England to the insanity of their past conduct with respect to the
Papists of Ireland; but I can very plainly perceive that they were as
full of their popish projects as ever. I trust, and I hope I am not
deceived, that they are fairly inclined to give them up, and to bring
the measure forward unencumbered with the doctrine of Emancipation. Lord
Cornwallis has intimated his acquiescence in this point; Mr. Pitt is
decided upon it, and I think he will keep his colleagues steady."[541]

The mention of Castlereagh seems to call for a short account of one who,
after assisting in carrying the Act of Union, was destined to win a
European reputation as a disciple of Pitt. Robert Stewart, Viscount
Castlereagh, and second Marquis of Londonderry (1769-1822), was the son
of Robert Stewart of Ballylawn in County Londonderry by his first
marriage, that with the daughter of the Earl of Hertford. Educated at
Armagh and at St. John's College, Cambridge, he soon returned to contest
the seat of County Down with Lord Downshire, and succeeded by dint of
hard work and the expenditure of L60,000. He entered the Irish
Parliament as a representative of the freeholders as against the
aristocracy; but the second marriage of his father (now Marquis of
Londonderry) with the eldest daughter of the late Earl Camden brought
the family into close connection with the second Earl, who, on becoming
Lord Lieutenant in 1795, soon succeeded in detaching young Stewart from
the popular party, already, from its many indiscretions, distasteful to
his cool and cautious nature. Stewart had recently married Lady Emily
Hobart, the daughter of the late Earl of Buckinghamshire, and became
Viscount Castlereagh in October 1795. Though continuing to support the
claims of the Catholics, he upheld Camden's policy of coercion; and his
firm and resolute character made his support valuable in Parliament.

The sagacity of his advice in committee, and the straightforward
boldness of his action as an administrator, are in marked contrast to
his rambling and laboured speeches, in whose incongruous phrases alone
there lurked signs of Hibernian humour. "The features of the clause";
"sets of circumstances coming up and circumstances going down"; "men
turning their backs upon themselves"; "the constitutional principle
wound up in the bowels of the monarchy"; "the Herculean labour of the
honourable member, who will find himself quite disappointed when he has
at last brought forth his