ABSTRACT
William Pitt's insistence that the failure to act would bring on revolution finally compelled the Irish Parliament to grant Catholics the right to vote in parliamentary elections, but not to hold any important public office. Even this partial political enfranchisement was strongly opposed by those who insisted upon a complete "Protestant ascendency". In 1792 Edmund Burke's son, Richard, had gone to Dublin as the agent of the Catholic Committee, to help secure the franchise for Catholics. He had failed in his mission, largely because he lacked the tact and prudence necessary to carry through such a delicate and complex negotiation. In 1793 Burke wrote a letter to his son on the nature of the "Protestant ascendency". He expressed his fear that its policy would contribute to the downfall of all Christian religions, and help to bring about the triumph of the Jacobin revolutionaries.
