Action Of Prime Minister Pitt
Above : Portrait Of Lord Cornwallis
Pitt, when making his famous defence of the Union project in January 1799, had broadly hinted that, should success in this be achieved, the Catholic disabilities would probably soon be removed. That he really desired that this should be done, and done so quickly as to seem a direct result of the Union, there can be no doubt. He soon, however, realised that he had greatly underestimated the strength of the King’s opposition and the difficulty, perhaps impossibility, of obtaining his consent. This discovery evidently disconcerted and even for a time alarmed him, as any violent display of hostility on the part of the Catholics would be most inconvenient, or possibly, even now, dangerous. His chagrin was shared by Castlereagh and still more by Cornwallis.
