GEN E R A L H ISTOR Y 



[33 



The bill, as amended by the 

 committee and ordered to be print- 

 ed, contained a number of new 

 clauses, the principal scope of 

 which was, to appoint two separate 

 commissions, one for Great Britain 

 and the other for Ireland, consist- 

 ing of roman catholic ecclesiastics 

 exercising episcopal functions, lay 

 roman catholic peers or common- 

 ers, and privy counsellers, the prin- 

 cipal secretary of state being one, 

 to which board of commissioners 

 the name of every person of the 

 roman catholic religion proposing 

 to assume the functions of a bishop 

 or dean shall be notified, and the 

 said board shall report to his ma- 

 jesty, or to the lord lieutenant, 

 whether they know or believe any 

 thing which tends to impeach the 

 loyalty or peaceable conduct of 

 such person ; after which, it shall 

 be lawful for his majesty, or the 

 lord lieutenant, by and with the 

 advice of the said commissioners, 

 to approve or disapprove of the 

 said person ; and any one exercis- 

 ing the above functions after dis- 

 approbation, shall be guilty of a 

 misdemeanor. 



To the same board likewise is 

 to be delivered any bull, dispensa- 

 tion, or other instrument from the 

 see of Rome, or any foreign person 

 or body acting under its authority, 

 or under any other spiritual Supe- 

 rior, which is to inspect it, and if 

 found to be unobjectionable, shall 

 report the same to his majesty, or 

 the lord lieutenant, when it shall 

 be enrolled in the office of the se- 

 cretary of state, and then return- 

 ed to the person delivering it. 



On May S^th, the house being 



called over according to order, it 



resolved itself into a committee 



upoti the bill as above amended, 



Vol. LV. 



when the right hon. the Speaker 

 rose. He began with inquiring, 

 whether by means of this bill, the 

 desirable basis of general satisfac- 

 tion and concord was likelj' to be 

 established ? As far as we knew of 

 the proceedings of the Roman Ca- 

 tholics, some of the most distin- 

 guished of the laity had declared 

 against it ; and the clergy were 

 loud in their cry against its eccle- 

 siastical provisions. Of the Pro- 

 testants, it was needless to ask 

 whether they could be satisfied 

 with placing the government, if 

 not the crown, of Ireland, within 

 the reach of the Roman Catholics, 

 and creating the means of sur- 

 rounding the sovereign himself 

 with ministers of state of a religion 

 hostile to his own right of succes- 

 sion. The right hon. gentleman 

 then proceeded to show that the 

 principle of our constitution was 

 exclusion of non-conformists to 

 the established religion from poli- 

 tical power, and that if it had been 

 relaxed with respect to Protestant 

 Dissenters, it had been maintained 

 in full force against the RomanCa- 

 tholics; and he went on to argue 

 why it ought to be so. He spoke 

 of their admission into the parlia- 

 ment, the privy-council, and the 

 judiciary bench, as points that ne- 

 ver ought to be conceded. He 

 then noticed some matters of ne- 

 cessary restriction, and some of 

 concession, which had been omit- 

 ted in the bill ; but were they sup- 

 plied, he must repeat his strong 

 protest against the larger innova- 

 tions ; they were departures from 

 principle, and breaking down bar- 

 riers against danger. He next ad- 

 verted to the guards and securities 

 proposed by the bill, and attempt- 

 ed to show their insufficiency ; and 

 [D] 



