*

XX.

1825.

43.

question,

Commons

March 1.

which laid the foundation of the new Catholic Associa- CHAP. tion, were received with vehement applause: but the speeches made on the occasion effectually belied the spirit of the resolutions, and gave a melancholy presage of what might be expected from its future proceedings. These animated discussions concerning the Roman Catholic Association were intended only as an introduc- Catholic tion to the grand debate on Catholic Emancipation, for and majowhich, as the cheval de bataille for the season, both rity in the parties were preparing their whole strength, and which on it. led to a result highly favourable to the Catholic hopes. It was introduced in the House of Commons, on March 1st, by Sir Francis Burdett, who, in a masterly and eloquent but yet temperate speech, moved for the appointment of a committee to inquire into the grounds of complaint set forth in the Catholic petition which he presented. It was opposed by Mr Peel and Mr Leslie Foster; but the knowledge, which was universal, of the division in the Cabinet on the subject, paralysed the opponents of the motion, and Sir Francis' motion was carried by a majority of 21, the numbers being 248 to 227. This majority, the largest which had been obtained on the subject, was received with vehement cheering in the House of Commons, and justly regarded by all the friends of 1 Parl. Deb. the Catholics throughout the country as prophetic of the xii. 558. future and not far-distant triumph of their cause.1

bill in the

If this division in the Commons, however, proved the 44. progress which the Roman Catholic claims had made in Fate of the the opinions of the popular branch of the Legislature, the House of fate of the question in the Peers was not less ominous of the difficulties with which it was beset among the aris

* Mr O'Gorman, the Secretary of the Association, said: "His Majesty's Ministers are not lying on a bed of roses. Independent of their internal dissensions, which I hope God Almighty will increase, their finances are in a ticklish condition. England is beginning to get uneasy, and a cloud appears to be gathering in the north, which might burst, there was no saying how soon, for Russia has 1,300,000 men in arms. All these prospects are sufficient to inspire Irishmen with hope."-Speech of O'GORMAN, 13th July 1825 ; Ann. Reg., 1825, p. 45.

Lords.

XX.

1825.

CHAP. tocratic. The question came on in the House of Lords in April; and as it had been carried by so large a majority in the Commons, the attention of both parties in the country was fixed with the most intense anxiety on the division in the Peers. They were long kept in suspense, as the presenting of various petitions on the subject gave rise, as usual on such occasions, to several desultory debates before the question itself came on. It was brought to a decision, however, on 17th May, when the measure was thrown out by a majority of 65, the numbers being 178 to 113.1

May 17.

1 Parl. Deb.

xii. 766;

Ann. Reg. 1825, 67.

45. Duke of

York's de

the subject.

April 25.

On occasion of one of these petitions being presented, the Duke of York made, in a bold and manly tone, the claration on following declaration, which had an important influence on the ultimate fate of the bill: "Eight-and-twenty years have elapsed since this question was first agitated, under the most awful circumstances, while this country was engaged in a most arduous and expensive, though just and necessary war: the agitation of it had been the cause of a most serious and alarming illness to an illustrious personage now no more, whose exalted character and virtues, and parental affection for his people, would render his memory ever dear to his country; and it produced also the temporary retirement from his late Majesty's councils of one of the most able, enlightened, and honest statesmen of whom this country could boast. Upon this question we are now called upon to decide; and from the first moment of its agitation to the present, I have not for one instant hesitated or felt a doubt as to the propriety of the line of conduct to be adopted in regard to it.

46.

"A great change of language and sentiment has taken Continued. place, since the subject was first introduced, among the advocates for Catholic emancipation. At first, the most zealous of them had endeavoured to impress upon the minds of the people that Catholic emancipation ought not to be granted without establishing strong and effec

XX.

1825.

tual barriers against any encroachment on the Protestant CHAP. ascendancy. But how changed was now their language! Your Lordships are called upon to surrender every principle of the constitution, and to deliver us up, bound hand and foot, to the mercy and generosity of the Roman Catholics, without any assurance even that they would be satisfied with such fearful concessions. The King is bound by his coronation oath to maintain the laws of God, the true profession of the Gospel, and the Protestant reformed religion, established by law. Ours is a Protestant King, who knows no mental reservation, and whose situation is different from that of any other person in the country. I myself, and every other individual in the country, can be released from my oath by act of Parliament, but the King cannot. The oath is a solemn obligation by the person who took it, from which no act of his own could release him; and the King is the third estate in the realm, without whose voluntary consent no act of the Legislature can be valid.

47.

"If I have expressed myself warmly, especially in the latter part of what I have said, I must appeal to your Concluded. Lordships' generosity. I feel the subject most forcibly; and it affects me the more deeply, when I recollect that to its agitation must be ascribed that severe illness and ten years of misery which had clouded the existence of my beloved father. I shall therefore conclude with assuring your Lordships that I have uttered my honest and conscientious sentiments, founded upon principles I have imbibed from my earliest youth, to the justice of which I have subscribed after careful consideration in maturer years; and these are the principles to which will adhere, and which I will maintain, and that up to the latest moment of my existence, whatever might be my situation of life, so help me God."1

I

Immense was the impression which this bold and manly declaration, coming from the next heir to the throne, and a prince whose sincere and intrepid character

Parl. Deb. 142; Ann.

xii. 141,

Reg. 1825,

59, 60.

XX.

1825.

48.

CHAP. left no room for doubt but that he would act up to his opinions, produced over the country. Mr Brougham, to neutralise its effects, the next evening, in the House of Impression Commons, commenced a violent invective against the it produced Duke of York, saying that "the words he was reported country. Mr to have uttered, but which must have been false, would,

over the

Brougham's

the occa

sion.

speech on if true, have given him alarm, not only for good government, but the constitution of the country, and the stability of the monarchy as by law established and settled by the Revolution of 1688. No man living could believe that a prince of that house which sat on the throne by virtue of the Revolution of 1688, could promulgate to the world, that, happen what would, when he came to another situation, he would act in a particular way. No monarch who ever sat upon the English throne had ever been prepared for such resistance to his people on behalf of the Catholics, as was now not only meditated, but openly avowed against them. Nothing could save the empire from a convulsion but such a large increase in the majority on the Catholic question as might render such imprudent conduct as was openly announced impossible. A little while, and it would be too late; a brief time, and the opportunity now in their hands would be 1 Parl. Deb. lost for ever."1 But these statements on either part led 214; Ann. to no decisive result. Each side was only rendered the Reg. 1825, more confirmed in its own opinions; and the Catholic question was thereby rendered an ulcerated sore in the empire, which affected all the adjoining parts so seriously, that it became evident it could not be cut out without endangering the whole body.

xii. 208,

62, 63.

CHAPTER XXI.

BRITISH EMPIRE FROM THE MONETARY CRISIS OF DECEMBER 1825 TO THE EMANCIPATION OF THE CATHOLICS IN MARCH 1829.

XXI.

1826. 1.

prospects

THE year 1826 opened with such universal consterna- CHAP. tion and depression in all classes, from the effect of the terrible monetary crisis at the end of the preceding year, that the consideration of that crisis exclusively engrossed Gloomy the public mind, and scarcely any other topic occupied the of the naattention of Parliament in the next session. All classes tion in the beginning were suffering alike. The banks, struck with terror from of 1826. the numerous failures which had taken place, could hardly be prevailed on, on any terms, or any security, to make advances to their customers; the merchants, dreading the continued fall in the price of commodities, declined entering into speculations; the manufacturers, finding their usual orders awanting, or seriously diminished, contracted their operations; the workmen, thrown out of employment, became desperate, and vented their despair upon the machinery, which they imagined was the cause of all their suffering. The immense issue of paper without any gold to support it-to the extent of £8,000,000 in three weeks in the end of December, had indeed arrested the panic, but it had not restored confidence; and Government, by refusing to issue exchequer bills, a relief which 1826, 1, 2; had always been afforded on similar occasions in time i. 367, 369. past, effectually prevented for long the restoration of

1 Ann. Reg.

Martineau,