102] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1813. 



stances of the interposition of fo- 

 reign powers in the domestic af- 

 fairs of a nation, he moved a reso- 

 lution to refer the business of such 

 an application to the consideration 

 of a committee ; which was car- 

 ried. A proposition, however, of 

 such manifest absurdity, as that of 

 calling in as auxiliaries to a plan of 

 enlarged toleration a body which 

 had declared it to be a fundamental 

 article of their new constitution, 

 that no other than the established 

 religion should be permitted to 

 exist in Spain, indicated the pre- 

 valence of a spirit among a part of 

 the Irish Catholics which could not 

 fail to produce disunion, and to 

 throw discredit on their measures. 

 Accordingl)^ we do not hear of 

 any further meetings of the gene- 

 ral body countenanced by persons 

 of weight and distinction ; and 

 upon the whole, the result of the 

 attempts made during this year to 

 meliorate the condition of the Ro- 

 man Catholics does not afford any 

 immediate prospect of further suc- 

 cess. 



One extraordinary effect of the 

 alarm excited by the idea of an ad- 

 mission of persons of this religion to 

 a participation of political powerhas 

 been the adoption in England of 

 the Irish Orange Societj, originally 

 instituted in that country as a sup- 

 port of the Protestant ascendancy, 

 and noted as the most inveterate 

 enemies to every indulgence grant- 

 ed to their Catholic fellow-subjects. 

 Societies under this title, number- 

 ing among their members some 

 persons of high rank, had been 

 formed in London, and in many of 

 the most considerable provincial 

 towns, and even in some regi- 

 ments, and were mutually con- 



nected by a regular organization, 

 by an oath, and by secret proceed- 

 ings, before the public were ap- 

 prized of their existence. They at 

 length attracted the notice of par- 

 liament, and a motion was made 

 on the subject in the House of 

 Commons {See Debates). The il- 

 legality and dangerous nature of 

 such an institution was universally 

 acknowledged in that assembly ; 

 but it was thought that nothing 

 more was necessary thnn such a 

 public censure, to effect their sup- 

 pression in this part of the united 

 kingdom. Undoubtedly, if it 

 were possible to revive the dis- 

 graceful outrages of 1780, the 

 establishment of clubs of this kind 

 would be the most certain means 

 of doing it. 



If the religious zeal by which 

 the present period is so strongly 

 characterized had any share in the 

 formation of these societies, it must 

 be allowed to have been much 

 more laudably employed in those 

 associations for the distribution of 

 the scriptures among the lower 

 classes, both at home and abroad, 

 which have peculiarly distinguish- 

 ed the present year. Scarcely has 

 there been a town, or even a vil- 

 lage of any consequence, in the 

 kingdom, which has not had its 

 Bible Society, independent or 

 auxiliary, generally consisting of 

 members belonging to the esta- 

 blishment, and to all the different 

 sects, who have fraternally united 

 upon the simple purpose of ren- 

 dering the sacred writings accessi- 

 ble to all the indigent who might 

 be qualiBed and disposed to make 

 use of them. And though in some 

 instances discouragement has been 

 thrown upon the plan by persons 



