,ET. 51.] CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION. 505 



likely to take. The following was Bosslyn's answer, 

 which is very remarkable for the sagacity of his views, 

 and equally so for the proof it affords of his acting in 

 conformity with his settled opinions, when next year 

 he joined the Duke's Government, after the question 

 had been carried by the firmness and temper of that 



great man : 



"DYSART, October 5, 1828. 



" MY DEAR BROUGHAM, I am much obliged to you 

 for your letter, and the communication of the infor- 

 mation and the opinions it contained. The whole, 

 including your own judgment upon this most inter- 

 esting subject, certainly comprehends the result of 

 the inquiries and the conjectures of the greatest 

 authorities upon the question; but, after all, it is 

 most painful and alarming to see how very little it 

 amounts to. 



" The excessive reserve which the Duke of Welling- 

 ton has hitherto maintained, and the apparent igno- 

 rance and uncertainty of those who are supposed to be 

 most in his confidence, must necessarily excite great 

 distrust and anxiety in all who look forward to the 

 dangers of refusing concessions, or even of the delay 

 in announcing the disposition to grant them. This 

 would not have surprised me, nor have occasioned any 

 very great apprehension, if things in Ireland had re- 

 mained in the position in which they were left at the end 

 of the last session ; for with the difficulties with which 

 it was believed that he had to contend, as well in the 

 Cabinet as at Court, not forgetting his adherents in 

 the House of Lords, he would naturally keep his pur- 

 pose (if he entertained that of liberal concession) secret 

 till he was prepared to carry it into immediate execution, 



