In 1792–93, he succeeded in carrying a Roman Catholic Relief Act conferring the franchise on Catholics; in 1794, in conjunction with William Ponsonby, he introduced a reform bill which was even milder than Flood's bill of 1783. He was as anxious as Flood had been to retain the legislative power in the hands of men of property. Grattan had a strong conviction that while Ireland could best be governed by the Irish, democracy in Ireland would inevitably turn to plunder and anarchy. At the same time he wished to open membership of the House of Commons to Catholic men of property, a proposal that was the logical corollary of the Relief Act of 1793.