ment of the question:" that, in the existing state of excitation, "it was impossible to expect to prevail upon men to consider it dispassionately;" and that, if an ultimate satisfactory arrangement of the question were wished for, it would be desirable for a time, "to bury it in oblivion."* When the duke of Wellington thus declared, on the 11th December, that he saw no prospect of a settlement of the question, what man could imagine, that he had already resolved forthwith to force it to a settlement? When he thus represented the excited state of public feeling as opposing an insuperable obstacle to the consideration of concession, who could believe that he and his cabinet had already determined to push concession, in defiance of that very feeling, and amidst excitation a thousand times more violent? When he expressed his opinion, that the question ought to be "buried in oblivion," would it not have been deemed an insult to the understanding, or to the honesty, of his grace to have said, that by these words he meant the instant agitation of the question in parliament, and the agitation of it, too, as a government measure? When the year concluded with the recal of the lord lieutenant, because he had used language, and pursued a line of conduct, favourable to the hopes of the Catholics, what man could dream that the next year was to begin with granting all that the Catholics had ever demanded? Yet so it was; while the country was thus reposing in secure confidence that the leading members of the government were still faithful to their trust, these very men * Vol lxx. p. [149. were had determined to go over to the Catholics, and, in secresy and silence, were arranging their plans to overwhelm every attempt at resistance by the power of ministerial influence. The consent of the king was the first thing to be obtained, and it was likewise the most difficult. His majesty's opinions against the justice and expediency of concession deeply rooted: the subject itself was one on the consideration of which he did not willingly enter. What were the arguments employed for his majesty's conversion can be learned only from the arguments by which ministers subsequently attempted to justify in parliament their own change of policy; but, while the operations of the minister upon the royal mind were going on, no whisper was allowed to go abroad regarding the measure that was in contemplation. There was skilful management in this, if there was not much fairness. Had the people, instead of being lulled into the confidence that those, whom they had trusted before, would be trust-worthy still, been made aware of the counsels which these very men were pouring into the royal ear, the public voice would have been heard at the foot of the throne, strengthening the deep-rooted convictions of the monarch himself, and the reluctant consent, which was ultimately wrung from him, in all probability, would never have been obtained. When his consent was once obtained, the public voice might be allowed to raise itself without danger; for he then stood pledged to his ministers, if these ministers, by whatever means, could only command a majority in parliament. It was not till after this consent had been granted, that it began to be whispered abroad, in the end of January, and only a few days before the meeting of parliament, that his majesty's ministers intended to recommend to parliament some concessions to the Catholics. The surprise, which the announcement excited, was only equalled by the indignation and contempt roused by so sudden an abandonment of principle. The Protestant party found that, up to the very moment of the assembling of parliament, they had been allowed to rest in the belief, that the question would not be stirred, or that, if it should be stirred, the influence of the leading members of the cabinet would still stand in its way; while, in truth, their most tried friends had been plotting and planning how they might most successfully secure a triumph to the enemy, and were concealing, at the same time, their intended defection, up to the instant when the contest was to begin. It seems impossible to acquit the duke of Wellington and Mr. Peel of having acted, in this part of the affair, with a disingenuousness which might be perfectly in its place in a miserable political intrigue, but which tainted their character as public men in relation to a question of such vast and vital importance. They knew that they were trusted by the Protestant party as the champions who were to be ready armed, whenever the Catholics should advance against the constitution. If they had grown weary of the service, and were resolved to abandon it for the adverse side, there would have been more manliness and fairness, though less craft, in announcing from the first their own change of sentiment, and their determination to act with instant vigour against their former friends. So stood matters, when Parliament met on the 5th of February, and the session was opened by commission, with the following Speech, which was read by the lord chancellor : "My Lords and Gentlemen, "His Majesty commands us to inform you, that he continues to receive from his Allies, and generally from all Princes and States, the assurance of their unabated desire to cultivate the most friendly relations with his Majesty. "Under the mediation of His Majesty, the preliminaries of a Treaty of Peace between his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Brazil, and the republic of the united provinces of Rio de la Plata, have been signed and ratified. "His Majesty has concluded a convention with the king of Spain for the final settlement of the claims of British and Spanish subjects, preferred under the treaty signed at Madrid, on the 12th of March, 1823. "His Majesty has directed a copy of this convention to be laid before you; and His Majesty relies upon your assistance to enable him to execute some of its provisions. "His Majesty laments that his diplomatic relations with Portugal are still necessarily suspended. "Deeply interested in the prosperity of the Portuguese Monarchy, His Majesty has entered into negociations with the head of the House of Braganza, in the hope of terminating a state of affairs which is incompatible with the permanent tranquillity and welfare of Portugal. "His Majesty commands us to assure you, that he has laboured unremittingly to fulfil the stipula tions of the treaty of the 6th of July, 1827, and to effect, in concert with his Allies, the pacification of Greece. "The Morea has been liberated from the presence of the Egyptian and Turkish forces. "This important object has been accomplished by the successful exertions of the naval forces of His Majesty and of his Allies, which led to a convention with the Pacha of Egypt; and finally, by the skilful disposition and exemplary conduct of the French army, acting by the commands of His Most Christian Majesty, on the behalf of the Alliance. "The troops of His Most Christian Majesty having completed the task assigned to them by the Allies, have commenced their return to France. "It is with great satisfaction that His Majesty informs you, that during the whole of these operations, the most cordial union has subsisted between the forces of the three Powers by sea and land. "His Majesty deplores the continuance of hostilities between the emperor of Russia and the Ottoman Porte. "His Imperial Majesty, in the prosecution of those hostilities, has considered it necessary to resume the exercise of his belligerent rights in the Mediterranean, and has established a blockade of the Dardanelles. "From the operation of this blockade, those commercial enterprises of his Majesty's subjects have been exempted, which were undertaken upon the faith of His Majesty's declaration to his parliament respecting the neutrality of the Mediterranean Sea. "Although it has become indispensable for His Majesty and the king of France to suspend the cooperation of their forces with those of his Imperial Majesty, in consequence of this resumption of the exercise of his belligerent rights, the best understanding prevails between the three Powers, in their endeavours to accomplish the remaining objects of the treaty of London. "Gentlemen of the House of Commons, "We are commanded by His Majesty to acquaint you, that the estimates for the current year will forthwith be laid before you. His Majesty relies on your readiness to grant the necessary supplies, with a just regard to the exigencies of the public service, and to the economy which His Majesty is anxious to enforce in every department of the State. "His Majesty has the satisfaction to announce to you the continued improvement of the Revenue. "The progressive increase in that branch of it which is derived from articles of internal consumption is peculiarly gratifying to His Majesty, as affording a decisive indication of the stability of the national resources, and of the increased comfort and prosperity of his people. "My Lords and Gentlemen, "The state of Ireland has been the object of His Majesty's continued solicitude. "His Majesty laments that in that part of the United Kingdom an Association should still exist, which is dangerous to the public peace, and inconsistent with the spirit of the Constitution; which keeps alive discord and ill-will amongst His Majesty's subjects; and which must, if permitted to continue, effectually obstruct every effort permanently to improve the condition of Ireland, "His Majesty confidently relies on the wisdom and on the support of his parliament; and His Majesty feels assured that you will commit to him such powers as may enable His Majesty to maintain his just authority. "His Majesty recommends that, when this essential object shall have been accomplished, you should take into your deliberate consideration the whole condition of Ireland, and that you should review the laws which impose civil disabilities on His Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects. "You will consider whether the removal of those disabilities can be effected consistently with the full and permanent security of our establishments in church and state, with the maintenance of the reformed religion established by law, and of the rights and privileges of the bishops and of the clergy of this realm, and of the churches committed to their charge. "These are institutions which must ever be held sacred in this Protestant kingdom, and which it is the duty and the determination of his Majesty to preserve inviolate. "His Majesty most earnestly recommends to you to enter upon the consideration of a subject of such paramount importance, deeply interesting to the best feelings of his people, and involving the tranquillity and concord of the United Kingdom, with the temper and the moderation which will best ensure the successful issue of your deliberations." The Address, echoing as usual the royal speech, was moved in the Lords by the marquis of Salisbury, and seconded by the earl of Wicklow; in the Commons it was moved by lord Clive, and seconded by viscount Corry. No division took place in either House; all the other topics adverted to in the speech were swallowed up in the recommendation to prepare for the removal of the Catholic disabilities; and the opinions expressed on that question will find a more fitting place in recording the debates during the progress of the bill which was soon afterwards brought in. The duke of Wellington expressed a wish, that no discussion should take place, until the whole measure, which his majesty's government had in view, should be fully introduced; but he stated, in reply to a question from the duke of Newcastle, that the measure for the adjustment of the Roman Catholic claims would be brought forward in a substantive shape by his majesty's ministers, without going through a committee. The measure, which it was their intention to propose for the adoption of parliament, would extend to the removal generally of all civil disabilities under which the Roman Catholics laboured, with exceptions solely resting on special grounds; and it would be accompanied by other measures rendered necessary by the removal of these disabilities. N the Royal Speech the sup CHAP. II. Bill for the Suppression of the Catholic Association-Dissolution of the Association-Mr. Peel resigns his Seat for the University of Oxford-His attempt to be re-elected-Defeated in his attemptMinisterial proposition for the unconditional removal of Catholic Disabilities-Mr. Peel's Explanations and Defence of the Measure - Discussions in the House of Commons on the Proposition Majority in favour of the Proposition-Political conversions-Introduction and first reading of the Bill for the Removal of Catholic Disabilities. ciation was alluded to, as a measure which ought to precede any consideration of the civil claims of the Catholics. And assuredly the very first thing to be done was, to vindicate the honour of the laws, which that body had been so long allowed, or rather, by the supineness of government, had been encouraged, to insult. That it ought to be suppressed, had never been a doubtful question; why it had not already been suppressed, was a question never answered. In pursuance of the recommendation contained in the king's speech, Mr. Peel, on the 10th of February, obtained leave to bring in a bill for putting an end to the existence of the Association. He would not enter, he said, into any investigation of the causes in which that Association might be supposed to have originated; he asked only for that admission which he had already heard amply made on the opposite side of the House, that it was inconsistent with the exercise of the regular government to allow the continued existence of the Catholic Association, and therefore he would be spared the pain of stating any particular circum of creating irritation. Whatever feelings might be entertained on other points, he was sure the House would approve the recommendation in his majesty's speech that they should enable him to maintain his authority, and would acquiesce in a legislative enactment by which the future meetings of the Catholic Association should be prevented. Those who cherished most dearly the hope of seeing a conciliatory arrangement of the Catholic claims speedily carried into effect, must feel, he believed, that the existence of that Association, during the discussions which were about to take place, would in itself oppose an almost insuperable barrier to the accomplishment of the object which they had at heart. The constant discussion of the measures and intentions of government in the Association, would render it totally impossible for the legislature to arrive at any satisfactory adjustment of the question. As to the provisions of the law, by which the suppression might be effected, they ought to be of such a nature as could not be evaded, and as would effectually prevent tricks and |