It is almost
certain that unless that offer had been made, and unless the Catholic
Party in Ireland had been informed that the Act of Union was the
inevitable price for Catholic emancipation, Lord Castlereagh would
never have succeeded in closing the Irish Parliament.[54]
That bargain was broken. It is unhappily the case that the British
Ministers must have given their pledge to the Catholic Party in Ireland
with the conscious knowledge of their inability to carry it out. For
over them all was their King, George III., still with the Royal
privilege of dismissal for his Ministers, and resolutely, fiercely
resolved not to grant Catholic emancipation. Pitt relieved his
conscience by a two-years' resignation, but he returned to Parliament
without achieving his pledge. For another thirty years the struggle
went on. It is the Duke of Wellington himself who has handed down to
history the testimony that Catholic emancipation was only finally
granted in 1829 in order to save Ireland from a second rebellion.
It is that record that has driven Ireland into the arms of Rome, and
who can wonder?
England has now only paid the price of that great betrayal of 1800--a
betrayal almost as great as the broken treaty of Limerick.
Pages:
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114