Lord Stourtonthen rose, and stated that he had received by post, addressed to him personally, a document purporting to be a copy of a petition to their Lordships from the corporation of tailors in the parish of St. John the Baptist, Dublin, which contained passages reflecting on his honour as a Peer of Parliament; it was set forth in the petition, that, although it was enacted by the Emancipation Bill, that the Roman Catholics, in taking their seats in Parliament, should swear that they would not vote upon any question in which the Protestant religion, or the interest of the Protestant Establishment was involved, yet that he, unmindful of his oath, had voted on the Church Temporalities Bill, by giving his proxy to the noble Viscount at the head of his Majesty's Government. He must complain of the great indignity which their Lordships' House itself would sustain, if a charge of this grave and serious nature were suffered to be made against any Member of their Lordships' House—;imputing, as it did, nothing less than the crime of perjury—;without some notice being taken of it, and some means afforded, by which the noble Lord, whose character was implicated, might vindicate his honour and convict his accuser of a gross and unfounded calumny. He would remind their Lordships of what was said by Sir Robert Peel, when he introduced the Roman Catholic 496 Emancipation Bill in 1829; and he trusted that their Lordships would agree that he was justified in the course he had pursued, by the very language the right hon. Gentleman who was the author of the measure by which he (Lord Stourton) obtained access to their Lordships' House. The right hon. Gentleman said, "I would admit them, therefore, on the same footing, the same principle of equality, on which we now admit the Dissenter from the Church of England. Another proposal has been made by a right hon. Friend of mine (Mr. Wilmot Horton)—;made from the best motives, and supported with an ingenuity, ability, and research, worthy of the motives and of the character of its author. My right hon. Friend has proposed, with a view to calm the suspicions and fears of those who object to the admission of Roman Catholics to Parliament, that the Roman Catholic Member should be disqualified by law from voting on matters relating, directly or indirectly, to the interests of the Established Church. There appear to me numerous and cogent objections to this proposal. In the first place, it is dangerous to establish the precedent of limiting by law the discretion by which the duties and functions of a Member of Parliament are to be exercised; in the second, it is difficult to define beforehand, what are the questions which affect the interests of the Church. A question which has no immediate apparent connexion with the Church, might have a practical bearing upon its welfare ten times more important than another question which might appear directly to concern it; thirdly, by excluding the Roman Catholic from giving his individual vote, you do little to diminish his real influence, if you leave him the power of speaking, of biassing the judgments of others on the question on which he is not himself to vote; and if by a jealous and distrusting, but ineffectual precaution, you tempt him to exercise to your prejudice the remaining power of which you cannot, or do not, propose to deprive him. I believe there is more of real security in confidence than in avowed mistrust and suspicion, unaccompanied by effectual guards. For these reasons I am unwilling to deprive the Roman Catholic Member of either House of Parliament of any privilege of free discussion, and free exercise of judgment, which belongs to other Members of the Legislature."
§ Subject dropped.