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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
