-which had inspired the serf of
Clare with the resolution and the energy of a free man--which had in
the twinkling of an eye made all considerations of personal gratitude,
ancient family connections, local preferences, the fear of worldly
injury, the hope of worldly advantage subordinate to the one absorbing
sense of religious obligation and public duty--whether, I say, it might
not be possible that the contagion of that feverish excitement might
spread beyond the barriers which under ordinary circumstances the
habits of military obedience and the strictness of military discipline
opposed to all such external influences?"

Peel became gradually convinced that the Marquis of Anglesey was right
in his views, and that there was no choice between a recognition of the
Catholic claims and the outbreak of a civil war in Ireland. The more
he thought over the question, the more he became convinced that it
would not be possible to rely on the loyalty of all {75} the Catholic
soldiers in the ranks of the army in Ireland if they were called upon
to join in shooting down their own brothers and friends because these
had risen in rebellion against the oppressive laws which excluded a
Catholic from the full rights of citizenship. Peel was not a
philosopher or a dreamer, but above all things a practical statesman,
and when he had to choose between civil war and the concession of a
claim which was admitted to be right and just by some of the most
enlightened Englishmen and Scotchmen who sat near him on the benches of
the House of Commons, and by some of the most enlightened Englishmen
and Scotchmen outside the House, he could not bring himself to believe
that claims thus advocated could be so essentially unjust or
unreasonable as to make their continued refusal worth the cost of so
terrible a struggle.

Peel made up his mind to the fact that Catholic Emancipation must, as
soon as possible, become the work of Parliament. But he did not yet
believe that he was the right man to undertake the task. It seemed to
him that one who had always been regarded as the determined opponent of
Emancipation would not be likely to win over many supporters among his
Tory friends for such a sudden change of policy. He did not think
himself well suited, and he was not inclined, to conduct the
negotiations which would be necessary between any Government attempting
such a task and the Irish advocates of Emancipation. His idea was that
Lord Grey, as the