Mr. Plunkettrose to present a petition, from the "undersigned" Roman Catholics of Ireland, praying for relief from the penal laws which still oppressed them. He begged to state, in presenting this petition, that he entirely concurred in its contents, with the exception of one single paragraph or observation. The petition was, with the exception of the passage to which he had alluded, drawn up with temper and propriety. It stated truly, that the petitioners were not now under the necessity of making a parade of their attachment to the constitution, or their 942 loyalty, for those were already known. They further stated, that they should never forget the grace and kindness shown to Ireland by his majesty, during his late visit, and the benevolent effort he had made for the extinction of the party differences which had so long convulsed their country. If the royal intentions, they added, had been frustrated, it was not by any act of the Catholics, but by their enemies, and that they had held the royal injunction sacred, until their priesthood and their religion had been opprobriously assailed "by the highest dignitaries of the church established by law." This was the passage which he wished had not been inserted in the petition; for it was calculated to introduce an angry and recriminatory feeling into their question, which was calculated to mar its progress, which, in his judgment, materially depended upon the discussion being divested of every irritable, and above all of every polemical topic. The petitioners appealed to the events of the last two years, to show that there could be no peace in Ireland, as long as the great preponderating portion of the people were shut out by the minority from the enjoyment of those civil rights to which both were equally entitled. They pointed out the injurious and galling effects which had sprung from this monopoly of power—the expense it entailed upon England—the poverty and insubordination which it perpetuated in Ireland, —and they praised the administration of the marquis Wellesley for its equity and mildness. They respectfully submitted to the House, whether the time had not arrived when, instead of coercion and exclusion, a middle course ought to be pursued by the legislature towards Ireland, and declared the enthusiastic gratitude with which they should hail so wise and salutary a change in the policy of the government. He begged particularly to be understood as presenting a petition from the "undersigned" Catholics, he believed 1800 in number, and from the "undersigned" only. In doing so, he disclaimed being under the control of any body of petitioners, or connected with any party of them in Ireland. He was peculiarly anxious to have this particularly understood. In presenting this petition, he wished to state further, that he did not contemplate any ulterior motion upon it in the present session. He had always, in the discussions upon this question, reserved to himself the right of judging 943 when he should found upon the petition of the Catholics a motion for further proceedings; and, in abstaining, in the present session, from founding any such motion upon the petition, he was gratified to find that he acted in coincidence with the opinions of his oldest and best friends of the Catholics, who concurred with him in thinking, that any motion now would be unavailing and hopeless. When he could not advance their question, he certainly should, in the exercise of their judgment, refrain from taking any step which could do no good. He still retained unaltered every opinion he had formed upon the Catholic question: those opinions had been formed according to the best dictates of his judgment, upon very mature deliberation, and after the most unprejudiced view of the whole subject. He had no motive to prompt them, but a sense of justice and sound policy. Prejudice entered not into his consideration for if he had any, it would have applied the other way. He had reflected upon and examined, over and over again, these opinions; and looking at the state of Ireland, at the state of England, and at the state of Europe, he saw every where reasons for the more deep confirmation of his opinion, not only of the justice and of the importance, but of the urgency of this act of concession, and that every hour of delay which it encountered was calculated to diminish its chance of ensuring tranquillity and peace [hear, hear]. Of this also he was most positively convinced—that whatever temporary obstacles were in the way of this cause, its advancement and ultimate success could not be prevented, and that onward to its final consummation it must proceed with unerring force.
§ Ordered to lie on the table.