THE CATHOLIC QUESTION.
A. D. 1829
The recommendation of the late lord-lieutenant to agitate, was followed in Ireland to the very letter. When the Duke of Northumberland arrived in Dublin as his successor, he found agitation pervading the whole country. Protestants and Catholics alike were in the field, breathing defiance and revenge against each other, so that there was every prospect of a civil war. The premier’s situation at the opening of the year, from this cause, was one of great and peculiar difficulty. The whole tenor of his political life had been marked by hostility to the Catholic claims; and every individual associated with him in the government was pledged to resist their claims. The time had arrived, however, at the opening of the year, when it became necessary for the Duke of Wellington to decide on some mode of action; either to determine not to yield, or to grant emancipation, or to retire from the helm of state for a season, and permit a Whig government to carry the measure. The course which he pursued astounded the nation. The wisest and most honourable course which his grace could have taken, would have been to have retired, since it was scarcely fair to steal the crown of victory from statesmen who, during the whole of their political career, had ably and eloquently pleaded the cause of the Catholics. Yet such was the course he adopted. Although he had declared that he saw no prospect of the settlement of the question, and although he had recalled the late lord-lieutenant because he favoured the Catholics, yet he was now determined to grant with a free and liberal hand all that they had ever demanded. Nor did his grace alone change his opinions on this subject. While the country was reposing confidence that the leading members of the government were still faithful to their trust, these very men had determined to go over to the Catholics; and in secrecy and silence were arranging plans for carrying out a broad measure of emancipation. The first thing they did was to obtain the consent of the king; a matter of no small difficulty, as his reluctance to concession was deep-rooted and vehement. It cost the premier months of management, vigilance, and perseverance, to overcome his majesty’s antipathies; and it is probable that he would never have succeeded had it not been for the king’s indolence and love of ease. A dissolution of the ministry would have interrupted his ease; and the thought of this overcame his repugnance to the question. Till his consent was obtained not a whisper had been heard of the change of sentiment which had taken place in the cabinet; but a few days before the meeting of parliament the grand secret was told. The surprise which the announcement excited was only equalled by the indignation and contempt roused by so sudden an abandonment of principle. The Protestant community complained—and very justly—that they had been deceived. Up to that period, indeed, they had been allowed to rest in the belief that the question would not be mooted, or if it were, that the influence of the cabinet would stand in its way; but these, their long-tried friends, had been planning and plotting how they might secure a triumph to their enemies. They had been trusted by the Protestant party as the champions of their cause; but on a sudden they were found offering the hand of friendship to their enemies. It certainly would have been more manly if they had, on resolving to change sides, fairly and honestly avowed it from the first, for then the Protestants would have had time to counteract their designs; but it was evident at the meeting ol parliament that all opposition would be useless. It was too late to make a successful stand against the measure: it must be carried.