Above : Picture Of Sir Laurence Parsons

On January 22nd (1795) the Parliamentary Session opened. At first the proceedings were harmonious to an extent which had lately not common in that assembly. Approval of the war in which Englan was now engaged against the French Republic was expressed almost at animously ; the number of the forces was increased ; on the motion of Grattan, £200,000 was voted for the support of the navy. While the Money Bills were being considered, the extraordinary and ” unexampled ” prosperity of the country, a prosperity in which landlord and tenant, employer and employed had a share, was more than once alluded to. Fitzwilliam was still without positive instructions as to how he should act when the question of the Catholic claims came up foi discussion, but the very fact that he was so must have left little doubt in his mind as to what these instruction* would be when they arrived. A great number of petitions in favour of concession, some of which were largely signed by Protestants, had come to hand, whilst against it there had not been a single one. Indeed, outside of a very small clique, there appears to have been no opposition at all. Unfortunately, however, it was precisely this clique which had the ear of the British Government. On February 9th the Lord Lieutenant received two letters; one from Pitt, expressing surprise and annoyance at the dismissals, and saying nothing about the more important matter; the other from Portland, warning him not to excite the hopes of the Catholics, and saying that the whole question had better be put off for the present. Fitzwilliam was even more amazed than disgusted by this communication of Portland. He made an angry reply, declaring that the result of the policy recommended would probably be to produce an armed revolt in Ireland. Other communications followed on both sides. Arguments, founded entirely on alleged expediency, against the Catholic claims were reiterated in the letters from London ; counter-arguments, remonstrances, and warnings filled the letters from Dublin. That a project for the destruction of the separate Irish Parliament by amalgamating it with that of England was, and had been for some years, in Pitt’s mind. Fitzwilliam was well aware. In a subsequent debate (March 2nd), when there was no longer any doubt as to the intentions of the English Government, Sir Laurence Parsons was equally emphatic in his condemnation. The Protestants of Ireland, he declared, were not now hostile to the Catholic claims: there had been no petition, no remonstrance received against them. It was understood that the British Cabinet had authorised the Irish administration in holding out to the Catholics the expectation that the measure would be carried. ” The hopes of the public were raised,” and ” in one instant they were blasted.” If the House did not resent that insult to the nation and to themselves, they would, in his mind, be contemptible.