The Life of William Roscoe
Chapter VII. 1799-1805
William Roscoe to Lord Holland, March 1805
“I have somewhere, in that work*, alluded to the
necessity there is, that statesmen and rulers should be aware of the changes in
public opinion, and should accommodate their conduct accordingly; and I might
have added, that enlightened rulers will foresee and anticipate such changes,
and turn those circumstances, which would otherwise be ruinous, to their own or
the public advantage. This, however, has not been the case of late with the
administration of this country, who have given another striking proof of that
want of knowledge of human nature which has always characterised them, in their
present conduct to
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wards the Catholics of Ireland. Can any thing be more
apparent, than that the late commotions on the Continent have broken down all
the old distinctions between Catholics and Protestants, and given rise to a new
order of things, in which theological distinctions are absolutely lost and
extinguished? Have we not been defending the Pope in his own capital? And is
not the present existence of the Roman See owing to the interference of this
country? Has not our great enemy united against us, not only his own motley
empire, but the superstitious and Catholic government of Spain, and the
Protestant and enlightened state of Holland? And shall we be the last people on
earth to perceive these important alterations, and, through motives which have
no longer any real foundation, place an insuperable bar between classes of
people forming one nation, and that too at a time when the exertions of the
whole country are required to preserve its very existence? The agitation of
this question will, however, have done great good; not only from the knowledge,
liberality, and temperate firmness displayed by the friends of toleration, but
by the disgraceful ignorance and stupid superstition of its adversaries. The
difference is such as cannot fail to be felt in every part of the country, and
will have a tendency, more than any event that has yet occurred, to promote
sentiments of moderation and good-will among people of different ![]()
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religious persuasions, and particularly towards the Roman
Catholics, and thus hasten the way to that general toleration of speculative
opinions, which it is yet to be hoped will finally take place.”
