CCh i-j

O r i \ C

D

V\y I

SPEECHES

0*N THE

CATHOLIC BILL,
&c* &c.

t^'RICE ONE SHILLING.]

SPEECHES

OP

SIR THOMAS OSBORNE, Bart.

AND

PATRICK DUIGENAN, EsoT

ON THE

CATHOLIC BILL,

IN THE

IRISH HOUSE OF COMMONS,
MAY 5, 1795.

LONDON :

PRINTED FOR J. DEBRETT, OPPOSITE BURLINGTON-
HOUSE, PICCADILLY.
1795-

SPEECHES

ON THE

CATHOLIC BILL.

SIR THOMAS OSBORNE, BART.
On the grounds of juftice, arid general ex
pediency, the caufe of the Catholics has been
heretofore pleaded, with all that force of genius
that, under the guidance of an inflexible love
of truth, enables the Right Honourable Gen
tleman, who has introduced the bill,' to ex-
hauft the reafoning on eveiry fubjedt that he un
dertakes to elucidate. I therefore fhall look at it
in a new light, andconfider it as a ftep that leads
dircdly to that Parliamentary Reform w.hich, at
the opening of the laftfefllon, was fuggefled, and
contended for, with a degree o^ unfeigned zeal that
ftands a pledge for perfeverance, and on the full
accompliftiment of which depend abfolutely the "
profperity and fecurity of thefe kingdoms- I con-
fider it in that light, becaufe it requires the ad-
B miffibility

( 2 J
ttiiHibility intd this aflembly of a great nomber of
men who are now excluded, amongft whom, it i&
evident, that there are thofe who, in temper and
prudence, greatly excel that whole fsdl of philo-
fbphers who maintain the dodlrines of afcendancy p
and, 1 am perfuaded,. that our only way to guards
againft thofe dangers, to which we may be expof-
ed, in confequence of that refentment that is ex
cited in a race of men, to whom it dOes not ap
pear Nature has dertied the faculties of men, is tot
keep our eyes fixed on the ftridt principles of the
conftiturion, and not to ftiut them againft the
light of reafon. — And, Sir, I am fure, that it i»
neither unfeafonabl'e or irrelative for a ftvenaber, on
the prefent occaCon, to deliver his fentiments on
that fubjed^, which appears to be the moft impor
tant that can be conceived, when it is donfidered "
that the legiflature and the government of an hof-
tile and vidorious country are compofed of philo-
fophers and patriots ; at a time when we can fee a
door lying open by which adventurers and de
pendants may be adniitted into our own, to exer-
cife what has been, by the fame illumined mind*
indignantly termed the trade of Parliament.
Sir, for the few moments that I mean to fpeak„
lOiall indulge myfelf in a vifion, and imagine that
I am addrefling a Committee of Public Welfare.
And, although, as I have heard, with the deepeft
concern, a Member, whofeunderftanding fits him
to have formed a better judgment, unhappily-mif-
tajie one of the beft produdtidns of the pen for an
advertifement for infurrefition — I too, perhaps
5 may

( 3 )
inay be thought gifilty of fpeaking for it.— Still,
I will lay, that the errors of thofe mifguided men,
who miftake the republican principle, and the
defigns of thofe vicioys men, who pervert and
abufe it, are dangerous to the ftate, and ought to
be guarded againft. But that is not a reafon why
the republican principles fhould not be invefti-
^ated and underftood, as the foundation of our
conftitution, and only foundation of any human
government that is juft : and that. Sir, is a fep-
timent that is not, by any torture, to be repre-
fented as coming frona one wh.o wiflies to pull
down the Crown. And as a faft adherent to the
Crown, I maintain the republican principles, th^t
pillar on which the Crown refts. Sir, it is a ce
lebrated fpeech of a famous Statefman, that he
¦would cling to the Crown. I applaud the fenti-r
jnent ; but I think it had been better exprefledi
bad he faid, that he would cling to the Republi
can principle ; for when that acftuates men who are
^difpofed to have an individual limited ruler, and
to put a crown on his head, it, and it alone, has
power to maintain that Crown againft all who
would fliake it. What has been the fate of the
Crown of France, that the world thought impreg-
inable? Not having been grafted on a Republicai?
^oek, it has perifhed. Sir, it is common with
many of thofe wh^ are juftly the admirers of our
Conftitution to fay, that there is a certain princi
ple in it that mufty of itfelf, conduct men back
to the right way when ihey have ftrayed to a cer*-
atin .diftgnce. This is a moft dangerous maxim, for

( 4 )
for it tends to make men fupine, and certainly is
no more than the dodlrine of thofe who are but
lazy philofophers. The truth is, that the wifdom
of our anceftors could go no farther than to form
a Conftitution on fuch a conftrudlion, that if, at
any time, the monarchical and ariftocratical bran
ches fhould invade, to a certain degree, the de-
mocratical, it muft refolve itfelf into a form of
Government purely Republican. I, Sir, am a-
verfe to that change ; and therefore I maintairi
the Republican principle, that pillar on which
the Grown refts : feeing, that if we fufFer it to be
undermined by thofe vermin that are engendered
inthe filth of fpurious Ariftocracy, the Grown muft
tumble at laft. Sir, it is monftrous to hear how
gangs of men, who are knaves, wilfully confound
the falutary rejeftion of a Republican form of
Government with that of the Republican princi
ple ; and it is equally lamentable toobferve, how
others, who are dunces, are totally incapable of
drawing the diftindion. It is nqnfenfe to fay that
the Republican principle confounds the necefTary
and the natural diftindlions amongft men: for
though it does afTert, that all men are equal, as
to their rights, it is as ftrenuous in affirming,
that in their qualifications to move in fociety,
with benefit to fociety, they are not equal, and
never have been fo. As long as they con
tinue to be what they are, and ever have been,
you muft have the profanum vulgus, and in
that profanum vulgus will ever be" found men
of all fizes, of mere^ wealth, the richeft often thq

( s )
die moft contemptible. But the Republican prin
ciple is not only the fupporter but the arbiter of
diftindions. Why is Majefty in our Conftitution
emphatically and truly ftyled the fountain of ho
nour ? Becaufe itifTues from that rock the Repub
lican principle. And when that adverts to the
Nobility, with which it not only is perfeftly
Goniiftent, but of which it is the very author, it
means the flower of citizens. .In our Conftitu
tion Nobility fignifiCs the blofTom on the tree of
Liberty, the Crown is the fruit, and authority, fo
produced, is certainly wholefome ; but it is not
poffible more ftrongly to prove the fpurious and
the noxious quality of thofe weeds, thaf havfc
fprung out of the dunghill of parliamentary
corruption, than by any interference in the
fmalleft degree, with the democratical branch —
I mean with the formation of it, not with the
due controul of it in the proper plaCe — had a
ftrid: adherence to original principles, exclufively
confined the ariftocracy to that dignity and high
fpirit of independence which the wifdom of paft
ages well knew were alone competent to the ex-
ercife of fuch a funftion.
Thefe fentiments muft impel any man, who
feels them, to fupport every meafure that tends
to the re-cftablilhment of the Conftitution ; and,
as I confider the caufe of the Catholics to be moft
evidently and deeply blended with that of reform,
I fhall conclude, with once more repeating the
zeal with which I am animated in profecution of
their. interelT, .adding this fingle obfervation — ¦
that

( 6 )
that the peculiar circumftances of this kingdom
call onus, with the loudeft voice, not only to join
the moft zealous co-operation to the efforts of
thofe men in E^ngland, who are purfuing reform
with fagacity and fpirit, but is alfo to take a lead
on that fubjedt. — For what is the reafon that that
horde of our landed proprietors take up the
pernicious and defpicable abode that they do, in
England, followed by a train of mifchipfs that are
innumerable } It is becaufe the vanity of empty
men, not capable of difcerning how "real efti-
mation is to be earned, is captivated by the found
of England's being called the feat of Empire ;
that is, it is where the King's Court is held, that
is full of corruption. Let that corruption be
abolifhed, and thofe flimfy emigrants muft return
home, to avoid the contempt that, evei* muft at-,
tend idle, infignificant, and wandering ftrangers,
in any nation wfiere men are brought back to the
exercife of the judgment of men; and I rely on
it, that the moft effedlual reftraint on the ab-
fentees of Ireland, would be a curb on the cor
ruptions of the Britifh Court. I now. Sir, have
endeavoured to do my duty, by fpeaking my fen
timents with freedom, at a time when men of all
nations are fummoned to circulate, with zeal, the
efFufions of truth, and to feel a rivalfhip in doing
fo; and I fay, that, although as the fubjcd: of a.
limited Monarch, I am notable to perceive any
thing in the found of the word Republic, that
ought to make men wince ; I ftill am as deep
ly imprelTed as any man with a fenfe of the truth of

(^ 7 )
of that dodlrine, that telis me, that we arc to' bow
low to Majefty, as that point to which the power
of the people is drawn for the public gbod^ by
popular confent; and alfo to revere the genuine
Nobleman, whofe virtues and capacity mark his
refemblance to illuftrious progenitors, and afford
to his country the profpedt of fucceffion. For,
Sir, though I am far from thinking that that is
the vvifeft part of our Conftitution, that fixes an
hereditary right of legiflation in any families,
ftill, as lohg as we have Peers of high blood, who
fliew that blood, it may be prudent not to
decry it.
And, before 1 fit down, I muft animadvert
on a certain cant expreflion, that is a favourite
tvith many, and by them applied in crimination
to thofe who are able to eftimate the vahie of
liberty ; applied fometimes in a pert, and fome-
times a prefumptuous tone- the phrafe is. Gal-.
licifra of fentiment. Sir, for aught I know,
the rultng-fentiment in France may be, that men
ought to encounter all dangers and difficulties,
rather than fubmit to arbitrary rule. Sir, our
Conftitution is formed on the pureft principles of
liberty, and if men, who fee that deviations have
been made, and who fear that every departure is
making way for the fecret and gradual ap
proaches of arbitrary rule, if they are zealous
in purfuit of Reform, they certainly are ac
tuated by that fentiment that may be a Gallic
one; for though Gallia may have adopted it,
that is not a reafon why we fliould relign it.
And

( 8 >
And as there may be men who may have takerJ
the alarm at that intelligence that has been
lately conveyed to us through the debates of
the Britifh Parliament — intelligence that it was
not poffible to have colledled in this kingdom,-
that Ireland is in a ftate of Irritation : to them
I muft obferve, that the people of Ireland are
in that ftate in which it becomes men to be : — In
the ftate of fairly difcuffing what is truth and
juftice, and confequently what leads to their
own happinefs and profperity, and that. Sir,
is not irritation. And if thofe Members of
the Britifh Parliament continue to abandon the
bufinefs of their own country, that they are
fent to manage, in order that they may take up
the concerns of another nation, that they do not
underftand, and with which they have nothing
to do, they will certainly juftify that French
farcafm that has already pronounced fome of
them to be no more than mountebank orators.
Dr. DuiGENAN-^ftated the Catholic peti
tions. They all prayed, " That all penal and
reftridlive laws, now affedling the Catholics of
Ireland, might be repealed, in confideration of
their loyalty to their Sovereign, their refpedt
to the Legiflature, and dutiful and obedient
fubmiffion to the Laws.''
The Petition from Cavan, figned by a Ro-
mifli Prieft, who, in his fignature, ftyles him-
felf « R. C. Biftiop of Kilmore." The

( 9 )
irhe Petition from Rofcommon, figned by a
ilomifh Prieft, in his fignature ftyling himfelf
'" Roman CathoUc Bifliop of Elphin."
The Petition from Gal way, figned by four Ro
mifh Priefts, in their fignatures ftyling them-
felves refpeftively, " Titular Archbilhop of
Tuam," « Bifliop of Elphin," " Bifliop of Kil-
macduagh," and " Bifliop of Clonfert."
The Petition from Drogheda, by a Romifh
Prieft, in his fignature ftyling himfelf, by initial
letters only, " Roman Catholic Archbilhop o*
Armagh, Primate of all Ireland."
The Petition from Newry, by a Romifh Prieft,
ftyling himfelf " R. C. Bifliop of the Diocefe of
Dromore." The Petition from Limerick, by a Romifh Prieft,
' ftyling himfelf" R. C. Bifliop of Limerick."
The Petition frora Longford, by a Romifli
Prieft, ftyling himfelf" R. C. Biftiop of Ardagh."
The Petition from Tipperary, by a Romifh
Prieft, ftyling himfelf in his fignature, " Right
Rev. Dr. M'Mahon, Bifliop of Killaloe;"
Dr, Troy, Titular Archbifliop of Dublin, in a
pamphlet, intitled " Pafloral Inftrudtions, ad-
dreflfed to the Roman Catholics of the Arch
Diocefe of Dublin, publiflied in 1793, page 85,
ftates, that the Roman Catholic Bifhops of Ire
land adt as Ordinaries in their feveral Drocefes,
and are appointed-by, and a6l under, the Pope's
Bulls. The Romifli Priefts above-mentioned, figning
themfelves Roman Catholic Bifhops, and all the
C laity

( 10 )
laity \yho figned thefe Petitions with them haV-e,
by fuch fignatures, openly avowed their con
tempt of, and difobedience to, the Laws and the
Legiflature, even at the very time they appear as
Petitioners to the Houfe for a repeal of thefe
laws, and contradidl:, in the moft audacious man
ner, the very fubftance of their Petitions, They
did not adl fo from ignorance of the laws, for
they figned Petitions to Parliament in 1793, in
the fame manner ; but their friends advifed them
to withdraw fuch Petitions, and prefent new
Petitions figned in a different manner, with
which advice they then complied. And thefe
Romifh Bifhops, particularly he of Elphin, open
ly exercife ecclefiaftical jurifdidlion, diflblving
marriages by fentences, and executing judicial
inftruments under epifcopal feals, and figning
fuch inftruments as Bifhops,
The laws thus violated, are the following : —
Adl of 16th of Richard II. called the ftatute
of provifoes, punifhment, praemunire. Adl of
the 2d Elizabeth, ch. i, fedl, 12. punifhment
for the firft offence, forfeiture of goods, and a
year's imprifonment ; punifliment of a fecond ^
offence, praemunire ; of a third offence, that of
High Treafon.
Adl of the 9th William III. chap, 1. fedl, i.
punifliment perpetual exile; returning to the
kingdom punifhed as Traitors,
Adl of the 2ift and 22d of George III, chap.
26, fedl. 6. punifliment the fame withjthofe
recited. ."-.'"'
V The

The other confideration in their petition, on
the fcore of which they pray a repeal of all
penal and reftridlive laws, affedling the Roman
Catholics of Ireland, is their loyalty to their So
vereign. This is to be examined.
Omitting former inftances of the difloyalty
of, Roman Catholics, I come to their prefent
proceedings. — The Roman Catholics of the City
of Dublin met the 23d of December laft, appoint
ed a Committee of Nine Perfons, vfho drew up
the petition of the Catholics of the City of Dub
lin, now before the Houfe, which was approved
by the whole Afl'embly : they at the fame time
agreed to requeft all the Roman Catholics of the
nation to prepare fimilar petitions, and prefent
them to the Houfe. This requeft was imme
diately complied with by the Roman Catholics, in
every county, city, and borough, throughout the
kingdom. Some of the CathoUc Nobility and Gentry of
ancient families throughout the kingdom, (the
whole of which body are fo few in number, that
fuch of them as have any confiderable property,
do not amount to forty throughout the nation) had
difapproved of many proceedings of the Roman
Catholics of Dublin heretofore, and had with
drawn from their Aflimblies, and Earl Fitz-
william ftates in a letter written by him to Lord
Carlifle, and publifhed as a pamphlet ; that he,
entertaining fome doubt whether the petitioning
Roman Catholics of Dublin, and their Com
mitter of Nine, fpoke the fenfe of the Roman
a Catholics

. ( 1* )
Catholics of the kingdom at large, fent for fbm©
of the Chiefs of the Catholic Nobility and Gen
try, whom he ftyles Seceders, and afked them,
whether they agreed in fentiment with the Ro
man Catholic Aflembly of Dublin, and their
Committee of Nine? and that they afTured him,
they were in perfedl union with the AfTcmbly of
Dublin and their Committee of Nine, and that
fuch Afl'embly and Committee were duly autho
rized tofpeakthe fenfe of all the. Roman Catho
lics of the kingdom ; , and that they were will
ing that Mr. Edward Byrne, the Chairman of
that AfTcmbly and Committee, fhould take the
lead in all bufinefs refpedling the Roman Catho-,
lies of Ireland. Hence, it is plain, that the
Roman Catholic Aflembly of Dublin, and it^
Committee of Nine, do declare the fenfe and opi
nions of aU the Catholics of Ireland. This Af-
fembly met at a Romifli Chapel in Francis-
ftreet, in the city of Dublin, on the gth of April
laft, and at this AlTembly feveral moft ' traiterous
and feditious fpeeches were publicly pronounced,
four of them, by four members of the Com
mittee of Nine; and a fifth, by a Nephew of
one of the Committee, who happened to be then
fickj in which they moft traiteroufly endea
voured to incite and encourage all Irifh fol-
diers and failors in his Majefty's armies and
fleets, to defert their colours : openly declared,
that the war we are engaged in againft the French,
was, on our part, and the part of our Allies, an
impious Crufade againft Jiberty : exprefTed their joy

f 13 )
joy at all difafters that befell our armies and fleets,
^nd the higheft exultation that the armies of the
Confederated Defpots (as they ftyled his Majefty
and his Allies) were flying before the foldiers
of liberty; afTerted, that, all vidlories obtained by
his Majefty's armies and the fleets were public ca-r
lamities to Ireland, and that Irifhmen ought to
weep for them ; that Ireland was ruined by her
connedlion with Great Britain; that they would
hereafter never make any application to a Britifh
Miniftry, nor have any connedlion with them ; that
fhey would fupport a radical Reform in the Houfe
of Commons ; and, that this nation could never be
happy, 'till its Government was changed into a Re
public, independent of Great Britain ! At the fame
time, magnifying their own power and riches in
the moft vaunting and feducing manner to the
multitude ; thefe fpeeches they publifhed in all
the Popifh Newfpapers, that is, in the Newfpapers
publifhed in Dublin, the patronage of all which
they have purchafed, two excepted. The AfTembly
then entered into certain Refolutions, which they
have alfo pubhfhed, in one of which they refpe£l~
fully thank Theobald Wolfe Tone, Efq. their Agent, for
his important fevvices to the Catholic Body, which no
Gratitude can over-rate, and no Remuneration can
over-pay. In another, they refolve, that the Right
Hon. Henry Grattan be requeftedto introduce the
Catholic Bill immediately into Parliament: — and,
in another, they refolve, to raife money by a fpeedy
and liberal fubfcription throughout the kingdom,
under pretence of defraying the expences of their
prefent

( 14 T
prefent application to Parliament, but in reality to
fupport internal infurredlions and rebellion. — [Here
the Dodlor read feveral Extradls from the Speeches
and Refolutions at Francis-flreet Chapel on the 9th
of April laft.]— He then ftated to the Houfe who
Mr. Tone is, on whom the Catholic Affembly be-
ftow fuch lavilh praifes : Stated the tryal and con-
viElion of the Rev. Mr. Jackfon, a French Spy and
Agent, for High Treafon. On this tryal it appear
ed thatfoKf was tobe appointed an Agent by certain
confpirators and traitors in this kingdom, (one of
which is Nephew to one of the Committee of
Nine) to go to the French Convention, and to fo-
licit an invafion of this kingdom by the French :
That he had drawn up a ftate of Ireland to be laid
before the French Convention, and that he attended
at feveral meetings of the confpirators, at one of
which he read the aforefaid paper to the confpirators.
¦ — This paper ftated, that the people of Ireland were
divided into three clafTes. — ifl, PrQteJiants of the
eftablifhed Church, the feweft in number, but who
had almoft the whole landed property of the nation,
and were in pofTeffion of the whole patronage of
the country, ecclefiaftical and civil ; that thefe were
all Ariftocrats, adverfe to any Revolution, and at
tached to England. 2d Clafs, Dijfenlers, all Re
publicans, and enthufiaftic admirers of the French
Revolution, 3d, Catholics, the bulk of the peo
ple, almoft the whole peafantry of the country,
in the loweft degree of mifery and ignorance,
ready for any change, becaufe no change can make
them worfe : that the name of England and her
power

, ( 15 )
power was univerfally odious to this third clafs,
they are enemies to England from their hatred to
the Englifh name : they are in a femi-barbarous
ftate, of all others the beft adapted for making war.
That there is no doubt but an invafion, witha fuffi-
cient force, would be fupported by the Catholics,
from their hatred of the Englijh name, refulting from
the tyranny of near feven centuries. This paper
further ftrongly enforces an invafion of Ireland,
rather than of Great Britain by the French. The
tryal and convidlion of Jackfon was on the 23d of
April laft, it appeared that Tone was one of the
confpirators, and drew up this paper in April
1794, a year before the trial ; and it appears from
the refolutions of the Roman Catholic AfTembly,
on the 9th of April laft, about a fortnight before
the trial, that Tone, who is by profeflion a barrifter,
is, and has been, for fome years paft, the confiden
tial agent of the Catholics of Ireland, and muft
be fuppofed well to know the fentiments of that
body in political matters ; he is alfo the author of
a pamphlet called the Northern Whig, publifhed
about three years ago, propofing and recommend
ing a coalition between the Proteftant DifTenters
and the Catholics, for the purpofe of pulling
down the prefent eftablifhment in Church and
State, and forming a Republican Government in
this kingdom, feparated from, and independent
of. Great Britain. All thefe circumftances, con-
nedted with the publication of the traiterous and
feditious proceedings of the Roman Catholic
AflTembly at Francis-ftreet Chapel of the gth of
April

C i6 )
April laft, the avowed organ and, repreferttativcf
of the whole Catholics of Ireland, plainly {he\fi
that the general body of the Roman Catholics of
Ireland, haye no pretenfiorts to Loyalty, arid that
their petition in that refpedl, is an acknowledged
falfehood. So much for their pretended loyalty,
refpedl for the Legiflature, and dutiful and obedi
ent fubmflion to the laws of the Irifh Roman Ca-^
tholics. Some Rom^n Catholics of ancient fa
milies, and who have preferved parts of their
eftates amidft the former bloody convulfions of
this country, are well known to be of different po-'
litical fentiments from the bulk of the Irifh Ro
man Catholics as above ftated : to be men of ho
nour, and as faithful fubjedls of his Majefty as the
tenets of their religion will fufTer them to be to a
Proteftant Prince ; but as before ftated, the num
ber of that clafs is inconfiderable, any bill framed
for the political aggrandizement of a body of
people, entertaining fuch deteftable and traiterous
political fentiments as already ftated, ought to be
rejedled with the utmoft contempt by this Houfe.
It is proper to inquire, whether Roman Catho
lics from the avowed principles of their religion,
are entitled to be put on an equality with Protef-
tants, in a Proteftant State, in refpedl to political
power, the avowed principle and purpofe of the
prefent Bill ? — Roman Catholics abfolutely deny
the Supremacy of the King and State in all eccle
fiaftical concerns, and obftinately refufe to take
the oath fubftituted for the oath of fupremacy,
(prefcribed to be taken by the Irifh adl of the
fecond

( 17 )
fecond of Elizabeth) by the Englifh adl of the
third and fourth of William and Mary; " That
" no foreign Prince, Prelate, State, or Potentate,
" hath, or ought to have, any jurifdi£lion, power,
" fuperiority, pre-eminence, or authority, eccle-
*' fiaftical or fpiritual, within this realm." At
the time this adl of William and Mary pafTed in
England, it was the received law of Ireland,
that Ireland was bound by the adts pafTed in the
Britifh Parliament, when Ireland was particularly
named in them ; and this oath was accordingly
taken in Ireland, by virtue of that Englifh ftatute,
by all perfons who 'were thereby enjoined to take
it, and particularly by all the Members of the
Irifh Parliament, which met in Ireland, in the
fourth year of William and Mary, as appears by
the Journals of the Houfe of Commons. When
Great Britain, in the year 1782, relinquifhed her
ancient right of binding Ireland by Britifh ftatutes,
this oath was prefcribed to be taken in Ireland,
by the fame perfons who were obliged to take it
before that time under the Britifli adl, by the
Irifli adl of the 21ft and 22d of his prefent Ma
jefty, ufually called Yelverton's adl.— It has been
often afi^erted, both in this Houfe and out of it,
that the Irifli Conftitution owes its very birth
and origin to the famous year 17S2 : yet, if this
Bill pafTes, that oath, in refpedl to Roman Catho
lics, is to be aboliflied, and that boafted Confti
tution of 1782, is to receive a mortal wound.—
Roman Catholics not only refufe to take the afore
faid oath, but roundly aflfert, that the Pope, a
D Foreign.

( *8 )
Foreign Prince and Prelate, is entitled to exercife
fupreme ecclefiaftical jurifdiftion within this
realm; that he is guardian, and fole. expounder
of the Canons, and a.ll ecclefiaftical laws ; that
he, propria jure, may make or difpenfe with all
laws of this kingdom relating to ecclefiaftical
matters; that appeals from all Ecclefiaftical
Courts in this kingdofro, lie to. his fupreme Tribu
nal; that he is Chrift's Vicar on Earth; the fupreme
vifible head of the Church on Earth. - (See Dr.
Troy's Paftoral Inftrudlions, pages 97, 98; and
the Catechifm of Dr. Butler, late Titular Arch
bifliop of Cafhcll, lately publiflied, page 24.)—^
Roman Catholics profefs themfelves , ready to
fwear, that the Pope has not any temporal jurif
didlion within this realm, either diredlly or in-
dircflily ; but fuch .oath cannot be kept by any
Roman Catholic, who holds the above dodlrine of
the Supremacy of the Pope in Spirituals, becaufe
a great degree of temporal power and jurifdiftion
in a Slate, is annexed and infeparably united to
the Supreme jurifdidlion in fpirituals, and inter
woven with it; for inftance, the validity of mar
riage is a matter of pure fpiritual cognizance, and
muft be pronounced on by Ecclefiaftical Courts,
from which all Roman Catholics believe, that an
appeal lies to the Pope ; on the validity of mar^
riage depend the temporal rights of inheritance,
of dower, -of alimony, of feparation, of divorce,
of liability to a wife's debts, of adminiftration of
inteftate's effedls : nay, even the very right of
fucceffion to the crown may depend on it. Ex.,
communication is a Tpi,ritual cenfure, yet it in-
yolves,

( 19 )
Volves many temporal rights ; and a thou fand
other inftances of indiflbluble connexion of tem
poral power and jurifdidlion to the fupreme eccle
fiaftical authority and jurifdidlion, might be
given; a fubjedl, therefore, who denies to the
ftate the fupremacy in ecclefiaftical matters, de
nies nearly one-half of the legiflative and execu
tive authority of the State.
The Dodlor referred to the authority of Sir
John Davis, in his fpeech on the oath of fupre
macy, delivered in the Council Chamber, in Ire
land, in the reign of King James the Firft; that
great lawyer ftates, " That as all the caufes that
*' rife within this kingdom, be either ecclefiaftical
*' or civil, the King muft have power and jurifdic-
" tion to decide and determine, as well the one as the
"other, or elfe he fhall be but half a King within
*' his own kingdom,as havingjurifdidlion but in half
" the caufes, fo as his people mufl be fain to appeal
*' to fome foreign power, to beg judgment and
" right in thofe caufes." — SeeCurtis's Hiftory of
the Duke of Ormond, vol. I. p. ^(). — What is
the notorious effedl of fuch dodlrine ? The fubjec-
ting of this kingdom, in refpedl of one-half of its
legiflative and executive power, to a foreign
Prince ; which is a crime, according to Locke,
if committed by the Sovereign or Legiflative
Power, to be punifhed by dcpofirion, Locke's
words are, " The delivery of the people into the
" fubjedlion of a foreign power, either by the
" prince or the legiflature, is certainly a change
" of the, legiflative, and fo adifToIution of thego-
" vernment ; for the end why people entered into
" fociety, being to be preferved one, entire, free,
" inde-

" indcpendant fociety, to be governed by its own
" laws ; this is loft whenever they are given up
" into the power of another." — See Locke on
Government, chap. 79. fee. 217. — Roman Ca
tholics holding .fuch dodlrine cannot be made,
with any degree of prudence, Legiflators, Chan
cellors, and Judges, as this bill .purpofes to make
them. The Irifli Roman Catholics are more at
tached to this foreignjurifdidlion than the Englifh
Roman Catholics. In the reign of Henry II.
(for the Conftitutions of Clarendon,) the fubjedl
of contention between Henry and Becket, forbid
the exercife of the Papel jurifdidlion in England,
yet they were enafted by the Parliament. of Eng
land, then all Catholics. This wife Prince would
not have contefted this point with fo much zeal,
if the power claimed by the Pope in fpirituals,
did not trench on his temporal power. — It has
been attempted to turn the argument of the dan
ger of the Pope's fupremacy in fpirituals into ri
dicule, by a Right Honourable Baronet, a firft-
rate wit in this Houfe, byhisalking,doesany man
in his fenfes now dread the power of the Pope, a
poor party Sovereign, who owes his fafety to the
protedtion of a regiment of Englifh dragoons ?
To this it may be anfwered with great truth, that
it is perfedlly immaterial in what perfon —
whether a Prince or a beggar — the Roman Ca
tholics fuppofe the fupremacy to be lodged, as
they afl^ert that it is not lodged in the ftate : be
caufe the danger to be apprehended from fo per
nicious a tenet, arifes from the numbers and power
2 of

( 21 )
of the perfons in the nation who hold it, and not
from the power of the perfons they fuppofe to be
invefted with it. As the danger to the State,
when there was a Pretender to the Crow^n, arofe,
not from the power of the Pretender, a poor ba-
nifhed Prince, without territory or revenue, but
from the number and power of his adherents in
this country, the Right Honourable Baronet pil
fered this joke from the famous Romifh agent in
England, who has publifhed his own Jefuitical
letter to the Baronet, in which this piece of wit
will be found by any perfon who will give him
felf the trouble of reading it. — No fedl of people,
denying the fupremacy of the ftate in one-half of
its legiflative and executive authority, can, with
any propriety, be put on a level of political power,
with thofe who admit, in the fulleft manner, the
fupremacy of the ftate, as well in ecclefiaftical
matters as in. temporal. — A fecond avowed prin
ciple of Raman Catholics, which prevents a full
communication of political power in the State
with them, and will be an eternal caufe of fepa
ration between them and Proteftants, is that un
charitable tenet of exclufive falvation. The Ro
mifh Church holds Chriftians, who differ from the
Church of Rome in religious opinions, cannot
obtain falvation in the next world — fee Butler's
Catechifm, p. 22, 23, 24, and Troy's Paftor^l
Inftrudlions, from p. 60 top. 6^. — This uncha
ritable opinion tends ftrongly to render Roman
Catholics irreconcileable enemies to Proteftants ;•
how can real amity fubfift between them, when the

the Roman Catholic believes his Protefiant neigh
bour to be a living tabernacle for the devil, and
that his fpirit, immediately on its feparation from
the body, defcends to hell, and i* doomed to eter
nal mifery ? Some Roman Catholics revolt from
this dreadful dodlrine, becaufe their natural good
fenfe and benevolence overcome their religious
prejudices ; but the bulk of them hold the tenet,
and it is carefully inculcated by their Clergy. 'Tis
a cruel and unchriftian dodlrine, and calculated
for eternal difcord and feparation. Dr. Troy en
deavours to juftify it, by afTerting that the Pro
teftant Church alfo holds the tenet of exclufive fal
vation; his reafoning and arguments on this pomr
are fophiftical; from his ownarguments and quota
tions it is plain, that the Proteftant Church, as
the truth is, allows, that all Chriftians, of whdtdver
fedl or perfuafion, may be faved ; but the Romifh
Church excludes all Chriftians, thofe of their own
communion excepted, from falvation. Dr. Troy
takes great pains to prove that Roman'Catholics do
not, and ought not to abjure the infallibility of the
Pope ; the oath they take in that refpedl is,
" That it is not an article of the Catholic faith,
" neither am I thereby required to believe or
" profefs, that the Pope is infallible." Heob-
ferves, that all they fwear is, that the Pope's in
fallibility is not an article of faith, but that they are
left at liberty to believe it if they think fit ; and he
praifes the Englifli Roman Catholics for rejefting
the form of an oath, a few years ago, which precifely
ftated, that they did not believe the Pope to be in
fallible; and then he ftates, that the decrees of the
Pope,

I 23 ;
Pope, JSx Cathedra, are completely decifiveand in
fallible, when acquiefced in by the majority of Bi
fhops ; that is, that they are now completely deci
fiveand infallible, becaufetheacquiefcenceor dif-
fent of the majority of Bifhops cannot now be
ever colledled, as it is next to impbffible, that any
general Council will ever be again alTembled in
Chriftendom, in which alone the acquiefcence or
difTent of the majority of Bifhops could be colledl
ed. — (See Troy's Paftoral Inftrudlions, p. 73, 74,
75.) Here then is the infallibility of the Pope,
avowed to be a principle of the Roman Catho
lics, notwithftanding the fhuffling oath they take
in that refpedl. This is a dangerous dodlrine,
and ought to exclude the maintainers of it, from
an equality of political power with Proteftants in
a Proteftant ftate. What influence can the ob
ligation of an oath have with perfons, who believe
this infallibility? for, if the Pope fhall pro
nounce and decree. Ex Cathedra, or officially as
Pope, that the oath is unlawful in itfelf, and does
not bind, the fwearer believing in his infalli
bility, muft alfo believe, that he is loofed from
the obligation of his oath, and that he does not
ftand in need of any difpenfation whatfoever
for that purpofe. See a notable inftance of this
method of freeing Roman Catholics, from the
obligation of oaths, in the Bifhop of Cloyne's pre
fent ftate of the Church of Ireland, page 21, where
he ftates the letter of Cardinal Ghilini, the Pope's
Nuncio at Bruflels, the Cardinal Protedtor of
Ireland;, fo late as the year 1768. It is ftated, by
the

{ 24 ;
the favourers of this Bill, that the Proteftants
as well as the Roman Catholics of Ireland, are
anxious that it fhould pafs into a law; that the
city of Dublin has petitioned the Crown in fa
vour of it, and that feveral aflTemblies, in different
counties in the kingdom, compofed of Proteftants
and Roman Catholics, have alfo petitioned the King
gnd this Houfe in favour of it. Nothing can be
more unfounded than the afTertion, that the pro
teftants of Ireland, of the church eftablifhed, are
favourers of this bill. The proteftant corporation
of the city of Dublin, petitioned the king againft
the principle of it, and prayed his protedlion for
the proteftant eftablifhment in Ireland. A few
fedlaries in the city of Dublin, improperly enough
ftiled proteftants, met and agreed on petitions to
the crown in favour of the bill ; at one of thofe
meetings, at which thirteen attended, who ftiled
themfelves the merchants of the city of Dublin,
Mr. Abraham Wilkinfon, an anabaptift, prefided,
and was fupported by Mr. Jofhua Pim, a Quaker,
and Mr. James Hartley, a Diflenter ; thefe three
gentlemen are certainly men of refpediable cha-
radlers in the mercantile line, and have made for
tunes with unblemifhed reputations ; but it muft
not be conceded, that they, and the few perfons of
their own republican fadlion that aflimbled with
them, fpoke the fenfe of the proteftant merchants
of the city of Dublin. Another aflTembly, called
an Aggregate Meeting, was convened in Dub
lin ; thefe Aggregate Meetings are a late in
vention of the Republican fadlion, in this kingdom ;

I ^5 >
dom : a few bell weathers of that flock meet to
gether, and if one of their fadlion happens to be
a Sheriff or a Magiftrate, as is foihetimes the cafe,
they draw up what they fiyle a reqUifltion to him,
to affemble forthwith the wholie garig by public
advertifement; As this fadlion is in general com
pofed of the meanefi, the pooreft, and moft defpe-
rate of the community, all levelleirs, no perfon vfcn-
tures into aii AfTembly thus c'onvened, who has
any regard for his purfe oi: his throat. When
fuch an AflTembly meets, one of the Captains of
the gang pulls a ftring of feditious refolutious or
a fadlious petition Out of his pocket, reads them
to his confederates; they are inftantly adopted,
figned by the Captain, and publifhed with great
induftry throughout the kingdom by the fadlious
newfpapers. Mr. Alderman Howifoh, a DiflTen-
rer, lately called an Aggregate Meeting in this
city ; a Petition was there produced, read, and
adopted by the AfTembly, purporting to be a Pe
tition to his Majefty in favour of the Roman Ca
tholic claims, and the AflTembly then came to a
refolution of deputing Mr. Alderman Howifon
and another gentlemanj a DiflTenter, as their Am-
bafl^dors to prefent this Petition to his Majefty ;
the Aflembly confifted of ninety perfons, and the
Petition was afterwards fent about the town to
all Republicans to fign it, by which means they
procured about 500 fignatures to it, and the Am-
bafTadors carried it to London, and prefented it
to his Majefty at Levee. To give fome idea of
the Republican principles of this Aflembly and
E thp

( 26 ) .
the, rank, oiF its component. parts, the principal
orator, as. he w^as a man of the name df|Willis, by
trade-a maker of leather breeches: this man, at a
Shcrift's entertainment about a year ago, given
by Mr. Sheriff Giffa.rd, refufed to drink the
King's health, at which the company was To en
raged, that they filled a large glafs with tbe dfaiii-
ings of the 'bottles,, compelled the breeches-ma
ker to* drink it off to the King's health on his
knees, and then turned him out of the room.
Mr, Howifon, a few years ago, was, by the in
trigues of a Republican fadlion, at that time
headed by 'Mr. James Napper Tandy, eledled
Lord Mayor of the city of Dublin, in prejudice
^o a moft ifefpedlable Alderman, Mr. Jamfes, 'Whofe
turn it-then was to fill that bffice, and which he
hasfince filled gready to the honour" of the dty
and his own credit. [Alderman James, is bro
ther-in-law to Alderman Howifon], One Cobriey,
the Editor of a fadlious newfpaper, ftyled the
Morning Poft, (who is, now fuffering impirifon-
ment in Newgate, being convidled of publifhing
feVferal falfe, malicious, and feditious libels), was,
previous to the Mayoralty of Alderman Howifon,
"^conyidled of publilhinga moft fcurrilpusand ma
licious libel againft our Queen, the pattern of all
that is good and great, the beft of wives, the'beft
of rriothers, and the ornament of her Court and
Kingdom ; for this, offence' Cooney was fentenced
'tobe imprlfoned, and pillored at the expiration
of the term of his imprifonment; hefuffered the
'punift) merit, and Lord Mayor Howifon having

an

an official dinner at the Manfion houfe in a day
or two after Cooney was liberated' from bis im
prifonment and the pillory, inVitedCooney to this
dinner, and he was placed at this entertainment'
next the firft Nobility of the kingdom, :though»
he had publicly ftood in the pillory a few days.'
before in College-green. It cannot be admitted
that this Bear-garden of Republican Diflenters
fpoke the fenfe of the Proteftants of Dublin, , In
the county of Cork fourteen perfons afle^mbled,
fix only of them freeholders, of that ' county, and
entered into refolutions favourable to the Catho
lic claims, and to this bill, and ftyling themfelves
the Freeholders of the county of Cork, fent up
their refolutions to Lord Kingfborough, one of
the Reprefentatives of the county in Parliament,
as iqftrudlions to him how to vote on the bill.
His anfwer to thefe perfons is remarkable for its
fpirit and propriety; he has fpoken againft the
bill, and has declared that he will vote againft
it, notwithftanding thefe pretended inftrudlions
of Freeholders, The fame political legerdemain
has been played by the Republican fadlion, in fe
veral other counties.
The numbers and power of the Roman Catho
lics of this Kingdom, have been exaggerated by
the Patrons, of this BilU not only beyond reality,
but probability; and fuch exaggerated accounts
have been carrie.d over to the Englifli Miniflry,
and have had confiderable effedl. As to numbers,
the Roman Catholics of Ireland do not exceed
the Proteftants ih a greater proportion, than that
: r ^ ¦ ^ ^ ¦ ¦¦ . Of

( 28 )
of two and a half to one; fuch was '^he prppor::
tion by a very accurate account of the number of
the inhabitants of this kingd.pm, made in the
ypar 1732 ; the whole inhabitants pf this kingdonr^
then amounted to fomething lefs than Two Mil
lions. The number of inhabitants has certainly
fince encreafed, but it is highly improbable that
they amount npw to Four Millipns, that is, that
the population of this country has been mpre
than double in fixty years. The accuracy of the
modern calculators of population is much to be
fufpedled: INffr. Chalmers, in a late |radl, has
proved to demonftr^tion, that the calculation of
Dodlor Price, as to population in England, is
grofsly erroneous ; the furface of Great Britain is
to that of Ireland, in the proportion pf three and
a half to one ; if then Ireland contains Four MiU
lions pf inhabitants, as modern calculators affert.
Great Britjun, which to a traveller appears to be
much better peopled, mufl contain upwards of
Fourteen Millions, which is much more than the
inhabitants of Britain are ufually calculated at.
But fuppofing Ireland now to contain Four Mil
lions of inhabitai^ts, it is certain that the propor
tion above-mentioned of Catholics to Proteftants
in 1732, muft be rather dirninifhed from many
caufes in this year (1795) in favour pf Proteftants;
and that as the ftrepgth of the DiflTenting intereft
in Ireland, is confined to four Counties only, in
which four Counties the Proteftants of the Efta
blifhed Church are at leaft as numerous as the
piffenters, it follows, that the great body of the
Proteftants^

( 29 3
proteftants of Ireland, are Proteftants of the Efta
blifhed Church : it is alfo equally certain, that
much the greater number of the Proteftant Dif^
fenters of Ireland are good and faithful fubjedls
.of his Majefty, and well attached to the Confti
tution ; and that the Republicans amongft them
are not fo numerous as generally imagined, but
jthat their turbulerice makes them appear to be
more numerous than they are in reality. As to
the power of the Roman Catholics in the State,
that mufl be eftimafed not fo much from their
numbers, as from their landed eftates and perfonal
property. The landed eftates in the hands of
Proteftants in Ireland are to thofe in the hands
pf Roman Catholics, in the proportion of fifty
to one ; and, the Catholic Agent, Mr. Tone, may
be believed, when he ftates that the Peafantry
are moftly Catholics, and the pooreft and moft
wretched in Europe : what perfonal property there
is lodged in the hands of the Roman Catholics,
is confine4 to merchants and traders pf that pro-
felfion in cities and towns ; and they certainly
are not polTefled of the twentieth part of the per
fonal property of the nation. To convince Gen
tlemen of this truth, let it be remembered, that
a few years ago, a National Bank was eftablilhed
in this kingdom, a fum of 6oo,oool. was the ca
pital : the Roman Catholics of Ireland, (though
very ambitious of becoming Diredlors of this
Bank,) were only able fo fubfcribe Sixty Thou-
fand Pounds of the capital among them all : the
reft was fubfcribed by Proteftants ! Away then
^ith thefe fallacious boaftings of the wealth and
' power

{'30 ;
power of Irifli Roman Catholics ! 'Tis one of
the arts pradlifed by the Patrons of this Bill in
this HPufie, to endeavour to intimidaj^e Protef
tants; by prophecies and forebodings of dresflful
wars, tumults, and mafTacres, whicbthey aie cpn-
ftantly trumpeting forth, as the certain confe-.
quencesof the rejedlion of this Bill.: When I fee
a Gentleman, equal as an aQ:or tpQg,rrick,, Barry,
or Sheridan, get up in this Houfe, \yjth. all the.
well-diffembled marks of horror and difinay iti
his countenance, his hair ftanding at end, and
hear him conjuring up the hideous fpri,tes. of bat-.
tie, murder, and fudden death, as confequences of
rejedlion, in folemn tones, from the loweft key of"
his voice, as if he was enclof^in a hogfhead
and fpeaking through the bung-holcr— ^.hough 1
admire his ability in adling, yet, as 1 am no way
difmayed by the unfubftantial goblins, my great
refpedl for this Houfe alone reftrains me, from
finging to him the Nurfes fong^
" Get away Raw-head and Bloody bones !
Here is a Child does not fear you."
It has been argued, that the Parliament of
this Kingdom has already conferred on Roman
Catholics the Eleftive Franchife ; that acquifition
of the Reprefentative Franchife, is the certain
confequence of thepoffefllon of the Eledlive; and
that therefore it is abfurd to rejedl the Bill, and
refufe now the Reprefentative Franchife ;o the
Roman Catholics, which they will certainly foon
acquire. How does it appear, that the acquifi-
tionof the Rep|-efentative Fr,«inchife is the certairi
confequence

V- 3« )
confequence of the acquifitibn of the Eledlive?
—Experience proves the contrary. No man can
poffefs the Reprefentative Franchife in England,
who has not a clear unincurtibered eftate of 300I.
per annum, which entitles him to fit in Parlia
ment as Member for a Borough ; or, 600I. per
annum, which entitles him to fit in Parliament
for a County; yet, the great majority of thofe
perfons in England, who enjoy the Eledlive
Franchife, are excluded from the Reprefentative
Franchife, becaufe they have not eftates of 300I.
per annum, nor of 600I. per annum. The en
joyment of the Reprefentative Franchife, by Ro
man CathPlics in Ireland, would fubvert the
Conftitution ; and if it were true, that the enjoy
ment of the Reprefentative Franchife is a certain
confequence 6f the enjoyment of the Eledlive
the atgument of the patrons of this bill would
only prove, that we ought inftantly to deprive
the Roman Catholics of the Eledlive Franchife
'for the prefervation of the Conftitution in Church
andState. This'bill, if paffed into a law, would
net COntdttt the Roman Catholics, for they pray
the repeal of all reftridlive and penal laws, affedl
ing' themparticularly ; which this bill, if paffed
into a law, wotild not effedl; though it is fully
competent to the fubverfion of the Conftitution.
"The Roman Catholics have been called upon by
the RepdWican fadlion to make their prefent de-
'mands; that- reftlefs fadlion faw they were too
" tveak to carry on their defig'n of eftablifliing in
'this kingdom a demacratis -Republic on the
^French fche'me, 'wirbout the affiftance of the bulk
'¦¦ of

( 32 7
of the people; they have therefore called iri^cf
their aid the Roman Catholics, by offering to
them the fubverfion of the Conftitution in Church
and State, founded in the 2d year of C^een Eli-
Ziabeth, revived and ftrengthened by new barri
ers at the Reftoration, iniproVed,- and renovated,
and again eftablifhed at the Revolution, again
ftrengthened and fortified in the year 1783, the
glorious aera, as the patrons of the Bill 6,y, of
the enfranchifement of Ireland. The Roman
Catholics have attentively liftened to the call, a;nd
zealoufly embraced the offer ; they are now com
pletely Republicans and Democrats ; fee all their
late publications : the Stewart race, to which
they were attached as Monarchs, are extindl, and
they mortally hate an Englifh Government, and
the Houfe of Brunfwick. If you capacitate Ro
man Catholics to enjoy all the great offices of the
State, and to fit in Parliament, by paffing this bill,
what is called by the Republican fadlion a Reform
in Parliament, muft be the immediate confe
quence, becaufe, as the reprefcntation of all Coun
ties, potwal loping Boroughs, Cities, and Towns,
where the eledlion is popular, will be open to
Catholic ambition. Catholics will become natural
enemies to all clofe Boroughs, from which they
will be in general excluded ; they will therefore
more ftrongly unite themfelves with the Republi
can party, and infift on the deftrudlion of thefe
boroughs, and the divifion of the kingdom into*
departments like France : if you confefs, by paf
fing the prefent bill, that you cannot and dare not
refift their prefent demands, how will you be able to

( 33 )
to refift their demand of a reform, when their
ftrength and influence will be encreafed ten-fold
and when their intereft will draw ftill clofer the
bands of confederacy between them and the Re-
pubHcans ? All ariftocratic influence will be then
banifhed from this Houfe, it will become a mere
democratic affembly, and the more Catholic the
more Democratic. Then adieu to all eftablifh
ment ; Church and State will vanifh bdfore them,
an immediate attempt to turn this Monarchical
Government into a Republic, under the proteftion
' of France, and fevered from the Britifli empire
will be the confequence. This nation will be
come a field of battle for the Britifh and the
French, as Sicily formerly for the Romans and
the Carthaginians ; mifery and defolation will
overwhelm the country like a deluge, and fweep
away Proteftant and Roman Catholic in one com
mon ruin : Britain, as heretofore, muft, from
the geographical fituation of the country, be vic
torious, and experience will teach her the neceffity
of uniting this country for ever to the Britifh em
pire, which flie, fatally for her own and our happi
nefs, negledled to do at the Revolution, when fhe
had it in her power. If this bill fhould pafs this
Houfe and the Peers, it is impoffible that the King
could give the Royal affent to it. Part of the
King's Coronation oath, fettled at the Revolutiom
is as follows ' 1 will, to the utmoft of my power,
" maintain the Proteftant Religion as by law efta-
" blifhed, and preferve to the Bifhops and Clergy,
" and to the Churches committed to their care,
" all fuch rights and privileges, as by law do, or
««fliall.

i 34 )
^' flball, appertain to them or any of them," Thi3
oath has confiderable additions made to it by the
Adl of Union between England and Scotland itt
the reign of Que!en Anne. That Adl ena6ls as
follows, " that all adls then in force for the efta-
" blifhment and prefervation of the Church of
" England, and the dodlrine, worfhip, difcipline,
" and government thereof, fhall be in force for
^* ever. That every King or Queen, at his or her
" Coronation, fhall take and fubfcribe an oath to
" maintain and preferve inviolably the faid fettlcr
*' ment pf the Church of England, and the doc-
" trine, difcipline, and government thereof, as by
" law eftablifhed, within the kingdoms of England
" and Ireland, the dominion of Wales, and the
" town of Berwick, and the territories thereuntp
" belonging. That this adl fhall for ever be a
" fundamental and effential part of the Treaty of
" Union between England and Scotland," I have
already fhewn, that the Bill, if paffed into a law,
would not only fubvert the civil conftitution, but
that it would alfo fubvert the ecclefiaftical eftab
lifhment; and that therefore hi^ Majefty, a moft
religious pious Prince, could not, confiftent with
the obligation of his Coronation oath, give his
Royal affent to fuch a bill. It has been argued,
that the Royal Veto is now extinguifhed by difufe,
and that the King is, by the Conftitution of the
kingdom, obliged to give his Royal affent to any
adl which has been approved of by the Houfes of
Lords and Commons ; and that if the Houfes of
Lords and Commons fhould agree upon an adl:
for abplilhing the Proteftant religion, or even

( 3S )
Chriftianity itfelf, the King would be obliged to
give the Royal Affent to the Adl, and that his do
ing fo, would be no breach of his oath. This ar
gument is pilfered alfo from the letter of the Ro
mifh Agent in England to a Right Hon, Baronet
already mentioned, but he ufes it in a more dif-
guifed and Jefuitical manner than it is ftated in
this Houfe, Little credit is due to the arguments
of this Romifh agent : during the American war,
he conftantly preached up in Parliament the moft
violent Republican dodlrines ; when ir pleafed
God to afflifl his Majefty with a moft grievous
malady, to the great grief of all his faithful fub
jedls, this man was impious enough to declare, in
the Englifh Houfe of Commons, that God Al
mighty had hurled his Majefty from his Throne ;
as it was afferted in the Englifli and Irifh papers
of that day. Upon the deftrudlion of Chriftia
nity in France he changed his opinions, and wrote
violently againft the French Democrats, for doing
the fame things which he had fo often, and with
fuch energy, commended, when performed by
the American Republicans. The reafon is plain ;
the Americans then ftood in need of the afliftance
pf the French, who, at that time, profeffed the
Roman Catholic Religion; the Americans, there
fore, favoured the Roman Catholic Religion, but
the French, in their late revolution, profcribed
all Chriftianity ; confequently the Roman Ca
tholic Religion, which this agent ftyles pulling
down the Majefy of 'Religion. Hence illte lachry-
mee of that gentleman, and hence his recantation
pf Republicanifm. This arguments to prove

J ^^ ^
that his Majefty may at any time violate his
Coronation oath, both in premiffes and conclu-
fions, may be fairly denied ; eithdr or both Houfes
of Parliament cannot difpenfe with the obliga
tion of his Majefty's Oath ; it was never before
afTerted that they would afTume the pretended
power of the Pope of Rome, of abfolving from
the obligation of oaths, neither can it be conced
ed that his Majefty's veto is gone by difufe. A
cafe may be bowever put |Urther,-to ftiew the ab-
furdity of the argument : By Irifh Afe of Par
liament unrepealed, the kingdom of Ireland is
declared to be for ever annexed to^ and dependant
upon, the Imperial Crown of England, and that
whoever is King of England becomes thereby
ipfofa5fo King of Ireland. If a bill was to pais
both Houfes of Parliament in Ireland for abo-
lifhing the Proteftant Religion, and for eft^blifh-
ing the Roman Catholic Religion in Ireland,
could his Majefty, confiftent with the Coronation
oath taken by him in England, purfuant to the
adl of Union, give the Royal aflent to fuch bill,
whilft the adl of union remained in full force in
Great Britain ? The Romifh Agent in England
will fcarce affert that he could. — The Dodlor con
cluded his long fpeech with a declaration, that he
would vote for the rejedlion of the bill.
The Bill was at length rejefited by a majority
of 7X.
FINIS,