In the eighteenth century, the Catholics of England lacked many basic freedoms under the law: they could not serve in political office, buy or inherit land, or be married by the rites of their own religion. So virulent was the sentiment against Catholics that, in 1780, violent riots erupted in London—incited by the anti-Papist Lord George Gordon—in response to the Act for Relief that had been passed to loosen some of these restrictions. The Gordon Riots marked a crucial turning point in the fight for Catholic emancipation. Over the next fifty years, factions battled to reform the laws of the land. Kings George III and George IV refused to address the “Catholic Question,” even when pressed by their prime ministers. But in 1829, through the dogged work of charismatic Irish lawyer Daniel O’Connell and the support of the great Duke of Wellington, the watershed Roman Catholic Relief Act finally passed, opening the door to the radical transformation of the Victorian age. Gripping, spirited, and incisive, The King and the Catholics is character-driven narrative history at its best, reflecting the dire consequences of state-sanctioned oppression—and showing how sustained political action can triumph over injustice.

Drawing upon the experiences of Scottish and Irish Catholics in Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, Newfoundland, and Trinidad, Empire and Emancipation sheds important new light on the complex relationship between Catholicism and the British Empire.

Anyone studying or teaching Irish history, or who likely to be involved in discussions on the subject, should first get the facts straight. It is my aim to provide, as far as possible, the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, about one particular period. This book is an addition to my other books Pre-Famine Ireland: Social Structure and Ireland 1800 to 1850. When writing these books I accumulated such a vast quantity of material, often from untouched sources and put it in these two volumes, one dealing with the history of the period and the other dealing with the social and economic aspects of the country at the time. But there was another story which emerged from the newspapers of the time and that was the struggle for Catholic Emancipation between the Catholic Relief Acts of 1793 and 1829. Invariably, in the post-Reformation period in Europe and in the European colonies laws were passed to enforce the religion of the state, and to extirpate if possible dissenting views. To a greater or lesser extent, the religious dissidents were excluded from all offices of state, all positions of importance in the armed forces, from all offices in towns and counties. In some places, though not in all, the very practice of the religion was prohibited. This was the case in England, though not in Ireland. The dissident religion could be attacked in a different way, namely by prohibiting endowments to be made for its institutions. So, for example, Catholic schools could not be endowed. Above all, laws concerning succession to real property or estate could be made to benefit those conforming to the states religion. Though this book is dealing with the repeal of laws against Catholics in a Protestant country, it should be remembered that there was nothing in Ireland comparable to the Inquisition in Spain or the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in France. The policies of the mother country were faithfully followed in their colonies, both in North and South America. In the course of the eighteenth century, the old intolerance began to decline, and many of the laws against religion were relaxed or abolished. In Ireland, by 1793, most of the laws concerning the practice of religion and the tenure of land had been removed. But they were still excluded from the major offices of state, from the Established Churches, from the higher ranks in the armed forces, from the higher positions in the law courts, from the executive positions in towns and counties, and above all from Parliament. When the Catholic Relief Act was passed in 1793, many thought that it would be only a few years until the remaining disabilities were removed. But the next Relief Act was not passed until 1829. This book describes the twists and turns of the story of the Grail, the object of an extended or difficult quest, with all its ups and downs, and twists and turns, its successes and its reverses. This story is not the simplified one of Irish Catholic nationalist mythology showing Daniel OConnell, aided only by the priests, overthrowing the so-called Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. Indeed this book raises questions whether OConnells incessant interventions did more harm than good, and whether emancipation would have been granted more speedily if he had not tried to help. But it does throw an interesting light on the character of OConnell himself, who was, for good or evil, one of the outstanding characters in Ireland in the first half of the nineteenth century. Of the secondary characters who played their role in this struggle the first mention must go to Sir Edward Bellew. He was just an ordinary country gentleman, never a leader, but he played his part from the start to almost the end. He was noted for his good judgement and moderation, and was never driven away by the abuse heaped on him by the more unruly elements. The part played by Edward Hay who did his best to serve the fractious Catholic leaders should not be forgotte

La 4e de couverture indique : "Catholics in Ireland and England campaigning for relief from the penal laws, and later, for emancipation, were obliged to deal with the Holy See and the governments in Dublin and London. In return for concessions, the governments required them to provide 'securities' in the form of oaths that included allegiance to King George III and his successors and a rejection of the alleged 'claims' of the papacy which could be used to the detriment of the lawful authority of the British crown. The crown also sought the right to veto candidates for the episcopate whom it deemed unsuitable. These demands met with varying responses from the bishops of Ireland, the vicars apostolic of England, the Catholic laity in Ireland and England and the Holy See. Differences of opinion emerged between the conservative aristocrats and gentry in England, who were keen to take their seats in parliament, and the middle class activists in Ireland, who opposed the interference of the state in their religious affairs. This study examines these issues and the complex relationships between the Holy See, the bishops, the vicars apostolic and the Catholic committees."

The Papist Represented situates eighteenth-century literature within the history and culture of the English Catholic community and its interactions with the nation’s Protestant majority. It demonstrates Catholic influence on some of the period’s most popular and experimental literary works, challenging the assumption that eighteenth-century literature was a fundamentally Protestant enterprise.