40 ILL-TREATMENT OF THE CATHOLICS CHAP. II. Pitt; consequently, his opinion on Irish affairs was more favourably received, and listened to with more attention. The treatment which the Roman Catholics now received from Government was harsh and inconsistent. They had prepared, in the year 1790, a petition to Parliament, modest and humble in its tenor, asking nothing specific, and merely requesting that their case might be taken into favourable consideration. They waited on Government, and besought their support, but in vain; they applied to have their petition presented to the House, but they could not get a single member to do so. When the Lord-lieutenant, at the close of the year 1790, visited the south of Ireland, the Catholics of Cork prepared an address expressive of their loyalty, and concluding with the hope of some relaxation of the penal laws. The address was returned with a desire that the concluding part might be struck out, and that then it would be received. This submission the Catholics very properly refused. They then deputed twelve of their body to go to the Government with a list of the penal laws, and to request that they would support the repeal of any part that they might think proper. The Castle people did not even condescend to give them an answer! At length in September, 1791, they sent one of their body (Mr. Keogh) to London to represent to the Minister their abject state. He returned in three months, and the result of his mission to England was, that no objection would be made if the Irish Parliament thought proper to open to them the profession of the law, or confer eligibility to the office of county magistrates, grand jurors, and sheriffs; and that the question of the elective franchise would be taken into consideration. They then applied, in 1791, to some of the Oppo CHAP. II.] BY THE GOVERNMENT. 41 sition, and Mr. Pollock, author of the celebrated Letters of Owen Roe O'Neal in 1779, held a communication on their behalf with the Whig Club, stating a very limited measure of relief. Mr. Pollock had been their firm friend, and, as has been stated in a former volume, had taken an active part on behalf of the liberties of his country men. In reference to this subject, and with a view of ascertaining the extent of their demand, Mr. Grattan wrote the following letter:- MR. GRATTAN TO MR. M'CAN. Bray, July 26th, 1791. MY DEAR M'CAN,-Ask M'Kenna,† from me, whether the overtures from Mr. Pollock to the Whig Club, on the part of the Roman Catholics, expressed all the articles of their present wishes. I know Pollock is their able friend, and deservedly high in their esteem. Tell M'Kenna that I wish to have an answer soon, as some of the Opposition will quickly leave town, and I must be at the close of this week at Celbridge, from whence I shall go to Carton, to the Duke, on this very subject. Yours, H. GRATTAN. The result of the application was, that the Catholics were advised not to link themselves with the Opposition, who could not carry their question, but to resort to the Lord-lieutenant's Secretary (Mr. Hobart). The reply and the letter, which fortunately is extant, fully exonerate the Opposition from the charges brought against them by the friends of Government, and by the opponents of the Catholics, who, even so late as in 1805, § on the debate on Mr. Fox's motion, asserted that the Roman Catholics had been excited by the Opposition, and particularly by Mr. Grattan. Independent of the absurd idea that * On the right of Ireland to a free and independent Parliament. † An active individual among the Catholics. The Duke of Leinster. § See Mr. Fox's motion on the Catholics, 1805, Grattan's Speeches vol. iv. 42 THEIR COMMUNICATION WITH [CHAP. II. any body of people possessed of the ordinary spirit of men would tamely submit to a system of exclusion such as the penal laws inflicted, this letter, and the advice given in consequence, furnishes the fullest refutation. The penal laws had produced their baneful effects upon the Catholic mind; they had rendered the upper classes servile, the lower classes timid; crouching at one moment,-frantic at another. "Frenzy for joy-for grief, despair." In 1783, Lord Kenmare and his friends, as has been already stated, had sent a blind sort of message to the Volunteer Convention, in reference to the elective franchise; and he now made,* on behalf of himself and the Catholic people of his county, a miserable apology to Lord Westmoreland for the silence of that sect, or rather for the blessing of their degraded existence, which he put forward in the shape of a servile loyal address, disclaiming all discontent and all impatience, and relying for future favours upon the * To his Excellency John Earl of Westmoreland, Lord Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland. We, the Roman Catholic inhabitants of the county of Kerry, finding that certain writings are published in this kingdom, and associations attempted to be formed, which might possibly sow the seeds of discontent and impatience amongst the lower classes of our persuasion, humbly beg leave, under these circumstances, to present your Excellency the most unfeigned assurances of our unshaken loyalty, perfect submission to the laws, and most grateful and dutiful attachment to his Majesty's person and Government; we also humbly entreat your Excellency to accept our solemn declaration, that we hold in abhorrence every Act, that can in the remotest degree, savour of, sanction, or excite commotion in the state; that we are firmly determined always to persevere in that peaceable conduct, which has merited, for our body, a relaxation of the penal statutes, made in angry times against them; and, on this conduct alone, we rely for further favours from an enlightened legislature, and a mild and auspicious government, such as we have the happiness of living under. Dec., 1791. KENMARE, for himself and the Roman Catholic CHAP. II.] THE WHIG CLUB. 43 enlightened legislature, and the mild Government under which they had the happiness to live!— Lord Westmoreland, who had so insulted them the year before!-This, however, was considered, even by the Catholic aristocracy, as too servile, and Lords Fingal and Gormanstown, and Doctor Troy, the titular Archbishop of Dublin, together with a number of gentlemen from fourteen counties, amounting in all to sixty-eight, presented an address to the Lord-lieutenant, expressive of their loyalty and attachment to the King,-disclaiming everything which might create alarm in the minds of their brethren,-expressing their gratitude for former concessions, but stating their determination to apply to Parliament the ensuing session, without, however, presuming to point out the extent of the relief demanded. The Lord-lieutenant replied, that he received with satisfaction their declaration of loyalty to the King, and attachment to the Constitution, and that he would not fail to make a faithful representation thereof to his Majesty.* * To His Excellency John Earl of Westmoreland: We, the undernamed, his Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, Roman Catholics of the kingdom of Ireland, desirous at all times to declare unequivocally our sentiments of loyalty to our most gracious Sovereign, and our attachment to the Constitution, disclaiming every word or Act which can directly or indirectly tend to alarm the minds of our brethren, or disturb the tranquillity of this country, have, in order to prevent misrepresentation or misconception of our sentiments, thought it necessary now to lay before your Excellency the resolutions hereunto annexed. We confide in your Excellency's goodness that you will be pleased to represent us to our most gracious Sovereign, such as we really are, grateful for the mild and benevolent disposition he has been always graciously pleased to show towards us. We rely with confidence on our past as a pledge for our future good conduct, and as we feel most strongly the benefits that have arisen, not only to us in particular, but to this kingdom in general, from the indulgence which, through the wisdom of the legislature, we have already received, so we look with respectful confidence to its wisdom, liberality, and benevolence, for a further extension of its favours. Resolved, that application be made to the legislature during the next 44 RESOLUTIONS AGAINST [CHAP. II. Neither of these addresses, however, proved satisfactory to the great body of the Roman Catholics. They assembled in the principal towns and counties throughout the kingdom; they resolved to petition for the repeal of the penal laws; they disclaimed the sentiments contained in the address; censured Lord Kenmare's conduct; expressed their reliance and confidence in the general committee acting on their behalf, and to which they sent delegates to represent and act for them. This committee assembled, debated, passed resolutions and addresses, expelled Lord Kenmare, published their debates, and acted as a body representing the Catholics of the entire kingdom, by whom their authority was universally recognised. Their question was now impelled forward by a singular coincidence of circumstances ;-the weakness and timidity of some of their own party at first, and the violence and extravagance of their opponents afterwards. Thus the motion of this great body politic was increased by causes directly opposite to each other:-Lord Kenmare's party, and his weak address† in December 1791, and Lord session of Parliament, for a further repeal of the laws affecting the Roman Catholics of Ireland. That grateful for former concessions, we do not presume to point out the measure or extent to which such repeal should be carried, but leave the same to the wisdom and discretion of the legislature, fully confiding in their liberality and benevolence, that it will be as extensive as the circumstances of the times and the general welfare of the empire shall, in their consideration, render prudent and expedient. That firmly attached to our most gracious Sovereign and the Constitution of the kingdom, and anxiously desirous to promote tranquillity and subjection to the laws, we will studiously avoid all measures which can either directly or indirectly tend to disturb or impede the same, and will rely on the wisdom and benevolence of the legislature, as the source from which we desire to obtain a further relaxation of the above mentioned laws. (Dec. 27th, 1791.) + General Committee of Roman Catholics, January 14th, 1792. The following resolutions passed unanimously :— Resolved, that Lord Kenmare has entirely forfeited our confidence by |