ven the elements of such
securities, could not be entertained by the house, if it did its duty to
the constitution, the religion, and the feelings of the country. Several
departed statesmen, he said, had declared in the most decisive terms
their determination not to grant Catholic emancipation without special
and efficient securities; and the present secretary for foreign affairs
himself, and the Irish attorney-general had uttered sentiments to the
effect, that it could not be granted unless adequate securities
were given to protect the country against the dangers of foreign
interference. It became the house, also, he said, to consider well if
the concessions are made, what are the feelings of that body of men
who should be returned as members of parliament towards the Protestant
church for which they would be called upon to legislate. He thought
those feelings could not be learned more correctly than from the
language of Dr. Doyle, who thus described the church of Ireland:--"She
is looked up to, not as the spouse of the Redeemer, but as the handmaid
of the ascendancy. The latter, whenever she becomes insolent or forgets
her rank, if rank it may be called, rebuke her into a deportment more
becoming her situation. They extend their protection to her for their
own advantage only; and she, working alternately on their hopes and
fears, continues to hold her place as a necessary appendage of the
family to which she owes her existence. When indulged, she is indolent;
when rebuked, she becomes attentive; she draws tight or relaxes her
discipline as it may please, or be determined by her masters. Her eye
is ever fixed upon her own interests, and she deems nothing forbidden
or unhallowed which may serve to promote them. As those who do an injury
can never forgive, she is implacable in her hostility to the church
which she supplanted; and at this day, she seems indifferent to all
things else, but to the concealment of her riches, and the persecution
of popery. She occasionally revolts against her fellow-servants, who lay
bare her spoils, who tell of her frauds and oppressions, who remind her
of her origin, and upbraid her with the profligacy of her misspent
life. But she is much more frequently employed in forming offensive
and defensive leagues with her fellows in the corporations, showing the
advantages of injustice and oppression, in confounding the charter of
her servitude with the title-deeds of her employers, in asserting her