laud) 
 gives an account of his diocese, which is of itself 
 sufficient to account for the slow progress of the 
 Reformation. " The revenue had been wasted by ex- 
 cessive dilapidations, and all sacred things exposed 
 to sale in so sordid a manner, that it was grown to a 
 proverb. The cathedral church of Ai'dagh, and the 
 bishop's house, down to the ground; — the parish 
 churches ruined, unroofed, and unrepaired; — the 
 people (sa^dng a few British planters here and there) 
 obstinate recusants; — a Popish clergy more numerous 
 by far than we, and in full exercise of all jurisdiction 
 
 * Plowden, vol. i., p. 117. 
 
 f Strafford effectually reformed the church ; he restored its reve- 
 nues, and proAdded agamst their futui'e alienation. The Irish articles 
 of religion were virtually (though not fonnally) abrogated by the 
 estabUshment of the English, and from that time the two churches 
 held the same doctrinal tenets. 
 
 X Burnet's Life of Bedell, p. 156. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 33 
 
 ecclesiastical. For our own^ there are seven or 
 eight ministers in each diocess of srood sufficiency, 
 and (which is no small cause of the continuance of 
 the people in Popery still) EngHsh, which have not 
 the tongue of the people, nor can perform any divine 
 offices, or converse with them. His Majesty is now, 
 with the greatest part of this country, as to their 
 hearts and consciences, King, but at the Pope^s dis- 
 cretion.^^* 
 
 « 
 
 I cannot pass over this period without some ruore 
 particular notice of Usher and Bedell, who (with the 
 sole exception of Strafford) were by far the most dis- 
 tinguished of all those who were engaged in Irish 
 affairs. They were both men of consummate abili- 
 lities and of profound erudition, though Usher was 
 probably the more learned of the two ; but the cha- 
 racter of Usher is beautifully drawn by the biogra- 
 pher of Bedell. " Together with his great and vast 
 learning," he says, '^ no man had a better soul and a 
 more apostolical mind — in his conversation he ex- 
 pressed the true simplicity of a Christian; for pas- 
 sion, pride, self-will, or the love of the world, seemed 
 not to be so much as in his nature. So that he 
 had all the innocence of the dove in him. He had a 
 way of gaining people^s hearts and touching their 
 consciences, that looked like somewhat of the apos- 
 toHcal age revived. He spent much of his time in 
 those two best exercises — secret prayer, and deahng 
 
 * Life of Bedell, p. 120. 
 c3 
 
34 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 with other people's consciences^ either in his sermons 
 or private discourses, and what remained he dedi- 
 cated to his studies, in which those many volumes 
 that came from him showed an amazing dihgence 
 and exactness, joined to great judgment, so that he 
 was certainly one of the greatest and best men that 
 the age, or perhaps the world, has produced."* This 
 excellent person, however, \igorously opposed the 
 design of granting a more full toleration to the Irish 
 papists ; and when the Deputy Falkland called an as- 
 sembly of the whole nation, Protestants and Papists, 
 for the consideration of that point, the bishops were 
 assembled by the Primate at his own house, w^hen 
 they subscribed a protestation against toleration. 
 But there is reason to think that Bedell, though not 
 less sincere and zealous for the Protestant faith, was 
 of a more tolerant disposition, for it is certain that 
 no man was ever more beloved and respected, even 
 by the Roman Catholics. When the fearful storm of 
 1641 broke out, "there seemed to be a secret guard 
 set about his house, for though there was nothing 
 but fire, blood, and desolation round about him, yet 
 the Irish were so restrained as by some hidden power, 
 that they did him no harm for many weeks : his 
 home was in no condition to make any resistance, so 
 that it was not any apprehension of the opposition 
 that might be made them that bound them up.f 
 The rebels seemed to be overcome with his exsm- 
 
 * Life of Bedell, p. 141 . f lb. p. 191. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 35 
 
 plary conversation among tliem, and the tenderness 
 and charity lie had on all occasions expressed for 
 them, and they often said he was the last Enghshman 
 who should be put out of Ireland. They sent him 
 word that they loved and honoured him beyond all 
 the Enghsh that ever came to Ireland_, because he 
 had never done wrong to any, and good to many. 
 When they took him into custody, his jailors 
 told him that they had no personal quarrel to him, 
 and were only so severe because he was an Eng- 
 hshman ; and, when he died, they suffered him to be 
 buried (according to his desii'e) in his own chui'ch- 
 yard, and proposed to his friends to use at the fune- 
 ral the ofQce of the Protestant church, which they 
 from motives of prudence dechned. But the Irish 
 did him unusual honours, and the chiefs of the rebels 
 gathered their forces together, and accompanied his 
 body in great solemnity, discharging a volley over 
 his grave, and crying out " Requiescat in pace, ulti- 
 mus Anglorum.^^* These particulars illustrate the 
 prevailing principles and opinions of that period, 
 when such a man as Usher could not be brought to 
 endure the idea of a toleration ; and thev hkewise 
 showed that the Irish, rebels and CathoHcs as thev 
 were, even in the midst of their terrible and frantic 
 outbreak, could be gentle and grateful to a Protestant 
 and a bishop, who had treated them with humanity 
 and kindness. 
 
 * Life of BedeU, p. 210. 
 
36 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 I am not pretending to narrate tlie liistory, still 
 less the details, of English oppressions and Irish 
 sufferings, but merely endeavouring to demonstrate 
 by the testimony of historical witnesses of unques- 
 tionable authority, that the condition of Ireland, 
 in all its changes, varieties, and relations with 
 England, has all along, fi^om the earliest times, 
 been the result of English policy, or the work 
 of English power. Instead, therefore, of multiply- 
 ing examples, and going regularly and circum- 
 stantially through the period which succeeded the 
 rebellion, I prefer to give the comprehensive sum- 
 mary of Burke, which really contains the pith 
 and marrow of the case. " For a much longer 
 period,^^ says he, " than that which had sufficed to 
 blend the Romans vnX\\ the nation to which, of all 
 others, they were the most adverse, the Protestants 
 settled in Ireland considered themselves in no other 
 light than that of a sort of colonial garrison to keep 
 the natives in subjection to the other state of Great 
 Britain. If we read Baron Finglas, Spencer, and 
 Sir J. Da^des, we cannot miss the true genius and 
 policy of the English government there, before the 
 revolution, as well as during the whole reign of Ehza- 
 beth. Sir J. Davies boasts of the benefits received 
 by the natives by extending to them the English 
 law, but the appearance of things alone was changed 
 — the original scheme was never deviated from 
 for a single hour — unheard-of confiscations were 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 37 
 
 made in the northern parts, upon grounds of plots 
 and conspiracies, never proved in their supposed 
 authors ; the war of chicane succeeded to the war 
 of arms and of hostile statutes, and a regular series 
 of operations was carried on in the ordinary courts 
 of justice, and by special commissioners and in- 
 quisitions for the purpose of the total extirpa- 
 tion of the interest of the natives in their own soil, 
 until this species of subtle ravage being carried to 
 the last excess of insolence and oppression under 
 Lord Strafford, it kindled the flames of that rebellion 
 which broke out in 1641. By the issue of that war, 
 and by the total reduction of the kingdom of Ire- 
 land in 1691, the ruin of the native Irish, and, in a 
 great measui^e too, of the first races of the EngKsh, 
 was completely accomphshed. The new Enghsh 
 interest was settled with as solid a stability as any- 
 thing in human affairs can look for ; all the penal 
 laws of that unparalleled code of oppression, which 
 was made after the last event, were manifestly the 
 effects of national hatred and scorn towards a con- 
 quered people, whom the victors dehghted to trample 
 upon, and were not at all afi'aid to provoke — they 
 were not the effect of their fears but of their security ; 
 they who carried on this system, looked to the 
 irresistible force of Great Britain for their support 
 in theu^ acts of power ; they were quite certain that 
 no complaints of the natives would be heard on this 
 side of the water with any other sentiments than 
 
38 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 those of contempt and indignation. Indeed, in 
 England the double name of Irish and Papist (it 
 would be hard to say which was the most odious) 
 shut up the hearts of every one against them; 
 while that temper prevailed^ and it prevailed in all 
 its force to a time within our memory, every measure 
 was pleasing and popular just in proportion as it 
 tended to harass and ruin a set of people who were 
 looked upon as the enemies of God and man, and 
 indeed as a race of bigoted savages, who were a dis- 
 grace to human nature itself/' * 
 
 From the commencement of the troubles in 1640, 
 Ireland was involved in a complete chaos of intrigues 
 and strife, and if she had possessed energies and 
 leaders worthy of the occasion, the time was ripe 
 for the assertion of her independence. There were 
 three parties strugghng for ascendancy : fii'st, the 
 Cathohcs, disunited, feeble, and presumptuous; 
 secondly, the king, who was all perfidy and per- 
 plexity, trying to obtain the assistance of the Irish 
 by promises as ample as the fear of disgusting his 
 own Protestant adherents suffered him to make, and 
 only consistent in his intention to deceive all parties, 
 and keep faith with none ; and thii'dly, the parha- 
 ment, acting with that profound wisdom and stern 
 resolution which distinguished them thoughout. They 
 troubled themselves but little about Ireland as long 
 as they were engaged in the great contest with the 
 
 * Letter to Sir H. Langrishe, vol. "sd., p. 339. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 39 
 
 king; never doubting that wlien that work was 
 finished, they should easily suppress the rebellion on 
 the other side of the channel. Cromwell came, saw, 
 and conquered. The war, indeed, lasted a little 
 longer ; but after the terrible examples of Drogheda 
 and Wexford, the Irish were struck vnih an uni- 
 versal panic, and the small remains of resistance 
 were speedily put down. Cromwell was not a cruel 
 man, but his military executions at those two places 
 were as barbai'ous as any of the atrocities -wdth 
 which the Irish have been reproached. At Drogheda 
 quarter had been promised to all who laid down 
 their arms ; but when all resistance was at an end, 
 he gave orders that the garrison should be put to the 
 sword: during five days they were butchered in cold 
 blood; and at Wexford the same scene of carnage was 
 renewed. The fact is, that the sentiments even of 
 wise and good men with regai'd to the Catholics, and 
 the manner in which it was not merely the right but 
 the duty of Protestants to treat them, were utterly 
 repugnant — and must appear monstrous — to our 
 modem notions of charity and toleration. In jus- 
 tice to our Puiitan ancestors, we are bound to 
 remember the principles which they sincerely and 
 conscientiously held; and in equal justice to the 
 CathoHcs, never to forget the treatment to which 
 they were exposed. When the Marquis of Ormond 
 concluded a treaty with the confederates in 1648, 
 he granted them terms not very unlike those of the 
 
40 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 emancipation act of 1829 ; for which he was re- 
 proached with having " ventured to put the finish- 
 ing hand to the treaty on the following scandalous 
 articles/^ * 
 
 But a short summary of the princi2)al articles of 
 Ormondes treaty, and the remarks of Milton upon 
 them^ will best exhibit the temper of those times. 
 
 By the first, CathoUcs were to be freed from all 
 penalties for the exercise of their religion, or for not 
 attending Protestant worship ; nor to be obhged to 
 take the oath of supremacy, only that of allegiance. 
 " Nevertheless," it goes on, " the lord-Keutenant 
 doth not intend any thing in these concessions shall 
 be construed to extend to the granting of churches, 
 
 church hvings, or the exercise of jimsdiction 
 
 Yet he is authorised to give the Roman Catholics 
 full assui'ance that they shall not be molested in the 
 possession which they have at present of churches, 
 &c., until such time as his majesty, on a full 
 consideration of the desires of the said Roman Ca- 
 thohcs in a free parliament to be held in this king- 
 dom, shall declare his pleasure." 
 
 8th, AU incapacities imposed on the natives of 
 Ireland, as natives, to be abolished. 
 
 9th, That in respect to office or employment no 
 difi'erence shall for the future be made between the 
 Roman Cathohcs and other subjects, but that such 
 
 * Neal, vol. ii., p. 220. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 41 
 
 distribution shall be made with, equal indifferency^ 
 according to their respective merits and abilities. 
 
 34th_, That the Roman Catholic regular clergy, 
 beha^dng themselves conformable to these articles of 
 peace, shall never be molested in the possessions they 
 have at present of monasteries, abbeys, &c. — On 
 which articles Milton comments in these terms : 
 
 " As for those articles of peace made with those 
 inhuman rebels and papists of Ireland, ... we may 
 be persuaded that no true Englishman can so much 
 as barely read them without indignation and dis- 
 dain. That those bloody rebels, after the merciless 
 and barbarous massacre of so many thousand English 
 {imJio had used their right and title to that country 
 with so much tenderness and moderation) should 
 be now graced and rewarded with such freedom and 
 enlargement, as none of their ancestors could ever 
 merit by their best obedience — which, at best, was 
 always treacherous — to be enfranchised with full 
 liberty equal to their conquerors, whom the just 
 revenge of ancient piracies and capti\ities, and the 
 causeless infestation of our coast, had warrantably 
 called over : besides what other titles are acknow- 
 ledged by their o^vn Irish parhament, hard fixed 
 and seated in that soil with as good a right as 
 the merest natives : these, therefore, by their 
 own foregoing dements and provocations being 
 justly made our vassals, are by the first articles of 
 the peace advanced to a condition of freedom supe- 
 
42 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 rior to what any English Protestants durst have 
 demanded. [Observations on the Articles of Peace 
 with the Irish Rebels.) 
 
 Ireton* told Henry O^Neal, when he sniTendered 
 at Limerick_, that "they (the Catholics) had been 
 treated by the late government far beyond their 
 merits, or the rules of reason-" and we have seen 
 what that treatment was. Milton says, that " of 
 all known sects or pretended rehgions, popery is 
 the only, or the greatest heresy." While, therefore, 
 all Protestants are bound to tolerate one another, 
 though dissenting in some opinions, " popery, as 
 being idolatrous, is not to be tolerated, either in 
 pubhc or in private." And then, asking " whether 
 they should be punished by corporal punishment or 
 fines on account of their religion," he gives this 
 cautious and somewhat ambiguous answer : " I 
 suppose it stands not with the clemency of the 
 
 * Ireton died in Ireland, and his character is finely described by 
 Ludlow. " The body of the lord deputy Ireton was transported into 
 England, and solenmly interred at Westminster in a magnificent 
 monument at the pubhc charge, who, if he covJd have foreseen what 
 was done, would certainly have made it his desire that his body might 
 have foimd a grave where his soul left it, so much did he despise 
 these pompous and expensive vanities ; havuig erected for himself a 
 more glorious moniunent in the hearts of good men, by his afiection 
 to his country, his abihties of mind, his impartial justice, his diligence 
 in the pubhc service, and his other virtues, which were a far greater 
 honour to his memory than a dormitor}' amongst the ashes of kings, 
 who for the most part as they had governed others by theu* passions, 
 so were they themselves as much governed by them." — {Memoirs, 
 vol. i., p. 384.) 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 43 
 
 gospel, more than ivhat appertains to the security of 
 the state '^ * Rougher theologians, with swords in 
 their hands, answered this question in another 
 manner. The Cathohcs were massacred by sol- 
 diers, and tortured by ci\alians ; and when a ship- 
 full of Catholics was taken, the Protestant captain 
 had no scruple in casting half the crew (seventy 
 men) into the sea. The whole body of Cathohcs, 
 therefore, were regarded as rebels and as heretics, 
 whose power the victorious Puritans considered 
 it to be their policy to crush, and whose religion 
 it w^as theii' duty to extirpate : and so vigorous 
 and unrelenting were the measures they pursued 
 for this end, that Lord Clarendon declared the 
 sufferings of the Irish had never been surpassed 
 but by those of the Jews in their destruction by 
 Titus. 
 
 The native Irish, who survived the general desola- 
 tion, were ordered to transplant themselves into the 
 province of Connaught, and their possessions, as well 
 as those of all who had supported the king, were 
 
 * Of True Religion, Heresy, Schism, and Toleration. 
 
 Later still, Locke excepts papists from the toleration he generally 
 recommends — and Locke and Milton are always cited as the great 
 authorities for toleration. Locke, however, excludes them on the 
 ground of the incompatibility of their rehgious tenets with ci\'il govern- 
 ment ; and because, " that church can have no right to be tolerated 
 which is constituted on such a bottom, that all those who enter into it 
 do thereby ipso facto dehver themselves up to the protection and ser- 
 vice of another prince." — LocWs Works, vol. v., p. 46. 
 
44? PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 confiscated, and distributed among Cromweirs sol- 
 diers, and tlie adventurers who had advanced money 
 to defray the expenses of the war; " and thus a colony 
 of new settlers, composed of all the various sects 
 which then infested England, Independents, Ana- 
 baptists, Seceders, Brownists, Socinians, dissenters of 
 every description, poured into Ireland, and was put 
 into possession of the ancient inheritances of its 
 inhabitants/^* It may seem extraordinary that this 
 policy, with all its tremendous severities, was not 
 more eiFectual in depopulating the island, or rooting 
 out the Catholic religion ; and the case of Ireland has 
 been quoted to prove that persecution must be neces- 
 sarily unsuccessful, and that a persecuted faith will 
 always thi'ive under oppression; but as Mr. Lewis f 
 very justly remarks, " this failure has arisen, not 
 because the poHcy is self-counteracting, but because 
 it was not carried out with sufficient energy and 
 determination ; the laws were not severe enough, and 
 were not executed with sufficient energy for their 
 purpose/^ This was in fact the case ; the Protector^ 
 from motives of humanity or poHcy, did not enforce 
 the extreme penalties of the law; the order for trans- 
 porting the Irish into Connaught was shortly after 
 dispensed with ; and when Heniy Cromwell was ap- 
 pointed governor, J his just and equitable administra- 
 
 * Lord Clare's Speech on the Union. 
 
 t Lewis, L-ish Cliurch question, p. 374. 
 
 X This Governor, who obtained a character for justice and equity, 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 45 
 
 tion " established his authority in the hearts of the 
 people/^* 
 
 At the restoration the Irish began to breathe again, 
 and to flatter themselves that the re-action might 
 bring some rehef to their miserable condition. In 
 whatever hght they might have been looked npon by 
 the Repubhcans and Puritans, the king could not 
 regard them as rebels or as heretics, for they had 
 fought for his father and himself to the last, and he 
 secretly professed the same religion as themselves. 
 But Charles, though well enough inclined towards 
 them, was beset with difficulties of his own; bigotry 
 and rapacity both united in opposing any measures 
 of justice to the humbled and dispossessed Irish; 
 and he was not the man to add to his own embarrass- 
 ments, out of romantic generosity to a fraction of his 
 subjects from whom he had nothing either to hope or 
 to fear. Accordingly, after much difficulty and pro- 
 tracted discussion, in the course of which the rash- 
 ness and confidence of the CathoUc delegates irritated 
 and disgusted the king, he ended by abandoning 
 them to their fate, and an act of settlement was 
 passed, which is thas described by Lord Clare : 
 " Seven millions eight hundred thousand acres of 
 land were let out under the authority of this act to a 
 
 was desired by Thurlow to catch up some thousand Irish boys to send 
 to the Colonies. He wTote back that he had done so, and begged to 
 know if his highness chose to have as many girls caught up hkewise ; 
 and added, " doubtless, it is a work m which God will appear." 
 * Leland, vol. iii., p. 401. 
 
46 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 motley crew of Englisli adventurers, civil and military, 
 nearly to tlie total exclusion of the old inhabitants of 
 the island, many of whom, who were innocent of the 
 rebellion,* lost their inheritance, as well for the 
 difficulties imposed upon them by the court of claims 
 in the proofs required of their innocence, as from a 
 deficiency in the fimd for reprisal to Enghsh adven- 
 turers. t But while the native Irish were disgusted 
 at the ingratitude they had experienced from the 
 court, the new settlers soon found that their acquisi- 
 tion of so large a portion of the soil, had not miti- 
 gated the sentiments of jealousy and antipathy which 
 England had constantly entertained towards Ireland. 
 Rents ha"sdng fallen in the former country, the people 
 persuaded themselves that the importation of Irish 
 cattle was the cause of the fall, and a bill was passed 
 for a perpetual prohibition of importing cattle from 
 Ireland dead or alive, fat or lean, by which, as the 
 Irish had no manufactures, and, from the want of 
 shipping, no foreign commerce, they were reduced to 
 the greatest distress. Such was the absurd fury of 
 the Enghsh about these cattle, that when, after the 
 fire of London, the Irish proprietors made a contribu- 
 tion of 30,000 beeves for the relief of the suff'erers, 
 
 * Mr. Hallam says, " it is more easy to censure the injustice of the 
 Act of Settlement than to point out what better course could have 
 been adopted." It was certainly a very rough adjustment, 3000 of the 
 Irish were cut off mthout a hearing, but the majority of them, Mr. 
 Hallam thinks, were undoubtedly gmlty. — Vol. iii., p. 527. 
 
 t Lord Clare's Speech. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 47 
 
 this act of charity, instead of exciting any sentiment 
 of gratitude, was interpreted into an insidious attempt 
 to defeat the provisions of the prohibitory act.* 
 During the whole of this reign the Irish Catholics 
 certainly e\dnced no disposition to acquiesce tamely 
 in the humiliation and losses to which they had been 
 subjected, and they were continually looking forward 
 to the revocation of the act of settlement, and the 
 removal of their religious restrictions, both which 
 objects seemed far from hopeless with such a king 
 as Charles, and such an heir-presumptive as James. 
 
 The Popish plot, however, which excited a frenzy 
 of rage and teiTor in England, naturally produced 
 still more violent effects in Ireland, where the Roman 
 Cathohcs were so numerous, and the Protestants were 
 animated with such an habitual aversion towards 
 them. The Duke of Ormond, now lord Heutenant, 
 adopted strong measures of severity, though not 
 sufficiently rigorous to satisfy the zeal of the Pro- 
 testants. Popish ecclesiastics Avere ordered to depart 
 the kingdom, the seminaries were suppressed, and the 
 Catholics were disarmed. It was moreover proposed 
 to expel them from the corporate towns, where (after 
 having been formerly excluded) they had been Hcensed 
 to return; but this involved a very nice point, and 
 one peculiarly illustrative of the spirit in which the 
 dominant party exercised their power. The Enghsh 
 inhabitants, who under the influence of present alarm 
 
 * Leland, vol. iii., p. 446. 
 
48 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 cried out for this expulsion, had themselves been the 
 instigators of what they now inveighed against as an 
 abuse. They had admitted the Papists because they 
 could not do without them. * They wanted sen^ants, 
 tenants, and tradesmen, and these could only be 
 found amongst the mass of the population. Religious 
 prejudices were silenced by secular interests, but 
 terror now revived the former, and they demanded 
 the strict enforcement of that law, the violation of 
 which they had previously connived at for their own 
 convenience. During the remainder of this reign 
 both parties continued in a state of fervent excite- 
 ment, animated by alternate hopes and fears, and 
 severally elevated or depressed according to the pre- 
 vailing pohcy or disposition of the English coui't. 
 The restoration of the Duke of Ormond to the royal 
 favour and to the government of Ireland, had quieted 
 the alarm, and raised the confidence of the Protes- 
 tants ; but his removal in the last year of Charleses 
 reign, and the clear signs of a popish tendency in the 
 government, again revived all the jealousies and fears 
 of the former, as well as the sanguine anticipation of 
 the latter party. 
 
 It was natural, therefore, that the accession of 
 James II. should fill the Irish Cathohcs with the 
 most joyful and triumphant expectations ; and the 
 conduct of the government served to confirm 
 the hopes they entertained of a complete reaction, 
 
 * Leland, vol. iii., p. 476. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 49 
 
 of recovering the property of which they had been 
 stripped^ and establishing the ascendancy of their 
 religion. 
 
 There is no donbt that the Catholics had a long 
 arrear of injury and oppression to settle with their 
 rivals ; but they speedily e\inced a determination to 
 avail themselves of the power they were about to 
 acquire, in a spirit of bitter and \dndictive retahation. 
 A long course of tyranny on one side and of suffer- 
 ing on the other, had begotten sentiments of mutual 
 detestation and fear, which left no alternative but 
 the absolute ascendancy of one party and the utter 
 prostration of the other ; and this was what each 
 evidently felt, and equally contemplated — modera- 
 tion, toleration, and compromise, were never for a 
 moment thought of by either. The history of the 
 preceding 150 years will account for the conduct of 
 the CathoKcs in their brief interval of superiority; 
 and that conduct again must explain the merciless 
 pohcy of the conquerors, when they emerged from 
 their final contest, bui'ning vrith bigotry and the 
 desire for revenge. 
 
 One of the first measures of the court was to 
 disarm the Protestant militia; and as soon as the Earl 
 of T\TConnel was invested with the command of the 
 army he proceeded to dismiss the Protestant officers 
 and soldiers, and supply its ranks with CathoHcs. 
 All the penal laws were suspended or violated ; the 
 corporations were filled with CathoUcs; Protestant 
 
50 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 judges were turned out, and Catholics placed upon 
 the bench, and in all offices of trust. The consterna- 
 tion of the Protestants kept pace with the boldness 
 and confidence of the Catholics, the most violent of 
 the latter declaring, that in a few months not a Pro- 
 testant would be left in the army, and that with the 
 possession of arms they would soon regain their lands. 
 Many of the old proprietors cautioned the tenants 
 not to pay any rent to English landlords, and some 
 of the Popish clergy forbad the people to pay tithes 
 to Protestant incumbents.* The reaction had pro- 
 ceeded thus far, when king James repaii'ed in person to 
 Ireland; and at Dublin, in May 1689, he assembled 
 his parliament in order to complete the new revolu- 
 tion. The Act of Settlement was repealed, and a 
 clause inserted in the bill, bv which all who did not 
 acknowledge king James, or who had aided or corres- 
 ponded mth rebels since August 1688, were to forfeit 
 their estates. By another monstrous act of proscrip- 
 tion, persons abroad, not retiu-ning in obedience to 
 the king^s proclamation, were to be attainted of high 
 treason, and suffer aU its penalties of death and 
 forfeiture, unless they surrendered within certain 
 periods assigned. Two thousand five hundred persons 
 were included in this iniquitous sentence,t amongst 
 whom were sixty- two peers, eight bishops, and eighty- 
 three clergymen. 
 
 In ecclesiastical matters James was disposed to act 
 
 * Leland, vol. iii., p. 499. + lb. vol. iii., p. 539. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 51 
 
 with more caution and reserve ; he was sensible that 
 the total overtlirow of the Protestant chnrch establish- 
 ment would be extremely injurious to his interests in 
 England^ and he endeavoured (though in vain) to 
 restrain the violence of his Irish adherents. To the 
 Address of the Protestant clergy on his arrival in 
 Dublin he gave a gracious and encouraging reply ; 
 and the only legislative measui'es enacted were a bill 
 for hberty of conscience, and another entitling the 
 Komish clergy to all tithes and ecclesiastical dues, 
 payable by those of their o'wn communion-acts in 
 themselves very reasonable and just. But it was 
 impossible for him (if he wished it) to extend to the 
 Protestants that justice and protection with which 
 the Catholics themselves had never been treated, and 
 it is no wonder that in the interval of Popish pre- 
 dominance "they felt all the distresses arising from 
 a state of war and disorder, aggravated by the wanton 
 insolence of their ordinances. ^^* 
 
 The Protestant clergy were soon reduced to great 
 distress; they could obtain no dues from non-con- 
 formists, nor tithes from Roman Catholics. The 
 Popish clergy seized upon the churches; and though 
 the king acknowledged his promises of protection, 
 and published a proclamation forbidding these out- 
 rages, his commands were not obeyed. An order was 
 issued by the governor of Dubhn that no more than 
 five Protestants should meet together, even in 
 
 * Leland, vol. iii., p. 541. 
 d2 
 
52 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 churches^ on paiu of death.* In this time of danger 
 and distress, the Protestants exhibited a great fervour 
 of devotion, and if it had been possible for them to 
 divest their minds of those rehgious prejudices, the 
 intensity of which had abrogated the plainest and 
 most imperative precepts of the Christian faith, they 
 would have learnt from then' own bitter experience 
 some lessons of toleration and humanity fit to be 
 practised upon the recovery of their ascendancy. 
 That day was soon destined to dawn upon them, but 
 no such maxims or ideas came with it. On the 3d of 
 October, 1691, the surrender of Limerick terminated 
 the civil war ; the Protestant power was re-estabhshed, 
 and the Irish j)eople and CathoHc rehgion were laid 
 prostrate in the dust. " The unconquerable will," 
 and even " the study of revenge" seemed to be 
 extinguished, and nothing was left them but their 
 '' immortal hate." Four thousand Irish subjects 
 were outlawed as rebels, and 1,100,000 acres of land 
 confiscated; Articles were granted at Limerick, but 
 they were so ill executed, that many who had quitted 
 the Irish army and returned to their homes, emigrated 
 to avoid the ill treatment which they found they were 
 likely to experience. " The situation," says Lord 
 Clare, '' of the Irish nation at the Revolution is un- 
 paralleled in the history of the world. If the wars of 
 England carried on here from the reign of Elizabeth 
 had been against a foreign enemy, the inhabitants 
 
 * Leland, vol. iii., p. 544-5. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 53 
 
 would have retained their possessions under the 
 established law of civilised nations, and their country 
 been annexed as a province to the British empire; but 
 the continued and persevering resistance of Ireland 
 to the British crown, during the whole of the last 
 century, was mere rebellion, and the municipal law of 
 England attached upon the crime. ^Vhat then was 
 the situation of Ireland at the revolution and what is 
 it at this day ? The whole power and property of the 
 country has been conferred by successive monarchs 
 of England on an English colony, composed of three 
 sets of adventurers, who poured into this country 
 after three successive rebelUons ; confiscation is their 
 common title, and from their first settlement thev 
 have been hemmed in on every side by the old 
 inhabitants, brooding over their discontents in sullen 
 indignation.^^* 
 
 From this period, Ireland enters into a fresh stage 
 of her political existence; and her condition, and rela- 
 tions with England, certainly present the most extra- 
 ordinary and anomalous exhibition of imperial or 
 colonial government which the world ever saw. For 
 some centuries the British government estabhshed in 
 Ireland, with difficulty asserted an authority (often 
 merely nominal) over a people still formidable from 
 their numbers and territorial possessions; they hved, 
 therefore, in constant dread of the natives, and in a 
 necessary dependence upon the auxiliary power of 
 
 * Lord Clare's Speech on the Union. 
 
54 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 England. The policy of the latter towards Ireland 
 was invariably selfish, intolerant, and tyrannical. 
 The principle upon which Irish afi'airs were conducted 
 was, not to consider what would be beneficial to 
 Ireland, but what would be advantageous to England 
 alone ; nor did the great change which took place in 
 the circumstances of Ireland make any difference in 
 the character of this policy. Successive immigra- 
 tions of Protestants had largely increased the number 
 and power of the English settlement, and successive 
 confiscations had made them the proprietors of almost 
 the whole of the soil. 
 
 In possession of the authority of government, of 
 the church and its revenues, and of the greatest 
 part of the land, they had nothing more to fear 
 from the broken and dispirited Cathohcs, now sunk 
 into an abject state of submission. The Protestants 
 therefore considered themselves, and were consi- 
 dered in England likewise, as exclusively constitut- 
 ing the Irish nation ; while the Cathohc population 
 merely existed as an unavoidable evil in the land, 
 stripped of all poHtical privileges, and objects of the 
 most unmitigated hatred and contempt. But not- 
 withstanding the complete estabhshment of the 
 Protestant power and the English interest, England 
 had not the shghtest idea of treating Ireland as an 
 integral part of the empire, whose interests were to 
 be consulted and promoted precisely in the same 
 manner as her own. She asserted an odious 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 55 
 
 supremacy over tlie sister country^ whicli was exer- 
 cised in continual legislative encroachments, and the 
 enactment of laws injurious to the commerce and 
 property of the latter. The Irish Protestants were 
 at Uberty to indemnify themselves for the humilia- 
 tion of subserviency to England * by any measures 
 of severity and oppression which they thought fit 
 to adopt against their Cathohc countrymen; and 
 of this license they soon began to avail themselves, 
 by passing the first of that series of statutes which 
 constituted "that unparalleled code of oppression^^ 
 called the Penal Laws.f Mr. Burke says, and truly, 
 that these laws were manifestly the eff'ects of hatred 
 and scorn, and not the eff'ects of the fears, but of the 
 security of the victors. Lord Clare, on the con- 
 trary, declares that it was the refusal of England 
 to consent to a union with Ireland which gave 
 bii*th to this code ; that it was injurious to the 
 landed property of the country, but that the landed 
 
 * L'Angleterre dit a la faction Protestante, livi^ez-inoi les inter^ts 
 generaux de votre pays, et je vous ferai r^gner sur la nation au milieu 
 de laquelle vous vivez. Le Protestant d'Irlande r^pond, Je veux bien 
 ^tre voti'e eselave, pourvu que vous m'aidiez k ^tre le tyran d'autrui. 
 — C de Beaumont, L'Irlande, &c. vol. i., p. 96. 
 
 t Burke said, that these enactments were " the manifest efforts of 
 national scorn and hatred towards a conquered people, whom the 
 victors delighted to trample on, and was one and all afraid to promote, 
 &c." Bishop Mant is very indignant at this description, and assures 
 us, that " they were calculated to promote not only the security of the 
 protestant, but the henefit of the ixipist I ! 
 
 ' fortunati nimium, sua si bona norint.' " 
 — Manfs Hist. I. Ch., vol. ii., p. 122. 
 
56 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 g 
 
 proprietors were driven to the necessity of liazardin, 
 the possession of their estates, or holding them 
 subject to this incumbrance.* But even this excuse, 
 worthless as it is, will not avail; for the refusal to 
 which he refers did not take place till the 2nd of 
 Anne, while the first penal statutes were enacted in 
 the 4th of William and Mary, and the 9th of William 
 the Third. But let Lord Clare himself describe 
 the spirit in which the EngUsh parhament acted 
 towards Ireland, and the Irish parliament dealt with 
 the Irish people. "The parliament of England,^' 
 he says, " seems to have considered the permanent 
 debility of Ireland as theii' best secmnty for her 
 connexion with the British crown; and the Irish 
 parliament to have vested the security of the colony 
 upon maintaining a perpetual and impassable barrier 
 against the ancient inhabitants of the country .^^ f 
 
 The history of Ireland during the last century 
 aifords repeated proofs of the truth and justice of 
 this description ; and it may be asked if it be pos- 
 sible to conceive any maxims of policy more detest- 
 able, or a more monstrous union of human mahgnity 
 and foUy? Do the pages of Machiavel contain 
 suggestions more profligate ? Was the expulsion 
 of the Moriscoes more barbarous and impohtic ? or 
 the revocation of the edict of Nantes more unwise 
 and intolerant, than this deliberate and long-sus- 
 tained system, pursued by a country which plumes 
 
 * Speech on Catholic ReUef Bill. f Speech on the Union. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 57 
 
 itself upon its free constitution and its own glorious 
 struggles for civil and religious Kberty ? 
 
 " Their declared object '^ (says Mr. Burke^ speak- 
 ing of the penal laws) " was to reduce the CathoHcs 
 of Ireland to a miserable popidace, without property, 
 without estimation, without education. The pro- 
 fessed object was to deprive the few men who, in 
 spite of those laws, might hold or obtain any pro- 
 perty amongst them, of all sort of influence or au- 
 thority over the rest. They divided the nation into 
 two distinct bodies, without common interest, svm- 
 pathy, or connexion. One of these bodies was to 
 possess all the franchises, all the property, all the 
 education ; the other was to be composed of drawers 
 of water and cutters of turf for them." 
 
 The system, then, that was avowed and acted 
 upon, was this : that Ireland should neither reap 
 the benefits of union, nor the benefits of independ- 
 ence, but should be maintained in a condition of 
 pohtical subordination and inferiority to England; 
 and that the government of this subordinate pro- 
 vince should be administered by a Protestant 
 minority, invested with full power to load with 
 incapacities, and keep in a permanent state of 
 degradation, the great majority of the people, with- 
 out any reference to their beha\doiu' as citizens or 
 as subjects, and for no other cause of disqualification 
 than theii' profession of the CathoHc faith. 
 
 The Reformation, however, had now made a 
 
 d3 
 
58 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 considerable progress among the higher orders in 
 Ireland ; and the English settlers, who had a good 
 deal of the old Cromwellian blood in their veins, and 
 were animated with sturdy principles of liberty and 
 independence, were not inclined to submit tamely to 
 the domination of England, and evinced a disposition 
 to insist upon the same constitutional rights as their 
 Enghsh fellow - subjects enjoyed ; this pretension 
 was, however, strenuously and contemptuously re- 
 sisted by England. 
 
 Before the Revolution, the political relations of the 
 two countries were of an independent character, 
 though England had always regarded Ireland as 
 a dependent colony; but after the Revolution, the 
 subjection of Ireland to England was considered as 
 established beyond all doubt, and the legislative 
 supremacy of the latter was constantly exercised, 
 and when questioned, was asserted and proclaimed 
 in the most peremptory terms.* In order to have a 
 complete understanding of the mutual relations of 
 the two Islands, and of the feehngs which were 
 engendered, and took such deep root in the Irish 
 mind, it is necessary to take two distinct and sepa- 
 rate views, and look, fii'st, at the whole course of 
 the poHtical conduct of England towards Ireland, for 
 nearly a century; and, secondly, at the treatment 
 which the Irish CathoKcs experienced from the Irish 
 Protestants, during the same period. It is good for 
 
 * Lewis on Dependencies, note, p. 356. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 59 
 
 US to ponder over these reminiscences of national 
 and sectarian iniquity and injustice, — not, indeed, 
 for the purpose of reviving or perpetuating ancient 
 animosities, but of deriving, from past experience, 
 salutary lessons of morality and expediency, "which 
 may be appUed to the evils and perils of our own 
 times. 
 
 It was in 1698 that the constitutional jealousy 
 of the two countries began first to manifest itself. 
 Mr. Molyneux, member for the university of Dublin, 
 conceiving that the woollen manufacture was in 
 danger of ruin from the oppressive regulations 
 adopted by the English government, published a 
 tract, called " The Case of Ireland^s being bound by 
 Acts of Parliament in England stated '^' which was 
 received with prodigious applause in Ireland, and 
 with corresponding indignation and resentment on 
 the other side of the Channel. The English house 
 of commons took the matter up with a high hand ; 
 condemned Motyneux^s book by a resolution; in 
 an addi'ess to the king, besought him to restrain 
 the Irish parliament, and promised to assist his 
 Majesty in maintaining the dependence and subordi- 
 nation of Ireland to the imperial crown of England. 
 The supremacy thus loftily claimed was not less 
 sternly exerted : the prohibition of the exportation 
 of wool and wooUen manufactures from Ireland, 
 and the interference with the Irish forfeitures, 
 created a feeling of inveterate rancour between the 
 
60 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 two legislatures. In the year 1719 an sngry dissen- 
 sion arose from tlie reversal^ by the Irish House of 
 Lords^ of a decree of the Court of Exchequer^ which 
 judgment was reversed by theEnghsh House of Lords; 
 and an act was passed, which, after reciting that 
 attempts had been made to shake off the subjection 
 of Ireland to the imperial crown of the realm, pro- 
 vided that the parhament of Great Britain "had, 
 hath, and of right ought to have" full power to make 
 statutes to bind the people and kingdom of Ireland. 
 
 During the preceding reign, the British parliament 
 had legislated for Ireland, just as if she had no par- 
 liament of her own; and when, in 1707, the Irish 
 House of Commons presented an address to the 
 Queen, which was, in fact, a proposition for a legis- 
 lative union with Great Britain, the English govern- 
 ment would not listen to it ; " and in finding a 
 substitute for it," says Lord Clare, "there was a 
 race of impolicy between the two countries." 
 
 From 1724 to 1742 the Irish administration was 
 conducted bv Primate Boulter * whose sole notion was 
 to govern through the medium of an English interest; 
 against such an executive system an Irish party was 
 formed, which gi'aduallj^ increased in strength, and 
 being joined by the tories, who detested the whig 
 government, they took the common name of "pa- 
 triots." The first great contest against the authority of 
 the English government, was occasioned by the famous 
 
 * See Letters, passim. • 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 61 
 
 affair of Wood^s patent^ when Swift, in his immortal 
 Drapier^s Letters_, (which it is impossible, even now, 
 to read without the livehest pleasui'e and admiration,) 
 roused the dormant spnit of Ireland, and united the 
 whole nation in furious opposition to the projected 
 coinage. In the torrent of ridicule and invective 
 with which Wood, with his brass, was overwhelmed, 
 there were numerous exaggerations and misrepre- 
 sentations; but though Swift veiled the nature of the 
 controversy, under specific objections to the scheme, 
 the independence of Ireland reaUy lay at the bottom 
 of it. When the minds of men were sufficiently 
 heated with the contest, he put forth, in express 
 terms, that the parhament of England had no right 
 to bind the people of Ireland by laws enacted at 
 Westminster. " Those who come over hither to us 
 from England, and some weak people among our- 
 selves, whenever in discourse we make mention of 
 hberty or property, shake their heads, and tell us 
 ' Ireland is a depending kingdom,' as if they would 
 seem by this phrase to intend that the people of 
 Ireland are in some state of slavery or dependence, 
 different from those of England. ... I have 
 looked over all the English and Irish statutes, with- 
 out finding any law that makes Ireland depend upon 
 England, any more than England does upon Ireland. 
 . . . Our ancestors were not such fools as to 
 bring themselves under I know not what depen- 
 dence, without any ground of law, reason, or common 
 
62 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 sense. . . . It is true, indeed, that within the 
 memory of man, the parhaments of England have 
 sometimes assumed the power of binding this king- 
 dom by laws enacted there, wherein they were at 
 first openly opposed (as far as truth, reason, and 
 justice are capable of opposing) by the famous 
 Mr. Molyneux, as well as by several of the greatest 
 patriots and best whigs in England; but the love 
 and torrent of power prevailed: indeed the arguments 
 on both sides were in^dncible; for in reason, all 
 government without the consent of the governed, is 
 the very definition of slaveiy ; — but, in fact, eleven 
 men well armed will certainly subdue one single man 
 in his shirt. But I have done ; for those who have 
 used to cramp liberty, have gone so far as to resent 
 even the hberty of complaining, although a man 
 upon the rack was never known to be refused the 
 liberty of roaring as loud as he thought fit.'^ The 
 popularity of the dean was unbounded, for he did 
 not stand forth as the champion of any ascendancy, 
 pohtical or sectarian, but as the advocate of the 
 whole Irish people — of all who wanted food for their 
 beUies or clothes for their backs, against the inter- 
 ested oppression of the English government. " I 
 confess,'^ he says, ^' I have been sometimes tempted 
 to wish that this project of Wood^s might succeed, 
 because I reflected "wdth some pleasui'e what a joUy 
 crew it would bring over among us, of lords and 
 squires, and pensioners of both sexes, and officers, 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 63 
 
 civil and military ; when we should live together as 
 merry and sociable as beggars^ only with this one 
 abatement, that we should neither have meat to feed, 
 nor manufactures to clothe us, unless we could be 
 content to prance about in coats of mail, or eat brass, 
 as ostriches do iron/^* 
 
 It is not difficult to imagine the effect of such 
 humour as this on Irish excitability, and the ulti- 
 mate concessions of the English government were 
 hailed as a national triumph. About the beginning 
 of George the Second's reign, a great part of the 
 Roman Catholics began to consider themselves 
 Irish men as well as Irish Catholics ; and though 
 deprived of the civil rights which the Protestants 
 enjoyed, they began to make common cause Avith 
 the latter in asserting and defending their civil 
 liberties against England. This disposition to poli- 
 tical union, notwithstanding all rehgious differences, 
 excited the alarm of the government ; and Primate 
 Boulter complained of the unhappy influence which 
 the growing intimacy of Papists and whigs had had 
 upon the state of the nation, and how "any body 
 could grow popular by setting up for an Irish, in 
 opposition to an English interest.^' f 
 
 * Swift's Works, vol. vi., p. 441. 
 
 + Letter to Duke of Newcastle, January 1724 . 
 
 Boulter, lamenting the coalition of the Irish of all pai'ties to de- 
 feat Wood's patent, wiites — " The worst of it is, that it tends to unite 
 Protestant ^^-ith Papist ; and whenever that happens, good bye to the 
 Enghsh interest in Ireland for ever !" 
 
64 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 The short government of Lord Chesterfield (from 
 August 1745 to April 1746) was very popular in 
 Ireland ; and " now the English interest, at first by 
 faint and almost insensible degrees, but at length 
 openly and avowedly, became an independent Irish 
 interest.^' * The spirit of freedom continually ad- 
 vanced ; and on the death of Boulter, and appoint- 
 ment of Stone to the primacy, f the antagonist 
 parties, one under the new primate, and the other 
 led by Speaker Boyle, were marshalled in regular 
 opposition to each other. 
 
 It would be beside my purpose to attempt to 
 narrate the political contests of that period, the 
 vicissitudes of the popular cause, and the details of 
 that system of jobbing and corruption by which the 
 English interest was maintained. The spirit of Irish 
 emancipation kept continually gathering strength. 
 Men of great ability embarked in the cause, and the 
 press diffused the desire for constitutional hberty 
 through all parts of the country. The two great 
 objects for which the patriots contended were, legis- 
 lative independence and commercial freedom; and 
 the concession of these was resisted by the English 
 government on one side the Channel, and by the 
 English interest on the other, with an obstinacy and 
 determination, which nothing but a necessity, and a 
 
 * Plowden, vol. i., p. 301. Burke's letter to Sir H. Langrishe. 
 
 t Handley was the immediate successor of Boulter, but he only 
 lived about four years after his election ; and his primacy was not 
 remarkable. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 65 
 
 keen sense of tlie danger of furtlier opposition, were 
 at last sufficient to overcome. 
 
 With regard to the latter object, it was not merely 
 the mistaken or prejudiced policy of a party, but 
 the pure selfishness and jealousy of the Enghsh 
 nation, which denied this justice to Ireland : it was 
 a mixture of ignorance and selfishness not less pre- 
 judicial to British than to Irish prosperity. But I 
 am only now concerned in showing that such was 
 the spirit and disposition of the Enghsh towards 
 the Irish people ; and that by its operation these 
 feelings of animosity and alienation were so deeply 
 rooted in the latter country, that no subsequent 
 concessions, no change of pohcy, however liberal 
 and complete, have been able to extirpate them. 
 In proof of this part of the case I must produce 
 the testimony of Mr. Huskisson. "Recollecting," 
 he savs, "that for centuries it has been a settled 
 maxim of public policy, in aU great states haring 
 dependencies, to make the interests of those depen- 
 dencies subserrient to the interests, or the supposed 
 interests, of the parent state, there is, perhaps, no 
 country where the consequences of persevering in 
 such a system can be so forcibly illustrated as in 
 our own. In the first place, let us look at Ireland 
 till the year 1782. The many other causes which 
 contributed to keep that fertile island in a state of 
 misery and depression, I shall pass by on the present 
 occasion ; but is it not a weU-known fact, that, till 
 
66 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 the year 1780^ the agriculture, tlie internal industrj'^, 
 the manufactures, the commerce, the navigation of 
 Ireland, were all held in the most rigid subserviency 
 to the supposed interests of Great Britain ?^^ In 
 1778, a partial relaxation of this exclusive system 
 was proposed in the English parliament ; " and what 
 was the reception these proposals met with in the 
 house of commons, and on the part of the trading and 
 manufacturing interests of the country ? The oppo- 
 nents of these limited concessions, enumerating the 
 boons abeady conferred on Ireland, declared that to 
 grant more would be fatal to the commerce and 
 manufactiu'es of England. . . . Our merchants and 
 manufacturers, our ship-owners, our country gen- 
 tlemen, all took the alarm — all were to be ruined, 
 if we granted the proposed participations to a 
 country almost without debt, and papng the same 
 taxes with ourselves. Resting on these, and other 
 grounds, petitions poured in from all quarters. . . . 
 The merchants of Glasgow praj^ed ' that neither 
 the present, nor any futui'e advantage, should be 
 granted to Ireland, which might in the least degree 
 operate to the disadvantage of Great Britain.^ .... 
 The language of Manchester was still more decided 
 in reprobating the proposed concession. Liverpool, 
 also, did not hesitate to predict, that by the adop- 
 tion of the proposals that town and port would be 
 speedily reduced to their original insignificance. 
 In 1779, a more limited concession to Ireland was 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 67 
 
 proposed in the Britisli house of commons^ but this 
 measure was negatived on a division. Towards the 
 close of that year, the events of the war in North 
 America, and the state of things in Ireland, pro- 
 duced a different feeling in the British parliament. 
 State necessity, acting under a sense of pohtical 
 danger, yielded ^vithout grace, that which good 
 sense and good feeling had before recommended in 
 vain."* 
 
 The course of legislative emancipation, though 
 advancing in the main, marched with very irregular 
 and unequal steps. As long as Primate Stone lived, 
 the party he directed could command any question ; 
 the system which he established being sufficient, 
 said Lord Clare, " to beat down the most powerful 
 nation on the eaii;h/' In those days a viceroy came 
 to Ireland for a few months once in two years, 
 These were certain grandees, possessing such an 
 influence in the house of commons, that their 
 coahtion could always secure a majority. It was 
 the object of the government, therefore, to disunite 
 these chiefs, and to disengage, as much as possible, 
 the followers fi'om theii' leaders. The principals 
 used to stipulate the terms on which they would 
 carry the king^s business through parliament ; they 
 insisted that all patronage of every description 
 should pass through their hands : when their de- 
 mands were not complied with, they obstructed 
 
 * Huskisson's Speeches, vol. ii., p. 308. 
 
68 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 the measures of government, and tlie session of 
 parliament was occupied with a struggle for power 
 between the heads of parties. ^^The government," 
 says Lord Clare, "established a race of pohtical 
 adventurers. Still pohtical ferment led to no serious 
 conflict till the American war, when we availed 
 oui'selves of the hour of dang-er and calamitv to 
 press the claim of Ireland in terms of marked hos- 
 tihtv to the British nation.'^ "The concession of 
 a free trade was followed by a demand of a free 
 constitution; and the Enghsh colony was taught, 
 in an e\il hour, to separate itself from the Enghsh 
 nation." 
 
 To unravel the knotty thread of Irish pohtics, and 
 develop the gradual predominance of the indepen- 
 dent cause, would not be uninteresting, but it would 
 caiTv me far bevond the hmits I have prescribed to 
 myself. The administration of Lord Townshend 
 (which terminated in 1772) left the Irish parHament 
 in a very obsequious state ; but in the course of that 
 of liis successor, Lord Harcourt, the progress of the 
 American revolution began to diflPuse a spirit of 
 liberty thi'ough all ranks of the Irish people, and the 
 minister* becoming sensible of the expediency of 
 conciliating Ireland, appealed to the parhament of 
 Great Britain, to pass some popular measures of re- 
 laxation and toleration. These were eventuallv car- 
 ried, though not without considerable opposition, 
 
 * Lord North. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 69 
 
 both in and out of parliament^ and the concessions 
 were deemed to be prodigious acts of generosity, 
 which Ireland was bound to receive with every sen- 
 timent of gratitude and devotion. These were the 
 primary measures of a liberal policy, soon to be fol- 
 lowed by more momentous sacrifices of monopoly 
 and power. A mighty change had now come over 
 the face of the pohtical world. Notwithstanding the 
 continued prevalence of commercial jealousy, the 
 cause of Ireland was warmly espoused by a great 
 party and by some of the greatest statesmen in 
 the Enghsh parhament ; their co-operation with the 
 Irish patriots, and the concurrence of events tend- 
 ing to diminish opposition, led to the accomplish- 
 ment of legislative independence. " The weakness 
 of England,^' said Mr. Grattan, " made the strength 
 of Ireland ; for Ireland was saved when America was 
 lost — when England conquered, Ireland was coerced 
 — when she was defeated, Ireland was reheved. 
 How necessary, therefore, to assert the rights of Ire- 
 land ! Surely you do not expect, hke the Jews, 
 redemption to come from Heaven, if you do not help 
 yourselves.^^* They did help themselves, and they 
 obtained all the objects which they sought; but it is, 
 and ever will be, the misfortune of ti'iumphs thus 
 achieved, and concessions thus made, to leave behind 
 a rankling animosity, incompatible with cordial 
 union or mth any sentiment of amity and similarity 
 
 * Motion for an Addi'ess to the CrowTi, Feb. 22, 1782, 
 
70 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 of interest, and which is sure to produce fresh 
 contests instead of permanent peace. '^For a 
 period of twenty years/^ says Lord Clare, " a 
 liberal and unwearied system of concession and 
 conciUation has been pursued and acted on by the 
 British government — conciliation and concession 
 have only produced a fresh stock of grievances, 
 and the discontents of Ireland have kept pace 
 with her prosperity. No nation ever made such 
 progress in agriculture and commerce, and it is a 
 heart-breaking spectacle to every man who loves 
 his country, to see its progress arrested by the 
 factious folly of the people. In 1779 they de- 
 manded a free trade, and it was granted. In 1782 
 they were desired to state their grievances, and 
 full redress was afforded them. In 1783 thev 
 were dissatisfied, and redress was extended to the 
 term of their whole demand. In 1785 they de- 
 manded a commercial treaty, and Great Britain 
 made them a fair and liberal offer, which they re- 
 jected. In 1789 they demanded a Place Bill, a 
 Pension Bill, and a Responsibility BUI; they had them 
 aU, and the King surrendered his hereditary revenue.^' 
 The English government looked upon the Irish as 
 importunate, encroaching, and ungrateful. They were 
 extremely disgusted at being compelled to succumb 
 to Irish extortion, and they endeavoured (though, no 
 wonder, in vain), to make a great merit of their own 
 
 * Speech on Lord Moira's motion, February 1798. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 71 
 
 compulsory generosity. The Irish, on the other 
 hand, claimed all that they had acquired as a matter 
 of right, they acknowledged no obhgation, and pre- 
 tended to no gratitude, on account of concessions 
 which England had refused as long as she dared, and 
 had only made at last under the pressure of an invin- 
 cible necessity. Such was the inter-national ani- 
 mus up to the time of the Union, and now let us look 
 at the other side of the picture; while the Irish 
 parliament and the whole Irish nation were thus 
 struggling with English influence and power for com- 
 mercial and legislative emancipation, let us see what 
 was the conduct of England, united with the Pro- 
 testant interest in Ireland, towards the Irish Catho- 
 lics, the great bulk of the nation. I do not know a 
 more curious political spectacle than this huge ano- 
 maly — this intermingling and separation of various 
 and opposite interests — this occasional alliance of the 
 bitterest enemies for partial objects and particular 
 purposes — Catholic and Protestant Irishmen, aUied 
 against England for one purpose — Englishmen and 
 Protestant Irish, allied against Catholics for another, 
 and each end pursued with aU the vehemence of 
 political and religious zeal. The history of the penal 
 laws exhibits the whole course and system of Pro- 
 testant oppression and Catholic degradation. In 
 these days of liberahty and toleration, we almost 
 forget that such things have been ; but the memory 
 of them is engraven in indelible characters on the 
 
72 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 minds and hearts of the Irish people ; and it is fit 
 that we should remember them too^ in order to com- 
 prehend why it is that the fierce spirit of the Irish 
 Catholic can still be stii'red up at the will of the 
 demagogue, and why he still hates_, with an ever- 
 burning hatred, the Enghshman and the Orange- 
 man, the Protestant and the Protestant church; and 
 why he will and must continue to hate, agitate, 
 combine, conspire, and, perchance, rebel, as long as 
 any, even the slightest vestige remains of that exe- 
 crable system which once bowed him down to the 
 lowest depths of degradation and misery, and from 
 which he is conscious that his own energies and 
 exertions eventually set him free. 
 
 Lord Clai'e has attempted not, indeed, to defend, 
 but to apologise for, the penal code : he says,* ^' the 
 penal laws enacted in this country to abridge the 
 power and influence of the old Cathohcs, was a 
 measm*e of hard necessity, a measure of self-defence 
 and self-preservation, which has been from time to 
 time relaxed, with a very ill requited liberahty. 
 . . . The Protestant settlers, at the Revolution, 
 were an Enghsh colony in an enemy^s country, 
 which had been reduced to a sullen and refractory 
 allegiance ; — in numbers, not one-fourth of the whole, 
 and being objects of incurable aversion, could only 
 stand their ground by disarming their enemies, and 
 
 * Speech on Catholic Relief Bill, 1793. He says the cathohcs were 
 gainers with respect to civil hberty. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 73 
 
 cultivating the confidence and afi'ection of the 
 British nation j and he says (which is untrue), that 
 it was the refusal of England to consent to a legisla- 
 tive union, which rendered the enactment of the 
 penal code necessary.* Such an apology as this 
 could only apply to a measure, (as he indeed terms 
 it) adopted under the exigency of a particular crisis, 
 but the penal code was not a measure, but the result 
 and elaboration of a system, begun and continued, 
 for nearly a century, in the same persevering spirit 
 of ferocious and oppressive bigotry — continued 
 under all circumstances — unmitigated either by 
 security of possession, or the poHtical prostration 
 of its objects. Burke has described this system 
 in its true colours : — " it was a complete system, 
 full of coherence and consistency, as well fitted for 
 the oppression, impoverishment, and degradation 
 of a people, and the debasement in them of human 
 nature itself, as ever proceeded from the perverted 
 ingenuity of man.^f " To render man patient 
 under a deprivation of all the rights of human 
 nature, everything which could give them a know- 
 ledge or feehng of those rights was rationally for- 
 bidden : to render humanity fit to be insulted, it 
 was fit that it should be degraded.'^ % 
 
 * The terrible 2nd of Anne, " for preventing the further growth 
 of popery," was passed some years before the Address to the Crown 
 in favour of an Union. 
 
 t Letter to Sir H, Langrishe. 
 
 X Letter to a noble Lord, vol. \'i., p. 282. 
 
 £ 
 
74 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 He denounces^ in liis immortal Pliilippics^ a system 
 of wliicli not merely tlie tendency, but tlie object 
 was to keep tlie great mass of tbe people poor and 
 ignorant : a premium was offered to children to be 
 uudutiful and disobedient to tlieir parents — tbe very 
 foundations of moral obligations were sapped, and 
 the stream of natiu'al affections poisoned at its 
 source ; the law met the Catholic in every road to 
 industry ; every avenue to emplo;^Tnent was closed 
 against him ; he was precluded from the benefits of 
 education, and as much as possible from the blessings 
 of reHgion : it was criminal to teach and to preach, 
 it was criminal to leai'n and to listen ; and, says 
 Burke, " this system of penalty and incapacity has 
 for its object no small sect or obscure party, but a 
 bodyAvhich comprehends two thirds of the nation/^* 
 . . . " The happiness or misery of multitudes 
 can never be a thing indifferent, a law against 
 the majority of the people is, in substance, a law 
 against the people itself. Its extent determines its 
 invahdity/^ t 
 
 The maxims of government, wliich were avowed 
 and acted upon in those days, are happily exploded 
 in our own : we are famihar with principles of 
 hberty and equality, both ci\il and religious, and 
 we cannot look back to this iron age without feehngs 
 of shame and indignation. That system produced 
 the fruits that might be expected from it ; but it is 
 
 * Works, vol. ix., p. 328, 330. f lb. vol. ix., p. 348. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 75 
 
 our good fortune to live in times when very different 
 maxims of political morality prevail from those by 
 which it was engendered and maintained — and we 
 acknowledge principles of civil and religious freedom, 
 with which these prescriptive statutes are utterly 
 incompatible. " All human laws/^ says Burke, " are, 
 properly speaking, only declaratory; they may 
 alter the mode and application, but have no power 
 over the substance of original justice : the other 
 foundation of law, which is utility, must be under- 
 stood not of partial or limited, but of general and 
 pubhc utility. ^^* 
 
 The t}Trant^s plea of necessity for ruling this great 
 portion of the empire with a rod of ii'on, was, at 
 once, a great pohtical error and a great national 
 crime ; our pohcy was as injurious to ourselves as it 
 was ruinous to Ireland ; but had it been as profitable 
 to us as it really was the reverse, we had no right to 
 retam possession of the country upon any such 
 condition. There is " a substance of original 
 justice," independent of all human institutions, and 
 superior to imperial power itself, deriving its sanction 
 from the law of God and nature, and binding upon 
 all men who acknowledge the authority of that 
 law, as well in their collective, as in their individual 
 capacity. Every government is under an inherent, 
 indefeasible obhgation to promote the interests, 
 moral as well as material, of all its subjects, without 
 
 * Works, vol. ix., p. 351. 
 e2 
 
76 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 distinction^ and according to their several capacities ; 
 and no fancied political expediency^ however urgent, 
 can warrant the imposition of a legislative and 
 administrative system, calcidated to demoralise great 
 masses of men, and to retard that process of social 
 and indi\idual progress, which is, or ought to he, 
 the grand object and purpose of life itself — for 
 the attainment of which end, all pohtical machinery 
 should be considered merely ancillary and instru- 
 mental. 
 
 The penal laws* began in the reign of WiUiam 
 
 * At the period of the treaty of Limerick, certain acts were in 
 force wliich ought to have been repealed, such as the Act of Unifor- 
 mity by which every person absent from some place of worship on 
 Smiday forfeited l'2d., and the Chancellor might appoint a guardian 
 to the child of a Catholic. Wilham had engaged to have the articles 
 of the treaty confirmed by Parhament ; but the preamble to the act 
 " for confirming articles " (not the articles) of the treaty inins thus : — 
 " That the said articles, or so much of them as may consist with the 
 welfare and safety of His Majesty's subjects of this kuigdom," &c. 
 The Penal Code was the work of five successive reigns, each adding 
 somethmg to the hideous monument of intolerance and ferocity. It 
 may not be amiss to remind the reader of its most striking and 
 strmgent pro^'isions. In the reign of WiUiam III. Cathohcs were 
 deprived of the means of educating their children abroad or at 
 home, and of the pri\-ilege of being guardians to their own, or any 
 other person's cliildren. Catholic priests were banished from the 
 country — the intermarriage of Cathohcs and Protestants was pre- 
 vented — Cathohcs were not allowed to be soUcitors, and to take 
 other emplo}Tnents. 
 
 One of the first statutes of the reign of Anne was the famous 
 act " to prevent the further growth of popery," by which, if the 
 son of a Papist became a Protestant, the father could neither sell, 
 mortgage, nor dispose by will of liis estate. He might not be guardian 
 to, or have the custody of, his own childi'en ; and if one of them 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 77 
 
 the Third, against the personal inclination of the 
 king, who would certainly, if he had been able, have 
 fulfilled his promise to obtain for the Cathohcs some 
 parhamentary security for the undisturbed exercise 
 of their rehgion. Upon the accession of Anne, the 
 spirit of bigotry (in some degree checked by the 
 influence and well-kno^vn feelings of the late king), 
 broke out in all its fierceness ; and by the act to 
 prevent the fiu'ther growth of Popery, the code of 
 persecution was rendered nearly complete. "This 
 series of laws," says Mr. Hallam, " has scarcely a 
 parallel in European history; and to have exter- 
 minated the Cathohcs by the sword, or expelled them 
 
 was, or pretended to be, a Protestant, it was taken out of his hands at 
 any age. Papists might not purchase lands or tenements, or hold 
 leases for more than thirty-one years. With respect to such leases, 
 if a farm produced a profit greater than one-third amount of rent, the 
 right in it was to cease, and pass to the first Protestant who made 
 the discovery. Any inheritance of a Protestant descendible to a 
 Papist, was to pass to the nearest Protestant relation. No Papist could 
 take an annuity for hfe. When a popish child became Protestant, a 
 bill might be filed in Chancery to compel the parent to discover the 
 value of his estates, real and personal, which was to be distributed as 
 the Court thought fit, for the maintenance of such Protestant cliild or 
 cliildren. Popish wives confonning, acquired thereby various rights. 
 Any Papist teaching school publicly or privately, to be prosecuted as 
 a popish regular con\'ict. Popish priests converted, to have 30L a- 
 year, le\'ied and paid by grand juries. Rewards were ofTei-ed for 
 discovering popish clergy — 50Z. for a bishop, 20?. for a clergjTnan, 
 and 10?. for a schoolmaster. Two justices might summon any Papist 
 eighteen years old, and if he refused to say when and where he last 
 heard mass celebrated, and who was present, he might be committed 
 for twelve months, or fined 20Z. Various other acts were passed 
 against the clergy, and to exclude the laity from office, in tliis reign. 
 
78 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 like tlie Moriscoes from Spain^ would have been little 
 more repugnant to justice and liumanity, but in- 
 comparably more politic/^ These statutes had the 
 effect of inducing many of the wealthier Catholics 
 to conform, at least ostensibly, to the Protestant 
 chui'ch : but thev made no chanaje whatever in the 
 rehgious persuasion of the bulk of the people : — the 
 Cathohcs were^ however, politically extinguished; 
 they ceased to exhibit any show of resistance, or 
 even remonstrance ; nor duiing either of the re- 
 bellions of 1715 and 1715, did they evince the 
 slightest disposition to shake off their chains, or to 
 give any disturbance or alarm to the government. 
 
 George I. 
 Horses of Papists might be seized for the militia, and Papists were 
 to pay double towards raising the militia. 
 
 George II. 
 Papists were deprived of the elective francliise. All converts were 
 bound to educate their cliihli'en as Protestants. Barristers and soli- 
 citors, marrying Papists, were subjected to the penalties of such. No 
 convert, whose wife or children were Papists, could act as a justice of 
 the peace. Persons robbed by privateers dm-ing a war with a Catho- 
 hc prince, to be reimbursed by le%aes on the lands and goods of popish 
 inliabitants. All marriages between Protestants and Papists, cele- 
 brated by popish priests, were annulled. Any popish priest celebrat- 
 ing such marriage to be hanged. 
 
 George III. 
 Justices and magistrates might either by day or night search for 
 and seize the arms of Papists, when they have any cause to suspect 
 their concealment. Papists refusing to dehver up such arms, or to 
 discover them on oath, or neglecting to appear on summons, might be 
 punished by fine and imprisonment, pillory, or whipping, at the dis- 
 cretion of the magistrates. — Sir H. ParnelVs History of Penal Laics. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 79 
 
 For half a century they were contiiiiially treated with 
 every demonstration of hatred and contempt; the 
 government and the parliament constantly recipro- 
 cating expressions of their zeal and hostility against 
 ^' the common enemy/^ as they termed three-fourths 
 of the people ; and encouraging each other to enact 
 fresh laws against them^ or more rigorously to put 
 the old ones in force. During the whole of Anne^s 
 reign^ the penal laws were executed with unabating 
 severity. In 1706, the lord lieutenant (Lord 
 Pembroke) recommended parhament to proceed 
 against their foreign and domestic enemies. In 
 1709, Lord Wharton recommended the union of 
 Protestants against the common enemy. ^ In 1715, 
 although the loyalty of the Irish Cathohcs was 
 beyond suspicion, the excitement produced by the 
 rebellion in Scotland did not fail to inflame the 
 spirit of persecution. Lord Carteret told the Irish 
 parliament that the Protestants had one common 
 interest and one common enemy. 
 
 The commons soon afterwards addressed the lords 
 justices to secui'e the persons of Papists, &c., and 
 the lords justices assured the house that they had 
 given orders for the strict execution of the laws 
 against them, — and, accordingly, while parliament 
 passed a fresh act (to prcA^ent Papists from being 
 constables), every nerve of government was strained 
 to execute the penal laws, and especially those which 
 
 * Plowden, vol. \., 219. 
 
80 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 were directed against the exercise of tlieir religion. 
 The priests were hunted from theii' places of conceal- 
 ment, taken from the altar while celebrating divine 
 ser\dce, first imprisoned, and then banished.* But 
 it was in 1723 that the fury and fanaticism of the 
 Irish house of commons broke out, beyond all bounds 
 of common sense or decency. Upon a series of 
 resolutions which they voted, a bill was brought in, 
 the general character of which may be judged of 
 from a clause, unanimously adopted, for castrating 
 every Cathohc clergyman that should be found in 
 the realm. This bill was presented on the 15th of 
 November, 1723, to the lord lieutenant, (the Duke 
 of Grafton) with an earnest request to his Grace to 
 recommend it to his ^lajesty in the most efi'ectual 
 manner, humbly hoping, that from his Majesty^s 
 goodness, and his Grace^s zeal for the Protestant 
 interest, the same might pass into a law. It was 
 transmitted to England, where it was indignantly 
 rejected; the lord lieutenant endeavoured to con- 
 sole them for this unkind repulse, attributing the 
 failure to their having brought in the bill at such an 
 advanced period of the session, recommending to 
 them a more \dgorous execution of the penal laws, 
 and promising to co-operate with them in a preven- 
 tion of the growing e\il of popery. 
 
 On the accession of George the Second, the 
 Catholics presented an address of congratulation, 
 
 * Plowden, vol. i., 244. f lb. vol. i., p. 262. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 81 
 
 expressive of their loyalty and their obedient dis- 
 position to the government : this was presented to 
 the lords justices, by whom it was received -^-ith 
 silent contempt ; nor was it even known whether it 
 was ever submitted to the notice of the king.* 
 
 In 1757 the Duke of Bedford was appointed 
 lord lieutenant. He was the first governor who 
 professed a favourable disposition towards the 
 Cathohcs ; and about this time they began to 
 bestir themselves, though with much hesitation 
 and timidity. It was with reference to a proposed 
 registry bill, which would have been very injurious 
 to them, that they took their first feeble steps for 
 obtaining some relaxation of the penal laws. These 
 movements aroused the vigilance of the government, 
 and the laws, which had latterly been more mildly 
 executed, were again put vigorously in force. In 
 1758, a young lady of the name of O^Toole, who 
 had been pressed by her friends to conform to the 
 estabhshed religion, took refuge against their im- 
 portunities in the house of a Mr. Saul. Saul was 
 prosecuted, and he was pubhcly told from the bench, 
 ^^ that the laws did not presume a Papist to exist in the 
 kingdom, nor coidd they breathe without the connivance 
 of government J' 
 
 But towards the end of George the Second^s 
 reign a more generous spirit began to prevail among 
 the Irish Protestants, and the submissive behavioui* 
 
 * Plowden, vol. i., 262. 
 £ 3 
 
82 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 of the Catholics softened the animosity "«ith which 
 they had so long been regarded^ and elicited some 
 expressions of esteem from the ruHng powers. The 
 unostentatious exercise of theii' religion had long 
 been permitted^ and the ciuTent of opinion seemed 
 to be tui'ning in their favour^ though many a long 
 year was still to elapse before any essential relief 
 and fair measure of justice were vouchsafed to them. 
 It was in 1763 that the first attempt was made to 
 break in upon the penal system, in the shape of 
 a motion of !Mr. !Mason, to allow Papists to lend 
 money on mortgage. After postponing his first 
 motion in February 1764, he again introduced the 
 subject, but his bill was rejected by a majority of 
 138 against 53. 
 
 In the five years that Lord Townshend ad- 
 ministered the government (from 1767 to 1772)^ 
 his humanity softened, as much as possible, the 
 rigour of the penal laws ; and it was during his 
 viceroyalty that the first favourable act to the 
 Cathohcs was passed — an act which had been fre- 
 quently thrown out before, as tending to encourage 
 the Catholic to the detriment of the Protestant 
 rehgion. This magnificent boon was entitled, " An 
 Act to encourage the reclaiming of unprofitable 
 bogs j^^ and it generously allowed a Cathohc to take 
 a lease of fifty acres of such bog, with half an acre 
 of arable land adjoining : but lest there should be 
 any danger in tliis valuable acquisition, it was pro- 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 83 
 
 vided that no bog should be considered unprofitable 
 unless the depth from the surface, when reclaimed, 
 was four feet at least.* 
 
 In 1773, the English government began to think 
 it expedient to do something in order to con- 
 cihate the Irish Cathohcs ; and peremptoiy orders 
 were given for passing during the session some 
 measure in conformity with this sentiment. It is 
 really amusing at this time to contemplate the form 
 and amount in which this beneficent and con- 
 descending disposition manifested itself. Ko pai't, 
 indeed, of the penal code was to be remitted ; 
 but a bill passed enabling the king^s subjects of 
 every persuasion — which meant the Catholics — to 
 testify their allegiance to his majesty I 
 
 In 1778 the tide of liberality began to flow with 
 greater force and rapidity. The English cabinet 
 grew tolerant as it got frightened, and, as ]\Ir. 
 Grattan said, '' when England was defeated Ireland 
 was relieved.^^ Lord North publicly expressed his 
 desire that the Irish Catholics should be relieved 
 from the oppressions of wliicli they justly com- 
 plained ; but the Irish parliament was not yet pre- 
 pared to carry into eftect the wise though tardy 
 recommendation of the Enghsh minister. 
 
 The Eno-Hsh house of commons ha^ins:, however, 
 given an universal assent to Sii' George Sa^dlle^s 
 motion in favoiu' of the Roman Cathohcs in England, 
 
 * Plowden, vol. i., p. 416. 
 
84 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 eleven days afterwards, on the 25t]i of May, 1778, 
 leave was given in the Irish house of commons to 
 bring in a bill for the relief of the Catholics of that 
 country.* Though the proposed measure of relief 
 was exceedingly scanty, it was vehemently contested 
 in every stage, and ultimately carried only by a 
 majority of nine. In the house of lords it was 
 carried by thirty-six to twelve.t 
 
 There is no country in the world in which reli- 
 gious prejudices were so obstinately rooted as in 
 Ireland, nor any from which they have been so 
 slowly eradicated. The effect of the popery laws, 
 and of the estabhshment of an insolent domineering 
 Protestant ascendancy, proved full as demorahsing 
 to the master-sect, as to the wretched objects of 
 their oppression. The Protestants were brought up 
 in habitual sentiments of hatred and contempt for 
 the Catholics ; thev considered themselves bound by 
 no moral obhgation towards them, and they abused 
 the pri\aleges of their ascendancy by the most fla- 
 grant acts of caprice and injustice. There was 
 nothing on earth more detestably tyrannical, more 
 brutally insolent, than the squii'earchy. ^^ Every 
 squire, almost to a man," says Swift, " is a racker 
 of his tenants, a jobber of public works, proud and 
 
 * Plowden, vol. i., p. 463. 
 
 •\ By this bill Roman Catholics might take leases for ninety-nine 
 years ; land was descendible, divisible, and alienable by them in the 
 same way as by Protestants, and the power of children to acquire 
 rights over their parents' estates was put an end to. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 85 
 
 illiterate. . . . The detestable tyranny and oppres- 
 sion of landlords are visible in every part of the 
 kingdom ; . . . and tliey delight to see their vassals 
 in the dust.''* The laws afforded to the Protestant 
 an impunity for all wrong done to Catholics, and 
 no scruples of humanity or justice saved the latter 
 from being trampled upon with every mark of 
 aversion and contempt. 
 
 So powerful were the effects of education, and the 
 prejudices which both the laws and the chiu'ch had 
 combined to inculcate on the minds of the Irish Pro- 
 testants, that it was not till long after the commence- 
 ment of the struggle for commercial and legislative 
 freedom that sentiments of greater liberahty and 
 toleration began to prevail. It was not possible, 
 however, that there should be a coalition of Pro- 
 testants and Catholics for great national purposes, 
 and that the principles of ci^'il liberty should be 
 fought for in common, without a mitigation of those 
 hostile feelings and sectarian animosities which had so 
 long been the cause of di^dsion. Accordingly, in 1782 
 {31st January), Mr. Luke Gardner (afterwards Lord 
 Mountjoy), gave notice of a bill for the relief of the 
 Roman Catholics. On the 5th February this bill was 
 brought in, and after some discussion and consider- 
 able opposition it was committed. 
 
 * Causes of the wretchedness of Ireland — Character of an Irish 
 St[uirej vols. vii. & viii. 
 
86 PAST AXD PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 Meanwhile tlie Volimteers, now become an impor- 
 tant power in tlie state^ met at Dungannon on tlie 
 15th February:, and passed their memorable resolu- 
 tions, one of which (the 14:th) was, " that as men, 
 Irishmen, Chidstians and Protestants, we rejoice in 
 the relaxation of the penal laws against oiu' Koman 
 CathoHc fellow-subjects, and that we conceive the 
 measure to be fraught with the highest consequences 
 to the imion and prosperity of Ireland." Two of 
 Mr. Gardner^s bills (for he had divided his original 
 bill into thi'ee) were carried ; the thu'd* (for allow- 
 ing intermarriages between Cathohcs and Protes- 
 tants) was tln-own out. Although these bills repealed 
 some of the most severe laws, and removed several 
 penalties from the clergy, they still left the Cathohcs 
 under the whole load of their ci^il disqualifications. 
 " To look at the bill in the abstract," says Burke, 
 " it is neither more nor less than a renewed act of 
 universal, unmitigated, exceptionless disquahfication. 
 
 No man could imagine he was reading an 
 
 act of amnestv and indulgence It recites 
 
 the oath, and that Catholics ought to be considered 
 good and loyal subjects to his majesty. Then follows 
 an universal exclusion of these good and loyal sub- 
 jects from every, even the lowest office of trust and 
 
 ♦ This act passed in Lord Chesterfield's administration, and was 
 one of the worst parts of that barbarous system, if one could settle the 
 preference, where all was outrage on tlie laws of humanity and nature. 
 — Burhe. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. S7 
 
 profit This has surely more the air of a 
 
 table of proscriptions than an act of grace/^* 
 
 The great thaw of the intolerant and prescriptive 
 poKcy had now begun; but these bills were con- 
 templated with dislike and alarm by the strenuous 
 upholders of Protestant ascendancy^ and the rejec- 
 tion of the intermarriage bill demonstrated that 
 they were still strong enough to preclude any hope 
 of a complete emancipation of the Catholics for a 
 long time to come. Nevertheless the statesmen 
 of those days were so sanguine as to expect that 
 such scanty concessions would settle all disputes, 
 and make the Catholics contented and happy. 
 Lord Shelburne talked of " Ireland being now 
 united ; rehgious disputes all composed ; ^' and 
 Mr. Fox begged gentlemen to look forward to the 
 happy period when Ireland was to reap the blessings 
 that attend freedom of ti'ade and constitution, and 
 told them ^^ that the intestine divisions were no more, 
 the religious prejudices of former ages forgotten, and 
 the Roman Catholics restored to the rights of men 
 and citizens, &c.^^t Many years passed away after 
 Ireland had acquired legislative independence and 
 commercial fi'eedom, and still the Catholics continued 
 to lie under a weight of penal statutes, from which no 
 efi'orts were made to relieve them. The government 
 had become disinchned to concession; and the patriots, 
 though favom'ably disposed to the Cathohcs, knew 
 
 * Letter to a noble Lord. 
 
 f Fox's Speeches, vol. ii., p. 65. 
 
88 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 they could not bring their claims before parliament 
 with any chance of success ; but the principal cause 
 of this inertness was the division among the Cathohcs 
 themselves, who were unhappily split into an aristo- 
 cratic and a democratic party. 
 
 At length in 1792 the question of bestowing some 
 constitutional rights on the Roman Cathohcs became 
 the great object of attention in Ireland; and, on the 
 25th of January of that year, Sir Hercules Lano^rishe 
 brought forward certain resolutions in their favour.* 
 He proposed to open to them the profession of the 
 law, and freedom of education, to allow intermar- 
 riages, and remove other obstructions, and leave 
 was given to bring in a bill for these purposes nemine 
 dissentiente. The tone and temper of both parties 
 at that time is exhibited in a question asked by a 
 Mr. Staples, and the answer of Sir H. Langrishe. 
 Mr. Staples inquired whether the concessions in this 
 bill would satisfy the Cathohcs, and if it was all 
 that it was intended to grant them ? Sir Hercules 
 rephed, that the declaration of a host of Roman 
 Catholics had already answered, '^ That grateful for 
 what had abeady been granted, they would with 
 joy and humility receive whatever the T\dsdom and 
 liberality of parliament thought proper to bestow.^^ 
 
 The bill ultimately passed, and with the cordial 
 assent of the dissenters, who were desu-ous of pro- 
 moting an union between themselves and the Catho- 
 lics for the advancement of their own political objects. 
 
 * Plowden, vol. ii., p. 341. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 89 
 
 The Frencli revolution was by this time at its 
 height, and the dissemination of what were called 
 French principles deeply impressed upon the govern- 
 ment the expediency of correcting those flagrant 
 cases of grievance and discontent, wherever they 
 existed, which, by rendering the people combustible, 
 might at any moment break out into a flame. None 
 were so flagrant as the CathoUc disabilities, and 
 accordingly, on the 4th February, 1793,* the Irish 
 secretary, Mr. Hobart, introduced, and eventually 
 carried, a fresh measure of concession. 
 
 The bill afforded the Roman CathoHcs material 
 relief in several important particulars; it gave them 
 the elective franchise, and, what they thought of 
 greater importance, military rank. !Mr. Grattan, 
 however, said very truly, that though it was very 
 good because it contained much, it would have been 
 far better to give the Roman Catholics the whole, 
 and have settled with them for ever. But this was 
 too much for the temper of those times, and a propo- 
 sition to allow them to sit in parliament was rejected 
 by a large majority — 163 to 69. 
 
 The Cathohcs and their fi'iends soon began to 
 recollect that, while much had been obtained, much 
 still remained to be obtained. Fresh petitions were 
 
 * It was at tliis time that the Roman Catholics began to be so 
 designated, and no longer as " Papists," a change wliich the Bishop 
 of Down and Coimor reproves as " censurable pliraseology," " by which 
 the representative of the king was to designate the sectaries of a foreign 
 church." — Hist. vol. ii., p. 722. 
 
90 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF , (v^ , 
 
 drawn up; and on the 12th of February, 1794, 
 Mr. Grattan moved for leave to bring in a new relief 
 bill. The hopes of the Cathohcs were at this time 
 raised very high by the junction of the Duke of 
 Portland with Mr. Pitt, and the appointment of 
 Lord Fitzwilham as lord lieutenant. The latter 
 undoubtedly accepted the office upon an expec- 
 tation that fui'ther concessions to the Cathohcs 
 was to form a part of the government policy. The 
 misunderstanding, however, between the ministry 
 in England and Lord Fitzwilliam, which ended in 
 the recall of the latter, as a matter of course involved 
 the defeat of Mr. Grattan^s bill. 
 
 The recall of Lord Fitzwilliam produced feelings 
 of consternation and despondency among the Catho- 
 lics, proportionate to the hopes and anticipations his 
 appointment had excited; and innumerable ad- 
 dresses and resolutions were poiu'ed in upon him, 
 expressive of their sentiments upon an event so 
 disastrous to them. Besides these, a remarkable 
 address was also presented to Mr. Grattan, on the 
 part of the Catholics of Dublin, in which they said 
 that " some enemy to the king and the people had 
 interposed his mahgnant and wicked suggestions, 
 and thrown obstacles in the way of their total 
 emancipation; but that they were far from gi^dng 
 way to despondency and alarm ; they felt the justice 
 of their pretensions, and were persuaded what 
 was just would prevail over perfidy and falsehood.^^ 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 91 
 
 To this address, couclied in language unusually 
 firm, Mr. Grattan returned a reply, containing tlie 
 following remarkable prediction, the literal accom- 
 plishment of which he was unhappily not destined 
 to see : " Your emancipation will pass, rely on it. 
 Your emancipation must pass. It may be death 
 to one ^-icerovj it will be the peace-offering of 
 another : and the laui'el may be torn from the dead 
 brow of one government, to be craftily converted 
 into the ohve of his successor." 
 
 In 1796, Mr. Grattan moved, as an amendment 
 to the commons^ addi'ess, "to represent to his 
 majesty, that the most effectual method of strength- 
 ening the country, was to take such measures, and 
 enact such laws, as to ensure to all his majesty's 
 subjects the pri\ileges of the constitution, without 
 any distinction of religion." ^Ir. Pelham, in his 
 reply, asserted that the exclusion of the Cathohcs 
 from parliament and the state was necessary for the 
 crown and the connexion : and the amendment 
 was rejected by 149 to 12. It was in his speech on 
 this occasion that Mr. Grattan said, " the honourable 
 member may rely on it, the Cathohcs, the Irish, will 
 not long submit to such an interdict ; they ^vill not 
 suffer a stranger to tell us on what proud terms 
 the English government will consent to rule in 
 Ireland, still less to pronounce and dictate the 
 incapacity of the natives, as the terms of her domi- 
 nion, and the base condition of oui* connection and 
 allegiance." 
 
92 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 On the 17tli of Februarj^, 1797, Mr. Grattan 
 again broiiglit forward tlie question of Catholic 
 emancipation. At the conclusion of his speech on 
 this occasion he thus broke out against the mono- 
 polizers of the whole power of the state. " These 
 men demand all power and all place in consideration 
 of the superior piuity and disinterestedness of their 
 rehgion. Give us all the good things on eai'th, in 
 the name of God ; and in God^s mercy give nothing 
 to the rest of oiu' fellow-subjects. Thus this pure 
 and pious passion for Church and State turns out 
 to be a sort of political gluttony, an immoderate 
 appetite for temporal gratifications, in consideration 
 of spiritual perfection; and in consequence of this 
 vile, mean, and selfish monopoly, your state becomes 
 an oligarchy — the worst species — a plebeian oligarchy. 
 I loA'e the Protestants, I love the Presbyterians, and 
 I love the Cathohcs; that is, I love the Irish. If 
 ever my afi'ection abates, it is when they hate one 
 another." His resolution, "that the admission of 
 Catholics to seats in parliament is consistent with 
 the safetv of the crown, and the connection of Great 
 Britain with Ireland," was rejected by 143 against 
 19; and this was the last time the question of Catholic 
 emancipation was debated in the Irish parliament. 
 
EXGLAXD TOWARDS IRELAND. 93 
 
 CHAPTER T.— PART II. 
 
 Upon looking back upon the various vicissitudes 
 of the Catholic cause, through the long dark night 
 of the penal laws, and then forward to the dawn 
 of a more Kberal and tolerant system, to the great 
 change of opinion among the Irish Protestants on 
 this subject, and the rise of a powerfid party in par- 
 liament, zealously advocating emancipation, the ques- 
 tion suggests itself why the Cathohcs, for above a 
 century, tamely endured such privations and suffer- 
 ings; and why, when the current had tui'ued, and 
 began to flow with such apparent force in the oppo- 
 site direction, greater things were not accomplished 
 in their behalf. The first, and the principal cause, 
 was, the degraded and apathetic state into which the 
 Catholics themselves had fallen. The monstrous 
 poHcy of the ascendancy had been all but completely 
 successful — it had benumbed the energies and 
 faculties of the great mass of the Irish people. The 
 light in which the popish majority was regai'ded by 
 the Protestant minority of the last century^, and 
 the cringing humility with which the Catholics 
 accepted their degradation, present a most curious 
 
94 PAST AXD PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 moral and political spectacle; and this is nowhere 
 so well exemplified as in the writings of Swift, whose 
 name is still in high account as the greatest of Irish 
 patriots, and whose effigy is still blazoned in signs 
 over everr part of the land. In that remarkable 
 sermon* — a discom'se better adapted to the hustings 
 or the forum than the pulpit, — in which all the causes 
 of national distress, scattered through liis pohtical 
 wi'itings, are ably summed up, the penal laws, and 
 the inflictions and oppressions imder which the Ca- 
 thohcs were groaning, formed no part of the enume- 
 ration; nor were they alluded to, except in the fol- 
 lowing brief and contemptuous passage, where he 
 seems to consider their abject condition to be only 
 matter of interest, inasmuch as it was productive of 
 inconvenience and annoyance to the dominant caste : 
 — " But, alas ! among us, where the whole nation 
 almost is reduced to be^crary by the disadvantages 
 we lie under, and the hai'dships we are forced to 
 bear — the laziness, ignorance, thoughtlessness, squan- 
 dering temper, slavish nature, and uncleanly manner 
 of li^'ing in the poor popish natives, together with 
 the cruel oppressions of those landlords who delight 
 to see their vassals in the dust. In such a nation 
 how can we othei'wise expect than to be overrun 
 with objects of misery and want : therefore, to free 
 
 * On the causes of the wTetched condition of Ireland, (s. 9, vol. viii., 
 p. 3.) 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 95 
 
 this City from so intolerable a grievance, there can be 
 no other method/^ &c., &c.* 
 
 He treated ^dth scorn the favourite notion of 
 dividing Catholics and Protestants, as a measure 
 indispensable to the security of the latter, and 
 he gives this contumelious description of the Catho- 
 lic community: — "We are told the popish interest 
 here is so formidable, that all hands should be joined 
 to keep it under, that the only names of distinction 
 among us ought to be those of Protestant and Papist, 
 and that this expedient is the only means to unite 
 all Protestants on one common bottom, all which is 
 nothing but misrepresentation and mistake. If Ave 
 were under any real fear of the Papists in this 
 kingdom, it would be hard to think us so stupid as 
 not to be equally apprehensive with others, since we 
 are Kkely to be the greatest sufferers. But, on the 
 contrary, we look upon them to be altogether as in- 
 considerable as the women and children — their lands 
 are almost entirely taken away from them, and they 
 are rendered incapable of purchasing any more; and, 
 for the little that remains, provision is made by the 
 late act against popery, that it will duly crumble away. 
 Then, the popish priests are all registered, and with- 
 out permission [ivhich I hope will not be granted) they 
 can have no successors, so that the Protestant clergy 
 can find it no difficult matter to bring great numbers 
 
 * On the causes of the wretched coudition of Ireland, vol. vm., 
 p. IC. 
 
96 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 over to the cliurch ; andj in tlie mean time, the 
 common people, without leaders, discipline, or na- 
 tiu'al courage, being little better than hewers of wood 
 and drawers of water, ai'e out of all capacity of doing 
 mischief, if they were ever so well inclined/^* Again 
 — " As to popery in general, I look upon it to be the 
 most absurd system of Chi'istianity professed by any 
 nation ; but I cannot apprehend this kingdom to be 
 in much danger from it, — the estates of Papists are 
 very few and daily diminishing, theii' common people 
 are sunk in poverty, ignorance, and cowai'dice, and 
 of as httle consequence as women and children. 
 Their nobihty and gentry are, at least one-half, 
 banished, ruined, or converted. They all soundly 
 feel the smai't of what they suffered in the last Irish 
 wai'.^^ t 
 
 TsTothing could be truer than this description of the 
 state of the people. But, how edifpng, to see an 
 Irish patriot dilating with complacency on the igno- 
 rance, poverty, and cowardice of his countrymen; 
 and a Christian minister contemplating with satis- 
 faction the prospect of their being deprived of all the 
 offices and consolations of the religion they professed ! 
 For half a century this moral pai'alysis continued to 
 cramp the vital energies of the people. The com- 
 mercial restrictions and the penal code between them 
 had deteriorated agiicultm-e and manufactures toge- 
 
 * Letter concerning the sacramental test, vol. \Tii., p. 367. 
 t Presbyterians' plea of merit, lb. p. 403. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 97 
 
 ther, and the country gradually sunk into the lowest 
 state of misery and despair. The Catholics appealed 
 to haye resigned themselyes once for all to the de- 
 gradation of their condition, and to have lost all hope 
 and nearly all desii'e for emancipation. At length, 
 about the year 1756, three men, Messrs. O^Connor, 
 Wyse, and Cuny, resolved, if possible, to rouse the 
 dormant spiiit of their countrjonen ; but they met in 
 the outset Avith nothing but mortification and disap- 
 pointment. Thej looked in the first instance to the 
 Catholic aristocracy, but neither amongst them nor the 
 clergy found any disposition to bestir themselves and 
 co-operate in the good cause.* They not only refused 
 all aid, but deprecated all attempts to obtain redress, 
 fearftd lest any manifestation of a design to shake off 
 their chains might expose them to the danger of bring- 
 ing a fi'esh persecution on their heads. Such was the 
 discoui'aging commencement of this great struggle — 
 timidity, jealousy, and disunion, instead of vigour, 
 unanimity, and resolution, in the Catholic body: 
 the higher orders lukewarm, supercilious, and averse 
 from any coalition with the middle class — the clergy 
 abject and submissive, preaching patience and humi- 
 lity to theii' flocks, and an uncomplaining rehance on 
 the indulgence and pity of then' rulers. It is cimous 
 to compare the crouching postiu'e and humble tone 
 of both laity and clergy in 1760, with the attitude 
 
 * Wyse's Hist, of Assoc, vol. i., p. hh. 
 
 F 
 
98 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 and lauariiao;e tliev afterwards assumed, when thev 
 began to shake themselves free from the fetters of 
 thefr long and debasing servitude. The Roman 
 Catholics of Ireland presented to King George the 
 Third on his accession, an addi'ess of condolence on 
 the death of his grandfather — "a loss/^ they said, 
 "the more sensible on oiu' part, as the repose we 
 have so long enjoyed proceeded fr'om his royal 
 clemency and the mild administration of his govern- 
 ment/^ " Ever since the accession of your Majesty^s 
 royal house^ we have in a particular manner experi- 
 enced the paternal intei'position of youi* illustrious 
 predecessors. We, who ai'e so unfortunately distin- 
 guished from the rest of oiu' fellow-subjects, cannot 
 subsist without a continuance of the roval favour and 
 protection. 
 
 " Sensible of the same hereditary compassion in 
 your Majesty's breast, we most humbly hope for 
 that share in the happiness of your reign which 
 our peculiar cii'cumstances can admit. . . . We beg 
 to assure your Majesty of our grateful and constant 
 return of affection and loyalty, . . . happy, might 
 it entitle us to express a wish, that of all your 
 MajestA-^s dutiful subjects of this kingdom, we alone 
 might not be left incapable of promoting the general 
 welfare and prosperity of it/^ 
 
 In March, 1762, a general fast was ordained by 
 the government "for the success of his Majesty^s 
 arms," when an exhortation was read in the Roman 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 99 
 
 CathoKc chapels, fully corresponding with the address 
 of their lay brethren, in humility of tone, and a spirit 
 of passive non-resistance : — 
 
 " We think it our duty to remind you of the 
 thanks you owe to Almighty God, who, in these 
 calamitous times, . . . leaves you in the enjoyment 
 of peace, and the blessings that attend it ; blessings 
 that ought to fill youi' hearts with the deepest sense 
 of God^s mercy, and thankful to our chief govern- 
 ment, whose paternal care and pity . . . knows no 
 distinction of persons or people. . . . We exhort 
 you to continue to behave in the same peaceable 
 manner, and to avoid every thing, in public and 
 private, that might give the least shadow of offence. 
 . . . Nor does this caution proceed from any diffi- 
 dence of your future conduct ; it is rather intended 
 to raise in your minds a hvely sense of the lenity and 
 mildness of our present most gracious government. 
 Length of time, your constant ready and cheerful 
 submission to the ruling powers, and, above all, 
 the merciful and humane disposition of the royal 
 family, have greatly worn off the rigour of pre- 
 judice against you. These happy dispositions, en- 
 coui'aored bv a continuance of the same behaviour 
 in you, may perhaps improve still more to your 
 advantao^e. But whether we shall be deemed worthy 
 
 CD «, 
 
 of future favour or not, it is our duty, as ministers 
 
 of Jesus Chi'ist, strongly to enforce the duty of a 
 
 submissive, obedient, and peaceful behaviour; and 
 
 f2 
 
100 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 yours, as Christians and good subjects, to fulfil 
 them steadily in your practice/^ 
 
 Such was the language of the predecessors of the 
 O^Connells and Shiels, of the Doyles and M^Hales. 
 From minds thus broken and subdued, no efforts of 
 vigour and intelligence could be expected, nor was 
 it strange that the oppressor still kept his foot upon 
 the necks of men who would make no attempt to 
 rise from their abject posture. At length, time and 
 the hour, and a concurrence of circumstances, rather 
 than the exertions of the Cathohcs themselves, 
 brought about a tui'n in the tide of their affairs *. 
 The sparks struck out by political colUsions on one 
 side, and fostered by political s^Toapathies on the 
 other, kindled the fire of an ancient spirit which 
 still lurked unseen and unfelt amidst the ashes. 
 Jarring interests were accommodated, rival jea- 
 lousies appeased, and hostile parties reconciled. 
 The war with France, which at once excited the 
 apprehensions of the Protestants and the hopes 
 of the Catholics, produced union amongst the 
 people, and elicited concession fr'om the govern- 
 ment, f 
 
 The Catholics were now placed in a far more 
 advantageous situation, and became animated with 
 a bolder and more sanguine spirit : they could 
 purchase land, they had acquired property, and, in 
 spite of former restrictions, education had continued 
 
 * Wyse, vol. i., p. 92. ^ f lb. vol. i., p. 114. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 101 
 
 to advance ; population liad been continually in- 
 creasing, and the two great elements of power — 
 wealth and knowledge — began to inform and 
 invigorate the mass.* 
 
 Inveterate prejudices had been so much worn off, 
 that public opinion even among Protestants was 
 becoming generally favourable to Catholic emancipa- 
 tion, till religious animosities were again revived 
 during the tempestuous scenes and events which 
 preceded and attended the Rebellion. The causes 
 and the objects of that outbreak were undoubtedly 
 poHtical, and not religious ; for the leaders of the 
 United Irishmen were almost all Protestants, but the 
 majority of their followers were Catholics, because 
 the bulk of the people were of that persuasion.t 
 
 The associations of White Bovs and Defenders, 
 with the horrible cruelties and excesses perpetrated 
 by both, soon inflamed the religious antipathies of 
 the two sects to the highest pitch j J and though the 
 CathoKcs, as such, certainly took no part in the 
 Rebellion, and the Catholic gentry and clergy 
 exerted themselves in aid of the Government, and 
 did all they could to restrain the excited passions 
 
 * Wyse, vol. i., p. 118. 
 
 t The only Catholic leaders were Esmond, M'Nevm, and a few others, 
 :j: In the secret committee of the Lords, the Archbishop of Cashel 
 asked Di\ M'Ne\an if he could accoimt for the massacres committed 
 on Protestants by Papists in Wexford : — he said, that " the Irish 
 peasant had but one name for Protestant and Englishman, and called 
 both Sassanagh ; his prejudices, therefore, were less against a reUgionist 
 than a foe." In this the Lord Chancellor acquiesced. 
 
103 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 of the people,* tlie cause of emancipation became 
 in the course of the contest identified with that of 
 reform ; and the dread and aversion with which the 
 latter was regarded by the ruling powers, were in 
 no small degree extended to the foraaer. Nor were 
 the Catholics themselves in any disposition to urge 
 their claims ; and it was not till long after the Union 
 that they renewed their exertions, and commenced 
 that regular and systematic course of action, in 
 which, with a few intervals of inertness, they con- 
 tinued ever after to persevere, f 
 
 The Union brought to a close a long act of this 
 deplorable drama. But before any allusion is made 
 to the more brief, but not less stilling period which 
 followed it, it will be well to sum up the whole case 
 by the production of testimonies whose impartiahty 
 and authority cannot be called in question, and the 
 exhibition of a pictm^e of the state of Ireland, drawn 
 by a master-hand. On the 23rd of Januarj^, 1799, in 
 the house of commons, Mr. Pitt, in answer to Mr. 
 Sheridan, said, " that he did not admit that England 
 had oppressed Ireland for 300 years; but he would say 
 that for 100 years the country had followed a very 
 narrow pohcy with regard to that kingdom. When 
 this country exercised a supremacy over Ireland, the 
 pohcy of Great Britain, tainted and perverted by 
 
 * " To the hiei'archy and respectable classes of the Romanists in 
 Ireland, it is justice to observe, that they appear not to have been 
 parties in the Rebelhon, but rather to have exerted theu' influence in 
 its suppression." — Manfs Hist, of I. Ch., vol. ii., p. 750. 
 
 + Wyse's Hist.j vol. i., p. 137. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 103 
 
 selfish motives, treated Ireland ivith illiberality and 
 neglect, and did not look upon her prosperity as that 
 of the empire at large" 
 
 Mr. Wyndliam (7tli of Febmaiy, 1799,) said ''the 
 disorders of Ireland might be ascribed to various 
 causes,, but they chiefly grew out of the nature of 
 its constitution ; the deformitv of that constitution 
 was its coercive form : it was hke a garrison in a 
 conquered town ; it was a mere provisional govern- 
 ment, deriving its existence, force, and power, from 
 another state. The miseries of Ireland arose from 
 the barbarous ignorance of the people, who had 
 been rendered ferocious by the animosities which 
 existed among them : that ferocity had given occa- 
 sion to new restraints on the part of the government, 
 which redoubled the fury of the people." 
 
 On the 19th of March, 1799, Lord Gremdlle, in 
 the house of lords, said that "the evils of Ireland 
 obviously called for a speedy remedy. The present 
 government had, unfortunately, not grown up with 
 the habits of the people. The Enghsh connection 
 was begun among them by the worst of all con- 
 quests, one that was partial and incomplete." 
 
 In the Irish House of Commons, on the 15th of 
 January, 1800, Mr. Bushe (the late celebrated chief- 
 justice,) exposed the injustice with which Ireland had 
 long been treated by Great Britain, and affirmed that 
 all the concessions of the latter had been wrung from 
 her hke di'ops of her heart's-blood. " For centuries," 
 
104 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 he said, '^ the British nation and parliament has kept 
 you down, shackled your commerce, paralysed your 
 exertions, despised your character, and ridiculed your 
 pretensions to any pri^dleges, commercial and consti- 
 tutional ; she never conceded a point to you which 
 she could avoid, or granted a favour which was not 
 reluctantly distilled/^ 
 
 These are not the complaints of Irish Catholics, or 
 the effusions of discontented pohtical partisans, but 
 the sentiments of grave and dispassionate statesmen 
 belonging to different parties, and professmg different 
 opinions; it is a frank confession of Irish oppression, 
 and of English misrule. England has governed her- 
 self, that is she has been governed by the influence 
 of her own pubHc opinion, and by the pohcy of 
 antagonist parties, which as they successively ob- 
 tained power, have (however differing in opinion as 
 to the means,) ahke striven to promote the prosperity 
 and happiness of the English people, and in spite of 
 all errors and misfortunes, and of those ^dcissitudes 
 to which nations and empires must always be exposed, 
 she has advanced in a continued march of improve- 
 ment. But upon Ireland a far different experiment 
 was tried : it was neither a Whig nor a Tory policy 
 which ruled that country, nor was there any national 
 opinion by which its government was informed and 
 controlled; an Enghsh interest and a Protestant 
 ascendancy had their own way, predominant and 
 unchecked ; they possessed unbounded power, legisla- 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 105 
 
 tive and administrative, and thev found universal 
 submission to their will. That vast power, therefore, 
 must be deemed subject to that moral responsibihty 
 which its possession of necessity implies, and those 
 who wielded it are answerable for the practical 
 consequences which resulted from their administra- 
 tion. And what was the state of the countrv which 
 had been thus despotically governed for above a 
 century? Let Lord Clare reply. On one of the 
 debates on the Union, a rival orator objected to the 
 plan of union, that '^ They were very weU as they 
 were -J' — " We are very well as we are ! '' exclaimed 
 Lord Clare. ^'^Look to your statute book; session 
 after session you have been compelled to enact laws 
 of unexampled rigour and novelty, to repress the 
 horrible excesses of the mass of your people; and the 
 fury of murder and pillage and desolation have so 
 outrun aU legislative exertion, that you have been 
 drawn to the necessity of putting your country under 
 
 the ban of mihtary government Look to your 
 
 civil and relicfious dissensions ; look to the furv of 
 pohtical faction, and the torrents of human blood 
 that stain the face of your country ! and of what 
 materials must that man be composed who will not 
 listen with patience and good-wiU to any proposition 
 that can be made for composing the distractions, and 
 healing the wounds, and aUe\dating the miseries of 
 this devoted nation." * 
 
 • Speech on the Union, p. 76. . 
 
 f3 
 
106 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 If the Union had been carried oat, according to the 
 intentions of the great minister who accomphshed it, 
 in all human probability the foundations of peace and 
 tranquilhty, of pohtical and social improvement, would 
 have then been laid, and we should now be enjoying 
 the vast benefits of his sagacious and healing pohcy ; 
 but, as it was, though a great political change took 
 place in the relations of the two countries towards 
 each other, httle or nothing was done for effecting 
 what Mr. Pitt had declared to be the great object of 
 the Union — " that of tranquillising Ireland, and 
 attaching it to this country." There was an end for 
 ever of all commercial jealousy; and Ireland, become 
 an integral part of the empire, was to partake, accord- 
 ing to the measure of her capacity, in all the advan- 
 tages which England could obtain by her influence, 
 her ingenuity or her power. But while the interests 
 of the two countries were become one, the cessation 
 of all those separate national causes which had occa- 
 sionally united the Catholics and Protestants for some 
 common object, served to render the sectarian differ- 
 ences between them more marked, bitter, and irre- 
 concilable, than ever. It is probable that this effect 
 and consequence of the Union had not escaped the 
 penetration of Mr. Pitt ; but it is certain that he was 
 fully determined to bring the question of Catholic 
 Emancipation before the United ParHament. He had 
 given the Catholics to understand that such was his 
 intention, and he lost no time in endeavouring to 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 107 
 
 fulfil that pledge; but even his power and authority 
 were insufficient for such a piu'pose. George III., 
 himself in a state bordering on insanity, invoked to 
 his aid all the prejudices of the country, and success- 
 fully resisted the policy which was recommended by 
 Mr. Pitt, and sanctioned and supported by every man 
 Whig or Tory who deserved to be called a statesman. 
 It is impossible to conceive any thing more la- 
 mentable, and if it were not so lamentable, more 
 ridicidous and contemptible, than this transaction. 
 Mr. Pitt resigned; Lord Gren\ille, Mr. Wyndham, 
 and Mr. Dundas, * retired with him ; and Mr. 
 Addington formed a No-popeiy government out of 
 the dregs of the cabinet. 
 
 The genuine spirit of modern Torjdsmf was still 
 vigorous, and joined to the prejudices and ignorance 
 of the middle classes, it was iiTCsistible. Any king 
 not bereft of his senses, or hardened and blinded bv 
 the most incurable obstinacy, would have seen in the 
 unanimous concurrence of the ablest pubHc men, 
 many of whom differed from each other on every 
 other question, a sufficient reason for submitting his 
 opinions to theirs ; and he would have been appaUed 
 with the prospect of carrjdng on a government from 
 which every man of capacity and consideration in 
 
 * The late Lord Mehille. 
 
 f It is modern Toryism which is anti-cathoHc, the old Tories were 
 generally Jacobites ; and the most furious opposers of all Catholic 
 questions, are the sons and grandsons of those who Used to dinuk the 
 Pretender's health on their knees. 
 
108 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 the country was excluded. But no fear or scruple 
 assailed the mind of George the Thirds except that 
 of violating his coronation oath; nor could any 
 assurances satisfy him that he might consent to 
 Catholic Emancipation with perfect safety to his 
 conscience.* A great opportunity was here lost, 
 and e\ils were engendered, which, for many sub- 
 sequent years, tainted the whole stream of Anglo- 
 Irish poKtics, aggravated the danger and embarrass- 
 ment of this country, and prolonged and increased 
 the barbarism and poverty of the other ; their 
 consequences were manifested in the insuperable 
 difficulties which for many years prevented any 
 settlement, and when, at last, a settlement was 
 effected, in its being done under such circumstances 
 and in such a manner as to be almost inoperative for 
 the end it professed to accomplish. 
 
 If the Irish Catholics, in 1801, had been animated 
 with the same spirit as their descendants in 1828, 
 the fall of Mr. Pitt might have been the signal for 
 an insui'rection ; but they were again become so 
 lethargic, so disunited and dispirited, that it scarcely 
 produced any visible effect amongst them. Far from 
 assuming any menacing attitude, or thinking of 
 availing themselves to advance theii' claims of the war 
 in which the country was engaged, they were quite 
 passive ; nor did any Catholic meeting of importance 
 
 * Even Lords Keuyon and Eldon, the staunchest anti-catholics, 
 told the king he might give his assent to any bill without a violation 
 of his coronation oath, or any danger to his conscience. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 109 
 
 take place till 1805, and then it was not without 
 difficulty that a petition for emancipation was agreed 
 upon.* It is not possible to demonstrate to a moral 
 certainty, that if the Cathohc question had been 
 then settled, aU the benefits which its advocates 
 expected, would have actually accrued, and that all 
 the evils which have ever since been in operation, 
 would have been averted ; but there cannot be a 
 shadow of doubt that at that time facilities existed 
 for a settlement, which never could be found again. 
 It was in the power of the English government to 
 grant emancipation upon any conditions which they 
 thought it expedient to propose ; and the Catholics 
 were in a temper and disposition to accept, with 
 thankfulness, any reasonable terms. It was part of 
 Mr. Pittas plan to pay the Cathohc clergy, and if 
 this had been done, a connection would have been 
 estabhshed between them and the state ; the most 
 urgent of practical grievances, affecting both clergy 
 and laity, would have been removed, and a habit of 
 contentment might, by possibility, have been created, 
 affording the best chance of allaying the enmity 
 with which the Protestant estabhshment was re- 
 garded. It is reasonable to speculate upon what 
 might have been the issue of such moderate and 
 heahng counsels. History is said to be philosophy 
 teaching by examples, and history furnishes no 
 example of any country, in any age, which has been 
 
 * Wyse, vol. i., p. 137. 
 
110 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 governed witli tolerable justice, and ordinary pru- 
 dence, and has at the same time exhibited a state of 
 chronic disease, moral and pohtical, Hke that of 
 Ireland. We have always had the justest perceptions 
 of the bigotry and impohcy of other nations and 
 governments, and an abundance of pity and con- 
 tempt for the various manifestations of Spanish or 
 French misrule ; but we have shut our eves and our 
 ears, and closed our understandings, against all the 
 frightful consequences of our own. For years, we 
 attributed the miserable state of Ireland to everv 
 cause but the true one ; and the great majority of 
 Englishmen preferred to beheve that the disorders 
 of that country were assignable to some natural 
 propensity in the people to turbulence and crime, 
 rather than to the system of Protestant ascendancy 
 and Cathohc exclusion, by which they were ahenated 
 from British connection, and all the soui'ces of 
 improvement were obstructed. T\Tiat might have 
 been the result of a different system, we are left to 
 conjecture, but we have before us, in appalling 
 reahty, all the actual consequences of that which 
 was maintained. 
 
 When Mr. Pitt quitted office, he advised the 
 Cathohcs to act with patience and moderation, to 
 rely with confidence on the support of those who were 
 retiring ; and he promised that he would do his utmost 
 to estabhsh their cause in the pubHc favour, and pre- 
 pare the way for their finally attaining their object. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. Ill 
 
 Lord Comwallis gave tlie same advice ; but he went 
 further than Mr. Pitt, for he gave them to under- 
 stand that the eminent persons who were leaving 
 the service of government, would not re-embark in 
 it on any terms but those of obtaining for the 
 Catholics the privileges to which they were en- 
 titled. 
 
 Mr. Pitt at first supported the new government, 
 and everything went smoothly on : there was no 
 fear of any violent conduct on the part of the 
 CathoKcs, and it was less difficult to prevail upon 
 them to be patient, than to get them to act with any 
 sort of concert or ^dgour in theii' own behalf. They 
 had yet to learn the lesson which Mr. O^Connell 
 afterwards so continually, and not without necessity, 
 dinned into then* ears! 
 
 " Hereditai*}' bondsmen ! know ye not. 
 Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow ?" 
 
 In 1803, the war on the Continent broke out 
 again, and the pubhc voice soon began to clamour 
 for a more capable administration. Pitt not only 
 ceased to support, but \dgorously attacked the 
 ministry; nevertheless, the Tory principle and the 
 king^s personal influence were so strong, that- the 
 united opposition of Pitt and Fox was barely 
 sufficient to turn out so contemptible a government 
 as Addington^s. 
 
 In 1801^ Mr. Pitt resumed office, but his second 
 administration was very different from his first. 
 
112 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 He was received with trndisguised reluctance by 
 George the Thirds and was forced to acquiesce^ against 
 his own wishes and opinion, in the exclusion of Fox 
 from the ministry, and he entirely cast aside the 
 question of Catholic Emancipation. In 1801, he had 
 scandalised and offended some of his most faithful 
 adlierents, by his opposition to the wishes of the 
 king.* It was a maxim of tory loyalty, that the 
 scruples of the royal conscience ought to be re- 
 spected ; and they could better endure that Ireland 
 should continue distracted and discontented, than 
 that the king^s darling prejudices should be thwarted. 
 During the inten'al between Mr. Pittas retirement 
 and his return to office, the CathoHcs had done 
 nothing to weaken their claims, — they had abstained 
 from all agitation or importunity ; and when war 
 was declared in 1803, their patriotic zeal was con- 
 spicuous, and they displayed great eagerness to 
 enrol themselves in Voluntary associations. But at 
 all times the loyalty and forbearance of the Catholics 
 seem to have had more effect in relaxing the efforts 
 of then* friends, than in mitigating the hostility of 
 their opponents. 
 
 Mr. Pitt, while out of office, changed the opinion 
 which had formed the ground of his resignation in 
 1801, and upon more maturely weighing the question, 
 and couphng with it the consideration of the con- 
 
 * Lord Eldon's Life, vol. i., p. 443. The king's language to the 
 eliancellor about Pitt was hostile and contemptuous. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 113 
 
 scientious repugnance of tlie sovereign, he determined 
 never to press upon him again a subject from which 
 he was so averse ; and this determination he made 
 known to the king, long before he returned to office, 
 together with an assurance that he would adhere to 
 it, both in office and out * In point of fact, whether 
 he was justified or not in so doing, he threw over 
 the CathoUc cause. 
 
 In 1805, the Catholic question was first brought 
 before the United Parhament, by Lord GrenviUe 
 (10th of May) in one house, and by Mr. Fox (11th 
 of May) in the other. The motion in the Lords^ was 
 lost by a majority of 129. It was in this debate, in 
 the House of Commons, that Mr. Grattan made the 
 first of the many magnificent speeches by which he 
 afterwards immortahsed himself. Mr. Pitt opposed 
 the motion, but declared that he saw no danger in 
 granting the claims of the petitioners. He said that 
 circumstances, in his opinion unfortunate, had pre- 
 vented his bringing forward the measure; and as 
 long as they continued to operate, he should feel it a 
 duty to be no party to the agitation of the question. 
 Mr. Pittas conduct on this occasion, so inconsistent 
 with his language on quitting office in 1801, was 
 severely attacked ; and it was contrasted with that 
 of Mr. Wyndham, who had gone out, but had not 
 come in again, with Pitt. Mr. Wyndham said, that 
 
 * Lord Melville's Speech in House of Lords, March 26, 1807. — 
 Hansard, p. 254. 
 
114 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 " the only consideration whicli could have reconciled 
 him to the Union, was the prospect of Cathohc 
 Emancipation, and that popular clamoui' and pre- 
 judices should not prevent his doing, now, what was 
 fit to be done; what Mr. Pitt himself thought ought to 
 have been done four years ago, and what he acknow- 
 ledged must be done hereafter." Mr. Fox's motion 
 was lost by a majority of 212 — (336 against 124). 
 
 In 1806 the death of Mr. Pitt produced the 
 administration of Lord Gren^dlle and Mr. Fox, who 
 were notoriously convinced of the justice and expe- 
 diency of emancipating the Catholics ; nevertheless 
 they took office with the intention of abstaining 
 from bringing forward any measure for that end. 
 I should be sorry to express anything like censure 
 of the conduct of the veiy able and honourable 
 men who composed that government, who had, un- 
 doubtedly, many important questions to consider 
 besides that of Catholic Emancipation, and who 
 probably exercised a sound as well as conscientious 
 judgment on that occasion. 
 
 The "VMiigs took office without any stipulations, 
 and free to act as they thought fit ; but they deter- 
 mined to avoid, if possible, doing anything repugnant 
 to the feelings and opinions of the king. They re- 
 commended patience and moderation to the Catholics; 
 and they hoped, by a prudent and concihatoiy admi- 
 nistration, to keep the question at rest : and for a con- 
 siderable time these hopes were flattered with success. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 115 
 
 Towards the end of 1806, disturbances occmTed in 
 the west of Ireland^ to repress which they were vehe- 
 mently urged (especially by Mr. Perceval) to have 
 recourse to measures of extraordinary severity : but 
 they determined to trust to the known powers of 
 the law, which happily were found adequate for the 
 piu'pose. 
 
 After this, however, the government were im- 
 pressed with the necessity of devising measures 
 calculated to conciliate and tranquiUise the country ; 
 and, amongst several others which were in contem- 
 plation, they brought forward a bill to enable 
 persons of every religious persuasion to serve in 
 the army and na^y, without any condition but that 
 of taking an oath therein prescribed. This act was 
 nothing more than the extension of one passed in 
 the Irish parliament in 1793, by which Roman 
 Catholics in that countrv were enabled to hold com- 
 missions in the army, and attain to any rank except 
 that of commander-in-chief, major-general of the 
 ordnance, or general on the staft', and it was intended 
 to put an end to the extraordinary incongruity of 
 allowing a Catholic to be quahfied to serve in Ire- 
 land, but disqualified from serving in England, 
 should any circumstance demand his presence in 
 the latter coimtry. One of the strongest grounds 
 for introduction of this measure was, that when 
 the bill of 1793 was passed in the Irish parhament, 
 pledges were distinctly given by Lord Clare, in the 
 
116 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 House of Lords, and by Lord Hobai%* in the House 
 of Commons, that a similar bill should be introduced 
 in the British Parliament ; which pledges had been 
 ever since uni'edeemed. 
 
 A consent, but a very reluctant one, having been 
 obtained from George III. to this bill, the Lord 
 Lieutenant was directed to communicate to the 
 heads of the Catholics that the army and navy would 
 be opened to them. A meeting was held, at which 
 this information was imparted; when the Irish Secre- 
 tary, Mr. EUiott, was asked whether it was intended 
 merely to pass the law promised in 1793, or to allow 
 the Catholics to rise to all military offices without 
 restriction? He referred to the Cabinet for an 
 answer to this question. A dispatch, authorising 
 him to reply in the affirmative, was laid before the 
 king, returned by his Majesty without objection or 
 comment, and immediately forwarded to Ireland. 
 Lord Howick moved for leave to bring in this bill on 
 the 5th March, 1807; when it was attacked by Mr. 
 Perceval, who called it " one of the most important 
 and dangerous measures that ever was submitted to 
 the judgment of the legislature.^^ But the measure 
 very soon had to encounter a much more serious 
 opposition than that of the anti-CathoHc champion. 
 The king began to make difficulties. He affirmed 
 that he had not distinctly understood the measure : 
 some members of the Cabinet pretended a similar 
 
 * Afterwards Earl of Buckinghamsliire. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 117 
 
 lack of compreliensioii ; and at length, on the 11th 
 of March, his Majesty announced to Lord Grenville 
 his decided objection to the bill. Discussions and 
 explanations followed, both in the Cabinet and be- 
 tween the Cabinet and the King, and the jNIinisters 
 at last resolved (though not without many misgiv- 
 ings) to make a sacrifice of their personal feehngs, 
 and to abandon the bill altogether. They declared 
 that this sacrifice was dictated by a desire of doing 
 what they conceived most consistent with respect for 
 the sovereign, and their duty as members of the 
 government and legislature ; but they thought that 
 the circumstances which had occiu-red rendered the 
 administration of aff'airs in Ireland a matter of so 
 much difficulty and delicacy, that their private ho- 
 nour and their public duty equally required a clear 
 understandinor that they were to be at liberty to 
 submit from time to time for his Majesty^s decision, 
 whatever measiu'es circumstances might, in their 
 judgment, requii'e ; and a Minute to this eff'ect was 
 dra^vn up in the Cabinet, and submitted to the King. 
 But George III. was resolved not to leave his \dctory 
 incomplete. He expressed his satisfaction at the 
 withdrawal of the bill, but demanded that the latter 
 part of the Minute should be cancelled. He declared 
 that he never would consent to any further conces- 
 sions to the Catholics ; and he insisted on a positive 
 assurance from his ministers, that they would never 
 again propose to him any measure connected with the 
 
118 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 question of emancipation. The ministers refused these 
 terms^ and the following day they were dismissed. 
 
 A No-popery government was instantly formed, of 
 which the Duke of Portland became nominaUy, and 
 Mr. Perceval reallv, the head. Lord Sidmouth verv 
 truly described the character of this great pohtical 
 transaction: — "There was/^ he said, "a decisive 
 obstacle in the declared opinion of Parhament, and 
 in the prevailing and understood sentiments and 
 feehngs of the people."* It was, in fact, this predo- 
 minating public sentiment, in entii'c concurrence 
 with his own, which enabled the king to force every 
 minister, however able or powerful, to abandon or 
 postpone the Catholic cause. 
 
 There was, however, without doubt, another mo- 
 tive which could not be avowed, but which strongly 
 operated upon the minds of all the pubhc men of 
 that day — this was the fear of producing so great an 
 excitement in the king^s mind as to threaten a 
 return of those alarming sjTnptoms of insanity which 
 had appeared at the time of Mr. Pitt's resignation 
 in 1801, and which many people thought were in 
 great measm^e attributable to that event.f But 
 although this important consideration, in conjunc- 
 tion with many others, may afford a sufficient justi- 
 
 * Debate in the Lords, AprU 13, 1807. 
 
 t It appears clearly that the king was constantly on the verge of 
 insanity for several years — sometimes better, sometimes worse, but 
 always in a state alarming to his ministers, and of which he was 
 himself perfectly conscious. — See Lord Eld(y)i's Life, vol. i., passim. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 119 
 
 fication of the conduct of the Whig ministry, it is 
 easy to imagine what must have been the impression 
 produced upon all classes of the Irish CathoHcs, by 
 seeing the expulsion of a government_, which fell for 
 no other reason but their refusal to abandon the 
 Catholic cause and to bind themselves never again 
 to advocate or support the claims which they had so 
 often declared to be founded as much in good pohcy 
 as in reason and justice. The Catholics heard it 
 proclaimed, that their sovereign was resolved never 
 to consent, at anv time or under any circumstances, 
 to any measiu'C whatever of concession and rehef to 
 them. They were told that this resolution was rati- 
 fied and supported by the voice of the EngHsh people. 
 They saw it estabhshed as a maxim of government, 
 that the first and most indispensable qualification 
 for ofiice was, an inveterate hostihty to their rights 
 and claims — that no man, however patriotic, how- 
 ever able, however competent to serve the state, 
 could hope to become minister on any other condi- 
 tion than that of opposition to their cause; and 
 they beheld a statesman raised to power who had 
 principally distinguished himself by the vehemence 
 of such opposition — who had rebuked the former 
 government for the mildness and forbearance of their 
 Irish administration, and exhorted them to adopt 
 measures of violence and terror — who had ex- 
 pressed his determination to maintain Protestant 
 ascendancy, and said in his place in Parliament, 
 
120 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 that " sound policy and discretion dictated a decla- 
 ration that everything which toleration required, 
 and the Catholics had a right to demand, had 
 already been done for them;^^ — could it be expected, 
 if the Catholics had the passions and the spirit of 
 men, that they should not thi^oughout their whole 
 body, consisting of miUions, be animated with the 
 deepest feehngs of resentment and indignation? 
 "V\Tiat motives could be found for theii' loyalty to the 
 British crown and their fidelity to the British con- 
 nexion, when the crown and the people "united in 
 proclaiming a ban of perpetual exclusion against 
 them ? There was, indeed, no outward or corporate 
 manifestation of their sentiments. '^^The Catholic 
 had not yet acquii'ed the habit of walking upright — 
 he was still a no^dce in freedom."* There was as yet 
 no unanimity, no combination amongst them, and 
 consequently no practical results were produced. 
 There had been a succession of committees and sub- 
 committees, of boards, associations and aggregate 
 meetings, engendering all sorts of projects, which 
 the jealousies and disunion of the principal actors 
 constantly rendered abortive. Still the spirit, though 
 unseen, was circulating throughout the mass, fer- 
 menting and waxing strong. New men with fresher 
 feelings, more determined minds, and more sanguine 
 hopes, rose upon the surface. In 1810, for the first 
 time, the Catholic barristers came forward on the 
 
 * Wyse, vol. i., p. 137. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 121 
 
 popular side; and it was at one of tlie meetings 
 which took place in the course of that year^ that the 
 extraordinary man whom history will hereafter con- 
 fess to have been the real Conqueror of Catholic 
 Emancipation, made his first appearance. 
 
 The administration of Mr. Perceval, the grand 
 principle of which was Catholic exclusion, lasted 
 from 1807 to his death, in 1812. One of his first 
 measures was to pass the Insiu^rection Act, which 
 gave power to the lord-lieutenant to place any 
 district, by proclamation, out of the pale of the 
 ordinary law : it suspended trial by jury, and made 
 it a transportable offence to be out of doors from 
 sunset to sunrise. It is fair to state that he inherited 
 this act from his predecessors, who had deemed it 
 necessary, in consequence of the disorders which had 
 prevailed during the preceding year. The Whigs, 
 when in office, had drawn the bill, and they did not 
 oppose it in its progress through parliament, but 
 they accompanied their acquiescence with earnest 
 recommendations of a policy of concession and 
 conciliation ; and from this time the Catholic ques- 
 tion was strenuously and continually urged with the 
 whole strength of that party. Mr. Perceval was a 
 worthy and an amiable man, of very strong reli- 
 gious opinions, and with considerable talents and 
 great parliamentary dexterity. He would have been 
 well-content to administer the Irish government 
 in a spu'it of justice and clemency, and he had 
 
 G 
 
122 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 every desii'e to promote tlie general interests of the 
 country^ as far as their advancement was compatible 
 with the maintenance of Protestant ascendancy and 
 Cathohc exclusion.* But ]\Ir. Perceval, and many 
 others like him, never would understand, or never 
 would admit to themselves, that the system they 
 upheld was itself irreconcilable with the practice of 
 justice and humanity ; however beneficent might be 
 the disposition of the supreme powers, the local and 
 subordinate authorities to whom the administration 
 of all the ftmctions of law and government were 
 entrusted, had long been accustomed to the exercise 
 of an overbearing and insulting superiority, which 
 displayed itself in numberless minute transactions of 
 common life. In order to maintain this cherished 
 ascendancy, the government was compelled to ally 
 itself with the Protestant minority, to make them 
 the sole recipients of favour and patronage, and 
 encourage them in all the immunities and hcence of 
 a privileged class; the consequence was, that the 
 Cathohc masses nourished a deadly hatred, both to 
 the government and the law; they regarded the 
 latter as an instrument, not of protection, but of 
 oppression ; and the evils they really smarted under 
 were enormously exaggerated by the bitterness which 
 the contrasts and comparisons they were eternally 
 making between their own condition and that of 
 
 * The Insurrection Act was repealed during his government (in 
 1811). 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 123 
 
 tlie Protestants did not fail to generate; and these 
 feeKngs of mixed humiliation and exasperation sunk 
 so deep into the minds of the people, and were 
 allowed to rivet themselves there so strongly, that 
 when emancipation did at last come, it failed to 
 eradicate them. 
 
 I will pass over the debates and discussions 
 which occupied either house, upon various collateral 
 matters, relating to the Cathohcs, and briefly ex- 
 hibit the parliamentary progress of the great question 
 from this time.* 
 
 In 1808, it was debated in the House of Lords 
 (May 27th), and lost by a majority of 87 — (74 
 against 161). ' 
 
 On the 25th of May, 1808, Mr. Grattan brought 
 forw^ard the Catholic petition. The debate was 
 chiefly remarkable for the part taken in it by Lord 
 Castlereagh and Mr. Canning — they both opposed the 
 motion, but neither of them opposed the question — the 
 former dilated on the mischief of agitating it at that 
 particular time, and the hopelessness of carrying it : 
 Mr. Canning took the same ground, adding, that 
 nothing had been said which could be a bar to the 
 future claims of the petitioners, but that " it was not 
 in the power of speeches so wise, so eloquent, and so 
 good as that of the Right Honourable gentleman, 
 
 * In the House of Commons a discussion of some interest took 
 place upon the grant to MajTiooth. £8000 had been the sum origi- 
 nally gi'anted. ;£^1 3,000 had been voted by the last ParUament the 
 preceding year ; but before this vote could be completed the Parlia- 
 
 g2 
 
1£4 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 (Mr. Grattan^) to obtain the "sictory over the 
 passions and prejudices of men/^ The division was 
 128 for — 281 against : majority, 153.* 
 
 In 1809, the Duke of York's affair absorbed aU 
 public interest, and nothing in favour of the Catho- 
 lics was attempted. In 1810, the campaign was 
 vigorously carried on. There was a debate in the 
 Lords on the 6th of June, Avith a di^dsion of 68 
 against 151 : majority, 86. 
 
 On the 18th of IMay, Mr. Grattan took the field, 
 and after three nights of debate, was defeated by a 
 majority of 101 : — 109 to 213. On this occasion 
 Mr. Canning was silent. Lord Castlereagh spoke, 
 and much to the same pm-pose as before ; but saying, 
 " he never meant to force the Protestant mind," 
 alluding also to other insuperable bars, and " the 
 same considerations by which Mr. Pitt had been 
 
 ment was dissolved. The new ministers wished to resort to the 
 smaller sum ; but finding the trustees had acted in the expectation 
 of recei\Tng the larger, they consented to it for that year, but now 
 proposed to give ^"9500 — sometliing more than the old, but considera- 
 bly less than the increased grant. This miserable parsimony was 
 well calculated to excite disappointment and resentment. It was 
 vamly urged that the sum was wholly insufficient for the purpose 
 contemplated by the grant. Mr. Perceval said that it was as much 
 as could be reasonably asked to educate 250 persons at the public 
 expense, whom, with 111 educated privately, he pronounced to be 
 amply sufficient for the Cathohc ministry. 
 
 * Mr. Grattan's speech, in 1808, was memorable for having first 
 mentioned the veto, to which he said the Catholics had authorised 
 him to consent. This proposition afterwards gave rise to the most 
 furious dissensions and disputes, and was productive of infinite mis- 
 chief to the Catholic cause. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 125 
 
 influenced." There, in truth, was the rub, the 
 insurmountable prejudices of the King and the 
 Protestant mind, impenetrable by reason, and not 
 yet sufficiently worked upon by interest and fear. 
 
 In October, 1810, George the Third's malady began 
 afresh, and towards the end of the year all hopes of 
 his recovery having vanished, measures were taken 
 for appointing the Regency. The approaching 
 accession of the Prince of Wales could not fail to 
 raise to a high pitch the hopes and expectations of 
 the CathoHcs. He had long been connected with 
 the party which had forfeited political power by its 
 advocacy of their cause, and he had professed himself 
 to be their friend and supporter. No doubt was 
 entertained that there would be an immediate 
 change, both in the cabinet and the policy of the 
 former reign. The ministers had deeply off"ended 
 the Prince by following, in respect to the Regency, 
 the precedent of 1788, while the whole T\Tiig party 
 had strenuously fought against the proposed restric- 
 tions. Everybody expected that ^Nlr. Perceval would 
 be dismissed ; and all the details of the new go- 
 vernment — even the distribution of places — were 
 confidently proclaimed by the pohtical gossips, 
 whom such occasions invariably call into acti^^ty.* 
 The ministers themselves beheved that they would 
 go out. All speculation and doubt were, however, 
 set at rest by the Regent's letter to Mr. Perceval, 
 
 * Wilberforce's Life, vol. iii., p. 493-4. 
 
126 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 (February 4th^) in wliich he announced his intention 
 '^not to remove from tlieir offices those whom he 
 found there j^^ but at the same time intimating 
 that he was not actuated bv any favoui'able sen- 
 timents towards them, but retained them solely, 
 lest their removal might be prejudicial to his father's 
 recovery. This announcement was calculated to 
 confirm the prevaihng expectation, that the term of 
 the restrictions would likewise be that of the Perceval 
 government ; but the ministers made such good use 
 of the interval, and so completely ingratiated them- 
 selves with the Regent, that long before the ex- 
 piration of the year, the Whigs had the mortifica- 
 tion of being obliged to resign all expectation of 
 superseding them.* The ministerial arrangements 
 were no sooner definitively settled, than the Catholic 
 war began afresh. Two discussions took place on 
 Mr. W. Pole^s circular letter, on the 22nd of Febru- 
 ary and 8th of March, 1811 ; and on the 31st of 
 May, Mr. Grattan brought forward the Cathohc 
 petition, which was rejected by a majority of 61 — 
 (146 to 85) — as was a similar motion in the House 
 of Lords, by 59— (121 to 62). 
 
 In 1812, parliament met on the 7th of January, 
 and a few days after the meeting, and before the 
 restrictions had ceased, the Catholic question was 
 brought forwai'd in both Houses — it was defeated in 
 the Lords by a majority of 162, and in the Commons 
 
 * Lord Eldon's Life, vol. ii. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 127 
 
 by 94. Lord Wellesley in one house,* and Mr. 
 Canning in the otlier^t spoke strongly in favour of 
 concession, but deprecated discussion at that moment ; 
 and both voted against the motions. 
 
 In the beginning of 1812, the King^s malady was 
 so confirmed, that the possibility of his recover}^ was 
 no longer contemplated — the restrictions ceased, and 
 the reign of George the Fourth ^•il'tually began. 
 
 The Roman Catholics had now every right to 
 expect that the current of royal influence would be 
 turned in their favour. The great obstacle to their 
 emancipation was removed ; for they had been told 
 over and over again, that it was the strength of 
 George the Third^s conscientious objections, and the 
 danger of driving him mad, which had formed the 
 insurmountable bar to their claims : nor was it from 
 the general course and context of the Kegent's 
 political opinions, nor from any vague professions 
 proceeding from his mouth, that they formed their 
 hopes and expectations of his conduct to them. In 
 1806, he had caused a formal communication of his 
 intentions to be made to them, in terms the most 
 explicit and intelligible, and through such high 
 channels, that no doubt of his sincerity or his 
 earnestness could possibly be entertained. He had 
 desired the Duke of Bedford and Mr. Ponsonby (the 
 lord heutenant, and the lord chancellor of Ireland) 
 to convey to Lord Fingal the assurance of his 
 
 * 31st January, in Lords ; -f and 3rd February, in Commons. 
 
128 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 determination, whenever lie should be called to the 
 throne, to promote their cause by all the means in his 
 power, together with the expression of his hopes, 
 that this expectation would induce them to wait with 
 patience and resignation till the time should come 
 when he would have it in his power to redeem this 
 pledge.* 
 
 The restrictions on the Regency expired on the 
 18th of February, lbl2 ; but it soon appeared that 
 the new reign had made no difference whatever in 
 the state of the Catholic question : it was first dis- 
 cussed incidentally, on a motion in the House of 
 Lords, for an address to the Regent, requesting him 
 to form a more efficient administration, which was 
 defeated by a majority of 165. On the 21st of April, 
 1812, the subject was brought regularly before the 
 House of Lords, and, on the 22nd, before the House 
 of Commons. In these debates, Lord Wellesley in 
 one house, and ]\Ir. Canning in the other, strongly 
 supported the motion for going into a committee. t 
 Lord Castlereagh, who had again joined the govern- 
 ment, continued to urge the old objection, that the 
 question of concession could not then be conveniently 
 agitated. In the House of Lords the majority was 
 
 * A'ide Hansard's Debates, vol. xxii., p. 1011, and Mr. Ponsonby's 
 speech, in which he states the fact of the communication, and ^•indi•• 
 cates the revelation of it in terms of great asperity against an attack 
 of Lord Castlereagh's. 
 
 t Lord WeUesley had resigned on the 1 9th of February, and Lord 
 Castlereagh had succeeded him at the Foreign-office. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 129 
 
 174, and in the Commons 85, against the proposed 
 committees. 
 
 The Catholics had now the bitter mortification of 
 discovering that the hopes and expectations with 
 which the professions and promises of the Prince 
 Regent had naturally inspired them, were altogether 
 vain and delusive. He had retained a ministrv^ 
 formed upon the principle of Catholic exclusion, and 
 the prospect was presented to them of another reign, 
 as far as they were concerned, in all respects similar 
 to the last. The fact is, that the Prince never had 
 any pohtical convictions, nor was in reality impressed 
 with the truth and justice of the Kberal sentiments 
 he had been in the habit of professing. He had 
 allied himself Avith the Whigs, because they were in 
 opposition to his father ; but when he got into his 
 father's place, a very short experience of Tory govern- 
 ment was sufficient to extinguish the shght attach- 
 ment he had ever felt for the TVliig party, or for 
 Whig principles, and to give him a decided inclination 
 for the persons and the policy of the existing cabinet. 
 Finding the ministers exceedingly respectful and 
 comphant, he soon got over the resentment which 
 the restrictions had at first excited in his mind. For 
 the chief 'Whig leaders he had no predilection — 
 he was awed by the austerity of Lord Gremdlle, 
 by the dignity and independence of Lord G-rey, and 
 he dishked them both. The Whig doctrines, which 
 were suitable enough to an heir-apparent, in opposi- 
 
 g3 
 
130 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 tion^ had little attraction for a sovereign in possession; 
 and although^ like liis grandfather and his great grand- 
 father, he had put himself in constant opposition to 
 his father, he was, nevertheless, in a great degree 
 impressed with the same feelings of awe and venera- 
 tion for the king, which were common to all his 
 family. It was not indeed possible for liis nature to 
 emulate the vu'tues and the high quahties which 
 George the Third undoubtedly possessed, but he 
 could imitate him in the worst parts of his character, 
 and make himself the heir of his prejudices ; and 
 having, in all probability, some vague notion that 
 his father's anti-Cathohc obstinacy Avas a principal 
 source of his popularity, he speedily resolved to cast 
 to the winds all his former professions and engage- 
 ments, and to follow the example of the old king, 
 without ha\dng the same excuse of deeply rooted and 
 conscientious convictions. It soon after appeared, 
 that while he was determined to give nothing to the 
 Catholics, if he could possibly avoid it, his scruples were 
 not so rigid as to prevent his yielding, if circumstances 
 made it expedient for him to do so. 
 
 On the 11th of May, 1812, Mr. Perceval was assas- 
 sinated ; and this event produced various negotiations 
 for the formation of a more efficient and comprehen- 
 sive administration. Lord Wellesley and Mr. Canning 
 at once declined taking office, if the principle of resist- 
 ance to all consideration of the Roman Catholic 
 claims was to be continued. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 131 
 
 When application was made (throngh Lord ^loira) 
 to Lords Grey and Grenville, they were distinctly 
 informed, that all the great and leading questions of 
 policy, which, of course, included Catholic emancipa- 
 tion, were to be dealt with according to their will.* 
 
 These negotiations having all failed, the Perceval 
 cabinet was reinstated with Lord Liverj^ool at its 
 head, and without any change of policy, except the 
 recognition of the Catholic question as an open 
 one, without which stipidation Lord Castlereagh 
 would not have consented to remain. f 
 
 There was at first every appearance that this stipu- 
 lation was really to be the precursor of a settlement 
 of the question, for, on the 22nd of June, Mr. 
 Canning moved a resolution, " that the House of 
 Commons would, early in the next session, take into 
 its most serious consideration the laws afi'ecting the 
 Roman Cathohcs/^ and this motion was carried by 
 a majority of 129 ; while a similar motion in the 
 House of Lords was only lost by one. 
 
 In September, 1812, however, parliament was 
 dissolved, and the pledge which the House of 
 Commons had given of course died ^vith it. 
 
 During the interval, the Catholic question raged 
 violently out of doors : the no popery cry was loud 
 in the land, and it was soon seen that it had not been 
 raised without effect. 
 
 * Loi'd Eldon's Life, vol. ii. 
 f Sir R. Peel's Speech on Catholic Question in 18"29. 
 
132 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 As soon as the parliament met^ in 1813, the tables 
 of both Houses were loaded with petitions, princi- 
 pally against the Cathohc claims — great complaints 
 were made of the manner in which some of them 
 had been got up in Ireland, where it was alleged 
 that the sheriffs had convened the Protestant in- 
 habitants, and attempted to give to such partial 
 meetings the authority of pubHc assemblies. 
 
 On the 25th of February, 1813, Mr. Grattan 
 moved that the House should resolve itself into a 
 committee, for the object specified in Mr. Canning's 
 resolution, adopted a year before ; — the motion was 
 carried by a majority of 40 — (the numbers were 
 264 to 221)— and on the 9th of March, the House 
 went into committee : that night was occupied by 
 a debate upon a resolution affirming the expediency 
 of removing the Catholic disabilities, which was 
 carried by a majority of 67. On the 30th of April, 
 the bill was brought in : the second reading came 
 on upon the 11th of May, and on the 13th it was 
 carried by a majority of 48 — (235 to 187). It 
 was committed on the 14th, but not further dis- 
 cussed till the 24th, on which day speaker Abbot 
 (who had led the anti-Cathohc attack on the 9tli 
 of March) moved, that the words " to sit and vote 
 in either House of Parliament,^^ should be left 
 out of the bill; and this motion having been 
 carried by a majority of 4 — (251 against 247), Mr. 
 Ponsonby immediately declared, that stript of this 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 133 
 
 essential clause^ the biU was unworthy of the accept- 
 ance of the Catholics^ and the support of their 
 friends, and he at once flung it up ; Grattan, how- 
 ever, gave notice that he would bring in another bill 
 early in the next session. 
 
 Thus were the hopes of the Catholics dashed to 
 the ground, at the moment when they seemed, 
 according to every pohtical probabihty, on the point 
 of accomplishment. In the unreasoning mass, this 
 disappointment was sufficient to excite bitter feelings 
 of resentment; but in the higher and educated 
 classes of the CathoUcs, the circumstances attending 
 it were such as might well raise in their minds 
 sentiments of mingled indignation and contempt. 
 
 The debates, and the divisions which had recently 
 taken place, were truly remarkable : that of the 1 1 th 
 of May, 1813, will be for ever memorable for the 
 speech of Lord Plunkett, a speech, which was said 
 to bring back the days of Pitt, and Fox, and Biu'ke, 
 and which produced at the time an unparalleled 
 sensation and efi'ect. But it is impossible to look 
 back at the debates and speeches on this question, 
 without thinking what practical contradiction they 
 afford to the sapng of Biu'ke, that " government 
 and legislation are matters of reason and judgment, 
 and not of inchnation.^^ * Here was, session after 
 session, a display of reason, and judgment, and 
 
 * Speech at Bristol after his election. 
 
]34 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 eloquence^ the like of wliicli was never heard within 
 the walls of parHament, upon any one question 
 besides ; and session after session it was met bv the 
 same tedious objections and shallow sophistry which 
 were just sufficient to con^dnce those who had no 
 doubt before, and sustain the obstinacy of the sturdy 
 bigots who were determined never to surrender. 
 Nor was the contrast between the speeches greater 
 than might be expected from the names of those 
 who spoke or voted on either side — these lists are a 
 curiositv. If it be not a matter of indifference 
 whether the policy of a country is directed, and its 
 legislation framed, by the wisest or the weakest of 
 its citizens — if there be anything in great names, 
 great talents, and great experience — if, according to 
 all human reasoning, a nation may be expected to 
 flourish or decay, according as its councils are 
 influenced by the ablest or the most incapable of its 
 pubUc men, what will be thought of the history of 
 the Catholic claims and of their continued rejection, 
 coupled ^"ith the enumeration of their advocates and 
 their opponents ? 
 
 I have taken the di^dsion of the 24th of May, 
 selecting from the one list every man of any note or 
 distinction, while from the other many names fully 
 equal in reputation and capacity to the greater part 
 of the first are omitted, and only the most remark- 
 able extracted. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 135 
 
 The anti-Catholic list contains the following : — 
 
 Peel, (now Sir R.) Goulburn, (present Cliancellor of 
 Sir W. Scott, (late Lord Stowell.) the Exchequer.) 
 
 Dr. Duigenan. Sir J. Nicholl. 
 
 Sir W. Garrow, (then Attorney- G. Rose. 
 
 General.) R. Ryder. 
 
 Sir C. Wetherell. M. Sutton, (Lord Canterbury'.) 
 
 Serjeant Best, (Lord Wynford.) N. Vansittart, (Lord Bexley.) 
 
 Bragge Batiiurst. C. Yorke. 
 
 By far the most eminent of the above names are 
 those of Sir Robert Peel_, then a very young man, 
 just entering into public life, whose great reputation 
 was rather promised than acquired, and of Sir Wil- 
 liam Scott, who never took much part in pohtics, or 
 was considered as a statesman. Now turn to the 
 other hst, which contained all the eloquence, all the 
 wit, all the wisdom of that House of Commons; all 
 the then existing:, and most of the future celebrities 
 of England :- 
 
 '&^ 
 
 Canning. Huskisson. 
 
 Lord Castlereagh. Lord Palmerston. 
 
 Grattan. a. Baring, (Lord Ashburton.) 
 
 Plunkett, (Lord Plunkett.) V.Fitzgerald, (Lord Fitzgerald.) 
 G. PoNSONBY, (then Leader of the C. Grant, (Lord Glenelg.) 
 
 Opposition.) Althorp, (Lord Spencer.) 
 
 Ward, (Lord Dudley.) Sir J. Newport. 
 
 Whitbread. Creevey. 
 
 Wilberforce. Croker. 
 
 General I itzpatrick, Lambton, (Lord Durham.) 
 
 Lord John Townshend. Wortley, (Lord Whamcliffe.) 
 
 Jekyll. Law, (Lord Ellenborough.) 
 
 Tierney. Leach, (Master of the RoUs.) 
 
 Sir S. Romilly. Ebrington, (Lord Fortescue.) 
 
 W. Elliot. Sir F. Burdett. 
 
136 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 Sir J. HoBHousE. W. Pole, (Lord Maryborough.) 
 
 Sir H. Parnell, (the late Lord Robinson, (Lord Ripon.) 
 
 Congleton.) Abercrombie, (Lord Diinfenn- 
 SiR A. PiGOTT, (Whig Attorney- line.) 
 
 General.) C. W. Wynne. 
 
 Such Avas the intellectual disproportion between 
 these otherwise nearly balanced parties. For the 
 misfortune of the country and for his own, the 
 weight of Sir R. Peel was just at this time cast 
 into the anti-Catholic scale. He came into public 
 life with the impressions of his education still 
 uncorrected; he found a great party in want of 
 an efficient leader, and he stepped at once into 
 the vacant place. No doubt his con\ictions were 
 as yet sincere and unshaken ; but it is difficult to 
 beheve that a man so able and so devoid of preju- 
 dices, would not (if he had not earty and irretrievably 
 committed himself) very soon have adopted more 
 liberal opinions, and have united himself with more 
 congenial minds. As it was, however, his accession 
 to the anti-Catholic side was attended with the most 
 important consequences, and largely contributed to 
 protract the contest and foster the spirit which sus- 
 tained it.* 
 
 * By the end of 1813 the Regent had become strongly anti-Catho- 
 lic ; Lord Eldon writes (Nov. 1 3, to Dr. Swii*e,) " My young master, 
 who is as eager as his father was upon that, and of the same way of 
 thinking, seems to me to be looking out very seriously for those who 
 are able and willing to support Church and State as we have had them 
 in times past." — Vol. ii., p. 245. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 137 
 
 From this time the cause of the Catholics began 
 to retrograde^ not so much from any relaxation of 
 the zeal of their supporters, as from the \iolent 
 dissensions which raged amongst themseh^sf^kSiJ^^^ 
 the fresh disturbances of which Ireland beSwijfiiJlfe©,. O^ 
 theatre, both which causes combined to ijisgust and ''^ 
 estrange many of their friends, and to increase tlic^ -^ 
 
 rancorous opposition of their enemies. For majiy 
 years the Irish Catholics fluctuated between a state ^ 
 
 of fatal dissension and di^dsion, and the most deplo- , .^ *' 
 rable apathy and inaction. Nothing mlii:6-- contrvrjfe* 
 buted to the former, than the famous Veto que^tit*)i5f 
 which was debated with an acrimony, and produced 
 a disunion, unspeakably prejudicial to their cause. 
 Into the details or the merits of this much vexed 
 question, and the disputes amongst the Catholics 
 themselves upon it, it would be useless and tedious 
 to enter. The clergy and great majority of the 
 laity took one side, and most of the aristocracy the 
 other. The former became intolerant and despotic, 
 the latter timid, indolent, and despised. The Catho- 
 Uc Board however (as the existing association was 
 called) though deserted by the higher classes, 
 under the direction of Mr. O^Connell, who swayed all 
 its councils, appeared so formidable, and its proceed- 
 ings were so violent, that government, with very 
 questionable discretion, resolved to suppress it. Ac- 
 cordingly, on June Srd, 1814, the Lord Lieutenant 
 issued a proclamation, declaring the Board contrary 
 
138 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 to law, and giving notice that if it should renew its 
 meetings, all the members attending it would be 
 proceeded against. The immediate effect of this 
 stroke of authority was, to excite the indignation of 
 those against whom it was aimed, and to restore in 
 some degree the unanimity that had been inter- 
 rupted. An aggregate meeting took place, at which 
 Mr. O'Connell moved a resolution, denying that this 
 Board was an unlawful assembly, and asserting the 
 right of petitioning for the redress of any public or 
 private grievance; and on the 13th December a 
 meeting of the Catholic Committee took place at 
 Lord Fingars house, which was attended by some 
 who had formerly seceded. Lord Fingal himself 
 among the number. 
 
 In the spring of 1814, Ireland had exhibited a 
 scene of outrage and violence which was not less 
 detrimental to the Cathohcs than the unabated dis- 
 sensions among themselves ; and Mr. Grattan felt so 
 strongly that in existing circumstances no proposal 
 in then' favour had a chance of success, that on the 
 27th May he announced in the House of Commons 
 his determination not to bring forward the motion 
 of which he had given notice at the end of the last 
 session. 
 
 In 1815 Irish disturbances continued to increase, 
 and the powers which had been abeady given to the 
 government (in 1814) being found insufficient to 
 repress them, in the month of September the Insur- 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 139 
 
 rection Act was renewed. iMeanwhile, the Board 
 having been put down, an aggregate meeting was 
 held on the 14th June, 1815, at which Lord Fingai 
 was invited, but refused, to take the chair. Mr. 
 O'Connor was then called to preside, and a pe- 
 tition to Parliament was voted, praying for un- 
 qualified emancipation, which petition* the leaders 
 in both Houses declined to present, though still 
 declaring themselves friendly to the principle of 
 emancipation. 
 
 This petition, on Grattan's refusal, was entrusted 
 to Sir Heniy Parnell, who presented it, and moved 
 for a committee on the oOth May ; its reception was 
 not promising. Sir J. C. Hippisley, for many years 
 Grattau's regular seconder, directly opposed it; 
 Canning and Plunkett staid away; Lord Castle- 
 reagh gave it a qualified and reluctant support; — 
 Grattan himself condemned the application for un- 
 qualified emancipation, and the motion was finally 
 negatived by a majority of 81. t 
 
 The Catholics were now di\ided into two parties, 
 each having its organ in the House of Commons ; — 
 Grattan representing the aristocratic minority and 
 Yetoists — Parnell the clergy and the great majority 
 of the laity, who were all violently opposed to any 
 ecclesiastical interference. In the session of 1816 
 proceedings began by a motion on the state of 
 
 * Mr. Grattan and Lord Donoughmore. 
 
 f Pictorial History of England, vol iv. George the Third, p. 625. 
 
140 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 Ireland by Sir John Newport, wlio was beaten by a 
 majority of 84. On the same day (April 26th) Sir 
 H. Parnell presented his petition, and on the 15th 
 May Mr. Grattan presented the other. On the 21st 
 Grattan made his motion relative to that petition; 
 and, as it was seconded by Sii* H. Parnell, it was 
 e^*ideut that the two leaders were disposed (though 
 representing dissentient sections of Catholics) to act 
 in perfect harmony together. Tliis motion was de- 
 feated by a majority of 41. On the SOth May 
 Parnell presented a petition from the CathoUc 
 bishops and clergy, and on the 6th June he brought 
 it under the notice of the House : but was eventually 
 induced to withdraw his resolutions. 
 
 In the House of Lords the Cathohc question was 
 again brought forward by Lord Donoughmore on 
 the 21st June; and while the majorities against it 
 had increased in the other House, that in the Lords 
 was on this occasion reduced to 4 — (73 to 69). 
 
 In 1S17 (May 9th) Mr. Grattan again stood 
 forward as the sole representative of the Irish 
 Cathohcs. In the debate on this occasion, the most 
 remarkable incident was the declai'ation of Mr. 
 Yorke, (who had always heretofore opposed the 
 Catholic claims) that he should be disposed to give 
 up his opposition upon certain conditions, to which 
 Sir H. Parnell said they would not be unwilling to 
 consent. The motion was lost by a majority of 24 ; 
 and one of Lord Donous^hmore^s to the same efiPect, 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 141 
 
 in the House of Lords^ by a majority of 52. The 
 speech of Mr. Yorke in the Honse of Commons was 
 a sign not to be mistaken, that the cause was 
 advancing ; and further proof was given by the 
 passing of " an Act to regulate the administra- 
 tion of Oaths in certain cases to officers in his 
 Maiestv's Land and Sea Service." By this Act the 
 CathoHcs virtually obtained the right of promotion 
 to the higher commissions in the army and navy ; 
 and this measure, the proposal of which in 1807 
 overthrew the A^Tiig ministry, now passed unopposed 
 and alm-ost unnoticed. In 1818 nothing was done; 
 but in 1819, on the 3rd May, Grattan performed the 
 last of his long and brilliant ser^'ices to the Catholic 
 cause : his motion was only lost by two votes. Lord 
 Donoughmore's, in the House of Lords, was rejected 
 by a majority of 41. In 1820 the death of Grattan, 
 and the Queen's trial, wliich absoi'bed all interest, 
 and superseded every other poUtical question, pre- 
 vented any Catholic discussion taking place; but as 
 soon as the session of 1821 was opened (on the 28th 
 February) !Mr. Plunkett, on whom the great office of 
 Grattan had devolved, moved for a committee. His 
 motion was agreed to, pro forma; and he brought in 
 two bills* into which he had digested his scheme. 
 They were vehemently opposed in every stage, and 
 no effort was left untried to strip them piecemeal of 
 all then' efficacy and value. 
 
 * They were afterwards cousolidated. 
 
142 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 On the 23rcl March there was a dmsion about the 
 oath of siipremacY^ when the majorit}^ was 14 — (230 
 to 216). 
 
 The second reading (March 16th) was carried by 
 a majority of 11 (254 to 243). On the 26th March 
 Mr. Bankes proposed a clause for exchiding Catho- 
 Hcs from Parhament^ which was lost by 12 (223 to 
 211). On the 27th Mr. Peel moved that Cathohcs 
 should be excluded from the Pri\T Council and the 
 judicial bench, when he was beaten by a majority 
 of 43 (163 to 120). 
 
 On the 2nd April, the third reading was carried by 
 a majority of 19 (216 to 197) ; and thus for the first 
 time a bill of emancipation forced its way tlirough the 
 House of Commons. Mr.Croker had proposed a clause 
 to enable the Crown to make a provision for the 
 clergy, which was resisted by Lord Castlereagh on 
 the old objection of being "premature," and it was 
 consequently withdrawn. 
 
 On the 3rd of April the bill was taken up to the 
 House of Lords, where, on the 16th, the second 
 reading was lost by a majority of 39 (159 to 120). 
 
 Thus were the Catholics, when they had got half- 
 way towards the goal, thrown back into their former 
 position. But matters had already got into such a 
 state, that while the Catholic question was evidently 
 advancing, difficulties without number thickened 
 round its progress. The bill had passed the House 
 of Commons with hard fighting, and by small 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 143 
 
 majorities,, and tliese small majorities had only been 
 attainable by tbe insertion of pro^isions so distaste- 
 ful to tbe Catbobc clergy, that tbougb its ultimate 
 defeat was well calculated to produce exasperation, 
 its success would have afforded very imperfect satis- 
 faction to tbe gi'eat body of tbe Catbobcs. 
 
 It was impossible to get tbis question dealt with 
 in a large, bberal, and comprebensive spii'it. Tbe 
 opponents of tbe measure went on barping upon 
 tbeoretical objections, remote contingencies, and 
 possible dangers, and obstinately refused to look at 
 tbe real, urgent, and incalculable danger wbich 
 stared tbem in tbe face, and kept swelling day by 
 day into more appalling magnitude — tbe danger 
 resulting from tbe concentration, direction, and 
 operation of a vast moral and pbysical force — of tbe 
 power of a mass of many bundreds of astute and 
 educated men, and of many milbons of uneducated 
 but sturdy and excitable men. Tbis danger bad 
 not, indeed, as yet begun to manifest itself in tbe 
 completeness of its eventual organisation, but tbe 
 fatal results of delay bad been again and again pre- 
 dicted and deprecated : and it must ever be tbe 
 reproacb of tbe anti-CatboKc party, tbat tbey were 
 so long blind to tbe consequences of tbe pobcy in 
 wbicb tbey persisted — tbat tbey fancied it would be 
 possible to maintain tbat pobcy ad infinitum^ and 
 tbat no one amongst tbem bad tbe sbgbtest forecast, 
 or most distant imagination of tbat force, whose 
 
144 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 menacing attitude at last terrified King^ Lords, and 
 Commons_, and the Britisli nation itself, into such a 
 reluctant and discreditable capitulation. 
 
 In the summer of 1821 George IV. went over to 
 Ireland. The novelty and delight of a king^s \dsit 
 silenced for a time all lamentations and grievances, 
 and excited a tumult of royal enthusiasm. His 
 infidehty to the Catholic cause seemed to be entu'ely 
 forgotten. He was hailed with every demonstration 
 of devotion and attachment, and nothing was heard 
 but pledges of reconcihation and obh^^ion. O'Con- 
 nell and Sir Bradley King — the Popish leader, and 
 the Orange alderman — rushed into each other's 
 arms. It was a brief moment of peace, union, and 
 joy, just as hollow and transitory as it was noisy and 
 ostentatious. The king made pretty speeches, shed 
 tears, and sailed away, lea\ing a farewell letter of 
 good ad^ice.* Nothing was done, or attempted, by 
 the government ; and at the end of this glorious 
 year aU the usual outrages, robbery, mui'der, and 
 every species of violence, broke out with redoubled 
 fury. 
 
 Such was the state of affairs when an experiment 
 was made of the ^^ open question'^ principle. Lord 
 Sidmouth resigned, and Mr. Peel, as Secretary of 
 State for the Home Department, assumed the chief 
 direction of Irish aflPairs. On the other hand. Lord 
 WeUesley, the stanch advocate of the Catholics, 
 
 Wyse, vol. i., p. 192-3. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 145 
 
 became Lord Lieutenant, and the nltra-Protestant 
 Attorney- General Saurin was removed to make 
 room for Plunkett, the successor of Grattan, and 
 representative of the Catholics in the House of 
 Commons. Nobody knew what to make of all this ; 
 various suspicions and conjectures were rife, and 
 serious inconvenience and embarrassment were soon 
 felt from such a strange piebald Administration. It 
 does not seem to have required any extraordinary 
 sagacity to discern that such must inevitably be the 
 case; and in 1829 all the e\dls which resulted from 
 such an arrangement,* were revealed to us by Sir 
 Robert Peel, when we learnt that the system so 
 hateful to the Catholics, had been all the while 
 maintained at the expense of practical mischief to 
 the Imperial Government, of the gravest descrip- 
 tion. 
 
 Nothing could be more deplorable than the con- 
 dition of the country — nothing more rabid than the 
 parties into which it was di^dded; the prevalence of 
 crime and disorder called for strong measures, 
 legislative and executive. The Insun^ection Act was 
 renewed — the Habeas Corpus was suspended — the 
 Government exerted itself with vigour, and at the 
 same time with moderation, in the suppression of 
 the evil : but the Lord Lieutenant^s conciliatory 
 intentions had more effect in disgusting and ex- 
 
 * Sir R. Peel's Speech on Roman Catholic Question in 1829, p. 14. 
 
 H 
 
146 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 asperating the Protestants, than in giving satisfaction 
 to the Cathohcs, who perceived that he was unable 
 to do anything material to serve them ; while the 
 former were outrageous at the disposition he e\inced, 
 and at the discouragement which they apprehended 
 they themselves were hkely to experience at his 
 hands. 
 
 About the end of April, 1822, something like 
 quiet began to be restored to the distui'bed districts; 
 but at this time a still more dreadful evil, in the 
 shape of famine, (together with typhus fever, pro- 
 duced by it,) made its appearance. Before the 
 beginning of May, all Munster and Connaught were 
 in a state of starvation; and there was scarcely a 
 town in the south in which hundreds of able-bodied 
 men were not wandering about in search of food. 
 As a great disease is often found to absorb or 
 destroy a less, the prevaihng famine seems to have 
 quelled the spirit of disorder ; for while it lasted, the 
 outrages against the law were comparatively few. 
 In this miserable calamity everything was done by 
 the government and the legislature which humanity 
 and prudence could dictate ; and all the resources 
 of private charity ^ere spontaneously and hberally 
 poured forth. Enormous sums were raised in this 
 country by subscriptions and collections, and the 
 Irish could not complain of any want of sympathy 
 and charity on the part of their English fellow- 
 subjects ; still there was no question of striking at 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 147 
 
 the root of all these e\ils, and introducing measures 
 calculated to effect a permanent improvement. 
 England was satisfied to give Ireland food to relieve 
 her hunger, and coercive acts to suppress and punish 
 her disorders; but more than these palHative and 
 temporary remedies, she was firmly resolved not to 
 grant ; and the verj^ reasons which ought to have 
 been imperative for making the greater concessions 
 which were so continually ui'ged, were those which 
 induced her to persist in refusing them. 
 
 In 1823, many of the friends of the Catholics, 
 Mr. Canning* amongst the number, (who had, on 
 the death of Lord Castlereagh, become Minister of 
 Foreign Affairs and leader of the House of Com- 
 mons), thought it advisable that their claims should 
 not be discussed during that session ; this opinion 
 was, however, overruled; but such ^dolent hostilities 
 broke out between the advocates of emancipation, 
 that it was clear their cause would not be much 
 advanced at this time. Sir Francis Burdett and Mr. 
 Brougham attacked Mr. Plunkett and ]Mr. Canning 
 with a vehemence and asperity which was very nearly 
 producing two duels ; and the House of Commons 
 was on the point of seeing the ridiculous and indecent 
 spectacle, of the leaders of the Government and of 
 the Opposition, marched out by the serjeant-at-arms, 
 
 * Mr. Canning brought in a bill (30th April) for allowmg CathoUc 
 Peers to sit in the House of Lords ; which passed the Commons by a 
 majority of 5, and was lost in the Lords by 42. 
 
 h2 
 
148 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 to prevent tlieii' shooting each other, on account of a 
 matter on which they entertained precisely similar 
 opinions. 
 
 After this personal affair was settled Mr. Plunkett 
 brought on his motion, but a large body of the 
 Opposition seceded, declaring that it was a mere 
 farce to debate the question ; and that it was far 
 better to tell the Catholics, once for all, that their 
 condition never should be bettered, or Protestant 
 ascendancy relaxed. The majority against Mr, 
 Plunkett^s motion (which was taken on a question 
 of adjournment) was 202. 
 
 In 1824, though the country was not free from 
 disturbances, they were of a mitigated character, and a 
 considerable approach had been made to tranquil- 
 lity and order. In Parhament there was a change 
 in the tactics of the advocates of emancipation; 
 instead of bringing forward the usual resolutions, a 
 committee of inquuy was moved for by Lord Aithorp 
 in the Commons, to which Government agreed, but 
 limited the scope of it ; and a similar committee was 
 moved for by Lord Liverpool in the other house.* 
 The two parties seemed inclined to rest upon their 
 
 * Lord Aithorp proposed an inquiry " into the State of Ireland ;" 
 the amendment substituted was, " into the natm'e and extent of the 
 distiu'bances," &c. The amendment was carried by a majority of 48. 
 In the Lords, Lord Lansdo^vue moved an amendment which was lost 
 by 30 — 20 against 50. The distinction was quite immaterial, for the 
 evidence brought before the committee embraced every imaginable 
 topic connected with Ireland. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 149 
 
 arms, and a^vait the result of this investigation, but 
 in the mean time a great change had taken place in 
 the aspect of affairs, and in the situation of the Irish 
 Cathohcs on the other side of the Channel. A 
 mighty power had arisen, which suddenly swelhng 
 into gigantic proportions, laughed to scorn all 
 attempts to arrest its progress, and restrain its 
 growth ; and evaded with consummate dexterity, or 
 broke with Herculean strength, all the fetters with 
 which the government or the legislature endeavoured 
 to bind it. 
 
 Nineteen years had now elapsed since the Cathohc 
 claims had been hrst brought under the considera- 
 tion of Parhament. In the course of that period, 
 besides collateral discussions without number, the 
 main question itself had been debated at great length, 
 and with consummate abihty, no less than thirty- 
 three times.* In these debates, the superiority on 
 one side was so manifest and striking, that dis- 
 seminated as the arguments were throughout the 
 country, they could not fail to produce a certain 
 effect, but that effect had been far from sufficient to 
 overcome the deeply rooted prejudices of the nation, 
 and there appeared, at the end of 1821, no nearer 
 approximation to a final settlement than there was 
 in 1805. The successor of that inveterate enemy of 
 the Cathohcs, George the Third, had apparently be- 
 come as averse from the removal of their restrictions 
 
 * Twenty-two in the House of Commons, and eleven in the House 
 of Lords. 
 
150 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 as Ms father before him. Theii' friends in the House 
 of Commons were abusing and accusing each other. 
 The question, wliich had been for many years nomi- 
 nally " open/^ was practically as close and exclusive 
 as ever: and even'bodv beo^an now to believe that, 
 though Catholic Emancipation might continue to be 
 periodically discussed, there was httle chance of its 
 ever being carried. In this low condition of the 
 cause, Mr. O^Connell came forward, and " with the 
 reachings and graspings of a -vivacious mind,^'* 
 gathered it into his own hands, and began that 
 rapid and astonishing career, which bore down every 
 impediment ; animated friends, terrified foes, and 
 by his indomitable energy and genius, triumphantly 
 carried through, in less than six years, that which 
 the greatest statesmen of the age had been unable 
 to accomplish in twenty. Whatever may be the 
 faults of Mr. O^ Council, and however inexcusable 
 his subsequent conduct upon the question of Kepeal, 
 it is impossible to wonder at the influence which 
 he acquired over the Irish people, and at their 
 boundless devotion to his person, and obedience to 
 his ■Nvill. What Irish Catholic can ever cease to 
 regard with enthusiastic feelings of gratitude and 
 admiration, the Hberator who broke their chains and 
 enabled them to stand " regenerated and disen- 
 thralled?'' It was in 1823 that Mr. O'Connell and 
 Mr. Sheil met by accident at the country-house of a 
 
 * Biirke. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 151 
 
 common friend ; there they agreed upon endeavour- 
 ing to rouse their Catliolic countrymen ; and there 
 they laid the foundation of the Cathohc Association.* 
 
 The first summons which they issued was treated 
 with scorn or neglect^ but the discussions to which 
 it gave rise, speedily attracted public attention and 
 excited public feeUng. The Association was formed ; 
 and though consisting at first of only a few indi- 
 viduals, it rapidly increased, and soon comprehended 
 aU classes of CathoHcs in the list of its members. 
 The nobility, the gentry, and the clergy, forgot their 
 former feuds and dissensions, and zealously united 
 in promoting the common cause — the people were 
 appealed to with entire success — the Rent was 
 established, and the organization of this mighty 
 power was rapidly completed in all its perfection 
 and extent. 
 
 Nothing had exer been seen before like this 
 popular, general, and enthusiastic, but peaceful in- 
 surrection — it was the object of the leaders to make 
 a great display of their power, and to exercise it 
 beneficially for the country ; at the bidding of the 
 Association a tranquillity and abstinence from out- 
 rage were produced, such as all the authority of 
 government and all the penal and coercive acts of 
 Parliament had never been able to eftect. But while 
 they inculcated peace and good behaviour to the 
 people, the debates in the Association itself were 
 
 * Wyse, vol.i., p. 199. 
 
152 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 to the last degree intemperate and audacious. In 
 England, the proceedings of this self-constituted, but 
 formidable body, were regarded with a mixture of 
 astonishment, anger, and fear; the Government, 
 however, resolved to take the matter up \\ith a high 
 hand, and fancied they could quench the new- 
 born spirit by suppressing the Association — as soon 
 as Parliament met, a bill was brought in for that 
 purpose, against which the Association petitioned to 
 be heard by counsel. This was refused ; and after four 
 nights of debate in the House of Commons, the bill 
 was carried by large majorities through both houses. 
 Before it had received the Royal Assent* (on 
 the 1st of March), Sir F. Burdett brought for- 
 ward the Cathohc question, which, after many 
 di\dsions, was finally successful; the third reading 
 ha^dng been carried by a majority of 21. It was 
 between the second and third readings of this bill 
 that the Duke of York made his celebrated speech in 
 the House of Lords — a speech which was printed 
 in letters of gold, and framed and glazed by the 
 Orangemen and zealous Pi'otestants in both coun- 
 tries, whilst it excited the deepest resentment and 
 indignation amongst the Catholics. On the 11th of 
 May the Behef Bill was brought into the House of 
 Lords, when it encountered the old arguments, and 
 the fate of its predecessors, being lost by a majority 
 of 48. 
 
 * The Royal Assent was given on the 9th March, 1825. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 153 
 
 Meanwhile, Government and Parliament might 
 have saved themselves the trouble of passing the act 
 of suppression, which was evaded with consummate 
 dexterity by the Cathohc leaders, and produced no 
 other effect than the substitution of another Associa- 
 tion more comprehensive and more powerful than 
 that against which the Act was directed. The pro- 
 scribed body immediately dissolved itself; and a 
 committee was forthwith appointed at an aggregate 
 meeting, to form another permanent Association 
 and frame rules for its conduct. The report of this 
 committee was furnished on the 13th of Jidv to a 
 second aggregate meeting, by Lord Killeen, received 
 with great applause, and unanimously adopted. 
 
 Thus was the State completely baffled, and the 
 Roman Catholics so far successful. The new 
 Association pui'sued its course unimpeded and 
 unresisted, and paved the way for the far greater 
 triumphs which were still to come. While the 
 Catholics were thus vigorously fighting their own 
 battle, and England still refusing to emancipate 
 them — while the Association was daily swelling 
 in magnitude, its authority extending, and tlie 
 Protestants "idly and stupidly gazing on this me- 
 nacing meteor which blackened all the horizon," the 
 committees of both Houses of Parhament were em- 
 ployed in taking evidence on the state of Ireland ; 
 a vast mass was collected, embracing ample statisti- 
 cal details, and the greatest variety of opinions upon 
 
 h3 
 
154 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 all the circumstances, political or social, by which 
 the condition of Ireland was affected. The deplor- 
 able state of the bulk of the people was described in 
 a manner calculated to make the deepest impression, 
 and to inspire the strongest feelings of compassion ; 
 though, of course, no anti-catholic would admit 
 that it was the denial of emancipation which pro- 
 duced such evils, and the zealots of the party would 
 persist in attributing them to any cause rather than 
 to this. Before these committees the most eminent 
 of the Cathohc ecclesiastics, as well as laymen, (toge- 
 ther with many Protestants,) were examined ; and 
 their e\ddence was not onh- for the most part strik- 
 ingly able, but was given, to all appearance, in a 
 straight-forward, sincere, and candid spii'it. To 
 ascribe candour and sincerity to such men as Mr. 
 O'Connell and Dr. Doyle will, of coiu'se, provoke a 
 smile of derision and increduhty "with those who 
 have been taught to believe that such virtues never 
 can be found in agitators and priests ; but it is my 
 firm conviction, after an attentive perusal of their 
 evidence, that in describing the condition of the 
 Irish people, and in stating the wishes and objects 
 of the Cathohcs of all ranks and degrees, they spoke 
 nothing but the truth : — that they ascribed to their 
 true causes the manifold e\41s with which the coun- 
 try was afflicted, and that they pointed out the 
 remedies by which these evils might be abated, 
 with an earnest desire to promote the peace of 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 155 
 
 Ireland^ and tlie union and prosperity of the British, 
 empire. 
 
 At this time an amicable arrangement was cer- 
 tainly practicable. The CathoKcs were not yet 
 aware of their own strength, and they were disposed 
 to accept emancipation in a thankful and a satisfied 
 spirit. But, unhappily, neither were the Protestants 
 aware of that strength any more than the Catholics 
 themselves ; and the consequence was, that this last 
 opportunity of an honoui'able and beneficial settle- 
 ment was sufi'ered to pass away. The CathoKcs 
 have been accused of every sort of inconsistency, 
 of being faithless to their professions, and of pur- 
 suing objects at one time all desire for which they 
 solemnly renounced at another. But d'autres temps 
 — d'autres soins ; England obstinately refused to 
 listen to the repeated appeals that were made to her 
 justice, her humanity, and her prudence ; and when 
 the Catholics had acquired the consciousness of their 
 own power, and saw that she would concede under 
 the influence of fear what no other consideration 
 ever could or would wrest from her, it was absurd 
 to expect that their claims would not rise with their 
 means of enforcing them, or that they would feel 
 equal gratitude and satisfaction for concessions 
 thus extorted, as if the same concessions had 
 been granted in an ungrudging and conciliatory 
 spirit. It is, therefore, necessary to bear in 
 mind the different positions in which the CathoKcs 
 
156 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 stood at different times, in order to form a fair 
 estimate of the conduct of tlieir leaders. The 
 ParHamentary committees inquired at great length 
 into the condition of the Irish masses, and the 
 various causes and circumstances affecting them. 
 It has been constantly asserted, that Irish desti- 
 tution and degradation are attributable to the 
 penal laws; but it was demonstrated, that the 
 system of which these laws have been part and 
 parcel, in all its multiplied operations and rami- 
 fications, had engendered the proximate causes of 
 disorder, and wretchedness, and crime : and as long 
 as any vestiges of that system are left, — as long 
 as the influences, which in everv other countrv are 
 made to work for piu'poses of good, are suffered in 
 Ireland to be instruments of e^'il, so long ^vill the 
 moral and physical improvement of the people be 
 slow and uncertain. 
 
 It would be very difficult to bring within a reason- 
 able compass anything like a digest of this voluminous 
 e\^dence, but I must endeavour to cull from it a 
 few passages illustrative of the condition (at that 
 time) of the lower order of Irish; showing in 
 what manner and to what extent such a condition 
 was either produced or affected by the penal laws, or the 
 system of administration which those laws engendered. 
 It will presently appear what might have been done 
 and was left undone, and what have been and still are 
 the consequences of that great and irretrievable error. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 157 
 
 To exhibit such details fifteen years after eman- 
 cipation has been granted, and when the general 
 condition of the Irish people is materially improved_, 
 might be considered impertinent and miscliievous, if 
 it were not that the circumstances of our own times 
 require the retrospect. We have now, as we had 
 then, a Catholic question with which, struggle and 
 fight it off as we may, we must in the end make up 
 our minds to deal; and since emancipation has 
 failed to accomplish the good that was expected and 
 promised from it, it is indispensable to ascertain the 
 true cause of that failiu'e. The people are discon- 
 tented and alienated — they must be pacified and 
 reconciled : they are brooding over grievances, partly 
 real and partly imaginary — and until these real evils 
 shall be completely redressed, it is vain to hope that 
 either the one or the other will cease to fester and 
 corrode, and to be a source of alarm and danger to 
 the state. 
 
 " What is the state,'' Dr. Doyle * is asked, '' of the 
 lower order of people in your diocese ?'' — " The extent 
 and intensity of their distress is greater than any 
 language can describe, and the hves of many hundreds 
 are shortened by it — it enervates their minds and 
 paralyses their energies, and leaves them incapable of 
 almost any useful exertion.'' After describing the 
 insufficiency of emplojTQent and consequently of food, 
 he says — "It is scarcely imaginable on what a pit- 
 
 ♦ Bishop of Kildare and Leighliu. 
 
158 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 tance one of these wretches endeavoiu's to subsist ; 
 in fact, he is almost Hke a savage of the American 
 deserts — he lies down on a little straw upon the floor, 
 and remaining there motionless nearly all daj, gets 
 up in the evening, eats a few potatoes, and then 
 throws himself again upon the earth, where he 
 remains till morning ; thus he drags out an existence 
 which it were better was terminated in any way, than 
 continue in the manner it is." 
 
 " Do you think this e\i\ likely to increase ?" — " If 
 the laws be not altered, and the country settled, so 
 that people AviU have a confidence in the peace and 
 good order to be established, and if the English 
 capitalists do not go to Ireland, I do not see 
 why it must not increase." Again : " The state of 
 the laws keeps everything unsettled and insecure, 
 and discourages men of capital and industry from 
 embarking both in the improvement of Ireland." 
 
 The people, therefore, were thus wretched and 
 degraded because the\^ continued to multiply, and 
 the demand for labour did not keep pace with their 
 increase. " The population is increased by improvi- 
 dent marriages, and those marriages result from the 
 poverty of the people, which has paralysed their 
 energies, and prevented their taking an interest in 
 creating a respectable situation in life. They say 
 they cannot be worse off, and their depression and 
 extreme poverty throw them together like savages in 
 a wood ; — it is a frightful state of society — it fills 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 159 
 
 one with so much pain and horror, that I have 
 frequently prayed to God, if it were his will, rather 
 to take me out of life than leave me to witness such 
 evils, which are beyond the endurance of human 
 nature/'* 
 
 Such was the description of the condition of the 
 Irish people; and it remains to be examined how- 
 far such a state of things is traceable to, and con- 
 nected with, the poUcy of the laws of exclusion. " I 
 do not conceive,^' says Mr. Blake, " that there is any 
 political curse upon Ireland that is to prevent her 
 from being as happy and as peaceable as other 
 countries, if, instead of attempting to fit the people 
 to the constitution, the constitution be fitted to the 
 people. '^ Mr. O' Conn ell is over and over again 
 interrogated upon this point : " Do you consider the 
 dissensions between Orangemen and Cathohcs in any 
 considerable degree instrumental in producing dis- 
 turbances ?"' "Yes, if they do not produce, they 
 greatly aggravate, and tend much to continue them ; 
 particularly by reason of the notion that the Govern- 
 ment was connected vrith the Orange system, and 
 by that means creatino; a recklessness in the minds 
 of the peasantry, and exerting a perpetual and 
 irremediable hostility while the Orange system shall 
 last. But the disturbances of Ireland he much 
 deeper; they are created by poverty, the nature 
 of tenure, tithe, church rates, and various other 
 
 * Dr. Doyle's Evidence, House of Commons, 16tli March, 1825. 
 
160 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 matters — the Orange system aggravates and perpe- 
 tuates the e\il." 
 
 " You are of opinion that the removal of disabihties 
 would diminish or get rid of the disposition of the 
 people to embark in disturbance ?" . . . " By itself 
 it would not tranquillise Ireland — without it you can 
 never have Ireland tranquil — icith it you would be 
 making great progress towards tranquillity." 
 
 " Do those disabilities retard the progress of in ■ 
 ternal improvement?" " Very much ; because they 
 aggravate the evils which otherwise exist, and con- 
 tinuing them will tend to perpetuate that system 
 of disturbance which prevents manufactures from 
 setthng, capital from coming in, and frightens away 
 the gentry." 
 
 " In what manner, and to what degree^ does the 
 remaining disability affect the peace and prosperity 
 of Ireland ? " — " It prevents the due administration 
 of justice — it creates actual injustice in the adminis- 
 tration of the law — it renders, in the opinion of the 
 Roman Cathohcs, life and property less secure than 
 those of Protestants — it gives a perpetual superiority, 
 accompanied by triumph and even insolence, to the 
 ruhng party. ... It works injustice by its exclusions. 
 In the detail of the administration of the law, there 
 occurs pretty general prevalence of advantage to the 
 Protestant over the Cathohc, so that the poorest and 
 most humble Protestant has a superiority in opinion, 
 and I think, in fact, over the Catholic ; and the result 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 161 
 
 of the entii'e is to create an indisposition towaj'd tlie 
 Government — a notion that they are ruled by power, 
 and not by law. . . . Every local grievance, every 
 thing that in the state of society tends to create 
 disturbance, is aggravated by the spii'it thus gene- 
 rated . . . and though the distiu^bances should not 
 be traced to the penal law, by any means, but have 
 wider and more general causes creating them, they 
 
 are aggravated, and have something of a tendency to 
 
 » 
 
 perpetuity given them, by what we call the penal 
 code.'' * 
 
 Mr. Blake says that, " The discontent was not 
 with reference to any particular part of the code of 
 disabilities, but that it prevailed universally at the 
 general spirit and tenor of those statutes, by which 
 the whole body is depressed below Protestants.'' 
 
 " Thev consider there is in the law an hostihtv to 
 the Catholic rehgion, which passes from the law to 
 those who administer it, and extends from the 
 religion itself to those who profess it." 
 
 " Wliat eflPect have the penal laws upon the lower 
 classes of Protestants, with respect to theii' treatment 
 of CathoUcs ? " — " It gives them a confidence to com- 
 mit crimes against CathoHcs — it produces insolence 
 in their demeanour, and, on the other hand, irrita- 
 tion and indignation "f 
 
 The disabilities "produce a moral degradation 
 
 * O'Connell, Lords' Committee, March 11, 1825. 
 •f Rev. Mr. Collins, Commons, Jime 11, 1824. 
 
162 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 and debasement in the minds of the people — they 
 look on themselves as a degraded cast, having a 
 privileged order above them/^ * 
 
 " The impression on theii' minds is, that the law is 
 unequally administered . . . Prejudices exist 
 in the minds of the magistrates, and misconceptions 
 in the minds of the people/^ f 
 
 '^ The opinion of the lower order of the CathoHcs, 
 in reference to the penal laws, invariably is, that they 
 are governed by force, and that those who administer 
 the law are in constant hostility against them ; and 
 there is a perpetual hatred among them against the 
 governing power. Its effect is to indispose them 
 to every act of the government ; and, when a man is 
 punished, his friends consider it an act of \dolence 
 and injustice, instead of being the administration of 
 the law towards him/^ % 
 
 " There is no class or description of people in Ire- 
 land, who do not feel a strong interest in the repeal 
 of the penal laws ; those, perhaps, who understand 
 the nature of them the least, are most anxious for 
 their repeal/^ 
 
 " The lower orders consider the exclusion of the 
 higher orders from the highest offices of the state, a 
 mark of infamy and de^Tadation affixed on the whole 
 body/^ § 
 
 * Rev. Mr. Collins, Commons, June 11, 1824. -j- Ibid. 
 
 X O'Connell, Commons, ]\Iarcli 4, 1825. 
 § Dx'. Doyle, Commons, Mai'ch 16, 1825. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 163 
 
 ^' If the lower orders were asked what emancipation 
 meant^ perhaps they would not be able to define it; 
 but they have a feeling that they belong to an 
 excluded class, and are not treated Hke other sub- 
 jects — that there is something wrong with them; and 
 they are anxious to be released fi'om this kind of 
 slavery, which the}" cannot explain." * 
 
 " The impression upon the Irish peasant is, that 
 unless he has what they call interest, he has no 
 chance of success before any tribunal . . . The 
 system (of the administration of justice) is so inter- 
 woven with religious distractions, and its present 
 state so much (if not created) amalgamated with it, 
 that it would be impossible to say they are uncon- 
 nected. In a late revision of the magistracy, many 
 bad magistrates have been excluded. In particular 
 counties the exclusion ran more according to rehgion 
 than misconduct ; and in the county of Cork, 
 almost every Catholic magistrate was sti'uck out — I 
 think eighteen out of twenty-one." t "The accumu- 
 lation of chm-ch rates is attributed, in a great degree, 
 by the peasantry to the penal laws. Since the 
 Union, two or three statutes have been passed, 
 enablinoj the clererv of the established chm-ch, without 
 reference to the wish of the parishioners, to build 
 churches Avhere there are no Protestant inhabitants; 
 
 * Dr. Magamin, (Bishop of Ardagh,) House of Commons, March 
 25, 1825. 
 
 t O'Connell, Lords, March 9, 1825. 
 
164 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 and the constant superiority and insolence belonging 
 to the lower class of persons, thus rendered superior, 
 all affect the minds of the peasantry; and then, 
 anything political, that gets connected ^Yith. rehgion, 
 is apt to go even beyond the truth and necessity of 
 the case/' * 
 
 " The feeling of dissatisfaction among the Catholics 
 is increasing as they increase in wealth, and num- 
 bers, and intelligence, as they are doing ; and as far 
 as the evils of Ireland are attributable to the penal 
 code, they must accumulate, instead of diminish, by 
 a continuance, holding out, as they do, a temptation 
 to a foreign enem}^; and mixed with other matters, 
 rendering hfe and property insecm'e/' f 
 
 " The long course of confiscations and of penal laws 
 (whether necessaiy or not) had very bad effects at 
 the time on the minds and dispositions of the great 
 body of the Irish people. The upper class, who were 
 deprived of their properties, naturally felt enmit}^ to 
 those who got them. The clergy must have felt 
 annoyed at the rich pro^dsion of the church being 
 transferred to other hands ; and the lower classes, who 
 did not experience much one way or another, were 
 readv and danorerous instruments in the hands of 
 the discontented.^' X " ^^ hen once a disturbance 
 breaks out, it gets force and continuance from reli- 
 
 * O'Connell, Lords, March 11, 1825. 
 
 t Mr. Blacker, Evidence, House of Lords, 1824. 
 
 X Sergt. Lloyd, E\-idence, House of Commons, 1824. 
 
 I 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 165 
 
 gious distraction. Political feelings mix with the 
 disturbances, and they arise altogether out of the 
 distractions between Catholic and Protestant. ^^* 
 
 Mr. Leslie Foster is asked, "To Avhat cause do 
 you attribute the frequent occurrence of disturbance 
 in Ireland ? " 
 
 " I think the proximate cause is the extreme 
 physical misery of the peasantry, coupled with their 
 liability to be called on for the payment of different 
 charges, which it is often perfectly impossible for 
 them to meet. The immediate cause, I conceive to 
 be the attempt to enforce these demands by the 
 various processes of the law; we are also to take 
 into consideration, that they are liA'ing under insti- 
 tutions for which they have neither much affec- 
 tion or respect. I have assigned what I conceive to 
 be the proximate cause of the disturbances. I think 
 the remote one is a radically vicious structui'e of 
 society, which prevails in many parts of Ireland, and 
 which has originated in the events of Irish history ; 
 and which may be, in a great measure, palliated, but 
 which it would, I fear, be extremely diflBcult now 
 wholly to change.^^ t 
 
 Such were the opinions of the best informed men, 
 Protestants as well as CathoHcs, and they may be 
 thus summed up : — That distress, discontent, and dis- 
 turbance were approaching theii' utmost limit ; that 
 
 * Mr. O'Driscoll, E\'idence, House of Commons, 1 824. 
 f E^^dence before Lords. 
 
166 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 thev were all more or less attributable to tlie system 
 of government and legislation whicli had long pre - 
 vailed^ and whicli, in great measui'e^ continued to 
 prevail still; and that the people were at once 
 becoming more exasperated with theu' wrongs^ 
 and more determined^ and more able, to obtain 
 redress. 
 
 It has been the practice of Orangemen and Ultra 
 Protestants, to cast in the teeth of their adversaries, 
 the advocates of emancipation, the ill success of that 
 measure ; and especially to accuse the Catholics of 
 dissimulation, duplicity and bad faith. They insist 
 that the Catholics held out promises and expecta- 
 tions of peace and tranquillity, which have never 
 been realised — that they solemnly disclaimed any 
 feeling or intention hostile to the established 
 Chiu'ch, protesting that, if all ci\dl disabihties were 
 removed, they should be completely, and for ever, 
 satisfied, and never would complain or agitate again : 
 whilst agitation is now again the order of the day, and 
 the Church and its revenues are openly and constantly 
 assailed ; — that the Clergy, who then expressed their 
 readiness to connect themselves with the State by a 
 stipendiary link, now reject both the connexion and 
 the stipend ; — and that the men who are organising 
 the whole country in a Repeal Association, were 
 the same who gave the most positive assurances 
 that, if emancipation was conceded, the question of 
 Repeal never should or could be raised again. It is 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 167 
 
 scarcely possible for anv one to be insensible to 
 the miscbief and the madness of the Repeal move- 
 ment ; nor am I^ by any means^ disposed to excuse 
 the conduct or the language of its author and leader ; 
 but it is due to truth and justice, and it is necessary, 
 in order to clear away much prejudice and error, 
 to declare that the Catholics are not obnoxious to 
 such reproaches and charges as these. And it is of 
 the greatest importance to make this manifest, 
 because a false impression of the insincerity, and 
 the encroaching, or ambitious \dews of the Catho- 
 lics, undoubtedly embitters the minds of the 
 English people, and disinclines them to consent to 
 those measui'es of conciliation, without which, all 
 wise and dispassionate men are aware, that the 
 distractions of Ireland can never be composed. It 
 has already been said, that in their e\idence before 
 the committees of both Houses, the Cathohc bishops 
 and leaders spoke out clearly, and ^nth apparent sin- 
 cerity and candour. They showed in all their magni- 
 tude both the evils and the dangers which pressed 
 upon the country, but then- representations pro- 
 duced no effect. The clergy signified theu' wil- 
 lingness to be paid by the State, declaring what 
 were the voluntary payments which they would 
 still expect to retain, and what they would no 
 longer require; and, at that time, there is no doubt 
 that they were fiilly prepared to acquiesce in any 
 reasonable arrangement on this head. They re- 
 
168 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 nounced all desire to possess the revenues of the 
 Established Church, but they made no secret of the 
 opinions they entertained that its wealtli ought to 
 be reduced. 
 
 They did indeed hold out expectations that agita- 
 tion would cease, that Repeal would be abandoned, 
 and that peace, harmony, and union, would follow 
 Emancipation ; — but then these expectations were 
 hypothetical and conditional — conditional as to 
 time, and mode and circumstances — upon the great 
 measure being accomplished immediately — on its 
 embracing the pajTnent of the clergj^, and upon its 
 being done in a frank, gracious and conciliatory spirit. 
 If Emancipation had been given at that time, if it 
 had included all the remedies that were suggested, 
 and the modus operandi had been such as sound 
 policy dictated, it is impossible for any human being 
 to say that the consequences would not have been as 
 ample and beneficial as the promises and predictions 
 of Mr. O^Connell himself held out; but when this 
 time, with all its favourable cii'cumstances, was suf- 
 fered to pass away, all warnings neglected, and all 
 advice despised — when a fresh arrear of resentment 
 and hatred was sufi'ered to accumulate, and a vast 
 increase of power to be developed — when at last 
 Emancipation was yielded mthout grace, and re- 
 ceived without gratitude — when the details of the 
 measure were so managed, that the classes whom it 
 was most important to concihate, were precisely 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 169 
 
 those who received the least benefit from it, and 
 when especial care was taken to inflict a mortifica- 
 tion on the great Liberator himself, and an insult, as 
 they considered it, on the whole body of the clergy 
 — it is absurd to ascribe the failure and the disap- 
 pointment to any other cause than to the obstinacy 
 which resisted, till resistance could no longer be 
 maintained, and to the foUy which deprived the con- 
 cession of aU value, by the manner in which it was 
 at last made. 
 
 To revile the Cathohcs for not having the same 
 disposition and the same objects in 1830 or in 1834 
 which they professed in 1825, is not more reasonable 
 than it would be to reproach the Long Parliament 
 in 1641, for not being as moderate as its prede- 
 cessor in 1639 j or for the French to complain of 
 the perfidy of the Alhes, because the same terms 
 were not granted to them, by the treaty of Paris, 
 which had been offered at Dresden or at ChatiUon. 
 It is time, however, to produce such parts of the 
 e\idence as make out (in my opinion) the proposition 
 I have advanced. 
 
 In the course of Mr. O'Connell's examination 
 before the Commons' Committee, he is asked, " Do 
 you feel yourself at liberty, without infringing in 
 the slightest degree upon that feehng which the 
 Committee would not wish to violate, to specify the 
 mode by which the priests influence and command 
 the votes of the freeholders T' He answers, " Upon 
 
170 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 any subject connected with the Cathohcs of Ireland, 
 their religion or their clergy, I have no dehcacy in 
 giving the fullest information in my power. I have 
 not the least objection to specify anything I know ; 
 and if I have a desire, standing here, it would be to 
 be probed to the fullest extent/^* 
 
 Mr. Blake is asked whether he thinks " different 
 opinions are now verging to something hke a com- 
 promise ?" — " I have had,^^ he says, " communications 
 with several of the leading Protestants who have 
 been adverse to the Catholic claims, and they seem 
 generally anxious for a settlement, provided, &c. 
 I think that the Roman Catholics are more disposed 
 for a compromise than they were at any foimer 
 period within my recollection.^^ 
 
 " What do you mean by a compromise ?" 
 '^ Raising the qualification of the franchise, pay- 
 ment of the clergy, and some limitation of office. 
 The Roman Cathohcs are more desirous of a settle- 
 ment than a triumph." — " Do you think merely 
 gi\ing emancipation, unattended with other mea- 
 sures, would give permanent tranquilhty ?^^ "I 
 think concession, coupled with raising the quahfi- 
 cation, and a provision for the clergy, would make 
 the mind of Ireland sound, and would enable the 
 government, by measures of general detail, to give 
 to Ireland the benefit of the natural advantages she 
 possesses ; but without such a settlement, the mind 
 
 * O'ConneU, Commons' Evidence, Feb. 25, 1825. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 171 
 
 wiU continue in a state of disease, and that state of 
 disease wiU perpetiiallv show itself in con^iilsions/^* 
 "There never was a period/^ says Mr. O^ConneU, 
 "when it would be so easy to subdue the hostile 
 feelings between Catholics and Protestants_, or to 
 create a better one, than just now/' 
 
 "Why do you suppose this period so particularly 
 favourable to an alteration of the law?'' 
 
 "On account of the measures which have been 
 taken, and of which, of course, I am disposed to 
 speak favourably, ha\dng taken an active part in them 
 myself — the Committee will therefore receive my 
 answer with that species of abatement and allowance 
 which an interested person always receives. We have 
 brought the people to a great connexion now with 
 the gentry ; we have combined the clergy with the 
 gentry and the people ; the consequence (without 
 aiTogating more of the present tranquillity than we 
 ought to ourselves) certainly is, that there is uni- 
 versal tranquillity at this moment ; and acting thus 
 together, and the disposition of the clergy of every 
 class and the gentry being most sincerely to con- 
 soUdate the interests of the people with that of the 
 government, I am convinced that at this moment 
 it can be done with more effect and general satis- 
 faction than at any time that has come within my 
 knowledge up to this. At any former period there 
 would have been something of triumph, and perhaps 
 
 * Blake, Lords, March 2, 1825, 
 i2 
 
172 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 of insolent victoiy, on our parts. I do not think 
 there would be the least at present/^ — "Are the 
 Catholics at the present moment more disposed to 
 go considerable lengths for the purpose of coming 
 to a fail' and equitable arrangement, than thej^ 
 have been at any former period ? " "1 am quite 
 sure of it ; and as far as my influence goes, I wdl 
 extend that sentiment : and the reasons that convince 
 me will be likely to convince many other Catholics^'* 
 
 All the witnesses who are examined on that point 
 declare most emphatically, that the Catholic clergy 
 do not entertain any notion of transferring the 
 possessions of the Established Chui'ch to the Roman 
 Cathohc Church ; but they admit that, in common 
 with many Protestants, they would approve of a 
 reform of the Protestant establishment. 
 
 "I never heard," says Dr. Doyle, "nor do I 
 believe, there exists in the mind of any clergyman 
 of any rank, any disposition to receive, or ask, or 
 seek to obtain, by any means whatever, the pos- 
 session of the temporal goods of the Established 
 Church in Ireland. For myself, and as far as I 
 have been able to obtain a knowledge of the feelings 
 of those of the clergy with whom I am conversant, 
 it is their opinion, as well as mine, that were a por- 
 tion of those goods offered us, we would decHne 
 accepting them." 
 
 " Supposing the tithes now received by the Pro- 
 
 * O'ConneU, Lords, March 11, 1825. 
 
CI 
 
 (( 
 
 ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 178 
 
 testant, were proposed to be transferred to the 
 Roman Catholic Church ? ^^ 
 
 Unquestionably, I would not accept them/^ * 
 Do you mean to say that there is no indisposi- 
 tion on the part of the Roman CathoKc laity to 
 allow the Established Church to continue in posses- 
 sion of all her present emoluments ? " 
 
 " I do not by any means say that — for it may be 
 that Roman Catholics, as well as Dissenters of other 
 kinds from the Establishment, may think that the 
 present property, if enjoyed by the clergy of the 
 Establishment, is rather great for the means of this 
 countr}^ I would not therefore say, that Catholics 
 would not, in common with others, wish that the 
 amount of that property was diminished, and apphed 
 to other uses of the State; but I am clear that 
 neither the Cathohc clergy nor laity have any dis- 
 position at all to possess themselyes in any way of 
 such property/^ 
 
 ^'I respect and esteem the Established Church 
 more than any other in the universe separated from 
 the See of Rome ; but I do unquestionably think 
 that the amount of property enjoyed by the minis- 
 ters of that Church is prejudicial to the interests of 
 the Established religion in Ireland, as well as the 
 interests of the country." f 
 
 Dr. Murray said, " that there is no wish on the 
 
 * Dr. Doyle, Commons, March 16, 1825. 
 t Dr. Doyle, Lords, Mai-ch 21. 
 
174 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 part of the Roman Catholic clergy, to distui'b the 
 present establishment, or partake of any part of the 
 wealth it enjoys .... that there is a general 
 feeling among Cathohcs as well as Protestants, that 
 the Establishment is unnecessarily rich; — but this 
 feeling is not among Cathohcs as Cathohcs, or more 
 than in Protestants.^^ " The Cathohcs complain of 
 paying tithes in common with Protestants; and they 
 have the additional ground of complaint that they 
 receive no services for it, that they pay two chm'ches, 
 from one of which they derive no return." Dr. 
 Murray added, that the Protestant clergy found 
 more difficulty in getting tithe from Protestants than 
 from Catholic parishioners; and when asked why 
 more, he replies, " because the Protestants are bet- 
 ter able to resist." He also said, that the insurrec- 
 tions in many parts of the south and west of Ireland 
 have been directed as much against the dues paid to 
 the Catholic clergy, as against the tithes paid to the 
 Protestant clergy.* 
 
 Mr. O^ Council, after again disclaiming on the part 
 of the Roman Cathohc gentry in Ireland any desire 
 to have the possessions of the Protestant hierarchy 
 transferred to their own priesthood, and stating 
 that the clerg^^ would accept a provision after 
 Emancipation was granted, but not before ; said 
 that "the object of the Cathohc gentry was to 
 connect the Catholic clergy and laity with govern- 
 
 * Dr. Mvirray, Commons, March 22. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 175 
 
 ment itself — to embody tliem, as it were, as a por- 
 tion of the State, and to give tlie Government 
 a reasonable and fair influence over the Catholic 
 clergy ; so that there should not be even an idea of 
 any danger of their being taken away to favour a 
 foreign enemy, or domestic insurrection. I am sure 
 that is the opinion of the clergy, and I know it is the 
 opinion of the Catholic gentry." — " Do you think 
 such an arrangement can in any measure have the 
 effect of ahenating the flocks from the clergy, if so 
 paid?" — "If made upon an emancipation bill, heartily 
 entered into in a proper spirit ; and I would beg to 
 say, it ivould be better to leave things as they are, than 
 to have an emancipation bill that luas not in a proper 
 spirit both for the Catholics and Protestants, for it 
 would be giving us additional power, and leaving still a 
 stimulant to those animosities that divide the country ; 
 and I think the thing should remain as it is, unless it be 
 done heartily and cordially!^ 
 
 " Do you beheve that the Roman Catholics of Ire- 
 land, both clergy and laity, would be willing to afford 
 the Government reasonable security for the domestic 
 education of their priesthood, and that persons 
 should not be appointed from estabhshments abroad?" 
 — " I am quite convinced of it. I beg to say that I 
 am thoroughly convinced that the object of the 
 Cathohc clergy and laity of Ireland is sincerely and 
 honestly to concur with the Government in every 
 measure that shall increase the strength of the 
 
176 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 Government in Ireland^ so as to consolidate Ireland 
 with England completely, and in every beneficial 
 aspect. I am quite convinced of tliat." * 
 
 Nothing can be more exphcit than the opinions 
 expressed concerning the terms of connection between 
 the Catholic Church and the State, and the amount 
 of interference which they would be content that the 
 Crown should exercise in ecclesiastical affairs. 
 
 " Would there be any objection to the interference 
 of the Crown in proliibiting the appointment of par- 
 ticular individuals, or in controlling them ? ^^ ^' At 
 present there would be so much, that it would totally 
 spoil the effect of any measure of emancipation ; and 
 it would be better to leave things as they are, than 
 meddle with that just now ... If, hereafter, any 
 real and substantial inconvenience occurred in prac- 
 tice, I am sure the Government would find every 
 facility, both at Rome and in Ireland, (after emanci- 
 pation) in making a proper and satisfactory arrange- 
 ment on the subject." f 
 
 Dr. Doyle says, " That he never would consent to 
 any interference on the part of the Crown in the 
 appointment of prelates ; and that if the Court of 
 Rome should, by any convention with the Crown of 
 England, give any power of interference, direct or 
 indirect, he would rather abdicate his functions as a 
 prelate, than submit to the arrangement — but that 
 " The Crown has a right to be satisfied of the loyalty 
 
 * O'Coiinell, Commons, March 4, 1825. f Ibid. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 177 
 
 of the person appointed, for it is essential to the well- 
 being of the State that perfect confidence should pre- 
 vail between his Majesty's Government and every 
 class of his subjects." 
 
 He would be content that every bishop should be 
 a native of Ireland, and have been educated at home; 
 and that none should be entitled to claim any pro- 
 vision from the State, without being furnished with 
 a certificate from the Commission * to this effect, as 
 well as of the loyalty of the recipient. — " I think it 
 very reasonable," he says, " that before a man eats 
 the bread of the State, the King should have full and 
 perfect knowledge of who he was ;" and " that before 
 they received a salary from the State, everything 
 respecting them, which the Crown wished to be 
 informed of, ought to be communicated to it." t 
 
 The two greatest and most obvious benefits that 
 would accrue from the payment of the clergy, are, 
 first, elevating the order of priests ; and, secondly, 
 reheving the peasantr3^ 
 
 "If emancipation was granted as a condition to 
 the clergy being paid by Government, would it not 
 produce the effect of a better description of persons 
 becoming candidates for the priesthood ? " 
 
 "If, by better, is meant, as I suppose it is, a 
 wealthier class, it certainly would have that tendency, 
 and a useful tendency for the purposes of Govern- 
 
 * A commission to be constituted for ecclesiastical purposes, 
 t Dr. Doyle, Commons, March 16. 
 
 I 3 
 
178 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 ment I take it, because tliev would not be so much 
 under the influence of very low people, as they neces- 
 sarily are, when all theii' relations are in the lowest 
 state of society. They would be a very important 
 and useful Knk in the chain of society/^ 
 
 "Would it be felt b}^ the peasantry in Ireland 
 as a rehef to them if the provisions for their priests 
 were provided from some other funds ?^^ 
 
 '' I am sure it would, a very considerable relief/^* 
 
 '' If any provision were made," Dr. Doyle is asked, 
 " should you think it better to relieve the people 
 from the annual pajonents, or from fees?" "I 
 should say, that with the exception of a few towns, 
 where there is a kind of annual payment, distinct 
 from fees, every contribution made by the people to 
 the clergy is made at the time when the priest is per- 
 forming some office for them, so that all of them 
 might be denominated fees in some measure. I would 
 then suggest that all and every contribution to be 
 made by the people, or accepted by the priest, should 
 cease altogether, with the exceptions I have before 
 mentioned, that is, baptisms, marriages, and bmials. I 
 think the rehef to the people would be very great if the 
 dues of priests were enthely done away with ; and un- 
 less provision is made to put an end to them, they will 
 be continued by avaricious men, in various ways, and 
 the rehef of the people would not be attained." f 
 
 '^ I would retain the fees (above mentioned), 
 
 ♦ O'Connell, Commons, March 4. f Dr. Doyle, Lca-ds, March 21. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 179 
 
 because they are a universal custom ; and I do not 
 see why our churcli should be the only one in the 
 world that should give up trifling contributions^ 
 which are given in eveiy other church throughout 
 Christendom/^* 
 
 It would be superfluous to produce any more of 
 this evidence ; the extracts already given are suf- 
 ficient to show that^ at that time_, cii'cumstances both 
 imperatively demanded and were pecuharly favour- 
 able to a settlement of the question. It is, indeed, 
 difiicult to understand how any man of experience 
 and sagacity should have failed to perceive that the 
 anti-Catholic was a losing cause — that it would not 
 be possible to continue the contest much longer — 
 and that it was of immeasurable importance to come 
 to terms with the CathoHcs while they were in a 
 disposition so moderate and amicable as that which 
 they then evinced. However obvious this might be 
 to the friends of Emancipation, it unfortunately 
 escaped the penetration of Lord Liverpool, and 
 his colleagues in office ; and no disposition ap- 
 peared to propose any concession or compromise. 
 The Duke of York^s speech, in which he had 
 announced that, as subject or as sovereign, he 
 would ever oppose the Cathohc claims — " so help 
 him God !" had infused fresh enthusiasm into the 
 minds of the Protestants; and at the end of the 
 session of 1825, the King, the Government, and the 
 
 * Df. Doyle, Commons, March 16. 
 
180 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OP 
 
 people of England, seemed more determined than 
 ever to maintain the exclusive system. Lord Eldon, 
 vrho, in 1821, had been much disturbed in his mind, 
 and in high dudgeon at some of Lord LiverpooFs 
 liberal appointments, was now in ecstacies. " As to 
 Liverpool, I do not know what he means — to please 
 Grenville, he makes a regius professor friend to the 
 Catholics ; to please Lansdowne, he makes a bishop 
 of Bristol, and regius professor friend to the Catho- 
 lics. I am not quite content with this — yet I don^t 
 know what to do. Can a man who makes such a 
 Secretary for Ireland as we have, and two such 
 regius professors, and such a bishop, be serious?"* 
 Such was his language in 1821, but now he was all 
 jubilation and triumph : " Never was anything like 
 the sensation the Duke of York^s speech has made ; 
 it has had such an operation upon all ranks of men, 
 that it will create insuperable difficulties to passing 
 the intended measure another year." — " It has placed 
 him on a pinnacle of popularity ."f 
 
 The convivial bigotry which bursts forth in the 
 Chancellor's letters, is at once melancholy and divert- 
 ing. J " Dined with the Duke of York. 24 rejoicing 
 Protestants round the table ; we drank the ^48 and 
 the year ^88, and ' the glorious and immortal memcffy,^ 
 Lady Warwick and Lady Braybroke would not let 
 
 * Eldon's Life, vol. ii., p. 418. 
 
 t George tlie Fourth was not very well pleased at his brother's allu- 
 sion — " the situation in which he might be." 
 
 * Eldon's Life, vol. ii., p. 522, 546-7. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 181 
 
 their husbands go and vote for the Catholics ; so we 
 Protestants drink daily^ as our favourite toast, ' the 
 ladies who locked up their husbands \^^* 
 
 This re\ival and strong manifestation of no-popery 
 zeal, produced corresponding effects in Ireland. 
 The act for suppressing the Association had been 
 wholly abortive. That body continued its meetings 
 and its proceedings without any interference on the 
 part of the Government, and nothing could exceed 
 the violence displayed by the principal orators, and 
 especially the \irulence and fierce resentment with 
 which the Duke of York was assailed. But while 
 they thundered out their exhortations, denunciations, 
 and menaces, employed every engine of influence, 
 and diligently levied the Catholic Rent, they exerted 
 themselves strenuously to prevent aU violation of the 
 pubhc peace. 
 
 Parliament was opened on the 2nd of February, 
 1826 ; and though the question of Emancipation was 
 not brought forward in either House, there was no 
 lack of debate and discussion upon Irish affairs. 
 The reports of the committees had been presented 
 
 * He gives an account of his attending the Pitt Dinner, where he 
 says — " The company were quite uproarious, they were in such high 
 spu'its at the Catholic defeat." Lord Eldon, however, seems to have 
 had some touch of shame at this desecration of the principles of the 
 great minister whom they pretended to honour ; for he adds, " they 
 reconciled themselves to this conduct by recollecting, that though in 
 1801 IVIr. Pitt was for the Cathohcs, he was only so if they would con- 
 sent to secm-ities for the Church and State, vjJiich they would not — if 
 they would, they would have no opposition now " / / One of these asser- 
 tions was just as ti'ue as the other — both absolutely false. 
 
18^ PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 at the end of tlie preceding session, and Government 
 speedily announced tlieir intention to propose various 
 measures of improvement and reform, connected 
 with different evils and grievances, which had long 
 been the subject of complaint ; and several bills for 
 this purpose were accordingly passed in the course 
 of the session, which, though really well meant and 
 useful, did not in the shghtest degree appease the 
 resentment of the Catholics, or reconcile them to 
 their political condition. 
 
 On the 2nd of June Parhament was dissolved, and 
 immediately afterwards a general election took place, 
 forever memorable in Irish historv, and which was 
 productive of the most important influence on the 
 question of Catholic Emancipation. In England, 
 the spirit which animated the Duke of York and 
 Lord Eldon, had diffused itself pretty generally 
 through the country, and the result was seen in an 
 accession of strength to the anti-Catholic party in 
 the House of Commons.* But in Ireland the 
 elections assumed a character of far greater signifi- 
 cance than those by wliich ordinary contests were 
 marked. The great leader who commanded the 
 resources and directed the energies of the Cathohc 
 body, resolved to make at once an experiment, and 
 a display of his strength, to carry the war into the 
 strongholds of Protestant influence and power, and 
 
 * Amongst the chanofes Lord John Russell lost his election for 
 Huntingdonshire ; and ]\Ir. P}Tn was tiUTied out of Bedfordshire by 
 Mr. M*Q,ueen, whose only merit was being opposed to the Catholics. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 183 
 
 show what the priests and the people united were 
 capable of effecting. The county of Waterford had 
 been represented by the Beresfords for the best part of 
 a century; andthough they were thorough Orangemen _, 
 and the constituency were in the proportion of forty 
 Catholics to one Protestant^ the vast property of the 
 Marquis of Waterford gave him a dominion which 
 nobody dreamed of attempting to undermine^ or assail. 
 The Cathohcs^ however^ determined to measure their 
 strength with this landed grandee, and before the 
 expected dissolution had taken place_, a messenger 
 was despatched in search of Mr. Villiers Stuart, who 
 was then travelling on the Continent. He accepted 
 the invitation to become a candidate for the county, 
 and instantly returned to Ireland. At first the 
 design of attacking the Beresford interest appeared 
 altogether chimerical j and even Mr. O^Connell him- 
 self is said, at one time, to have thought success 
 doubtful, if not impossible*. But the election no 
 sooner began, than the spirit which had been kindled 
 in the minds of the people burst out with an enthu- 
 siasm equally irrepressible and iiTesistible. They 
 scattered to the winds all ancient allegiance — even 
 all neutrality — and poui'ed down in masses to sup- 
 port the popular candidate ; the tenants at the very 
 gates of Curraghmore — the workmen and labourers 
 in the park and gardens of the Marquis, joined their 
 countrymen, and voted against the brother of their 
 
 * Wyse, vol. i., p. 264, 274. 
 
184 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OP 
 
 employer. The election was decided before half the 
 first day^s polling was over^ and on the fifth, Lord 
 George Beresford retired_, and Mr. V. Stuart was de- 
 clared to be elected by a great majority. Nothing could 
 exceed the indignation of one party, the triumph of 
 the other, or the general astonishment which this 
 great event produced ; but it was immediately fol- 
 lowed by one much more extraordinary. There was 
 nothing very surprising in the enterprise of Mr.Villiers 
 Stuart : he was fairly entitled, from his large property 
 and personal qualities, to aspire to the representation 
 of his native county; but when news arrived in 
 Dubhn that a retired barrister of small fortune had 
 started for the county of Louth — a county where 
 the Jocelyns and the Fosters had long been considered 
 omnipotent — a still greater sensation was excited. 
 
 Mr. Alexander Dawson had neither wealth nor 
 connexions to bring against the coaHtion of Lord 
 Roden and Lord Oriel ; he announced that he would 
 incur no expense — none of the usual preparations for 
 a contest were made, and his intention to stand was 
 only declared three days before the election. His 
 arrival at Dundalk had all the appearance of an 
 ovation. He was escorted into the town bv an 
 enthusiastic multitude of athletic peasants_, scream- 
 ing, rushing, prancing, and exhibiting in their ges- 
 tures and countenances all the signs of exuberant 
 joy and fierce determination. 
 
 The pretensions of such a candidate his anta- 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 185 
 
 gonists were at first disposed to regard as despicable 
 and ludicrous, but they soon discovered tbem to be 
 anytbing but ridiculous. A very sbort time gave bim 
 such a triumpbant majority on tbe poll, tbat bis return 
 was placed beyond tbe rQacb of speculation, and tbe 
 contest only remained between tbe otber two wbo 
 bad begun it as allies, but wbo ended it by a violent 
 struggle witb eacb otber. It turned upon wbetber 
 batred of Lord Roden, or batred of Lesbe Foster 
 sbould prevail ; and tbe nominee of tbe former was 
 eventually defeated, tbougli only by a bare majority. 
 Tbe Catbobcs looked on witb a mabcious satisfac- 
 tion at tbe desperate strife of tbe two Orangemen, 
 only regretting tbat tbey bad not carried botb seats, 
 as tbey migbt easily bave done, if tbey bad been 
 prepared in time witb a second candidate. Similar 
 battles were fougbt witb similar success in Mona- 
 gban and Westmeatb ; and tbe Stopfords only 
 escaped tbe same fate in Wexford, by tbe writ 
 having been issued, and the election decided before 
 that of Waterford took place. It is not difficult to 
 imagine tbe mixture of indignation and astonish- 
 ment, vnth which the Protestant potentates must 
 have contemplated this overthrow of their power, 
 and contempt of their authority. They must have 
 heard the news of the insurrection of their tenants, 
 with sentiments somewhat bke those of Louis XVI., 
 when he was informed of the defection of the French 
 Guards. '^Vfhj, this is a revolt,^^ said the king. 
 
186 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 " Sire/^ said the Due de Liancoiu% " it is a revolu- 
 tion." And so was this a revolution ; one indeed^ of 
 a peaceable and legal character, but of an immense 
 significance, and pregnant with consequences which 
 it demanded no extraordinary penetration to fore- 
 see, but which it was of vital importance to antici- 
 pate and counteract. 
 
 The new Parliament met on the 14th November, 
 and sat till the 13th of December, without any dis- 
 cussion taking place upon Ireland, or the affairs of 
 the Roman Catholics. It met again on the 8th 
 February, 1827, and, on the 5th March, Su' Francis 
 Bui'dett once more brought the general petition of 
 the Catholics before the House. It might have 
 been expected, considering all the circumstances of 
 the times, that this petition would not be rejected 
 by the House of Commons. The Duke of York was 
 dead, Lord Liverpool was dying — two of the most 
 powerful, and most constant opponents of the Ca- 
 thohcs, were thus removed from the stage ; and the 
 eventful Irish elections were still ringing in the ears 
 of the country, — this, therefore, seemed to be the 
 moment, if one ever was to arrive, when bigotry 
 itself might be expected to relax, and concihatory 
 counsels to prevail. The motion, however, was re- 
 jected, by a majority of four ; and in consequence of 
 the issue of this debate. Lord Lansdowne dechned 
 to bring the question on in the House of Lords, 
 "fearing," he said, ^^to add, in the present state 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 187 
 
 of feeling in Ireland, to the disastrous comiction in 
 the minds of the Catholics, that a majority of both 
 Houses of Parhament was determined to reject the 
 consideration of their claims/^ 
 
 In the mean time, before any particular effects of 
 this defeat could be manifested in Ireland, events 
 occurred which were calculated to induce the Catholic 
 leaders to abstain for the present from any violent 
 or inflammatory proceedings. 
 
 The incapacity (shortly after followed by the death) 
 of Lord Liverpool, left the post of prime minister 
 vacant, and after much personal and poHtical dis- 
 cussion (unnecessary here to detail), the Government 
 was broken up; Mr. Canning formed a new and 
 rather motley cabinet, composed of some fragments 
 of the old one, reinforced by a detachment of mode- 
 rate Whigs. It would seem as if there never could 
 be an end of all the anomahes and contradictions 
 which attached to this unhappy Cathohc question, 
 the source of all the difficulties and dangers which 
 embaiTassed the country. The late Government was 
 broken up because the majority of the cabinet would 
 not agree to the appointment of a prime minister 
 who was favourable to Cathohc Emancipation ; while 
 Mr. Canning would neither waive his own claims, 
 nor consent to the principle of exclusion which was 
 sought to be established in his person. The se- 
 ceders appear to have overlooked the extraordinary 
 inconsistency of their objection with the supposition 
 
188 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 of the Catholic being really and bond fide an open 
 question: while Mr. Canning, ha\ing successfully 
 asserted the principle for which he contended, con- 
 descended to neutralise it practically, by promising 
 the King not to force the question forward : and in 
 the speech which he made explanatory of his own 
 conduct, he distinctly said ^^ that he would not pre- 
 maturely stir up the feelings of the people of Eng- 
 land for a theoretic, though essential good : — he 
 expected the dawn of a better day, but he would not 
 precipitate its appearance — he would not, for the 
 sake of freedom of conscience, force the conscience 
 of others ; he would not press this question sternly 
 on the feelings of Englishmen/^ 
 
 These phrases interpreted into plain EngUsh meant 
 neither more nor less than that the Catholics were 
 not to reap any advantage from his elevation ; and 
 the only change, as far as they were concerned, was 
 the conversion of the ablest of their advocates into a 
 neutral and passive well-wisher to their cause. 
 
 Still the Catholics confided in the prime minister's 
 well known disposition. They saw a cabinet com- 
 posed almost entirely of individuals friendly to 
 them, and they made allowances for the difficulties 
 and obstacles which prevented the government from 
 doing anything immediately to serve them. ^' They 
 therefore took his intentions for deeds, and lamented 
 over his tomb as if he had been their dehverer.'^* 
 
 * Wyse, vol. i. p. 327. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 189 
 
 But when^ in February 1828, after the short and 
 sickly interregnum whicli followed the death of 
 Mr. Canning,* the Duke of Wellington and Mr. 
 Peel returned to power, the one as prime minister, 
 the other leader in the House of Commons, the 
 Catholics naturally abandoned all hope of obtaining 
 anything from the good will of such a government. 
 The most conspicuous members of the new cabinet 
 had been throughout their whole Hves the consistent 
 opponents of emancipation, and both the king and 
 the anti-Cathohc party considered them pledged 
 to maintain the same principles, and pursue the 
 same coui'se of policy as heretofore. Fi'om the 
 moment, therefore, of the formation of the Duke^s 
 government, the Catholics determined to wage war 
 against it, and to put in operation all the means 
 of annoyance and opposition which they had now 
 discovered and shown to the world that they pos- 
 sessed. Their measures were able, energetic, and 
 completely successful. Eveiy day added to the 
 power and authority of the Association, which, in 
 fact governed all the Catholic provinces with an 
 absolute sway. The edicts of the greatest despots 
 or autocrats who ever existed, the decrees of the 
 French Convention at the lieight of the Terror, were 
 
 * Mr. Canning died on the 8tli August, 1827, ha-ving been ministe 
 four months. Lord Goderich succeeded him, and resigned in Feb- 
 ruary 1828. 
 
190 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OP 
 
 never obeyed with more alacrity and submission, 
 than the commands of the Association by the wilhng 
 devotion of the Irish people. The barbarons fac- 
 tions, whose feuds distracted the country, were 
 reconciled to each other;* and^ at the bidding 
 of that body, such tranquillity and abstinence 
 from outrage prevailed, as Ireland had never seen 
 before. Liberal clubs and parochial clubs were 
 formed with a regular arrangement and distribution 
 of functions, by means of which the orders of the 
 Association were rapidly and punctually executed. 
 The Government looked on in silence and inaction^ 
 witnessing this accumulation and organization of 
 power, and taking no steps either to concihate or 
 suppress it. Meanwhile, the Cathohc question was 
 again debated in l3otli Houses of Parliament. On the 
 7th May, in the House of Commons, when Mr. Peel 
 opposed Sir F. Burdett's motion, in a speech only 
 remarkable for the lowness of its tone, and after three 
 night^s debate, that motion was carried by a majority 
 of 6—272 to 266. On the 16th May, the Commons 
 desired to have a conference with the Lords on the 
 subject, which was agreed to ; and, on the 9th June, 
 Lord Lansdowne moved, in the House of Lords, a 
 resolution corresponding to that of the Commons. 
 The usual debate took place, and with the usual 
 
 * There were the Hens and the Magpies, the Shanavasts and 
 Caravats, the Padeen Gras and Moll Doyles, and many other strange 
 and barbarous names. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 191 
 
 result, of a majority against the motion of 4-1 — 181 
 to 137. But the speech of the Duke of Welhngton 
 was universally considered to be indicative of an 
 important change in the opinions and the intentions 
 of the Government ; and Lord Lansdowne, in his 
 reply, expressed his con^dction that both the Duke 
 and the Chancellor could not have said what they did, 
 unless they contemplated some final arrangement of 
 those difficulties, the magnitude and urgenc}^ of 
 which, they both appeared so thoroughly to compre- 
 hend. But in whatever light the Duke's speech may 
 have been regarded in England, in Ireland it did not, 
 for one instant, or in the shghtest degree, relax the 
 exertions, or moderate the proceedings, of the 
 CathoKcs. He had said, ^' If the agitators of Ireland 
 would only leave the pubhc mind at rest, the people 
 would become more satisfied : and I certainly think 
 that it would then be possible to do something." 
 
 The scornful derision Tvith which such a recom- 
 mendation would be heard by the agitators, may 
 be easily conceived. They knew a good deal better 
 than to follow this ad^dce. Agrarian disturbance, 
 indeed, was abeady at an end; having entirely sub- 
 sided at the command of the Association. But 
 political tranquilHty, abstinence from political agita- 
 tion, the Catholics had tried for a long series of years, 
 and, with what success, was notorious to all the 
 world. They had been submissive, humble, and 
 patient — they had passed through all the gradations 
 
192 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 and degrees of long-suffering and endurance ; and 
 had onl}^ met with opposition, indifference, and con- 
 tempt. At length they tried combination and agita- 
 tion, and fi'om that time their affaii^s assumed a very 
 different aspect ; it was not very likely, therefore, 
 that they would desist from a course which had 
 hitherto proved so successful; and, in the same 
 manner as the Duke would himself press an enemy 
 who was beginning to yield, they resolved to quicken 
 the supposed disposition of their enemy to give way, 
 by a still more ^dgorous prosecution of the war. At 
 one of their aggregate meetings, the Catholics had 
 passed a resolution to oppose the election of any 
 candidate who would not pledge himself against the 
 Duke^s government. But after the Test and Corpora- 
 tion Acts had been repealed. Lord John Russell wrote 
 a letter to Mr. O'Connell, suggesting the propriety 
 of rescinding this resolution, in consequence of the 
 liberal disposition which the Government had evinced 
 in respect to those measures. Mr. O'Connell pro- 
 posed to the Association to adopt Lord John's recom- 
 mendation ; but, after a stormy debate, his motion 
 was rejected. It was not long before the occasion 
 presented itself of acting upon this resolution. Mr. 
 Charles Grant ha^dng resigned the office of President 
 of the Board of Trade, Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald was 
 appointed to succeed him ; and accordingly vacated 
 his seat for the county of Clare. The Association 
 instantly resolved to oppose his re-election. When 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 193 
 
 Mr. Fitzgerald accepted this office, neither tie nor 
 any one else had the slightest notion that his return 
 would be disputed. He had always been a staunch 
 and able advocate of the Cathohcs, and he was so 
 universally popular and respected in the county, that 
 for some time it appeared quite impossible to find 
 any candidate to oppose him ; Major M'^Namara, who 
 was first applied to, having declined, on the ground 
 of his own and his family^s obhgations to Mr. Fitz- 
 gerald. In this emergency, and when the attempt 
 was considered quite hopeless, the world was electri- 
 fied by the news of Mr. O^ Connellys having himself 
 announced his intention to stand. Nothing could 
 exceed the astonishment produced by this event ; and 
 both in England and in Ireland aU eyes and thoughts 
 were at once turned to the Clare election. No con- 
 test had ever taken place so calculated to stir up 
 the passions of the people ; and, during its progress, 
 it exhibited, in its various cii'cumstances and details, 
 that mixture of the serious and tlie ludicrous, of the 
 solemn and the grotesque, so pecuharly illustrative 
 of the Irish character. The contrast between the two 
 candidates was excessively striking. Mr. Fitzgerald 
 appeared upon the hustings surrounded by aU the 
 gentlemen of the county; while Mr. O^Connell was 
 without any support from the higher orders, and 
 depended upon a mass of determined peasants, and 
 the whole body of the priests. The priests and the 
 people showed what they could, and what they would 
 
 K 
 
194 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 do^ in such a cause — all ties of connection, of grati- 
 tude, or of interest, were swept away. Sir Edward 
 O^Brien assembled his tenants in a body to go and 
 vote for Fitzgerald; Father Murphy, of Corofin, 
 harangued them, marched into Ennis at their head, 
 and polled them to a man for O'Connell. The 
 famous father Tom* did the same with the tenants 
 of Mr. Butler. The torrent was irresistible ; and on 
 the sixth day of the election, Mr. Fitzgerald resigned 
 the contest. It was impossible to exaggerate the 
 magnitude or the importance of this victory. Water- 
 ford and Louth sank into insignificance when com- 
 pared with it, for the defeated candidate was here 
 highly popular, even with the Cathohcs, who well 
 knew his attachment to their cause. A great clamour 
 was raised against the ingratitude of the Catholics, in 
 ejecting such a faithful and steady Mend to their 
 interests ; but it was idle to talk of ingratitude ; it 
 was a great cause for which they were fighting, and 
 they were bound to discard all ordinary considera- 
 tions, in their stern and unflinching course. " Revo- 
 lutions," it has been said, " are not made with rose- 
 water;" and Mr. Fitzgerald was sacrificed to an 
 inexorable principle, the wisdom of which was 
 speedily proved by the result. The Clare election 
 settled the question of Catholic Emancipation ; it 
 
 * He was a priest of the name of Maguire, celebrated for his con- 
 troversial contest with Mr. Pope, a Protestant clergyman, in which 
 the Catholics boast that he signally defeated his opponent. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELA.ND. 195 
 
 quickened tlie half-inclined disposition of the Duke 
 of Wellington into a positive determination^ and he 
 lost no time in gi^^ng effect to the conclusions at 
 which he at last arrived. 
 
 But now began to appear^ in all their magnitude 
 and variety, the evils of the policy which had been 
 so long and obstinately pursued ; and amongst them 
 none was greater and productive of more lasting 
 bad consequences than the unfortunate necessity of 
 adopting a course of mystery and concealment, the 
 ine\dtable effect of which was to impair those sen- 
 timents of pubhc confidence which are the foun- 
 dation and cement of all personal, as well as political, 
 connections. It is certainly impossible to overrate 
 the difficulty of the position in which the Duke of 
 Wellington and Mr. Peel found themselves placed, 
 and it is only just to give them credit for their 
 conduct at this eventful crisis. They were now 
 convinced that onlv two alternatives remained ; 
 either to put down the Catholics by force, or to 
 emancipate them; and they resolved that it was 
 better to do the latter, than incur the danger of 
 a civil war. But the King, the Tory party, and a 
 majorit}'^ of the people of England, were still con- 
 firmed in their pertinacious resistance to the Catho- 
 lics, when the Ministers, under the sense of an 
 imperative necessity, were about to advise the adop- 
 tion of the very measm'es they had so long inveighed 
 against and opposed. Nor was any adequate cause 
 
 K 2 
 
196 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 apparent to vulgar apprehensions for so great a 
 change; for there seemed no such striking differ- 
 ence between the Waterford and the Clare elections, 
 as to justify the refusal of Emancipation after the 
 one, and to render the concession of it indispensable 
 after the other. — There is not a doubt that, if they 
 had followed their own inclinations and consulted 
 theii' own merely personal interests, they would 
 have resigned, and left the Whigs to carry out the 
 measure they had so long laboured to promote ; but 
 thev soon foirnd that the work could only be done 
 by themselves ; and that they must either expose 
 the country to enormous danger, or undertake a 
 task full of difficulty and humihation, which could 
 not fail to expose them to the bitterest obloquy and 
 reproach, to the disruption of old friendships and 
 connections, and every sort of unpopularity. They 
 at once flung aside all personal and selfish consider- 
 ations. Thev did not hesitate to sacrifice their own 
 characters for consistency ; and what was a still 
 greater sacrifice, they did not scruple to adopt the 
 means and expedients (repulsive as they must have 
 been) by which alone success could be ensured. 
 The first thing to be done was to impart their de- 
 signs to the King, and having obtained his consent, 
 to conceal them from the rest of the world. The 
 King was in the highest degree disgusted at the 
 intimation; but he declared that he would only 
 give his consent upon the condition of their all re- 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 197 
 
 maining in office, and themselves carrying the mea- 
 sure througli Parliament ; and to this, therefore, 
 they made np theii' minds to submit. He also re- 
 quired that the matter should be revealed to no 
 human being out of the Cabinet, well knowing the 
 personal annoyance to which he should be exposed 
 if it once got wind. The ministers also were aware 
 that it was essential to prevent a no-popery agitation 
 being got up in England, and they were, therefore, 
 fully agreed with his Majesty on this point. But 
 the inevitable mischief of this secrecy was, that 
 they were compelled to conceal fi'om their best 
 friends and most faithful adherents the intended 
 change in their policy — and to allow those friends 
 to commit themselves by language and conduct 
 which afterwards exposed them to much mortifica- 
 tion and embari'assment. It was not long, how- 
 ever, before the ministers began to get in trouble 
 with the King. In August, at a public dinner at 
 Derry, Mr. George Dawson (Mr. PeeFs brother-in- 
 law) announced his conversion to the Catholic cause. 
 This declaration made a prodigious sensation; and 
 though he declared that the Government were as 
 ignorant of his intentions as he was of theirs, all 
 the world inferred from his speech that the reports, 
 already rife, of the Duke of Wellington's favoui-able 
 intentions to the Cathohcs, were well founded. The 
 King was outrageous, and refused to believe that 
 the secret had not been di^oilged ; the ministers were 
 
198 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 extremely annoyed with Mr. Dawson, who was all 
 the time quite unconscious of the embarrassment 
 he had caused ; and the necessity of counteracting 
 the effect of this premature declaration, compelled 
 them to maintain a greater reserve than ever in all 
 their communications both public and private. In 
 the course of the autumn Mr. Peel was entertained 
 at several dinners and breakfasts in various great 
 manufacturing towns in Lancashire, but on all these 
 occasions he carefully abstained from uttering a 
 word from which it was possible to draw any infer- 
 ence as to the views or intentions of the Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Meanwhile, the cauldron of Irish affairs was per- 
 petually flaring up with some fresh ingredient that 
 was cast into it. In the beginning of 1829, Lord 
 Anglesey's recall excited, in different ways, both 
 Cathohcs and Protestants, and tended to make the 
 Duke's intentions more ambiguous than ever. The 
 correspondence which led to that recall, was itself 
 caused by the unfortunate com'se of keeping the Lord 
 Lieutenant in the dark. He was, not unnaturally, 
 provoked with the Duke's want of confidence ; while, 
 without intending it, the free and frank expression of 
 his opinions embarrassed the Duke and exasperated 
 the King. It was the King himself who vehemently 
 insisted upon the recall of Lord Anglesey, though 
 the Duke took all the responsibility and odium of 
 that measure upon himself. Such were the difficul- 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 199 
 
 ties and the personal differences which this long 
 course of mystification unhappily produced^ and 
 which continued up to the eve of the meeting of Par- 
 liament. A very short time^ however, elapsed after the 
 ministerial plan was unveiled to the world, before 
 circumstances occurred fully proving the wisdom 
 and even necessity of the secrecy and resen^e which 
 had been so rigorously maintained. 
 
 In the midst of great agitation, of many hopes 
 and many fears, Parhament met on the 6th of Feb- 
 ruary, 1829, when aU doubts and speculations were 
 resolved by the speech from the Throne, recommend- 
 ing " a final, equitable, and satisfactory adjustment 
 of the CathoHc claims.^^ 
 
 The announcement of this intelhgence was received 
 with unbounded joy and exultation by the CathoHcs, 
 and their friends in this country ; and with sullen 
 indignation and resentment by their opponents, of 
 every description and denomination. 
 
 The desperate attempts that the anti-catholics soon 
 began making to defeat the measure, proved how wise 
 and necessary was the secrecy in which the intentions 
 of Government had been shrouded ; it was now too 
 late to raise a no-popery cry throughout the country, 
 even if such an experiment could ever have been 
 attempted with a prospect of success; but enough 
 had transpired of the reluctance and disinclination 
 of the King to make it worth while to try what 
 could be done by working upon his prejudices and 
 
200 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 caprice. The bill for suppressing the Association 
 was first brought in^ but before it was passed the 
 Association had already dissolved itself. 
 
 A call of the House had been ordered on the 5th 
 of March^ on which day Mr. Peel was to bring the 
 Emancipation Bill before the House of Commons; 
 but in the mean time the Duke of Cumberland, 
 backed by Lord Eldon and the old anti-catholic party, 
 had contrived to work the King^s mind into a state 
 of frenzy. He passed his days in raihng against the 
 bill and its authors ; and he went so far as to desire 
 a person high in his intimacy and confidence to tell 
 all his household, that he wished them to vote against 
 it, a command which the indi^idual to whom it was 
 given was, fortunately, too prudent to obey.* If his 
 Majesty^s ill humour had been confined vrithin the 
 walls of his palace, and had there evaporated, it 
 would not have much signified, but as the time drew 
 near when the iiTC vocable step was to be taken of 
 proposing the Relief Bill to Parhament, he exhibited 
 very alarming symptoms of a disposition to waver 
 and di'aw back. 
 
 On the 3rd of March it was generally known that 
 the bill was in the greatest jeopardy; and nothing 
 could exceed the consternation which prevailed 
 among the friends of Government and Emancipation. 
 
 * George the Third did the same with regard to Fox's India Bill 
 in 1783 : but then he wanted to turn liis ministers out, whereas George 
 the Fourth wanted to keep his in. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 201 
 
 On Sunday tlie King sent for tlie Chancellor,, pre- 
 tended tliat he had not been aware of all the pro- 
 visions of the bill^* said that the securities did not 
 satisfy him, and he would not consent to it. The 
 Chancellor coidd do nothing vdih him, so, instead of 
 retui'ning to town, he proceeded to Strathfieklsaye, 
 where the Duke of Wellington was gone to receive 
 the judges — there he arrived at thi'ee in the morning, 
 and communicated to the Duke what had passed. 
 On Monday the Duke went himself to Windsor, and 
 told the King plainly that it was too late now to 
 recede, and if his Majesty made any more difficulties 
 he would instantly resign. The King began whimper- 
 ing, said he thought the Duke would never desert 
 him in any circumstances ; but finding him totally 
 deaf to his appeals ad iniserieordiam, told him he 
 would take a day to consider of his final determina- 
 tion, and communicate it to him. The Govern- 
 ment considered themselves out, and thought every 
 thing was at an end : meanwhile, the King sent 
 to Lord Sidmouth, and proposed to him to come 
 
 * This is just what George the Third had pretended as to the 
 measures proposed by Lord Gren^^lle's government in 1806. It is 
 curious how he aped his father ; tliat is to say, in his bad quahties and 
 objectionable acts — not in any of his vu'tues. He might have been 
 admonished, in tlie lines of MoHere — 
 
 " Quand sur une personne on pretend se regler, 
 C'est par les beaux cotes qu'il lui faut ressembler ; 
 Et ce n'est point du tout la prendre poiu' modele 
 [Ma soeur] que de tousser et de craeher comme elle." 
 
 Femmes Savantes, acte i. sc. I. 
 
 k3 
 
202 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 and help him to overthrow the bill^ and set the Duke 
 of WelUngton and O^Connell at defiance. But 
 Eldon^s ^^ young master " did not inspire the con- 
 fidence which his old master might have done — 
 Lord Sidmouth would not trust him ; — he refused, 
 sapng to his confidants, that he would have done 
 it for the father but could put no rehance in the 
 son. The King had nothing now left but to 
 suri'ender at discretion, and he, accordingly, did 
 so. The Duke and the Chancellor were again 
 summoned to Windsor : — everything was settled ; 
 and on the appointed day the bill was brought 
 in — all the world knows how it was carried by 
 large majorities through both Houses of Par- 
 liament — many of the peers cutting a pitiful figure, 
 which they well knew, and did not soon forget 
 or forgive.* They had year after year been 
 bhnd to the signs of the times, and deaf to every 
 consideration of justice and reason; but at the 
 bidding of the Duke they laid aside their pre- 
 judices and apprehensions ; he beckoned them, and 
 they followed him like sheep. The Cathohc ques- 
 tion was carried, in England, at the expense of 
 
 * All dangerous opposition was now at an end ; but whatever they 
 could, that was vexatious and embarrassing, the King and the High 
 Tories continued to do. The Duke of Newcastle, Lord Mansfield, 
 and Lord Eldon obtained audiences, talked by the houi', and managed 
 to irritate and distm'b liis mind ; but they could not persuade him to 
 quarrel any more with the Duke, or make any further attempts to 
 arrest the progress of the measure. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 203 
 
 many painful ruptures of public and private con- 
 nexions, the disastrous consequences of whicli were 
 not long in manifesting themselves. It broke up 
 the Tory party afresh; it excited the most violent 
 heart-burnings and animosities among individuals; 
 and it produced such a confusion of political feelings 
 and sentiments, that no one knew whom to trust, or 
 believe, or follow. These were great e^^ls, but still 
 they were such as time would infallibly remedy, 
 and which might patiently be endured for the sake 
 of pacifying and reconciling Ireland, if that para- 
 mount object really was achieved; but, unhappily, 
 a verv short time served to show that it was still 
 far from its accomplishment. It is most important 
 to form a correct judgment as to the causes of 
 this failure ; important, not merely for the purpose 
 of wiping away prejudice and misconception, but 
 in order that a perfect understanding of the case 
 may serve as a warning and a guide in dealing 
 with the question now before us. When the Dul^e 
 of Wellington made up his mind to carry the 
 Catholic question, he wisely resolved to do it com- 
 pletely, to give unquahfied Emancipation, and not 
 to trouble himself about securities; at the same 
 time he was beset with difficulties which it required 
 all his authority, and no small tact and manage- 
 ment, to surmount. He had to gain over the King 
 and the Toiy party, and to reconcile both to the 
 measure which, of all others, they most abhorred. 
 
204 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 His object was to give satisfaction to the Catholics, 
 and, at the same time, to make the concession 
 as palatable as he could to his Royal Master and 
 his own friends. Of all living men he most tho- 
 roughly knew George the Foui'th; but, whatever 
 may have been his personal opinion of the King, 
 he had a "profound reverence for his office, and 
 he probably felt that he was not entitled to deal 
 in a very peremptory manner with prejudices which 
 he had himself only so lately discarded. It may 
 be presumed that it was for these reasons he con- 
 descended to humour the King in his angry and 
 ungracious mood. The King could not raise his 
 mind to the height of the great argument, nor 
 wisely give the assent, which he dared not with- 
 hold, in a frank and gracious spirit. On the con- 
 trary, he became pee^ish and querulous, made his 
 reluctance notorious to the whole world, gave all the 
 trouble he could to his ministers, and, instead of 
 courting the popularity which he might easily have 
 obtained from the Irish, he was bent upon gratify- 
 ing his spiteful and vindictive feehngs by the exclu- 
 sion of O^Connell from the seat he had won ; and it 
 was the King himself who insisted that the clause 
 in the Act should be so worded as to render the 
 Clare election null and void. To this miserable 
 revenge, this kick at the living lion, it was unfor- 
 tunately thought worth while to consent; in Uke 
 manner, the suppression of the Association by a 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 205 
 
 stroke of authority, and the disfranchisement of the 
 forty-shilling freeholders, were measures intended to 
 smooth the ruffled plumage of the Tories ; while the 
 CathoHc bishops were prohibited from calling them- 
 selves by the titles of their sees, in order to propi- 
 tiate the Church. The alteration of the franchise had 
 been admitted long ago, by the Catholics themselves, 
 to be a desirable reform ; and the Government seems 
 to have fancied that, when they had got the substance 
 of emancipation, they would not care about matters 
 merely formal, while the Protestants would be re- 
 conciled to the obnoxious measui'e itself, bv the 
 penal accompaniments against the instruments by 
 which it was accomplished. A great mistake was 
 made in reference to both parties ; the Protestants 
 were not concihated, and the Cathohcs were deeply 
 oif ended, by this qualified and imperfect measure. 
 When the Duke trusted to the matchless ascendancv 
 he had acquired over the minds of his party, it is a 
 pity he did not trust to it entirely, and have thought 
 only of satisfying the Cathohcs, and making his mea- 
 sure complete and conclusive; for those who swal- 
 lowed so much, would hardly have rejected anything 
 he thought fit to prescribe. The battle had been 
 fought, and the victory gained, by the united ener- 
 gies of the Association, of O^Connell, of the free- 
 holders, and of the clergy; and upon each of these 
 agents something which had all the appearance of a 
 punishment (and which was intended to pass with 
 
206 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 the Protestants as sucli) was inflicted. The Associa- 
 tion, which would readily have dissolved itself (as it 
 did), was suppressed ; O^Connell was ousted from his 
 seat, and imprudently sent back to exhale his morti- 
 fication and resentment at another Clare election.* 
 The voters wlio had achieved the triumphs of Water- 
 ford and Clare were disfranchised, and the whole 
 Catholic clergy of Ireland were insulted in the per- 
 sons of their bishops. Such were the feelings of the 
 people : nor were they at all grateful for concessions 
 which they were plainly told were not made to them 
 from motives of reason and justice, but merely from 
 necessity, and because their opponents found them- 
 selves worsted. " I have for years,^^ said Mr. Peel, 
 " attempted to maintain the exclusion of the Roman 
 Catholics from Parhament, and the high offices of the 
 state — I do not think it was an unnatural, or unrea- 
 sonable struggle — I resign it in consequence of the 
 con\iction, that it can be no longer advantageously 
 maintained; from believing that there are not ade- 
 quate materials, or sufficient instruments, for its 
 permanent and effectual continuance ; I yield, there- 
 fore, to a moral necessity which I cannot control, 
 unwilling to push resistance to a point which might 
 endanger the estabhshments that I wish to defend.^^t 
 
 * As soon as his exclusion was voted, he wrote a long letter to the 
 electors in a very intemperate and abusive strain ; and at the election 
 he made -violent speeches, in which he announced liis intention to 
 begin agitating forthwith for Repeal, 
 
 f Speech on Cathohc Disabihties in 1829. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 207 
 
 But tlie truth is^ that Emancipation came too late ; 
 the good which might certainly have been effected in 
 1825, and possibly in 1827, was no longer attainable 
 in 1829. A mighty spirit had been evoked in Ire- 
 land, which those who raised it were now unable to 
 lay. In 1825 the tranquillity did prevail which the 
 Duke of Wellington so much wished for in 1829, but 
 it prevailed to no purpose. Nobody would then 
 have objected to the disfranchisement of the forty- 
 shilling freeholders, who had not yet distinguished 
 themselves as heroes and patriots, or even dreamt of 
 the glories of Waterford, Louth, and Clare. The 
 disfranchisement which, in 1825, would have been 
 dispassionately considered as a mere measure of Par- 
 liamentary reform, was treated, in the midst of the 
 excitement of 1829, as an invasion of the pri\aleges 
 of the great body of the people. In 1825, the tre- 
 mendous agitation and organisation, which left no 
 alternative but ci^il war or concession, had not begun ; 
 and if the question had then been settled, in all pro- 
 bability it never would have been heard of afterwards. 
 Nothing short of the Catholic disabilities, and the 
 remnant of the penal code, could have called into 
 existence the Association, and armed it with the for- 
 midable power which it exercised; but when the 
 Irish people were once accustomed to agitation and 
 excitement, when their passions were thoroughly 
 roused, and a thousand motives of interest, ambition, 
 and vanity, were put in motion, it was impossible to 
 
208 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 restore tranquillity^ though the original cause of dis- 
 turbance had ceased. 
 
 But, besides that the concession came too late, it 
 was not made at last in such a conciliatory and com- 
 prehensive spirit, as to give it the best chance of 
 success, and the advice and opinions of the principal 
 Catholics, both laymen and ecclesiastics, were ne- 
 glected or overlooked. It had been emphatically 
 urged, that concession, coupled with raising the qua- 
 lification, and a provision for the Catholic clergy, 
 would make the mind of Ireland sound; that the 
 payment of the clergy would be a sensible rehef to 
 the people, and by making the clergy independent, 
 would raise theii' respectability and character; but 
 without such a settlement, it would continue in a state 
 of disease, and would perpetually show itself in con- 
 vulsions : it was Mr. O^Connell^s opinion (akeady 
 quoted in his evidence) that if Emancipation was 
 not given in a proper spirit, it had better not be 
 given at all; ^'that unless it was done heartily 
 and cordially, it would only give them additional 
 power, and leave them a stimulant for exciting it.^^ 
 And this is precisely what occurred. The predic- 
 tions of these well-informed and well-judging wit- 
 nesses were verified — the Bill gave no sensible 
 benefit or advantage to any class, — the clergj^ gained 
 nothing, — the people were not reheved, and the 
 spirit of it was not " hearty and cordial •/' and, con- 
 sequently, the stimulant for future agitation was not 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 209 
 
 only left, but very soon brouglit into active opera- 
 tion.* 
 
 The Emancipation Bill liad hardly become law, 
 before the antipathies of the rival sects began to 
 manifest themselves in acts of \'iolence. The Orange- 
 men imagined, or pretended to believe, that they 
 were in danger, and began to organise, and to arm 
 themselves ; every casual collision produced conten- 
 tion and bloodshed, and in many parts of the 
 country nothing but the presence of the mihtary 
 prevented open war. Tliis great measm^e, which 
 was to reconcile and tranquillise Ireland, had not 
 been above four months in operation, when a nu- 
 merous meeting of the magistrates of Tipperary 
 expressed an unanimous opinion, that a renewal of 
 the InsuiTCction Act could alone secure the peace of 
 the country. 
 
 Mr. O'Connell openly set up the standard of 
 Repeal, and endeavoured to put in motion all the 
 old machinery which had been so successfully em- 
 ployed in the cause of Emancipation. 
 
 In the beginning of 1830, an association was 
 formed in Dubhn, called '^ The Eriends of aU Ire- 
 land, and of all Religious Persuasions." They put 
 forth a catalogue of legislative measures, of which 
 
 * As if to sliow, that its dissolution depended on its own volition, 
 and not on the Act of Parliament, the Association did not scruple 
 (though under another title) to reassemble in order to take measures 
 for securing Mr. O'Connell's return, and making certain financial 
 arrangements. 
 
210 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 the most prominent was the Repeal of the Union, 
 and they announced their determination to combine 
 and agitate till every one of their demands was con- 
 ceded. The Lord Lieutenant prohibited the meet- 
 ings of this society ; but it was no sooner suppressed 
 than another was formed, called the " Anti-Union 
 Association/^ This was also put down by proclama- 
 tion ; but a fresh one instantly started up under the 
 title of "The Association of Irish Volunteers for 
 the Repeal of the Union /^ Another proclamation 
 was issued against the Volunteers, who, accordingly, 
 did not meet ; but they sought compensation in the 
 outpouring of every sort of abuse and insult against 
 the Government, which fully answered the purpose 
 of exciting the passions of the people, and neutrahs- 
 ing all the good that the Act of Emancipation was 
 intended to effect. These violent and inflammatory 
 proceedings disgusted all persons of respectabihty, 
 and especially those who regarded the Repeal of the 
 Union as the greatest of evils, and most insane of 
 projects. The Duke of Leinster convened a great 
 meeting of noblemen and gentlemen, who voted 
 resolutions expressive of theii' determination to sup- 
 port by all the means in their power the legislative 
 union between the two countries. The Catholic 
 bishops refused to give their countenance to the 
 Anti- Union scheme ; and during the general elec- 
 tion, no attempt was successful to extort from any 
 candidate a pledge to vote for Repeal, the desire for 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 211 
 
 which, at that period, had certainly not taken very 
 deep root in Ireland. 
 
 Such was the condition of the country, when, in 
 November, 1830, the dissensions in the Tory party, 
 which Catholic Emancipation had caused, led to the 
 faU of the Duke of Wellington's government, and 
 Lord Grey and the Whigs came into power. 
 
 It is not necessary for my purpose to set forth the 
 details and circumstances of the ten years of Whig 
 Irish administration, though a brief and cursory 
 allusion to some of its most remarkable and import- 
 ant features cannot be avoided. 
 
 The accession to office of the long-tried friends 
 of the Catholics, and the return of the popular Lord 
 Lieutenant, who had been considered a mart\TL' to 
 their cause, might have been expected to produce 
 some pacific effects, and, at least, to arrest the violent 
 course which Mr. O'Connell was pursuing; but it 
 did not do so for an instant ; agitation for the repeal 
 of the Union was continued with unabated ^dgour ; 
 and he soon began to attack and revile Lord Angle- 
 sey and the Whigs with as much bitterness and fury 
 as he had formerly directed against the Duke of 
 Wellington and the Tories. The opponents of Eman- 
 cipation had foretold that the bill would not pro- 
 duce the peace and tranquillity which its supporters 
 had anticipated; and they had now the satisfaction of 
 exulting in the verification of their predictions. It 
 was true, that there never had been a period when 
 
212 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 the state of Ireland was more deplorable and more 
 dangerous_, and that the Emancipation Bill had pro- 
 duced no practical benefit^ and no improvement in 
 the condition of the people. But the cause of this 
 lamentable failure was, not that the measui'e was 
 unwise, but that it was incomplete — not that it was 
 bad in principle, but that it was too late in its apph- 
 cation. The evils and calamities of Ireland, and the 
 failure of the remedies for their cui'e, had the same 
 origin and cause — that obstinate opposition to the 
 claims of the Catholics, which was not to be over- 
 come by any consideration of humanity and pru- 
 dence — which was insensible to the continually 
 diminishing power of resisting those claims on one 
 side, and the continually increasing power of enforc- 
 ing them on the other — which was bhnd to the signs 
 of the times, and to the approach of the events which 
 cast such long shadows before them. It was this 
 opposition which had driven the Catholics to the 
 adoption of measures, the consequences of which they 
 did not themselves foresee or contemplate. It was 
 this which roused the energies of O^Connell, which 
 gave birth to the Association, and which generated 
 the combination and agitation, that spread hke wild- 
 fire, and, from a small spark, lighted up a conflagra- 
 tion in the land. This agitation, with all its train of 
 effects, was to the last degree mischievous and dan- 
 gerous ; but who can doubt that, without it, the 
 Catholics never would have been emancipated ? And 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 213 
 
 they alone must be held responsible for the evil 
 consequences^ who drove them to take such desperate 
 means to accomplish a legitimate end. But, in 
 admitting this, it must also be said, that although 
 Mr. O^ConneU might feel a just resentment at the 
 manner in which he had been personally treated, and 
 that it was not easy for him, if he had been inclined, 
 to make the waters of agitation recede at once witliin 
 their banks, no excuse can be found for his conduct 
 in immediately setting up the question of Repeal, 
 and beginning a fresh com'se of violence in support 
 of it. He gave no breathing-time to the countiy. 
 He would not permit the sources of prosperity and 
 improvement to be opened. He infused fresh bitter- 
 ness into the minds of the English and the Protes- 
 tants, and did his best to hinder that ^^ justice to 
 Ireland" being done, for which he has ever since 
 been clamouring. Be the grievances or the neces- 
 sities of Ireland what they might, after the concession 
 of Emancipation, and the advent to office of the 
 party which had constantly advocated the rights of 
 the Catholics, there is no redress that Ireland might 
 not reasonably have expected. 
 
 The Wliig Government e^Tnced eveiy disposition 
 to frame measures of Irish reform. In 1832 and 
 1 833 the Tithe Commutation Act was passed. Vestry 
 Cess was aboHshed,and the Irish Church regulated and 
 reduced. But so far were these measures from con- 
 ciliating the agitators, or leading to anything hke 
 
214 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 tranquillity, that it was at the same time considered 
 necessary to introduce the Coercion Bill to suppress 
 the disturbance and outrages that prevailed. Lord 
 Grey, in bringing it before the House of Lords, 
 described the condition of the coimti*^' which had 
 rendered it indispensable. He said that he did not 
 apply for a committee of inquiry, " because the eyils to 
 be redressed were so notorious, as to render inquiry 
 superfluous — that a system of association prevailed, 
 avowedly directed to the accomplishment of objects 
 threatening the peace and safety of the commimity, 
 and the unity and integrity of the empire — that it 
 was to put down combinations, formed in defiance of 
 the law — to defeat ai'med bodies that violated the 
 rights of property, inflicted death for purposes of 
 terror or vengeance, andrendered the law nugatory, by 
 deterring prosecutors and witnesses, and intimidating 
 jurors. The Association newly formed in Ireland 
 had avowedly for its object the Kepeal of the Union. 
 Neither past experience, nor the present aspect of 
 affairs, fm-nishcd any expectation that a mere redress 
 of grievances would restore peace to L-eland. No 
 one had been more sanguine than himself in hoping 
 that Emancipation would have produced tranquillity, 
 and that Parhament would have been permitted to 
 pursue its course of further amehoration imdistiu'bed 
 by popular violence; but he had been grievously 
 disappointed. To allow such a pause did not suit 
 the \iews of the promoters of agitation — the sweets 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 215 
 
 of power had been tasted by the popular leaders, and 
 the slow work of redress did not answer their wishes 
 or their pui'poses ; from that moment agitation was 
 renewed, and the state of Ireland had become, and 
 was now perhaps, worse than at any fonner period." 
 There was no exaggeration in this statement ; 
 Ireland presented a scene of complete social dis- 
 organisation. The moral and religious people, as 
 Mr. O^Connell dehghts to call them, were pei'petrat- 
 ing the most atrocious and cold-blooded murders 
 and depredations, accompanied with every conceivable 
 variety of violence and terror ; all the crimes and 
 e^ils were let loose upon society, which religion and 
 morality most abhor, and the prevention and punish- 
 ment of which constitute the chief function of all 
 government and legislation. And why was all this ? 
 Because the mass of the people were ignorant, 
 destitute, unemployed, and excited. It is possible 
 that Mr. O^Connell could not have prevented these 
 excesses — it is certain that he did not try. It was one 
 thing to bid the people be sober, and honest, and peace- 
 able, during the ten days of the contest for Clare; an- 
 other to make them practise all the viitues under hea- 
 ven for the indefinite period of attainment of Repeal. 
 "\r\Tien he first began to employ the ti'emendous instru- 
 ment of agitation, he set it in motion for pui'poses 
 limited and defined as to place, time, and circumstance : 
 it was essential to his objects to discipline and regulate 
 the passions and energies he had brought into play, 
 
316 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 and he succeeded in doing so in a wonderful manner. 
 But it was far easier to continue tlie agitation itself, 
 than the system of restraint by which its tendencies 
 were counteracted; and accordingh'-, when those 
 popular passions and energies were no longer con- 
 densed and apphed to specific objects, but the high 
 pressure still kept up, for the sake of vague and 
 uninteUigible or unattainable generalities, they soon 
 escaped from all control, and broke out in those 
 repeated enormities which have rendered Ireland a 
 curse to itself, and a by -word among the nations of 
 the earth. For all this Mr. O^Connell is deeply re- 
 sponsible : his conduct and his character, however, 
 can only be fairly judged at a more distant period, 
 and by a more impartial generation : — if, indeed, he 
 had been a man of a calm and philosophical tempera- 
 ment, he would probably have sacrificed all feelings 
 of personal ambition and resentment, and have re- 
 posed on the laurels of his great acliievement ; but 
 if he had been such a man he would never have 
 been " the daring pilot in extremity,^^ — would never 
 have been an agitator, or gathered any such laurels 
 to repose upon. 
 
 "It is in the nature of everything that is great 
 and useful, both in the animate and the inanimate 
 world, to be wild and irregular ; and we must be 
 contented to take them ^^ith the alloys which belong 
 to them, or to hve without them. . . . Tempests 
 occasionally shake our dwelhngs, and dissipate our 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 217 
 
 commerce; but they scourge before them the lazy 
 elements which, without them, would stagnate into 
 pestilence/^* 
 
 And so of O^Connell; it might have been highly con- 
 venient to "pare him down to a bashful regularity ;^^ 
 but it was his "great and irregular ^^ mind that 
 scoiu'ged into activity the lazy elements of Irish resist- 
 ance, and achieved the Emancipation of his country. f 
 
 Lord Grey^s Coercion Bill was not inefficient for 
 its purpose, but it stimulated the indignation of 
 Mr. O^Connell to the highest pitch ; and he seized 
 every opportunity of assailing the Government with all 
 his vituperative powers, while they, with more than 
 questionable propriety, attacked him in return, 
 through the medium of the speech ffom the throne. J 
 
 But changes of great importance were now at 
 hand. The Cabinet had become full of discord 
 and confusion. j\Ir. AVard^s motion on the Irish 
 Church, produced the resignation (on the -ZTth of 
 May) of Lord Stanley, Sii' James Graham, the Duke 
 of Richmond, and Lord Ripon ; and six weeks later 
 
 * Erskine's speech on Hookdale's trial. 
 
 f " Sous ses inconsequences apparentes, on retrouve une suite par- 
 faite dans les vues d'O'Connell. A I'aide de mille moyens qu'il sait 
 multiplier sans cesse, et varier a I'infini dans ses exigences du moment, 
 il poursuit toujours le meme but, la rehabilitation politique de ses 
 correligionaires et de son pays. En favour de la Constance du prin- 
 cipe qui le fait agir, 1' histoire lui pardonnera ses variations continu- 
 eUes, ses jugements si divers sur les memos mesures, et les memos 
 homme.-." — Considerations sur VEtat Actuel de VIrlande et de son 
 Avenir. 
 
 X On opening the Session of 1834. 
 
 L 
 
218 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 (July 9 til) J the strange and complicated transaction 
 which occurred in respect to the renewal of the 
 Coercion Bill^ determined Lord Grey liimself to 
 retire. The consequence of all these resignations 
 was the formation of the Melbourne ministry, and 
 the commencement of a better understanding, and 
 more amicable relations between the Government 
 and Mr. O'Connell. 
 
 The effects of this were almost immediately ap- 
 parent : the Coercion Bill was renewed, but in a 
 curtailed and less offensive shape;* and when the 
 new Tithe Bill was brought in, Mr. O'Connell was 
 permitted to carry an amendment, which made a 
 great alteration in its operation and consequences. 
 
 The Liberator was, however, not yet, by any 
 means, on cordial terms with the Whigs, for while he 
 told them that one of his objects was "to reconcile, if 
 possible, the popular party in Ireland with the pre- 
 sent ministry,^ ^ he accused them of having " deceived 
 him, and bitterly and cruelly deceived Ireland.^f 
 
 But the sudden dismissal of the government by 
 William IV., on the death of Lord Spencer, quick- 
 ened and matured the alhance between these high 
 contracting parties, and when the new Parhament 
 met in 1835, O'ConneU and his Tail forxiied an 
 
 * The powers which the Act conferred to prevent public meetings, 
 proved the great bone of contention, and these were remitted in the 
 renewed Act. 
 
 t Correspondence with Lord Duncannon. — Vide Ann. Register. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 219 
 
 important section of the ^ATiig and Radical force. On 
 the 8th of April, in consequence of the division on 
 the famous appropriation clause, Sir Kobert Peel 
 resigned, and Lord Melboui'ne^s cabinet was re- 
 stored; on the 18th, Lord Melbourne announced 
 himself to the House of Lords as minister, when he 
 was interrogated with respect to his alliance with 
 O^Connell, and Lord Alvanley asked "whether he 
 had changed his opinions, and if he had, on what 
 terms the change had iDeen effected, as the aid of 
 Mr. O^Connell was not to be secured for nothing.^^ 
 
 Lord Melbourne declared "^that he entertained 
 the same opinions as heretofore, and he did not 
 know whether he should have the assistance of Mr. 
 O'Connell or not ; but that he had taken no steps 
 to secure it, had entered into no terms whatever, 
 nor said an}i;hing from which any inference could 
 be drawn, in order to secure his support. ^^* 
 
 There is no doubt that this was strictly true, for 
 Lord Melbourne was incapable of saying anything 
 that was false; but though there was no treaty, 
 bargain, or compact, no condition or promise on one 
 side or the other, there was a tacit expectation on 
 the part of the Government, that Mr. O^Connellf 
 
 * Annual Register, vol. 78, p. 238. 
 
 f It has always been supposed and confidently asserted, that the 
 appropriation clause was adopted because O'ConneU nisisted on it, 
 and that this was a part of the price paid for liis support : nothmg 
 can be more erroneous. He was against the appropriation clause, and 
 wholly disapproved of the resolution. 
 
 l2 
 
220 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 would support them, and tlie same expectation on 
 his, that the government of Ireland would be 
 administered in a manner congenial to his wishes 
 and opinions, and in this neither were disappointed. 
 It was, however, a very strange and anomalous con- 
 nection, and though it kept the Government alive for 
 a few years, it ultimately proved fatal to their credit 
 and popularity in England. O^Connell, while he 
 helped them in all situations of extreme danger, and 
 thus made them appear (as in fact they were) depen- 
 dant upon his support, reserved to himself the privi- 
 lege of a perfectly free agent; and his attacks on 
 the House of Lords, and the general violence of his 
 language and conduct, exposed the Government to 
 no small share of the obloquy to which he rendered 
 himself obnoxious. 
 
 "^^^en Lord Melbourne resumed office, Lord Nor- 
 manby was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 
 and notwithstanding the abuse, and attempts at 
 ridicule, which have been so unsparingly heaped 
 upon his administration, I beheve that Ireland never 
 saw one more fearless, honest, and useful. It may 
 suit party purposes to accuse him of hunting after 
 popularity, or of making undue concessions to O'Con- 
 nell and the Catholics ; but he has the undeniable 
 fact to plead in reply to all charges and sneers, that 
 Ireland never made more rapid improvement than 
 durinoj the four vears of his Vicerovaltv. He went 
 there determined to govern in a spirit of justice. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 221 
 
 impartiality^ and firmness^, and tlie confidence he 
 inspired did more than any coercive measures had 
 ever been able to efi'ect towards reducing the coun- 
 try to a state of order and peace. For the first 
 time_, the Irish Catholics began to feel that the 
 Government really cared for their interests, and was 
 disposed to make the welfare and prosperity of Ire- 
 land the principal object of its solicitude. Under 
 his administration, the amount of crime largely de- 
 creased, predial outrages became less frequent, — the 
 fierce feuds of the peasantry were discontinued, and 
 the mass of the people grew more civihsed and 
 humane. Catholics and Protestants were employed, 
 and trusted without distinction of religion, and be- 
 tween 1835 and 1839, the Repeal of the Union* 
 seemed to be almost entirely forgotten or dis- 
 carded, f 
 
 But in proportion to the popularity of the Lord 
 
 * A very remarkable address was presented to Lord Normanby in 
 1836 from the town of Mallow : " We stand before you," they said, 
 " in number amounting to above 100,000 ; the greater part of us own 
 ourselves as ha\-ing belonged to that party in this county who advo- 
 cated the Repeal of the Union. We thought the only remedy for such 
 evils was a recurrence to a domestic legislature ; — ^but the experience 
 we have had of your Excellency's wise, just, and paternal government 
 has taught us otherwise ; and we tender to your Excellency our solemn 
 abjm^atious of the question of the repeal of the legislative vmion, and 
 of any other question calculated to produce an alienation of feeling 
 between the inhabitants of Great Britain and of Ireland." It would 
 be cm-ious to inquire how many of these abjurers are now repealers 
 
 agam. 
 
 f In offering my humble but sincere tribute to the merit of Lord 
 Normanby's administration, justice requires that with liis name should 
 
222 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 Lieutenant with tlie majority of the people, was the 
 detestation in which he was held by the Protestant 
 minority. 
 
 It was, howeyer, the misfortune, rather than the 
 fault, of Lord Normanby, that the good which he 
 accomplished was not of a permanent and decisive 
 character. The L^ish were concihated to the Whig 
 party, rather than to the English nation. The ele- 
 ments of disunion and disorder were hushed for the 
 time in a sort of grim repose ; but as the Lord Lieu- 
 tenant was unable to carry into eifect any great mea- 
 sures of rehef and reform, it was always in the power 
 of Mr. O^Connell to stir up the people at his plea- 
 sure, to recommence the work of agitation, and raise 
 afresh the old cry for Repeal, or T^ hatever else it might 
 suit his purpose to insist upon ; and he took care, 
 from time to time, to make significant demonstra- 
 tions of his power. In the summer of 1838 he began 
 to display an extraordinary activity, and announced 
 the formation of a new association, called " The Pre- 
 cursor Society,^^ who were to get up petitions in everj^ 
 parish for " Justice to Ireland.^^ He complained of 
 the disinclination of some and the indifference of 
 others amongst the Enghsh Reformers to see Ireland 
 righted — acknowledged that the present Ministry 
 
 be associated those of liis two able and excellent coadjutors — Lord 
 Morpeth, and the late Mr. Drummond — men, who will ever be re- 
 membered with gratitude and affection by the Irish people — one of 
 whom has been too early and prematurely taken from the ser^ace of 
 his country, wliile the other has, it may be hoped, a long, honom'able, 
 and useful career still before him. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 223 
 
 would obtain justice for Ireland if they could, but 
 that the English Tories were too strong for them — 
 and declared that he would make one more experi- 
 ment, "then Justice to Ireland, or Repeal." 
 
 In 1839 Lord Normanby was recalled from Ireland 
 to replace Lord Glenelg at the Colonial Office, and 
 Lord Fortescue was appointed Lord Lieutenant. 
 
 There was of course no change either made, or 
 contemplated, in the Government policy; but some 
 time in 1840 the new Lord Lieutenant thought it 
 necessary to denounce Repeal by an intimation that 
 no Repealer would be countenanced at the Castle. 
 The quasi alliance, however, continued to the end 
 of the Whig Ministry, though ^Ir. O'Connell, in 
 the debate on Sir J. Yarde Buller^s motion in the 
 beginning of 1810, declared that he was still a Re- 
 pealer. In the summer of 1811, Lord Melbourne's 
 Government was brought to an end, and Sir Robert 
 Peel became Minister. For some months after his 
 accession to office, there seemed to be no reason 
 for the apprehension he had expressed, that "Ire- 
 land would be his principal difficulty," but this 
 comfortable illusion was entii'ely dispelled before the 
 end of 1812. The Repeal cry was then raised in 
 good earnest, and it spread through the whole length 
 and breadth of the land ; its appalling progress, with 
 the whole history of the monster meetings, are too 
 recent, and too famiHar, to require any narration or 
 description here. 
 
 I have now brought to a close this sketch of the 
 
224 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 international relations of England and Ireland^ en- 
 deavouring to disentangle tlie details of oppression 
 and misrule from the mass of contemporary events 
 and collateral circumstances^ so as to present, in one 
 clear and distinct view, the whole series of causes 
 and effects, which, unless the Irish had been unhke 
 the rest of mankind, and animated by different de- 
 sires, feelings, and passions, could by no possibihty 
 have produced any other consequences than those 
 we have seen, and those which are, unhappily, still 
 before our eyes. Wlien, at the close of the Penin- 
 sular war, an intelligent Spaniard (well known in 
 this country) was reproached for the tameness with 
 which his countrymen had submitted to the re-esta- 
 blishment of their old despotism and the Inquisition, 
 he rephed : " Well, the Spaniards like the Inqui- 
 sition and detest hberty ; what would you have ? it 
 is an affair of taste." But the Irish never acquired 
 any taste for the penal laws, and they have been as 
 ardent lovers of Hberty, both civil and rehgious, as 
 ourselves. I have tried to show, and as much as 
 possible by quoting the e\4dence and descriptions of 
 the highest authorities, the treatment which Ireland 
 experienced from England, and the Cathohcs from 
 the English and Irish Protestants united ; and how 
 long and obstinately the same selfish and intolerant 
 system was pursued. The Irish Catholics are con- 
 tinually reproached with their ingratitude and their 
 unreasonableness in never being satisfied with what 
 they have obtained. But how, and wh}^, should they 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 225 
 
 be satisfied? Tlie science of Government, however 
 difficult and complex the practical elaboration of 
 its details, is simple and intelligible in its general 
 principles. In some countries. Government and 
 Legislation depend entii'ely on the inclination and 
 will of the Sovereign ; but in ours they are held 
 to be matters of reason and judgment, the sole 
 aim and object of which is the prosperity and hap- 
 piness of the nation at large. The widest difference 
 of opinion may logically and conscientiously exist 
 as to many of the means most conducive to that 
 end ; but it is impossible, in any society, for the 
 mass of the people not to know and feel whether 
 the laws under which they live, and the manner 
 of theii' administration, do actually render them 
 thri\dng, prosperous, and contented, or the reverse. 
 " The most poor, ilHterate, and uninformed crea- 
 tures upon earth, '^ said Burke, " are judges of a 
 practical oppression."* 
 
 The Enghsli could not be persuaded that the Star 
 Chamber, the High Commission Coui't, ship money, 
 and forced loans, were things to be thankful for and 
 satisfied with ; nor the Scotch, that it was for their 
 benefit and fehcity that the Presbyterian religion was 
 aboKshsd, Episcopacy enforced by boots and thumb- 
 screws, and such rulers bestowed upon them as 
 Sharpe, Lauderdale, and James. 
 
 The English and the Scotch shook themselves free 
 
 * Letter to Sir H. Langi-ishe, p. '6iG. 
 l3 
 
226 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 from their chains ; but they united to rivet on the 
 Irish^ fetters of the self-same description. The Irish^ 
 in their turn, demanded the same immunities which 
 their fellow-subjects had vindicated for themselves : 
 and what was the answer that they got? not that 
 the laws under which they lived were framed or 
 calculated for their happiness and advantage, but 
 that thev must continue to submit to them, because 
 the English and Scotch hated and feared the Catholic 
 religion, and did not choose that those laws should 
 be repealed; or because the King had scruples of 
 conscience which forbad liis placing them on a level 
 with the rest of his subjects ; or because the removal 
 of theii' privations and disabilities would be incon- 
 sistent with certain constitutional theories, which 
 the English considered it essential to then' own 
 interests to maintain, in all their rigorous integrity. 
 I have endeavoured to steer entirely clear of polemi- 
 cal, and as much as possible of pohtical dissertation, 
 and therefore I do not stop to discuss the value of 
 such arguments; but it is surely evident that they are 
 calculated to stifle, in the minds of the Irish people, 
 every sentiment of loyalty to the British Crown, and 
 of attachment to the British connection: for what 
 are to them the consciences of kings, or any consti- 
 tutional theories, in comparison with their own rights, 
 and those privileges and advantages from which 
 they, and they alone, have been unjustly debarred? 
 ■ — it is true that the heaviest of the grievances 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 227 
 
 which engendered such feelings_, have been removed, 
 but the people, reasonably or unreasonably, are still 
 dissatisfied, nor will they ever be contented so long 
 as they are, or think that they are, in a condition of 
 inferiority, and less favoured than the rest of the 
 Queen^s subjects. " I bebeve it to be possible,^' 
 says Burke, " for men to be mutinous and seditious, 
 who feel no grievance, but no man will assert, 
 seriously, that when people are of a turbulent spirit, 
 the best way to keep them in order is to furnish them 
 with something substantial to complain of."* 
 
 It may be acknowledged, that every government, 
 Wliig or Tory, the present not less than the last, is 
 sincerely desirous of promoting Irish interests, and 
 soothing Irish feehngs ; but as long as the Church 
 grievance remains unredressed, the most conciliatory 
 and beneficial measures can only produce an imper- 
 fect or a temporary efi'ect — that grievance vsdll always 
 be convertible into an instrument of mischief; for no 
 one can really beheve, that the Irish will accept com- 
 pensation in some other shape, and make up their 
 minds to submit to it. The difiiculties which beset 
 the question are certainly very great, but not greater 
 than the e^ils connected vrith, or engendered by it. 
 We may heap remedial and beneficial measures one 
 upon another, but without a satisfactory Ecclesiastical 
 arrangement, they wiU fail to make Ireland perma- 
 nently contented and peaceftd. 
 
 • Letter to Sii* H. Langi-ishe, p. 346. 
 
228 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 I NOW propose to show, as briefly as may be 
 compatible with affording an intelligible ^dew of the 
 subject, how the great question of religious sects and 
 rehgious establishments is dealt with by other states. 
 It may be useful and not miinteresting to set forth 
 the regulations which obtain in foreign countries, 
 where there is a mixed rehgious population, to ascer- 
 tain, as far as possible, their practical results upon 
 the social and political condition of the people, and 
 compare those systems with our own. 
 
 In several of the continental states, and more 
 especially in those of Germany, there exist consider- 
 able varieties of numerical proportion, of Church 
 government, and of forms and circumstances of 
 rehgious worship. The conflict of these forms, con- 
 nected as they are with the strongest con\ictions 
 and passions of mankind, is, indeed, apt to break out 
 Avith renewed force, even under the control of the 
 most absolute governments : but nowhere, except in 
 Ireland, have these questions been allowed to remain 
 loose, irritable, and unsettled ; — nowhere else has the 
 governing pohcy of the State repudiated or neglected 
 those means of influence which the constitution of 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 229 
 
 tlie Roman Cliurcli enables lier to confer, even upon 
 Protestant princes — and nowhere but in Ireland 
 have religious dissensions struck their baneful spirit 
 into the heart of the communitv, until the creeds 
 of either sect are become badges of the fiercest 
 political hostihty. 
 
 There are states in which the Cathohcs, and others 
 in which the Protestants, largely preponderate : 
 there are others in which the diWsion is nearly 
 equal. In one kingdom a CathoUc sovereign and 
 family reigns over a Protestant people : in another, 
 a Protestant prince has been called to a Cathohc 
 throne : yet in none of them shall we find these 
 differences of faith converted into lasting and 
 frightful sources of ci\il disturbances and mutual 
 hatred. 
 
 Without attempting to enter into all the details of 
 so vast a subject, it is worth wliile to point out the 
 two most prominent features common to what may 
 be termed the ecclesiastical constitutions of all these 
 states. In the first place, in none of them does 
 complete toleration co-exist with an extreme ine- 
 quality of condition. "Wherever the existence of a 
 church or sect has been recognised, its ministers 
 and its internal government have been more or less 
 supported and influenced by the administrative 
 power of the ci^il government. Wherever the law 
 has adopted the principle of complete toleration, 
 it has hastened to place the sects so tolerated in 
 
230 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 a position not dissimilar or hostile to that of the 
 predominant religion, more especially by marks of 
 equal respect to the ministers of every Church, and by 
 relieving them from a dangerous and dii'ect depen- 
 dence on the voluntary contributions of their flocks. 
 In the second place, however, it must be borne in 
 mind, that the very existence of this pohtic inter- 
 ference, on the part of the State, imphes a corre- 
 sponding diminution of the independence and self- 
 governing power of rehgious bodies. In these par- 
 ticulars, no country in Europe presents any complete 
 analogy with the United Kingdom ; that is to say, 
 that whereas in England, Scotland, and Ireland, aU 
 the various existing Churches, whether Anglican, 
 Presbyterian, or Roman Catholic, do, in reahty, 
 govern themselves, "with or without the formal sanc- 
 tion of the legislature, but with no direct inter- 
 ference on the part of the political ad\isers of the 
 Crown (except in the nomination of bishops and 
 of certain ecclesiastical officers of the estabhshed 
 Church), in all other European countries (except 
 Belgium) the supreme control over all clerical per- 
 sons and forms of worship centres in the State, and 
 in one ministerial department of the State. Thus, 
 more especially in the great monarchies of Germany 
 and France, although there are the utmost diver- 
 gencies of religious forms, there is a certain unifor- 
 mity of ecclesiastical authority ; and the contentions 
 which arise, are more commonly struggles between 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 231 
 
 the ministers of religion and tlie temporal power, 
 than conflicts between the prejudices or interests of 
 rival Churches. To this degree of control and sub- 
 jection, it is needless to add, that no church in the 
 British dominions will ever submit ; but a far less 
 direct and preponderating ascendancy would doubtless 
 enable the civil power of this country to remove 
 many of the disadvantages of the Irish clergy, to 
 improve their means of education, and to raise their 
 condition. The following examples will show that 
 in almost all the countries of Europe, whether the 
 government be Catholic or Protestant, such a power 
 has been acknowledged by the Court of Rome, and 
 beneficially exercised for the tranquilhty of the popu- 
 lation and of the Church. 
 
 AUSTRIA. 
 
 The Koman Catholic is the dominant and esta- 
 blished religion in all the States of the Austrian em- 
 pire. The toleration of the Protestant communions, 
 rests upon the edicts of toleration of Joseph II., 
 confirmed by two succeeding sovereigns. They 
 are admissible to all employments, civil and mili- 
 tary. In Hungary, the ci^ol and religious rights of 
 the Protestants are defined, and constitutionally 
 recognised, and were guaranteed by an act of the 
 diet in 1791.* 
 
 • It was decreed, that churches and chapels should be erected for 
 
232 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 Althougli the Roman Catholic religion, which is 
 professed by the great majority of the population of 
 the Austrian states, enjoys some privileges over the 
 Protestant sects, nothing can he more mild, wise, 
 and even liberal, than the general administration of 
 ecclesiastical affairs.* 
 
 It is strictly recommended to the members of dif- 
 ferent religions mutually to respect each other, to 
 live in peace and harmony together, and not to 
 molest one another on the score of their respective 
 tenets. 
 
 The Catholic clergy, in their sermons, or other 
 public discourses, are bound to abstain from all 
 insulting or satirical expressions, against those who 
 profess another mode of worship. The Protestants, 
 on their side, are obliged to manifest respect towards 
 the religious rites of theu' Catholic fellow citizens, 
 and to abstain from controversy in . public places. 
 In the schools, the youth of different persuasions 
 have separate religious instruction, and they receive 
 other branches in common. Protestant children 
 who frequent Catholic schools retire when the 
 Cathohc catechism is heard. 
 
 The Protestants are not obliged to contribute to 
 
 all on equal terms, that the Protestants of both Confessions should 
 depend on then* spu-itual superiors alone, and that pubHc offices, high 
 and low, great or small, should be given to natm'al-born Hungarians, 
 who deserve well of their coimtry, let their rehgion be \vhat it may. 
 * Dal Pozzo, Catholicism in Austria, p. 134, 136, 137. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 233 
 
 the reparation or maintenance of Catholic clinrclies, 
 and when they have schools of theii' own, they are 
 under no obhgation to contribute to the support of 
 the Catholic schools. 
 
 It is a duty incumbent on every CathoKc parish 
 priest, to take care that the laws of toleration be 
 accurately observed by both sects. He is bound to 
 conciliate differences, to prevent disputes, and report, 
 on proper occasions, all contested matters to the 
 public authorities for their decision. 
 
 BAVARIA. 
 
 The Protestants in Bavaria formerly only enjoyed 
 such toleration as was granted by the treaty of 
 Westphalia in 1648 ; but in 1799, by an edict of the 
 late king, all difference and distinction was extin- 
 guished, the Uoman Cathohc ceased to be the esta- 
 blished religion of the State, and all employments 
 were laid open to persons of the Lutheran and Cal- 
 vinistic confessions, — the tliree Christian commu- 
 nions (Uoman Catholics, Lutheran, and Cahdnistic,) 
 are declared to be on an equality ^yiih. respect to all 
 rights. They have the same privileges, without any 
 preference; and an exclusive right in favour of one of 
 their churches, would be in direct opposition to the 
 principles of the constitution. The burpng-grounds 
 are mostly common to .persons of the three confes- 
 sions, though in some places separate. At Mimich, 
 
234 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 there is but one common biirying-ground, and this 
 arrangement has never given rise to the sHghtest 
 difficulty. 
 
 The Catholic Bishops of Bavaria receive salaries 
 from the State, and the revenues of the prelates and 
 chaplains are determined by the Concordat, which 
 was made in 1817, between the King of Bavaria and 
 the Pope : as the livings were not touched by the 
 secularization of 1808, the curates receive what they 
 formerly did, from their respective parishes, and are 
 under the special protection of the State. 
 
 SWITZERLAND. 
 
 There is no country in which it is so difficult to 
 describe with accuracy and clearness the state of 
 religious estabHshment, because it varies so much in 
 the different cantons, as Switzerland. After the reli- 
 gious wars, at the period of the Reformation, all the 
 cantons concluded a treaty of general pacification, by 
 Avhich the relations between the two Confessions 
 were definitively settled. Before the revolution of 
 1798, the Swiss constitutions were exceedingly into- 
 lerant; there was but one ruling rehgion in each 
 canton, except in Glarus and Appenzel, which were 
 di\-ided into separate sections. By the arrangement 
 of 1813, many of the Protestant cantons obtained a 
 proportion of Catholic population, and submitted to 
 the obligation of tolerance, both in ci^dl and religious 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 235 
 
 matters. No sects are tolerated by law, except the 
 Roman Catholic, and the Zuinghan and Cah^nistic 
 reformers. Certain privileges were, however, given 
 to Jews in the Canton of Argo^ia, and to the Ana- 
 baptists of the Canton of Berne ; bnt the latter of 
 these led to so many conversions to the Anabap- 
 tist persuasion, that the pri\ilege was confined to 
 the existing families, and proselytes were excluded. 
 
 The seven Catholic Cantons * grant no political 
 rights to Protestants, not even of establishment. 
 Each Canton, with the exception of the Panthetic, 
 has its rehgion of the State, called " rehgion domi- 
 nante.^^ It would, however, be tedious and useless 
 to give the details of the minute regulations in the 
 different Cantons, and the shades of toleration or 
 encouragement that each presents. 
 
 In the Panthetic or mixed Cantons, the civil and 
 political rights are the same for the citizens of both 
 Confessions, and the places of the magistracy are 
 di\'ided according to the proportion existing between 
 the Catholic and Refonned population of the same 
 Canton.f In these Cantons each Confession has its 
 
 * Lucerne — Uri- 
 
 — Schwytz — Unterwalden- 
 
 - Zug — Freyberg — 
 
 Soleure. 
 
 
 
 
 Cath. 
 
 Prot. 
 
 t Glarus . 
 
 . 3000 
 
 24,000 
 
 Appenzel . 
 
 . . 13,000 
 
 42,000 
 
 St. GaU . 
 
 . 77,000 
 
 57,000 
 
 Grisons 
 
 . . 48,000 
 
 25,000 
 
 Argo\da . 
 
 . 67,000 
 
 75,000 
 
 Thurgovia . 
 
 . . 58,000 
 
 17,000 
 
236 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 separate place of worship and interment. In the 
 Cantons of mixed religion tlie clergy are paid by the 
 State. In the Reformed Cantons^ where a CathoKc 
 worship exists^ the clergy of the latter are paid by 
 donations^ partly from other Catholic Cantons, and 
 partly from the Canton itself where the worship is 
 estabhshed. Regular salaries are paid to the clergy 
 who lost their stipends_, in tithes and estates ; which 
 is the case in the Cantons of Basle, Berne, and 
 Geneva,* who received a Catholic clergy introduced 
 by the French. The act of union of the bishopric 
 of Basle with the Canton of Berne, guaranteed the 
 maintenance of the Cathohc clergy. In these Can- 
 tons the parishes are charged with the maintenance 
 of the g-ebes and churches, and the government 
 furnishes the salaries. 
 
 In the Bernese territory the coui't of Rome de- 
 manded, if possible, an independent provision, in 
 landed property, for the clergy; but the Cantons 
 would only promise to supply money. 
 
 A curious example of the tri^dal circumstances 
 on which a religious estabhshment may depend, 
 occurred in respect to a district of Switzerland. ^^Tien 
 the Reformation penetrated there, the government 
 of Neuchatel invited each parish to vote for or against 
 
 
 
 
 Cath. 
 
 
 Prot. 
 
 * Basle 
 
 • 
 
 • 
 
 . 5,000 
 
 • 
 
 41,000 
 
 Berne 
 
 « * 
 
 • 
 
 . 40,000 
 
 • 
 
 250,000 
 
 Geneva 
 
 • 
 
 • 
 
 . 13,000 
 
 . 
 
 29,000 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 237 
 
 the new worship. All except two voted for the Pro- 
 testant commnnion. The inhabitants of the village 
 of Creissier were evenly divided, but a shepherd 
 being absent^ and tending his flock on the neigh- 
 bouring hills, they summoned him to come and give 
 the casting vote. He happened to have a dislike to 
 innovations, so voted for the old form of worship; 
 and the parish continued Catholic in the heart of the 
 Protestant Cantons.* 
 
 FRANCE. 
 
 The Charter gives equal hberty and protection^ 
 together with equal civil and pohtical rights, to all 
 rehgious sects. The Protestants in France enjoy a 
 perfect hberty of rehgious worship, which has never 
 been disturbed, except momentarily, in some of the 
 southern provinces, from local party spirit. The 
 law has always been impartially administered, and 
 affords protection against every sort of violence. 
 Burying-grounds are common to both religions, and 
 the ministers of each worship follow the dead belong- 
 ing to their respective communions. In 1825, the 
 Chamber of Deputies, although supposed at that 
 time to be strongly attached to the Catholic rehgion, 
 voted an augmentation to the salaries of the Pro- 
 testant ministers. 
 
 * D'Israeli's Cur. of Lit., vol. vi., p, 5. 
 
238 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 In respect to the appointment of the Eoman 
 Catholic bishops in France, different regulations 
 have been in force at different periods. Previously 
 to the French Revolution, the Ministre de la Feuille 
 des Benefices submitted to the king the names of 
 such persons as it was proposed to appoint to bishop- 
 rics, abbeys, and other ecclesiastical preferment : 
 these names were transmitted to Rome, and the 
 persons were canonicalh' instituted by the Pope, 
 unless some special ground for objection was adduced 
 by His Hohness. In such cases the Pope substituted 
 the names of the persons, who were not allowed to 
 exercise episcopal functions till the bull of substitu- 
 tion was registered in France. In the mean time 
 the duties of the bishop were performed by ^dcars- 
 general, named by the chapters, and the sees re- 
 mained vacant till the coui'ts of Rome and France 
 could come to an understanding. 
 
 In 1790, the Constituent Assembly proclaimed 
 entire libert}^ of religious worship, and framed an 
 ecclesiastical estabhshment, which created a schism 
 in the French Church. After the 10th of August 
 there was an end of all rehgion, but those who 
 adhered to the Catholic faith elected their own 
 bishops and priests. 
 
 In 1801, Buonaparte restored the Cathohc reli- 
 gion, and concluded a Concordat with Pius YII. 
 He appointed a Ministre des Cultes, whose functions 
 were the same as those formerly exercised by the 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 239 
 
 Ministre de la Feuille des Benefices, except that the 
 bishops were named positively, and their names pub- 
 lished without waiting for the sanction of the Pope. 
 The bishop, however, did not enter on the discharge 
 of his functions till he had obtained canonical 
 institution. 
 
 The Papal bulls assumed the right to nomi- 
 nate, as well as to institute ; but they were only 
 acknowledged as far as they were consistent with 
 the laws. 
 
 After the rupture between Napoleon and Pius 
 VII., the Pope refused to acknowledge any of the 
 Imperial bishops, and persisted in that refusal till 
 the Restoration. 
 
 In 1817, a new Concordat was negotiated, which 
 placed the appointment of the French bishops nearly 
 on the ancient footing ; but no legal authority was 
 ever given to this Concordat by the legislature. 
 
 The annual cost of the French Church is 33,000,000 
 of francs, and the number of the clergy is about 
 40,000. The Cultes non Catholiques, are equally main- 
 tained by the State, at a cost of 900,000 francs a 
 year. 
 
 The dehberations of the Protestant Synods or 
 Consistories, on matters of doctrine or discipHne, 
 must be affinaaed by the minister of pubhc worship. 
 Pastors are elected by the local consistories, subject 
 to the approbation of Government. Other religious 
 persuasions or sects, though acknowledged, are even 
 
240 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 supported by the State. The number of these 
 sectaries being small, they are left to themselves to 
 manage their religious affairs as they think fit, but 
 are subject to the surveillance of the poUce.* 
 
 SAXONY. 
 
 The kingdom of Saxony contains about 1,400,000 
 inhabitants, who, with the exception of about 40,000 
 or 50,000 Catholics, and a few CaMnists, Quakers, 
 and other sects, are all of the Lutheran persuasion. Up 
 to the period of the treaty between France and Saxony 
 in 1S06, the Lutherans enjoyed important privileges ; 
 but by that treaty, perfect equahty Avas established 
 between them and the Catholics. In 1811, at the 
 request of the States of the kingdom, equal rights 
 were granted by a royal decree to the Calvinists ; 
 and in 1814, the Bohemian Brothers (Herren Hiitter) 
 Quakers and Methodists were recognised as Pro- 
 testants, and admitted to an equahty of civil rights. 
 
 The number of Cathohc parochial churches and 
 chapels is unlimited ; but there are places in which 
 the same churches are used by Catholics and Pro- 
 testants, the divine service of both communions being 
 alternately celebrated. 
 
 The king himself being a Catholic, has nothing to 
 do with ecclesiastical affairs : they are managed by 
 
 * Finance, her Government, &c., p. 38. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 241 
 
 a Protestant consistory^ whicli disposes of chui'ch 
 livings, and appoints professors and schoolmasters; 
 and the three members of the Privy Council, who, in 
 the last resort, decide all questions relative to the 
 Protestant Church Establishment, can none of them 
 be Catholics. 
 
 The Catholic clerg}^ enjoy a forum pri^'ilegiatum. 
 and are subject to the Catholic consistory, and not 
 to that of the ci\il tribunals, except in certain speci- 
 fied cases, a privilege similar to that which the Pro- 
 testant clergy enjoy. 
 
 Lusatia is the only province in which the Roman 
 Cathohc religion possesses dotations and real property. 
 In the other parts of the kingdom, the salaries of 
 the Catholic clergj^, and all the expenses incidental 
 to the services of the Catholic church, are paid out 
 of the king^s pri\y purse. 
 
 BELGIUM. 
 
 There is no country in which the Catholic reh- 
 gion is more deeply rooted in the minds of the peo- 
 ple than in Belgium; but there is none in which a 
 more liberal spirit is evinced towards the foreign 
 Protestants who are settled there. It was not till 
 some years after the union of Holland and Belgium 
 (in 1827) that the King of the Netherlands con- 
 cluded a Concordat with the Pope for the regulation 
 of Ecclesiastical affairs. It did not, however, long 
 
 H 
 
242 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 remain in force, but after the revolution of 1830, and 
 the accession of a Protestant King, all connexion 
 between the cliui'cli and state was dissolved, and the 
 Government now meddles in no way whatever with 
 spiritual affairs. The intercourse between the Pope 
 and the Belgian Clergy is subject to no Hmitation or 
 restriction ; and though the Church is perfectly free 
 and independent, its relations with the Government 
 are harmonious and satisfactorv; nor has there ever 
 been any occasion to complain of any unfair or 
 mischievous proceedings on the part of the Papal 
 Government, and the consequence is that a total 
 absence of jealousy exists on both sides. The Bel- 
 gian Chambers have recently done an act of liberality 
 which is without a parallel in any other country; 
 they have voted a sum of money to furnish a stipend 
 for Enghsh Protestant Clergymen, in those Flemish 
 ToAvns in which there are considerable numbers of 
 English residents ; considering that the State is 
 benefited by the establishment of these foreigners, 
 they deem it at once an act of justice and liberality 
 to assist them in pro^dding for their religious wants 
 according to their own tenets and behef. 
 
 PRUSSIA. 
 
 In the year 1835, an account of the Ecclesiastical 
 state of Prussia was furnished at the request of the 
 British Government, by the Prussian IMinister for 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 243 
 
 Foreign Affairs. This report, which was laid before 
 
 both Houses of Parliament, contains ample and 
 
 accurate details with regard to the Ecclesiastical 
 
 establishments of that country. 
 
 The population of Prussia was divided (in 1831) 
 
 as follows : — * 
 
 Protestants . . (about) eight millions. 
 
 Roman Catholics+ . . (about) five millions. 
 
 In the whole country there is not a single circle 
 in which there are not some Catholics among the 
 Protestants, or some Protestants among the Catholics; 
 but in some circles both confessions exist in con- 
 siderable numbers, and in these, therefore, Protest- 
 ant and CathoHc churches will both be found. 
 
 The pro^dnce of Silesia contains about 1,300,000 
 Protestants, and 1,100,000 Catholics. The propor- 
 tions of each vary greatly in the different circles, but 
 in most of them the members of the two persuasions 
 are so much mixed in daily intercourse, that a friendly 
 relation has been established amongst all classes. 
 
 Neither of the two Churches enjoys any legal pre- 
 cedence over the other as being in exclusive con- 
 nexion with the State. The King is the head of the 
 Protestant Chui'ch, and in \drtue of his Episcopal 
 power, he exercises the right to Ecclesiastical appoint- 
 
 * A census of the inliabitants, distinguishing their several religious 
 persuasions, is made every tlu'ee years. 
 
 f (Omitting fractions and small sects, insignificant in point of 
 numbers.) 
 
 m2 
 
244 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 ments and promotions. By the right of patronage^ 
 the King confers a number of clerical offices in all 
 provinces among both confessions. The appoint- 
 ment of Catholic Bishops is regulated by a Bull, 
 called "De Salute Animarum," granted in 1821, by 
 which the King is possessed of the virtual, though 
 not of the nominal, power of appointment.* 
 
 There exist no general rules respecting the sup- 
 port of the Clergy, but the incomes of the higher 
 CathoKc Clergy are fixed by the BuU. In respect 
 to the incomes of all other livings, either of the 
 CathoHc or Protestant Chui^ch, the Clergj^man 
 receives it either in kind or in money ; and it arises 
 either from real estates or tithes, rents, and other 
 pavTiients from land. The Crown has undertaken 
 the payment of the CathoHc dignitaries ; and in the 
 Trans-Hhenane provinces, it pays a salary to the 
 Clergy, in compensation for the Church property 
 which was seized and alienated by the French during 
 their occupation. 
 
 The maintenance of the Clergy proceeds generally 
 from the peculiar endowment of each congregation. 
 When this is not the case, the congregation that 
 
 * The Chapter has the right of election ; the King fixes the day, 
 and sends a commissioner, who takes no part in the canonical affair 
 of the election, but declares to the members of the Chapter the inten- 
 tions of the Crown. A contemporary brief of Pius the Seventh obliges 
 the Chapter to elect " personam Regi gratam," so that the indiAddual 
 most agreeable to the Com't is generally elected. The bishop-elect is 
 confirmed by the Pope, and approved by the King. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 245 
 
 desires the sendees of a Clergyman is responsible for 
 his maintenance. The Government, in general, is not 
 obliged to vouch for the salaiy of the Clergy of either 
 confession; nevertheless, the number of parishes is not 
 small which enjoy a support out of pubUc funds, by 
 the favour of the King. There exist in both confessions 
 surphce fees, which are divided among the Clergy, 
 the Chui'ch servants, and the church. 
 
 In general every Church has its own fund, out of 
 which it has to defray the expense of building and 
 repairing churches, and that attending the celebration 
 of divine service; — where there are no such funds, 
 the obhgation falls on certain parties, specified by 
 law ; but in case of urgent necessity, the assistance 
 of Government is accorded. 
 
 New churches can only be built by permission of 
 the clerical authorities, and with the approbation of 
 the Crown — ^but the rebuilding and repairing existing 
 churches falls on the parish and the patron. In 
 general every parish possesses a place of worship 
 for its exclusive use, the exception (called a simulta- 
 neum,) is when two congregations of difi'erent con- 
 fessions are entitled to the use of the same building, 
 (for divine service,) which, however, is very rare. 
 
 If the numbers of a particular persuasion, in any 
 district, are increased or diminished, the exigency 
 decides the augmentation or diminution of clerical 
 offices, but the consent of the Government is always 
 required. The two religions enjoy equal legal rights. 
 
246 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 Proselytism, either by force or persuasion, is 
 proMbited by law, but only punisbed in case any 
 domestic discord shall have been caused bv it : in 
 other respects, the hberty of change is open to every- 
 body, but on the whole, very few conversions take 
 place. Controversial sermons are forbidden by law, 
 and punished by imprisonment. 
 
 The maintenance of the poor is not everywhere 
 the same. In some places each confession manages 
 its own schools and poor funds separately ; in others 
 they are administered without distinction of religious 
 confession. 
 
 In the provincial school boards and poor com- 
 missions, according to the various provinces, spiritual 
 and lay members, of both confessions, are united, 
 and act together. 
 
 A comparison of the ratio of Protestant Churches 
 and clergjnnen, to the number of Protestants, shows 
 that the provision for religious worship is adapted 
 to the actual wants of the population. The good 
 understanding which exists between Catholics and 
 Protestants is proved by the frequency of mixed 
 marriages, the continual occurrence of which gave 
 rise to the troublesome disputes between the Govern- 
 ment and the Ai'chbishop of Cologne, a few years 
 ago.* 
 
 * The excellent educational system established in the Prussian 
 domiuions, contributes largely to religious peace and harmony. There 
 are a vast number of schools, divided into classes, in one of which the 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 247 
 
 HOLLAND. 
 
 According to the last census (1840)_, there were 
 in the Netherlands 1^100,000 Roman Catholics, and 
 1,700,000 Protestants. In Limburg, Luxembiirgh, 
 and North Brabant, the population is nearly all 
 Catholic. In 1827 (during the Union of Holland 
 and Belgium), a Concordat was concluded, by which 
 the Catholic Ecclesiastical afFaii's of the United 
 Kingdom were regulated; but in consequence of 
 difficulties in the execution of it, and the events of 
 1830, it was put aside; and when, in 1840, King 
 William the Second, after his accession proposed to 
 come to a better understanding with the Court of 
 Rome, a strong opposition thereto was manifested by 
 the Protestants. It was contended that the power 
 of the King to make such an arrangement, was 
 doubtful : that the Concordat had, by the change of 
 
 elementary, and in the other the higher branches of learning are 
 taught. In each school the masters are either Catholic or Protestant, 
 but not mixed. The persuasion of the instructors is determined 
 according to the rehgion professed by the majority in the place where 
 the school is situated — but students, of both denomuiations, are 
 indiscriminately admitted. The religious instiniction of the minority 
 is always separate, when they desu'e it. There are five universities ; 
 two of them are Protestant, one CathoUc, and tlu'ee are mixed ; but 
 the students who are destmed for holy orders, are obliged to go 
 through a di\'inity course of tliree years, and this regulation appUes to 
 both persuasions. The govei*nment considers it to be its duty to take 
 care that the spiritual guides and instructors of all its subjects, should 
 be themselves properly instructed, and made fit for the discharge of 
 the most important of all functions. 
 
248 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 circnmstances, become null and void : and that a 
 convention of this nature was not in accordance 
 with the equality of aU sects, as estabhshed by the 
 fundamental law. The affair made no further 
 progress ; so that at present there exists no sort of 
 arrangement between the Government and the Court 
 of Rome. 
 
 The Catholic clergy are paid by the Government ; 
 but manv of them, in order (as thev sav) to maintain 
 their independence, refuse to accept any stipend, and 
 are supported by contributions from their respective 
 congi'egations or communities, and by the emolu- 
 ments belonging to the sacerdotal office — the funds 
 that remain in consequence unappropriated, are always 
 employed towards the building of churches. 
 
 The Department for the Roman Catholic Rehgion 
 (to which a Minister is appointed) is the medium of 
 communication between the Government and the 
 clerg\". The Netherlands having no Concordat, is 
 still considered as a mission in partibus infidehum, 
 at the head of which, immediately under the Pope, 
 is placed a Vice- Superior.* The interference of 
 the Government is for the most part limited to sup- 
 plying the funds granted by the budget for the 
 clergy or the churches. It possesses no real or sys- 
 tematic influence vrith respect to clerical appoint- 
 ments or promotions. 
 
 * Brabant and Limburg are under Vicars-general, who have the 
 title of Bishop. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 249 
 
 The Catholic clergj^ are sulDJect to the general 
 regulations of the French code penal still in force, 
 by which, however, their relations with Rome are, 
 in appearance more than in reahty, controlled. 
 
 HANSE TOWNS. 
 
 In the year 1818, many Protestant princes, mem- 
 bers of the Germanic Confederation, agreed to dis- 
 patch an embassy to Rome for the purpose of termi- 
 nating by a negotiation the state of uncertainty in 
 which the CathoHc Church was placed in their re- 
 spective states. 
 
 A project was presented to the Pope securing to 
 the Cathohcs hberty of conscience, the free exercise 
 of their rehgion, and provision for their rehgious 
 wants, by establishing and endowing a sufficient 
 number of Bishopricks, with security to the Bishops 
 for the discharge of their functions, and their com- 
 munication with Rome. 
 
 The Lutheran is the established religion within 
 the district of the Hanse Towns; but Catholics 
 have an equal enjoyment of all civil and political 
 rights. 
 
 M 3 
 
250 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 DENMARK. 
 
 The Catholics in Denmark are few in numbers_, 
 and the principal object of all the Danish laws or 
 ordinances^, is to prevent them from disseminating 
 their religion to the prejudice of that of the country. 
 
 In the cases of mixed marriage, the parents are 
 obhged to educate the children in the Protestant 
 rehgion. 
 
 SWEDEN. 
 
 Catholicism is tolerated in Sweden, but receives 
 no pubhc sanction or support, nor is there any Catho- 
 lic Bishop in the country. The Cathohc parish in 
 Stockholm, the only one throughout Sweden, is 
 served by an ecclesiastic sent there by the Propa- 
 ganda at Rome. He must be approved by the King 
 who grants him an exequatur for the exercise of ]iis 
 functions. 
 
 The fundamental law guarantees a free exercise to 
 all rehgious worship not disturbing the public tran- 
 quillity, or occasioning scandal ; and the individuals 
 of a foreign communion may enjoy almost all civil 
 rights. No Cathohc can hold any civil appointment, 
 or be a deputy to the Diet. 
 
 The Catholic Church and priests derive their main- 
 tenance partly from abroad and partly from Catholics 
 resident in the kingdom. The Treasury of the 
 State contributes nothing. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND, 251 
 
 WURTEMBERG. 
 
 The three communions (CathoKc, Lntlieran, and 
 Reformed^) enjoy equally all ci\il and military privi- 
 leges. 
 
 The Bishops and clergy are maintained by the 
 State^ according to the laws of the constitution of 
 Wurtemberg. 
 
 HANOVER. 
 
 The Cathohcs are eligible to all offices and em- 
 ployments^ and ecclesiastical affairs are managed 
 nearly in the same manner as in Prussia. All 
 arrangements were determined by a Bull issued in 
 1824^ which was the result of a negotiation between 
 the Papal and Hanoverian Governments. The first 
 passage of this Bull is remarkable^ as shewing that 
 the Pope was quite aware of the changes which had 
 passed over the world, and not indisposed to submit 
 to their ine\itable consequences. 
 Leo XII., &c. 
 
 " Considering the total change which has taken 
 place, we well see that we must not a little depart 
 from the rigour of the canons of the Church, and 
 make allowance for the condition of places, times, 
 persons, and other pecuHar circumstances."* 
 
 * Mr. Gaily Knight's " Foreign and Domestic View of the CathoUc 
 Question," p. 68, published ui 1838. 
 
252 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 The Catholic churches are amply provided and 
 endowed. 
 
 The Bishop has 4000 dollars a year, and an 
 allowance for his table, and the dean, canons, and 
 vicars in proportion. A seminary endowed by go- 
 vernment is attached to each bishoprick. The 
 Bishops are elected by the chapters, and confirmed 
 by the Pope, the Government having a veto, though 
 not an absolute one, — they may object to any unac- 
 ceptable candidate, so long as they leave the means 
 of coming to an election. The Bishop and chapter 
 alternately elect the other dignitaries of the church, 
 sending in lists, and erasing the names of persons 
 disapproved or suspected. 
 
 The King of Hanover has a resident minister at 
 Rome, by whom his ecclesiastical affairs are con- 
 ducted. While the crowns of England and Han- 
 over were on the same head, the Hanoverian 
 minister discharged certain formal diplomatic func- 
 tions for the convenience of British subjects; but 
 he had nothing to do with the management of the 
 afi'aii's of the British Catholics. 
 
 It might be tedious, and it certainly is unneces- 
 sary, to exhibit in gi'eater detail the ecclesiastical 
 regulations of the different Continental States. It 
 will be seen that one general principle pervades 
 them all, that of providing for the people rehgious 
 estabUshments, in conformity with their several 
 creeds and opinions, and commensurate with their 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 253 
 
 spiritual wants. All governments^ regal or republi- 
 can, limited or absolute^ seem to be agreed in consi- 
 dering this to be a duty equally imperative, whether 
 considered in relation to the happiness of the people 
 committed to their charge, or to the secimty and 
 tranquillity of their dominions. Countries and go- 
 vernments, formerly the most exclusive and into- 
 lerant, have adopted systems of rehgious liberty, 
 and general endowment. Bavaria, once the most 
 bigoted of CathoKc, and Holland, the most intole- 
 rant of Protestant States, have ahke discarded all 
 religious distinctions. They do not indeed think it 
 necessary (as it would be obviously impossible) to 
 pro\dde for all the rehgious vagaries which human 
 fancy or caprice engender. But the mass of man- 
 kind are divided into two great distinctive sects, one 
 acknowledging, and the other rejecting, the spi- 
 ritual authority of the Pope : for the clergy of both 
 of these, decent and adequate pro^dsion is made ; 
 and in regard to the former, we hear of no pohtical 
 theories about foreign princes ha^dng no jurisdiction, 
 and States being essentially Protestant ; but the 
 matter is dealt with according to its unquestionable 
 and unavoidable facts. Two-fifths of the King of 
 Prussians subjects, for example, are Roman Catholics; 
 and his Majesty therefore maintains diplomatic 
 relations with the Holy See, and is represented by a 
 permanent minister at the Vatican. It is necessary. 
 
254 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 in order to consult the spiritual interests of tlie 
 Prussian Catholics, that the civil authority of the 
 King, and the spiritual authority of the Pope, should 
 be brought into harmonious operation, and by the 
 exercise of plain practical sense, in a sincere and 
 cordial spirit, this beneficial end is completely 
 accomplished. The Pope, the King, and the People, 
 are equally content ; and the result is seen in the 
 total absence of those frightful animosities, and reli- 
 gious divisions, which Ireland alone, of all the regions 
 of the earth, exhibits in enormous perfection. It 
 would not indeed be true to say, that in these coun- 
 tries there is never any interruption of this harmony, 
 and that sectarian zeal or bigotry are quite unknown. 
 Such passions will inevitably exist, all the world over, 
 and to the end of time; but they will be rare, 
 and evanescent. In Ireland they are the perpetual 
 rule — everywhere else, the unfrequent exception. It 
 is admitted that the relations between the See of 
 Rome and the Protestant Powers are generally con- 
 ducted in a spirit of harmony, and of perfect good 
 faith on the part of the former. Pro^dded the 
 spiritual interests of the people of his communion 
 are properly consulted, the Pope is willing to concur 
 in any measures that sovereigns consider necessary 
 for the convenience or security of their civil autho- 
 rity. The See of Rome will indeed never abandon 
 formally, and totidem verbis^ any of its ancient 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 255 
 
 (though uow obsolete) spiritual rights and preten- 
 sions, but it will always connive, and wink at their 
 virtual abrogation, and its scruples are really more 
 a point of honour and of pride, than the effect or 
 the evidence of any latent political object. This is 
 so well understood by both parties, that the neces- 
 sary fictions are mutually submitted to with a good 
 grace, and both are perfectly satisfied. 
 
 Having described the ecclesiastical state of other 
 countries, and the condition of the people, in 
 respect to rehgious matters, it now remains to 
 describe that of our own — of the singular anomaly 
 presented by England, Scotland, Ireland, and our 
 Colonial Dependencies, and the practical results of 
 the several rehgious systems which prevail in dif- 
 ferent parts of the Empire. 
 
 The population of Great Britain and Ireland was 
 calculated, in 1S31, to amount to between twenty-four 
 and twenty-five millions, and official returns give the 
 numbers in 1841 at something less than twenty-seven 
 millions. As the relative proportions between dif- 
 ferent rehgious sects have remained nearly ahke, 
 there will probably be httle, if any inaccuracy, in 
 taking the population return of 1831 as a convenient 
 basis of calculation. 
 
 To England and Wales may be allotted (in round 
 numbers) 14,000,000 : to Scotland rather more than 
 2,350,000 : and to Ireland about 8,000,000. 
 
256 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 Dividing these numbers into religious sects^ 
 England and Wales contain — 
 
 11,000,000 Protestants of the Chui-ch of England. 
 2,500,000 Protestant Dissenters. 
 500,000 Roman Catholics. 
 
 Scotland contains — 
 
 1,800,000 Presbj-terians (the Established Church).* 
 360,000 Pi'otestant Dissenters. 
 140,000 CathoUcs. 
 
 Ireland contains — 
 
 6,500,000 Roman Catholics. 
 850,000 Protestants of Established Church. 
 650,000 Presbyterians. 
 
 Treating therefore the Irish Presbyterians and the 
 Scotch Episcopalians as Dissenters^ the rehgious 
 denominations in the United Kingdom may be thus 
 distinguished : — 
 
 Church of England . . . 11,850,000 
 
 Roman CathoUcs . . . . 7,140,000 
 
 Dissenters ..... 3,500,000 
 
 Church of Scotland .... 1,800,000 
 
 The members of the Church of England are^ 
 therefore, as to the CathoUcs, in the proportion of 
 about fourteen to eight, and not quite equal to the 
 Church of Scotland, CathoUcs and Dissenters united. 
 
 The ecclesiastical revenues in the three Kingdoms, 
 in amount and distribution, may be set forth as 
 follows : — 
 
 England and Wales, 3,500,000/.; the whole of 
 which is enjoyed by the Established Church ; neither 
 
 * The Seceders are included in this enumeration. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 237 
 
 the Dissenters nor the Catholics recei^ino; any assist- 
 ance from the State. 
 
 In Scotland, the income of the National Church 
 does not much exceed 200,000/. a year. The 
 Dissenting bodies are all supported on the voluntary 
 system.* 
 
 In Ireland, the net revenue of the Estabhshed 
 Church is about 530,000/. a year. [The total 
 amount of gross income, returned to Parliament 
 in 1831, was 863,000/.] 
 
 The whole of this revenue is allotted to the support 
 of the Protestant Church. 
 
 The Presbyterian clergy receive an annual grant, 
 caUed the regium donum, which amounts to about 
 25,000/. a year. But the principal part of their 
 incomes is derived from the voluntary contributions 
 of their congregations, and from customary fees. 
 
 The Roman Catholic clergy are entirely dependent 
 upon their flocks for support. The result of the 
 whole is, that for the spiritual ser\ice of 12,000,000 
 English Episcopalians, there is an ecclesiastical 
 revenue of 3,300,000/. 
 
 For 1,800,000 Scotch Presbyterians, a revenue of 
 200,000/. For 830,000 Irish Episcopalians, a revenue 
 of 330,000/. 
 
 For 6,300,000 Irish Cathohcs, nothing ! 
 
 For the various Dissenting sects (with the excep- 
 
 * The Church of Scotland, once so rich, was exceedingly dilapidated 
 at the Revolution, the greater part of the teinds (tithes) and other 
 Church property ha\'ing been seized by the nobihty and gentry. 
 
258 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 tion of the trifling sum granted to the Irish Presby- 
 terians), nothing ! 
 
 Of the endowed churches, therefore, the Scotch is 
 by far the poorest ; and the Episcopahan Protestant, 
 in Ireland, considerably the richest. 
 
 The Scotch Presbyterians are more than twice as 
 numerous as the Irish Episcopalians; while the 
 ecclesiastical revenues of the latter are nearly three 
 times as great as those of the former. 
 
 The English Episcopalians are to the Irish 
 EpiscopaUans in the proportion of nearly fourteen 
 to one j while the Church revenues of the former are 
 only in the proportion of about six to one, to those 
 of the latter. 
 
 The principle upon which the State has distributed 
 the Ecclesiastical revenues in Great Britain and 
 Ireland, is that of bestowing the whole of them in 
 both countries upon the two estabhshed Protestant 
 Churches, calling the Churches of England and 
 Ireland one united Church, but leaving to each a 
 separate and distinct appropriation, allotting the 
 whole Ecclesiastical revenue in England to the 
 spiiitual uses of the Protestant Episcopalians, who 
 form the great majority of the people of England ; 
 the whole Ecclesiastical revenue in Scotland to the 
 Presbyterians, who form the great majority of the 
 people of Scotland, and the whole Ecclesiastical 
 revenue in Ireland to the Protestant Episcopalians, 
 who form a very small minority of the people of 
 
 s^ 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 259 
 
 Ireland. But in the Colonial dependencies of this 
 country a different system of Ecclesiastical policy 
 has gro^Ti up, and generally prevails. 
 
 Without now discussing the wisdom or the justice 
 of the system established in the Mother Country, 
 there can be no doubt whatever that one of exclusive 
 rehgious unity would be inapplicable to dependencies 
 exhibiting so many rehgious diversities, and such cir- 
 cumstantial varieties of relation with the Sovereign 
 State ; and, according^, successive Governments (of 
 every political complexion) appear to have agreed in 
 allowing a freer scope of religious action abroad than at 
 home, and have considered themselves unfettered by 
 any stern and unbending principle forbidding the 
 adoption of such arrangements as were in conformity 
 with the feehngs and wants of the different Colonial 
 communities. 
 
 "The principle," says Mr. Gladstone,* "upon 
 which alone om* colonies, speaking generally, can be 
 governed, is that of preserving the good will of theii* 
 inhabitants ; the highest function of the State with 
 regard to them seems to be this, to arbitrate among 
 the different elements of which their societies are 
 composed, and gently to endeavour to give a moral 
 predominance to the nobler, over the meaner, of 
 those elements. We must frankly recognise such 
 limits to the moral action of the State, as the actual 
 nature of things seems itself to impose.^ 
 
 }> 
 
 * Gladstone, State in its relation with the Church, vol. ii., p. 313. 
 
260 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 This is excellent practical sense, which, however, 
 (it may be said in passing) is quite as apphcable to 
 the component parts of the Parent State itself, as to 
 her distant and separate dependencies ; this principle 
 may not, indeed, tend to bring about that rehgious 
 unit}^, which it is chimerical ever to expect, but it is 
 the only one calculated to promote ci\Tl and rehgious 
 harmony, and that cordial union of opposite sects, in 
 a common national interest, which is essential to the 
 power and prosperity of the Empu'e. 
 
 The general principle on which religious endow- 
 ments, or pecuniary gi-ants, are made, is that of sup- 
 porting or assisting the thi'ee great denominations — 
 the Churches of England, of Scotland, and of Rome ; 
 leaving the different dissenting communities to pro- 
 vide for themselves.* There are, however, many 
 colonies in which there is no provision for either of 
 the two latter Churches, but not one in which the 
 Church of England is not amply provided for. It 
 enjoys generally a marked, but not an exclusive 
 preference. 
 
 The full or partial recognition of any Diocesan 
 authority, other than that of the National Church, 
 is confined to the Ionian Islands, Malta, Gibraltar, 
 Lower Canada, Trinidad, and Maui'itius, in all of 
 which we found, on coming into possession of them, 
 
 * The exceptions to this rule are the Cape of Good Hope, Ceylon, 
 Demerara, and Hehgoland, where certain allowances are made to the 
 Dutch Church. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 261 
 
 an already existing Ecclesiastical organization. Pe- 
 cuniary aid is given to Roman Catholic Bishops, or 
 Vicars General, in Newfoundland, Upper Canada, 
 New South Wales, and Van Diemen^s Land. * 
 
 The Canadas. — In Lower Canada we bound our- 
 selves not to meddle Tvith the religious establishments 
 which we found in existence there, and the secular 
 rights of the Roman CathoHc Church were a part of 
 the original contract by which we held the pro\dnce. 
 The Roman Catholic clerg}^ receive the tithes, which, 
 however, are only payable to them, by persons of 
 their own communion. They have likewise certain 
 valuable seigniorial rights, their title to which was 
 confirmed by an Act of Parhament in 1840.t The 
 Roman Catholic Bishop of Quebec receives 1,000/. 
 annually from the funds of this country. In the 
 constitutional Act of 1791 it was pro^dded that one 
 seventh part of all wild lands in those colonies should 
 be reserved for the use of " a Protestant Clergy.^' 
 For many years after this Act was passed, the 
 reserved lands were of little value, but in time they 
 became of importance, and pohtical questions which 
 were agitated between the mother country and the 
 colonies gave rise to many new claims concerning 
 them. After the proposal and discussion of many 
 schemes for the disposition of this property, and an 
 
 * Gladstone, vol. ii., p. 311. f lb. p. 318. 
 
262 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 unanimous declaration by the judges in the House 
 of Lords that the terms, " Protestant Clergy/^ in- 
 cluded the Clergy of the Scotch as well as of the 
 English Church, and possibly others, though they 
 were not aware of any so recognised in the Statute 
 Book — a Bill was framed in 1840 to the following 
 effect : — that all the reserves* should be sold, and 
 the proceeds di^dded in certain stipulated proportions 
 between the Churches of England and Scotland, and 
 a portion be applied, by the Governor in Council, 
 " for the purposes of pubhc worship, and religious 
 
 * The history of these clergy reserves is curious, because it exhi- 
 bits more distinctly, perhaps, than any other act, the abandonment 
 of the principle of exclusive rehgious appropriation, and the adoption 
 of that of concurrent endo^\^nent ; and it is, in fact, a sort of miniature 
 Catholic question. These reserves were originally applied to Pro- 
 testants only ; but, in progress of time, they gave rise to gi'eat excite- 
 ment, and to many discussions in the Colonial Assembly, the objects 
 of which were to secure a di^dsion of the land between Christians of 
 all denominations. Lord John Russell (in his speech, in 1840) said 
 that the feeling which existed on this subject was so strong in Canada, 
 that the partial insiu-rection of 1837 had been attributed by many 
 persons more to the previous excitement on tliis question, than to 
 any wish to tlu-ow off allegiance to the Crow^i. There were various 
 feelings, but all were united against the exclusive appUcation of the 
 reserves to the Church of England. The Government proposed to 
 bring in a bill to settle the question of reserves, on the principle of a 
 concurrent endo-mnent ; but it was strongly opposed by the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, and the Church party. In the end, a com- 
 promise was agi'eed upon, and a portion of the reserves were to be 
 placed at the disposal of the governor ; no mention being made of 
 the mode of disti'ibution, but it was very well understood that it was 
 to be amongst all sects, without exception, and so it has continued 
 ever since, thus establishing the prmciple of genei'al appropriation. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 263 
 
 instruction/^ The revenues accruing to the Church, 
 or to rehgion in other forms, in the North American 
 colonies, constitute no part (with the exception of 
 Upper Canada, and some trifling items elsewhere) of 
 the ordinarj^ public expenditure, but are supplied from 
 British funds. 
 
 In Upper Canada there are fifty-six endowed rec- 
 tories of the Church of England, T^ith glebes annexed 
 to each ; there are twentj^-five Presbyterian clergj^- 
 men in connection with the Church of Scotland, 
 with allowances of 57/. each ; there are twelve minis- 
 ters of the United Synod of Upper Canada, receiv- 
 ing about 63/. each, and there are thirty Roman Ca- 
 thoHc ministers, receiving 50/. each, and the Roman 
 CathoHc Bishop has 100/. a year as a pension. The 
 Wesleyan Methodists receive 700/. a year. In Lower 
 Canada, the Bishop of Montreal and six or seven 
 rectors are paid hj annual vote of Parhament, and 
 from the same source a Roman Catholic Bishop 
 receives 1000/. a vear ; but the cler^rvmen of the 
 Church have no payment from the colony itself. 
 The Roman Catholics are said to contribute very 
 large sums to the maintenance of their Bishop and 
 clergy. 
 
 Mauritius. — In the Island of Mauritius there is 
 a joint endowment of the Enghsh and Roman Catho- 
 lic Churches, to the amount of about 1100/. for the 
 former, and 2500/. for the latter. 
 
264 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 Newfoundland. — In Newfoundland, land has 
 been granted by Government for tbe erection of a 
 Romish cathedral, and the Roman Catholic Bishop 
 has 75/. from the parliamentary estimate. The 
 Protestant Archdeacon is paid 300/. from the same 
 soui'ce. 
 
 West Indian Colonies. — No funds are annually 
 voted by Parliament for the support of any religious 
 denomination but the National Church, in the West 
 Indian Colonies; but a sum of money was voted 
 in 1835 for the promotion of "moral and rehgious 
 education on Hberal and comprehensive principles," 
 in the distribution of which, the Church was placed 
 on a level with all other rehgious bodies having 
 organs ^vith which the Government could nego- 
 ciate*. 
 
 British Guiana. — In British Guiana the three 
 churches of England, Scotland, and Rome, are sup- 
 ported from the pubHc revenues of the colony ; and 
 the arrangement has tended to estabhsh harmony, 
 and on the part of the Cathohcs (whose numbers 
 are small) entire subordination to the estabhshed 
 usages. Five Roman Cathohc priests are provided 
 for, one of whom is a bishop and administrator 
 apostohc. 
 
 * Catholics were not included. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 265 
 
 Jamaica. — In Jamaica^ in the year 1840, Sir 
 Charles Metcalfe, at that time governor, in a speech 
 which he addressed to the Assembly, said — '^ I have 
 great pleasure in observing, that you have made 
 many grants towards the erection and extension of 
 churches, chapels, and schools, as well for congrega- 
 tions of Dissenting Christians and the Church of 
 Rome, as for those of the Churches of England and 
 Scotland. Such grants are honourable to yourselves, 
 and cannot fail to be attended with benefit to the 
 community." 
 
 Trinidad. — In Ti'inidad, about £850 is expended 
 on account of the Church of England, and £2,500 
 for the Church of Rome. 
 
 St. Lucia. — In St. Lucia, there are one English, 
 and tliree Catholic churches. The rector receives 
 £300 a-year ; two of the Roman Catholic clergymen 
 11,000 francs between them (£440). 
 
 Grenada. — In Grenada, the Roman Catholic 
 church has certain land, and there was formerly an 
 endowment, but in consequence of some schism, it 
 was withdrawn. 
 
 Antigua, &c. — In Antigua, Barbadoes, Bermudas, 
 St. Christopher, the Bahamas, and Dominica, there 
 
 N 
 
266 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 is no pro\ision for any religious denomination except 
 for the Church of England. 
 
 Gibraltar. — In Gibraltar, the Protestant chap- 
 lain, and the resident Roman CathoHc minister, are 
 each allowed £300 a-year : the total charge (in 1843) 
 was £500 for the Chm-ch of England, and £335 for 
 that of Rome. 
 
 Malta. — In INIalta, the ancient Roman Catholic 
 establishment remains. The Government allows £50 
 a-year to a Roman Cathohc Government chaplain. 
 There are thirtj^-four parochial chui'ches, and as 
 many endowed priests, and ninety-three parochial 
 chapels besides. 
 
 Ionian Islands. — In the Ionian Islands, the 
 Greek is considered the estabhshed church. It has 
 2,226 churches and chapels, and 868 priests, whose 
 salaries amount to £8,700. There are twelve Latin 
 and three EngUsh churches. The public charge 
 of the Islands, for the ecclesiastical estabhshment, is 
 £2,500, which is partaken by the Romish and 
 English churches. 
 
 New Zealand. — In New Zealand, a company 
 formed for the settlement of the islands proposed, 
 by a bill in 1838, to make provision for the support 
 of rehgion indiscriminately, but specially for the 
 appointment of a bishop of the Anghcan Church. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 267 
 
 The disposition to afford this special encouragement 
 to the Church has been founded (in Mr. Gladstone's 
 opinion) on the simple recognition of its general hold 
 on the affections and the habits of the people of this 
 country, and has not been of the nature of a rehgious 
 preference or acknowledgment.* 
 
 Australia. — Great numbers of CathoHc convicts 
 were sent for many years to the penal colonies of 
 Australia : and as in Ireland thev had been furnished 
 with chaplains in the jails, it was thought proper to 
 make a similar provision for them after their trans- 
 portation. This population gradually became so 
 mixed with the free portion of the communities, that 
 at length a claim was urged upon the Colonial De- 
 partment for the endo^\Tnent of CathoHc chaplains 
 in proportion to the population of that profession ; 
 it was considered reasonable, allowed by Lord Mont- 
 eagle in 1834, and ultimately carried into effect by 
 Lord Aberdeen in 1835. In 1836, a Colonial act 
 was passed "to promote the building of churches 
 and chapels, and provide for the ministers of religion 
 in New South Wales.'' It enacted that when a 
 certain sum was raised by private contribution, an 
 addition to it might be made from the Colonial 
 funds. This act draws no distinction between any 
 rehgious societies. Regulations were pubhshed in 
 
 * Gladstone, vol. ii., p. 331. 
 N 2 
 
268 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 1836^ setting fortli the Englisli, Scotch^ and Romish 
 churches as the special objects of these provisions, 
 bnt adding that applications from any other denomi- 
 nations of Christians would be taken into considera- 
 tion according to the special circumstances of the 
 case. This measure was very popular in New South 
 Wales. A considerable number of clergymen have 
 been settled there of all three persuasions ; and the 
 ministers and elders of the Presbytery, in 1837, 
 expressed to the Secretary of State (Lord Glenelg) 
 " theii' unmingled feelings of gratitude and joy ; beg- 
 ged that he would transmit their thanks to the throne, 
 and their trust that supremacy, arising from a mono- 
 poly of state indulgences and appointments expended 
 on one church, to the prejudice and depression of 
 other chui'ches, will no longer exist under these 
 judicious and impartial regulations.^^ 
 
 Yan Diemen's Land. — In Van Diemen^s Land, 
 the regulations are closely analogous in their general 
 tendency to those of New South Wales, and the 
 same principle of indiscriminate recognition and 
 assistance has been estabhshed. 
 
 East Indies. — In the act passed in 1833, for the 
 renewal of the East India Company's charter, a pro- 
 vision is introduced allowing of the endowment or 
 support of any body of Christians from the funds of 
 the Government, and it appears that in the three 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 269 
 
 Presidencies a system of three-fold endowment has 
 been estabhshed, for the chui'ches of England^ Scot- 
 land, and Rome ; the amount very largely preponder- 
 ates in favour of the Enghsh church, but this in no 
 way diminishes the force of the principle. The whole 
 expense incurred is (in round numbers) £86,000_, of 
 which the church of England obtains £77,000, that 
 of Scotland something less than £7,000, and the 
 Romish a Httle more than £2,000. There is also 
 a charge of about £2,000 in Sincapore, Prince of 
 Wales^s Island, and Malacca, for the church and the 
 Roman Catholics.* 
 
 I have endeavoured to exhibit as clearly as I could 
 (without going into tedious details), the systems of 
 estabUshment and endo^vment which exist all over 
 the Continent, as well as in the different parts of the 
 British empire. It wiU be seen that the policy of 
 almost every government but our own is to maintain 
 or assist aU those authenticated forms of religious 
 behef which have been consecrated by time, and are 
 acknowledged by considerable portions of their 
 people ; and that in the dependencies of the British 
 
 * These colonial details are taken almost entirely (and generally in 
 his own words) from Mr. Gladstone's Work on Church and State, 
 corrected by more recent official information. He has dra^vn them 
 from the most authentic som'ces ; and with the perfect integrity which 
 might be expected from him, has not suppressed any of the facts 
 which suggest inferences mifavourable to the principles it was liis 
 object to enforce. 
 
270 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 crown, tlie Imperial Government lias adopted the 
 same system, greatly to the advantage and content- 
 ment of its colonial subjects. 
 
 In all matters of legislation or administration 
 touching the colonies, Government may be consi- 
 dered absolute so far as regards its independence of 
 colonial opinion. It is under no necessity to feel its 
 way through conflicting jealousies, or to compromise 
 with sectarian antipathies, but has only to consider 
 what description of ecclesiastical arrangements will 
 be most conducive to the interests and happiness of 
 the various people under its charge. Accordingly, it 
 has adopted a system similar to that of the most 
 enlightened states in Europe, and with the same 
 successful results. In looking round the whole 
 ci^dlised world, it will be found that in every country 
 and in each great division of every empire, the reli- 
 gious creed which is professed by a majority of the 
 people is endowed or supported by the State, and 
 that in many countries other recognised creeds pro- 
 fessed by the minority are also maintained at the 
 public charge. To one or other of these principles, — 
 that of the appropriation of the whole of the ecclesi- 
 astical revenues to the majority, or that of their 
 partition according to numbers, — there exists in the 
 ciAolised world but one exception, Ireland; and 
 coupled with this fact (for I am now only stating it 
 as a fact,) is another, \dz. that Ireland is the only 
 country in the world in which a condition of social 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 271 
 
 and political disorganisation prevails, growing out of 
 or closely connected with religious animosities, and 
 full of danger to the most vital interests of the 
 State; and persons of all parties, however dissen- 
 tient in other respects, appear to agree that this 
 mighty evil " has increased, is increasing, and ought 
 to be diminished/^ 
 
272 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 From the period of the Reformation, and especially 
 from that of the Revolution, down to the Union, it 
 was the pohcy of England not to recognize the legal 
 existence of the Roman Catholic religion in Ireland, 
 and to use means, which varied in severity, as well 
 as in the constancy of their apphcation, for its com- 
 plete extermination from the country. The Protes- 
 tant Chui'ch was established and organised upon this 
 supposition, and not with any reference to the actual 
 numbers of the Protestants ; it was in the nature of 
 a missionary church, planted there for the avowed 
 object of reducing the Roman Catholic population to 
 its allegiance. 
 
 This pohcy was ^dgorously carried out by the stem 
 and intolerant despotism of EHzabeth ; and, however 
 shocking it may appear to our modern notions of 
 religious Uberty, it was by no means inconsistent with 
 the prevailing ideas, both political and reHgious, of 
 that age. The exclusive appropriation of the eccle- 
 siastical revenues to the Church of England, and the 
 severities against non-conformists, were founded 
 on an assumption that the people were incompetent 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 273 
 
 to choose a creed for themselves, and that thev were 
 
 bound to embrace the doctrines which the State 
 
 should choose for them ; nor was this pretension so 
 
 unreasonable^ or the corresponding policy so unwise, 
 
 as it may at first sight appear. The mass of the 
 
 people were in a deplorable state of ignorance. They 
 
 were, as Henry the Eighth told them," brutes, and 
 
 inexpert folk/^ whom it would have been folly to 
 
 deem capable of thinking for themselves. Toleration 
 
 would, in all probabiUty, have begotten scenes of 
 
 licence and confusion, from which many might haA^e 
 
 been driven to turn back with terror and disgust into 
 
 the bosom of the Cathohc Church. The Queen, and 
 
 the sagacious councillors who surrounded her throne, 
 
 were con^vdnced that it was indispensable for the 
 
 security of the Protestant rehgion, as well as of her 
 
 royal person, that she should exercise her spuitual 
 
 supremacy with a firm and unflinching hand. 
 
 Lord Bacon has thus described the policy of Queen 
 
 Elizabeth, as well as the religious ideas by which her 
 
 conscience was swayed : — " Most certain it is that it 
 
 was the firm resolution of this Princess not to off'er 
 
 any violence to consciences ; but then, on the other 
 
 side, not to suffer the state of her kingdom to be 
 
 ruined under the pretence of conscience and rehgion. 
 
 Out of this fountain she concluded — fii'st, that to 
 
 allow fi'eedom and toleration of two rehgions, by 
 
 pubhc authority, in a nation fierce and warhke, and 
 
 that would easily fall from dissention of minds to 
 
 n3 
 
274 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 siding and blows, would bring inevitable ruin to the 
 kingdom. In this great deluge of danger, there was 
 a necessity imposed on Queen Elizabeth to sustain, 
 by some sharper bands of laws, that part of her sub- 
 jects which was alienated from her, neither could 
 the kingdom have been safe without it. 
 
 Though she found the Romish rehgion 
 confirmed in her sister^s days by Act of Parhament, 
 established by all strong and potent means that could 
 be de^dsed, and to have taken deep root within the 
 
 kingdom and yet, for that she 
 
 saw it was not agreeable to the word of God, nor to 
 the primitive pm^ity, nor to her own conscience, she 
 did, with a great deal of courage, and with the assist- 
 ance of a very few persons, quite expel and abolish 
 it."* 
 
 These w^ere the principles of her age, which were 
 acted upon in every part of Europe. The weak sub- 
 mitted and temporised till they became strong ; and 
 the moment they had acquired sufficient power, their 
 consciences commanded them to begin the work of 
 persecution. The rule is very clearly laid down by 
 Knox in his History. Cal\dn and others had recom- 
 mended their followers to be quiet and submissive, 
 even under persecution. Knox said, that "this 
 referred to Christians so dispersed, that they have 
 no other force but only to sob to God for their 
 deliverance. That such indeed should hazard any 
 
 * Bacon's Works, vol. iii. (8vo. edition), p. 471 . 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 275 
 
 furtlierj I could not be of counsel ; but my argument 
 has another ground, for I speak of a people assembled 
 together in one body, of a commonwealth, unto whom 
 God has given sufficient force, not only to resist, but 
 to suppress all kind of open idolatry ; and such a 
 people, yet again I affirm, are bound to keep their 
 land clean and unpolluted/^* 
 
 Accordingly the Established Chui'ch in England 
 oppressed every other sect ; and in Scotland the 
 Presbyterian Kirk did the same. When the king- 
 doms came under one head, the stronger of the two 
 oppressed the weaker ; and James the First, and 
 Charles the First, attempted to force episcopacy, and 
 the Anglican forms, on the reluctant and indignant 
 Scotch. 
 
 Not long afterwards the Scotch, in a spirit no less 
 arbitrary and fanatical, pretended to impose their 
 Covenant on the people of England — and after the 
 Restoration, the High Church Government of Charles 
 the Second tried once more to put the prelatical yoke 
 on the necks of the Scotch. Thus all sects agreed 
 in demanding toleration for themselves and in 
 refusing it to others, till, first the Revolution, and 
 then the Union, provided for the final and peaceful 
 establishment of the two Churches of England and 
 Scotland, and left them at liberty to unite their 
 
 * Knox, Hist., b. iv., p. 358, 
 
276 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 energies in oppressing the Roman Catholics. The 
 old system of persecution flourished in Ireland for 
 about seventy years, in the course of which the penal 
 code was gradually completed. Soon after the acces- 
 sion of George the Third, the tide began to turn — 
 during the whole of this period, the ruling powers 
 not only contemplated the possibility of bringing the 
 Cathohcs within the pale of the Estabhshed Church,* 
 but made from time to time divers, though ineffec- 
 tual, attempts to accomplish this object — and their 
 detestable laws and oppressive administration were 
 perfectly consistent with such design and expectation. 
 At length a great change took place — the penal 
 code was reformed — the " milk white hind was no 
 more 
 
 " Chased with horns and hounds 
 And Scythian shafts, and many winged wounds 
 Aimed at her heart ;" 
 
 and the attempt (persevered in for two centuries) to 
 force or frighten the Catholics from thefr faith, was 
 entirely and for ever abandoned. The days of terror 
 and persecution came to an end; but there still remain- 
 ed a domineering and galling ascendancy on one side 
 — privation, and a sense of degradation, on the other. 
 The humanity of the age could no longer endure 
 the sight of so much suffering as the penal code 
 inflicted ; and the most monstrous of its enactments 
 
 * Vide Mant's Hist, of Irish Church, vol. ii. passim. 
 
({ 
 (( 
 tc 
 
 ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 277 
 
 were accordingly repealed; but from that moment 
 the policy of the State ceased to be consistent with 
 its legislation. 
 
 As soon as the existence of the Koman Catholic 
 religion was admitted, and its exercise no longer 
 regarded as a crime, justice and sound pohcy alike 
 required " That it should be upheld in high respect 
 and veneration, and in its place be provided with 
 all the means of making it a blessing to the people 
 who profess it."* But such a stretch of hberality 
 as this, was not thought of in those days : the 
 Cathohcs were too humble and impotent to demand, 
 and the Protestants far too proud and bigoted to 
 grant it; a middle course was adopted, of which 
 Lord Clare was the able and powerful advocate ; — 
 religious persecution was discontinued, but political 
 emancipation (which he thought identical with 
 democracy and anarchy) was refused. This policj^, 
 which was based upon the supposed paramount 
 necessity of maintaining the Protestant Church, and 
 the conviction that it could only be safe as long as 
 the Cathohcs were excluded from a free participation 
 of eivil rights, was not indefensible according to the 
 prevaihng opinions, as well as the pohtical condition 
 of the country. But it is well worth while to look 
 at the recorded sentiments of that remarkable 
 person. "With respect to the old code of Popery 
 laws," he said, " there cannot be a doubt it ought to 
 
 * Burke's Letter to Wm. Smith, Esq. 
 
278 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 have been repealed.* It was impossilole that any 
 country could continue to exist under a code by 
 which the majority of its inhabitants was cut off 
 from the rights of property." And he thus states 
 the grounds on which he firmly opposed any measure 
 of relief. " Religion is the great bond of society, 
 and therefore in every ci^dlised country there must 
 be a religion connected with the State. ... I 
 deny the right of any man who dissents from the 
 religion connected with the State to demand ad- 
 mission into the State upon which the estabhshed 
 religion can only rest for support. Should the 
 Parliament of Ireland admit the Papists to political 
 power, where are we to draw the Hue ? If they have 
 a right to vote for representatives, they have a right to 
 everything else." 
 
 In his speech on the Union he says : " My un- 
 altered opinion is, that so long as human natui'e and 
 the Popish rehgion continue to be what I know they 
 are, a conscientious Popish ecclesiastic never will 
 become a well attached subject to a Protestant 
 State ; and the Popish clergy must always have a 
 commanding influence on every member of that 
 communion." In his speech on the Relief Bill,t in 
 1793; "Whether the Prince on the throne Avas a 
 Plant agenet or a Tudor, a Brunswick or a Stuart, 
 they (the priests) never were, and never will be, 
 
 * Speech on the Union, p. 61. 
 
 t Speech on Relief Bill, 1793, p. 21. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 279 
 
 cordially attached to his Government, unless the 
 Popish religion be connected loith it." 
 
 Lord Clare^ then, was for governing Ireland upon 
 a permanent system of political exclusion, and by 
 means of a Protestant ascendancy. But it is 
 evident that he would have regarded it as incon- 
 sistent to admit the Catholics to an equality of 
 pohtical pri^dleges, and refuse them a religious 
 estabhshment ; without which, he affirms that the 
 clergy exercising great influence over the people, 
 would never be well affected to the State. 
 
 The pohcy, then, of the sixteenth and seventeenth 
 centuries, however harsh, was founded on certain 
 convictions, and had in view certain objects, which at 
 least gave it a character of consistency. If suf- 
 fering was inflicted, the oppressors thought that duty 
 or interest justified their severities, and that they 
 had nothing to fear from the resentment or resist- 
 ance of the sufferers. But we have abandoned the 
 principles and opinions of oui' ancestors — we no 
 longer deny, Avith Lord Clare, the right of any man 
 who dissents from the rehgion connected with the 
 State, to demand admission into the State. On 
 the contrary, we have admitted the Cathohc into 
 the State; but, with an inconsistency which ap- 
 pears the more glaring the more it is examined, 
 we continue to maintain a religious establishment 
 not less hateful to liim than the civil disabilities 
 he has shaken off; and for the sake of so doing, we 
 
280 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 are content to bear the incalculable evUs and dan- 
 gers of his resentment and his disaffection. 
 
 But as many persons imagine, because they hear a 
 great deal more of the Repeal of the Union than of the 
 Chui'ch question, that the evils of the latter are exag- 
 gerated, or that the Irish people are, comparatively, 
 insensible to them, it will be well to look at their 
 sentiments upon the Church question, as recorded in 
 a document of remarkable A-igoiu' and precision, 
 which was drawn up by ^Ir. O'Connell himself in 
 1840, and pubhshed as a "Report of the National 
 Association of Ireland, upon the chief grievance of 
 Ireland, — that which relates to the Ecclesiastical 
 Revenues/^ 
 
 " Your Committee beg leave to report, that they 
 are unanimously of opinion, that the most afflicting, 
 beyond comparison, of all the grievances which the 
 people of Ireland sustain, is to be found in the 
 misappropriation of the ecclesiastical revenues of Ire- 
 land. The great denominations of Christians — the 
 Cathohcs — the Episcopahan Protestants — and the 
 Presbyterians, constitute the overwhelming majority 
 of Christian persuasions in the British empire. 
 
 " In England, the majority of the people belong 
 to Episcopahan Protestantism. 
 
 " In Scotland, the majority of the inhabitants are 
 Presb}i:erians ; and, in Ireland, the majority of 
 the inhabitants, in much greater proportion, are 
 Cathohcs. * ****** 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 281 
 
 "With respect to Ireland, an enumeration has 
 taken place, and the relative numbers have been 
 ascertained. The Episcopalian Protestants are found 
 to be, in round numbers, 850,000 ; the Presb\i:erians 
 650,000 j and the Catholics 6,500,000. Such were 
 the relative proportions in 1831. 
 
 "Under these circ¥imstances, the natural result 
 would be, that the Ecclesiastical State Revenues 
 should be appropriated in each country, to the 
 church of the majority of the inhabitants ; and in 
 England, accordingly, these revenues are appro- 
 priated to the Protestant Episcopahan Church — the 
 church of the majority. 
 
 " In Scotland, also, the Ecclesiastical State Re- 
 venues are, and ought naturally to be, apphed to 
 the sustentation of the PrQsb}i:erian Church, being 
 that of the majority of the Scottish people. 
 
 "Upon the same principle, it is perfectly clear 
 that the Ecclesiastical State Revenues of Ireland 
 ought to be applied to the church of the majority of 
 the Irish People. 
 
 " But in the government of Ireland, everything is 
 anomalous. The people of England would not 
 endure that the Ecclesiastical State Revenues should 
 be apphed to the chui'ch of the minority. The 
 people of Scotland would not endure that the 
 Ecclesiastical State Revenues should be apphed to 
 the church of the minority. But the people of 
 Ireland are compelled to endure that the Ecclesias- 
 
282 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 tical State Revenues of Ireland should be appro- 
 priated to the church of a very small minority of 
 the Irish people. 
 
 " This simple statement demonstrates at once the 
 gross injustice done to the people of Ireland — it 
 demonstrates that that equality, which alone would 
 constitute a real union between the countries, does 
 not exist — it shows that the Episcopalians in England, 
 and the Presbyterians in Scotland, assume and 
 enjoy a practical superiority over the Catholics in 
 Ireland. 
 
 " Your Committee emphatically assert that this is 
 the master-grievance — the most insulting injustice, 
 which Ireland sustains under the (so called) Union. 
 
 "The people of Ireland demand the redress of 
 this grievance in the first instance and before any 
 other. It is a grievance in which they avlQ no 
 longer acquiesce in silence ; it is a declaration of 
 the inferiority of the Irish people, to which they will 
 no longer submit without remonstrance; it is a 
 gross and odious insult, superinduced upon a glaring 
 and palpable injustice ; it is, in short, a giant e^il, 
 not to be longer tolerated without taking aU legal 
 and peaceable and constitutional means to procm^e 
 
 legislative redress 
 
 There are two points on which 
 your Committee desii'e emphatically to be under- 
 stood, they are these, — 
 
 " First. — They do not claim that the ecclesiastical 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 283 
 
 state revenues of Ireland should be applied to sup- 
 port the church of the majority of the Irish people ; 
 although^ on principle, they might be entitled to 
 make such claim, they totally repudiate it; they 
 totally disclaim any such appropriation. No Pro- 
 testant could more distinctly denounce that appro- 
 priation than the people of Ireland should and would 
 do. It is an appropriation wliich would essentially 
 injure, corrupt, and corrode the religion to which 
 it should be so apphed. 
 
 " Secondly. — Your Committee claim that the eccle- 
 siastical state revenues shoidd (as the existing vested 
 interests di'opped off) be apphed for the general 
 benefit of the community ; that is, for the support 
 of the poor, for the promotion of education, and in 
 works of charity, equally and without distinction 
 to all sects and persuasions. 
 
 " There is one topic more, to illustrate the grievous 
 injustice done to the Cathohc people of Ireland by 
 the appropriation of the ecclesiastical revenues to 
 the small minority wliich constitute the Protestant 
 Church in Ireland : it is this : — The Presbyterian 
 Estabhshed Church in Scotland, being the church 
 of the majority of the Scottish people, is in posses- 
 sion of the ecclesiastical state revenues in Scotland, 
 although those revenues were founded by their 
 Cathohc ancestors for pui'poses of exclusively Catho- 
 hc piety and religion ; pui'poses, many of them 
 
284 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 directly opposite to, and contradictory of, the tenets 
 and practices of Presbj'terians. 
 
 " The EpiscopaHan Protestant Chnrch in England, 
 being the chnrch of the majority of the English 
 people, is in possession of the ecclesiastical state 
 revennes in England, although those revenues were 
 founded by their Catholic ancestors for pui'poses 
 of exclusively CathoUc piety and religion ; purposes 
 directly opposite to, and conti'adictory of the tenets 
 and practices of EpiscopaHan Protestantism. 
 
 " Thus, in Scotland and in England, the church of 
 the majority possesses ecclesiastical revenues granted, 
 not by Presbyterians, or Protestants of any descrip- 
 tion, but by Cathohcs. 
 
 "Whereas in Ireland, the church of the majority 
 is that of the persons who founded the ecclesiastical 
 state revenues. It is the only chiu'ch able and 
 ■wiUing to perform and carry out all the intentions of 
 the donors and founders of these revenues : vet 
 these revenues are taken from the church of the 
 majority of the Irish people, and bestowed by law 
 upon the antagonist church of a small minority of that 
 people. 
 
 "It does therefore appear manifest that every 
 circumstance attending the ecclesiastical state 
 revenues increases the nature and extent of the 
 grievance on the score of church temporalities 
 inflicted on the CathoHc people of Ireland. * * * * 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 285 
 
 "We close bv remindins: tlie Association em- 
 phatically — 
 
 " That Scotland does not support the church 
 of the minority in Scotland, and that the Scottish 
 people would not endure such an appropriation of her 
 ecclesiastical revenues : 
 
 " That England does not support the church of 
 the minority in England, and that the English people 
 would not endure such an appropriation of her eccle- 
 siastical revenues : 
 
 " But that Ireland, on the contrarj^, suffers this 
 Giant, this Monster Evil ; and the first duty of Irish- 
 men must be to obtain, by constitutional and legal 
 means, its total abohtion/' 
 
 This manifesto well deserves the consideration of 
 the people of this country. Tlie church case is 
 stated as forcibly as possible, but without exaggera- 
 tion. Nor is there an Englishman or a Scotchman 
 who can refuse to admit the truth of the assertion, 
 that neither the English nor the Scotch people 
 would endure any such appropriation of the eccle- 
 siastical revenues of their respective countries. 
 
 Against this case the advocates of the present 
 system have long been, and still are endeavoiu'ing to 
 show cause : to supply what they deem valid reasons 
 why the Irish people should be compelled to endure 
 this, to them, most offensive grievance ; and why the 
 English and the Scotch should persist in refusing to 
 let the Irish become partakers of religious advan- 
 
286 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 tages similar to those which they themselves enjoy, 
 which they so dearly prize, and which, if necessar}', 
 they would so resolutely maintain. 
 
 But before adverting to the arguments by wliich 
 this Catholic question is encountered, it will be better 
 to illustrate the preceding Report by showing to what 
 humiliating circumstances and grating privations, the 
 Cathohc masses are, or till very lately were, obliged 
 to submit in the performance of their religious 
 duties. 
 
 In the Appendix to the first Report of the Com- 
 missioners of PubUc Instruction, is a return by the 
 Irish Catholic bishops, of the number of Roman 
 Catholic clerg}Tnen in each diocese, and the chapels 
 in which they officiate. From this Report, and from 
 the e\idence of various ^nitnesses examined before 
 Parliamentarv Committees, the state of the Catholic 
 chapels in Ireland, and the manner in which the 
 Catholic people are often reduced to attend divine 
 worship, may be seen. 
 
 "In many places the chapels are in ruins. At 
 Inver and two other places in Raphoe, service is 
 performed in temporar}'^ sheds — at Ballycotton in a 
 store. In one paii: of Galway there is only one 
 chapel in a district extending twenty-five miles — the 
 chapel at Barna is a thatched cabin — in Ballinderry, 
 Clogherr}^, and Desartereight, altars are erected in the 
 open air.^^ * 
 
 ♦ E\ddence quoted in Lev-is's Church Question, pp. 411-12. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 287 
 
 Dr. KellV;, Roman Catholic arclibishop of Tuam, 
 is asked to describe " the character and degree of 
 accommodation afforded to the Catholic population 
 for the celebration of religious worship.'^ 
 
 He savs that "in his diocese there are about 106 
 places of Catholic worship, of which from 15 to 20 
 are slated chapels, all the others thatched — some of 
 them wretched, none sufficiently spacious to contain 
 the congregation, and in many instances the public 
 prayers are celebrated in the open air, having no cover- 
 ing but the canopy of heaven.'' 
 
 Some of these edifices are not above 8 or 10 feet 
 high, 12 or 15 broad, and 40 or 50 long. The people 
 often come from a distance of four, five, or six miles, 
 and when there is no accommodation, thev remain 
 outside under the inclemency of the weather for the 
 purpose of offering up their prayers. 
 
 They have no funds for the erection and repairs 
 of places of worship but voluntary contributions; 
 and the archbishop states " that he never met with a 
 refusal from any Protestant gentleman to whom he 
 applied for assistance towards building a chapel." 
 
 He is asked whether, apart from all considerations 
 of advantage and comfort, it would not be particularly 
 acceptable to the people to be supplied with suitable 
 places of worship ? 
 
 " I know of no act," he replies, " that would give 
 the Catholic population of Ireland so much satisfac- 
 
288 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 tion as to see some an'angement for tlie erection of 
 houses of worship for them/^ 
 
 Mr. Dominick Browne says that " he has often 
 seen a place where on Easter Sunday, Christmas-day, 
 or other festi^^als, there were from ten to fifteen times 
 as many people kneeling outside the chapel on the 
 road as the chapel could contain, and that in the 
 midst of cold and rain." 
 
 Col. Curry (the Duke of Devonshire's agent) bears 
 testimony to the miserable state of chapels in the 
 south, many of which look like so many cabins joined 
 together. 
 
 General Bourke, a magistrate in Limerick, says 
 " that the Roman Catholics would receive a proAision 
 for the repair and maintenance of their chapels with 
 great gratitude ; and that it would be felt as a great 
 kindness. That the payments which the Roman 
 Catholics are obhged to make to their otvti clergy, 
 are considered as a hea"vy charge on them ; and 
 that, in his opinion, the pajonent by the State of 
 the Catholic clergy, would add to the stability of 
 the Protestant Church, by removing the existing 
 complaint of their having two estabhshments to 
 maintain.^' 
 
 The Earl of Kingston says, that the chapels are 
 much too small, and there is not room for a third of 
 the congregations. "Anybody travelling on a Sunday 
 vnll see them kneeling all about the chapel yards^ and 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 289 
 
 in the streets. I certainly tMnk/^ lie adds, ^' tliat as 
 long as the Roman Catholic religion exists in Ire- 
 land, or indeed any other religion, it ought to have 
 places for public worship/^ 
 
 The Rev. Michael Collins — " Had an old chapel 
 in the town of Skibbereen, in such a state, that he 
 was in constant fear of an accident while the people 
 were assembled in it . . . so small that half the 
 congregation ivere obliged to kneel in the yard, or on 
 the highway, and could not hear the priest ; and many 
 stayed away — the old, the infirm, and the delicate — 
 rather than be in the open air. Many may be seen, 
 in severe iveather, and under pelting storms, with their 
 hats off, kneeling in the mud." 
 
 Dr. Doyle says, " That one of the greatest obstacles 
 to the instruction of the people, is the want of suf- 
 ficient room in tlie chapels, an e^il which it is not in 
 their power to remedy ; the pressure on the peasan- 
 try being so great, that they have not the means of 
 building or enlarging chapels, without making the 
 most oppressive sacrifices.^^* He says, '' that they 
 have not enlarged or built any chapel, in his diocese, 
 since his appointment, in which they have not been 
 materially assisted by Protestant gentlemen ; and 
 that this is the only matter in which he can scarcely 
 
 * The most consolatory fact which appears in this evidence is, 
 that of the humanity and Uberality evinced, without any exception, 
 by the Protestant proprietors, in respect to providing CathoUc places 
 of worship ; though such assistance must, of necessity, be casual and 
 insufficient. 
 
290 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 distinguish between those who are adverse^ and those 
 who are friendlj^^ to their claims. All seem to think 
 it a duty to contribute to pro\ide for the people a 
 place of worsliip/^ 
 
 Let any Protestant contemplate these facts with 
 a candid and unprejudiced mind^ and say what liis 
 feelings would be if he were to see his own church 
 ill this degraded and beggarly condition. Her 
 ministers steeped in poverty — her places of worship 
 wretched^ dilapidated, cabins — and himself reduced 
 to the necessity of saying his prayers in the open air, 
 with the wind whistling around him, and the rain 
 pattering on his head ; would he not feel humbled, 
 mortified, and indignant ? But this is not all — if, 
 wliile thus kneeling in the miry road, lie had full 
 in sight the steeple of the parish chui'ch, where he 
 knows that his ancestors once worshipped, but which 
 is now appropriated to the use of a handful of 
 Protestants, insufficient to occupy a tenth part, per- 
 haps, of the edifice : would not the sense of degra- 
 dation and injury kindle a burning resentment, and 
 a resolution not to rest till he had obtained redress 
 for a wi'ong so repugnant to justice and common 
 sense. Can there be any doubt that these would 
 l)e the feehngs of every Protestant on either side the 
 Tweed ? How, therefore, can we expect to find any 
 other sentiments in the hearts of the Irish Catholics, 
 who are not less attached to their religion than we 
 are to ours ? and, if this be so, as most assuredly it 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 291 
 
 is, in what way do we expect to satitsfy the Irish 
 people, and reconcile them to the continuance of this 
 state of things ? We are doing oui' best to improye 
 their moral and physical condition, to raise them 
 from their poverty and destitution, and to spread 
 far and wide among them the benefits of education ; 
 and yet we seem unconscious that in proportion as 
 these efforts are successful, they will become more 
 sensible of the enormity of the ecclesiastical system 
 we uphold, while their power, as well as their inclina- 
 tion, to oyerthrow it, will be continually increased.* 
 To maintain, permanently, such a system, is a task 
 as full of danger as of difficulty. But it is proper to 
 examine the reasons which have been put forward 
 for persisting in the attempt — passing over all the 
 polemical eloquence of Exeter Hall, the charges of 
 
 * Since this was written, I have been infoi-med, on good authority, 
 that the grievance and hardship, of which examples have been quoted, 
 is now ahnost entii'ely remedied. The zeal and the increased wealth 
 of the Cathohcs have been employed not only in building and 
 repairmg chapels generally, but in constructing some very magnifi- 
 cent churches in some of the towns ; and, as before stated, the Pro- 
 testants have always been disposed to contrilnite very hberally for these 
 purposes. Whether the edifices are sufficient for the accommodation 
 of all the worshippers, may be very doubtful ; and, at best, the chapels 
 are often very hmnble buildings. This is, however, certainly not now 
 one of the practical grievances of the country, and the only reason why 
 I do not expimge the evidence and the statement is, that however thmgs 
 may be now, a very few years ago they were in the state here repre- 
 sented ; the recollection of them has certainly never faded away 
 from the minds of the people, and they know that it is not to the 
 Government they ai-e obliged for the improvement that has taken 
 place. 
 
 o2 
 
292 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 idolatry^ Papal pretensions, and obsolete theology — 
 tlie Bull Unam sandam, and the Bull umgenitus^ — 
 let us look at such arguments as the most distin- 
 guished statesmen have offered in defence of the 
 policy they maintain. 
 
 There was a time when any scheme of a pro\ision 
 for the Catholic Church was supposed to require a 
 negotiation with the See of Home, and the idea of 
 the King of England negotiating with any foreign 
 Ecclesiastical power, about the affairs of his own 
 subjects, was considered revolting to the feelings of 
 Enghshmen, and it was maintained that such nego- 
 tiations would be incompatible with the dignity and 
 independence of the British crown. Any thing in 
 the shape of a Concordat would have been at that 
 time considered as a virtual recognition of the fact 
 of the Pope's possessing some authority in this 
 country, an acknowledgment which no minister 
 would then have ventured to make in terms, although 
 the existence of such authoritv has since in manv 
 important instances been practically but indirectly 
 admitted. 
 
 But in the debates on Lord John BusselFs motion, 
 in Februaiy last, the objections were generally put 
 
 * The Bishop of Exeter, in his celebrated letter to IVIr. Cumming, 
 in 1827j laid gi*eat stress on these buUs — of that of Boniface VIII., 
 (unam sanctam) he says, " This audacious claim of papal power is 
 admitted as a genuine and vaUd decree at Maj-nooth ;" and that the 
 bull imigenitus (1712), "so pregnant with mischief, is received and 
 acknowledged without Umitation." — P. 115 — 119. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 293 
 
 upon different grounds. Most of tlie speakers on 
 one side treated an endowment of the CatiioKc, as 
 necessarily involving tlie total destruction of the Pro- 
 testant Church ; and so mixed up in convenient con- 
 fusion the arguments against both propositions, gra- 
 tuitously and inacciu'ately assuming that they Avere 
 identical or inseparable. 
 
 Sir James Graham, indeed, declared that he was 
 not averse to the principle of Catholic endowment, 
 and would have voted for it in 1825, if he had been 
 in Parliament ; but that the time for it was now 
 gone by. He thought the Presbyterians, and Pro- 
 testant Dissenters, would never consent to taxation 
 for payment of the Catholic Church ; that any par- 
 tition of the Ecclesiastical revenues was impossible ; 
 and that the preference which the State gives to the 
 Protestant Church establishment was inconsistent 
 with such a proposition. 
 
 Lord Stanley considered that the question for the 
 Empire to decide was, whether the Protestant Chui-ch 
 should, or should not, be destroyed ; that the pro- 
 vision of the Act of Union, to which the greatest 
 importance was attached, was that by which the 
 Protestant Chui'ch was to continue to be the Church 
 of the United Kingdom ; and that the Koman 
 Catholic Clergy had, at various periods between 
 1757 and 1826, recognised the right of the Pro- 
 testant Clergy to the property and temporalities of 
 the Church. 
 
294 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 The argument of Sir Hohert Peel, as it was the 
 most important, so it was also the most elaborate. The 
 greater part of it was directed against a total destruc- 
 tion of the Irish Church, the security and integrity 
 of Avhich rested upon compacts, made first by the Act 
 of Union, and secondly by the Emancipation Bill ; 
 and, as far as national compacts could have force, 
 a compact existed for maintaining the Irish Church.* 
 The Catholic Church, he added, refused to submit 
 to any regulations or control on the part of the State. 
 What right, therefore, had such a Church to claim 
 for itself the transfer of those privileges, which now 
 belonged to a Chm'ch which did submit to control ? 
 
 He quoted a host of authorities for maintaining 
 the Church ; and contended that, as far as compact 
 and authority went, they had the greatest possible 
 weight in its favour. He was not, however, prepared 
 to say that compact and authority were conclusive ; 
 and that if the social ivelfare of Ireland required the 
 alteration of the law, the compact must be maintained 
 in spite of con^dction : he took no such narrow 
 ground, but believed that it was not for the interest 
 of Ireland, or of any part of Ireland, that the 
 Protestant Church should be destroyed, for which 
 he would assign his reasons — these reasons it is 
 proper to give in his own words. " I am not now 
 to determine what is the best condition in respect to 
 
 * Sir Robert did not say what was the nature of the second com- 
 pact, nor who were the contracting parties to it. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 295 
 
 a new state of society^ in wLich more tlian seven 
 millions profess a religion different from the Pro- 
 testant Church, and not more than two millions 
 profess its faith. I am not considering what is the 
 best constitution for that society : I am to deal with 
 a country in which these compacts and guarantees 
 exist, and with respect to which there is a prescription 
 of 250 years; where the landed proprietors, the great 
 mass of them being Protestants, are identified in 
 feehng with the Established Church. / am now 
 to consider ivliat, under all the circumstances of this 
 case, is the best arrangement to makeJ" He then 
 contended for the necessity of an establishment : 
 " That with the example of establishments in England 
 and Scotland, and with my con^dction of what is 
 necessary for religion, an estabhshment of some 
 kind is necessary in Ireland/^ . . . ^^ I think it* 
 you had no establishment in Ireland, you would have 
 bitterer religious animosities . . /^ ^'^ Is it for 
 the pubhc interest to have an estabhshment ? One 
 of my reasons for maintaining an establishment in 
 Ireland is, because I think it important for Ireland. 
 . . . I look at the question first as it affects 
 Ireland, and next (of this I am certain), if you 
 estabhsh the precedent of no establishment in 
 Ireland, little time ^vill elapse before it is referred 
 to as a precedent for England." ..." There- 
 fore my opinion is in favour of an estabhshment, 
 and of continuing the Protestant Church as that 
 
296 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 establishment/^ After stating the objections to any 
 division of endowment between thi'ee sects, and of 
 transferring the revenues to the Eoman Cathohcs, 
 and against the course " not at once of destroying, 
 but of undermining the Church -/' he says, " there- 
 fore I come to the conclusion, founding myself upon 
 compact, authority, and the conviction of my own 
 mind, that the best course . . . is to maintain^ 
 in its integrity, the Protestant Church/^ He does 
 not mean to exclude all such reforms as may increase 
 the efficiency of its establishment for the purposes 
 of the Church, nor is he compelled to exclude 
 altogether from consideration the position of the 
 E/Oman CathoHc Chui'ch, or to refuse the con- 
 sideration of any regulations which may improve its 
 condition. " Endowment from the State,^^ said Sir 
 Robert, " you absolutely reject ; we have been 
 assured that the voluntary endowment by indi\dduals, 
 might be provided for without any \dolation of con- 
 science, and would be considered as a great boon/^ 
 
 They must be very sanguine who suppose that the 
 Cathohcs will be reconciled, by such reasons as these, 
 to the existing ecclesiastical arrangement : it is in 
 vain that we look for any assertion, much less for 
 any proof, that it is for the benefit of the Eoman 
 Catholics themselves that their Church should be 
 unendowed, and their clergy dependant for a pre- 
 carious and scanty support upon the voluntary 
 contributions of the people. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 297 
 
 Sir Robert Peel indeed said, that it was not for 
 the interest of Ireland, or of any part of Ireland, 
 that the Protestant Church shotJd be destroyed: 
 and that he would assign his reasons for that opinion 
 — but these reasons seem little more than a restate- 
 ment of his opinion (together with some additional 
 facts) in a different form of words. The existence 
 of guarantees and compacts for the integrity of the 
 Church; its having a prescription of 250 years; 
 and its being the creed of most of the landed pro- 
 prietors, may or may not afford valid grounds for 
 maintaining it : but they prove nothing as to its 
 usefulness to the whole body of the people. The 
 truth is, that it is demonstrable that it would be for 
 the interest of a part, and of a very large part of 
 Ireland, that the revenues of the Protestant Church 
 should be otherwdse distributed, for, as by far the 
 largest part derive, at present, no benefit whatever 
 from them, if these revenues were apphed to any 
 general objects, whether of ecclesiastical endowment, 
 or merely those of education and of charity, the 
 great mass of the population must infallibly reap 
 essential advantages from such an appropriation. 
 The argument adduced in support of the Irish 
 Church establishment, from the examples of esta- 
 blishments in England and Scotland, can hardly be 
 sustained, because the most essential element of the 
 analogy between them is wanting, — in England that 
 
 religion is estabhshed which is professed by the 
 
 3 
 
298 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 majority of the English; in Scotland that which is 
 professed by the majority of the Scotch ; — it is diflGi- 
 cult, therefore^ to see how from these examples an 
 argument can be drawn for estabhshing or main- 
 taining in Ireland a rehgion professed by a minority, 
 and detested by the majority of the Irish people. 
 
 But of all arguments,, that which maintains the 
 inviolabihty of the present estabhshment, on the 
 ground of compact, is that on which it is most 
 imprudent to rely ; for if this compact really be so 
 binding on the united legislature, it affords the most 
 powerful of all possible motives to the Catholics to 
 require and struggle for a repeal of the Union : and 
 when it is asserted that we are bound by the Irish 
 Act of Union to maintain the Protestant estabhsh- 
 ment in Ireland, in the same manner as we are 
 bound by the Scotch Act of Union to maintain the 
 Presbyterian Church in Scotland, a comparison is 
 inevitably provoked between the circumstances of 
 the two transactions, involving the question of who 
 were the contracting parties in the one compact, and 
 who were the contracting parties in the other ? 
 
 The Union of Scotland was a fair compact between 
 two independent nations ; the Parliaments on either 
 side really representing the feelings, as they zealously 
 pro\ided for the interests, of their respective con- 
 stituents. The Scotch were deeply attached to their 
 rehgion ; and before they consented to the Union, 
 they insisted on the most solemn guarantees for its 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 299 
 
 security and preservation, — these guarantees they 
 obtained — and as then' attachment to theii' Church 
 continues unabated, it would be a flagrant breach of 
 faith if, for any piu'pose of her own, the stronger 
 party to the compact should attempt any infringe- 
 ment of its conditions. 
 
 But the Irish Union was a transaction of a very 
 different character ; the Irish Parhament notoriously 
 represented only a small minority of the Irish nation ; 
 and the estabhshment wliich they stipulated or 
 consented to perpetuate, was not that of the religion 
 which the majority professed, but the religion of that 
 small minority itself, which was held in abhorrence 
 by three-fourths of the people. 
 
 The contracting parties to the Irish Union were, 
 England on one side, on the other a Protestant 
 minority, in the dependance and under the influence 
 of England ; and it is a mockery to talk of such a 
 compact being irrevocably binding upon the present 
 and all future generations, no matter what may 
 be its fruits, or what may be the wishes and the 
 interests of Ireland in regard to it. But even 
 supposing it to have all the force that can possibly 
 be claimed for it, to what extent does it bind the 
 pubhc faith to the exclusive maintenance of the 
 Protestant Church in Ireland ? 
 
 There is nothing in the Act of Union which, by 
 expression or imphcation, presents any obstacle to the 
 public maintenance of the Irish Cathohc Church ; on 
 
300 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 the contrary, it is well known that the authors of that 
 measure both desired and intended to accompany 
 the Union with such a pro\dsion, and that expecta- 
 tions of some such measure were held out to the 
 Catholics, by persons of influence and authority in 
 the Government at that time, for the express pur- 
 pose of obtaining theii' concurrence and support. 
 The objection therefore can only apply to such an 
 interference with the established Protestant Church, 
 as would amount to a violation of the letter or spirit 
 of the Act. 
 
 In the first place it may be observed that changes, 
 even to this extent, would not necessarily amount to 
 a breach of faith on the part of England. Compacts 
 such as those embodied in the Scotch or Irish Acts 
 of Union, between independent or quasi-independent 
 communities, ought to be construed strictly in favour 
 of the weaker party, which loses its national ex- 
 istence. Now in this case it is England, in connec- 
 tion with a small Irish minority, which insists on 
 maintaining an estabUshed Protestant Church in 
 Ireland. The maintenance of this Church is certainly 
 not an Irish object, for nobody doubts that, if Ire- 
 land became independent, the first act of her domes- 
 tic legislature would be to sweep it away entirely. 
 In touching that Church, therefore, the imperial 
 Government would violate no stipulation made for 
 the benefit of Ireland ; on the contraiy, the imperial 
 legislature, in which the power and interest of 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 301 
 
 England predominate, appeals to tlie Act of Union 
 as necessitating the perpetual maintenance of an 
 institution, against which Ireland herself protests; 
 to which she may with truth declare she was no 
 party, and which is now retained for the supposed 
 advantage of England, associated with a small 
 fraction of Ireland. But no such extensive changes 
 are, in fact, contemplated. Moderate and practical 
 statesmen propose nothing more than an extension 
 of the principle of reform, which has been already 
 sanctioned by Lord Stanley^s Act ; that principle 
 was, that the estabhshment should be apportioned 
 to the spiritual wants of those who belonged to it, 
 and the pay of the clergy to the actual amount of 
 services needed and performed. If the principle on 
 which the Irish bishopricks were reduced, was to be 
 extended to other parts of the establishment, and 
 worked out in such details as the circumstances of 
 the case require, the odium and the scandal wliich 
 now lie hea\y on the Church, might be removed 
 without impairing its efficiency, or giving the Pro- 
 testants any cause to complain of being deprived of 
 those spiritual consolations and aids, which they have 
 been accustomed to enjoy. That such a reasonable 
 and moderate reform as this would excite strenuous 
 opposition, is extremely probable — there would be 
 the clamom' of pride and prejudice, of political and 
 sectarian rancour, while, perhaps, none would cry 
 
302 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 out more loudly tlian the actual possessors of 
 large portions of that Church property^ whose 
 habit it is to inveigh^ with much \drtuous indigna- 
 tion, against any proposal for alienating it to secular 
 uses. 
 
 The Protestant Church (however paradoxical it 
 may appear) in great measure owes the preservation 
 of its endowments to the existence and supposed 
 hostilitv of the rival communion. If the Catholics 
 could by any means have been swept out of the 
 countrv, the Protestants themselves would have 
 quickly discovered that the Church was richer than 
 she need be, and that some of her wealth might be 
 advantageously employed for their secular benefit. 
 One of the objects which is commonly, but errone- 
 ously, attributed to the Catholics of Ireland, is 
 that of restoring theii' Chui'ch to its ancient splen- 
 doui\ The Catholics have repeatedly disclaimed 
 any such desire. The CathoUc laity have long 
 been bound to their clergy by a community of 
 interest and suffering ; but the natural disposition of 
 every people in an advanced state of ci\dlisation, is 
 to be jealous both of the wealth and the power of the 
 clergy; while both the clergy and the laity have 
 concuiTed in resisting the exorbitance of papal 
 encroachments and pretensions. It was the ancient 
 and almost uninterrupted opposition of interests 
 between the laity and clergy in England, and 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 303 
 
 between the clergy and the Court of Rome, which 
 prepared the nation for the Ueformation ; therefore 
 no fear can be more chimerical than that of the 
 Cathohc Church becoming immoderately rich, or the 
 power of the Pope dangerously strong ; on the con- 
 trary, we have much more to dread from the poverty 
 of the priesthood, and their independence of the see 
 of Ptome.* But the Catholics, it is said, have no 
 right to claim any pubHc endowment, because they 
 ^vill submit to no control on the part of the Govern- 
 ment which bestows it. Thev have, in the first 
 place, acknowledged that the State has a right 
 to require ample security for the loyalty and good 
 conduct of all who eat of its bread ; and more than 
 that, it would be unnecessary, as well as imprudent, 
 for the State to demand. We had better supply the 
 Catholic Church with such a sufficient maintenance 
 as shall elevate the character of its clergy, and 
 emancipate them fi'om dependence on popular favour 
 or caprice, but leave their internal ecclesiastical 
 arrangements to themselves : innumerable jealousies 
 and difficulties would grow out of any interference 
 of ours j and if we set about the accompKshment of 
 a great measure of peace and improvement, it would 
 be the height of folly not to do it in the manner 
 most likely to produce a satisfactory and effectual 
 result. With what consistency could a Protestant 
 
 * Hume, vol. iv., p. 140. 
 
304 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 Government insist upon any right of patronage, or 
 mix itself up in any way with purely ecclesiastical 
 Catholic concerns ? We do not allow the Catholics 
 to meddle with our Church. We exclude them from 
 certain offices, merely because ecclesiastical patronage 
 is attached to them — and no Catholic patron can 
 present to any li^dng, although the presentee must, 
 of necessity, be a member of the Established Church, 
 and be approved by the bishop of the diocese.* 
 
 This objection seems to be singularly irrelevant to 
 the actual state of the case. We are not now to 
 determine whether the Catholic religion shall be 
 established or not in Ireland, and whether its bishops 
 and its priests shall or shall not be paid. The Ca- 
 tholic religion has akeady a complete and pubhc de 
 facto, though not de jure, estabhshment ; and the 
 Catholic Clergy are paid and maintained with as 
 much regularity and certainty as our own. Whether 
 the independence of the Catholic Chiu^h, and the 
 absence of all control over it on the part of the 
 Government be desirable or not, may admit of a 
 question; but it is difficult to see how the mischief, 
 if any there be, could be aggravated by the substitu- 
 tion of a provision from the State, for the voluntary 
 contributions of the people ; and surely it is taking 
 a very narrow view, to refuse the Catholics any sup- 
 port from the public funds, on the ground of their 
 
 * A Catholic may sell the next presentation to a hving. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 305 
 
 unwillingness to admit the interference and control 
 of the Government in Ecclesiastical matters. The 
 real question is this : — Do we sincerely and conscien- 
 tiously believe that the voluntary system is the best 
 that can be devised for the seven millions of Catho- 
 lics who exist in Ireland — that it is conducive to their 
 moral improvement, and their temporal welfare — that 
 in its practical operation with respect to both Clergy 
 and Laity it is the system most instrumental in pro- 
 moting virtue and piety, and in rendering them use- 
 ful citizens to the State ? Now, this question seems 
 to place us upon the horns of a dilemma, for if we 
 answer it in the affirmative, we must explain why a 
 religious estabhshment (of which we extol the advan- 
 tages, as exemplified in England and in Scotland,) 
 should be mischievous or useless in Ireland, and why 
 the voluntary system, which in all other great reh- 
 gious communities we hold to be pernicious, should 
 be suitable and beneficial to the Irish alone ; all this 
 we must demonstrate, or else admit that the volun- 
 tary system of Catholic Ireland is maintained in spite 
 of many disadvantages and injiu'ious effects upon the 
 interests and happiness of the people, because it is 
 the will and pleasiu^e of England, and the Irish Pro- 
 testants, that no alteration should be made. 
 
 But we may look in vain through the whole nine 
 nights^ debate in February last, without finding 
 amidst all the arguments, either against the reform 
 
306 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 of the Protestant^ or against tlie endowment of the 
 Catholic Chiu'ch, the expression of a solitary opinion 
 that the present system is good for the Cathohcs 
 themselves. It was defended, not because it worked 
 well, but because it had lasted 250 years ; not be- 
 cause it was congenial to the feelings of the people, 
 but because it was the religion of the owners of the 
 soil. It would be superfluous to dilate upon the 
 advantages of establishments and endowments; but 
 there are some observations of Paley on this head, 
 strikingly apphcable to the case of Ireland.* " With 
 what sincerity, with what dignity,^^ he says, " can a 
 preacher dispense the truths of Christianity whose 
 thoughts are perpetually solicited to the reflection, 
 how he may increase his subscription ? . . . . 
 Moreover a Httle experience of the disposition of the 
 common people will, in every countiy, inform us that 
 it is one thing to edify them in Christian knowledge, 
 and another to gratify their taste for vehement im- 
 passioned oratory ; and that he, not only whose suc- 
 cess, but whose subsistence, depends on collecting 
 and pleasing a crowd, must resort to other arts than 
 the argument and communication of sober, profitable 
 instruction .... for a preacher to be thus at 
 the mercy of his audience, to be obHged to adapt his 
 doctrine to the pleasure of a capricious multitude . 
 . to live in constant bondage to tjTannical 
 
 * Paley, Moral Phil, vol. ii., p. 302. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 307 
 
 and insolent directors .... are circumstances 
 rarely submitted to without a sacrifice of principle, 
 and a depravation of character.^' "<' 
 
 Of all religious communities in the world, that of 
 the Irish Catholics is perhaps the one to which the 
 voluntary system is the most unsuitable, and in 
 which, according to the reports of friends and foes, 
 it is productive of the worst effects. The Catholic 
 Church requu'es the ser^dce of a numerous hier- 
 archy, and the performance of a great variety of 
 sacerdotal functions, so that the celebration of its 
 sacred rites is of necessity costly ; while the people 
 on whom the burthen of supporting this Church 
 falls, are, for the most part, sunk in the lowest state 
 of poverty and destitution. The taxation, volun- 
 tary though it be, falls heavily on the Irish pea- 
 sant ; every payment that he makes to his priest, 
 imposes some painful privation upon him and his 
 family ; and when he knows that his Protestant 
 neighbour is free from any such exaction, and that 
 all the religious wants of the latter are provided for 
 by the State ; and when he feels that this pubhc pro- 
 vision ought in justice and right to belong to him- 
 self, how is it possible to expect that any reasonings 
 however subtle and refined, can appease his discon- 
 tent, and reconcile him to such a state of things? 
 Then what is the practical consequence of the rela- 
 tion estabhshed between the peasantry and the 
 
 * Vol. ii., p. 312. 
 
308 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 priest ? There is, perhaps, no one subject on which 
 the enemies of the Catholics have so continually 
 harped, as that of the low condition, the turbulent 
 characters, and the mischievous designs, of the Ca- 
 thohc priesthood, while their friends lament that the 
 extreme poverty of the clergy deprives them of that 
 freedom and authority which they might exercise for 
 the purpose of a salutarv^ control, and which compels 
 many of them to be passive spectators of the e\dl 
 deeds of those on whom thev are so entirely depen- 
 dent for support. This complaint has been made 
 from the earhest times, and by persons of the most 
 opposite opinions. 
 
 Bishop Law,* in a narrative of what passed at Kil- 
 lala, in the summer of 1798, gives the following 
 reasons why, in every popular commotion in Ireland, 
 some Roman Catholic priests will probably be con- 
 cerned. " The almost total dependence of the Roman 
 Catholic clergy of Ireland upon their people for the 
 means of subsistence, is the cause, according to 
 
 * The folloAving anecdote is recorded of this bishop, which while, 
 according to some, " it furnishes a useful instance of the wise and 
 genuine hberaUty of his character," shocked the strictness of more 
 orthodox authorities : — " When he took possession of the See of 
 Killala, and learnt that almost the whole of the population were 
 Roman Cathohcs, he used these expressions — ' That, as it was a hope- 
 less task to make them Protestants, it would answer every desh'able 
 purpose to make them good Cathohcs.' And, mtli tliis -view, he got 
 printed, at his o^vn expense, and distributed gratis through the 
 diocese, a new edition of the works of the Rev. J. Gother, which 
 breathe piety, and m plain and intelligible language inculcate the 
 morality of the Bible." 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 309 
 
 my best judgment, why, upon every populai' commo- 
 tion, many priests of that communion have been, 
 and, until measures of better policy are adopted, 
 always will be, found in the ranks of sedition and 
 opposition to the estabhshed government. The pea- 
 sant will love a revolution, because he feels the weight 
 of poverty, and has not often the sense to perceive 
 that the change of masters may render it hea^der ; 
 the priest must follow the impulse of the popular 
 wave, or be left behind on the beach to perish."* 
 
 Mr. O^Connell^ in his e\ddence in 1825, admitted 
 that the clergy were " often subject to the influence 
 of very low people.^^ But it is superfluous to multi- 
 ply evidence of this kind, because it is not merely 
 notorious, but continually matter of reproach, that 
 the pecuniarj^ dependence of the priests upon the 
 Catholic people, and the nature of their social rela- 
 tions, obhge the former to become, in many instances, 
 the active but unwilling accomplices of the latter, 
 in their acts of violence and sedition. The only 
 means of putting an end to a state of subserviency so 
 degrading, and so seriously impairing their efficacy 
 for good, are, 1st, to relieve the people from the 
 obligation of contributing to the sustentation of 
 their clergy ; 2ndly, to afford that clergy a decent, 
 honourable, and independent maintenance; and, 
 3dly, to make such ample provision for the education 
 
 * Plowden, vol. iii., p. 716. 
 
310 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 of tliose wlio are destined for lioly orders, eitlier bv 
 an extension of Maynooth, or by otlier foundations 
 of the same description^ as shall eventually raise the 
 character and increase the efficiency of the whole 
 body of the Roman Cathohc clergy^ and render their 
 just influence a source of good — not merely protec- 
 tive of the moral and religious interests of the people, 
 but auxihary to the civil and pohtical interests of 
 the state. 
 
 ^liile the voluntary system produces such per- 
 nicious effects among a people whose vast num- 
 bers, excessive poverty, and excitable dispositions 
 render them especiallj^ unfitted for it, there is no 
 rehorious community for which it would be better 
 adapted than that of the Irish Episcopahans, 
 who now monopolise the whole revenue of the 
 Church. They are, comparatively speaking, few in 
 numbers, being not above one-tenth of the popu- 
 lation of Ireland ; while they possess the greatest 
 part of the landed property, and are generally so 
 affluent that the biu'then of supporting their own 
 religious establishment would fall very lightly upon 
 them. As a matter of equity and justice, no arrange- 
 ment could be more reasonable ; for (as shall 
 presently be more particularly shown) they have 
 taken every opportunity of seizing or appropriating 
 the spoils of the Church ; and, if all its present 
 revenues were now transferred to tlie Cathohcs, or 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 311 
 
 devoted to secular piu'poses, the Protestants might 
 abundantly snppty their own religious wants with 
 the property they have taken from the Church, at 
 different times and in different forms. 
 
 However, no such measure of strict justice is here 
 contemplated. Nothing more is recommended than 
 the adoption of a system of concuiTcnt endowment, 
 based upon the fact, that there are seven miUions 
 of Cathohcs whose rehgious wants must and will 
 be supphed; that they are deprived of the moral 
 and rehgious advantages which the people of Eng- 
 land and Scotland derive from their resp.ective esta- 
 bHshments ; and that the State suffers no less than 
 the Irish people, inasmuch as the tendency of the 
 Catholic voluntaiT system has been proved, by 
 long experience, to be dangerous to the pubhc tran- 
 quillity, and destructive of the harmony which ought 
 to prevail between the two countries. 
 
 Against this case of justice and expediency united, 
 it has been, and sometimes still is, argued, that the 
 State has a conscience, and that it ought not to 
 encourage religious error in any form, or employ the 
 pubhc funds in supporting any creed except that of 
 the Established Church. Without entering into the 
 philosophical question of what is, or ought to be, 
 the conscience of the State, it may be averred at all 
 events that the State is the sole interpreter of the 
 dictates of its conscience ; and the chai^acter of its 
 
312 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 interpretations, and tlie changes whicli its impulses 
 have undergone, are plainly inferrihle from its acts. 
 
 Not long ago, the State proscribed the Roman 
 CathoUc rehgion in Ireland ; it pmiished lajnuen for 
 absenting themselves from the Established Church ; 
 it banished Cathohc priests from the country, and it 
 hanged them if they returned. But the conscience 
 of the State now impels it to take a very different 
 course. The Catholic religion is not merely tole- 
 rated and recognised in Ireland, but it is encouraged, 
 assisted, and courted. 
 
 The State has already, in several particulars, 
 sanctioned the principle of a concuiTent endow- 
 ment ; and it is because the acts of the State do so 
 clearly estabhsh that principle, that thej^ are annually 
 opposed in the House of Commons by a select but 
 zealous minority, who lament over this policy, as 
 involving the commission of a national sin. 
 
 The grant to Maynooth is the first and most 
 striking recognition of the principle of concurrent 
 endowment, nor could it have been stronger, if, 
 instead of such a poor and inefficient establishment 
 as it afi'ords, another Oxford, with its proud halls 
 and ample endowments, had been erected. It is 
 possible to conceive a rigid adherence to a prin- 
 ciple, even at a great sacrifice of convenience and 
 advantage, supposing some clear rehgious obligation 
 to demand its inflexible maintenance ; but to give up 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 313 
 
 the principle as no longer binding and imperative, 
 and at the same time to suffer the e^ils it engendered 
 to continue in full force, would be inconceivable, if 
 we had not the example before us, in the instance of 
 Maynooth. Mr. Gladstone's rehgious opinions made 
 liim deplore the abandonment of the exclusive prin- 
 ciple, but his excellent understanding saw clearly 
 the absurdity and inconsistency of the course that 
 has been pursued. 
 
 ^' The support of Maynooth,'' he says, " was ori- 
 ginally undertaken in the anticipation that a more 
 loyal class of priests would be produced by a home 
 education . . . instead of which, it has been proved 
 that the facihty of education at home has opened 
 the priesthood to a lower and less cultivated class, 
 and one more hable to the influence of secondary 
 motives. It can hardly be denied that this is a well- 
 merited disappointment. If the State gives mujthing 
 of pecuniary support, it should, in consistency, give 
 everything; unless it is bound in conscience to main- 
 tain the National Church, as God's appointed vehicle 
 of religious truth, it should adopt, as its rule, the 
 numbers and the creeds of the several classes of 
 religionists : and in either respect, the claim of the 
 Roman Catholics is infinitely the strongest.""* 
 
 This testimony is the more valuable, on account 
 of the source from which it emanates. The State no 
 longer considers itself bound in conscience to main- 
 
 * Qiurch and State, p. 252, first edition. 
 p 
 
314 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 tain the National Cliurc]i as the exclusive vehicle of 
 rehgious truth. It acknowledges the duty and the 
 expediency of assisting the diffusion of religious 
 instruction amongst the Catholics, and it acts upon 
 the conviction that this must be done thi^ough the 
 only channels by which they will consent to receive 
 it. Why then does it not do the work effectually ? 
 Because it cannot,, or because it dares not — because 
 the State itself is an aggregate of opposite in- 
 fluences and discordant opinions — because error is 
 obstinate and inveterate, and the progress of truth 
 laborious and slow — because innumerable preju- 
 dices, passions, and interests, are perpetually fer- 
 menting, clashing, and creating difficulties, which it 
 requires consummate prudence and patience to 
 grapple with and overcome. 
 
 The annual grants for the education of the poorer 
 classes in England as well as in Ireland, and the 
 principles on which they are administered, equally 
 sanction that of a concurrent endowment for the 
 instruction of all sects, and the neutrahty of the 
 State with respect to sectarian diversities. The 
 principle of a public provision for Catholic cler- 
 gymen has received a further recognition in the 
 Act which authorises Grand Juries to appoint Catho- 
 lic chaplains to jails, and assign salaries to them out 
 of the county rates. A similar authority is given 
 to the Poor Law Commissioners by the Poor Relief 
 Act, and the salaries are paid out of the poor rates. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 315 
 
 All these examples prove that England has delibe- 
 rately and systematically cast away the exclusive 
 principle^ and that she has adopted that of religious 
 neutrahty and concurrent endowment as the best 
 practical solution of the intricate problems presented 
 by the ecclesiastical State of Ireland. It is remark- 
 able that Mr. Gladstone and Dr. Arnold, both able 
 and religious men, should afford examples of a theo- 
 retical affirmation of the doctrine of a state con- 
 science enjoining an ecclesiastical policy of a uniform 
 and exclusive character -, while both of them, when 
 they came to deal practically with ecclesiastical ques- 
 tions, discovered that such principles could not be 
 carried out, and that they were inapphcable to the 
 actual condition of society. 
 
 Mr. Gladstone's work on ^^ The Church in Con- 
 nection with the State,'' has for its object the esta- 
 blishment of this principle : and the Union with 
 Presbyterian Scotland, the toleration of unchristian 
 forms of rehgion in India, and the system of con- 
 current endowment in the colonies, are all more or 
 less matter of grief and scandal to him. Never- 
 theless, as soon as his argument comes in contact 
 with the actual circumstances of the several cases to 
 which he refers, he finds himself unable to sustain 
 his theory ; and sees that it would be impossible to 
 carry it out to its legitimate consequences, without 
 sacrifices which he is much too wise and practical to 
 contemplate or desire. The terms of the Union with 
 
 p2 
 
316 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 Scotland bind us in irrevocable and equal partner- 
 ship AAitli its non-episcopal Cliui'cli. His scruples 
 about Mabometanism and Hindooism are silenced 
 by the consideration of an imaginary Indian com- 
 pact j and he faii'ty admits that the ecclesiastical 
 arrangements in the colonies (which pro^'ide for all 
 rehgious sects) are satisfactoiy to the colonists, and 
 on the whole suitable to their several conditions. 
 
 No two men could start from more opposite points 
 of the religious compass than Mr. Gladstone and Dr. 
 Arnold ; but the latter likewise wished to identify 
 the Church with the State : he denied that the pro- 
 \dnces of the two are distinct ; that the functions of 
 the State are confined to temporal objects, while 
 things spiritual and eternal are exclusively within 
 the domain of the Church. He held that the 
 State comprehends all these ends, and that the 
 civil magistrate ought to legislate for the good 
 of the soul, and for the promotion of religious 
 truth. "It is obvious,^^ he says, "that the object 
 of Christian society relating, not to ritual obser- 
 vances, but to the improvement of the whole of 
 our life, the natural and fit state of the Church is, 
 that it should be a sovereign society or common- 
 wealth j — as long as it is subordinate and municipal, 
 it cannot fally carry its purposes into eff'ect. . . , 
 So long then as the sovereign society is not Christian 
 and the Church is not sovereign, we have two powers 
 alike designed to act upon the whole of our being. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 317 
 
 but acting often in opposition to one another. Of 
 these powers the one has wisdom, the other external 
 force and influence ; and from the division of these 
 things, which ought ever to go together, the wisdom 
 of the Church cannot carry into effect the truths 
 which it sees and loves, whilst the power of Govern- 
 ment, not being guided by wisdom, influences society 
 for evil rather than for good." * He admits, indeed, 
 that this ^dew of Church and State cannot be 
 reduced into practice within any conceivable time, 
 without a miracidous interposition; but he con- 
 siders it as the normal type of religious government, 
 to which we ought as much as possible to approxi- 
 mate in practice. 
 
 This seems to be the very essence of the Glad- 
 stonian theory, and of necessity to exclude all com- 
 prehensive and liberal principles. But it happened 
 that Dr. Arnold was requested by the Secretary of 
 State for the Colonies to propose a plan for a college 
 in Van Dieman^s Land. He accepted the task, and 
 produced a plan, not founded on the identity of 
 Church and State and the unity of true rehgion, but 
 founded on the wholly discordant principle of con- 
 current endowment. t His letters breathe throughout 
 a spirit of toleration and liberality, especially in 
 respect to the Catholics, whose moral claims he 
 repeatedly and emphatically admits. " I know," he 
 
 * The Church, pp. 10, 11. 
 
 t Vide Life and Letters, vol. ii., pp. 250, 253. 
 
318 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 says, " that my principles would lead to tlie esta- 
 blisliment of tlie Roman Catholic religion in three- 
 fourths of Ireland/'* .... "I think that a 
 Catholic is a member of Christ's church just as much 
 as I am, and I could well endure one form of that 
 church in Ireland and another in England.'' 
 
 " We are suffering here from that accursed division 
 among Christians, of which I think the Arch Fiend 
 must be the author. The good Protestants and bad 
 Christians have talked nonsense and more than non- 
 sense so long about Popery, and the Beast, and Anti- 
 christ, that the simple, just, and christian measure of 
 establishing the Roman Cathohc church in three- 
 fifths of Ireland, seems removed by common consent. 
 The Protestant clergy ought not to have their present 
 revenues in Ireland ; so far I agree with Lord Grey, 
 but not in a narrow, low, economical view of their 
 pay being over proportioned to their work, but 
 because church property is one of the most sacred 
 trusts of which the sovereign power in the church, 
 — i. e. the King and Parliament, not the bishops and 
 clergy, — is appointed by God, trustee. It is a pro- 
 ' perty set apart for the advancement of direct chris- 
 tian principles ; first by furnishing rehgious comfort 
 and instruction to the grown-up part of the popula- 
 tion j next, by furnishing the same to the young in 
 the shape of religious education. Now the christian 
 people of Ireland have a right to have the fuU 
 
 * Vide Life and Letters, vol. i., p. 372. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 319 
 
 benefit of their clmreh property, which now they can- 
 not have, because Protestant clergymen they will not 
 listen to. I think then that it ought to furnish them 
 
 with Cathohc clergymen I have one great 
 
 principle which I never lose sight of; to insist 
 strongly on the difference between christian and 
 anti-christian, and to sink into nothing the difference 
 between christian and christian. ^^ * 
 
 This lucid and liberal exposition of the moral 
 rights of the Irish CathoHcs corresponds TNith the 
 theories of Warburton and Palev, that the estabhshed 
 religion of every country ought to be that which is 
 professed by the majority of the people, and that it 
 is the interest of the State itself to form an alliance 
 with the largest rehgious society. f 
 
 * Dr. Arnold's Life and Letters, vol. i., p. 382. 
 
 f Warburton, " Alliance," pp. 243-4, vols. \-ii. and viii. of Works. 
 Paley, vol. ii., pp. 333-4. 
 
 Warburton says, " Hitherto I have considered that alliance which 
 produces an Establishment only under its more simple form, where 
 there is but one religion in the State ; but it may so happen, that either 
 at the time of connection, or afterwards, there may be more than 
 one — if there be more than one at the time of connection, the State 
 aUies itself with the largest of those religious societies. It is fit the State 
 should do so, for the larger the society is, where there is an equality 
 in other respects, the better enabled it will be to answer the ends of 
 an alhance, as having the greatest number under its mfluence. It is 
 scarce possible it should do otherwise, for the two societies being 
 composed of the same individuals, the greatest prevailing rehgion 
 must have a majox'ity of its members in the assem'blies of the State 
 who will naturally prefer then* own religion to any other. * * * 
 
 " From hence it may be seen, why the Episcopal is the Estabhshed 
 Chui'ch in England, and the Presbyterian the Estabhshed Church in 
 Scotland j and the equity of that convention. Hence, too, may be 
 
320 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 The authority of these writers has been constantly 
 admitted_, but the practical conclusion to which their 
 doctrines lead has been evaded, by a fiction as extra- 
 vagant as it is insulting to the Irish nation. It is 
 pretended that the Union made the English and the 
 Irish " one religious society/^ Seven millions of Irish 
 Cathohcs became thus merged in twelve millions of 
 English Protestants, and the former are not recog- 
 nised by the law and the constitution, as beings 
 having religious wants, and invested with corre- 
 sponding religious claims. The theory of Warburton 
 and Paley, is applied in England to the majority of 
 
 seen that the alliance is perpetual, but not iiTevocable. It subsists 
 just so long as the church thereby estabUshed maintains its supe- 
 riority of extent, which, when it loses to any considerable degree, the 
 aUiance becomes void .... and a new alliance is, of course, con- 
 tracted with tlie now prevailing chui'ch, for the reasons which made 
 the old." 
 
 Paley, after lajdng down " the right of the magistrate to estabhsh 
 a particular reUgiou," goes on to say — " A doubt sometimes presents 
 Itself, whether the rehgion he ought to establish be that which he 
 himself professes, or that which he observes to prevail amongst the 
 majority of the people. Now, when we consider the question with a 
 view to form a general rule on the subject (which ^dew can alone 
 furnish a just solution of the doubt), it must be assumed to be an equal 
 chance whether of the two rehgions contains more of truth — that of 
 the magistrate or that of the people — the chance then that is left to 
 truth, being equal upon both suppositions, the remauiing consideration 
 will be, from which arrangement more efficacy can be expected — from 
 an order of men appointed to teach the people their oion religion, or to 
 convert them to another. In my opinion, the advantage hes on the 
 side of the former scheme ; and this opinion, if it be assented to, 
 makes it the duty of the magistrate, m the choice of the rehgion 
 which he estabhshes, to consult the faith of the nation rather than 
 his own." 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 321 
 
 Englishmen^ in Scotland to the majority of Scotch- 
 men, but in Ireland it is not apphed to the majo- 
 rity of Irishmen ; and by the enormous fiction above 
 mentioned, millions of Irish Cathohcs are consi- 
 dered, for aU ecclesiastical purposes, as members of 
 the Established Church. So long as such an ano- 
 maly continues, it will be in vain to expect the 
 Catholics to admit that ^^ justice to Ireland" has 
 really been done ; for, as an able writer in the Edin- 
 burgh Review has truly said, " it is both an injury 
 and an insult, the latter of which has no parallel in 
 history.^^ But this is not the only delusion on which 
 our system of government reposes : by another fic- 
 tion notoriously at variance with fact, it is supposed 
 that the Pope de facto, as well as de jure, has no 
 spiritual jurisdiction wdthin this realm ; and it is the 
 necessity of acting consistently with this absiu'd 
 supposition, that deters us from taking the course 
 which common sense and expediency concur in 
 pointing out. 
 
 The Queen of England is a great Catholic Poten- 
 tate, and it is her interest to establish diplomatic 
 relations with the See of Rome, and to be repre- 
 sented by her ambassador at the Vatican, in order 
 to arrange with the Pope all such matters as apper- 
 tain to the spiritual concerns of her Roman Catholic 
 subjects. This is what other sovereigns do, Pro- 
 testant as well as Cathohc — Prussia and Hanover, no 
 less than Austria and France ; but as ours is said to 
 
 p3 
 
322 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 be a " Protestant constitution/^ * and a " Protestant 
 government/^ it was probably feared^ that any 
 recognition of the Papal authority would be consi- 
 dered inconsistent with the dignity of the crown, 
 and offensive to the feelings of the people. So, for 
 the sake of having the appearance of maintaining a 
 false pretence, we resign the advantages we might 
 derive from the establishment of those amicable 
 relations with the Pope, which would immediately 
 follow a frank and public recognition of his spiritual 
 authority, the actual exercise of which we never 
 
 * What is meant by a Protestant constitution, it would be rather 
 difficult to explain, but nothing is so common as to go on repeating 
 phrases long after they have ceased to have any meaning. Lord Eldon 
 objected to the Emancipation Bill, because it " unprotestantised " the 
 constitution, and his authority, together with the indisputable fact, 
 that any or every member of both Houses of Parliament may be 
 CathoUc, will probably sviffice to take away our right to call our con- 
 stitution " Protestant." But an exempUfication of the theory, and 
 the obhgatious it is supposed to entail, may be seen in a speech of the 
 Bishop of London, last session, on a motion to repeal some obsolete 
 penal acts affecting the EngUsh CathoUcs. On that occasion the Bishop 
 did not oppose the bill, but he spoke against it as follows : — " From 
 the time of the Reformation, the constitution of this country has been 
 not only Protestant, but an anti-popish constitution ; and the legisla- 
 lature has, from time to time, passed acts, &c., and this is the first 
 instance, except the Act of Emancipation, of the legislature proposing 
 to break do\\Ti the acts wliich were framed for the protection of the 
 Protestant constitution. Many of these acts have been passed rather 
 under the influence of panic, than of legislative wisdom ; but they 
 all formed links of that chain on which the Protestant cotistitution 
 depended." — (Debate on 30th July, 1844). The truth is, that our 
 constitution, instead of having free scope allowed to its true genius 
 and spirit, was too long degraded into an instrument of oppression 
 and exclusion. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 323 
 
 attempt to prevent. But what makes the absiirdity 
 and the delusion still greater is^ that while we deny 
 the authority of the Pope in form, we all the time 
 fully and completely recognise it in fact : only we 
 manage to reap the smallest possible benefit from the 
 recognition, and to make it, as will be seen, in a 
 manner altogether unbecoming the dignity of the 
 British crown. 
 
 Not long after the Emancipation Act of 1829, it 
 was found, that with millions of Catholics scattered 
 over all parts of the empire, it was indispensable that, 
 for the purpose of communication, we should esta- 
 blish diplomatic relations, of some sort, with the 
 Pope. Our government dared not do so openly 
 and avowedly : they knew that all the bigotry and 
 folly in the country would have instantly been roused 
 to join in full chorus against such an abomination ; 
 but the necessity was urgent, and could not be 
 postponed, and, accordingly, the following expe- 
 dient was adopted : in 1832,* the late Mr. Aubyn 
 (then attache to the legation at Florence), was sent 
 to Rome, where he was ordered to reside, without 
 any diplomatic character, and ostensibly as a private 
 gentleman ; but by a sort of clandestine diplomacy, 
 
 * Of coui'se, it is not intended to blame the appointment of Mr. 
 Aubyn — quite the contrary — and probably at the time no better 
 expedient could have been adopted. It is the prejudice which pre- 
 vented the appointment of a regular minister, that is alone obnoxious 
 to censure. The present Government have done exactly what the last 
 did. They have appointed a successor to Mr. Aubyn, precisely on 
 the same terms, as it is understood. In both cases the individual 
 appointments have been not merely unexceptionable, but excellent. 
 
324 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 he was put in secret and aiitliorised^ but unacknow- 
 ledged^ communication with the Cardinal Secretary 
 of State, with whom he confidentially transacted 
 business, exactly in the same manner, and for the 
 same pui'poses, as if he had been the accredited 
 representative of his sovereign. 
 
 Now let a case be imagined — let us suppose a 
 Lord Palmerston, or a Lord Aberdeen, appointed 
 Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, who, on re- 
 cei^dng the seals from the hands of the Sovereign, 
 would take the following oath : — " I do declare that 
 no foreign Prince, Prelate, Person, State, or Poten- 
 tate liath, or ought to have, any jurisdiction, power, 
 preeminence, or authority, ecclesiastical or spiritual^ 
 within this realm : so help me God ! ^^* Fresh from 
 this solemn declaration, that no foreign Prince or 
 
 * The greatest absurdity, in regard to oaths, is the oath which a 
 Scotch lord heutenant is still obliged to take. Though the last of the 
 Pretenders has been sleeping for more than half a century in the 
 vaults of St. Peter's, the Scotch lieutenant is made to declare before 
 God and the world, that he believes, on his conscience, that the per- 
 son taking on liimself the title of Kmg of England has no right to 
 the crown, and that he renounces his allegiance to him, &c. If this 
 be not a profane mockery, and taking God's name in vain, I know not 
 what is : — 
 
 " I ■ ^ .... acknowledge and declare, on my 
 
 conscience, before God and the world, that our sovereign lady. Queen 
 Victoria, is lawful and rightful Queen of this realm ; and I do solemnly 
 and sincerely declare, that I do believe in my conscience, that the 
 person pretended to he Pnnce of Wales during the life of the late Khig 
 James, and since his decease, pretending to he, and talcing wpon himself 
 the style and title of King of England, hy the name of James the Tliird, 
 
 . . . . hath not any right or title whatsoever to the Crown of 
 this realm .... And I do renoimce, refuse, and abjure any 
 allegiance or obedience to him," &c. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 325 
 
 Prelate hath any spiritual authority in these islands, 
 let us suppose the secretary repairing to the Foreign 
 Office,, and writing a dispatch to the British agent at 
 Rome, instructing him to request the Pope to do the 
 Queen of England the favour to exercise his spiritual 
 jurisdiction in some manner that would be agree- 
 able to her. Can anything be conceived more 
 inconsistent, and more undignified, than such a 
 private appeal to an authority, the existence of which 
 we publicly and ostensibly affect to deny ? Nor is 
 this an imaginary case, but one which has actually 
 occun'ed. 
 
 When a Roman Catholic See in Ireland became 
 vacant a few years ago, according to the usual custom 
 three names were transmitted to the Pope, from 
 which he was to select one. The British Government 
 was desirous that the choice should not fall upon a 
 particular indi\'idual, and a request was preferred to 
 his Holiness, through the channel of our agent, that 
 he would bestow the vacant mitre on either of the 
 other two candidates; but the Pope said, that since 
 the Behef Bill had passed, the Enghsh Government 
 was constantly asking favours of him, and requiring 
 his assistance; that he did not find such a disposition 
 to oblige him, and conform to his wishes, as to induce 
 him always to comply with theirs, and therefore 
 he should not pass over the person objected to ; 
 who consequently received the appointment. Now 
 this fact seems to prove, first, the egregious folly 
 
326 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 of doing things by halves, and ineffectually; and_, 
 secondly, that if we were to deal ^ith the Pope 
 in a spirit of frankness and cordiality, and in a 
 manner befitting the dignity of both the contracting 
 pai'ties, he would readily co-operate with us in any 
 measures conducive to the advantage of the people 
 of Ireland, and the security and tranquilhty of the 
 Empire.* 
 
 The Pope would no doubt be exceedingly gratified 
 if his authority were formally acknowledged by 
 the Queen; and when this was done, nothing is 
 more certain than that we should find every dis- 
 position on his part, to make its exercise harmonise 
 with the temporal objects of oiu' Government. At 
 all events, it is clear that if the papal power is in any 
 way mischievous or dangerous, our present pohcy 
 aggravates that mischief and danger, and it is 
 absurd to complain that the Pope is formidable to 
 us, and at the same time refuse to adopt the ob^dous 
 means of making him oui' friend. 
 
 Such an agent as we employ at Rome, however 
 able the individual may be, never can acquire the 
 weight and authority with which a regular repre- 
 sentative of the British crown would be invested, 
 and the Pope is naturally enough provoked at our 
 
 * When tlie Rebellion broke out in Canada, we requested the Pope 
 to exert his authority with the Roman CathoUe priests to induce them 
 to assist us in quelling the disturbance ; and his HoUness addressed 
 a pastoral letter to them for that purpose, which was attended by the 
 best effects. 
 
EJJGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 327 
 
 avoiding a public acknowledgment of the relations 
 which, for our own convenience, we privately cultivate 
 with him. 
 
 In urging the two measures of the endowment 
 of the Catholic Church, and the reform of the 
 Protestant Establishment, and at the same time 
 passing over the other topics of Irish complaints, 
 I am actuated by a conviction, first, that the denial 
 of these measures constitutes the only great griev- 
 ance which England is guilty of imposing upon 
 Ireland ; and secondly, that it is the only one 
 which is entii'ely remediable by legislation. On 
 all other questions aff'ecting Irish interests, there 
 exists a sincere and anxious disposition to promote 
 her welfare and prosperity. But although a satis- 
 factory settlement of the ecclesiastical questions 
 is an indispensable condition of a cordial and 
 permanent union between the two countries, and 
 sooner or later such a settlement must and will 
 be brought about, it is impossible to be insen- 
 sible to the manifold difficulties with which the 
 question is beset ; and it must, however reluctantly, 
 be admitted, that at present no propositions for 
 a complete and final arrangement, embracing an 
 adequate provision for the whole body of the 
 Catholic clergy, could be made with a reasonable 
 
328 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 prospect of success. If the people of England can 
 be brought to see tlie justice and expediency of such 
 a measure^ the fallacy of the objections to it on the 
 score of principle, and the interest they have in a 
 cordial reconciliation with Ireland, one great obstacle 
 will be removed ; but it is at this moment quite as 
 much from the Irish themselves that difficulties 
 would be likely to arise in respect to the question of 
 endowment. There was a time when the Cathohc 
 clergy would have cheerfully accepted a pro^dsion 
 from the State ; but the bitter animosities that have 
 since prevailed, and the determined manner in which 
 the leaders, both lay and clerical, have repeatedly 
 and recently repudiated all idea of stipendiary 
 endowment, would probably ensure the rejection of 
 any pecuniary offer which the Government might be 
 disposed to make to them. The Catholics are, 
 unhappily, so alienated from the British connection, 
 and so full of suspicion and distrust, that even a 
 measure, like the Charitable Bequests Act, which 
 was expressly demised for their gratification and advan- 
 tage, finds no universal favour in their eyes. The 
 clergy fancy that we want to sow di\dsions among 
 them, and to obtain an undue influence and faculty 
 of interference in the concerns of their Church; 
 while Mr. O'Connell thunders awav aorainst the bill 
 with his usual vehemence, and in one sweeping con- 
 demnation inveighs against all measures ha\ing a ten- 
 dency to connect the Catholic Chiu'ch with the State, 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 329 
 
 It is certain that the great leader_, and the Catholic 
 clergy generally, have desperately committed them- 
 selves against the acceptance by the CathoHcs of 
 any support from the State ; but it must be recol- 
 lected that there is no principle which forbids such 
 an arrangement, and that in 1825 Mr. O'Connell 
 was a warm advocate for it ; while all the very ex- 
 cellent reasons he gave in favour of ^' the golden link^' 
 are just as cogent now as they were then — his 
 evidence is veiy remarkable; and it would puzzle 
 even his Protean astuteness to show, that what was 
 then so desirable, is now equally objectionable. 
 
 " Does it occur to you,^^ was he asked, " that the 
 equahzation of political rights enjoyed by Catholics 
 and Protestants Avould be conveniently and advan- 
 tageously accompanied by some legislative provision 
 for the Cathohc clergy, dependent upon the will and 
 pleasure of the crown? — Yes, it does. I think it would 
 be very desii-able in that case, that the Government 
 should possess a legitimate influence over the Catholic 
 clergy ; so that, in all the relations of the State with 
 foreign powers, the Government should be as secure 
 of the Catholic clergy as they are now of the Pro- 
 testant clergy. I think, therefore, it would be very 
 desirable that the Government should have that 
 reasonable bond that would bind the Catholic clergy 
 in interest to them, as well as in dutv. I should 
 be very desirous myself of seeing Government pos- 
 sess that influence.^' — Minutes of Evidence before 
 
330 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OP 
 
 Lords' Committee; Daniel O" Connell, Esq., llth March, 
 1825. 
 
 '^ Do you think the establishment of a State pro- 
 vision for the Catholic clergy would produce any 
 alteration in the character, conduct, and influence, 
 of the Catholic priests ? — In the event of the equa- 
 lization [of civil rights], I do not think it would 
 destroy their influence at all. I think that it would 
 have some tendency to improve their character ; but 
 however mistaken I may be, my own opinion is very 
 high of the general character of the Cathohc clergy 
 at present, and, therefore, I speak of improvement 
 with diffidence and doubt. 
 
 "From your knowledge of the feelings of the 
 Catholic clergy, are you convinced that, as accom- 
 panying emancipation, they would be generally ready 
 and willing to receive State provision ? — I have not 
 the least doubt upon my mind that they would be 
 quite ready, as accompanying emancipation. 
 
 " You have said that, in general, those persons 
 who have been educated for the priesthood are 
 lowly born ? — Yes ; so generally, as to partake, in 
 some measure, of universahty. 
 
 " If there were an equalization of rights, and pro- 
 vision made for the Catholic clergy, do you think 
 that one of the consequences would be, persons 
 better connected — gentlemen — going into the Catho- 
 lic priesthood ? — I am sure it would be one of the 
 consequences ; it is natui'al it should be so ; for at 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 331 
 
 present,, with, I beKeve, very strong dispositions to 
 bestow charity, and abundant opportunities if they 
 had the means of bestoTving it, they are li\dng, them- 
 selves, upon a kind of charity, obtained fi'om very 
 poor persons ; a situation extremely painful, and to 
 which the sons of gentlemen will, of course, very 
 reluctantly and only ffom superior enthusiasm — I 
 will call it — submit ; not meaning myself to tarnish 
 it by calling it enthusiasm/^ — Lords^ Committee, 
 1825; evidence ofD. O'Connell, Esq., Wth March. 
 
 Nevertheless, there are many things which might 
 be done for the Irish Catholics, and which they would 
 not refuse at our hands ; and if these were tendered 
 in a hberal and conciliatory spirit, it would pave the 
 way for effecting more complete and comprehensive 
 arrangements hereafter. The especial points to which 
 the government might direct its attention are these : — 
 First, Maynooth is said to have proved a failure ; let 
 it be a failure no longer. To the object originally 
 contemplated, of rearing up a home-educated clergy, 
 let means be appHed commensurate with the impor- 
 tance of the design -, whether it be by the extension 
 and improvement of the present college, or by the 
 establishment of other foundations, is comparatively 
 unimportant. The essential point is, that the State 
 should contribute as largely as the necessity of the 
 case requires, for the purpose of ensuring to the 
 Catholic community an adequate supply of clergy- 
 
332 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 men, well educated and prepared for the ministry; 
 and that the whole arrangements should be con- 
 certed with the heads of the Catholic Church, to 
 whose "dishes and opinions on the subject a defe- 
 rential attention ought to be paid. 
 
 Secondly, The status of the Cathohc clergy might 
 be acknowledged thi'ough all the gradations of the 
 hierarchy ; the bishops, as bishops of theii' respective 
 sees, and the inferior clerg}^, as lawfully appointed 
 priests of their several parishes.* 
 
 Thii'dly, The places of Catholic worship, where 
 they are in decay, should be repaired, and where 
 they are deficient, should be supplied. Such 
 boons as these, the priests might accept without 
 any compromise of their independence : and when 
 it shall be manifest to them that, in tendering an 
 endowment for their church, we have no design of 
 impairing their efficiency, or of diminishing their 
 legitimate influence over their flocks, but that our 
 simple object is to reheve the people from a burthen 
 that oppresses them, it is difficult to beheve that they 
 will continue to reject what it would be no \dolation 
 of their principles to accept. 
 
 Why, for example, should not a sum of money be 
 voted by Parhament, and placed at the disposal of 
 the Roman Cathohc bishops, to be employed at their 
 own discretion, for ecclesiastical uses ; without any 
 
 * This is \Trtually, but indirectly, done by the nominations made 
 under Charitable Bequests Act. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 333 
 
 condition being annexed to the grants except that 
 tliev should render an account,, to be laid before 
 Parliament;, of the manner in which the money has 
 been applied ? This would be a mark of confidence 
 and good-will, which, if met in a corresponding 
 spirit, might lead to the happiest results. It is 
 impossihle to beheve that the Irish clerg^r are so 
 unhke the clersrv of everv other church, as to be 
 really averse to the good things wliich the State is 
 able to bestow upon them ; and the way to reconcile 
 them to the soft practice of acceptance, must be by 
 the frankness, sincerity, and cordiality of our ad- 
 vances towards them. The clergy evince no reluc- 
 tance to be publicly remunerated for their profes- 
 sional ministrations in those institutions where their 
 services are required ; and in jails, military hospitals, 
 and poor-houses, they cheerfully receive the stipends 
 that are allotted by the Government. But, while 
 these symptoms encourage a notion that the priests 
 would not, in the end, prove so very coy and for- 
 bidding, it is impossible to overrate the importance 
 of making some speedy exertion to bring them to a 
 better disposition than that which they at present 
 evince. Possessing enormous power,* they certainly 
 are not inchned to make a beneficial use of it. The 
 
 * The priests have always been the gi'eat actors in modem Irish 
 history. Dr. Hussey was the man who first came forward in 1786. 
 It was Dr. Doyle who roused the clergj' from their maction ; and 
 Dr. Kelly, bishop of Waterford, who, by his personal authority, car- 
 ried Villiers Stuart's election. 
 
334 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 great majority of them are hot Repealers — it is they 
 who work all the machinery of Repeal. The great 
 meeting at Clontarf, the last of the Monster Meet- 
 ings, was convened upon a requisition signed by 
 twenty-five priests, and not by one layman. It may 
 be very shocking and very wrong, that men, who 
 ought to be devoted to their religious duties, should 
 be thus deeply engaged in agitation of the most 
 mischievous character ; but when the class from 
 which they spring and their miserably defective 
 education are considered, our wonder that they are 
 what we see them gives way to the much greater 
 wonder that we have gone on so long permitting 
 such a system to flourish in rank luxui'iance ; and 
 though fully ahve to all its practical consequences, 
 have never made the smallest attempt to cure the 
 evils it engenders. 
 
 Lastly, we ought forthwith to put an end to the 
 anomaly of quasi-diplomatic relations with the Pope, 
 acknowledge him to be dejure, as he is de facto, the 
 head of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland ; and 
 invite him to join with us in a spirit of amity and 
 mutual confidence in the arrangement of all measures 
 requiring the concurrence of his spiritual authority 
 with the temporal power of the State. 
 
 But in deahng with the Protestant EstabHshment 
 of the Irish Church, difficulties more formidable 
 undoubtedly present themselves; nor can the question 
 be mooted at all, without raising a host of sectarian 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 335 
 
 and political passions. That Church and its history 
 present a melancholy subject of contemplation. 
 Founded in proscription and \iolence, it has not only 
 imperfectly fulfilled the duties and accomplished the 
 objects of a Christian church, but it has been, from 
 first to last, the source of an incalculable amount of 
 moral and pohtical evil j utterly failing to draw within 
 its fold the great body of the Christian flock, it has 
 itself been made an object of spoliation, and the instru- 
 ment of an insulting domination. Authentic records 
 show that for nearly two hundred years the Irish Pro- 
 testants were more intent upon plundering the Church 
 of its revenues, than upon assisting in the diffusion of 
 its doctiines ; nor was it without the most vigorous 
 exertions that the Church was at last raised from the 
 state of degradation and poverty to which spohation 
 had reduced it. From the earhest period after the 
 Reformation, down to the middle of the last century, 
 we find reiterated complaints of the penury and 
 inefficient condition of the Irish Church,* although 
 many great and good men appeared in it, from time 
 to time, who were sincerely desirous of exalting and 
 purifying its character, and extending the sphere of 
 its usefulness. It is evident it was not beloved or 
 respected by the Episcopahans themselves, while it 
 was detested by the Cathohcs, was nearly as odious 
 
 * Davies's Tracts, p. 266. Mant, Hist., vol. i., pp. 279, 400, 448-50 ; 
 vol. ii., p. 72. 
 
336 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 to the Protestant Dissenters_, and was regarded by 
 statesmen and governments^ ratlier as a secular and 
 political instrument, than a spiritual institution, the 
 primary function of which, was the inculcation of 
 rehgious principles, and the diffusion of religious 
 knowledge. It is needless to produce proofs of the 
 early condition of the Church, or of the character of 
 the clera^v, because thev are akeadv abundantly scat- 
 tered tlu'ough the preceding pages. The Protestant 
 landlords (for nearly all the landlords were Protes- 
 tants) availed themselves of the confusion of the 
 times to grasp every fragment of Church property 
 they could possibly lay their hands on,* and as long 
 as they could let their land high, they cared not f 
 how much the clergy were robbed of their just dues. 
 The gentry were unwilling the Clergy should re- 
 cover the glebes of which the Church had been 
 
 * " The greatest part of the clergy throughout the kingdom have 
 been stripped of their glebes, by the confusion of times, by violence, 
 fraud, oppression, and other unlaw'ful means, aU which glebes are 
 in the hands of the laity ; so now they are forced to be at the mercy 
 of landlords for a small piece of gromid in their parishes, at a most 
 exorbitant rent, whereon to build a house." — Swiff s Works, vol. viii., 
 p. 428. 
 
 t Some gentlemen have let their lands so high, that, ^\'ithout robbing 
 the clergy of their just dues, they are satisfied their rents can hardly 
 be paid ; and others fall in with them that they may be able to raise 
 their lands. . . . Some hope they might come in for plunder if 
 the bishops were stripped ; and most of the needy gentry envying to 
 see the bishops « . . by a proper fi-ugality, easy in their circum- 
 stances. — Mant, vol. ii., p. 353. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 337 
 
 stripped, or possess any at all, " for/^ say they, " they 
 will live in their parishes and have a place to draw 
 their tithes, and we shall not have them at what rate 
 we please/^ 
 
 While the most atrocious penal laws were enacted, 
 under the pretence of converting the Catholics, it 
 was acknowledged that no rehgious motives were at 
 the bottom of these measures j and that the conver- 
 sion of the Cathohcs was rather deprecated than 
 desired by the ruling Powers. Archbishop King, in an 
 unpubHshed letter witten in 1724, says,* " It is plain 
 to me, by the methods that have been taken since 
 the Reformation, and which are yet pursued by both 
 the ci\il and ecclesiastical powers, that there never 
 was, nor is, any design that all should be Protestants.^' 
 And during the primacy of Boulter, so e\idently 
 were the spiritual interests of the Church considered 
 subordinate and subsidiary to the secular interests of 
 the State, that the historianf of the Irish Church says, 
 " It is remarkable, on a perusal of the Primate^s let- 
 ters, that very little is said of the moral, the rehgious, 
 
 * *' One would think that the world were somewhat concerned 
 about religion, for those bills that passed last were on pretence of 
 weakening the popish interest ; but, after all, there is not the least 
 consideration of religion at the bottom : and we must learn from this 
 not to judge from appearances." — Letter of Bishop King ; Mant, 
 vol. ii., p. 96. 
 
 + " We shall, I believe, have some consideration of methods to con- 
 vert the natives, but I do not find that it is desired by all that they 
 should be converted. . . . There is a party among us who have 
 little sense of religion, and heartily hate the Cluu'ch," &c. &c. — Alp. 
 King to Swift ; Swift's WorJcs, vol. x., p. 204. Mant, vol. ii., p. 230. 
 
338 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 the theological^ or the literary, characters of those 
 who are put forward for supplpng the yacancies in 
 the episcopate, and that theii' recommendations rest 
 in a prominent degree on political and secular consi- 
 derations."* 
 
 It is not surprising that such a Church was an in- 
 strument of more evil than of good; its ways were 
 not the ways of pleasantness, nor its paths the paths 
 of peace ; the characteristic virtues of Christianity, 
 charity and humility, were not the virtues which it 
 promoted among the Protestants, and in the sight of 
 the Roman Cathohcs it stood as a monument of power 
 ill used, and the symbol of an odious ascendancy. 
 There can be no doubt that the chai'acter of the 
 Church is greatly altered for the better,t but the 
 sins of the fathers have been visited upon their chil- 
 dren unto the third and fourth generation, and it is 
 difficult to reconcile the present race of Catholics to 
 the existence of a Church, which is not only identified 
 in their minds with innumerable injuries and morti- 
 fications, but has been a constant obstacle to their 
 
 * Mant, vol. ii., p. 424. 
 
 f Nevertheless, Archbishop Magee, in his famous Charge in 1822, 
 gives but a moderate character of the clergy, and of the result of 
 their labours : — " By a deficiency of zeal and devotedness, we, and 
 those who have gone before us, the ministry of tlie Established Oim-ch, 
 have to answer for no small portion of that in-eligion which 
 now too fatally prevails among our people. At no time has an indif- 
 ference to religion been more prevalent, or a disrespect to its lawful 
 ministry been more extended." It was m this Charge that he gave 
 such mortal offence to tlie Catholics, by talking of their Church as the 
 church without a religion." 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 339 
 
 attainment of the most important objects.* On the 
 other hand, it is clear that the Protestants of both 
 countries wonkl abhor a proposal to sweep away 
 entirely the Irish Protestant establishment,, and it 
 would be impolitic, in framing a measm-e of justice 
 and conciliation, to excite resentments and heart- 
 burnings not less violent than those it is our object 
 to allay. Nor have the Catholics reason on theii' 
 side, when they disclaim any "wish to possess the 
 endo^vvments of the Church themselves, but insist 
 that the Protestants shall no longer enjoy them. If 
 
 * Nothing can better exemplify, and at the same time account for, 
 the hostile feelings of the Catholics against the Church, than the 
 debates on the Irish Corporation Reform. In England, Corporation 
 Reform was debated on its own merits ; in Ireland, the argument all 
 turned on whether the reform was likely to be dangerous to the 
 Chm*ch. " I rejoice," said Mr. Charles Buller, " to hear it avowed 
 by its friends, that in order to keep it up it is necessary to deprive 
 Ireland of almost every institution which you tliLak good for Great 
 Britain : — this is the real mischief of that Church. Its mere existence 
 has been a constant cause of irritation to the community — a perver- 
 sion of a great national fund to the miserable purpose of a sect and a 
 faction, and an obstacle to the endo\Mnent of the natural rehgiou in 
 the country which, perhaps more than any other, requires the con- 
 nection of the State with the Church of the people. Yet, in order to 
 maintain this institution in defiance of the hostihty of the nation, you 
 have been obUged to pervert every other institution that belongs to it ; 
 and the train of auxihary grievances has been far more than those 
 wliich they have been summoned to aid." Instead of this charge 
 bemg denied, it was acknowledged and defended. Lord Stanley said 
 that, " Fearless of the scorn and contumely with wliich the very name 
 of Protestant appeared to be met on that side of the House .... 
 he must assert one inteUigible and insurmovmtable objection to the 
 measure — that it was calculated for the overthrow of the Irish Pro- 
 testant Church." — Vide Debate in 1837, 1th and 8th Feb. 
 
 q2 
 
340 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 they -were to urge a better title to the Ecclesiastical 
 revenues than that of the Protestants, it might be 
 difficult to controvert such a claim ; but to demand 
 the exclusive appropriation of these funds to secular 
 uses, for which they never were intended, is a pre- 
 tension unfounded in either justice or expediency, 
 and which both the pride and the religious feeling of 
 England will most assuredly resist. 
 
 However morally defective the original title of the 
 Irish Protestant Chiu'ch to its revenues, such a revo- 
 lution as woidd utterly destroy it would be impossi- 
 ble if it were attempted, and would be unwise if it 
 were possible. But it is desirable, for the sake of 
 peace and union, that the Establishment should be 
 reduced to a level with the real and reasonable wants 
 of the Protestant community, that all offensive maid- 
 festations of superiority and ascendancy shoidd cease ; 
 not that a triiunph should be given to the Cathohcs 
 over the Protestants, as a sort of compensation for 
 past humiliation, but that an equality should be 
 brought about as complete as would be compatible 
 with the difference that must always exist in the 
 
 ft' 
 
 habits and circumstances of the Clergy of the two 
 communions. 
 
 One of the great difficulties which invariably pre- 
 sents itself to every plan, is the objection to the 
 principle of secular appropriation. Though this is so 
 sensitively put forward, the history of the Irish 
 Church presents a continual series of such appropria- 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. Ml 
 
 tions. The systematic and determined course of 
 secular spoliation^ for about a century and a half, has 
 already been shown. 
 
 In 1735, the tithe of agistment, to which the 
 Clergy were entitled both by common law and by 
 statute, was ^Trtually taken from them by a vote of 
 the Irish House of Commons. It was resolved in 
 that Protestant House, that their other Ecclesiastical 
 emoluments afforded them a plentiful provision ; that 
 the agistment tithe was grievous, builhensome, and 
 injurious to the Protestant interest, and that any 
 attempts they might make to obtain the agistment 
 should be opposed. They were consequently terri- 
 fied out of making any such attempt, and the tithe 
 of agistment was lost to the Chui'ch, and quietly con- 
 fiscated to the benefit of the landlords.* 
 
 Since 1830, the reforms that have taken place, 
 although not on the whole injmious to the Church, 
 have been extremelv advantageous to the laitv. 
 The tithe commutation gave the landlords twenty- 
 five per cent, of the whole amount of tithe. The 
 abolition of chui'ch cess was indirectlv beneficial to 
 them ; and the power of converting their ecclesiasti- 
 cal leases into fee-simples, has turned out so good a 
 bargain for the lessees, that it has been calculated to 
 be worth generally not less than fifty per cent., or to 
 
 * The million which ParUament voted to the Irish clerffv in lieu of 
 
 Oft. 
 
 theii' tithes, was a benefit to the landlords. Thev got their rents all 
 the better, and the gi'eatest part of the arrears was never recovered. 
 
342 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 have doubled the value of their property. The prin- 
 ciple of this measure is very similar to that proposed 
 for the EngHsh Chui'ch in 1837, andwliich was stre- 
 nuously and successfully opposed; the great dif- 
 ference in the two cases being, that in the one, it 
 was proposed to apply the surplus to piu'poses of 
 public utility, and in the other, the benefit was 
 bestowed on the landlords. It would be unfair and 
 untrue to call these acts of spoliation; but they 
 undoubtedly indicate any thing rather than a pious 
 horror of secular appropriation. 
 
 During the debates on the Tithe Commutation 
 Acts, the sinecures in the Church were exposed, and 
 proposals made to get rid of them, which were always 
 resisted. It was shown that there were 151 parishes, 
 in which there were no Protestants at all; 194, in 
 which there were less than 10; 198 less than 20; 
 133 less than 30 ; 107 less than 40, and 77 less than 
 50 — the aggregate incomes of these livings being 
 58,000/. a year; and there were 723 parishes ha\ing 
 no churches or glebe-houses, and where, of course, 
 no clergyman could reside, nor any ser^dce be per- 
 formed. At one end of this vast anomaly, is found 
 an unnecessary number of bishops, with sees still 
 more unnecessarily rich ; and at the other end, an 
 ill-paid body of working curates. It may be ima- 
 gined that these ^dces in the system are matter of 
 indifference to the Catholics, who have nothing to 
 gain or lose by a better distribution of the eccle- 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 343 
 
 siastical fiinds. But tliis is not tlie case ; such a 
 reform as would strip tlie Church of its in^ddious 
 splendour^ and make it a good working instrument, 
 would disarm much of their hostility to the Esta- 
 bhshment. As it is, they hate it from old asso- 
 ciation ; they hate it because it constantly stands 
 in the way of the improvements and advantages 
 which they have a right to expect, and which, but 
 for this Church, they would have no difficulty in 
 obtaining. How can they feel otherwise, when they 
 are continually reminded that the primary object of 
 government and legislation in Ireland is the main- 
 tenance of the Protestant Church, and that to this 
 end all theu' civil rights, enjoyed by the rest of their 
 fellow- subjects, must, if necessary, be postponed. 
 Then, what is the inference which they cannot fail to 
 draw from the eternal wrangling about appropria- 
 tions — from the jealousy of any application of 
 Church funds to any other than to Chiu'ch pur- 
 poses, coupled with the facility with which the prin- 
 ciple is waived or compromised in favour of the 
 landed interest. The inference must be, that pro- 
 vided no part of the property of the Church be 
 directly or indirectly made instrumental to the 
 benefit of the Catholics as Catholics, it signifies com- 
 paratively Httle how it is disposed of. It may go to 
 swell the incomes of the bishops, or to keep up sine- 
 cure livings, or it may pass into the pockets of the 
 landlords. Anything rather than apply the revenue 
 
314 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 to purposes in wliich Catliolics are equally interested 
 with Protestants. What the Protestants want is 
 secui'itv for their Chui'ch : what the Cathohcs want 
 is religious equality : not an exact and rigorous 
 equality^ but such as would be sufficient for practical 
 pui'poseSj and would eflTectually remove from their 
 minds the sense and the appearance of inferiority.* 
 It is marvellous that the friends of the Church should 
 not perceive that the only secuiity attainable, and 
 worth having, is that which would result from the 
 Protestant Chui'ch ceasing to be an object of euAy 
 and hatred to the Cathohcs, and from the law giving 
 to the latter such advantages and satisfaction, as 
 should dispose them to reverence and obey the law, 
 and to consider that they have a common interest in 
 supporting all the institutions Avhich are under its 
 protection. 
 
 There are persons who maintain that Christian 
 principles ought to influence our legislation, and 
 insinuate themselves into all the transactions of 
 pubhc as well as of private life ; and yet these 
 persons are generally found among the most strenu- 
 ous supporters of a system which has no mark of 
 Christian character stamped upon it, from which 
 everything hke peace and good-will to man, and the 
 sph'it of self-sacrifice, have been entu^ely banished ; 
 and which has nourished hatred, mahce, and all 
 
 * See some judicious remarks in tlie Ed. Rev. on tliis head, vol. 
 Ixxix, p. 239-40. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 345 
 
 uncharitableness. Probably there is no country in 
 the world which exhibits such a fearful spectacle of 
 unchristian feeling as Ireland. It might be possible, 
 — at all events it would be worth while to try — to 
 introduce a better spirit into our legislation, and to 
 contemplate the cessation of the bitter religious feuds 
 and animosities which have so long divided the 
 people. When the two Churches shall be inclined to 
 assist one another in their common office of comfort- 
 ing, instructing, and consoling mankind, — when the 
 Protestant Church shall relax its selfish and unchris- 
 tian determination to retain all its riches within the 
 limits of its own rehgious pale, and e\dnce a willing- 
 ness that its superfluity should be freely imparted to 
 its Cathohc sister, we may hope to see an approxima- 
 tion to harmony and concord. If, for example, there 
 should be any Protestant funds unemployed while 
 Catholic Churches are wanted for the people, the 
 Protestant clergy ought, not merely ungrudgingly to 
 consent, but to desire that to such wants, aid should 
 be given, and to rejoice in an appropriation that 
 would be so fertile in sentiments of mutual confidence 
 and regard. 
 
 I am conscious that the logical inference from the 
 foregoing argument is, not only that the Catholic 
 Church ought to be endowed, but that the ecclesias- 
 tical endowments in Ireland ought to be transferred 
 to it, and that there is an apparent inconsistency in 
 
 q3 
 
34^6 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 stopping short of this double consummation ; but in 
 dealing with the affairs of mankind, we must be 
 content with pursuing the possible, and accepting 
 the balance of attainable good; and this is one 
 of the cases in which it is imperative to endea- 
 vour to effect some compromise between those anta- 
 gonist interests and passions, to neither of which it 
 would be wise to give even the semblance of a signal 
 triumph over the other. To transfer the rehgious 
 ascendancy from the Protestants to the Catholics, 
 would be to leave the animosity of the Rival Sects 
 unabated, and merely to change their relative posi- 
 tions, — nor do the Catholics themselves desire such 
 an issue of the great contest ; what they desire is 
 equahty, rather than either wealth or power ; thej 
 want to be able to lift up their heads with a proud 
 consciousness, that they have ceased to be looked 
 upon as an inferior class, and if we minister judi- 
 ciously to their jealous and sensitive feelings, there 
 is every reason to hope that they will very soon 
 advance half way to meet us. It is our business to 
 promote the internal concord of the United King- 
 dom, and to incorporate Great Britain and Ireland 
 really, as they already are nominall}^, into one sohd 
 and indissoluble empire. " I assure myself,^^ says 
 Lord Bacon, in a letter to King James, " that Eng- 
 land, Scotland and Ireland, well united, is such a 
 trefoil, as no prince, except yourself (who are the 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 347 
 
 worthiest^) weareth in his crown, si potentia reduca- 
 tur in actimi.^''^ To effect tins, the religions dissen- 
 sions of Ireland must be composed, and the mutual 
 antipathies of Protestants and Catholics appeased. 
 At present, owing to the discontent of the great 
 body of the Irish Catholics, the Union itself is only 
 maintained by force, — by the will of the stronger 
 party, — ^backed by the presence of an irresistible 
 mihtary power, and not by the consent and attach- 
 ment of the weaker. The geographical position of 
 Ireland, in respect to England, has always been dis- 
 advantageous to the former. She has been too con- 
 tiguous to be independent, and too remote to acquire 
 that influence, to which so large and integral a part 
 of the empire is justly entitled ; and which, if the 
 ocean did not roll between them, she could not fail 
 to possess. She has the mortification of seeing 
 Scotland, far inferior in wealth, resources, and popu- 
 lation, more independent, and in every respect more 
 justly and impartially governed than herself. One 
 of the most serious results of this state of things is, 
 that Ireland has long been universally regarded as 
 the ^^nerable side of the British empire; and whe- 
 ther or no England really is as vulnerable in that 
 quarter as she is supposed to be, it is certain that 
 the impression naturally produced in foreign states, 
 by the spectacle of Irish commotions, enters largely 
 into all their political speculations, and that the 
 
 * Works, vol. xii., p. 73. 
 
348 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 complete tranquillization of Ireland would be the 
 circumstance_, of all others^ whicli would add the 
 most to the weiorht and authority of this countn', in 
 her foreign relations. While other countries are, or 
 at any critical moment may be, influenced by delu- 
 sive expectations of a disposition on the part of Ire- 
 land, to avail herself of any favoui'able opportunity 
 to revolt, the Irish are always contemplating the 
 possibility of England ha\ing some foreign quarrel 
 on her hands, which may afford them facilities for 
 enforcing the redress of their own wrongs. If any 
 menacing cloud begins to blacken the horizon, if 
 any storm appears brewing on the side of America or 
 France, Ireland rejoices, and prepares to turn our 
 troubles to her own account.* She has not forgotten 
 the memorable words of Grattan, " that the weak- 
 ness of England is the strength of Ireland •/' and 
 experience has shown, that when England^ s fears are 
 thoroughly awakened, there is no concession that 
 may not be extorted from her, in some moment of 
 difficulty and danger. It is a reflection full of me- 
 lancholy and shame, that Avhen any political incident 
 occurs, affecting the interest or honour of our coun- 
 trjf Ireland keeps aloof; and discusses the probabi- 
 lity of England being at war, as if it were some 
 
 * M. De Beaumont's L'Irlande, Preface to sixth edition, p. 10. — 
 " Ireland rejoiced at the successes of France, and lamented over 
 her reverses. Upon the news of a victory on the Rliine, a general 
 illumination at Dublin celebrated the ti'iumph." — Wolfe Tone's Memoirs, 
 vol. i., p. 200. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 349 
 
 foreign State Tntli which she had no common sym- 
 pathy. The \indictive or inflammatory spirit which 
 strives to pei'petuate this estrangement, is the more 
 flagitious, because it is, to the greatest degree, preju- 
 dicial to the Irish themselves ; but it must not be 
 forgotten, that it is our policy which has created 
 such a power of mischief, and taught Ireland to 
 think that in our danger lies her hope, that she 
 may always expect everything from our fears, and 
 never anything from our justice. This source of 
 weakness and danger is as old as the time of Lord 
 Bacon ; and indeed, it is remarkable, that if we look 
 at any part of his writings upon the subject of Ire- 
 land, we might suppose he was addressing himself to 
 the circumstances of the present day. 
 
 He recommends a certain measui'e, " for the great 
 safetj^ that is like to grow from it, in discomfiting all 
 hostile attempts, which the weakness of that kingdom 
 hath hitherto incited ; for the pai'ticulars, the exam- 
 ple is too fresh; that the indisposition of that 
 kingdom hath been a continual attraction of troubles 
 and infestations upon this estate,^^ &c.* Irish 
 separation and foreign invasion ai^e contingencies so 
 apparently remote and improbable, that the minds 
 of men can hardly be brought to imagine them ; but 
 it would be well to remember, that during the Ame- 
 rican war, Ireland was nearly lost, and only saved 
 by the jealousy of the Irish Protestants towards the 
 
 * Works, vol. v., p. 174. 
 
350 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 Catholics. There was a memorable night, when 
 " Lord Auckland came down, booted and mantled, 
 to the House of Commons, and declared before God, 
 if he did not cany mth him a comphance of all 
 their demands, Ireland was lost for ever to this 
 country j^^* and, however unhkely it is, that the 
 present generation may witness the descent of a 
 French army in Ireland, we ought not to forget that 
 such things have been; that, in August, 1798, 1100 
 men, under General Humbert, landed at KiUala ; and 
 in October of the same year, 2000 men were anchored 
 {though they did not land) off the same place. It 
 was bv a concuiTcnce of fortunate accidents that 
 the expedition of Hoclie was frustrated, at a moment 
 when, in Wolfe Tone's opinion, 10,000 Frenchmen 
 were sufficient to revolutionise Ireland. f Since that 
 period, circumstances are materially changed ; but, 
 as far as the condition and the disposition of Ireland 
 are concerned, are they changed for the better? 
 All we certainly know is, that the people have 
 been, and perhaps still are, organised for one object, 
 with an unanimity and display of force totally unpre- 
 cedented. Whether the mind of Ireland is really 
 so ahenated from the British connection as these 
 signs would indicate, and what amount of proba- 
 bihty there may be of any sparks from abroad falling 
 on this combustible mass, are questions of doubtful 
 
 * Plymley's Letters, p. 98. 
 
 + Tone's Memou's, vol. ii., p. 16. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 851 
 
 solution ; but it is certain that Ireland has acquired 
 tenfold power to accomphsh her objects and her 
 will. Nor is Ireland only a source of weakness and 
 danger^ but she is also the cause of dishonour and 
 discredit to England. Just as individuals are ame- 
 nable to public opinion, nations are obliged to sub- 
 mit to the judgment of the whole civilised world. 
 There is, perhaps, no one subject which has (more 
 especially of late years) attracted such universal 
 attention as the international relations of Ensrland 
 and Ireland, and the long and violent contests 
 which they have engendered ; nor any on wliich the 
 great tribunal of European opinion has pronounced 
 a more unanimous sentence. Eminent men, in 
 foreign countries, of the most opposite parties, per- 
 suasions, and characters, concur in sentiments of 
 astonishment and indignation at this great moral 
 and political phenomenon. They see a countiy, for 
 700 years connected, without being united, with her 
 powerful neighbour ; a province, constituting one- 
 third part of the whole empire, ruled by a Govern- 
 ment which has " no root in consent or affection ; 
 no foundation in similarity of interests, or support 
 from any one of the principles which cement men 
 together in society,^^* and which could only preserve 
 its dominion by the exercise of violence and terror. 
 To the internal state of the country, no parallel can 
 be found ; nor was there ever any other, in which, 
 
 * Stockdale's speech on Stockdale's trial. 
 
352 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 for 500 yearSj no inten^al of peace occurred, except, 
 perhaps, in Spain, from the invasion of the Arabs 
 to the conquest of Grenada. The e^dls against which 
 we are accustomed to pray that the Lord will dehver 
 us — '^ privy conspiracy and rebellion, pestilence and 
 famine, battle, murder, and sudden death,^' — have, 
 for centuries, been the portion and the scourge of 
 that unhappy land. 
 
 The case stands alone in the history of the world, 
 and philosophical spectators have to determine 
 whether it is attributable to an inherent incorrigible 
 propensity in the Irish to violate all the restraints 
 and obhgations of society; whether there is some 
 idiosyncracy in the character of the people, rendering 
 them inaccessible to the harmonising influences which 
 the progress of civilisation exercises over the rest of 
 mankind, or whether it is attributable to bad govern- 
 ment alone, to the operation of cruel and degrading 
 laws, and a severe and arbitrary administration. 
 
 Impartial critics reject the former h^-pothesis; they 
 do not think it needful to look for a cause in some 
 physical development, making Irishmen specimens of 
 an exceptional class, when they have under their eyes 
 an accumulation of moral causes sufficient to account 
 for the efi'ect. Be the causes however what they 
 may, the practical solution of the problem of govern- 
 ing Ireland has baffled all the statesmen of England, 
 from a remote period down to the present time. 
 Men of the greatest celebrity, and whose names will 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 353 
 
 be renowned in hist or}', have risen on the pohtical 
 horizon, run their appointed course, and set again, 
 testators to posterity of many legacies of wisdom and 
 virtue, but lea\dng Ireland as disturbed and discon- 
 tented as they found her. That this is a disgraceful 
 blot upon the fame of England it would be vain to 
 deny. The world sees a nation, which its rivals and 
 its enemies allow to be courageous and resolute, 
 sagacious and humane, evincing in its general con- 
 duct quahties which command the respect and ad- 
 miration of mankind, while in its dealings with 
 Ireland alone, its nature seems to be changed, its 
 characteristic wisdom and liberahty disappear, and it 
 becomes selfish, ungenerous, and pusillanimous. It 
 is time we should purge away this stain upon the 
 national character. 
 
 It would be difficult to prove that one single 
 Englishman or Scotchman has the shadow of an 
 interest direct or personal in the Irish Church; it 
 contributes nothing to his welfare in this world, or to 
 his chance of happiness in the next ; but ever}' man 
 in Great Britain is interested in the pacification of 
 Ireland, and in converting her from an enemy into a 
 friend. He has the same sort of interest that he has 
 in extinguishing the fire which is raging in his neigh- 
 bour's house. He has the share of interest which 
 every individual member of the community has, in 
 every question of public economy, public ntihty, and 
 pubhc safety. But if rehgious prejudice, or the love 
 
354 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 of domination, should be strong enough to induce the 
 Enghsh people to set their faces against a timely and 
 reasonable concession, the struggle must continue, and 
 infallibly end, like all preceding struggles, in a tardy 
 and ignominious surrender. It was in this way that 
 America was lost ; and thus that Ireland gained, first 
 her commercial and legislative, and next her political 
 and rehgious emancipation. If we do not give up 
 the principle of an exclusive Establishment, and make 
 a compromise while we may, we must prepare our- 
 selves for the possible occm'rence of some crisis of 
 political embarrassment, of which Ireland tells us, in 
 no ambiguous terms, that she will not fail to avail 
 herself. In such a case, an Irish Church question 
 will be a very difterent thing from that of Repeal, 
 against which all England is, and always will be, 
 united to a man. There is already a powerful party 
 here, avowedly hostile to the unreformed Protestant, 
 and unendowed Catholic Chui'ch, and from the Con- 
 servative ranks converts of influence and ability are 
 continually passing over to that opinion. 
 
 A time, and that not verv distant, may fairlv be 
 anticipated, when an Irish and English liberal party 
 will be too strong for the advocates of the exclusive 
 rehgious system ; and then there will be weeping 
 and gnashing of teeth, that the terms which were so 
 repeatedly offered and so obstinately rejected, will 
 no longer be accepted. It is continually asserted, 
 that the people of Great Britain will never consent 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 355 
 
 to contribute to the sustentation of a Chmxli the 
 doctrines of which they believe to be false — ^bnt it is 
 not on grounds of conscience, nor even of will, that 
 this question must ultimately be decided. 
 
 If the people of this country are determined that 
 the existing revenues of the Irish Church shall for 
 ever be the exclusive portion of the Protestant 
 minority, and that it shall retain the monopoly of 
 pubHc protection and assistance which it now enjoys, 
 they must make up their minds between two alter- 
 natives : either they must pay for the pleasui-e of 
 continuing such an appropriation, by providing the 
 Catholics with an equivalent that will satisfy them ; 
 or they must abide by aU the consequences of 
 Irish resentment and disaffection, and arm them- 
 selves to encounter them. 
 
 Will thev be content that the condition of Ireland 
 should remain for ever as it is ; that its allegiance 
 and connection should be permanently enforced by an 
 army of occupation, and for all time to come that 
 25,000 men should mount guard upon the Estabhshed 
 Church ? 
 
 But are we sm'e that even this will be sufficient 
 to accomphsh the desii-ed object? The CathoHcs of 
 Ireland have never yet waged regular war against 
 the Protestant Chm'ch ! They may not be able to 
 extort (even if they wished it) an endowment for 
 themselves ; but if they were to employ all the means 
 which the astuteness of a^-itation so well knows how 
 
356 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF 
 
 to bring into operation against the Churcli^ they 
 would very soon obtain practical equality, by breaking 
 down the Protestant Establishment, and reducing the 
 clergy to a dependence upon the Voluntary principle. 
 It would be well if the Irish Church itself would 
 consider the desperate game it is placing ; and that, 
 by insisting on the continuation of its monopoly, it 
 risks all its possessions, and that it must resolve to 
 surrender either its exclusiveness or its existence.* 
 
 At such a crisis it is impossible not to turn with 
 hope, amounting to expectation, towards Sir Robert 
 Peel, and with confidence that whatever prejudices 
 may still remain elsewhere unrooted, he, at least, 
 will rise superior to them. Not one of all his 
 predecessors in the high ofiice he holds, has ever 
 rendered more important services to his country 
 than he has now the opportunity of conferring upon 
 
 * It is easy to conceive many conjiinctui'es of political events, which 
 would render the Imperial Government iucapable of maintaining an 
 exclusive ecclesiastical system in Ireland, and would compel it to sur- 
 render, at one blow, the monopoly of the Irish Protestant Church, 
 and its existence as a State Estabhshment. One of these imaginable 
 contingencies may be mentioned, by way of illustration. Suppose, for 
 example, that through the prevalence of Tractarian opi nions in the clergy 
 of the Church of England, a large secession, either generally through- 
 out the comitry, or in certain populous dioceses, took place ; and that 
 a numerous /?-ee church was formed, which would necessarily be sup- 
 ported upon the Voluntary principle. This state of things would give 
 a great and permanent addition of strength to the party in England 
 which is opposed to an Endowed and Established Church ; and, with 
 their assistance, the Irish Cathohcs would be likely, at some favour- 
 able moment, to induce Parliament to secularise the revenues of the 
 Irish Protestant Church. 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 357 
 
 her ; and of all men lie is the best fitted by character, 
 by capacity, and by position, to accomplish the 
 mighty task that is presented to him. He has 
 abeady done enough to prove to the world that he 
 is actuated by none of the ordinary motives of vulgar 
 ambition. On a memorable occasion, he consented 
 to make momentous and deeply felt sacrifices to an 
 overwhelming sense of public duty. The subsequent 
 experience of fifteen years, and that intermediate 
 study of the book of life, which is the great instructor 
 and adviser of statesmen, can hardly have failed to 
 make him contemplate the discharge of his public 
 obligations in a spirit more independent and more 
 stern ; and in a recent instance he e\'inced a firmness 
 and decision, and a fearlessness of giving offence, 
 equally indicative of his indifference to the possession 
 of office, and his resolution to retain it no longer 
 than he was permitted to exercise the power it con- 
 ferred, according to his own judgment, of what 
 was most beneficial to the State. From the very 
 beginning of his public career, Sir Robert Peel may 
 claim to be called a Reformer. He has, through 
 the whole course of his pohtical life, steadily, con- 
 sistentlv, but cautiously, endeavoured to correct 
 abuses and errors, and to amend the laws, in order to 
 improve the social condition of the countr}\ Ha\dng, 
 without scruple, freely canvassed his antecedent 
 conduct, I may, without scruple, do justice to the 
 purity of his motives, the sagacity of his views, and 
 
358 PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OP 
 
 the good services lie has performed ; but the best of 
 these services will sink into insignificance, in com- 
 parison with the pacification and reconcihation of 
 Ireland^ if Pro^ddence should reserve to him the 
 crowning mercy of such an achievement. It would, 
 indeed, be a fallacy and a delusion to suppose that 
 he, or any man, or any set of men, coidd by any 
 measures, however politic or pacific, immediately dry 
 up the ancient sources of weakness and disunion in 
 that country ; it would be over sanguine to expect 
 that Ireland should be at once and completely 
 incorporated in feeling, as well as in law, with the 
 rest of the empire; all that he can do, is to lay 
 the foundations, foundations broad and deep, on 
 which a superstructure of conciliation and union may 
 gradually be built ; it is not to be doubted that he 
 would have innumerable difficulties to encounter; 
 that he would be assailed by obloquy, and calumny, 
 and clamour ; that he would risk the disruption of 
 pohtical connections, and possibly shake the security 
 of his ministerial power. But what are all these 
 objects compared with the consciousness of a great 
 duty, ably and honestly performed — the consumma- 
 tion of which would engage the sympathy of all that 
 is wise and good in the whole civihsed world, and be 
 attended with that enduring fame, which crowns the 
 great benefactors of mankind ? 
 
 "Ireland,'^ said Lord Bacon, "is the last ex fihis 
 Europse which hath been reclaimed from destitution, 
 
ENGLAND TOWARDS IRELAND. 359 
 
 and from strange and barbarous customs, to humanity 
 and civility . . . this work is not yet conckided 
 to perfection, but is in fair advance ; and this I will 
 say confidently, that if God bless our Kingdom with 
 peace and justice, no usurer is so sure in seven 
 years^ space to double his principal with interest, 
 and interest on interest, as that Kingdom is to 
 double its stock of wealth . . . so as that King- 
 dom which once, within these twenty years, wise men 
 were wont to doubt whether they should not wish it 
 to be in a pool, is Kke now to become almost a 
 garden and younger sister to Great Britain/^ 
 
 THE END. 
 
 LONDON : 
 BRADBURY AND EVANS, FBINTERS, VVHITEFRJARS. 
 
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