731 



BRITAIN. 



PRINCE 



REGENT, 



1811. 



Meeting of 

 Parlia- 

 ment. 



Proceed- 

 ings re- 

 specting 

 the meet- 

 ings of the 

 Catholics. 



!u the 

 House of 

 Lords. 



of parliament was opened by a speech from the Prince 

 Regent, which was delivered by commission. The 

 speech congratulated parliament on the capture of 

 the islands of Bourbon and Amboyna ; on the re- 

 pulse of the enemy's attacks on Sicily, and on the 

 skill, the prudence, and perseverance displayed by 

 Lord Wellington throughout the whole of the Spa- 

 nish campaign. The Regent called upon parliament 

 to continue the most effectual assistance to the brave 

 natives of the peninsula, in the support of a contest 

 which they have manifested a disposition to main- 

 tain with unabated perseverance ; and expresses hia 

 persuasion, that the best interests of the British em- 

 pire must be deeply affected in the issue of a contest 

 on which the liberties and independence of the Spa- 

 nish and Portuguese nations entirely depend. In al- 

 luding to the discussions respecting America, the 

 Prince R'-gent expresses his earnest wish that they 

 may be brought to an amicable termination, con- 

 sistent with the rights and interests of the unit- 

 ed kingdom. The revenue of Ireland is stated in 

 the speech to have suffered a considerable diminution, 

 while that of Great Britain during the year 1810, 

 was greater than had been known in any preceding 

 year. 



The conduct of the Irish Catholics was one 

 of the principal subjects which occupied the atten- 

 tion of parliament at the beginning of the session. 

 The Roman Catholics in the different counties of 

 Ireland, were summoned to hold a meeting for the 

 purpose of electing delegates to sit in the Ca 

 tholic committee which was formed in Dublin, in 

 order to promote the great object of Catholic 

 emancipation. The Lord Lieutenant considering 

 these meetings as illegal, and as injurious to the 

 tranquillity of the country, issued a circular let- 

 ter to the sheriffs and chief magistrates of the coun- 

 ties, " requiring them, in pursuance of the provi- 

 sions of an act of the king, cap. 29, to cause to be 

 arrested, and to commit to prison, all persons within 

 their jurisdiction, who shall be guilty of giving or 

 having given, of publishing or having published, or 

 of causing or having caused to be given or publish 

 ed, any written or other notice of the election and 

 appointment, in any matter of such representative, 

 delegate, or manager as aforesaid ; or of attending, 

 voting, or acting, or of having attended, voted, or 

 acted, in any manner, in the choice or appointment 

 of such representative, delegate, or manager." 



This circular letter, which was issued without the 

 previous approbation, or even knowledge, of the 

 Prince Regent or his ministers, exciud great dissa- 

 tisfaction among the Catholics in Ireland, as well as 

 among their friends in England. Lord Moira, in the 

 House of Peers, reprobated such a measure, as inju- 

 rious to the character of the Prince Regent, as dan- 

 gerous to the peace of the country, and as contrary 



PRINCE 



RFGEN 



to the act of Union. The Earl of Ross contended, 

 that as long as the Catholic committee confined its 

 attention to the object for which they were avowedly 

 appointed, the Irish government did not interfere ; 

 but that when the regular business of the commit- 

 tee was over, it proceeded to the most alarming 

 lengths. The committee, he stated, consisted original- 

 ly of 38 members ; and they had lately determined, 

 that each county of Ireland should send ten mem. 

 bers to the committee, which would then consist 

 of no fewer than 358, a convention which he con- 

 eidered highly dangerous to the tranquillity of Ire- 

 land. 



On the 7th of March, the subject was brought re- ' n ' 

 gularly before the House of Commons, when the House of 

 Honourable Mr Wellesley Pole, the Irih secretary, C 

 was present. The assembly, said Mr Ponsonby, 

 which had been described in the circular letter as an 

 unlawful meeting, had been for many years in exist- 

 ence, and in the habit of meeting to promote the ob- 

 ject for which it had been appointed : nay, it had ac- 

 tually taken measures tor augmenting its number, 

 twenty-four days before the promulgation of the cir- 

 cular letter. What, then, was the reason why this 

 assembly had been so long suffered to continue its 

 proceedings, without any interference on the part of 

 government? With respect to the convention act, in 

 which the circular letter was printed, it had never 

 been put in force. Even by the act iiSelf, the mere 

 publishing of notices was not an offence ; for it ex- 

 pressly declares* that, in order to commit the oflence, 

 a man must be guilty of voting, as well as of attending; 

 whereas the circular letter required, that all who at- 

 tended might be arrested. In reply to these obser- 

 vations, Mr Pole stated, that no obstruction would 

 have been given to the proceedings of the Catholic 

 committee, while they met solely for the purpose of 

 petitioning ; that, at the committee of 1810, the most 

 violent and inflammatory speeches were delivered, in 

 which the English government were represented as 

 hostile to Ireland and its Catholic inhabitants ; and 

 that a sub-committee had been appointed to inquire 

 into the grievances which the Catholics had suffered 

 from a bigotted government. Mr Pole enumerated 

 many other instances, in which he thought the Ca- 

 tholic committee hap 1 gone beyond the object for 

 which they wen- appointed, and which he consider- 

 ed as sufficient grounds for enforcing the conven- 

 tion act. 



On the 9th of July, a meeting of the Catholics of 

 Ireland was held in Dublin, and a series of n. solu- 

 tions were passed relative to the measures which were 

 thought necessary for obtaining signatures to tlteir 

 petition from all parts of Ireland, and for bringing it 

 before both houses of parliament. In consequence 

 of this meeting, the Irish government issued a pro- 

 clamation, declaring all such meetings illegal, .and or* 



reign's recover) 1 . This consideration alone dictates the decision now communicated to Mr Perceval. Having thus perform- 

 ed an act of indispCnsible duty, from a just sense of what is due to his own consistency and honour, the' prince lias only to add, 

 that among the many blessings to be derived from his majesty's restoration to health, ami to the personal exciciic of his loyal 

 functions, it will not, in the prince's estimation, be the least, that that fortunate event will at once re" cue- him from a situation 

 of k unexampled embarrassment, and put an end to a state of affairs, ill calculated, he fears, in :-i.>tai/. the interests of the uni. 

 ted kingdom, in this awful and perilous crisis, and most difficult to be reconciled to the genuine principle? of the British con 

 stitution.' ' 



