Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 8.djvu/139

 IRELAND

107

IRELAND

ably also influenced by Beresford, who had powerful On one side were eloquence and debating power,

friends in England, and by the king, whom Fitzgil)bon had mischievously convinced that to admit Catholics to Parliament would be to violate his coronation oath. Possibly, other causes concurred with these to bring about the sudden and disastrous change which filled

patriotism, and public virtue, Grattan, Plunket, and Bushe, Foster, Fitzgerald, Ponsonby, and Moore, a truly formidable combination. On the other side were the baser elements in Parliament, the needy, the pendthrift, the meanly ambitious, operated upon by

Catholic Ireland with grief, and the whole nation with Castlereagh, with the whole resources of the British

dismay.

The new viceroy, Lord Camden, was instructed to conciliate the Catholic bishops by setting up a Catho- lic college for the training of the Irish priests; this was done by the establishment of Maynooth College. But he was to set his face against all^Parliamentary reform and all Catholic concessions did with a will. He at once re- stored Beresford to office and Foster and Fitzgibbon to fa- vour, the latter being made Earl of Clare. And he stirred up but too successfully the dy- ing embers of sectarian hate, with the result that the Ulster factions, the Protestant "Peep- of-Day Boys" and the Cath- olic "Defenders", became em- bittered with a change of names. The latter, turning to republican and revolutionary ways, joined the United Irish Society; the former became merged in the recently formed Orange Society, taking its name from William of Orange and having Protestant ascen- dancy and hatred of Catholi- cism as its battle cries. Ex- tending from LHster, these rival societies brought into the other provinces the curse of sectarian strife. Instead of putting down both, the Government took sides with the Orangemen; and, while their lawless acts were condoned, the Catholics were hunted down. An Arms' Act, an Insurrection Act, an Indemnity Act, a suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act placed them outside the pale of law. An undisciplined soldiery, recruited from the

Orange lodges, were then let lui.

loose among them. Martial law, free quarters, flogging, picketing,

Empire at his command. The pensioners and place- men who voted against him at once lost their places and pensions, the military officer was refuseil pro- motion, the magistrate was turned off the l)ench. And while anti-Unionists were unsparingly punished, the Unionists got lavish rewards. The impecunious These things he got well-paid sinecures; the briefless barrister was

made a judge or a commis-

sioner; the rich man, ambi- tious of social distinction, got a peerage, and places and pen- sions for his friends; and the owners of rotten boroughs got large suras for their interests. The Catholics were promised emancipation in a united Par- liament, and in consequence many bishops, some clergy, and a few of the laity t*up]ii)rted the Union, not grudjiins; to end an assembly so bigoted and cor- rupt as the Irish Parliament. By these means Castlereagh triumphed, and in ISOl the United Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland opened its doors.

Since the Union. — The next quarter of a century was a period of baffled hopes. Anxious to stand well with the Government, Dr. Troy, the Archbishop of Dublin, had been a strong advocate of the Union, and had induced nine of his brother bishops to con- cede to the king a veto on episcopal appointments. In return, he wanted emancipa- tion linked with the Union, and Castlereagh was not averse; but Pitt was non-committal and vague, though the Catholic Imwer. Unionists had no doubt that

he favoured immediate con- Disappointment came when nothing

cession. Disappointment came when notlnng was

half-hanging, destruction of done in the first session of the United Parliament, and

Catholic property and life, outrages on women fol- it was increased when Pitt resigned office antl was

lowed, until at last Catholic blood was turned into succeeded by Addington, a narrow-minded bigot,

flame. Then Wexford rose. Looking back, it now Cornwallis, however, assured Dr. Troy that Pitt had

.seems certain that, had Hoche landed at Bantry in resigned, unable to overcome the prejudices of the

1796, had even a small force landed at Wexford in king, and that he would never again take office if

1798, or a few other counties displayed the heroism emancipation were not conceded. Yet, in spite of

of Wexfonl, English power in Ireland would, tempor- this, he became premier in 1804, no longer an advocate

arily at least, have been destroj^ed. But one county of emancipation but an opponent, pledged never

could not fight the British Empire, and the rebellion again to raise the question in Parliament during the

was soon quenched in blood. lifetime of the king. To this pledge he was as faithful

Camden's place was then given to Lord Cornwallis, as he had been false to his former a.ssurances; and

who came to Ireland for the express purpose of carry- when Fo.x presented the Catholic petition in 180.5,

ing a Legislative Union. Foster refused to support him and joined the opposition. Fitzgibbon, however, aided Cornwallis, and so did Castlereagh, who for some time had discharged the duties of chief secre- tary in the ab.sence of Jlr. Pelham, and who was now formally appointed to the office. And then began

Pitt opposed it. After 1806, when both Pitt and Fox died, the Catholic champion was Grattan, who had entered the British Parliament in 1805. In the vain hope of conciliating opponents he was willing, in 180S, to concede the veto. Dr. Troy and the higher Catho- lics acquiesced; but the other bishops were unwilling.

one of the most shameful chapters in Irish history, and neither they nor the clergy, still less the people,

Even the corrupt Irish Parliament was reluctant to wanted a state-paid clergy or state-appointed bishops,

vote away its existence, and in 1799 the opposition The agitation of the question, however, did not cease,

was too strong for Castlereagh. But Pitt directed and for many years it distracted Catliolic plans

him to persevere, anil the great .struggle went on. and weakened Catholic effort. Further complications