but restrained, like me, from manifesting | that difference of opinion, by the same obstacle which we alike respected. Sir, I now come to the year 1812, a critical æra in the history of the Catholic question: and one to which, as I must now advance in my narration by months instead of years, I entreat the particular attention of the House. In 1812, as in the preceding years of 1811, and 1810, I was out of office. In the beginning of that year the restrictions on the Regency were removed. I considered that removal as carrying away with it the obstacle which had so long impeded my free course on the Catholic question. I considered the unrestricted Regency as tantamount to a new reign. On that occasion, therefore, I imagined that the ministers, my former colleagues, whose opinions I knew to agree with mine on the Catholic question, would feel themselves unfettered for the discussion of it, whenever it might come before the House. Such was my own feeling. Such I knew to be that of lord Wellesley; who about this time resigned his situation in Mr. Perceval's administration, and was succeeded by lord Castlereagh as Secretary for Foreign Affairs. On the first occasion, however, on which the Catholic question was brought forward, both Mr. Perceval* and lord Castlereagh stated, that, however differing in opinion on the Catholic question, the ministers were, for the present, united as one man to resist the consideration of it. * Extract from Mr. Perceval's speech, April 24, 1812. "At the same time, Sir, I must state that it is the unanimous opinion of all those with whom I am connected, that the present is not a moment in which any further concessions ought to be made to the Roman Catholics." Extract from lord Castlereagh's speech the same night. "With respect to the vote I shall give to night, my right hon. friend (Mr. Perceval) has truly stated that the cabinet are unanimous in this opinion that the question of concession to the Catholics could not now be conveniently agitated, nor any enquiry gone into upon the subject of the legal disabilities of his majesty's Catholic subjects in Ireland, with the hope of coming to any ultimate -and satisfactory arrangement."- See First - Series of this work, Vol. xxii. pp. 956 & 1004, Upon that occasion it was that I gave the first vote, that I ever gave, in favor of the Catholic question; and upon those statements of the ministers I founded a notice of a motion, the object of which was, to obtain a parliamentary declaration in favour of that consideration of the Catholic question, which the administration were united to resist. While that motion was depending, Mr. Perceval died; and his death produced from the remaining part of the administration a proposal to me to come into office. The only question which I put on this occasion, to my noble friend" (lord Liverpool) who was the bearer of this proposal to me, was, whether the administration continued in the same determination with respect to the Catholic question, which had been announced by Mr. Perceval and lord Castlereagh in debate a few weeks before; which determination was (I beg the House to recollect) to resist as one man the consideration of that question. I was answered that that determination continued unaltered; and I refused to come into office. Did I, by so refusing office, give any proof of subserviency to those vulgar inducements which the hon. baronet assumes to have so powerful an influence on every public man? Did I manifest a disposition to sacrifice my integrity to my interest, or, what would be less disgraceful perhaps, though disgraceful enough, to my ambition? And yet, Sir, that refusal was not quite an ordinary effort. I had, at that moment a temptation to take office, more powerful perhaps than I have felt at any other period of my political life. There are circumstances which excuse, in generous minds, a strong desire for power: and such precisely were the circumstances under which office was now tendered to my acceptance. I had been secretary of state during the first years of the war in the Peninsula. I had been in a measure the author, and in this House the responsible defender, of that animating but difficult struggle. I had, therefore, gone through all the parliamentary contests which the disasters and reverses that attended the commencement of the Spanish war, called down upon the administration; I had borne the brunt of all the attacks, and buffeted all the storms, with which the apposition of that day had assailed us. Certainly, Sir, my opinions had never been altered, nor my hopes depressed, by the misfortunes of the early campaigns in Spain. I had anticipated, even in the hour of the deepest gloom, a brighter and more fortunate period, when the gale of fortune would yet set in gloriously and prosperously for the great cause in which we were embarked. In 1812, the prospect had begun to clear, victory attached itself to our standard; and the cause which I had so long advocated under less auspicious circumstances, appeared to promise, even to less sanguine eyes, those brilliant results which ultimately crowned it. And, Sir, I desire to ask any man who hears me, and who has within him the heart of an English gentleman, animated by a just desire to serve his country, whether greater temptation to take office, could possibly be held out to any one, than was at that time held out to me, at the very moment when I might have come in to reap the fruits of the harvest, which I had sown under the lowering atmosphere of distrust and discouragement, and the early and ungenial growth of which I had watched with such intense anxiety? At such a moment I was called to resume my station in the councils of my country: but the answer of the cabinet being what it was on the Catholic question, I declined the call. Was this to sacrifice my conscience and the Catholic cause to the love of office? been united together against all consideration of the Catholic question. Our wish was to bring together in one comprehensive scheme, all the best talents of the country, in a crisis of unexampled dif ficulty; and at the same time to secure to the Catholic question the advantage of a free discussion in parliament. What does this statement prove? Why it proves that my course on that occasion, was consistent with my practice now; that as, on the one hand, I had refused to make part of an administration combined against the Catholic question,-so, on the other, I did not think it necessary or wise to proscribe every man whose opinion differed from mine on that single question, while on other questions, touching the safety and interests of the country, we agreed. The notion may be absurd,—the error in judgment may be gross and unpardonable; but I did think then, as I think now, that an administration might be formed on a basis-quite distinct from that of the recognition of the Catholic question, as a cabinet measure, and as the single paramount necessity of the state;-that an administration, I say, might be well, and rightly, and usefully, and honestly formed, of which the members differed conscientiously from each other on that question, and that such an administration might yet have the means of rendering great service to the country. After these transactions, that is to say, after this offer of office to me, and a simultaneous one to lord Wellesley and our Here again, what becomes of the rerefusal of these offers,-a motion was proach that for the sake of office I gave made in this House to address the throne up that question? On this occasion I for the formation of a more efficient ad- was not a candidate for office: I was emministration. That motion was carried; ployed to offer it to others. I was conand the negotiation for the purpose pointed cerned in forming an administration, not out in the address, was confided to lord seeking an appointment in or under one: Wellesley and myself. On the day after and it was under such circumstances, this commission was received by lord that I was prepared and desirous to act Wellesley, lord Wellesley, with my con- with colleagues of my own selection, on currence, addressed to lord Grey,-and I, the very basis on which the present admiwith lord Wellesley's concurrence, ad- nistration stands. dressed to lord Liverpool,-a proposal for forming a combined administration. The basis upon which we proposed to form this administration was laid in two propositions; 1st. a vigorous prosecution of the war in Spain: 2nd. a fair consideration of the Catholic question. The object of this last proposition was manifestly and avowedly not to form a cabinet united in opinion upon the Catholic question, (for how could lord Liverpool and his friends be expected to make such a surrender of their opinions?) but to undo the bond by which the displaced administration had It is therefore in the highest degree disingenuous to pretend that by my refusal to accept office after Mr. Perceval's death, I implicitly pledged myself never to belong to any cabinet which was not determined to carry the Catholic question. If on the 17th of May, (the time of the offer and refusal of office) I refused to come into an administration united against the Catholic question, and if by that refusal I meant to say, "I will never enter office except with an administration created to carry this question,"-what madness was it in me, within a short fortnight afterwards, when I had the power in my own hands, to endeavour to form a mixed administration? The accusation merely requires to be stated to refute itself. I must again and again apologise to the House for these dull details: but it is due to truth, and to my own character, once for all to develope these particulars. And of one thing the House may rest confidently assured that it is the last time that I will condescend to such a justification. To return to the year 1812. The attempt to form a mixed administration failed, but it failed on quite other grounds than those of a want of unanimity of sentiment upon the Catholic question. It broke off on other difficulties which it would not be to the present purpose to detail. And after some fruitless negotiations, to which I was no party-the displaced administration was restored. These, Sir, are the circumstances which preceded my motion on the Catholic question, of which notice had been given by me (as I have said) before the death of Mr. Perceval. A few days before my motion came on, the bond of union which had existed in Mr. Perceval's cabinet, and which continued after his death, against the consideration of the Catholic question* was I know not (of my own knowledge) from what motives or upon what suggestion, removed. An opportunity was taken by lord Castlereagh, who had succeeded to Mr. Perceval's situation in this House, to announce that the administration was no longer, as heretofore, united against the *June 10, 1812. Mr. Spencer Stanhope wished to know if it was intended on the part of the present ministers, that the same policy in every respect, should be observed by them in reference to the Catholic question, which had been observed by the administration under the conduct of a late right hon. gentleman? measure; but that the members of it were at liberty to take each their own course; pledging their honour not to exercise the influence of the government either way, in support of their particular views of the subject. Sir, was this nothing? This important change does not now indeed obtain the approbation of the hon. gentlemen opposite. But Mr. Grattan, the great advocate of the Catholics, thought differently. I well recollect, Sir, how he felt the change thus announced; I well recollect how cordially he and I congratulated each other, on the breaking down of one great bar, at least, which opposed our common wishes. It was under these new and auspicious circumstances that my motion was discussed, I think on the 22nd of June 1812. That motion brought into play for the first time the individual opinions of the members of the cabinet;-it brought forward lord Castlereagh as one of the most efficient supporters of the Catholic question; and my motion was carried by a majority-which, would to God! I could see again-by a majority of 129. This, Sir, is what I did,-this is the service which it was my fortune to render to the Catholic cause in the House of Commons this was the first, and it is as yet the greatest triumph that ever crowned that cause. The same motion was shortly after brought forward in the House of Peers, by lord Wellesley;—when the numbers were 125 for it, and 126 against it; the motion being thus lost by a majority of only one. These were the services of individuals whom the Catholic Association deem themselves entitled to consider as enemies to the Catholic cause ;— and in comparison with whom the hon. gentlemen opposite think that they are entitled to claim all merit to themselves! These were the halcyon days of the Ca Lord Castlereagh said in answer, That "Resolved, That this House will, upon a former occasion, they had thought, early in the next Session of Parliament, inclusive even of those who had been fa- take into its most serious consideration vourable to the measure, that the present the state of the laws affecting His Mawas not the time for discussing that ques-jesty's Roman Catholic Subjects in Great tion: * but that it had been re- Britain and Ireland: with a view to such solved upon as a principle, that the dis- a final and conciliating adjustment as may cussion of this question should be left free be conducive to the peace and strength from all influence on the part of the go- of the United Kingdom; to the stability of vernment, and that every member of that the Protestant Establishment; and to the government should be left to the free and general satisfaction and concord of all unbiassed suggestions of his own conscien- classes of His Majesty's subjects," Ayes tious discretion. [See First Series, Vol. 235, Noes 106. Majority in favour of xxii. pp. 394 and 395.] the Resolution 129. tholic question, and happy should I be if there were any near prospect of the like again! From the time I have spoken of, in 1812, the cabinet went on acting upon the same principle with respect to this question, the principle of treating it as a question, out of the ordinary course of ministerial business; as one to be argued upon its own merits, such as they might appear to each individual member of the administration. That principle was to me perfectly satisfactory and from the moment that this change in the system of the administration had taken place, I thought myself perfectly at liberty, so far as the Catholic question was concerned, to join them. I did not join them indeed: but we co-operated cordially in parliament; and in the following year, 1813, a bill was brought in by Mr. Grattan, (in pursuance of my resolution of 1812) which bill lord Castlereagh most ardently supported; and which but for our own misjudgment, might, and to all appearance would, have passed this House. It had passed through the second reading with a considerable majority. The clause conceding seats in parliament, was lost in the committee by a majority of only four; upon which the bill was most unwisely abandoned. Let me, then, be allowed again to ask, Sir, why, when the principle of a mixed cabinet has been acted upon for five and twenty years, in respect to the Catholic question,-why is the present Cabinet to be alone arraigned for a vice which it shares with so many of its predecessors? And why am I to be held personally liable to responsibility for a system in which I have no more personal concern than any other member of the several cabinets since the Union? I think I can throw some light on the motives for this last selection. Sir, the speech of a right hon. gentleman opposite (Mr. Tierney) to whom I am already indebted for a valuable support in part of my argument, will aid me on this point also. The language which he The language which he used on Friday has been uniformly my language. The right hon. gentleman told us that he supported the Catholic question, not for the sake of the Catholics alone, but for the sake of the state;-not with the feelings of a party man advocating a party question, not as a boon to a single class, but as a benefit to the universal and comprehensive whole. Such, Sir, has always been my course. I have always acted, in respect to this question, on my own judgment; not on that of the parties more immediately concerned. I have scrupulously abstained from communication with the Catholic leaders. Why? Because, while anxious to for ward their legitimate object, I have nevertheless seen in their acts and proceedings much to disapprove. In 1813, what was their conduct in respect to the bill which had so nearly obtained the sanction of the House of Commons? Was it not scouted by them, reviled, disdainfully abjured, and almost threatened to be rejected if parliament should pass it into a law? Sir, I have always refused to act in obedience to the dictates of the Catholic leaders; I would never put myself into their hands and I never will. My doctrine has always been that when any set of men, Catholics or Protestants, have a grievance to complain of, for the relief of which they resort to parliament, it is for parliament, and parliament alone, to consider their case, and to decide what relief shall be extended to them: it is for the petitioners to receive that measure of relief with thankfulness and submission. I have always denied to such parties the privilege of stipulating and meting out for themselves the measure of relief with which they would be satisfied; and of dictating to parliament the terms on which their claims should be adjusted. This unpalatable doctrine both in and out of office I have maintained. Events have confirmed, and continue to confirm, to my mind, the propriety of the line which I have taken. Much as I have wished to serve the Catholic cause, I have seen that the service of the Catholic leaders is no easy service. They are hard task-masters: and the advocate who would satisfy them must deliver himself up to them bound hand and foot. What need of further proof of this than is afforded by their recent discussions about their oldest and steadiest friend, the earl of Donoughmore? Again, Sir, I feel that many apologies are due to the House, for thus trespassing on their patience in vindication of my character and motives from imputations, of which, if I know any thing of my nature, I have some right to complain. But to be taunted with want of feeling for the Catholics, to be accused of compromising their interests, conscious as I am,-as I cannot but be,-of being entitled to their gratitude for a long course of active services, and for the sacrifice to their | House the grounds of my conduct on cause of interests of my own,-this is a sort of treatment, which would rouse even tameness itself to assert its honour, and vindicate its claims. I have shewn that in the year 1812, I refused office rather than enter into an administration pledged against the Catholic question. I did this at a time when office would have been dearer to me than at any other period of my political life; when I would have given ten years of life for two years of office; not for any sordid or selfish purpose of personal aggrandisement, but for far other and higher views. But, is this the only sacrifice which I have made to the Catholic cause? The House will perhaps bear with me a little longer (as it has already borne with me so long) while I answer this question by another fact. From the earliest dawn of my public life, aye, from the first visions of youthful ambition, that ambition had been directed to one object above all others. Before that object all others vanished into comparative insignificance; it was desirable to me beyond all the blandishments of power, beyond all the rewards and favours of the Crown. That object was to represent, in this House, the University in which I was educated. I had a fair chance of accomplishing this object, when the Catholic question crossed my way. I was warned, fairly and kindly warned, that my adoption of that cause would blast my prospect-I adhered to the Catholic cause, and forfeited all my long cherished hopes and expectations. And yet I am told that I have made no sacrifice! that I have postponed the cause of the Catholics to views and interests of my own!-Sir, the representation of the University has fallen into worthier hands. I rejoice with my right hon. friend near me (Mr. Peel), in the high honour which he has obtained. Long may he enjoy the distinction; and long may it prove a source of reciprocal pride, to our parent University and to himself! Never till this hour have I stated, either in public or in private, the extent of this irretrievable sacrifice: but I have not felt it the less deeply. It is past, and I shall speak of it no more. Sir, by the exposition with which I have presumed to trouble you, I am not vain enough to suppose that I shall make proselytes of my political opponents. All that I have desired is to lay before the this question, and to explain step by step my actions and the motives which led to them. I am conscious of the truth of every syllable that I have stated. The impression which may have been made by that statement is not indifferent to me: but be it what it may, I shall never revert to the subject again. I trust, then, Sir, that I have now disposed fairly of the last two points which I felt myself called upon to discuss. I have shown that the cabinet is as good now for the purpose of the Catholic ques tion, as it has ever been during the last twenty-five years; and better than at some periods during those twenty-five years, when the ministers, however differing in opinion, were leagued together to resist the consideration of the Catholic claims. But I have still a few words to add, and they shall be as few as possible, of myself. Sir, it has been imputed to me individually,-with far too flattering an estimate of my importance, that I have at this moment the means and the opportunity of carrying the Catholic question. I do not exactly know by what process it is pretended that I can accomplish this great object. If it is meant that by resigning my office, I could then, unshackled, and acting as an individual member of this House, bring the question again unreservedly before you, I answer, that whilst in the government as well as out of it, I retain the power of taking such a part. But if it is meant, that after going on so long with my colleagues in the cabinet, upon the principle of free action, respecting this question, I ought now to demand the formation of a new compact,-that is a course, Sir, which I should disdain to take: I would ten thousand times rather quit office, than turn round upon the administration, of which I am a member, and insist upon changing the footing upon which I entered it. But again, Sir, I declare that in office as well as out, I am at perfect liberty to moot this question whenever a sense of duty impels me to do so. Whether I shall do so while in office,-whether I should do so if out of office,-and when, in either case, the fit time for doing so may appear to be come, are points which I reserve, for the decision of my own unfettered judgment. I hold it to be a question in which the vote and speech of no man ought to be irrevocably promised before-hand for any |