"But it was in the dearer relations of nature that his mind, in which every thing was beautiful and in order, shone with all its lustre. To his father and mother his affection and assiduity were such as passed all description, and all examples that the writer of this has ever seen; here every thing of self was annihilated; here he was as perfect as human nature can admit. At home and to his family, he was indeed all in all. He lived in and for his parents, and he expired in their arms. "A sincerely afflicted mind seeks a momentary consolation in drawing this imperfect sketch of his ever to be honoured and lamented friend. "W. K." "Gray's Inn, Aug. 3, 1794. CHAPTER XIV. Correspondence with William Smith, Esq. (of Ireland) on the Roman Catholic Question-Second Letter to Sir Hercules Langrishe, on the same subject— Letter to William Elliot, Esq. on the Attack of the Duke of Norfolk, in the House of Lords-Letters to Mrs. Salisbury Haviland-Letter to Lord Auckland, with Remarks on his Pamphlet-Letter to William Smith, Esq.-Thoughts and Details on Scarcity-Anecdotes-Grant of a Pension-Letter to a Noble Lord in Reply to an Attack of the Duke of Bedford, and the Earl of Lauderdale in the House of Lords. For some months after the afflicting loss he had experienced, the mind of Mr. Burke was too seriously hurt by it to take so active an interest as he had hitherto done in most questions connected with public affairs; nor did his friends deem it decorous to intrude upon the almost sacred privacies of a grief so profound by solicitations for his opinion. But as he became more composed, a return to the consideration of such matters, which had long been a species of daily aliment to him, was eagerly desired by them as serving to prevent the continual intrusion of more melancholy thoughts. His communications with Ministry, however, from this time forward in a great degree ceased with the life of his son, his influence, whatever it was, being exerted through the channel of the press, and therefore wholly public. The question of Roman Catholic Emancipation occupied then, a large share of the attention of the statesmen of England and Ireland. In the latter country, as being chiefly concerned in the result, it was of course warmly debated; the late concessions there, the continued exertions of Mr. Grattan, and the inflammatory state of politics altogether, producing in many a conviction of its necessity; in others as strong an aversion to any further indulgence. An appeal to Mr. Burke from several of his friends in Dublin, whose opinions were either not fully formed, or who wished their doubts on the matter entirely resolved, was therefore made. Among the number was his young friend, Mr. Smith. He had now secured a seat in the legislature of his country, and being further placed in the not uncommon situation in Ireland of having one parent of the Protestant and the other of the Roman Catholic faith, and brought up a Protestant himself, he considered it no less desirable than just, to gain from such a man all the additional light he could throw upon the subject, in order to be himself enabled to act wisely and conscientiously towards his religion, towards his parent as one of the obnoxious persuasion, and towards his country. His letter on this occasion is useful to advert to for its own sake, as well as for the sake of the answer it produced. "I am about to make a very usual return for great kindness, by imposing a further tax on him from whom I have received it. The funds, however, on which I draw, whatever modesty or prudence may induce you to allege, are universally known to be abundant. Besides, what I ask for is advice; in giving which you can enrich me without impoverishing yourself. "You are aware that a measure of vast importance will shortly come before our Parliament. I mean that on which the Catholics have judiciously enough bestowed the title of Emancipation. I feel the magnitude of this question; and wish greatly to have upon it the assistance of your views. Your opinion I indeed anticipate; or more properly speaking, know; and what I now solicit from you is rather an outline (I cannot presume to look for more), of the grounds on which your judgment has been formed. "The popularity of this measure seems, with many of its advocates, to be founded upon sentiments which I do not entertain. The fashionable toast of Religion established; and no established religion!' is a quaint treachery which I cannot prevail with myself to echo; nor do I concur in the impartial nonchalance of those who think the Protestant and Catholic doctrines to be both so good, that they neither care which is the best, nor very well know which is which. I suspect that this liberal inattention to specific difference might be traced to a contempt for Christianity in general. At all events, it is a liberality to which I make no pretensions; and on the contrary, if the want of it be bigotry, must admit myself a bigot. I am a Protestant, not merely because it is the faith in which I happened to be brought up, but on conviction; and not only consider the Catholic system to be erroneous, but to be infected with errors which, as well from their intrinsic character, as from their political relations, are of a tendency the most pernicious; and rather disentitle the professors of this religion to liberal indulgence, than the reverse. At least these would not, I fear, be likely to practise the toleration which they recommend; and cannot well rest their claims upon the Gospel precept. "If I have spoken strongly of Catholic doctrines, their tendency and danger; it yet should seem that I have not imbibed prejudices at all hostile to the professors of that religion. My father, whose line of politics it would be my wish to pursue, as long as he was in Parliament, supported their pretensions. My mother, a most excellent woman, and all her family are Catholics; between whom and me a very cordial and affectionate intercourse subsists. But knowing my connexion with Doctor Duigenan, you may suspect me of having taken up some of his opinions; seasoned too with a portion of his warmth and zeal. This however, I can assure you, is far from being the case. He is a well-informed, able, and, I think, upright man; with an intellect perhaps coarse-beyond all question strong. But still his views of things are very different from mine. There is something as it were dissonant, and antipathetic, in the frame and construction of our minds; and of whatever friendship there is between us, neither idem velle, nor idem sentire, are the source. Besides, he has ever held me and my understanding very cheap : and though his estimate may have been a just one, it was not calculated to seduce me into an implicit adoption of all his thoughts. "But if the circumstance of my mother's family being Catholic has protected me from prejudice, it has at the same time laid open sources of information, to which persons situated differently from me might not have access. If many of that persuasion be, as many are, exempt from all those prejudices, which armed with power might lead to mischief, the exemption I fear arises rather from individual character, or peculiar situation, than from the genius of the religion. They are liberal, not because, but nolwithstanding they are Catholics. Besides, whatever dangerous spirit popery may be suspected to contain, is repressed and chilled, while this religion is under control and in the shade. But we know from Scripture that the smallest of all seeds, if allowed to grow and flourish, may overshadow nations. 66 Perhaps the language I have been using may seem inconsistent with sentiments which you have heard me more than once avow; and you may suppose that I am writing my recantation from all favourable dispositions to the church of Rome. This, however, is not the case. I am strongly disposed to give the Catholics what they ask: I wish to be convinced that it would be right to do so; and what I have been saying merely tends to this, that they ought not to be gratified at our expense. But we should not, in an effusion of liberality, neglect our own defence; or by dismantling the fortresses of the true religion established amongst us, lay it open to the pious inroads, and with reference to their motive, perhaps laudable oppressions, which pro salute animarum, our Catholic brethren might think it their duty to inflict." "I am presumptuous in discussing the question with you as I do; but should be more so if I were not prepared to surrender my notions, with unaffected deference and humility, to your opinion. I am not so arrogant, as from my indulging in these dissertations you might think. I do not forget that I have not been quite one year in Parliament, nor quite twenty-nine years in the world; and shall besides, in favour of the Catholics, be convinced, not against, but with my will. That a man's religious opinions should abridge his civil powers (in other words that he should be mulcted for being conscientious), is a maxim which, in the abstract, I reprobate as profane; and should feel indebted to the reasoner who would show me that the opposite axiom can be brought to bear upon the subject now before us." "I have myself observed, that since the last relaxations of the Popery law, there are certain privileges which though in theory the Catholics possess, they have not begun perfectly, if at all, to enjoy in practice. These barren and unproductive rights are worse than none at all. They exasperate and tantalize those who on the contrary should be conciliated and contented; and perhaps this provoking evil could not have arisen, if we had taken as good care of the Catholics as of the Pope; and surrounded their civil rights with a body-guard of political powers, for their protection. A certain number of these latter they indeed possess; and the question is, whether the guard be strong enough for their defence; or can be further strengthened, compatibly with a due regard to our own safety. * "Of some of the donations which we have made, I (as you know) disapprove. In giving their forty shilling freeholders the elective franchise, I think that we did wrong; and even doubt whether we did not lose an opportunity for depriving this, grovelling class, the plebs infima of our country, whether Protestant or Popish, of the right (or rather abuse and wrong) of voting; and for conferring this privilege indiscriminately on twenty pound freeholders of both religions. You have had the patience to read, and the kindness to approve the tract in which I started this idea. But now the thing is done; the concession is made; and in making it we furnished an argument for the present claims. The power of forty shilling freeholders is, in fact and practice, the influence (and that it should be so is perhaps the lesser evil), of those landlords under whom they hold. It is these latter, therefore, that in thus extending the elective franchise, we have aggran *This opinion does credit to Mr. Smith's sagacity, for Ireland would now willingly get rid of the abuse if she could; it will be remembered that a measure for this purpose was introduced lately (1825) into Parliament, intended to follow the fortunes of that for the relief of the Catholics, and accordingly they were thrown out together. dized. In finding a market for the flock, it is not the sheep, but the owner of the stock and pasture, that we serve. Thus, while Catholics are ineligible into Parliament, we may (contrary to our intention) have been aggrandizing the Protestant gentry at their expense. "You have already observed, I believe it is in your letter to Sir Hercules Langrishe, that the penal code ought not to have been even touched, except by those who were prepared for its entire, though perhaps gradual abrogation. But without disputing this, at least without disputing it directly, I may suggest that of the liberty which identifies with power, we may with propriety be frugal; lest in bestowing freedom upon others, we should be imposing chains upon ourselves. Our security and liberties ought not to be the fund, out of which, by deductions from it, the Catholic demands are to be supplied. * "But it will seldom be a sufficient reason for rejecting an application, that it is ungraciously or even insolently made. The intrinsic merits and reasonableness of the demand itself should in general be gone into. Nor though petitioners should falsely represent their circumstances to be worse than these really are, ought we merely upon this account to decline improving their situation, if it can be ameliorated with safety to ourselves. Complainants nine times out of ten magnify the alleged grievance which they are seeking to have removed, the delusions of amour propre first aggravate it to themselves; and their representation of what they endured again enhances upon this; in order that the supposed magnitude of their suffering may supply an argument for its removal. Resentment may also sometimes contribute its part; and induce them to exaggerate their oppressions, both to themselves, and to those whom they consider as oppressors. * "The longer the provocations last, the more exasperation and ill-blood will be produced; and the greater will be the risk which must at length perhaps be run. If then the restrictive system with respect to Catholics ought at some time to have an end, what better moment could be chosen than the present, when, from the loyal conduct which they have hitherto pursued, it may be inferred that they have not yet been stung or stimulated into disaffection; a moment in which allegiance is exposed to unprecedented perils and temptations; and swarms of innovators are busy in every quarter of the country; when old establishments are sloping their heads to their foundations; and all that is passing round us in the world seems to inculcate the necessity of cementing for our own security id firmissimum imperium, quo obedientes gaudent? * 樂 * * "We ought not, if it can be avoided, to inflict upon our brethren |