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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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PARLlAMfeNTABY . •\ ' — HOUSE OF LORDS . AprH 25 , 1825 . The Duke of York ' s Speech on presenting a Petition from the Dean and ^ Chapter of the Collegiate Church of St . George , Windsor , avainst the Catholic Claims .
His Boyal Highness stated , that lie had been requested to present to their Lordships the petition of the Dean and Canons of Windsor , praying that ho further concessions should be made to the Roman Catholics . it
He ^ on sidered nrraeees sary , infringing before their Lordships the petition of so learned and respectable a body , to assure them that it was worded ^ o as to ensure its reception ; but , before he moved that it should be read , he must be permitted to say a few words .
Sensible as his Rayal Highness was of his want of habit and ability , to take a part in their Lordships' debates , it was not without the greatest reluctance that he ventured to trespass upon their time and attention ; but he felt that there were occasions whan every man owed it to his country and to kis station , to de ^
clare his sentiments . ; and no opportunity could , in his opinioja , offer , which ye * quired more imperiously the frank avetwai of them than the present , wken their Lordships were called npau to make a total change in the fundamental principle of the Constitution , and , in hia Royal Highaess'sview of the question , to strike at the very root of its existence .
His Royal Highness observed , that 28 years had elapsed since this question had been first agitated , under the most awful circumstances , while this country was engaged in a most arduous and expensive , though just and glorious war ; that the agitation of it had been the cause of
a most serious and alarming illness to an Illustrious Personage , now uo more , whose exalted character and virtues , and whose parental affection for his people , would render his memory ev # r dear to this country ; that it had also produced ¦*
« ^ raporary retirement from his late Majesty ' s Councils of one of the mo&t «« w > enlightened , and most honest st atesmen of whom this country could boast . ^ P this question they were now aued to decide ; and from the first mo-Hn i ° itsagitati <> n to the present , hi * hpjf \ highness had not for one instant rota-2 ° felt a doubt as ta the P ™ - a < W i ° - the line of conduct he haxi IK *** * reference to it . "**> he must also call their Lordships ' 1
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attention to the gfeat chaftge of language and sentiments which ; had talceji place since the ! subject was first intrpdpeefl , among the advocates for Csrtholic ^ tn an - eipatkm .
That at first the most zealous of these foad cautiously ainl y ^ t strenuon al y eii - deavoufed to impress upon the minds of the people that Catholic E * nancip * iti&h ought not to be granted without es tablishing strong and effectual harriers against any encroachment on the
Protestant ascendancy . Bu-t how changed was now their language ! Their Lordships were now required to surrender every principle of the CoDstitutionj and to deliver us up bound hand and foot , to the mercy and generosity of the Roman Catholics , without any assurance even that they would be satisfied with such fearful
. ' His Royai Highness hadj upon a former occasion , taken the liberty of stating his sentiments fully upon the subject ^ and had endeavoured to convey to their Lordships that no person was more decidedly inclined to toleration than his late
Majesty , but that it must be . admitted there is a great difference between toleration , participation , and emancipation . He would not how enter into this discussion . convinced as he was that if the bill should aga&i be brought under their
consideration , its merits would be much more ably discussed by others of their Lordships . There were , however , one or two points which appeared to bim to have been kept out of view in the different debates that had occurred in various
places , and which seemed to him of such vital importance that he could not help touching upon them . The nrst was , the situation in which the Church of England would be placed should Catholic Emancipation pass . If
his Royal Highness were mistaken he would doubtless be set right ; but he had always understood that the Established Church of England stands in a very different situation from any other religions persuasion in the world , different even from that of the sectarians hi this
country . The Established Church was object to its own government , and did not admit the interference of the civil authorities . It was placed under the authority of the King as the Head of it , and
under the controul of Parliament , so much so , that the Church was not only not represented as a body in the Lower House of Parliament , but that no clergyman was admitted to a seat in it .
Surely , their Lordships could wot wish to ; jlace the Established Church of En-£ Laa \ d upon a worse footing than any other church within tl ) e # e realms ; nor allow the Roman-Catholics ,-who not <> nly
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f n t # lligenoe . --PGrtieifit& nt (! try : ttutte of Ybrk ' s Speeeh on Catholic Claims . 433
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VU" xx . 3 K
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1825, page 433, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2538/page/49/
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