The Marquis of Downshire,in presenting the petition of the Roman Catholics in Ireland, spoke to the in following effect: My Lords; It is with peculiar satisfaction that I rise this night, to occupy a few moments of your attention—moments which I shall devote, however, to the consideration of the most important subject that can meet your lordships' mind. It is in consequence of the indisposition of an excellent peer (lord Donoughmore) a man whose name will be ever held sacred by his country, from the zeal and proper enthusiasm he has displayed in the cause of his Catholic countrymen. It is, my Lords, in consequence of his indisposition that this honour has fallen upon me. May his health soon be re-established, that so the Catholics of Ireland may again possess an abler asserter of their rights than myself; but they cannot possess a more sincere one. No, my Lords, I feel for them in my heart. I know them well. Not merely from what I have heard, but from what I have seen and witnessed. They are a most respectable body of men, and in this long list of petitioners, my Lords, there are many reputable, not only from the characters and good conduct, but from the situation they hold in society. Many of them I know, most of them I have some knowledge of—and all of them, I can assure you, my Lords, are worthy of a participation in those blessed rights and privileges which you possess. They are born Britons, my Lords: they have lived Britons: they think, and act, and feel like Britons; and for God's sake treat them as 323 Britons. By listening to this their Petition, my Lords, you secure to yourselves the boundless advantages of so large a portion of your population; and although they have hitherto been injured, sadly injured; in being debarred from their natural rights, yet so genial is generosity to their nature, that you will now—even now—by attending to their Petition, gain their endless gratitude. I therefore, my Lords, in the name of the Roman Catholics of Ireland, present to you this Petition, and propose that it be taken into the consideration of this House on Friday the 7th of June.
§ The Petition was read, ordered to lie on the table, and to be taken into consideration on Friday the 7th of June, for which day the Lords were ordered to be summoned.