100] 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1813. 



with any riotous disposition to- 

 wards the persons or worsWp of 

 the Catholics; affording a demon- 

 stration that the question was be- 

 come, in the public mind, rather 

 one of political expedience than of 

 religious controversy. Security to 

 ihe church establishment against, 

 not the Catholics only.but all those 

 who are subjected to the opera- 

 tion of the test laws, was ob- 

 viously the consideration which ac- 

 tuated the great body of the pe- 

 titioners. 



The English Catholics, whose 

 proceedings have always been cha- 

 racterised by great prudence and 

 moderation, Iield a meeting on 

 March 20th, Lord Clifford in the 

 chair, which passed two resolu- 

 tions, the first declaring their gra- 

 titude to the House of Commons 

 for its decision in favour of taking 

 into consideration the laws affect- 

 ing the Roman Catholics of the 

 united empire, and their hopes of 

 a beneficial result; the second, ex- 

 pressing their anxiety to afford 

 every facility for an amicable ad- 

 justment, and affirming that " the 

 satisfaction they look to in being 

 ■admitted to the benefits of the 

 constitution will be greatly dimi- 

 nished, if not accompanied by the 

 cordial concurrence of their Pro- 

 testant fellowsubjects,whose good- 

 will they have been anxious to 

 conciliate, and for the attainment 

 of which they are, and ever shall 

 be, willing to make every sacrifice 

 that is not inconsistent with their 

 religious principles,'' 



On May 1st, a full meeting of 

 the Irish Catholic board took place 

 at Dublin, when a discussion was 

 entered upon respecting the civil 

 enactments, solely, of the bill then 



pending in parliament for Catholic 

 emancipation. It was observed 

 that the bill was narrowed to the 

 relief of Catholics alone, without 

 comprehending the other classes 

 of Dissenters, whose uniform li- 

 berality had given them weighty 

 claims upon the gratitude of the 

 Catholic body— that there are ex- 

 ceptions in the bill with regard to 

 certain places, founded upon a 

 principle of exclusion which they 

 cannot recognize — that the enact- 

 ment for admission into corpora- 

 tions keeps the Catholics still prac- 

 tically excluded by leaving them 

 to the mercy of bye-laws ; and 

 that other disabilities are left, prov- 

 ing the imperfection and inade- 

 quacy of the bill ; on which ac- 

 count the board feels the propriety 

 of nominating additional delegates 

 to attend in London to the progress 

 of the bill. 



If this measure was calculated 

 to throw an impediment in the 

 way of the proposed bill, the reso- 

 lutions of the Irish Roman Catholic 

 prelates at a general meeting on 

 May 27th, were much more adapt-, 

 ed to produce the same effect. 

 They unanimously declare, that 

 the ecclesiastical clauses contained 

 in the bill are utterly incompatible 

 with the discipline of the Roman 

 Catholic church, and with the free 

 exercise of their religion, and that 

 they cannot, without incurring the 

 guilt of schism, accede to such re- 

 gulations. 



The British Catholic board,even 

 after the disappointment of their 

 hopes, continued to maintain the 

 same moderate and dignified con- , 

 duct. At a numerous meeting, j 1 

 held in London on M^y 29th, the 

 Earl of Shrewsbury in the chair, 



