equences which, it was said, had rendered the
present measure necessary; he could see no return of gratitude in the
conduct of the Roman Catholics. When, too, he considered the liberality
of the public, which had established a college for educating the Roman
Catholic youth; when he looked at the liberality of parliament granting
supplies for its support; when he saw those very men who had been bred
up at the public expense becoming members of an Association which had
existed in contempt of the government, and in defiance of the laws,
lending themselves to the exaction of a tax levied on the people, and
converting their places of worship into meetings for factious purposes;
when he looked at all these circumstances, he saw little hope that the
measure proposed would produce either tranquillity in Ireland, or safety
to the church. To him it appeared irreconcilable with the Protestant
essence of the constitution. It mattered not what circumstances produced
the laws about to be repealed; they had been adopted, and re-established
at the Revolution, as a necessary security for the constitution. By the
coronation-oath, as then arranged, the king swore to maintain the
true profession of the gospel, and the Protestant reformed religion
established by law. How, he asked, was the king to do this? By attending
churches in person? No! The king could only act by responsible advisers;
and, therefore, when such a clause was inserted in the oath, it was
presumed that the king would always have proper servants about him, who
would enable him to discharge the obligations imposed upon him by the
oath. Suppose the king to be surrounded by ministers who were all Roman
Catholics; if so, it was clear he could do nothing towards fulfilling
those obligations, for whatever measures he might contemplate for that
purpose, there would be no one to carry them into effect. No adviser or
minister of the crown, who could not enter into the views of the king
for the maintenance of the true profession of the gospel and of the
Protestant reformed religion, could assist the king to fulfil those
obligations which were imposed upon him by the coronation-oath. His
grace then went on to show the vital importance of having ministers
in every department of the state well affected towards the Protestant
religion. For instance, the secretary of the colonies, he said, had
absolute power in respect to the church; church patronage was at his
disposal, and the clergy wer