The Scotsman - Saturday, 4th April 1829, page 1

STATE OF THE COUNTRYCATH 01-IO QUESTION . •;<

»y E look upon the country as being nl _present in _the _hit _tl'roea of _a _great crisis—of a _itruggle which, _altliorg" _^ \e _combatants _lime _at _last met on the _questitm of civil _disabilities on account of _religious opinion , _ft not _essentially one _about Catholic emancipation , but _one _betwixt reason and coercion— enlightenment and biute _force. Who, ' twelve _montlisi ' apo, would have expected to find _the _Duke of ' Wellington , with his mi ' _.. litarf frienils, (landing forth_, _an the cliampion of _liberal _lip _inionii—tlie ad»ocute of conciliation,_' and a mild lliouK li firm _administration of tlie'; lawa—tlie enemy Of _Intolerance , rc8_irictions, ' pain8_, ' penalties, and _oppres. (ion? From the manner _in _yliich the noble _Duke _got into power—or _liad it _tlirust _upon him . ; fronithe sort (_if-men will_) whom he was'then connected ; from the _opinions lie then _expreaseil and the line of policy which lie followed ; it is _manifest that _he _has now _achieved a _victory _, not over the _enemies of his country, but one which is much greater _than tliat of Waterloo, a victory _over himself—over his own _prejudices and _feelings! _Inspiteofllis own leanings to persons and the policy on which lie and they _'had _previously _acted, the _respon. sibility'cast upon him _as First _Minister of England, _cpencil _lii't _eyes to the consequences which roust flow incriiably from _persevering in the old course; anil _IIATisgseen _Ilis _error , 'duty _prevailed over _consistency. We hive no _doubt tliat his _Grace has been _constrained by a _sort of moral necessity ; but there wn» merit in _feeling it, _mul _still higher merit in _boldly _adopting and re-SB 'iulely _acting on this new course. The _movement _lias _surprised his friends still more than _those _who_, like us, _were previously _hia _opponents. They Me _offended _and _mortified; we aie most agree. ally _disappointed. _We stated, _about a year _apo, tuearoiinds on which we flpprchendecl evil from the _Diikeol'Welliiimon 's _accession to _poiyer ; _but we allow. ed _i"e might be wrong; adding, _tllat " none would rejaicc more heartily than we, if _[_lie Premier should _purtae wi<e and liberal _measures_!." We dreaded his _political _Icaililigs—his connectioh with _(lie High Churchmen itlld ultra Torics. His _rupture _with _them, and tile _distance—we trust it is nn iinp._issiible _giilpil—which _n»»'intervenea betwixt them and _lliin, and, _what is of no _less _importance, hctwixt them and AI r _Peel, _are to _us sources ol' unniixcd pirasure and _delight . _Tlicy form in _our _minds _grounds of the very _highest expectation. We _rejoice, _ccrtiiinly , in _the ai_>i)ioaching emancipa. tioii of ilie _Catholics_; but v_;c rejoice_, in one _sense, _even r._iore in _(lie _cnianciiialion of a mind like tliat of Mr _Peel, wliicli, unfrticred n.i it now h, _may 60 _so much _far his country. _His sacrifices liave been _greaiei than _tliossoftlie _Premier; hut lie lias inade them in a way _vliicli does equal _credit to his _head _and his Iieart. I[i _Ilia _confessions, he IIIIB been _canilid—nay humblein _Ins _purpose, resolute; in his conduct, _prudent, _able; in Ilis _temper, mngnaniinous i—all which must be _welcomed by the country us _an earnest_, of good to come. ,A bid _leaven had been disseminating _itself through _the inllurntial _classes of this _country, from the time 1'iti , tlie son of _Chatham, got into office. It was a lust for _money, to _be drawn from the _people no matter how, anil of _power to _be _exercised _against them in almost _mif _poMJble lotm. Die _leaven _liad spread exien _lively _before _(lie breaking out of _the _French Revolution_, vlien it _became a _maddening poison. From that time forward, _the holders of nfnce_, and iliosc tlirougli whom place and power _were _obtained, _were every tiling, _the people—tlie good of the _country—nothing . _Then _came _tile day_! of war, loans, taxes, _restrictions, _licenses, disronicnt , a vigour beyond the law, _disturbances, _suapeiitions of law, fine, _imprisonment, transportation, _death,_—passion , fury, oppression and _misgovcrnmeni i» «11 _their forms over the _whole _Empire, but cspccial-1 _? in Ireland. Along with all _this _there was, for a time , _"hat many thought and _more called prospcr' _iliJ ; _but tlic _pnu perity terminated in _depression _coinmcrciiil and _agri. _cultural; in a great _cncrense of _pauperism, _delinquency _^Pil crime; in _the loss of profit, the _deterioration ofca-Pitiil and _property, the _dislocation of society. Tliese _are the _evils which Mr _Peel _has yet to _eradicate; _and lo _the _acconipliiiliment of which the _emancipation of _fe _Catholics ia only an _initiatory _step. But the _be_. _(_nining ha» _been made upon a right basis. _He, and _Mi _colleagues in authority, _have now divorced _them-• _elvts—we liopc and _believe forever—from that _reckless _"_'I _unprincipled _race ' of _politicians, _whose maxim _'M no higher , and very _little _more disguised _than that °t the _outlaw—that" He _should _take who has the power And he _may _keep who can." _These person« _looked on place and _power as _thingt to m ROI, or at Icait _preserved, by n sort of _gliidiatorship ; _they held that, once obtained, _place and _power ought to be _turned to _account only for the sake of _extorting _ttoney, or _gratif ying more _dangerous _passions; and their _creed WM, not lliat of _Christianity, but that _force uta _'""d-the iiword and the _church-especially the _"Md of awuming the _nwk of _religion , and _thereby _"'"Wing and dectiTi(i(( A_* people , _wtTe _the legiti.

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