preffing upon government and parliament the neceffity of acceding to their demands.

In the

mean time, a divifion of opinion had manifefted itself among fome of the northern corps of volunteers on the Catholic queftion, and Lord Charle mont and other perfons had declared themselves hoftile to further conceffions. This circumftance afforded the government an eafy opportunity of defeating the object of the convention; they contrived to have a motion made for connecting the emancipation of the Catholics with the question of parliamentary reform; and upon its being rejected by the convention, knowing that its power was not to be dreaded, if unfupported by the Catholic population, they defpifed its threats, and, by a manly oppofition to their demands, they fecured their difperfion without tumult, and certainly with out the regret of the advocates of fuch a reform in Parliament as the general circumftances of the country abfolutely required.

From this period, to the year 1790, the Catho lic question was not once agitated, either by the Catholics or by Parliament. In this year the attorney.

This convention met in Dublin in 1784.

torney-general brought in a bill to explain and amend the act of 22d Geo. III. c. 62.

The intention of this act was to give to Catholics the power of appointing guardians to their children, but it was fo carelessly drawn, that, upon confulting it, in the cafe of the will of the late Lord Gormanstown, by which he had ap pointed guardians to his fon, it was discovered that they were not competent to act. The prefent bill was therefore introduced to remedy this defect.

A circumstance, which took place this fummer fhews, that this act of common juftice was not, in any degree, the result of an inclination, on the part of government, to treat the Catholics with more than customary liberality: Lord Weftmoreland, then Lord Lieutenant, had vifited the South of Ireland; and, on his arrival at Cork, it was intimated to the Catholics there, that an expreffion of their loyalty would be acceptable. Accordingly an addrefs of that nature was prepared, which, however, concluded with a hope, that their loyalty would entitle them to fome relaxation of the penal

code.

code. Before its being formally presented, it was fubmitted to his Excellency, and was returned to them, to ftrike out the claufe which expreffed hope. With a feeling rather natural to men not perfectly broken down by oppreffion, they refused to strike it out, and declined presenting the ad. drefs.

A century of pains and penalties had now elapfed, in which period the most severe and minute investigation had not been able to ascribe to the Catholics one inftance of disloyalty, when they at length determined to make a vigorous exertion to obtain a restoration of their conftitutional rights. In the course of the year 1790, violent resolutions had been entered into by the magiftrates of the county of Armagh against them. Those of Dublin, and of the other principal cities and towns of Ireland, were in confequence roused to adopt refolutions on their part, expreffive of the neceffity of petitioning Parliament. These had been trans mitted to the general committee of Catholics, who thereupon held a meeting to consider them on the 11th of February 1791. The general committee referred thefe refolutions to a fub

committee,

committee, who made upon them the following

report:

"Your committee having, in obedience to your directions, carefully perufed the refolutions. "of the Catholics of Ireland, report, that faid refolutions contain the most unequivocal fenti"ments of loyalty to our most gracious Sove"reign, George the Third, of love for our coun"try, and obedience to its laws, and the most "humble hope of being reftored to fome participation of its excellent conftitution.

66

"That your Catholic brethren refér, with con"fidence, to the numberless proofs they have

given of fidelity in times the most perilous, "when rebellion raged in the bofom of Britain, "and when foreign invafion threatened our coast, "and to that alacrity with which all defcriptions "of our people took the oath of allegiance; "and they rely that their fcrupulous obfervance "of fuch facred obligation will no where be “doubted, when it is confidered, that if they

took thofe oaths required by law, they would

"thereby

"thereby become entitled to all the rights of " citizens.

"That, with all humility, they confide in the "justice, liberality, and wifdom of Parliament, "and the benignity of our most gracious Sove "reign, to relieve them from their degraded fitua ❝tion, and no longer to fuffer them to continue "like ftrangers in their native land; but thus "have the glory of fhewing all Europe, that in "the plenitude of power, ftrength, and riches of "the British empire, when nothing they grant "can be imputed to any motives but those of juf"tice and toleration; that, at fuch a period, they

deign to hear and relieve their oppreffed and "faithful fubjects, and to unite them for ever to "their country, by every tie of gratitude and in"tereft; and that they will fhew to all Europe, "that humble and peaceful conduct, and dutiful "application, are the only true and effectual me. "thods for good fubjects to obtain relief from a "wife and good government.

"That our Catholic brethren therefore defire, that application may be made for fuch relief as

"the