Europe in the seventeenth century was a land of mar and confusion because the great political problems raised by the religious disruption of the preceding century had not yet been solved. Chief among these was the problem of the relations between the Roman catholic church and a protestant state. The teaching of the pope's indirect power in temporal matters in any problem involving a breach of the moral order (ratione peccati) had been strongly re-stated by Bellarmine, and was the official attitude of the church. A protestant prince had committed a grave sin, that of heresy, and so it was the pope's right and duty to depose him and absolve his Catholic subjects from their allegiance. But this political theory was becoming impractical as the seventeenth century progressively demonstrated that Europe was permanently divided. As might be expected, juridical forms lagged behind the development of events; but by the middle of the century the Roman curia, while not prepared to give antecedent approval to a peace with protestants, might be said to be ready to acquiesce once it had been concluded, if the position and rights of the Catholic church could be assured. Yet this assurance was, in the circumstances, almost impossible. The Catholic church could not rest satisfied with toleration as a sect, but demanded recognition as an organised society with a source of jurisdiction illdependent of the state.

While in Ireland as chief secretary (1812–18) Sir Robert Peel became acquainted with William Shaw Mason, the Irish topographer and statistician who was remembrancer or receiver of the first-fruits or twentieth parts in Ireland and secretary to the commissioners for public records. Impressed with Mason's work and abilities, Peel encouraged him to prepare a major statistical survey of Ireland, along the lines of Sir John Sinclair's famous survey of Scotland; and the result was the three-volume work entitled A statistical account, or parochial survey of Ireland, drawn up from the communications of the clergy (the three volumes were published in 1814, 1816, and 1819 respectively), which is still a valuable record of the period. In 1819 Mason compiled a Survep, valuation, and census of the barony of Portnehinch in Queen's County. Published in 1821, this work was submitted to George IV during the royal visit to Ireland in that year ‘as a model for a statistical survey of the whole country’.