66] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1SI2. 



the weakness of that church which 

 certainly deserves a serious consi- 

 deration, " I do not wish (said 

 he) to speak with disrespect of 

 that protestant establisliment in 

 Ireland, whose securitj'^ is so readily 

 believed in this country, nor to 

 cast any reflections upon those who 

 preside over that establishment ; 

 yet I know that the true state of 

 the church of Ireland, in a very 

 great degree, consists of bishops 

 without clergy, churches without 

 clergymen, and clergymen with- 

 out churches; parishes of consider- 

 able extent without clergymen, 

 church, or glebe; many parishes 

 frequently consolidated into one, 

 with a common church too remote 

 for the parishioners to resort to. 

 Can a church so circumstanced 

 possess internal strength for its 

 own defence against the mass of 

 opposition excited against it? and 

 is not that strength less likely to 

 be increased by arming itself with 

 violence against the mass of dis- 

 content set in array by the intole- 

 rance of the laws enacted for its 

 support ?" 



The speakers on each side, be- 

 sides thobc first mentioned, were, 

 against the motion. Lords Redes- 

 dale, Liverpool, and the Lord 

 Chancellor; for it. Lords Selkirk, 

 Wellesley, Downshire, Byron, 

 Moira, and Grenville. At five in 

 the morning the house divided, 

 when the numbers were, contents 

 present, 67; proxies, 35; total 

 102 : non-contents present, 103 ; 

 proxies, 71 ; total, 174: majority 

 against the motion, 72. 



In the House of Commons, a si- 

 milar motion for a committee on 

 tile civil disabilities of the Roman 

 Catholics was made on April 23, 

 by Mr. Grattan. The debate to 



which it gave rise, was continued . 

 by adjournment to the second day ; | 

 and there was no possible light in 

 which the subject could be placed 

 which was not resorted to by the 

 different speakers on each side, 

 though in fact the whole was only 

 a recapitnlation of statements and 

 arguments employed in the pre- 

 ceding discussions of the same 

 general topic. The conclusion was, 

 that at the hour of six in the 

 morning a division took place, in 

 which there appeared ayes 215, 

 noes 300; majority against the mo- 

 tion 85. 



Thus the Catholic cause sus- 

 tained a third defeat in both houses 

 of parliament; nor did it appear 

 that the accession of the Prince 

 Regent to the full authority of the 

 crown had made any difference as 

 to the sentiments and conduct of 

 his ministers on this important 

 occasion. 



Notwithstanding the tenacity 

 with which the ministers had main- 

 tained the policy of the orders 

 in council, the increasing dis- 

 tresses of the manufacturing parts 

 of the kingdom, and the seri- 

 ous disturbances thence arising, 

 could not fail of exciting some mis- 

 givings in their minds, and render- 

 ing them desirous of making such 

 relaxations as might tend to open 

 the former channels of commerce. 

 It was doubtless in consequence of 

 these considerations that a declara- 

 tion in the name of the Prince 

 Regent was issued on April 23, 

 purporting, that the Regent having 

 declared, that if at any time the 

 Berlin and Milan decrees should by 

 an authentic act be absolutely re- 

 pealed, thenceforth the orders in 

 council of the 7th of Januar}^, 

 1807, and the 26th of April, 1800, 



should 



