would serve to establish it the more firmly, fince all Europe must know the unanimous zeal and affection of his fubjects, for the defence of his person and go

vernment."

The great goodness and mercy of providence in fending fuch a governor among us, at that period of fufpicion and danger, will be for ever moft gratefully remembered by these people. Even their enemies in parliament, at the close of his administration, seem to have, in fome measure, retracted their former councils of rigour and severity; for the commons in their addrefs at the end of the feffion, after mentioning their late unquiet apprehenfions, " acknowledged, with chearfulness and the utmoft gratitude, that the profound tranquillity which, without any extraordinary increase of public expence, the nation had hitherto enjoyed, was the refult of his excellency's wife and vigilant administration; formed upon the principles, and carried on by the uniform exercife of lenity without remiffness, and of firmness without severity:

"

I promised to make it appear, that no Irish catholic, lay or clerical, was any way engaged in the Scottish rebellion of 1745. I fhall now endeavour to make good that promise. In the 1762, upon a debate in the houfe of lords about the expediency of raifing five regiments of these catholics, for the fervice of the king of Portugal, Doctor Stone (then Primate), in answer to fome common-place objections against the good faith and loyalty of these people, which were revived with virulence on that occafion, declared publicly in the house of lords, that "in the year 1747, after that rebellion was intirely fuppreffed, happening to be in England, he had an opportunity of perufing all the papers of the rebels, and their correfpondents, which were feized in the cuftody of Murray, the pretender's fecretary; and that, after having spent much time and taken great pains in examining them (not without fome share of the then common fufpicion, that there might be some private understanding and intercourse between them and the Irish catholics), he could not difcover the least trace, hint, or intimation of fuch inter

courfe

course or correfpondence in them; or of any of the latter's favouring, abetting, or having been fo much as made acquainted with the defigns or proceedings of these rebels. And what," he faid, " he wondered at most of all was, that in all his researches, he had not met with any paffage in any of thefe papers, from which he could infer, that either their Holy Father the Pope, or any of his cardinals, bishops, or other dignitaries of that church; or any of the Irish clergy, had either directly or indirectly, encouraged, aided, or approved of, the commencing or carrying on of that rebellion."

A bill for naturalizing the Jews paffes the commons.

ON account of the continued feverity of the popery laws (fuch of them particularly as executed themselves, as all those relating to property do), great numbers of the inoffenfive natives had quitted Ireland, and carri ed their wealth and industry with them. And fuch was the mistaken policy of those days, that the proteftant interest of Ireland was not believed to have fuffered by this ruinous, though natural effect of these laws; on the contrary, it was confidently faid to be strengthened and increased, by the removal of fo many of its inteftine enemies out of the kingdom! But as the ftrength and profperity of a country are known and acknowledged to depend on the number and industry of its inhabitants, an expedient was foon looked for, and found, by the great wisdom of the nation, to supply the place of these felf-exiled papists, by introducing foreign Jews, and providing a national fettlement for those devoted vagrants. And although this expedient was, for a while, excepted against by fome few over-fcrupulous perfons, as difcovering an inordinate and precipitate zeal in its authors for strengthening the proteftant intereft, by a measure

which

which feemed to bid defiance to a divine prophecy, and to fap the foundation of christianity itself; yet the Irish commons, in the feffion of 1747, brought heads of a bill into their house, "for naturalizing perfons profeffing the Jewish religion; which were committed, agreed to by the house, without any amendment, and presented to his grace the lord lieutenant, to be by him tranfmitted into England." It is remarkable, that in the feffion immediately preceding, the fame bill was brought into the commons, and "carried through, without any debate ;" but it then mifcarried either here or in England; as it alfo did this fecond time; fo that it has not as yet had the honour of being paffed into a law among us. How aptly might each of thefe determined promoters of this hopeful bill, for ftrengthening the proteftant interest of Ireland, have exclaimed in the words of the poet,

Flectere fi nequeo fuperos, Acheronta movebo!

CHA P. XIII.

The catholics addrefs the lord lieutenant.

WHEN the Duke of Bedford was lord lieutenant of Ireland, he was greatly alarmed by an unprecedented attack on parliament; and not without fome apprehenfion of danger to his own perfon. But this strange and dangerous outrage was foon appeafed, by the affiftance

a

It was on this occafion, that Prime Serjeant Stannard, a real patriot, and an unprejudiced honourable gentleman, in his fpeech in the house of commons, contrasting the riotous conduct of the Lucafians (as they were then called after their chief), with the quiet and dutiful behaviour of the Roman catholics, in that and other dangerous conjunctures, gave the following honourable teftimony in favour of these latter: "We have lived amicably and in harmony among ourselves, and without any material party diftinctions, for feveral years paft, till within these few months; and during the late wicked rebellion

affiftance of that part of the army which was then in the city, without any further ill confequence. But, as at the next meeting of the members of parliament, upon an enquiry into the authors and promoters of it, fome of the very perfons guilty in that respect, did, by their interest in both houses, endeavour to fix the odium of it on the obnoxious papists (to which confcious untruth and calumny, the war then carrying on against France, gave fome kind of colour); the catholics thought it high time publicly to vindicate their characters from that, and every other vile fufpicion of difloyalty, by an addrefs to his grace the lord lieutenant; teftifying their warmeft gratitude for the lenity they experienced under his majesty's government, and their readiness to concur with the faithfullest and most zealous of his majesty's other subjects, in oppofing, by every means in their power, all, both his foreign and domestic enemies. Addreffes of this loyal tenor were fent to his grace from every confiderable part of the kingdom, and moft graciously received by him."

С НА Р.

bellion in Scotland, we had the comfort and fatisfaction to fee that all was quiet here. And to the honour of the Roman catholics be it remembered, that not a man of them moved tongue, pen, or fword, upon the then, or the present occafion; and I am glad to find, that they have a grateful and proper fense of the mildness and moderation of our government. For my part, while they behave with duty and allegiance to the prefent establishment, I fhall hold them as men in equal esteem with others, in every point but one; and while their private opinion interferes not with public tranquillity, I think their industry and allegiance ought to be encouraged."

As

There was a circumftance attending his grace's answer to the addrefs of the Roman catholics of Dublin, which for its great humanity and condefcenfion, muft not be omitted. if he now meant to clear the Roman catholics intirely from the above-mentioned foul afperfion, in the fame place in which it was lately caft upon them, he defired the then speaker, Mr. Ponsonby, while the houfe was fitting, to read aloud from the chair, his anfwer to that addrefs, which contained his full approbation of their past conduct, and an affurance of his future favour and protection, as long as they continued it.

The catholics of Ireland, preffed by penal laws, form an humble remonstrance to be prefented to his majesty.

THOUGH the exercise of the catholic religion at this time was connived at in this kingdom, the penal laws affecting the property of its profeffors, were so frequently and rigorously executed, that several wealthy families were reduced to the fad alternative, either to quit their native country or to starve in it, which shews the falfehood and abfurdity of the common pretence, that these laws were originally framed and fince kept in force, meerly for the fuppreffion of the exercise of the popish religion, on a groundless fuppofition, as it now appears, that both its doctrine and practice are hoftile to the peace, order, and very being of this protestant government. The Roman catholics of Ireland (faid an eminent member of the British commons on this occafion) enjoy the full and free exercise of their religion; it is against their property that the fword of law is raised."

In this fituation they at length began to recollect the capitulation of Limerick in 1691, heretofore mentioned, as a topic of redress very proper to be now revived, which they seemed to have strangely forgotten or overlooked for many years paft, and which nevertheless holds forth to them as full and as folemn an affurance of being exempted from all future penalties and restraints on account of their religion, as the public faith of the nation, confirmed by an act of the Irish parliament, is capable of giving them. Upon this ground therefore, they formed an humble and dutiful remonftrance of their grievances relative to their property, with a view of having it presented in due form, to his late majefty. But that good king happening to die at this juncture, to the great regret of all his fubjects of every denomination, it was then thought proper, to introduce this remonftrance