GENERAL HISTORY. 



[27 



jectionable for a public officer to 

 call people together in sects, and 

 to give to a private and party meet- 

 ing the authority of a publicassem- 

 bly. He also objected to the call- 

 ing of one part of his majesty's 

 eubjectsto petition againstanother, 

 especially to their petitioning an- 

 other country against the liberties 

 of their own. One of the first ob- 

 servations in these petitions is, that 

 the tone which the Catholics have 

 assumed renders it unwise to grant 

 their claims. But this is not the 

 'matter in question. The question 

 is one of allegiance ; and it may 

 be asked, Can you in any of their 

 proceedings charge the Catholics 

 with want of allegiance? The 

 Anti-catholics say, that the Catho- 

 lics desire political power. Why 

 should they not ? Why should 

 they be sentenced to utter and 

 hopeless exclusion from all politi- 

 cal power? But in fact it is not 

 power that they desire, but pro- 

 tection. They desire not to be 

 taxed without their own consent ; 

 not to be tried by persons who are 

 not only partisans, but are actually 

 covenanted against them. They 

 wish only for their liberties. They 

 do not demand this or that office, 

 but to possess their just civil qua- 

 lifications. It is the Protestants 

 who ask for power. They desire 

 by their petitions to keep all the 

 patronageof Ireland in their hands; 

 to maintain a continued ascendan- 

 cy ; to govern the other sects of 

 the country. The tendency of 

 their argument is, that we ought to 

 have- a church government. But 

 ours is not a church government; 

 it is a representative government, 

 including all classes and religions, 

 Attti some further observations 

 to show the supeuor policy of 



granting to the Catholics their 

 claims, to that of refusing them, 

 the hon. gentleman proceeded — 

 " But (say the Anti-catholics) to- 

 leration in England is alre&dy 

 greater than in any other country." 

 I know very well that the princi- 

 ples of every established church 

 are in some degree hostile to tole» 

 ration : there is scarcely any es- 

 tablished church which will tole- 

 rate so extensively and liberally as 

 a wise parliament ought to do ; but 

 when it is maintained that tole- 

 ration in England exceeds that of 

 any other country, that it is per- 

 fect, I must declare my opinion to 

 be the reverse. Mr. Grattan then 

 brought the instances of France 

 and Hungary, in which. Catholic 

 governments have given not only 

 toleration but qualification ; where- 

 as ours have given the former 

 without the latter, and has accom- 

 panied its toleration with pains and 

 penalties. He then entered upon 

 that ground of debate concerning 

 the allegiance capable of being 

 rendered by Catholic subjects to a 

 Protestant government, which has 

 so often been matter of contest ; 

 and he concluded with moving 

 " that this House will resolve itself 

 into a committee of the whole 

 House, to take into its most se- 

 rious consideration the state of the 

 laws affecting his majesty's Roman 

 Catholic subjects in Great Britain 

 and Ireland, with a view to such a 

 final and conciliatory adjustment 

 as may be conducive to the peace 

 and strength of the United King- 

 dom, to the stability of the Pro- 

 testant establishment, and to the 

 general satisfaction and concord of 

 all classes of his majesty's sub- 

 jects.'' 



Of tlin subsequent debate, when 



