THE IRISH PARLIAMENT 
 
 FROM i782 TO 1800.
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 XA .^.n
 
 THE IRISH PARLIAMENT 
 
 THE YEAR i782 TO iSoo. 
 
 BEING THE 
 
 CRESSINGHAM PRIZE ESSAY 
 
 1878. 
 
 W. ELLIS HUME WILLIAMS, ESQ. 
 
 UNDBRGRADtATE, TRlAtxr HALL, 
 
 NOTHING EXTENUATE 
 KOR SET DOWN AUGHT IN MALICE." 
 
 CASSELL PETfER & GALPIN, 
 
 London, Paris & New Yokk. 
 
 1879.
 
 A,\ 
 
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 LOXDON : 
 
 PRINTKn BY THE ARTISTIC COLOUR-PRINTING COMPANY UMITKn. 
 
 PLAYHOUSE YARD, BARBICAN, E.C.
 
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 THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 iujh platOjHlmant, ferl OjairnB, 
 
 Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. 
 
 ^ 
 
 Q THIS ESSAY 
 
 RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 
 
 ^88295
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The Aiitlior has thought it desu'able to preface 
 this essay on the Irish Parliament from the years 
 1782 to 1800, by a brief review of its antecedent 
 condition, and by special quotation of the corres- 
 pondence between the Irish Viceroy and the 
 English Premier at the close of 1782. 
 
 It is difficult to estimate the utterances and 
 action of tlie Irish or English Parliaments during 
 that period, apart from the Social and Political 
 influences coincident with them. These the Author 
 has endeavoured to treat of with as mucli brevity 
 as their im]:)0i'tancc ])ermitted. 
 
 The present cry of Home Rule and agitation for 
 Irish Volunteer organisation, lend fresh interest 
 to past Irish history. The advocates of both may 
 find their best response in its study. 
 
 Trinity Hall, 
 Cambridge, 
 
 May, 1879.
 
 " Irish Policy is Irish History, and I have no faith in any Statesman who 
 attempts to remedy the evils of Ireland who is either ignorant of the 
 past or will not take lessons from it." — Disraeli, 1S68. 
 
 I^X attempting" an impartial consideration of the most eventful 
 e^ period of Irish history, it is essential to commence by 
 examining the social and political condition of the country at the 
 time. By tracing events both at home and abroad, we shall 
 be enabled to form a just estimate of that combination of 
 circumstances which was the precui'sor, if not the direct cause, of 
 the crisis resulting in Irish Parliamentary Independence. 
 
 To begin with England. In the Spring of 1782, the Ministry 
 of Lord North was brought to an abrupt termination. The 
 position of the country at the close of his twelve years' 
 administration was without precedent. Impolicy and injustice 
 had borne full fruits in blunders and disasters. Political 
 disappointments and military reverses aflPorded to a powerful 
 Opposition ample justification for continual assaults. Ministerial 
 majorities decreased in number and in quality. Fox and Burke, 
 unceasing in their attacks, not only on the measures of the 
 Government, but also on the capacity and personal character of 
 its leader, at length forced his resignation. Much of the calamity 
 which attended Lord North's administration must be attributed 
 to the conflict between principles and measures, marking the efforts 
 of the Premier to reconcile the caprices and prejudices of his 
 Sovereign with the interests and requirements of the State. 
 Friends were thereby alienated, foes were not conciliated. The 
 favour of the King proved powerless against the dissatisfaction of 
 the people. The Royal threats of abdication in March, 1778. 
 B
 
 "rather than submit to be trampled on by his enemies," which 
 in reality meant " rather than loosen his failing grasp on 
 America," repeated four years after when a Whig coalition was 
 proposed, were far from bearing their expected fruits. Popular 
 feeling and personal loyalty had been strained to their uttermost. 
 It was felt that the prerogative of the Crown had ovei-riddeu the 
 responsibility of the ^Minister. The writings of Junius were still 
 fresh in the public mind ; he had taught them that " the ruin or 
 pros])erity of a State depends so much upon the administration o1" 
 its Government, that, to be acquainted with the merits of a 
 Ministry, w^e need only observe the condition of the people." By this 
 standard was Lord North judged. In our American colonies open 
 discontent had ripened into revolt, the disasters of which culminated 
 in the submission of Cornwallis, and ended in tlie declaration of 
 Independence. Our Empire in the East was threatened with 
 destruction, as the arms of Coote had not yet prevailed. Hyder 
 Ali, twice defeated, was still a formidable foe. The triumphs of 
 Warren Hastings were also incomplete. Britain stood alone 
 against the united powers of France, Si)ain and Holland. France 
 was eager for revenge for her expulsion from Canada and India ; 
 Spain was snatching at Gibraltar, where destruction was awaiting 
 her fleet : while Holland was content to make her islands the 
 storehouse for our foes. Our West Indian Islands were ravaged, 
 and our trade in these seas swejit away by the enemy's 
 marine, for the gallant H(j\\e or Rodney had not yet given 
 our foes their lesson and re-assumed for England the so^-ereignty 
 of the sea. The few slups that- could be spared for the 
 purpose were not sufficient to jirevent English coasts and 
 harbours from being insulted, as privateers hovered about the 
 Channel and made easy prey of passing merchandise. On the 
 Continent dissatisfaction was fast ripening into absolute revolution ; 
 the air was heavy with rumours, and tlie hearts of many failed 
 them for fear. English social feeling was not more re-assuring. 
 It is unnecessary to dilate on the occurrences of 1774, when 
 AVilkes was elected Lord ]\[ayor and returned for Middlesex, 
 to illustrate the then temper or tone of political parties. 
 Dissatisfaction therebv aroused had become chronic. The Gordon
 
 Riots of 1 780 declare the later state of the public mind. In the 
 provinces an universal outcry against Arkwrights' machinery had 
 led to most formidable combinations of the working classes, who 
 believed labour would cease if such facilities for production were 
 permitted. In this condition of the public mind we have one 
 important explanation of England's deficient energy when the 
 necessity for action on Irish matters arose. There was another 
 reason even more significant. England was in want both oi' 
 money and of men. The American declaration demanded prompt 
 action on the part of the Crown. The Irish establishment was 
 ordinarily 12,000 strong. A requisition of 4,000 troops was made 
 from Ireland, with a proposal that " for the better protection of 
 that country, it was His Majesty's intention, if desired, to replace 
 them by an equal number of Hessians (Protestants,)" adding 
 that "their charge should be defrayed without expense to Ireland." 
 The requisition was granted, but the protection of the foreign 
 troops refused. It thus happened that when the Irish coast towns 
 were threatened, their means of defence were not equal to the 
 occasion. The requisition for Irish troops spoke in language which 
 could not be misunderstood. Events progressed ; " England's 
 difficulty," as modern agitators are wont to assert, proved " Ireland's 
 opportunity." It occurred thus : France by entering into a treaty 
 of friendship and of commerce (4th July 1770), had assumed 
 and recognised American Independence ; ships of both nations 
 together infested the Irish Channel ; vessels trading between 
 English and Irish ports were seized ; a descent on the northern 
 coast was apprehended. The inhabitants of Belfast appealed to 
 England for help, but the Government was powerless for any such 
 purpose. Permission was given to raise a volunteer corps for 
 protection. Belfast at once did so, the Government providing the 
 arms, and her example was followed by most of the northern 
 towns. The command of Armagh was entrusted to the Earl of 
 Charlemont, a nobleman who had established special claims to 
 popularity by his successful advocacy of the rights of Irish 
 Peeresses to be present at the Coronation. The Volunteer 
 movement spread with astonishing rapidity and exercised an electric 
 influence on all classes of the people. If may be safely affirmed
 
 that its progress and organizatiuii has no pai'allel in the history oi 
 nations. Armed associations sprang up in all directions, formidable 
 alike from their nnmber and their discipline. By their calm 
 and determined attitude they commanded the respect without as 
 yet awakening the apprehensions of England. Their presence 
 nevertheless gave unmistakeable force to Irish remonstrance, and 
 could not but exercise due influence on the deliberations of the 
 British Cabinet. The Government, even if they so desired it, were 
 without means of controlling the popular feeling. They had 
 permitted the military power to pass out of the hands of the 
 constituted authorities, and an armed force to spring into existence 
 with which the regular troops were unable to cope. The natural 
 and trusted leaders of the people were thereby placed in possession 
 of the real ]iower in the State. With its sense of strength, the 
 nation was aroused to a desire for hberty, and insensibly assumed 
 tlie higli prerogative of demanding redress for gi'ievauces against 
 which remonstrance had hitherto proved vain. 
 
 It is essential to inquire what those grievances were. In 
 1780, the political position of Ireland was one of complete 
 dependence on Great Britain. Her Parliament at no time 
 possessed real power, l)eing in truth l)ut the mouthpiece of the 
 English minister. This condition was referable to the year 1495, 
 when Henry VII., desirous to prevent a repetition of possible 
 grievances from rival measures in dual Parliaments, sent Sii' 
 Edward Poynings to compose the distracted state of the English 
 pale, and settle those differences which the contests of the Houses 
 of York and Lancaster had occasioned. As King's deputy, he 
 summoned a Parliament in Drogheda in the year stated, and 
 passed the act known as " Poyning's Act," [App. 1 .] which placed 
 the initiation in the King's Lieutenant in Council, and required the 
 sanction of the King in Council to all laws to lie submitted to the 
 Irish Parliament. In the third year of Pliilip and ^lary its 
 provisions were further extended by empowering " the (iovernoi- 
 and (Vjuncil to certify such other causes requiring legislation as 
 were not foreseen at the beginning of the Session." It is unnecessai'v 
 to elaborate the subsequent dependency of the Irish Parliament 
 which, accordingto Campbell the historian of 1789, was little better
 
 than the registry of lloyal edicts ; nor is there occasion to follow 
 it through the varying fortunes of its political existence, suspended 
 or transferred as expediency or the whim of their rulers might 
 suggest. It never was deprived of the privilege of the weak, to 
 refuse to ratify that which it was powerless to resist ; not that 
 acceptance or refusal materially affected the ultimate result, and 
 this for reasons which will be abundantly evident. 
 
 There had been some who ventm-ed to think, that however 
 Independent legislation was prevented, the laws of Ireland were 
 free fr'om control in their Irish administration. In this they 
 were in error. It will be sufficient to quote the well-kiiown statute 
 6 Geo. I, c. 5, [App. 2.] the very title of which — " An Act for 
 better securing the dependency of Ireland upon the Crown of Great 
 Britain," sufficiently illustrates the respective positions of their 
 Parliaments, and the relations of their Courts of law. The facts 
 which were considered to necessitate its enactment were simple. 
 The Irish House of Lords reversed the decision of the Court of 
 Exchequer. The plaintiff, one Sherlock, however, appealed 
 further to the English House of Lords, which set aside the 
 judgment of the Irish House, A conflict between both Houses 
 ensued, which resulted in the Act under consideration. It declared 
 that the Kingdom of Ireland was wholly subordinate to, and 
 dependent on, the Crown of Great Britain ; that the British 
 Parliament had full power to enact laws to bind it ; that all 
 claim of appellate jurisdiction by the Irish House of Lords was 
 unfounded, and all proceedings thereon null and void to all intents 
 and purposes whatever. Thus doubly bound, tirst, in their 
 incapacity to initiate laws which de facto they could carry to 
 ultimate legislation, and secondly, in their inability to determine de 
 are legal appeals, the form of legislation was preserved, whilst the 
 spirit of legislation was crushed. Matters of routine were 
 unnoticed, on all others the English veto admitted of no appeal. 
 
 At intervals attempts had been made to exercise independent 
 authority. Thus, in 1729, a majority succeeded against the 
 Crown in limiting to yearly grants the Irish payments of national 
 interest. Again, in 1751, the Commons asserted the principle ot 
 their i-ight to dispose of the surplus (jf the hereditary revenue
 
 without the previous consent of the Crown. In 1769, they 
 rejected money bills originated in the Privy Council. These, 
 however, were occasions in which, without their action, the 
 proceedings would have been incomplete. There is no instance 
 where the Irish Parliament initiated and carried to completion 
 any measure in opposition to the English Government. The 
 student of history naturally seeks for some explanation as to 
 the constitution of a Parliament that so represented a not 
 inconsiderable nation. 
 
 The explanation rests on the surface — the vices of conquest had 
 survived its memory. The Irish Parliament at no time represented 
 the Irish people. The House of Peers was either dependent or 
 expectant on the favom* of the Crown, and powerless in the active 
 business of the State. The House of Commons in its Borough 
 representations, still, in 1780, fulfilled the purposes of their 
 original formation : — to suj)ply seats for creatures of the Crown. 
 Of the 300 members, w'ho at the time of the Union constituted 
 the House of Commons, 200 were the nominees of individuals 
 under the influence of the Government ; forty, if not fifty, were 
 returned by constituencies of ten persons, and several boroughs 
 had no resident electors, some only one. It may he stated, on the 
 authority of Henry Grattan, that two-thirds of the Representatives 
 were returned by less than one hundred electors. Their election 
 was also octennial. Unless influenced by a spirit of patriotism, 
 the personal interests of members lay in inaction. Two-thirds of 
 the intelligent life of Ireland were, because of their creed, without 
 a voice in, or the means of influencing, her Comicils. The penal 
 acts were maintained in full rigour. It may be well to mention 
 some of the principal disabilities under which the Eoman 
 Catholics rested at the commencement of these agitations. They 
 could not hold leases for more than thirty-one years, could not 
 purchase land, nor possess a horse of more than £5 value. They 
 could not carry arms ; they could not hold commissions in the 
 ai-my ; they were specially excluded fi-om the exercise of the 
 fi'anchise, and c(jakl not become barristers, six-clerks or attorneys, 
 without taking the oaths of allegiance and sujiremacy. They 
 could not hold any office under the Crown, or he c-reated
 
 magistrates without taking the Sacrament as prescribed by the 
 English Test Act, according to the usage of the Church of 
 England. They could not inherit ft-om Protestants by descent, 
 nor bequest or devise. Upon death, their property divided. 
 They could not intermarry without incurring penalties. Their 
 educational privileges were restricted, and their business capacity 
 also subject to rules, by which they were seriously fettered in the 
 exercise of all civil or religious liberties. 
 
 The social condition of Ireland was what might have been 
 expected from the constitution of its legislature. In a debate in 
 the English House of Commons on the 10th of May 1776, the 
 Hon. Temple Luttrell, speaking of the Irish, said that "a people 
 so wi'etched, so oppressed, were scarcely to be found in any part of 
 the civilised globe." Two years later, on the l(3th of December, 
 Lord Nugent in the British House of Commons described the 
 people of Ireland " as suflFering every species of misery and distress 
 human nature was capable of bearing, — a people, nine-tenths of 
 whom laboured for fourpence a day ; whose food in summer was 
 potatoes and buttermilk, and in winter potatoes and water."* 
 Lord Beauchamp declared, in 1779, "that good estates in Ireland 
 were offered for sale at sixteen and fourteen years' purchase, yet no 
 buyers appeared at that low price." The only class that seemed 
 indifferent was the Irish absentee, who drained his estate to its 
 uttennost, and against whom law and remonstrance seemed 
 equally unavailing. Then, as now, the Irish peasant adopted the 
 aphorism of Bacon, that " revenge is a kind of wild justice." 
 Certain it is, that he acted on that view. " The Right Boys " 
 employed themselves in assailing the property of the Church ; 
 *' The Levellors " in Munster resisted the enclosing of Commons 
 by the levelhng of fences and the houghing of cattle ; " The 
 Hearts of Oak " in Ulster were banded against the levying of land 
 cess, and provisions for repair of roads ; " The Hearts of Steel " in 
 Leinster resisted the imposition of fines on the renewal of leases, 
 and other, as they termed them, ' landlord exactions,' set forth in 
 a petition to the Viceroy and published to the nation. f " The 
 
 * 1 Plowd. ]>. 44f<. f Fioude vul. 2. \<. 121.
 
 Ilockites " had Mmister as theii* stronghold, though their members 
 were generally diifused throughout the country. Captain Rock, 
 their presmned leader, addressed his letters to the King, contending 
 that no private rights should constitute or were consistent with 
 pubhc wrongs. To these might be added " Defenders " and " Peep 
 o' day Boys," as illustrative of the pre-disposition of the Irish to 
 combinations against the law, as well as in corroboration of the 
 assertion that many social grievances demanding redress existed. 
 
 The condition of the manufacturing community was scarcely 
 better. The journals of the Irish Commons abound with petitions 
 from all kinds of Industries praying for State aid. The people were 
 willing to transfer any faults which rested in themselves to their 
 rulers. The wi'itings of Molyneux, S^vift and Lucas were the 
 text books of an Irishman's political creed ; these attributed any 
 shortcomings to his inability to make the laws. The memories of 
 such wi-iters survived in theu" teachings, which bore fruit in 
 the alacrity with which the Irish peasant ever entered into 
 combinations promising successful resistance to English rule. 
 
 The year 1780 must ever be memorable in the history of Ireland. 
 At its commencement the Volunteers were computed to number 
 30,000 men, self-equipped and strictly discipHned. To this force 
 wealthy Eoman Catholics had largely contributed, and in its 
 ranks, notwithstanding laws to the contrary, were to be found not 
 a few whose patriotism was for the tune then* highest creed and 
 whose faith was complacently judged by that standard. In the 
 Spring of the year a more extensive organisation of the force took 
 place. The Earl of Charlemout, with Mr, Grattan as his 
 aide-de-camp, assumed the position of leaders. Officers of Divisions 
 were appointed, "Thus," says Plowden, "the foundation of 
 the Irish Union was laid." With the confidence of authority 
 which the support of an armed peoi^le gave, Mr, Grattan and his 
 friends grew loud in their denunciations of what were conceived 
 to be their country's wrong. The closer association of the rival 
 sects, and the loyalty which Roman Catholics displayed, caused their 
 grievances to be first considered. The Government did not deem 
 it prudent to steadfastly resist their claims, and to Mr. Luke 
 Gardiner was entrusted the introduction of Bills for their lelief.
 
 In the Session of 1778, the disabihties imposed by 2 Anne c. 6 and 
 8 Anne c. 3, were so far removed as to permit Papists to take 
 leases for a term of 999 years, determinable on five lives, and to 
 dispose by will or otherwise of land. Their estates were also 
 rendered descendible, divisible and transferable, as if in seisin 
 of any other. Conformity of eldest son was no longer to alter Papist 
 parents' estate,* In Session of 1781-2, having taken the oath 
 of allegiance, they were further entitled to take, hold, and dispose 
 of lands in the same manner as Protestants, except Advowsons, 
 Manors or Boroughs returning members to Parliament.! A third 
 Act allowed persons professing the Popish religion to teach in 
 schools, and repealed laws relating to the guardianship of their 
 children, at the same time providing for their education. | 
 Eoman Catholics were thus restored to their rights of person, 
 property and religion, and yet the distinction drawn by Flood, 
 between the rights of property and the rights of power, had been 
 carefully preserved. Nor were these the only indications of 
 advancing toleration. Protestant dissenters were relieved from 
 the Sacramental test before holding civil or military offices. || 
 Marriages between Protestant dissenters were permitted to be 
 solemnized by dissenting clergymen. § Many other vexatious 
 observances were also dispensed with. 
 
 Having so far conciliated sects, the Volunteers took up the 
 question of coimnerce. In consequence of numerous addresses 
 from Ireland, a Committee had been appointed by the English 
 Commons in 1778, to consider the Acts relating to Irish trade. 
 It had reported thereon, and proposed to allow the exportation 
 from Ireland to British plantations of all goods, wares and 
 merchandise, with the exception of wool and woollens, and also a 
 free import to Ireland of all merchandise fi'om America, 
 Africa and the West Indies. The measures were opposed by 
 manufacturers in England, and the proposed Bills were abandoned. 
 A motion by Lord Shelbm-ne on the subject was negatived by a 
 
 * 17 and 18 Geo. III. c. 24. f 21 and 22 Geo, III. c. 24, 
 t 21 and 22 Geo. III. c. 62. || 19 and 20 Geo, III. c. «, 
 § 21 and 22 Geo. Ill, c. 25.
 
 10 
 
 majority of 61 — 30. The people of Ireland resented such poHcy. 
 They formed associations against the import of British commodities, 
 and resolved to encourage and consume native manufactures only. 
 When the House of Commons met in October, 177!), Mr. Grattan 
 moved an amendment to the address, which was agreed to as 
 follows : — " That we beg leave, however humbly, to represent to 
 His Majesty that it is not by temporary expedients, but by a free 
 trade alone that this nation is now to be saved from impending 
 ruin." They at the same time resolved, by a majority of 170 — 
 47, that it would be inexpedient to gTant new taxes, and 
 they determined to pass but a six months' money Bill. The 
 manner in which these resolutions were carried was significant. 
 Care was taken that the Volunteers should be associated with the 
 measures. Thanks were voted to them for their spirited defence 
 of the Kingdom, the Prime Sergeant, Mr. Hussey Burgh, observing, 
 " The British Ministers had lost one empire by their ignorance 
 and weakness, and had here almost lost another;" adding, "a 
 short money Bill and a resolute people would make them insist on 
 fi-ee trade ;" and concluding, " The English have sowed their 
 laws like serpents' teeth, and they have sprung up in armed men." 
 The Minister had no alternative but to accept what was offered. 
 The resolutions induced Lord North to bring in his Bill for fi*ee 
 trade to the British plantations, and it received the Royal assent 
 before the recess. 
 
 Encouraged by such success, the Volunteers became loud in their 
 demands for further concessions. The newspapers, their organs, 
 declared " that Ireland was an Independent Kingdom, entitled 
 to all the uncontrolled rights and immunities attaching thereto." 
 These sentiments found an echo throughout the land, and Mr. 
 Grattan, on the meeting of Parliament, moved in a fidl House, that 
 " The King's most excellent Majesty and the Lords and Commons 
 of Ireland, are the only power competent to make laws to bind 
 Ireland." * The debate on his motion rivalled those of the present 
 day ; the division took place at six o'clock in the morning, when 
 the motion was lost by 133 — 99. In no wise dismayed by defeat, 
 
 * April IDtli, 1780.
 
 11 
 
 Mr, Grattan continued to declaim on the wrongs of Ireland. A 
 want of appreciation of the situation was evident on the part of 
 the Crown. A Mutiny Bill sent over, was returned by the 
 English Privy Council altered, by being made perpetual. A Bill 
 relating to sugar was also changed by imposing duty on lump, so 
 as seriously to aflFect the Irish trade. They were, notwithstanding, 
 passed by the Irish Commons, with many of whom, even then, the 
 inspirations of freedom were giving way to the corruptions of 
 place. "When the facts became known, petitions to Parliament 
 against their provisions grew and multiplied, and the expressions of 
 l^opular disapproval became loud and unceasing. Against the 
 manifestation of public feeling the Government was powerless. 
 Lord North had been ad\dsed of impending dangers. Lord 
 Weymouth had written the Earl of Buckinghamshire to 
 " prevent the people arming or assembling ;" he was informed 
 in reply, " It was too late." To interfere, there must be a 
 British army, and there was not in the country 8,000 soldiers. 
 Buckingham applied for money to arm the militia, and was told 
 " there was none." Happy for both countries it was so ; for in 
 the then temper of the two nations, a conflict must have been 
 inevitable. Be this as it may, between want of Ministerial 
 resolution and want of money, the opportunity was lost, and 
 henceforth the Government was entirely at the mercy of the 
 Volunteers. The Session shortly afterwards terminated. The 
 Earl of Buckinghamshire, in his speech at its close, expressed 
 " his satisfaction at the conduct of Great Britain in removing 
 restrictions of trade, and at the free and equal intercourse of 
 Ireland in her trade with the Colonies." During the prorogation, 
 the Earl of Carlisle was appointed Lord Lieutenant, with Mr. Eden 
 as Secretary. Why they were selected it is difficult to conjecture ; 
 they had been the unsuccessful Commissioners to America, to try 
 and an-ange the existing gxievances, wherein they not only most 
 egregiously failed, but gave rise to much public scandal by their 
 assumed sanction of the attempt of their colleague Johnstone to 
 bribe Reed, aide-de-camp to Washington. They entered on their 
 new duties at a period fiiU of difficulty. 
 
 There is a class of questions "' which cannot retrograde, cannot
 
 12 
 
 remaiu stationary, but which must needs go on." The Vohinteer 
 niovenient afforded an illustration. When Parliament met on the 
 9th of October, 1781, it did so in the presence of an armed 
 nation. The demands of the Commons were not likely, under such 
 circumstances, to be refused. On the 10th of October, Sir S. 
 Bradstreet, the Recorder of Dublin, moved for leave to bring in 
 the heads of a Habeas Corpus Act. In 1774, a similar motion 
 had been held irreconcilable with the idea of a dependency, and 
 notice was sent to the Irish Council to "transmit the bills no more." 
 Mr. Eden,* the Secretary, now supported it and expressed his 
 approval of a clause which provided for its suspension during 
 rebellion or invasion. The Bill founded on this motion became 
 law.f Thougli due to the efforts of Parliament before its 
 Independence, it is worthy of remark that the second clause runs 
 thus : — " To the end that no sheriff, gaoler, or other officer may 
 pretend ignorance of the import of any such writ, be it enacted by 
 the authority aforesaid That all such writs shall be marked in this 
 manner — ' by the Statute of the Twenty-second year of the reign of 
 King George the Third,' and shall be signed by the person that 
 awards the same." 
 
 On the same day leave was given " to bring in heads of a Bill 
 for making the Commissions of the Judges of this Kingdom to 
 continue " quam dhi se bene ijesserint,'' and that Mr. Forbes, 
 Mr. George Ponsonby, Mr. Yelverton and Sir Samuel Bradstreet 
 do prepare and bring in the same." On the oOtli October, Mr. 
 Forbes brought in the Bill, which was received, read, and 
 committed, and on the 5th of November, a Committee of the whole 
 House considered it. When Mr. Speaker resmned the chair, 
 Mr. Forbes reported " That they had gone through the heads of 
 the said Bill, paragraph by paragraph, without any amendment," 
 and it was ordered " that Mr. Forbes do attend his Excellency the 
 Lord Lieutenant with the said heads of a Bill, and desire that the 
 same may be transmitted to Great Britain in due form." The Bill 
 was transmitted. On the 4th February following, the Recorder 
 moved " that the present salaries of the Judges arc inadcciuate to 
 
 * 1 I'ai'. Dd). 1,. 11). t 21 Hiid 22 lico. IIJ. c. 11.
 
 13 
 
 the dignity of tlicir stiitiuii." Mr. Gnittaii then complained " that 
 the Bill which had passed the House and was sent over to 
 England, to render Judges independent of the Crown during good 
 behaviour, had not been returned." On the 16th of April, when 
 speaking to the House, Mr. Grattan observed, " A Judges' Bill he 
 refrained ft-om mentioning, as he had found it was returned.' 
 The reason why it had not become law was given by the Chief 
 Secretary on the 30th of May, when Mr. Forbes again moved for 
 leave to introduce the Bill.* " A Bill had already been sent over 
 to England for the purpose, but was altered, though he had an 
 assurance from the noble Lord now at head of Council not done by 
 him, but he found it altered, and afterwards, by the unaccountable 
 mistake of the Clerk in confounding the transcript with report, 
 it came over in that altered condition." This is sufficient to show 
 that while the Parliament was yet dependent, this important 
 concession had practically been obtained. It afterwards became 
 law,t but not before the Independence was acknowledged. 
 
 The difference in the reception given to these measures, which 
 had hitherto been rejected, was obvious. On the 11th of 
 December, Mr. Flood moved that Poyning's Law be considered. The 
 question was discussed, and leave refused by 139 — C,7. Thereupon 
 the influence of the Volunteer movement became more fully 
 understood. On the 28th of December, 1781, a meeting was held 
 at Armagh, of the Southern battalion of the Ulster Regiment of 
 Volunteers, who passed resolutions expressive of their concern at 
 the desertion of the Constitutional rights of the Kingdom by the 
 Irish Parliament. They convened a general meeting of delegates 
 from all the Volunteer Corps of Ulster to take place at 
 Dungannou on the 1 5th of February following, " then and 
 there to deliberate on the alarming state of public affairs, and to 
 determine on and publish to their country what may be the result 
 of said meeting." It Avas intimated that bold steps would be 
 proposed. The concluding resolution was, " that as it is highly 
 probable the idea of forming brigades will be agitated and 
 considered, the several corps of Volunteers who send delegates to 
 
 * Par. Deb. p. S77. f 21 nnd 22 Geo. III., c. .oO.
 
 14 
 
 said meeting are requested to vest in them a power to associate 
 witli some one of sucli lirij^'ades as may be there formed." This 
 circular caused dismay at the Cattle. The Viceroy consulted Lord 
 Hillsborough as to how such a difficulty was to be overcome. He 
 advised the use of secret service money. Eden rejilied " he could 
 take no more fi'om the Irish Treasury without accounting for it." 
 There was therefore no course open but to submit. 
 
 The memorable day of meeting at length arrived. The 
 representatives of the 143 Corps of Volunteers met in the church 
 of Dungannon, and passed resolutions proclaiming their national, 
 political and commercial independence and freedom. [App. 3.] 
 These resolutions were signed by men of the highest station and 
 influence in the Kingdom. An address was, at the same time, 
 voted and sent to the minority of l)oth Houses of Parliament, 
 signed by order of the Chairman. It was as follows : — " My 
 Lords and Grentlemen, We thank you for your noble and spirited, 
 though hitherto ineffectual efforts, in defence of the great and 
 commercial rights of your country. Go on I The almost 
 unanimous voice of the people is ^vith you ; and, in a free country, 
 the voice of the people must prevail. We know our duty to our 
 Sovereign, and are loyal. We know our duty to ourselves, and 
 are resolved to be fi-ee. We seek for our rights, and no more than 
 our rights ; and in so just a pursuit we should doubt the being 
 of a Providence if we doubted of success. — Signed by Order, 
 William Irvine, Chairman." 
 
 In the following week, on the 22nd of February, Mr. Grattan 
 moved in the House of Commons an address to His Majesty 
 embodying the substance of the resolutions, declaratory of the 
 legislative independence of Ireland, and repudiating the right of 
 Great Britain to bind her by any law whatsoever. The motion 
 was opposed by the Government. The Attorney-General raised 
 fears about the disturbance of the Act of Settlement as affecting 
 the tenure of lands, the del)ate was adjourned, and the motion lost 
 by 137 — (i.s. ^\v. Flood, in no wise dismayed, on the 2(;tli of the 
 same month, moved (20tli February, 1782) — 
 
 Ist. " That the members of this House ni'e the only 
 representatives of tlie people of Ireland.
 
 15 
 
 ^ncl. "That the consent of the CommrmK is indispensably 
 necessary to render any statute binding." 
 
 The Solicitor-General moved as an amendment that the words 
 " It is not now necessary to declare," should be inserted before 
 the words in the original resolution, A division took place with a 
 similar result. 
 
 Meantime affairs in England had daily grown more serious. Lord 
 North's administration tottered to its close. On the receipt of the 
 news of the American disaster, which arrived two days before the 
 opening of Parliament, he found it Avas impossible to longer hold 
 office. On the 14th day of March the Irish Parliament was 
 adjourned to the lOth of April. Lord North resigned on the 20th 
 of March. He regarded the matter as of little moment. The 
 Earl of Surrey had given notice of a hostile motion. North 
 knew resistance was hopeless, and being desirous to avoid discussion 
 which might damage his friends, he was present at the 
 opening of the House. He and Surrey rose together. Fox moved 
 that the Earl of Surrey be heard. Lord North spoke to the 
 motion, and announced his resignation. The anticipated debate 
 did not come off. The majority of the members had ordered 
 their carriages for a late hour. Heavy snow was falling. 
 The Opposition, and many of his past fi-iends who had joined 
 them, stood shivering as North jjassed to his carriage. Before 
 driving off, he looked at them, and observed, " Good night, 
 gentlemen I you see the advantage of being in the secret." 
 
 On the resignation of Lord North the King sent for Lord 
 Shelburne, and empowered him to form an administration. The 
 Earl went to the Marquis of Rockingham, and offered him the 
 Treasury and Premiership. " ]\Iy I^ord," he said, " you could stand 
 without me. I cannot stand without you." The offered positions 
 were accepted, and Lord Shelburne and Mr. Fox l)ecame principal 
 Secretaries. Sixteen years had elapsed since the Marquis ot 
 Rockingham, without an adverse vote, had been dismissed fi"om 
 the same high offices, l)ecause of his running counter to the 
 prejudices of the King. AVhile out of office he had offered a 
 strenuous, though ineffective, opposition to arbitrary and unwise 
 measures, whose calamities he had foreseen, but the enactment of
 
 16 
 
 which he was powerless to prevent. His previous administration, 
 though short lived, had been not unfruitful in great events, by 
 which he had gained high character for statesmanship and fair 
 dealing. The distractions of the British Empire had been composed, 
 obnoxious taxation repealed, the House of Commons had passed 
 resolutions condemning the use of general warrants and the 
 seizure of papers in cases of libel. It was the time when 
 Grenvilie's Stamp Act was laying the foundation of the American 
 revolt. The Minister recognised the gra^^ty of the situation. 
 He determined to repeal the measure, and at the same time, in 
 order to conciliate the King, to declare that the power of 
 Parliament over the colonies was supreme. The feelings of the 
 King were violently opposed to such a concession. The ftrst Pitt, 
 by very lavish promises and very earnest solicitation of the King, 
 was induced to say that should a vacancy arise he would again 
 enter his ser\ice ; the Marquis of Rockingham was thereupon 
 dismissed, after office of one year and twenty days. Edmund 
 Burke, whom he had as private secretary, -^Tote "a short account" 
 of the administration, in which he observed : " They practised no 
 corruption, nor were they even suspected of it. They sold no 
 office. They obtained no reversions or pensions, either coming in 
 or going out, for themselves, their families or dependents." His 
 new Ministry had Edmund Burke as Paymaster of the Forces, and 
 Richard Brinsley Sheridan as Under-Secretary of State. From 
 such a Premier, so supported, the Irish nation had grounds to 
 expect much. No appointment could ha'\'e raised higher hopes. 
 The Duke of Portland was named as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. 
 Of him Walpole observed, " Until nominated to that office one 
 hundred men were not aware of his existence." He entered on 
 his duties with full knowledge of the social and political condition 
 of the country. The return to London of Lord Carlisle, and of 
 his secretary, Mr. Eden, placed the IMinistry in possession of 
 the actual state of Irish affairs. So impressed was Mr. Eden with 
 the urgency of the situation that, on the 8th of April, 1782, he 
 moved in the English House of Ccnnmons a repeal of the declaratory 
 Act of G Geo. I., so far as it asserted a right in the King and 
 Parliament of Great Britain to bind Ireland, He assured the
 
 17 
 
 House " delays were useless, for iu the present state and disposition 
 of Ireland, they might as well strive to make the Thames flow up 
 Highgate Hill as attempt to legislate for Ireland, which would no 
 longer submit to any legislature but its own," Mr. Fox asked, on 
 the part of the new Ministry, an adjom'nment till the next day : a 
 Council was at once held, and the following message communicated 
 to the English Parliament as its result : — '^ George R. His Majesty, 
 being concerned to find that discontent and jealousies are 
 prevailing amongst his loyal subjects in Ireland upon matters of 
 great weight and importance, earnestly recommends to this House 
 to take the same into their most serious consideration in order to 
 such a final adjustment as may give mutual satisfaction to both 
 kingdoms." The House resolved, nem. con., "That an humble 
 address be presented to His Majesty, to retm'n His Majesty the 
 thanks of this House for his most gi'acious message ; and to 
 assure His Majesty that this House, feeling with His Majesty th'e 
 deepest concern that discontents and jealousies should have arisen 
 amongst His Majesty's loyal subjects in Ireland will, without 
 delay, take the same into their most serious consideration, in order 
 to such a final adjustment as may give mutual satisfaction to both 
 Kingdoms." 
 
 On the 14th of April the Duke of Portland arrived in Dublin ; 
 his entry was greeted with every demonstration of satisfaction. 
 On the IGth, the Parliament of Ireland met. The Duke went in 
 state, and in a speech to both Houses communicated the Royal 
 Message and a suitable resolution was passed in the House of 
 Peers [App. 4.] In the Commons, when Mr. John Healy 
 Hutchinson brought forward a similar resolution, a notice of which 
 he had entered on the minutes, Mr. Grattan moved that it be 
 expunged, and in its stead proposed an amendment, which 
 claimed : — 
 
 1st. The repeal of the Perpetual Mutiny Bill, and the 
 dependency of the Irish army on the Irish Parliament. 
 
 2nd. The abolition of the legislative powers of the Council. 
 
 3rd. The abrogation of the claim of England to make law for 
 Ireland. 
 
 -^'-'••'"^1920 
 
 ' 'TICAL-OSS-^ '
 
 18 
 
 4 th. The exclusion of the English House of Peers, and of the 
 English King's Bench, from any judicial authority in this realm. 
 
 5th. The restoration of the Irish Peers to their final judicature. 
 The independence of the Irish Parliament in its sole and exclusive 
 legislatm*e. 
 
 His concluding words were, " These are my teniis ; I will take 
 nothing from the Crown," [App. 5.] 
 
 The two addresses, as resolved by the Lords and Commons, 
 were presented by Mr. Secretary Fox to the British House of 
 Commons, on May 1st, 1782. It is worthy of remark that in Mr. 
 Grattan's elaborate resolution no mention is made of the Catholic 
 question as being either a " gTievance " or " a just cause of 
 discontent or jealousy." 
 
 On the 14th of May the House adjourned for three weeks, in 
 order to give the British Parliament time to take into consideration 
 the claims made by Ireland. On the 17th of the same 
 month, the Earl of Shelburne in the Peers, and Mr. Fox 
 in the Commons, brought forward the subject of the Irish 
 addresses. Mr. Fox moved " that it is the opinion of this 
 Committee (a Committee of the whole House) that the Act of the 
 Gth Geo. I. ought to be repealed ;" he declared, " it was downright 
 tyranny to make laws for the internal Government of a country 
 who were not represented amongst those by whom such laws were 
 made." " If," said Fox, " I make a proposition hurtful to the 
 pride of Englishmen, the fault is not mine. It is the fault of 
 those who left it in the power of the Volunteers to make the 
 demands, who left it in their power, not by leaving arms in their 
 hands, but by leaving them injm'ies and oppressions." The 
 proposal was unanimously adopted, and Mr. Powis reported two 
 resolutions : — 
 
 1. That the Act of Geo. I. ought to be repealed. 
 
 2. That it is indispensable to the interest and happiness of 
 both Kingdoms that the connexion between them should be 
 established by mutual consent, upon a solid and permanent basis." 
 A Bill to repeal the obnoxious Act was ordered, and an addi-ess to 
 the Crown in the terms of the second resolution. 
 
 The terms in which the Duke of Portland conveyed the Royal
 
 19 
 
 assent to the Irish claim were flattering. On the 27th of May, in 
 his speech, he said, " It gives me the utmost satisfaction that the 
 first time I have occasion to address yon, I find myself enabled by 
 the magnanimity of the King and the wisdom of the Parliament 
 of Great Britain, to assure you that immediate attention has been 
 paid to your representations, and that the British legislature have 
 concurred in a resolution to remove the causes of your discontents 
 and jealousies, and are united in a desire to gratify every wish 
 expressed in your late addresses to the throne." 
 
 "These benevolent intentions of His Majesty, and the 
 willingness of his Parliament of Great Britain to second his 
 gracious purposes, are unaccompanied by any stipulation or 
 condition whatever. The good faith, the generosity, the honour of 
 this nation, afford them the surest pledge of a corresponding 
 disposition on your part, to promote and perpetuate the harmony, 
 the stability and the glory of the Empire." 
 
 The day following His Majesty's answer to the address was 
 itself laid on the table, and on the same day a reply was agreed 
 on. Its material parts were as follow : — 
 
 " To assure His Majesty that we conceive the resolution of an 
 unqualified, unconditional repeal of the 6th of George the First to 
 be a measm'e of consummate wisdom and justice, suitable to the 
 dignity and eminence of both nations, exalting the character of 
 both, and furnishing a perpetual pledge of mutual amity. 
 
 " That gi-atified in these particulars, we do assure His Majesty 
 that no constitutional question between the two nations will any 
 longer exist, which can interrupt their harmony ; and that Great 
 Britain, as she has approved of our firmness, so may she rely on 
 our affection. 
 
 " That we remember, and do repeat our determination to stand 
 and fall with the British nation." 
 
 On the 29 th of May, there was appointed a day of General 
 Thanksgiving, " To retm-n thanks for the many blessings bestowed 
 on the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and particularly 
 for that union, harmony, and cordial affection whicli lias been 
 happily brought aliout between these two Kingdoms, whose 
 interests are inseparably the same, by the wisdom and justice of 
 c2
 
 20 
 
 His Majesty and his Couucils in forming and re-establishing their 
 mutual rights, by which the strength, honour, happiness and 
 glory of the whole Empire are gTeatly augmented ; and for the 
 gi'eat success of His Majesty's arms against our natural enemies, 
 which we trust will bring about a happy, stable, and lasting general 
 peace to these Kingdoms."* On the 30th the House resolved itself 
 into a Conmiittee of the whole House to take into consideration 
 *' what sum of money it may be proper to grant for the purpose 
 of purchasing an estate and building a mansion to be settled on 
 Henry Grattan, in testimony of our gratitude for the unequalled 
 services he has done this Kingdom." A sum of £100,000 was 
 proposed, which at Mr. Grattau's own request was reduced to 
 £50,000. Mr. ConoUy then stated,t " He was happy to inform the 
 House, that the Lord Lieutenant did most perfectly coincide in their 
 generous intentions, so congenial to his own feelings ; and that the 
 memory of such great events might be perpetuated, he wished to 
 relinquish to the object of the nation's esteem that house in the 
 Park which Parliament had lately purchased for the country 
 residence of His Majesty's representative. This House, properly 
 furnished, with an annuity of £2, 500 a year, would be a handsome 
 thing and less burdensome to the nation than the £50,000 proposed," 
 — a mark of appreciation which contrasts strangely with the fact, 
 that Mr. Flood, who in 1781 resigned the most lucrative post in 
 the gift of the Crown because he disapproved of the policy then 
 followed, and co-operated with Mr. Grattan, had been removed 
 from the list of the Privy Council by Lord North, and was not 
 restored to honour on tliis day of General Thanksgiving. 
 
 An address to the Duke of Portland followed, in which he was 
 assured that " these are not the trite expressions of mere formal duty, 
 but the pure effusions of genuine gi-atitudc from a free people to a 
 chief Governor, who has announced from the throne the ratification 
 of their freedom, descended fi'om a line of constitutional ancestors, 
 inheriting their principles with their blood." They added, that 
 " we cannot but rejoice that the name of Bentinck, so intimately 
 connected with the great era of British liberty, will be handed 
 
 * Com. Jour. L'-ttb May, 1782. f P. Deb. vol. 1, ;57'J.
 
 21 
 
 down to the latest posterity, inseparably blended with the full and 
 perfect establishment of the Constitution of Ireland." 
 
 Having thus exhausted congi-atulations and, in the intoxication 
 of success, discovered in each other the most splendid virtues, 
 and vowed eternal friendship with Great Britain, the Irish 
 Parliament put its hand into the Exchequer and voted 
 £100,000 for raising men for the fleet. Mr. Yelverton the same 
 day brought in a Bill to repeal Poyning's Law, whilst in the 
 British House of Commons the (Jth of George I. was repealed. 
 [App. G.] Mr. Flood contended that the mere repeal of a 
 declaratory act fell short of the requirements of the occasion. 
 There were but two modes of dealing with the difficulty ; the 
 one, by a renunciation of what England held to be right, but 
 which it was ready to give up, and which, however, it was foreseen 
 might give offence to the people of Ireland, who contended 
 that England never had such right ; the other by declaring 
 that England, though she had exercised, had never been legally 
 possessed of such right. To this latter mode it was justly 
 apprehended that the Parliament of Great Britain would not be 
 brought to consent, and Mr. Fox therefore adopted simple repeal 
 as most consistent with the spirit of the people of Ireland, and 
 the dignity of the English Parliament.* 
 
 Mr. Flood brought his opinions before the House on the 19th 
 of July, contending that the mere repeal of a declaratory law 
 did not affect the principle, and moved " That leave be given to 
 bring in heads of a Bill for declaring the sole and exclusive right 
 of the Irish Parliament to make laws in all cases whatever, 
 internal au:l external, for the Kingdom of Ireland ;" a motion 
 which was negatived without a division. Mr. Grattan thereupon 
 protested " That leave was refused to bring in said heads 
 of a Bill because the sole and exclusive right of legislation in the 
 Irish Parliament, in all cases, whether internally or externally, 
 hath been ah'eady asserted by Ireland, and fuUy, finally, and 
 irrevocably acknowledged by the British Parliament," which wasi 
 adopted without division. 
 
 * " Memoirs of Right Hon. Heury Flood." Dublin, 1838, p. IGO.
 
 22 
 
 While these public expressions of mutual confidence were 
 being exchanged, we are permitted to refer to a correspondence 
 which throws much light on the matter, and which twenty years 
 later was printed by order of the English Parliament. It is the 
 official correspondence between the Duke of Portland, Lord 
 Lieutenant of Ireland, and Lord Shelburne and others. [App. 7.] 
 
 The importance of this correspondence cannot be over-estimated; 
 it places beyond question the fact that eflForts were even then 
 being made to arrange the terms of a Union between the two 
 countries, and that every influence within Parliament and outside 
 of it was being suborned for that purpose. It appears to aflFord 
 an explanation of the hopes and intentions of English Statesmen 
 in their subsecpient dealing with Irish ParHamentary votes. To 
 carry through the proposed Union, Ministerial ascendency in Irish 
 Councils was indispensable, and throughout the whole period of 
 so-called Independence it was steadily maintained. How far it 
 exercised an influence on debates and determined divisions will be 
 apparent when the proper time for such considerations arises. 
 
 With this correspondence fresh in memory the Duke of 
 Portland terminated the proceedings by a speech of congi-atulation 
 and advice ; he observed, " You have provided for the impartial 
 and unbiassed administration of justice by the Act for securing 
 the independency of the judges ; you have adopted one of the most 
 eflFectual securities of British freedom by limiting the Mutiny Act 
 in point of duration ; you have secured the most invaluable of all 
 human blessings, the personal liberty of the subject, by passing 
 the Habeas Corpus Act ; you have cherished and enlarged the 
 wise principles of toleration, and made considerable advances in 
 abolishing those distinctions which have too long impeded the 
 progress of industry, and divided the nation. 
 
 " Many and great national objects must present themselves to 
 your consideration during the recess fi-om Parliamentary business ; 
 but what I would most earnestly press upon you, as that upon 
 which your domestic peace and happiness, and the prosperity of the 
 Empire at this moment most immediately depends, is to cultivate 
 and diflFuse those sentiments of affection and confidence, which arc 
 now happily restored between the two kingdoms. Convince tlie
 
 23 
 
 people in your several districts, as you are yourselves convinced, 
 that every cause of past jealousies and discontents is finally 
 removed ; that both countries have pledged their good faith to 
 each other, and that their best security will be an inviolable 
 adherence to that compact ; that the implicit reliance which Great 
 Britain has reposed on the honour, generosity and candoui' of 
 Ireland, engages your national character to a return of sentiments 
 equally liberal and enlarged ; convince them that the two 
 kingdoms are now one, indissolubly connected in unity of 
 constitution and unity of interests, that the danger and security, 
 the prosperity and calamity of the one must equally affect the 
 other, that they stand and fall together." 
 
 Thus was Irish independence battled for and won ! How much 
 of real liberty was thereby confeiTed ? "What did this Irish 
 enthusiasm signify ? Did it represent the active spirit of a free 
 people, wise to conceive, and powerful to enact laws ? Or was it 
 but the idol of an hour, which the popular wiU set up, and before 
 which the multitudes bowed down ? Had it, as the image of old, 
 a glittering head and feet of clay ? Did it, or did it not, prove 
 equal to the responsibilities of Government ? These are gi-ave 
 questions. On their answers must depend the judgment of 
 posterity.
 
 24 
 
 )N tlie terminatiou of the Rockingham administration the 
 Irish Parliament was dissolved. A new Ministry, with 
 the Earl of Shelbnrne as Premier, and WilUam Pitt as 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer, undertook the duties of oflfice under 
 circumstances of no ordinary difficulty. The association between 
 Shelburne and Fox in one ministry, and Shelburue and Pitt in 
 another, was significant. Earl Temj)le became the first Lord 
 Lieutenant of Independent Ireland ; his appointment was 
 considered an apj^ropriate one, as he had married the daughter of 
 Earl Nugent, and thereby acquired large Irish estates. The most 
 that can be said of his administration is, that he was passive for 
 the few months of his residence, and not ha^^ng been called on for 
 active duties he had no opportunity of making enemies. Before 
 the Parliament re-assembled, another administration was formed. 
 The English Commons had, in the interim, passed what was 
 practically a vote of censure on the Government, by their 
 resolutions in reference to the peace then concluded ; imputing that 
 England had given to the American States too large concessions, 
 and made inadequate provision for the security and indemnity of 
 the loyalists. The influence of Lord North was too powerful fur 
 successful resistance ; and there was no alternative but resignation. 
 The Diike of Portland became Premier ; Lord North, Fox, and 
 the Earl of Carlisle members of his cabinet, whilst the Earl of 
 Northington replaced Earl Temple. There was in the cabinet 
 no want of knowledge on Irish aflFairs. On the 14th of October, 
 1783, the first Irish Independent Parliament met, and elected, 
 without opposition, the Pdght Hon. Edmund Sexton Perry as their 
 Speaker.
 
 25 
 
 Lord Northington, in his speech from the throne, observed, " It 
 is with more than ordinary satisfaction that, in obedience to His 
 Majesty's commands, I meet you in full jDOSsessiou and enjoyment 
 of those constitutional and commercial advantages which have been 
 so firmly established in your last Parliament," He proceeded in 
 the usual terms, and added, " The establishment of public 
 tranquillity is peculiarly favourable at this period, and will 
 naturally give spirit and effect to your commercial pursuits. Both 
 kingdoms are now enabled to deliberate with undivided attention 
 on the surest means of increasing their prosperity and reaping 
 the certain fruits of reciprocal affection." There was nothing then 
 to prevent the Duke of Portland from giving full and dispassionate 
 consideration to Irish aflFairs. The ordinary topics — Linen 
 Manufacture, Fisheries, Protestant Charter Schools, mth the 
 addition of Admiralty Laws — were recommended for consideration. 
 An address in reply was voted ; it was then proposed, nem. con., 
 " That the thanks of the House be given to the Volunteers for 
 their spirited endeavours to provide for the protection of their 
 country, and for then* ready and fi'equent assistance of the civil 
 magistrates in enforcing the due execution of the laws." From 
 this it may be inferred that the Volunteers had been practically 
 accepted as part of the duly constituted forces of the countiy. 
 
 Before proceeding to examine how far the "peculiarly favourable" 
 opportunity was used by the Independent Parliament, it is well 
 to briefly review what had been accomplished by its predecessor. 
 
 The second Octennial Parliament may fairly be considered as 
 most memorable in Irish history. Its members called into life the 
 Volunteers, and its councils di'ew strength, if not inspiration, from 
 the presence of an armed nation. While yet dependent, they 
 loosened the chains of religious thraldom from the Roman 
 Catholics ; they removed vexatious restrictions and observances from 
 Protestant dissenters and those of similar creeds ; they secured the 
 liberty of the subject by the Habeas Corpus Act ; they rendered 
 the Judges independent of the Crown ; they acquired as much 
 free trade for Ireland as she ever possessed ; they established the 
 principle of a hmited Mutiny Bill ; they vindicated their complete 
 control over the Irish Exchequer. These are things wortliy to
 
 2fi 
 
 be remembered, for they were accomplished in defiance of statutes 
 which they repudiated and repealed. Had they, in addition, by 
 International commissioners — as the correspondence of the Duke 
 of Portland suggested — settled, for the then time, commercial 
 questions and secm-ed to their successors independence of action 
 by means of a thorough Reform Bill, this, the Patriot Parliament, 
 would have been without a rival in the political histoi-y of any 
 cormtry. In these omissions, opportunities Were suflfered to pass, 
 which never, in the same form, were again presented. 
 
 The distress of the country had been great, in consequence of the 
 American war necessitating restrictions upon trade, and imposing 
 for two years an embargo on the Irish ports, Bad harvests, 
 failure of the potato crops, and diminished tillage, conduced to 
 further suffering. The last Parliament had earned the nation 
 through a period in eveiy sense exceptional, exercising on the 
 English Government the constitutional force of public oj)inion, 
 which, backed by arms, proved in this instance irresistible ; 
 proclaiming, as it did, that if redress was withheld a revolution 
 was more than possible. 
 
 It might have been anticipated that with the Duke of Portland 
 as Premier, his chief Grovernor of Ireland would have suggested 
 the final adjustment of these commercial questions involving 
 jealousies and discontents, which occupied the attention of 
 previous Parliaments. He did not do so, and it may be because the 
 public mind had in the meantime been diverted from the question. 
 A Grcneral Election brings to the fi'ont the most pressing popular 
 grievances. Peace had been proclaimed, there was a consequent 
 reaction in trade. The burdens of taxation pressed heavily on the 
 people. The national expenditure and the causes which conduced 
 to it, naturally came under consideration. On the 28th of October, 
 a motion of Sir Henry Cavendish was directed in general terms to 
 the necessity of all practical retrenchments. This was by Mr. 
 Flood especially pointed to the reduction of the army. Mr. Grattan 
 spoke in opposition. Their personal and parliamentary encounter 
 is familiar to all. The antagonism of these two great leaders, 
 affords the probable explanation of the abortive action of the 
 Sessiou. The motion was postponed by 111 — 57. It may be
 
 27 
 
 stated that the Irish military establishment had been qnietly 
 restored to its full complement of 15,000 men. Against this, 
 Mr. Flood moved an address on the 3rd of Kovember, stating the 
 expenses of the country to be excessive, and asking for a reduction 
 of the army, Mr, Grattan opposed ; his chief argument being the 
 increased prosperity of Ireland in consequence of increasing trade 
 and the removal of restrictions. A majority of 190 — 74 rejected 
 the motion, and other motions of a similar character were also 
 attempted, and met with a like result. The House of Lords 
 deserves a passing notice for their rejection of money Bills, 
 accompanied by conditions. They passed two resolutions 
 expressive of their views.* [App. 8.] When the Bills thus returned 
 reached the House of Commons, Mr. Curran declared the 
 resolutions to be " an insult and an injury to the House," and 
 moved " that it is the sole and undoubted privilege of the 
 Commons of Ireland to originate all Bills of supply and grants 
 of public money, in such manner and with such clauses as they 
 shall think proper." The Irish Commons were not altogether 
 unmindful of English precedents, and rejected the motion by 
 58—11. 
 
 Mr. Flood's doubts respecting the adequacy of " Simple 
 Repeal " of Poyning's Act now received confirmation. It was said 
 that Lord Mansfield had given judgment in an Irish case. The 
 public were incensed, and, as was usual, strong expressions were 
 used. Colonel Fitzpatrick had called attention to a decision of the 
 English Court of King's Bench, as having given alarm in Ireland. 
 Mr. Secretary Townsend explained that the cause had been before 
 the Court for eighteen months, and that the judges were bound to 
 decide it. He declared that the case stood alone ; that two cases 
 pending before the English House of Lords had been sent back to 
 Ireland, and that immediate steps would be taken by the English 
 Parliament to render any further occurrence of the same kind 
 impossible. Such an Act as that originally suggested by 
 Mr. Flood was introduced in the English Parliament, and at once 
 passed into law.f In its discussion in the Lords the Duke of 
 
 * Lord's Jour. p. 409. f 23ra Geo. 3 c. 28.
 
 28 
 
 Richmond observed, " all those arguments powerfully bore upon 
 the ultimate necessity of an incorporate Union, without which 
 the two kingdoms must be constantly exposed to monstrous 
 anomalies and mischiefs in Government." 
 
 The General Election had brought prominently forward the 
 abuses in the system of representation. Numerous petitions w^ere 
 presented for Parliamentary Eeform. A petition from the County 
 Tyi'one is a fair example of the public feehng.* The petitioners 
 " beg leave to suggest it as a doctrine not to be disputed that, 
 agreeable to the Constitution, they, as freeholders, have a right to 
 be adequately represented in the House, and the petitioners humbly 
 trust that the House vnll be pleased to consider that the manner 
 in which the House of Commons is at present constituted puts it 
 out of the power, even of creduhty itself to think, or sophistry to 
 plead, that it is an adequate representation of the people." They 
 proceeded : " indigent boroughs, nearly destitute of inhabitants, 
 send members ; that in some boroughs no electors reside ; that in 
 others rights of suffrage have been circumscribed or extended for 
 individual purposes ; that Peers and Commoners have absolute 
 nomination." 
 
 To ask for Parliamentary Reform was to ask many members 
 to surrender then- birthrights or to part with property they had 
 dearly pm'chased, as well as to give up that political influence 
 which was the source of their power. It was not likely they 
 would do so. It was not to be expected that the Government 
 would support a measure that might deprive them of the venal 
 majority at their command. The few patriots of the Flood and 
 Grattan type were as nothing in an assembly whose tenure rested 
 on the anomalies complained of. True it was, when Mr. Flood, 
 after repeated defeats, carried his Octennial Bill (17G8), members 
 who had opposed it found that, far from rendering their influence 
 less, on the following election it afforded them an opportunity 
 for exacting terms. The value of their property increased with 
 the returning exercise of their influence. Mr. Flood recognised 
 the difficulty in the way of further reform. It was a question to 
 
 * Common's Journals, vol. ii., p. 249.
 
 29 
 
 be settled by the public opinion of the nation, and through the 
 pressure thus brought to bear on Parhament. The Vokmteer 
 organization throughout the country presented to his view a 
 machinery available for the purpose, and the Volunteers, who felt 
 their influence waning, at once adopted the cry. A second 
 " Convention," for the purposes of Parliamentary Reform was 
 determined on, to be held at Dungannon on the 8th of September. 
 Addresses were published throughout the country, in which the 
 Volmiteers did not fail to place their hght upon a hiU. They 
 declared " that the Imperial Crown of Ireland had been restored 
 by their efforts to its original splendour, and the nation to its 
 inherent rights as an Independent State." They alleged " that the 
 distracted inhabitants had been united in an indissoluble bond 
 through an unparallelled combination of the civil and military 
 authority," and they avowed " their determination to abohsh the 
 courtly mercenaries who preyed on the vitals of public virtue." 
 Parliament thus forewarned was forearmed. 
 
 A Reform Convention, composed of 270 delegates from companies 
 of Volunteers, met on the day appointed. Three resolutions were 
 passed : — 1. Freedom is the indefeasible right of Irishmen and 
 Britons, derived from the Author of their beings, of which no 
 power on earth has a right to deprive them. 2. Those only are 
 free who are governed by no laws but those to which they assent, 
 either in person or by their representatives ft'eely chosen. 3. The 
 elective franchise shall extend to those, and to those only, who 
 win exercise it for the public good." 
 
 These political doctrines were but a feeble reflex of opinions in 
 France, then arousing the world to arms. The third resolution 
 was believed to include the other two, and so formed the 
 justification to those members who resisted Reform ; for each one 
 was ready to contend, that in his own return, the elective 
 franchise had been admirably exercised. The Dungannon delegates 
 determined on a Reform Bill, and agreed that a Convention should 
 be held in Dublin ; they urged a renewal of that policy which 
 had been previously successfully pursued. In this they reckoned 
 Avithout their host, and for this reason : — the ends to be 
 accomplished and the interests to be assailed were now different.
 
 80 
 
 The Government and the Parhament, on the qnestion of 
 Independence, had been opposed — the Government and the 
 Parhament, in the maintenance of Parhamentary authority, had 
 a common interest. When Independence was carried, the 
 Yohmteera were masters of the situation ; now England's hands 
 were untied, and her mihtary forces free. The occasion offered 
 itself to the executive by the successful resistance of this new 
 action on the part of the Volunteers, to prepare the way for their 
 discomfiture and downfall. Such, however, could only be 
 accomplished by constitutional means, and Flood, in the course he 
 pursued, afforded the opportunity. The Volunteer delegates to 
 the number of 300, the same number as the Parliament, on the 
 10th of November, assembled in the Rotunda ; their ranks 
 included Peers and Commoners of high distinction ; they 
 assumed the functions of Parliament and prepared a plan of 
 Eeform, chiefly with the assistance of Mr. Flood; they sat 
 continuously till the 29th of the same month. On that day Mr. 
 Flood moved to bring in his Bill. [App. 9.] The House was 
 crowded, the uniforms of the Volunteer members being especially 
 conspicuous. It was rumoured amongst the members that Mr. 
 Pitt was in favour of the Bill, and the proposed admission of 
 Catholics to the franchise. The latter, however, formed no part of 
 Mr. Flood's scheme, but, had the measure received full discussion, 
 strong efforts would have been made on their behalf. It became 
 a trial of strength between the Government and the Convention. 
 The defeat of the measure was therefore of the first importance. 
 To this end all the State influence had been directed. It was 
 alleged that any Eeform including Catholic representation would, 
 from their numerical majority, lead to their ascendancy and a 
 review by them of the Act of Settlement. The Catholic delegates 
 were assured by what, in more modern times, would have been 
 termed, " an impudent fabrication," that their Bishops and 
 spiritual leaders were unfavourable to the scheme. Flattered or 
 defied, as occasion required, the members of the Convention and 
 the members of Parliament were pitted against each other ; whilst 
 the latter, conciliated by the personal influence of the Viceroy, or 
 made safe by the more practical arguments of his Secretary, were
 
 31 
 
 prepared to admit the principle of Reform, but to vote against the 
 introductiion of the Bill. This not a few did. The Attorney 
 General opposed it on gTounds which were far better than 
 ai'guments ; — appeals to the pride and independence of the new 
 Parhanient, sitting in their first Session for the discharge of their 
 duties ; " were they to be considered as unequal to their trusts ?" 
 The measure was described by him as " the mandate of a military 
 Congress." Flood and his allies were answered by ridicule, and 
 treated with contempt. Mr. Grattan supported the motion for 
 Keform in a few words of general approval of the principle, but 
 without in any way committing himself to the plan introduced. The 
 motion was lost by 158 — 49. The defeat of the Convention 
 sounded the requiem of the political power of the Volunteers. 
 While Parliament was still flushed by its sense of Independence in 
 the rejection of this measm-e on grounds strangely similar to those 
 by which its claims to Independence had been secured, the 
 Attorney General moved, " that it is now become indispensably 
 necessary to declare that the House will maintain its just rights 
 and privileges against all encroachments whatsoever." This was 
 carried by 150 — G8. Mr. Conolly then moved, "That an humble 
 address be presented to His Majesty, to declare the perfect 
 satisfaction which we feel in the many blessings we enjoy under 
 His Majesty's most auspicious Government, and our present happy 
 Constitution, and to acquaint His Majesty that at this time we 
 think it peculiarly incumbent upon us to express our determined 
 resolution to support the same inviolate vnth our lives and 
 fortunes." A motion considered by Mr. Grattan to be unnecessary, 
 and opposed by hiin without success. 
 
 In this condition of the Parliamentary mind, Mr. Molyneux(5th 
 December 1783), moved to introduce an Absentee Tax [App. 11] of 
 four shillings in the pound, on all rents remitted out of the Kingdom 
 to non-resident landowners. The same old arguments were used 
 which had on former occasions defeated the Bill. It was urged 
 that the value of land would be lowered by such a tax, and the 
 happy union so recently inaug-urated between the two countries, and 
 as yet on its trial, be interrupted. Sir John Blaquire, who had 
 been Secretary in Lord Harcourt's Viceroyalty, reminded the
 
 32 
 
 House of the circumstances under which the measure had been 
 then introduced and lost. The Attorney General, not to appear 
 indifferent, when the question as amended was put, moved that 
 one shilling be substituted for four, as proposed ; it was lost 
 by 184—22. 
 
 Again was Ireland to experience change. Another resignation 
 of Ministers took place. The extraordinary coalition between 
 North and Fox was brought to an ignominious close by the 
 rejection of Fox's India Bill. So eminently distasteful was the 
 measure to the King, that, when informed of the decision of 
 ParUament, and the resignation of his Ministry, he ordered their 
 seals of office to be delivered up to the new Secretaries of State, 
 without a personal interview, " which would be disagreeable to 
 His Majesty." Their dismissal was accepted by men of all ranks, 
 parties and sects, without a murmur. The alliance had been 
 regarded as an unnatural one. The public apprehended from it, to 
 use the words of Wilberforce, " a progeny stamped with the features 
 of both parents, — the violence of the one party and the corruption 
 of the other." The Irish administration had, notwithstanding, 
 been adroitly carried out. It was the most creditable feature of a 
 political regime, which has since been quoted as an illustration, 
 that " England does not love coalitions." On the dismissal of his 
 Ministers the King sent for Temple. "William Pitt became 
 Premier. The Duke of Rutland was appointed to Ireland with 
 Thomas Orde as his Chief Secretary. 
 
 Pitt's advent to office as Prime Minister inaugurated an 
 administration which lasted throughout the remainder of the 
 period under review. Heretofore short Ministries with undefined 
 poUcies, and no confidence of continuing authority, had caused the 
 of&ce of Viceroy to be one far from desirable. The position was 
 anomalous. The Irish Parliament claimed to be independent of 
 Enghsh influence, if not alien from English sympathy. Its 
 policy was, however, expected to adapt itself to the views of 
 separate administrations, or be at variance with its Chief Governor. 
 The inconvenience of such a system began to be publicly 
 complained of; nor were the comi)laints ill founded. Ministries 
 were short lived, and changes were frequent. Lord Carlisle had
 
 33 
 
 admitted the Irish claims for Independence, pointing out to the 
 Enghsh Minister the hopelessness of opposition ; he was removed 
 before its attainment. The Duke of Portland sees in the 
 adjustment of jealousies and differences the foundation of political 
 and commercial union ; he leaves the questions unsettled. Earl 
 Temple begins to understand his duties when his office terminates. 
 The Earl of Northington recognises the antagonism of Irish 
 parties, and in a crisis of great difficulty shows his appreciation 
 of the position, when he is recalled. Is it then to be wondered 
 at, that expediency, and not policy, governed a country whose 
 councils in the hands of the Viceroy were chiefly available for the 
 exigencies of the hour ? 
 
 As Nationahsts affirm, the haste, " the fatal haste," of Grattan 
 was herein evidenced. To his high-sounding resolution he 
 sacrificed the opportunities afforded by the message of the King. 
 The Irish claimed to be governed by the King, Lords, and 
 Commons of Ireland, while the Royal assent to Irish Bills was 
 provided to be given under the Great Seal of England. The 
 Crown in all such cases is advised by the English Minister. By 
 the Act of Renunciation the Great Seal had otherwise no authority 
 in Ireland. The anomaly of the position is apparent ; since 
 without the consent of the English Minister legislation was 
 impossible. Had it been provided that the King of England as 
 Sovereign of Ireland should be advised on Irish affairs by a 
 Minister responsible to the Irish Parliament only, an Irish 
 Cabinet with an Irish Viceroy, independent of English political 
 changes, would have been the necessary result, and an abiding 
 sense of responsibility might then have governed their councils. 
 As it was, that responsibility perpetually shifted, and was not 
 always equally understood. True ! whether as Sovereign of 
 England or of Ireland, the ad^ace of the Minister of England 
 would have still prevailed with the King, whilst a fixed Viceroy and 
 an independent Irish Cabinet would have reduced differences 
 between the two nations to the alternative of separation or 
 re-conquest. Where Irish measures were obnoxious, any middle 
 course would then have been most difficult, as the English 
 executive would have thereby surrendered the power and 
 
 D
 
 34 
 
 opporfcuuity of " mauagiug " Irish votes. It may l)e that 
 Grattan, with far-seeing statesmanship, desu'ed that English 
 Ministerial influence should be still preserved ; or, as was asserted, 
 it may be that he failed to recognise the importance of the 
 question. Whichever suggestion be trne, fortunate indeed was 
 the country that had still preserved to it such a way of ultimate 
 escape fi'om the bitter contention of sects and the turbulence of 
 factions, as the Act of Union could alone afford. 
 
 The Duke of Eutland entered on office in a troublesome time. 
 The question of reform had become the cry of the people, as the 
 Volunteer Convention had proved a failure. Exasperated by their 
 want of success, the Volunteers invited many Catholics to their 
 ranks. Debarred from the exercise of the suffrage, the latter saw, 
 in agitation, their sole hope of its ultimate attainment. The 
 presence in the city of regular troops in considerable numbers, 
 with the co-operation of the better-minded of the community, 
 with difficulty preserved the peace. It demanded the utmost 
 forbearance to prevent direct encounters between the mob and 
 military ; both the public tranquility and security were, at times, 
 in imminent danger. The Lord-Lieutenant was not without sound 
 advice. The Irish Privy Council was strong in the presence of 
 Yelverton, Scott and Fitz-Gibbon, who had each afforded 
 convincing proofs of their courage and knowledge in dealing with 
 Irish affairs. Fitz-Gibbon was the ruling spirit of the Rutland 
 Vice-regency. The arrival of the Lord-Lieutenant in February, 
 1784, found Ireland in a state of expectancy. It was the 
 Interregnum of Reform. The question had been postponed, not 
 decided. The English Minister was soon to learn the materials 
 with which he had to deal. The members of either House of 
 Parliament, who had influence to dispose of, flocked to the Chief 
 Secretary.* The correspondence at the time discloses an amount 
 of political mendicancy ahnost incredible. Orde ^vl■ites, " he was 
 almost distracted with the infinite numbers and variety of 
 applicants for liivour, who had all long stories to tell. The 
 patronage of Ireland would not suffice for one day's short 
 allowance for all who crowded into the ship to be fed." — Fitting 
 connnent on their rejection of reform ! 
 
 * Froudc, vol. ii., p. 306.
 
 35 
 
 While avoiding direct conflict with the troops, every day 
 afforded sad and uumistakeable evidence of the utter defiance of 
 law or order which prevailed. Property was as insecure as life 
 was unsafe. Mutilation and maiming were regarded as means of 
 expressing political disapproval. For the restraint of the latter, 
 special provision had to be made by an Act which, for all ages, 
 must be a blot on the Irish Statute Book, as indicating the 
 necessity of the times : — " An Act for the more effectual discovery 
 and prosecution of offenders called houghers, and for the support 
 and maintenance of soldiers and others houghed, maimed, and 
 disabled by such offenders." [App. 12.] Houghing was the 
 cutting of the tendo Achilles, and dividing the fibrous sheaths of 
 the ham muscles, the victim being thereby disabled for life. In 
 modern atrocities of semi-barbarous States history but repeats 
 itself. 
 
 The Reform Agitation was again revived. Flood, on the defeat 
 of his motion, had continued to agitate the question, and the 
 Convention, on the rejection of their measure, had been induced 
 to dissolve. The excuse of their dictation could no longer be 
 urged in Parliament. Flood had carried over their addresses to the 
 King. He obtained on his return leave to again introduce a Bill. 
 He did so, and on the 4th of March it was fully and calmly discussed. 
 Numerous petitions for reform had been presented, — their value 
 was fully appreciated. Two classes of arguments were now m'ged 
 by the opponents of the Bill, It was said, as the Catholics 
 were excluded from its provisions, extension of the suffrage to 
 Protestant leaseholders would lead to their replacing the Catholic 
 tenantry ; and unless provision was made to admit the Catholics, 
 their hopes of future franchise would be at an end, and Protestant 
 ascendancy perhaps lead to a withdrawal of the privileges which, 
 after so many struggles, they had succeeded in obtaining. At 
 the same time the Protestants were told they had before them 
 demonstrative proof that their numerical inferiority would render 
 political struggles hopeless should their rehgion cease to be a 
 barrier to political freedom. These \iews found adlierents in the 
 turbulent crowds who clamoured for change, with the desperate 
 hope that in the conflict of parties some practical good might 
 D 2
 
 3fi 
 
 result. Those who, uniutlueiiced by sectarian opinions, supported 
 the Bill, had the stale arguments of existing abuses to be remedied. 
 Grattan was called on to defend the Volunteers, who had been so 
 active in reform agitation, fi'om many imputations cast upon 
 them ; and, by so doing, recovered some of that popular favour 
 he had partially forfeited. The argument which told best against 
 the Bill was that which directly affected the interests of those 
 whose seats were in danger if their influence was placed in 
 jeopardy. On a division the Bill was lost by 159 — 85. 
 
 As was not unusual in Ireland, political disturbance was 
 accompanied by great social distress. Tillage had been neglected 
 for the sake of agitation ; the character of the Volunteer 
 movement had also undergone a marked change, its members 
 had ceased to represent the sterling middle-class yeomen of 
 the country, who had retired in large numbers when the 
 Parliamentary Independence of Ireland was secured. They had 
 been replaced by men of a very diflerent type, who regarded an 
 armed organization as the means of resisting the law^s, rather than 
 of upholding authority. 
 
 The operation of Free Trade had disappointed their expectations. 
 Meetings were held in Dublin, at which addresses of all kinds were 
 passed, imputing want of commercial faith to England. The refusal 
 of Reform was also declared to be a denial of the rights of the people. 
 The Constitution of 1782 was asserted to be a means whereby 
 a venal House of Commons could always be brought within 
 the influence of the Crown. Mr. Flood's last efforts on behalf of 
 Eeform were worse than his first. It w^as by his advice determined 
 to revive agitation, and to summon a national Congress of 300 to 
 deliberate on the course to be adopted. The North of Ireland, 
 ever foremost in agitation, had in July conveyed a petition to 
 Mr. Pitt for presentation to the King. Mr. Pitt replied " that he 
 had undoubtedly been and still continued a zealous fi'iend to a 
 reform in Parliament, but that he must beg leave to say, that he 
 had been so on grounds very different from those adopted in their 
 petition. That what was there proposed he considered as tending 
 to produce still greater evils than any of those which the friends of 
 Reform were desirous to remedy."* Mr. Pitt was thereupon 
 
 * Plow. vol. li.
 
 37 
 
 denonnoed as f\ilse to his professions. The Corporation of Dubh'n 
 took up the cry, and the High Sheriff called a meeting of the 
 citizens on the 19th of August. Resolutions were proposed, 
 which placed beyond doubt that even then were comedies copied 
 from the French. [App. 13]. The Duke of Rutland proved equal 
 to the occasion. He received the petition from the Dublin 
 Coi*poration, complaining of the rejection of the Reform Bill ; 
 alleging many gTievances, and asking for " a complete abolition of 
 the penal laws oppressing Roman Catholics." The Duke agreed 
 to transmit the address to the King, and added, " he should not 
 fail to convey his entire disapprobation of it, as casting unjust 
 reflections on the laws and Parliament of Ireland, and as tending 
 to weaken the authority of both." In no wise intimidated by the 
 answer of the Viceroy, the Sheriff threatened renewed agitation, 
 but the matter was not suffered to proceed ; the High Sheriff was 
 attached, the Attorney-General himself directing the proceedings. 
 He was brought before the Kings' Bench, and sentenced to fine 
 and imprisonment ; after a few days he was liberated, and the fine 
 was reduced on his acknowledging his error, and making a public 
 apology in Court.* Thus not only was the Law vindicated, but 
 agitators were instructed as to the power of the Crown. The matter, 
 however, was not suffered to rest; Mr. Brownlow gave notice of his 
 intention to move for a Committee, but was absent when his motion 
 came on. Lord Charles Fitzgerald moved, "the action of the 
 Attorney-G-eneral was contrary to the principle of the Constitution as 
 depriving the Sheriff of his trial by jury, and a precedent of a 
 dangerous tendency." The Attorney-General declared, "that the 
 Sheriff Henry Sfceevens Reilly had summoned the power of his county 
 for the purpose of electing five persons as delegates to a National 
 Congress, and had pledged the lives and fortunes of himself and 
 of the power of his county, to support any and whatever 
 alterations the said Congress should think proper to propose for a 
 Reform of the Constitution," — and concluded, "Now, Sir, on this 
 ground I did attach him, and on this ground I am ready to defend 
 what I have done." The Motion was put and lost by 143 — 71. 
 
 * Plowden, vol. ii. 
 
 383295
 
 38 
 
 AVhile the Sheriff in Dul^lin was being thns dealt witli, there liad 
 been no delay in warning the sheriffs throughout the different 
 counties of the views of the Government, and notwithstanding 
 outrage and tumult in Dublin, the schemes of the disaffected were 
 baffled by the firmness of the executive, and especially of the Law 
 Officers of the Grown, with the warm approval and support of 
 Parliament. Mr. Pitt quite understood the difficulty, and 
 approved of the course adopted. Mr. Pitt was known to be in 
 favour of an English Reform Bill. It was his discussion of that 
 question which had first secured to him public attention, and it 
 was believed that as soon as he was more firmly seated in his 
 administration, Reform of the English Parliament would be 
 undertaken. The opinion was encouraged that a simultaneous 
 Bill would be made an Irish measure with the assistance of the 
 Crown, and that existing abuses would then receive their full 
 measure of consideration. The seed thus sown produced good fruit. 
 The more moderate of the Irish party were content to wait, — the 
 more violent the Law was adequate to deal with. 
 
 There was little else of interest to prolong the Session. 
 
 Having promised so much and accomplished so little. Parliament 
 re-assembled on the 20th of January, 1785. The Duke of 
 Rutland was able to speak of the disturbances as past, and, in 
 conjunction with the Premier, to seriously apply himself to the 
 settlement of the difficulty. Influence, in the meantime, had been 
 at work to induce the Volunteer forces to abstain from further 
 interference in political or social questions ; considerable success had 
 attended the efforts so made, and many resigned their cc mmissions. 
 In his opening speech the Lord Lieutenant " lamented the lawless 
 outrages and unconstitutional proceedings which had taken place 
 since the prorogation, and expressed his satisfaction that they 
 were confined to a few places, and even there condemned. He 
 observed with pleasure that, by the salutary interposition of the 
 laws, the general tranquillity was re-established. He directed 
 attention in the King's name, to the consideration of those objects 
 of trade and commerce between Great Britain and Ireland, which 
 had not yet received their complete adjustment." The usual 
 recommendations then followed. Mr. Flood took exception to
 
 39 
 
 the passag-e which stated the existence of " lawless ontrag-e and 
 uuconstitutioual proceeding," and moved an amendment directed 
 towards Eeform, which was negatived without a division. The 
 usual address was voted. His Majesty in his answer thereto spoke 
 in determined language of " the attempt to overawe Parliament." 
 " His Majesty has observed with gTeat concern, the popular 
 disturbances that have lately prevailed from the intemperance and 
 indiscretion of misguided men, and confides in the constant and 
 strenuous endeavours of his faithful Commons of Ireland to prevent 
 their pernicious effects, and their resolution to reject and suppress 
 every assumed authority which may attempt to dictate to the 
 legislature, affords his Majesty the highest satisfaction." A change 
 had indeed taken place, when such words could be addressed to a 
 Parliament which, three years previously, had accomphshed its 
 own independence by closely similar means. Mr. Grattan defended 
 the Volunteers against the charge of complicity in the disturbances 
 comiDlained of; he drew the attention of the House to " the 
 alarming measure of drilling the lowest classes of the populace, by 
 which a stain had been brought on the character of the 
 Volunteers ;" he stigmatized the attempted Congress, and declared 
 " that two sets of representatives, one de jure, and another 
 supposing itself a representative de facto, cannot well exist." The 
 House desired to conciliate the Volunteers, and to make amends 
 for the aspersions which had been cast upon them ; and resolved 
 " That the Volunteers of Ireland have been eminently useful to 
 their country, by the protection they afforded against a foreign 
 enemy, by their present exertions in support of the police ; and 
 that this House highly approves of the conduct of those who, 
 since the conclusion of the war, retired to cultivate the blessings 
 of peace." 
 
 In answer to the invitation in the speech from the Throne, 
 Mr. Orde brought forward his famous resolutions regarding the 
 trade between Ireland and Great Britain. They were eleven in 
 number. They had been altered and settled by the advice and 
 with the assistance of Henry Grattan, and were considered by him 
 " to be perfectly indispensable." He described them " as having 
 a three-fold principle : — 1. After the expenses of the nation are
 
 40 
 
 • 
 
 paid, to contribute to the general expenses of the Empire. 
 2. That by making the surplns not applicable to the general 
 expense till all expenses are paid, it interests both the British and 
 Irish Ministers in Irish economy. 3. To subject the surplns to 
 the control of the Irish Parliament." He described the plan " as 
 open, fair and just, and such as the British Minister can justify 
 to both nations." The resolutions, after discussion, passed 
 without much opposition. They were based on the principle of 
 equalisation of duties in both countries. They preserved 
 existing protections, — Ireland retained the privilege of fixing her 
 own duties on her own productions, and could control the duties 
 imposed on such articles in England. The result must have been 
 to send a large English commerce to Ireland. They presented, 
 however, opportunity for discord. The last resolution provided 
 that " for the protection of trade, whenever the gross hereditary 
 revenue of Ireland should exceed £050,000, the excess should be 
 applied to the support of the Imperial fleet." Here lay the 
 snare ! Was Ireland to be a tributary nation to Great Britain ? 
 It was admitted that it was England's fleet, England's counsels, 
 and England's influence, rendered such trade not only possible 
 but safe. These advantages were considered as affording no 
 justification in calling on Ireland to thus contribute. The 
 resolution was modified to meet the views of the opponents, 
 accepted by the Parliament, and transmitted to England. Pitt 
 at once gave evidence of his fi-iendly disposition to Ireland, of 
 which he had previously exhibited many indications. He 
 introduced the resolutions, and recommended the English 
 Parliament to accept them. In order to put the two countries ou 
 a fair footing, he proposed to reduce the concessions to two 
 heads : — 1 . The importation of the produce of our Colonies in the 
 West Indies and America through Ireland into Great Britain. 
 2, A mutual exchange between the two countries of their 
 respective productions and manufactures upon equal terms."* 
 The linen trade of Ireland was to be continued as her monopoly. 
 English manufacturing and commercial towns became alarmed ; 
 
 * Plowdoii. vol. ii.
 
 41 
 
 sixty-four petitions were presented against the resolntion, that 
 ft'oiu Lancashire having 80,000 signatures. The alteration in the 
 eleventh article gave colour, if not force, to their remonstrance 
 and dissatisfaction. It was impossible, in the midst of the public 
 agitation, to attempt to pass the Irish resolutions in the form in 
 which they had been received. Pitt took them under his special 
 care. He had them re-arranged with the view of what was just 
 and equitable between the two countries. The period for the 
 final adjustment of jealousies and differences had at length 
 arrived. Both Parliaments were on their trial, and time was 
 allowed for deliberation. 
 
 The MiHtia Act had expired. The necessity for the 
 re-constitution of an armed force, under the direct control of the 
 Crown, was obvious. The conduct of the Volunteers had 
 alienated many supporters. They had, in defiance of the law, 
 ranged themselves by the side of armed citizens for the purpose 
 of insurrection. They were now objects of fear rather than of 
 admiration. Opportunity offered to invite the well afiFected in 
 their ranks to be enrolled in the service of the Crown, for which 
 their volunteer exercises both fitted and pre-disposed them. On 
 he 14th of February, Mr. Luke Gardiner moved "That the sum 
 of £20,000 be granted to His Majesty for the purpose of clothing 
 the Militia of this Kingdom." The discussion which followed 
 afforded opportunity for contrasting the Volunteers as the 
 champions of constitutional rights, and as the abettors of civil 
 disturbances. In the former position they had won the gratitude 
 of their country, and had given stability to her Councils ; in the 
 latter they had assisted in the defiance of law and subversion of 
 social order, causing loss of life and great injury to property. 
 The Attorney-General expressed himself in severe terms 
 respecting them. "They had," he said, "admitted into their 
 ranks a low description of men, and proceeded in a most 
 unconstitutional manner." Mr. Grattan declared "the Volunteers 
 had no right to be displeased at the establishment of a Militia, 
 and if they had expressed displeasure the dictates of armed men 
 ought to be disregarded by Parliament." He drew distinctions 
 between the primitive Volunteers and the then existing force, and
 
 42 
 
 observed, " Tliore is a cankered part of the dreg's of the poojile 
 that has been armed : let no gentleman give such men 
 countenance, or pretend to join them with the original 
 Volunteers." Mr. Gardiner's resolution was carried by 139 — 63. 
 
 The Parliament found time to pass a measure which has since 
 been often quoted,* which provided " that holders of leases under 
 charter school property, by applying within the first seven years 
 of their lease, or of last renewal, and paying down one year's 
 rent, with the cost of new leases, should of right be entitled to 
 renewal for forty-one years ; but no relief in law or equity if 
 seven years elapse." This Act so far alforded security of tenure, 
 and is the first statute that gives legal effect to what has since 
 been known as "tenant right." [App. 14.] 
 
 The petitions against the Irish commercial resolutions led to 
 certain modifications in a measure intended to be mutually 
 binding. In the many changes of British mercantile obligations 
 with those countries with whom Ireland was privileged to trade, 
 not only under the resolutions, but by the laws then in force, it 
 was anticipated that circumstances might arise when Great 
 Britain might require to modify or abandon the existing 
 obligations. It was necessary to provide against such a 
 contingency, and accordingly the 4th of the English resolutions 
 proposed : — 
 
 " That it is highly important to the general interests of the 
 British Empire that the laws for regulating trade and navigation 
 should be the same in Great Britain and Ireland, and, therefore, 
 that it is essential towards carrying into effect the present 
 settlement, that all laws which have been made, or shall be made, 
 in Great Britain for securing exclusive privileges to the ships and 
 mariners of Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Colonies and 
 Plantations, and for regulating and restraining the trade of the 
 British Colonies and Plantations, such laws imposing the same 
 restraints and conferring the same benefits on the subjects of 
 both Kingdoms, should be in force in Ireland by laws to be 
 passed by the Parliament of that Kingdom for the same time and 
 
 * 25 Geo. III. c. r,ry.
 
 43 
 
 iu the same manner as in Great Britain." The ordinary reader 
 might interpret this to mean on the part of England : — We Ireely 
 extend to Ireland the full enjoyment of all our trade to these 
 localities, subject to existing laws and restraints. Our benefits 
 being equal, it is a condition, that should we, on whom the 
 burden rests of our mutual and conjoint protection, find it 
 necessary, in the interests of both, to vary those laws or restraints 
 that you, Ireland, will co-operate with us, and adopt such changes 
 in order that our reciprocal benefits may still continue to be the 
 same. Ireland thought otherwise. She did not dissent from the 
 modifications in the propositions, [for these were matters for 
 compromise or arrangement. But — to be called on to re-enact 
 English laws ! Never ! Grattan declared such a proposal to be 
 " a revocation of the Constitution." The country was up in arms: 
 all other English injustice was as nothing to this. Merchants and 
 manufacturers raised an outcry which found an echo from the 
 disaffected populace — we have asked for bread, you have given us 
 a stone ! The treachery of England was too manifest. Petitions 
 poured in from all quarters against the proposed change. 
 [App. 15.] Flood out-Grattaned Grattan ; he described the 
 resolutions " as an infamous attack on Irish Independence." 
 " Freedom of Constitution was necessary to freedom of trade," 
 " Liberty is the nm-se of Commerce " were the commonplace 
 expressions of the time. Appeals were made to the passions 
 rather than to the judgments of those who found in the new 
 opening for agitation a fresh opportunity for political display. 
 It was to no purpose that Orde protested that England had no 
 such designs as were imputed to her. The debate lasted all 
 night, and, on the morning of the 13th of August, at nine 
 o'clock, the utmost the Government could command for leave to 
 bring in the Bill was 127—108. 
 
 When the result of the division was known, popular indignation 
 rose to fever heat. Flood was for revolution rather than submit. 
 An interval of two days was spent in meetings, remonstrances and 
 revilings. On the 15th, when the Bill came on for discussion. 
 Flood moved, "we hold ourselves bound not to enter into any 
 engagement to give up the sole and exclusive right of Parliament
 
 44 
 
 to legislate for Ireland in all cases, externally, commercially' 
 internally." It was in vain the Attorney-General declared that 
 the Bill was in no way ojiposed to the fi'ee constitution of Ireland, 
 or that the House was reminded it was asked to do no more than 
 that which was its annual practice in every session since the 
 Colonial trade was granted, — in reciting the British Act, and 
 re-enacting it. To no purpose did he declare that every 
 advantage which British subjects possessed was oflPered equally to 
 Ireland, or that the House was reminded that without English 
 protection their means of trading would be worthless. He spoke 
 to the Irish Commons and Irish people in language of which, it is 
 to be regretted, they had small experience — words of sober 
 remonstrance and truth. His observations led to personal retort 
 and individual insult, according to existing practices, to be settled 
 outside the House. The division e\'idenced a diminished majority 
 in comparison with that which had permitted the introduction 
 of the Bill, and Mr. Orde announced the measure w^ould be 
 withdrawn. 
 
 Thus was another occasion, critical in the history of the country, 
 permitted to pass. The public ecstasy, that is the satisfaction of 
 political agitators, knew no bounds. The Constitution was saved. 
 England's propositions were rejected, and Ireland's opportunity 
 was lost. 
 
 In the debates on the Commercial question, Mr. D. Brown's 
 observations, when Mr. Orde moved the adjournment of the House, 
 ought to be quoted : " He seemed to think the arrangement 
 impracticable. This arrangement. Sir, has suggested in the other 
 country an idea, that I am almost afraid to mention to this House : 
 — A Union I G ood God ! Sir, what union could we have with 
 Great Britain, but union of debt and taxation — a union depriving 
 us of liberty, and ruinous to our country ? " 
 
 Parliament re-assembled on the 19th of January, 17SG. Mr. 
 Conolly, on the 9th of February, brought forward his motion for a 
 general review of taxation. The House was in no mood to 
 enter on the question, and it was lost by 1B4 — 78. A sense of 
 disappointment was experienced in the House. It had won a 
 victory, but how much had it lost ? Many asked the question.
 
 43 
 
 Why a measure against which so much feehng was expressed was 
 capable of being carried, was also a subject of inquiry. Mr. Forbes 
 believed the answer was to be found in the presence iu Parliament 
 of Members holding places and pensions. On the 6th of March he 
 brought forward a motion respecting the pension list, which he 
 declared exceeded that of Great Britain by several thousands, and 
 amouuted to £90,000 a year. On the 13th, he presented a Bill to 
 limit their amount, and stated that in the two previous years 
 pensions had increased by £1G,000. Members who were above 
 necessity, others above corruption, and some who had no hopes of 
 purchase, supported his BiU. The Attorney-General opposed it on 
 the grounds of prerogative, which, it is to be presumed, in his view, 
 included a capacity for the purchase of votes. The pension list 
 was declared to be a grievance ; the pensioners however, voted for 
 its continuance, and after a discussion, in which Mr. Grattan 
 declared, " If he should vote that jjeusions were not a grievance, 
 he should vote an impudent, an insolent, and a public lie ;" the 
 Bill was thro\\Ti out on its second reading by 134 — 78. The 
 arguments of " Prerogative" in its support, were at least audacious, 
 recollecting that, by the Gth of Anne c. 7, § 25, any member of 
 the English Parliament, not being an officer in the army or navy, 
 accepting a new commission, who accepted any office of profit 
 under the Crown, vacated his seat thereby, unless it be one 
 created prior to 25th October, 1705 ; and by 22 Geo. III., c. 45, 
 disqualification attended those holding contracts with the Crown. 
 There is but one explanation of arguments, supported neither by 
 law nor facts ; — the depraved state of public feeling which rendered 
 the Government desirous of adopting a Machiavellian doctrine, 
 and of retaining then- capacity to do evil that good might 
 come. 
 
 To duly estimate the action of Parliament on the next matter 
 brought under their consideration, it is necessary to review the 
 social condition of Dublin at this period. The City was practicaUy 
 under the rule of mob-law. Associations publicly sat, in defiance 
 of all authority, to dictate to members and others their conduct 
 in public matters. Were their dictates not attended to, destruction 
 of property, or injury to the person, most certainly followed, A
 
 46 
 
 *' tarring and feathering" committee inflicted punishment less 
 jicrmanent in its eflPects than that of the " Houghers :" — " Slashers," 
 or armed ruffiaus, wliose object it was to disfigure, exercised a 
 terrorism over the quiet citizens, whose sole protection against such 
 outrage were a few local constables, generally the companions or 
 friends of the offenders. The recent riots had demonstrated the 
 necessity of some force intermediate between the military and 
 people, which might be under the control of the civil magistracy. 
 With this object, the Attorney-General on the 17th of March, 
 ]786, introduced a " Police Bill," — "for the better execution of the 
 law in the City of Dublin, and the parts adjacent." It proposed to 
 supersede the authority of the Mayor and Aldermen of the 
 city, and to appoint seven, afterwards reduced to three, paid 
 magistrates, and forty constables, mounted or on foot as occasion 
 required, and gave them authority to enter and search houses 
 where there was reason to believe arms were concealed. This 
 exceptional power was a necessity of the times. It was known 
 that the liberties of the city had many houses in which nightly 
 meetings of the most treasonable character were held. That 
 rebellion and disaffection were openly preached, and that weapons 
 of various kinds were being collected to arm the populace, to 
 whose aid, against the English Government, foreign assistance was 
 even then being negotiated for. In supporting the Bill, the 
 Attorney-General stated " that the Catholic rabble had become 
 possessed of the arms of the Volunteers, that when the mob 
 outraged the House of Commons, the Mayor, though warned of 
 the approaching riot, was powerless to prevent it." Under such 
 circumstances, it might have been expected men of independence 
 would have considered true liberty to consist in freedom of action, 
 undismayed by fears of subsequent injury : — the Irish patriots 
 thought otherwise. Grattan offered uncompromising ojiposition to 
 the measure, and declared, " that under pretence of preserving the 
 peace of the city, it was an attempt to destroy its Independence." 
 His arguments were addressed to the prejudices and passions of 
 the people, through the medium of the senate. He moved that 
 the Bill be committed that day three months. His motion was 
 lost by lol) — 37. So many places were to be filled, and thcofliccs
 
 47 
 
 were consistent with a seat in the House ; as many incorruptible 
 patriots were anxious to serve the Crown, the places were not 
 disposed of, and the efforts of the Government deserved their 
 support. Baffled in his opposition, Mr. Grattan moved " that the 
 Commissioners should not sit in Parhament." The aphorism of 
 Flood prevailed, that " a patriot in office was more useful to his 
 country," and the motion was lost by a large majority, including 
 the votes of so many desirous to serve her in the new police. 
 Mr. Grattan next attempted to limit the power of the Lord 
 Lieutenant in the appointments ; in this also he was defeated. 
 The Bill was carried in spite of his opposition, and additional 
 instruments were thereby afforded for strengthening the hands of 
 the Government.* 
 
 There is no doubt this last division was a trial of strength, and 
 satisfied the Opposition that defeat awaited any further effort to 
 embarrass. 
 
 It was intended by the Government that, should the Police 
 Bill prove a success in the Metropolis, its provisions would be 
 further extended. The opposition it had received was not 
 encouraging. In the meantime necessity for action was urgent 
 to repress outrages throughout the country. The social condition 
 of the Irish peasant has been ah-eady mentioned. His abject 
 poverty had nothing to redeem it. His landlord, if resident, was 
 so embarrassed that he could affbrd neither encouragement nor 
 assistance. If absent, his agent was but a machine to exact the 
 uttermost farthing of rent as it became due. Added to this, the 
 burden of tithes pressed heavily on the people. Many of the 
 rectors were pluralists and non-residents. The major jjart of 
 their revenues was derived from those professing the Roman 
 Catholic faith. Is it to be wondered at that an organised 
 resistance prevailed to prevent the levy of tithes, which came 
 with the double stigma of being a premium for clerical extortion, 
 as well as a tribute to an alien faith ? A Bill was introduced for 
 the better protection of the clergy in the south. In the course 
 of its discussion it became evident that the exaction of tithes was 
 
 2G Geo. III., c. 24.
 
 48 
 
 so oppressive that Goveriimeut thought it right to abcUiduii any 
 special or exclusive measure, and to postpone till the next 
 sitting the consideration of what means were most advisable for 
 the general protection of all residents against the attacks of 
 those local banditti, who, under various names, exercised 
 terrorism in defiance of law. The postponement gave new 
 strength to White-Boyism. Riot and disorder held liigh revel, 
 notwithstanding all efforts for their repression. This necessitated 
 the introduction of repressive measures. Eecourse to Parliament 
 was the safest means at the disposal of the Viceroy. Biennial 
 Sessions often rendered delays most dangerous. The Viceroy 
 determined to break thi'ough the rule, and to summon Parliament 
 at the beginning of the year 1787. The House accordingly 
 assembled on the 13th February. The Attorney-General 
 introduced a Bill to prevent " tumultuous risings," which led to 
 an animated discussion. As originally proposed it gave power to 
 pull down any Roman Catholic chapel in which meetings of 
 disaffected people might be held, and to prevent any chapel so 
 pulled down from being rebuilt for three years. This clause was 
 abandoned, and the Bill became law from the 25th day of March, 
 1787,* by which, if persons to the number of twelve met in an 
 unlawful and riotous manner, and did not disperse within one 
 hour, when required by a Justice of the Peace so to do, their 
 offence was felony punishable by death. Palling do^vn religious 
 houses, or obstructing clergy, was a like offence. Administering 
 an unlawful oath received transportation for life, with other 
 penalties proportionately severe for minor crimes. Mr. Grattan 
 recognised the fact that to legislate for grievances, and leave the 
 cause of the grievances unredressed, was to give legal support to 
 oppression. On the 13th day of March, he brought forward a 
 motion as a precursor to an intended Bill, " that if at the 
 commencement of the next Session of Parliament it shall appear 
 that public tranquility has been restored in those parts of the 
 Kingdom that have been lately disturbed, and due obedience be 
 paid to the laws, this House will take into consideration tlie 
 
 * 27 Geo, III. c. 15.
 
 49 
 
 subject of tithes, and endeavour to form some plan for the 
 honourable support of the clergy and the ease of the people." 
 The motion was stronglj opposed by the Government, who argued 
 that the time was improper ; that passing such a resolution would 
 be to capitulate with insurrection, and to oflFer a reward for that 
 obedience to the laws on which they had a right to insist. 
 Yielding to the arguments advanced, the resolution was not 
 pressed to a di\asion. 
 
 The effects of the Attorney-General's Act were what might 
 have been anticipated. Assemblies in force were discontinued, 
 and comparative quiet restored. The Duke of Rutland determined 
 to try what had never previously failed — the Vice-Regal presence. 
 He visited Munster, the most disaffected of all the counties, and 
 was, in all directions, well received. Comparative quiet followed 
 and with its restoration trade revived. Both countries seemed 
 weary of contention. Their commercial relations passively settled 
 down into mutual concessions, no vexatious questions being raised 
 on either side ; so much so, that there was an opportunity 
 for directing the attention of the Legislature to other wants than 
 those satisfied by repressive Acts. 
 
 The Navigation Act was declared to be in force in Ireland in a 
 Bill* for Improving the Navigation, which led to an amendment 
 on the part of Mr. Grattan, the purport of which was " that the 
 Navigation Act, 12 Ch. 2, should bind His Majesty's subjects of 
 Ireland, so long as it shall have the effect of conferring the same 
 benefits, and imposing the same restrictions on both Kingdoms." 
 This was lost by 127 — 52. Its terms contrast strangely with the 
 provision in the fom'th commercial resolution, and seem to be 
 identical in principle ; and yet, to this latter, Mr. Grattan 
 offered most uncompromising opposition, which was the chief 
 means of preventing " the final adjustment." 
 
 It may be a relief, for a time, to turn from the grave cares of 
 State, and consider the great Sedan question, if only as an 
 illustration of the tone of the petitions, and the preponderance of 
 sentiment entering into Irish grievances. Sedan chairs, when 
 
 * 27 Geo. III. c. 23.
 
 oO 
 
 privately licensed, paid duty of £1 1 5s Gd a year, which funned part 
 of the funds of tlic Lying-in Hospital. Public chairs were under the 
 control of the police. An order was made by the Police Commissioners 
 " That no person should ply or carry any Hackney Sedan Chair 
 defective in any part or particular ; that they should be carried 
 by able men, decent in apparel and of good and ci\al behaviom' ; 
 that they should not be carried on the flagged way ; that the 
 chairmen should have numbered badges on their breasts, and, in 
 addition to the number on the chair, the number and name of the 
 proprietor stamped or painted on the inner side of the poles."* 
 This was made the subject of a petition, and seriously occupied the 
 attention of a Committee of Parliament. The Chairmen alleged 
 " the order was a grievance ; that theirs was a peculiar trade, that 
 defects might exist without their knowledge, that the owners of chairs 
 employed by nobility and gentry could not be answerable for men 
 acting in their absence ; that ' able men ' were vague terms, 
 and ' decent apparel ' a question rather of means than the 
 opinion of the wearer ; that not to carry a chair on the flagged 
 way was ' an encroachment on the rights of humanity;' that to wear 
 a badge on the breast was an act of wanton oppression, and the 
 having the names inside the poles altogether unnecessary." A 
 select Committee was for days occupied on these weighty questions, 
 and reported on the 11th March, 1778, f " 1st. That the Petitioners 
 have fully proved the allegations of their Petition ; 2nd. That in the 
 opinion of this Committee three numbers on each side, and another 
 on back are sufiicient to identify owners of the chau% the numbers 
 and the owners being registered with the Commissioners of Police, 
 ord. That it is the opinion of the Committee that the chairmen of 
 the City of Dublin are an honest, laborious, and decent body of 
 men, and highly deserving the protection and relief of Parliament." 
 The said Report was ordered to lie on table for perusal of Members. 
 It must have been gratifying to the chairmen of Dublin to know 
 thiit the interests and rights of their brother professionals occu})ied 
 aluKJst the last clause in the last act of the Irish Parliament. 
 [App. lG.]t 
 
 * Com. Jour. 24 Dec. 1787. f f'<'™- Jom"-. H March, 1778. 
 
 t 10 Cfco. Ill, c. lOU. §. 03.
 
 51 
 
 The close of the Session of 1787 brought with it much personal 
 sorrow to the Irish people in the death of their Viceroy. The 
 Duke of Eutland was attacked by the Irish scourge — Typhus fever, 
 and after a few days' illness expired, to the generally expressed 
 regrets of all classes. A word in his behalf may be permitted. 
 
 Profuse in his expenditure, agreeable in his bearing, strong in 
 his resolves, and confident in his advisers, the Duke of Rutland 
 won the kind feehng, and commanded the confidence of the Irish 
 people. He was popular with the crowd; he knew their weaknesses, 
 — appreciated, and when he could do so, gratified them. He 
 understood the temper of the Irish House of Commons, and on 
 impending divisions neglected no means to conciliate opponents 
 and to further secure friends. During a period requiring tact, 
 discretion, and boldness, with promptitude in action, he proved 
 equal to the occasion ; and mider circumstances of great pressure, 
 in dealing with venal senators, he neither heavily encumbered the 
 exchequer, nor unduly strained the prerogative of the Crown. A 
 less-gifted diplomatist, in stemming popular disturbance, might 
 have incited to open rebellion, or, in controlling the House of 
 Commons, have invited to revolution. He skilfully avoided either 
 extreme ; and it is something to his credit that his highest eulogy 
 came from many to whom he was politically opposed. He died in 
 office, and may be fairly said to have accomplished the duty he had 
 specially undertaken. 
 
 It was no easy matter to select a suitable successor to a 
 Viceroy who, in times of difficulty and peril, had guided the State 
 through dangers impossible to be too gi'avely estimated. The 
 appointment of Earl Temple was considered appropriate. The 
 Irish had already had experience of his administration. He had, 
 since leaving Ireland, progressed in the Peerage, and it was hoped 
 that as Marquis of Buckingham, with large Irish estates, he would 
 bring the landed gentry of the country to his side. The active 
 steps taken for the vindication of the law having restored 
 comparative qniet, it was anticipated that time and opportunity 
 would be found for the redress of those social grievances complained 
 of The arrival of their old acquaintance was to the inhabitants 
 of Dublin an occasion for the display of popular enthusiasm ; the 
 E 2
 
 52 
 
 horses were taken from his carriage, and the people, with every 
 demonstration of satisfaction, drew it through the streets. It 
 would not have been very difficult to have maintained the 
 popularity then aroused, but the Marquis of Buckingham entirely 
 failed to do so. The Irish admire firmness ; they respect, even 
 when they fear, the exercise of a resolute will ; they love liberality, 
 and glory in extravagance ; but, — they despise sham ! The Duke of 
 Rutland in the former respects had satisfied their ideas of a Viceroy. 
 So long as the ends of public justice were accomplished, he did not 
 too curiously investigate the means. The additional burden of 
 £20,000 a-year imposed on the revenue of the country during his 
 administration may have been the cheapest and best compromise 
 under the circumstances. The expenditure on the Court was 
 lavish; there had been no desire to discourage similar outlay 
 elsewhere. The Marquis of Buckingham was of a very different 
 disposition. The Castle festivities were diminished, the household 
 expenses curtailed, the official accounts scrutinized. It is but fair 
 to say that many of the inquiries instituted were forced on the 
 Viceroy, and did not result from any captious spirit. "When 
 formerly in office certain ordnance returns had been submitted to 
 him; it had been his duty to examine them, and w^hen, on his 
 re-arrival, reports from the same department were again submitted, 
 the glaring differences left no alternative but their investigation and 
 an exposure of the frauds practised. The heads and clerks in many 
 public departments took the alarm ; many resigned and were 
 permitted to pass unpunished ; by those less implicated a cry 
 was raised, that meanness mider the name of thrift was but a 
 pretext to induce officials to retire, that personal friends or 
 dependants might fill their places. This insinuation received 
 apparent support from certain alterations in the Board of Revenue, 
 whereby the Commissioners were increased in number, and 
 Englishmen introduced. Official corruption was on its trial ! 
 The friends of Reform believed the Augean stable would be cleared, 
 and the public expenses proportionately diminished ; and so they 
 might have been, had not evil fortune in the shape of temptation 
 ordered otherwise. One of the most valuable sinecures in Ireland, 
 the office of Chief Remembrancer, became vacant. The pay was
 
 53 
 
 £4,000 a-year, with patronage. The Marquis had a brother, whom 
 he nominated to the post, and thereby all expectants were 
 equally aggrieved. Honest men denounced the job, while knaves 
 exclaimed of the Viceroy, "he is one of us"! After such 
 an illustration of official reform, it became, on the part of 
 those assailed, a mere struggle for time. No nation detects 
 imposture sooner than the Irish. Those whose positions were in 
 jeopardy were convinced the opportunity was not far distant when 
 they might retaliate. In these views, however, they underrated the 
 intelligence and vigoiu- of the Viceroy ; the opportunity arrived, 
 but not in the manner they had anticipated. His popularity was 
 not only short lived, but with the public disajopointment came a 
 revulsion of feeling, which eventuated in his positive detestation. 
 
 Parliament was chiefly occupied in the repression of local 
 disturbances. Mr. Grattan believed the opportunity was 
 favourable for again bringing forward the question of Tithes. On 
 the 14th February he moved for a Committee, and in an exhaustive 
 speech reviewed the wrongs thereby occasioned ; his arguments 
 were admitted, but his remedies denied by 121 — 49. A Bill was 
 introduced by the Secretary of State " to enable all ecclesiastical 
 persons and bodies in certain counties to recover a just 
 compensation for the tithes withheld from them in the year 1787, 
 against such persons as were liable to the same." The Bill 
 proposed to dispense with trial by jury, and to determine by 
 assessment before a judge what sums should be paid. This, after 
 active opposition, passed into Law. 
 
 The Session of 1789 was opened by the announcement of the 
 serious illness of the King. The Commons voted an Address 
 suitable to the occasiou. It, however, contained an allusion to the 
 Viceroy, which afforded Mr. Grattan an opportunity of reviewing 
 his conduct in office. He pointed out that the Marquis's desire 
 for retrenchment was but affectation, and declared that " he was 
 not only a jobber, but a jobber in a mask ;" further affirming that 
 " his administration had not only been expensive," but " that his 
 expenses were accompanied by hypocrisy." Mr. Brown, of the 
 College, (as the Member for the University of Dublin is termed in 
 the Reports), characterized his economy " as a little gnawing,
 
 54 
 
 corroding, veuomous scrutiuy, which eats its way into the hearts 
 of poor men, who had not strength of body to bear violent 
 accusations, or strength of mind enough to retort on gTeat 
 offenders ; which seemed to look out for crimes and forfeitures as 
 objects of prey, not of correction."* The circumstance of the 
 illness of the King prevented a hostile division. 
 
 On February 11th, 1789, the House of Commons took into 
 their consideration the subject of His Majesty's illness. The 
 Attorney-General said it would be necessary that the proceedings 
 in Ireland should be carried on in the same manner as in 
 England. Mr. Grattan contended that it was not so, and 
 repudiated any servile imitation of the proceedings of another 
 country, " not in the choice of a Regent, for that is a common 
 concern, but in the particular provisions and limitations 
 which ought to be, and must be, governed by the particular 
 circumstances of the different countries." After a long and 
 learned speech he concluded by a resolution, "that it is the 
 opinion of this Committee that the personal exercise of the Eoyal 
 authority is, by His Majesty's indisposition, for the present 
 interrupted." Mr. ConoUy further moved an Address to the 
 Prince of Wales, requesting him, " under the style and title of 
 Prince Regent of Ireland, in the name of His Majesty, to exercise 
 and administer, according to the Laws and Constitution of the 
 Kingdom, all regal powers, jurisdictions, and prerogatives to the 
 Crown and Government thereof belonging." The Attorney- 
 General referred to the Act of the fom-th of William and Mary, 
 cap. 1, sec. 1, the Act of Recognition, which set forth the Union 
 of the Kingdom of Ireland to the Crown of England. He argued 
 that the executive being the same, the Regent should be the same. 
 He pointed out that the Act of 1782 had rendered the Great Seal 
 of England necessary to the passing of any Irish Law. He read the 
 amendment to that Act, proposed by Mr. Flood, as proof of the 
 authority the King exercised ; and declared that if the Prince did 
 not accept the Regency, and the Address should reacli him, it 
 would call on him to act in defiance of the statute which makes 
 
 * Plow., vol. ii. 2:n.
 
 00 
 
 the Crown iuseparable. The motiun was, notwithstanding, carried 
 without a division. On the 17th, the Lord Lieutenant laid 
 before the Irish Parliament the resolutions agreed to in the 
 English House. They were identical in spirit with those of the 
 Irish, except that they limited the power of the Regent in 
 granting peerages, creating ofiices, or charging any part of His 
 Majesty's real or personal estate. They also provided for the care 
 of the King. The reply of His Royal Highness, accepting the 
 duties of the position as offered, accompanied the resolutions. 
 These, however, had no effect on the Irish Parliament, and they 
 persisted in the terms of tlvAv original Address. They did so, 
 though assured by the Attorney-General he considered it as 
 tending to dethrone the King. On the 18th it was agreed that 
 both Houses should carry to the Lord Lieutenant the Address as 
 determined on. The Lords and Commons, with the Chancellor 
 and Speaker at their head, went in procession to the Castle, and the 
 Address was delivered. When the House of Commons assembled, 
 the Speaker informed them that he had attended the Lord 
 Lieutenant, and that his Excellency had returned the following 
 answer : " Under the impressions which I feel of my official 
 duty, and of the oaths which I have taken as Chief Covernor of 
 Ireland, I am obliged to decline transmitting this Address to Great 
 Britain ; for I cannot consider myself warranted to lay before the 
 Prince of Wales an Address purporting to invest His Royal 
 Highness with power to take upon him the Government of this 
 realm before he shall be enabled by law to do so." In this resolve 
 the English Cabinet " entirely conciu-red." The House on this 
 information adjourned. At its next meeting Mr. Grattan moved 
 that a competent number of members be appointed by the House to 
 present the Address to His Royal Highness. In his observations 
 on the answer of the Lord Lieutenant, he concluded by a motion, 
 " that the Lords and Commons of Ireland have exercised an 
 undoubted right and discharged an indispensable duty, to which 
 in the present emergency they alone are competent." The 
 Attorney-General again argued, " that both countries were 
 committed by the measure ; that the principles of the Adch-ess were 
 pernicious and unconstitutional ; that the claim set up by the two
 
 56 
 
 Houses of Parliament was illegal and unfounded ; that the 
 connexion between the two countries was shaken by it, and the 
 security by which men held their property in Ireland was 
 endangered ; that the Lords and Commons of Ireland had not a 
 shadow of right to provide by their authority for the executive 
 Government of Ireland, and that if the Lord Lieutenant had 
 transmitted the Address, he would have subjected himself to 
 impeachment." Discussion on minor points was raised, and in the 
 end Mr. Grattan's motion was carried by 115 — 88. Thus 
 triumphant, the House determined to retaliate. Mr. Grattan 
 moved " That His Excellency the Lord Lieutenant's answer to 
 both Houses of Parliament is ill-advised, contains an unwarranted 
 and unconstitutional censure on the proceedings of both Houses of 
 Parliament, and attempts to question the undoubted rights and 
 privileges of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons 
 of Ireland." It was in vain the Attorney-General protested. He 
 had but the one course open, to move an amendment as an 
 addition, and this he did as follows : " Although this House 
 cannot know the impressions of official duty, nor the obligations of 
 the oath under which His Excellency feels himself obliged to act, 
 and although His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales is not as 
 yet invested with the powers of Regent in Great Britain." The 
 amendment was rejected by 119 — 78. Mr. Burgh then moved a 
 further amendment to the original motion, to come in at its end, 
 " of making a Regent of Ireland without law, and whom we know 
 not to be Regent of Great Britain." This was lost by the same 
 majority which carried the original motion. 
 
 The Government was thus defeated on a most important trial 
 of strength: — the explanation of the defeat was yet to become 
 apparent. 
 
 The Irish House of Lords appointed two of its members — the 
 Duke of Leinster and the Earl of Charlemount — and the House of 
 Commons appointed four members on their behalf, together to 
 present the Address of both Houses to His Royal Highness the 
 Prince of Wales. 
 
 The deputation proceeded to London, and presented the 
 Address. The Prince, in his answer, expressed his gratitude, but
 
 delayed his final reply. He observed, " the fortunate change 
 which has taken place in the circumstances which gave occasion 
 to the Address induces me for a few days to delay giving a final 
 answer, trusting that the joyful event of His Majesty's resuming 
 the personal exercise of His Royal authority may then render it 
 only necessary for me to repeat those sentiments of gratitude and 
 affection for the loyal and generous people of Ireland, which I 
 feel indelibly imprinted on my heart." On the 14th of March, it 
 was announced from the Throne that His Majesty had recovered. 
 On the 20th, the final answer of the Prince of Wales was received. 
 It conveyed the usual compliments and assurances: — and it did 
 more, as the fii'st paragraph concluded, " Nothing can obliterate 
 from my memory and my gratitude the principles upon which 
 that arrangement was made, and the circumstances by which it 
 was attended." It further added, " I shall not pay so ill a 
 compliment to the Lords and Commons of Ireland as to suppose 
 that they were mistaken in their reliance on the moderation of 
 my views and the purity of my intentions. A manly confidence, 
 directing the manner of proceeding towards those who entertain 
 sentiments becoming the high situation to which they are born, 
 fiu-nishes the most powerful motive to the performance of their 
 duty, at the same time that the liberality of sentiment, which, in 
 conveying a trust confers an honom-, can have no tendency to 
 relax that provident vigilance and that public jealousy which 
 ought to watch over the exercise of power." The answer 
 proceeds — " personally I cannot but regret your departure. I have 
 had an opportunity of acquiring a knowledge of your private 
 characters, and it has added to the high esteem which I have 
 before entertained for you on account of your public merits." 
 
 This pointed allusion to " the principles on which the 
 arrangement w^as made," and to " the manly confidence " directing 
 the manner of proceeding refers to the difference between the 
 Address of the English and of the Irish Parliaments. The answer 
 of the Regent was attributed to the pen of Charles Fox, and 
 placed at rest for a time his ambitious expectations. There can 
 be no doubt that the sudden and unexpected convalescence of the 
 King was the occasion of the greatest political discomfiture which
 
 58 
 
 scheming senators and their political leaders ever encountered. 
 Tt occniTed thus : The previous summer had been spent by 
 Mr. Grattan in England, where he had exchanged confidences 
 with the Whig leaders, and had heard and shared in their bitter 
 animosities against Pitt, who was firmly rooted in ofiice, and 
 enjoyed the confidence with the favour of the King, The Royal 
 strength had been proved on all political emergencies. The King 
 was an attentive observer of passing events. The distractions in 
 France, and the many disquietudes at home, acting on the mind 
 of His Majesty, already indicating predisposition to disorder, 
 eventuated in unmistakeable delirium. A Regency sooner or 
 later seemed inevitable. Fox was the companion and trusted 
 fi'iend of the Prince. Once the Regent was established, Ministers 
 and measures would be changed. The question of Regency and 
 the powers tol^e granted had been discussed. Pitt, knowing the 
 predilections of the Prince, was for limited authority. Fox was 
 in support of an unconditional appointment. The Prince, in 
 pointed plu'ases, resented personally limitations* which he was 
 powerless to resist officially. Grattan coincided with Fox's views, 
 and determined on their adoption in Ireland, in the confident 
 expectation of their refusal by the Marquis of Buckingham, and 
 in such an event of his consequent removal fi'om office. It was at 
 the time politically known that Fox, in anticipation of his accession 
 to office, promised Grattan that the Viceroy should be recalled, and 
 Lord Spenser, known to be a friend to Roman Catholic relief, 
 should take his place. Grattan saw himself thereby once again 
 master of the situation. In this expectation he returned to 
 Ireland, and soon aroused in the minds of his adherents that 
 jealous spirit of nationality in which each desired an opportunity 
 to excel. It was to no purpose the Attorney-General tried to 
 recall them to reason. Those Avho were creatures of pay thought 
 the opportunity safe to exercise an independence to which they 
 had long been strangers. They cared not for the Constitution, 
 but for themselves, and easily adopted views suggested by the 
 coming men. Many who hoped that their turn might come, 
 
 * }*lowde7i, vol. ii.
 
 o9 
 
 also took up the cry — Ireland was her own mistress ; she would 
 choose her own Regent, and on her own terms. Mr. Grattau, 
 not content with carrying his resolution and his vote of censure, 
 moved, when Mr. Mason brought forward his Bill for the year's 
 supply, an amendment changing the time to two months, which 
 was carried by 102 — 77. His object was to force the Marquis of 
 Buckingham to resign, and to prevent a prorogation or dissolution. 
 The personal bitterness entertained towards the Viceroy is shown 
 in the concluding observations of Mr. Grattan in reply to the 
 Attorney-General : " As to the House having quarrelled with the 
 Lord-Lieutenant, the right hon. gentleman has stated a wrong 
 position ; it was not the House that quarrelled with the Lord- 
 Lieutenant, but it was the Lord-Lieutenant that quarrelled with 
 us, and it is wise to prevent him fi'om carrying a measure of 
 revenge into execution."* It was to no purpose the Attorney- 
 General indignantly protested. He declared he was sorry to see 
 the spirit of White-Boyism manifesting itself in Parliament. He 
 alluded to a combination, in the form of a Round Robin, that was 
 publicly known. [App. 17.]. It was Mr. Brownlow who had 
 cautioned the House, that if supplies were granted for the usual 
 time, a prorogation might ensue, as had been the case in the 
 Townsend administration. The Attorney-General, in his retort, 
 reminded the members " that the Parliament so treated had 
 voted the Viceroy a vote of thanks," observing that " the 
 majority which passed it had cost the nation half a million ;" 
 and he added, in appreciation of those present, " if Mr. Grattan's 
 motion was carried, it might lead to a similar address, which 
 would cost half a million more, and he should therefore oppose 
 it," concluding his speech by declaring that it was his intention 
 to move " that it is the undoubted right of the Lords and 
 Commons to exercise and enjoy every office of profit and trust 
 within the realm." 
 
 All was ready for action, and all were expectant, when news 
 arrived of the recovery of the King. Fifty-seven placemen, or 
 dependants (twenty Peers, and thirty-seven Commoners), who 
 
 * Plnwden. vol. ii.. p. 132.
 
 60 
 
 were creatures of the Crown by the honourable title of purchase, 
 were especially in dismay. The Marquis of Buckingham had 
 before him a copy of the " Robin." One whom they more feared, 
 the Attorney-General, had it in his power to retaliate ; and both 
 let it be known that they waited but the opportunity. 
 
 Confident in his majorities, and not anticipating the 
 announcement of the 1st of March, when official information of 
 the King's health reached Dublin, Mr. Grattan had prepared his 
 friends for his intended campaign against the Marquis of 
 Buckingham. The appointment of his brother was to be set 
 aside. The Pension Bill was to be carried, and the Police Bill 
 repealed. Tt was too late to retreat — that would be to confess 
 weakness ; to go forward was to court defeat. He was, however, 
 compelled to take action, and for this reason : Tt was stated that 
 to Grattan it was due that by the Bill of 1782 the Seal of Great 
 Britain was necessary for Irish laws. Mr. Parsons, in the House, 
 had commented on his "bungling," whilst the Dublin press adopted 
 the phrase, and affirmed the liberality of the people had been too 
 hastily bestowed. On the 3rd of March Mr. Grattan brought 
 forward his resolutions respecting the grants of offices in reversion. 
 He was, as usual, strong in his resentment against the Viceroy. 
 The Attorney-General, who had received assurances of support 
 from the wanderers, moved the adjournment, which was carried 
 by a majority of nine. Mr. Forbes introduced his Place Bill, which 
 provided for limiting pensions. The Government were apathetic on 
 the matter, and it was carried so far as to limit pensions to £80,000 
 a year ; but it was thrown out in the House of Lords as " a 
 measure designed to shut the door at a time when every exertion 
 had to be made."* The further motions directed against Revenue 
 officers having seats in ParUament, and against the Police Bill, 
 were defeated by large majorities, so eager were the offenders to 
 recover favour. Their betrayal had been flagrant : they were, 
 notwithstanding their returning alligence, informed the penalties 
 would be exacted. They ajspealed to the Attorney-General — 
 their humiliation thereby must have been as abject as their 
 
 * P. C. liOrd P.iu'kingham to TiOrd Svdnev.
 
 61 
 
 submissiou was complete. The Marquis of Buokinghajn, 
 in his letter to Lord Sydney, stated "he had not hesitated 
 to authorize the Attorney-General to declare that it was not 
 his intention to recommend to his Majesty the dismissal of 
 the Gentlemen with whom he had conversed, or that of those 
 who might accede immediately to the same declaration of 
 submission. It is, however, expressly declared that the King's 
 Government is under no engagement for future favour or 
 countenance, either in their counties or elections, to any of those 
 noblemen or gentlemen, and it is equally stipulated that any 
 engagements to those who have zealously and uniformly supported 
 Government shall be maintained, though the arrangement may 
 interfere with the former engagements which had been made to 
 those members when supporting the Administration." The Duke 
 of Leiuster and the Ponsonbies made no personal supplication. 
 They clamoured for a " General Amnesty." They had been of 
 the deputation, and they were dismissed — the Duke from the office 
 of Master of the Rolls, which in the present day would be thought 
 an extraordinary appointment, Ponsonby from the Board of 
 Revenue, and others paid a similar penalty. Those who were 
 spared became examples of political regeneration and loud in their 
 praises of the Viceroy ; congratulating themselves they were not 
 as other men. This victory was not achieved without its price. 
 Independent members were hard to be con\dnced. It cost 
 £13,000 a year in the form of pensions, while to those of less 
 material ambition rank was offered — nine Peers gaining a step, 
 and seven members of the House of Commons being elevated to 
 the Upper House. Well might the Lord Lieutenant be assured 
 that " one hundi'ed and ten servants of the Crown had been 
 disciplined into obedience by the punishment of the mutineers."* 
 
 At this juncture (April, 1789) Lord LiflTord resigned the Great 
 Seal and Fitz-Gibbon became Lord Chancellor, being the first 
 Irishman raised to that dignity. Deprived of the able and 
 incorruptible aid of his Attorney-General in the House of 
 Commons, Lord Buckingham declined to continue in office, and 
 
 * Froude, vol. 2. p. 519.
 
 62 
 
 closed a Viceroyalty] which, but for his personal meauness and 
 the inexcusable error of his brother's appointment, might have 
 been regarded as not entirely failing to give effect to the policy of 
 his predecessor. 
 
 That the presence of Fitz-Gibbon in the House of Commons 
 was a tower of strength is evidenced in every debate where the 
 interests of his country or the prerogative of the Crown were 
 under consideration. An able lawyer, an accomplished orator, an 
 experienced debater, an incorruptible senator, with, in his own 
 person, a Spartan sense of public virtue, and undisguised 
 contempt for State hirelings calling themselves patriots, he boldly 
 faced each difficulty as it arose, and did not hesitate to publicly 
 avow his opinions, holding the discharge of his duty as above 
 all popular comment. To his unflinching personal courage was 
 due the suppression of the most serious disturbance the country 
 had been threatened with. ; and to his well knowni firmness may be 
 ascribed the passive obedience to the law, which, in the 
 attachment of the Sheriff, he had announced his determination to 
 enforce. That one designed by nature to guide men by his 
 genius should often have been compelled to listen to the sordid 
 bargaining of those to whom the interest of their country was 
 confided, is not the least strange illustration of these strange 
 times. The best that can be said in his justification, if 
 justification it be, is that what he did he did effectively and 
 well, for the good, as he believed, of his country. Men knew and 
 feared him. He appreciated and despised them. Knowing him 
 so well, political bargains were, in State emergencies, with the 
 exception of the Eobin, faithfully carried out. When on the 
 Eegency question, the trustees of their country proved not only 
 corrupt, but also mendacious, those who feared they might be 
 " Victims of their Votes " found, in his public reproof and 
 personal contempt, their severest punishment. 
 
 The opening of the Session of January, 1790, by the new 
 Viceroy, the Earl of Westmoreland, was as the quiet after a 
 storm. His speech contained but the every-day topics, as " the 
 secure enjoyment of the blessings of peace, and the inestimable 
 advantages arising from our free Constitution." Grattan and his
 
 63 
 
 party had experienced all the bitterness and exasperation of an 
 ignominious defeat ; and, what was worse than disappointment, they 
 had disclosed their intentions to the English Minister, and jAaced 
 him on his guard against their future movements. Mr. Grattan, in 
 his speech on the Address, reviewed the past Session, and declared 
 " the conduct of Ministers was little less than a daring outrage on 
 the hberties and morals of the people, for at no period had so 
 many instances of corruption and coercion occurred." He 
 complained " that the Civil List had in five years increased to 
 £30,000 a year, and the Military List to £100,000." He described 
 the police " as an unconstitutional and corrupt influence in the 
 Corporation of the City," and "a place army to encourage 
 accomjilices against the country." His personal vituperation of 
 the late Viceroy was directed through the House to the people, 
 who, with some knowledge of recent events, were curious to 
 observe his conduct under his new reverse. 
 
 On February the 1st Mr. Grattan moved an addi-ess regarding 
 the appointment of certain Commissioners, which enabled him to 
 review in detail the late Government abuses he complained of. 
 His speech at least informed the country of what he beheved to be 
 the conduct of the executive, supported by majorities in 
 Parliament : " No Constitutional Bills to heal, no popular Bills 
 to pacify. The Currency — the pure poison unmixed, unquenched, 
 unqualified, or, if qualified, tempered only with revenge. On this 
 principle did the Ministers take into their venal and \nndictive 
 hand the table of proscriptions ; on this principle, did they 
 remove, not because the place was unnecessary — they had made 
 unnecessary ofiices ; on this principle, did they deprive, not 
 because the pension list was overburdened — they had augmented 
 that list ; but because the placemen so removed and the pensioners 
 so deprived had voted against the will of the Minister in questions 
 wherein that Minister was pronounced to be unconstitutional, and 
 known to be con-upt ;" and pressing his observations specially 
 towards recent abuses, he added : " Sir, you have in Ireland no 
 axe, and therefore no good minister." Mr. Conolly and others, 
 who had subscribed " the Robin," followed in a similar strain. 
 Mr. Parsons contended that the system, if persisted in, would
 
 64 
 
 deprive the country of all the acquisitions of 1782. The motion 
 was lost by 160—50. 
 
 In no wise disconcerted by Mr. Grattan's failure on a similar 
 motion, Mr. Forbes brought forward an address on the 
 expenses of the nation, a subject which invited to free expressions 
 of opinion. Mr. Grattan declared — " Was Ireland as much cast off 
 by Providence as by her Ministers I own I should think her a 
 country too lost to be defended." The division was as usual : 
 153 — G5. The conduct of the Marquis of Buckingham was next 
 reviewed in a motion for a select Committee to inquire into the 
 corrupt agi'cements for the sale of Peerages, and the purchase of 
 seats in the House of Commons. The learning on the subject was 
 exhausted, but the whole pith of the argument rested in the 
 following reflections on Fitz-Gibbon's remarks, the sting of 
 discomfiture still smarting : " If the nature of the measures did not 
 import their own criminality and mischief, yet the conversation of 
 the projectors had been full and explanatory on the subject : any 
 money for a majority, give us the Treasury and we buy the 
 Parliament I but conversations of this sort have even entered 
 these walls — these new charges are political expedients. Ireland 
 was sold for £1,500,000 formerly, and if opposition persists will 
 be sold again." Mr. Grattan concluded, " We charge them with 
 committing these offences not in one, nor in two, but in many 
 instances ; for which complication of offences we say they are 
 impeachable ; guilty of a systematic endeavour to undermine the 
 Constitution in violation of the laws of the land. We pledge 
 ourselves to convict them, we dare them to go into an inquiry ; 
 we do not affect to treat them as other than public malefactors ; 
 we speak to them in a style of the most mortifying and humiliating 
 defiance. We pronounce them to be public criminals ; will they 
 dare to deny the charge ? I call upon, and dare the ostensible 
 member to rise in his place, and say, on his honour, that he does 
 not believe such corrupt agreements have taken place. I wait for 
 a specific answer." Major Hobart replied : " I rise to say that if 
 I could think the right honourable gentleman had any right to 
 ask me the question he has proposed, and I were alone concerned 
 in it, T should find no manner of difficulty in answering him ; but
 
 65 
 
 it is a question which relates to the exercise of His Majesty's 
 undoubted prerogative ; it would ill become me, upon the 
 instigation of an individual, to say what were the reasons which 
 induced His Majesty to bestow upon any persons those honours 
 which the Crown alone can constitutionally confer." Motion lost 
 by 172 — GO. Imagine such a charge, from one so eminent, being 
 at the present day preferred against the Ministiy in the English 
 Commons, and so avowed being so answered ! Mr. Forbes brought 
 forward his Place and his Pensions' Bills, which met with their usual 
 fate. On March 26th he introduced his Responsibility Bill for 
 " securing a responsibility in the servants of the Crown in the 
 different departments of the executive Government in Ireland, to 
 the Parliament thereof." This Bill required the acts of the executive 
 power to be signed by certain officers resident in Ireland, who, as 
 Grattan stated, " should, with their lives and fortunes, be 
 responsible to this Kingdom in the measures and expenses of 
 Government." It was lost by 131 — 64. One motion, to the 
 credit of the Session be it recorded, was carried — that of 
 Mr. David Latouche : " That it is the opinion of this House, that 
 the excessive use of spirituous liquors is highly injurious to the 
 health and morals of the people ; that a Committee be appointed 
 to take the subject into their consideration." The Session was 
 further occupied by renewed attacks on the Police Bill, and the 
 Peerage question, revived by Mr. Curran, in which he declared 
 that " a contract had been entered into by the Ministers to raise 
 to the Peerage certain persons on condition of their purchasing a 
 certain number of seats in this House. It was a corrupt disposal of 
 public money, it was an attempt to undermine the liberties of 
 the people, and constituted a crime that deserved punishment. He 
 pledged himself to prove the charge, if the House would agree to 
 go into the inquiry." Mr. Ponsonby declared " that he had proof 
 that Peerages had been sold for money," and added, " Go into a 
 Committee, and if I do not establish my charge, degrade me — let 
 me no longer enjoy the character of an honest man. I dare the 
 administration to it. I risk my reputation on estabhshing the 
 fact." The motion was lost.
 
 66 
 
 Thus perpetually assailed, always on the defensive, the 
 Government welcomed, in April, the natural dissolution of a 
 Parliament which, under the form of Constitutional proceedings, 
 had thrown away the opportunity for the regeneration of the 
 country. 
 
 Lord Temple had inaugurated this Parhament by instituting 
 the new Order of the Knights of St. Patrick, March 1783, which 
 placed at the disposal of the Ministers honours to bestow. The 
 Whig Club was formed at its termination, wherein discomfited 
 politicians might find free expressions for their opinions, without 
 the restrictions of Parliamentary utterance, which at no time 
 seem to have been severe. The common ground of Country, her 
 wrongs and their remedy, were their alleged bond of union. The 
 blue and buff uniform survives to this our day, and is occasionally 
 to be met with in gentlemen of the old school, who speak of 
 the politics of their fathers, and are unwilling to confess how 
 closely their then Whiggery approached the theories of political 
 doctrinaires, and how nearly it proved subversive of the 
 Throne. 
 
 The election of 1790 contrasts strangely with that which 
 preceded it. The Parliament of 1782 represented an armed yet 
 loyal people, true in their allegiance to the Crown, and explicit in 
 the avowal of their grievances. They had firmly yet fairly 
 demanded from England the restoration of their constitutional 
 rights and privileges, and they had been met in a spirit of 
 concession which satisfied their requirements. The law then 
 passed in their behalf was declared to be "a measure of consummate 
 wisdom and justice, suitable to the dignity and eminence of both 
 nations, exalting the character of both, and furnishing a perpetual 
 pledge of mutual amity." The concession granted had been 
 " unaccompanied by any stipulation or condition whatever, the 
 good faith and generosity with the honom- of the nation, being 
 regarded as the best guarantees that they would promote and 
 perpetuate the harmony, stability and the glory of the Empire." 
 The Parliament of 1783 entered on the discharge of their duties 
 to the country in order to give effect to these anticipations. The 
 tim(^ and nircnmstanccs were peculiarly favourable to give spirit
 
 67 
 
 to commercial pursuits. " Both Kingdoms," to further quote the 
 address of Lord Northington, "were then enabled to deliberate 
 with undivided attention on the surest means of increasing their 
 prosperity and reaping the certain fruits of reciprocal affection." 
 From the very commencement of their sittings, the advantages 
 obtained were considered as victories, not concessions. Sentiments 
 of distrust and alienation suggested the speeches, doubt and 
 suspicion characterised the acts of the Irish political leaders. It 
 was to no purpose that the British Parliament manifested its 
 willingness to satisfy their misgivings, first aroused in the 
 insufficiency of the repeal of Poyning's Law, by at once passing 
 the Act " for preventing or removing all doubts," and in the 
 most explicit terms settling the question. Want of faith in England 
 was the Shibboleth of Irish politicians. The people believed that 
 by Independence they had gained much. Their distresses had 
 hitherto been ascribed to English oppression and misrule. They 
 waited for measures calculated to diminish their burdens and 
 infuse energy into their industries. The Roman Catholics, the 
 numerical strength of the State, anticipated that a free Irish 
 Parliament would give to them that fuller enjoyment of civil and 
 religous liberty, which they believed the sectarianism of England 
 had withheld. Both were disappointed, and both began to 
 murmur. The echoes of their dissatisfaction were heard within 
 the House. Exulting in their success and jealous of their rights, 
 Parliament perpetually dangled the infant Constitution before the 
 eyes of the nation, and neglected the means of securing its vitality 
 and vigour. The spirit of practical legislation was entirely wanting 
 to their proceedings ; prolonged debates leading to no beneficial 
 results. Those outside the House began to think the State infant 
 rather a nuisance than otherwise ; those within found their 
 business interrupted, for its rattle was perpetual. The masses 
 determined, while the child was being quarrelled over by its 
 guardians, to take action for themselves. The Irish people, 
 susceptible and impulsive, had every incentive to action against 
 the English Government, which they believed had been indifferent 
 to their complaints. They compared their present and their past 
 fondition, and found no improvement since their Parliament was 
 F 2
 
 68 
 
 free. They had many examples which gave them confidence in 
 their resistance to the law. The declaration of American 
 Independence, and the circumstances attending it, had been 
 discussed in every village, where some one of the 4000 Irishmen 
 voted in the Harcourt administration for the American war, had 
 relatives or friends. The progress of Republican institutions in 
 Roman Catholic France, had sent a thrill of hope into each breast 
 professing " the old faith." At home the successful achievements 
 of the Protestant Volunteers was not without its teaching. The 
 Declaration of Dungannon, and the assertion of Independence 
 were so many illustrations of the result of armed opinion. The 
 Catholics of Ireland would have been less than men had they 
 observed these events unmoved. They looked to Parliament for 
 relief and found but little, yet they heard much. The leading 
 men in the senate openly accused England of perfidy and wrong. 
 They regarded all overtures coming from her as covert designs 
 on their constitution. They publicly proclaimed the baseness and 
 corruption of their own assembly, and yet refused to adopt the 
 means within their reach for its remedy. They avowed that the 
 Government had their majority in its pay. Mutual revilings 
 constituted the chief interest of their debates, and yet it was 
 expected that a nation little informed, and unable or unwilling to 
 think and judge for itself, should have faith in an executive which 
 its representatives mistrusted, or give to them that confidence 
 which its members withheld from one another. 
 
 In this position the Irish people were too ready to believe 
 whatever they were told by interested informers, and to follow 
 pernicious courses recommended by false advisers for their own 
 selfish ends. Their sympathies were misled by appeals to matters 
 of which they could only comprehend the outline, much less 
 reflect on their importance and tendency. There was no want of 
 genuine and unselfish patriotism amongst many Catholics, who, 
 influenced by love of country, desired to maintain her so-called 
 " Independence," but they required guidance, and guidance they 
 had none, for interests of creed and of country were believed to 
 conflict. There were not wanting agitators, who, at all periods of 
 public disturbance, come to the front, and assume a direction of
 
 69 
 
 the masses, who do not reflect on questions they are generally too 
 ignorant to understand. Such, under unscrupulous advice, are 
 ever ready either to intimidate a Government or influence the 
 conduct of individuals. These petty-mongers of their Country's 
 honour found powerful coadjutors, and active and ample 
 elements of mischief, in the great abuses which admittedly 
 prevailed. They addressed men heated with enthusiasm and 
 agitated by love of change. The spirit outside the House, 
 influenced the debates within. The descent from patriotism to 
 faction is easy : zeal for a principle soon begets impatience of 
 opposition, as the desire of victory over an adversary generally 
 leads to power being regarded as an instrument for mere personal 
 gTatification. This was illustrated in the Irish Parliament, so 
 that popular following became an essential element of success. 
 The change in public opinion was gradual but sure. The natural 
 tendency of Constitutional doctrines, when embraced with fanatical 
 zeal, is to merge into Republicanism. The brilliant declamations of 
 Grattan, in his exposure of abuses, suggested to many that the 
 opinions and doctrines of the Revolution were the best answer to 
 laws admittedly oppressive, maintained by a legislature known to 
 be corrupt. The conduct of the Government in these critical 
 times was as indecent as it was pernicious, and tended to keep the 
 people in a constant state of ferment and disquiet. Instead of 
 taking a firm and determined course through the majority at its 
 command in Parliament, and adjusting causes of complaint while 
 punishing disturbers of the peace ; they not only neglected due 
 precautions against the arts and acts of violent partisans, but even 
 permitted them to work upon the public mind and to obtain an 
 ascendancy which it was impossible subsequently to destroy. 
 Agitators were allowed to assume a tone of authority and to use 
 language of dictation to a people who had abundant illustrations 
 of what armed opinion was capable of accomplishing ; and this 
 at a time when Europe was being shaken to its foundations, and 
 Ireland was known to be warm in her sympathies and intimate 
 in her associations with France. 
 
 The Volunteers had been disbanded. Their Convention in 
 Dublin had conflicted with the authority of Parliament and had
 
 70 
 
 been dissolved under the pressure of public opiniou, then not 
 altogether alienated from the Constitution. The attempted 
 Congress had been prevented by the strong arm of the law. 
 Government at length had been aroused to the danger of 
 neglecting precautions against the wiles of pseudo-patriots, and 
 it was determined to permit them no longer to gain an ascendancy 
 over the public mind, through despising their power. Ministers had, 
 as against their teaching, taken precautionary measures for the 
 protection of the State, but they neglected the only sure means 
 whereby a despicable or unprincipled agitation can be effectually 
 crushed, or honest dissatisfaction rightly appeased, — they withheld 
 those reforms which the people had a right to expect and the 
 state of the National Institutions demanded. While affairs were 
 in this condition came tidings from revolutionary France : — 
 Alarming disturbances had taken place, more particularly at 
 Nismes, where Catholics and Protestants came into collision, and 
 a great number of lives were sacrificed. The old cry of intolerance 
 was thereupon raised, and the conflict between creeds renewed. 
 Throughout the country distrust revived. The Grand Juries in 
 several counties passed resolutions little in favour of the 
 Catholics, [App. 18.] and yet further concessions were admitted 
 to be justly required, which at the same time were considered 
 unsafe, for property lay on one side and physical force on the other 
 When Mr. Gardiner introduced his Catholic Relief Bill in 1781, 
 Mr. Ponsonby " thought it would be extremely wi'ong to show 
 any unwillingness to receive the Bill ;* a people of such 
 exemplary loyalty had his good wishes." The reasons urged after 
 ten years of independence were based not on admiration but on 
 fear ; not on appreciation of loyalty, but on apprehension of 
 sedition. 
 
 The opening speech of the Session of 1792, was important from 
 its complete freedom fi'om any special interest. The Parliament 
 and the people each waited for the other to begin ; it was 
 understood by both, that the existing state of things could not 
 continue. Mr. Grattan on this occasion inveighed against the 
 
 * 1 Par D., p. 201
 
 Government with more than ordinary bitterness, for some new 
 members were present, and the feeling of his recent discomfiture 
 was still strong. He assailed the House, and was not called to 
 order. It is worth while to recur to his speech as having 
 the sanction of Parliamentary utterance, which was unquestioned. 
 [App. 19.] 
 
 It was understood that this was to be a working Session and 
 
 that measures of further relief for the Catholics would meet with 
 
 the sanction of the Government. The occurrence of the French 
 
 outrages was most inopportune. These and the atrocities in Paris 
 
 had cooled the ardour of many. Concession and conciliation had 
 
 made the food they fed on. Outside the House various schemes of 
 
 Catholic relief had been discussed, but nothing actually decided. 
 
 On the eve of the Parliament meeting, the Viceroy had called a 
 
 meeting of such of the Privy Council as he could most surely trust, 
 
 and laid before them the instructions of the Cabinet, the principle 
 
 of which was that the connection between England and Ireland 
 
 rested absolutely on Protestant ascendancy. The Grand Juries 
 
 throughout the country had come forward in support of the views 
 
 of the Ministry. "At the hazard of everything dear to them, 
 
 they besought Parliament to uphold and maintain the Protestant 
 
 interest of Ireland, and instructed their representatives to oppose 
 
 any propositions which might be made for extending to Catholics 
 
 the right of elective franchise." Thus encouraged, the Irish 
 
 executive agreed that, in the then state of the public mind, neither 
 
 the point of arms, nor of the franchise could be carried. It was 
 
 ultimately decided that Sir Hercules Langrishe should bring in a 
 
 moderate measure, and Major Hobart speak in its favour. This 
 
 was far short of what was expected if not promised, and the 
 
 Government seemed compromised in the matter. A son of 
 
 Edmund Burke, with little of his father's ability, had been enabled 
 
 to get himself appointed as a champion of the Roman Catholics. 
 
 His father's name had procured him access to Pitt, Dundas had 
 
 also conversed freely with him. Both formed the opinion that his 
 
 ability was far less than his vanity, and refused him their 
 
 confidence. He nevetherless reached Ireland with a guarded letter 
 
 of introduction from Dundas to Major Hobart, which he used as
 
 an assurance to many, of his being in the Cabinet secrets. He 
 thereby aroused expectations beyond the intentions of the 
 Government, and he drafted a Bill to give them expression. On 
 the 25th January Sir Hercules Langrishe obtained leave to bring 
 in his Bill, its objects being to open to Catholics the profession of 
 the Law, to permit their intermarriage with Protestants, to restore 
 certain rights and privileges of Education, and to enable them to 
 follow Trades. It came under discussion on the 18th of February. 
 Mr. Burke had a rival Bill which sought for all but complete 
 Emancipation ;* he entrusted it to Mr. O'Hara. Mr. Egan also 
 presented a petition from certain Eoman Catholics, " entreating 
 the House to take into consideration whether the removal of some 
 of the civil incapacities affecting them, and the restoration of some 
 share of the Elective Franchise, would not tend to strengthen the 
 State." Mr. Grattan said, "we are governed by the ascendancy 
 of the Treasury," and declared the ascendancy in elections to be 
 simply Ministerial, not that of the Protestant people. f The Bill 
 became Law. Mr. Burke's Bill led to no results, whilst the Catholic 
 petition of Mr. Egan asking for the Franchise was rolled along the 
 floor of the House to the door and kicked out. 
 
 The Session was hurried to a close, through the House being 
 burnt ; but before prorogation the Solicitor-General brought 
 forward the conduct of J. Napper Tandy, for having " demanded 
 an explanation " for words spoken in the debates, and the House 
 ordered the Serjeant-at-Arms, in vindication of its authority, to 
 bring the offender to its bar. 
 
 The association of United Irishmen had assumed very 
 formidable extension. Its numbers were vast ; its avowed object 
 separation. Like the Volunteer movement, it had completely 
 changed from its original constitution. When first formed it 
 consisted chiefly of Northern Presbyterians — they then had nothing 
 secret, nothing ambiguous, nothing inconsistent with the duty of 
 loyal subjects ; now covert rebellion marked its movements. 
 The United Irishmen formed a Catholic Society. They 
 determined that a convention should be held under the sanction 
 
 * Com. Jour. lS-92. f 32 Geo. III. c. 21.
 
 of the Catholic Prelates to discuss therein Catholic rights. It was 
 known to the authorities that armed bodies of men calling 
 themselves a " National Guard," wearing a national uniform, 
 openly paraded in imitation of the old Volunteers. It was believed 
 they were in sympathy with France for the purpose of a revolution. 
 The Dublin Convention, through their aid, hoped to accomplish 
 for the Catholics what the Dunganuon Convention had established 
 for the Parliament — Eeligious Independence ! A day was 
 appointed for their meeting. A review of the National Guard 
 was at the same time to be held. The Viceroy had no directions 
 how to act. He appealed to Fitz-Gibbon who, as usual, was 
 equal to the occasion, and he at once issued (9 Dec. 1702) a 
 Proclamation against unauthorized bodies assembling in arms. 
 Riots threatened ; the executive was firm, and adequate force was 
 ready. The re\'iew was not held. Disappointed and disaffected, 
 armed bands traversed the streets, crying, " Liberty ! Equality ! " 
 and " No King !" but the law prevailed. When its authority 
 was acknowledged, the Convention was permitted to meet. It 
 demanded admission to the Franchise and to Parliament, and 
 prepared a petition for direct presentation to the King. 
 
 This condition of public feeling marked the opening of the 
 Session of 1793. The Earl of Westmoreland, in his speech, 
 alluded to disturbances at home, recommended a Militia Bill, 
 approved of the determination the House had manifested to 
 enforce obedience to the laws, and added : " I have it in particular 
 command from His Majesty to recommend it to you, to apply 
 yourselves to the consideration of such measures as may be most 
 likely to strengthen and cement a general union of sentiment 
 amongst all classes and descriptions of His Majesty's subjects in 
 support of the established Constitution. With this view His 
 Majesty trusts that the situation of His Majesty's CathoHc 
 subjects will engage your serious attention, and in consideration 
 of this subject he relies on the wisdom and liberality of His 
 Parliament." This occasion is remarkable as being the first 
 prominent appearance in the Irish House of Commons of Major 
 Arthur Wellesley, afterwards Duke of Wellington, who seconded 
 the address, and specially approved of the conduct of the
 
 74 
 
 Lord-Lieutenant in " preventing men calling themselves national 
 guardsmen from appearing in military array." 
 
 The Crown had information of the importation and manufacture 
 of arms and ammunition. It was known that, under the semblance 
 of Reform discussion, treason was concocted. To meet the double 
 danger of treason and agitation the Attorney- General introduced a 
 special Act,* " to prevent the importation of arms, gunpowder, 
 and ammunition into the Kingdom, and the removing or keeping 
 them without a license." This at once gave the Executive power 
 against the many so-called Volunteer Corps and '• Guards " ripe 
 for revolution. A Convention Billf immediately followed. It 
 prevented " the election or appointment of unlawful assemblies 
 under pretence of preparing or preventing petitions or addresses 
 to His Majesty or the Parliament." The preamble states " that 
 the election or appointment of assemblies purporting to represent 
 the people, under pretence of preparing petitions, complaints or 
 remonstrances to King or Parliament for alteration of matters 
 established by law, or redress of alleged grievances in Church or 
 State, may be made use of to serve the ends of factions and 
 seditious persons to the violation of the public peace and the 
 great and manifest encouragement of tumult and disorder," and 
 then proceeds to enact that those attending unlawful assemblies 
 shall be guilty of a high misdemeanour. It is a strong proof of 
 the alarming condition of Ireland, that Sir John Parnell's Militia 
 Bill, which provided a force of 16,000 men, and increased the 
 regular troops to 20,000, should, after discussion, be carried 
 without a division.^ 
 
 Again was the question of reform introduced by Grattan, 
 now in a less pretentious form. On the 11th of February 
 he read three resolutions : — " 1 . That the representation of 
 the people is attended with great and heavy charges and 
 payments in consequence of elections and returns of members 
 to serve in Parliament, and that said abuses ought to be 
 abolished. 2. That of the 300 members elected to serve in 
 Parliament, the Counties and Counties of Cities and Towns, 
 
 » 3S Geo. III. c. 2. f .S3 Geo. III. c. 29. + 33 Geo. Ill, c. 22.
 
 75 
 
 together with the University, return 84 members, and that the 
 remaining 216 are returned by Boroughs and Manors. 3. That 
 the state of the representation in Parliament requires amendment." 
 Against the passing of any Reform Bill the Government was on 
 its guard. Pledged in a measure to the Catholics for their 
 participation in the franchise, Reform was considered as equivalent 
 to placing the country in their hands. The Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer moved by way of amendment : " 1 . That if any plan 
 shall be proposed which shall promise additional benefits, without 
 hazarding the advantages we enjoy, it shall be considered to be 
 entitled to the most serious attention of the Committee. 
 2. That under the present order of representation the privileges 
 of the people have been extended, and the agriculture, the trade, 
 and the commerce of the nation have been promoted." A debate 
 followed, in which leading members of both sides joined, the 
 amendment being carried by 135 — 71. A similar result attended 
 an attempt subsequently introduced by Mr. Forbes. 
 
 The speech of the Lord-Lieutenant had prepared the way for 
 further relief to the Roman Catholics. The Convention had 
 agreed to discontinue their meetings ; before doing so a deputation 
 of the United Irishmen had requested an interview and been 
 refused. Major Hobart brought forward his Bill. The House 
 resolved itself into Committee. On the second reading Mr. Knox 
 had moved " that the Roman Catholics should have seats in 
 Parliament." His motion was set aside as inconsistent with the 
 order of proceedings. The Bill was violently opposed by 
 Doctor Diugenan, who stated " that Catholic Emancipation meant 
 a restoration of Catholic forfeited estates, which were still 
 partitioned in marriage settlements amongst the descendants of 
 those dispossessed.* The Bill became law.f By this Act Roman 
 Catholics were admitted to the franchise, to the magistracy, and to 
 the grand juries on the same terms as Protestants. Without 
 the objectionable oaths arms were granted to those with certain 
 property qualification, and with oaths to others of minor 
 qualifications. They were permitted to hold civil or military 
 
 * Par. Deb.. 27th February, 1793. t 33 Geo. III. c. 21.
 
 70 
 
 oflBces of trust ; and without oaths to take degrees in any College 
 except Trinity ; they might be elected as Professor to Sir Patrick 
 Dunn's Hospital, with which is associated the King and Queen's 
 College of Physicians in Ireland. This Act and the preceding, 
 read with those passed in 1782, left little more to be obtained but 
 seats in Parliament and judicial office. 
 
 Parliament, notwithstanding being so occupied, found time to 
 pass an Act whereby " Barren heath or waste ground improved 
 into arable land or meadow was freed from tithe for seven years," 
 with a provision that burning surface without the proprietor's 
 consent was not to be regarded as improvement within the Act.* 
 
 Mr. Forbes was at length to be rewarded with success. He 
 brought forward his usual motion to exclude placemen from the 
 House. After eight years of failure he found the opposition 
 withdrawn, and his Bill reached Committee. It was considered as a 
 set-off" against the loss of reform, and it became Law.f It operated 
 in a manner not to affect present occupants of seats, so that a 
 period of four years remained to Government to mature any plans 
 in contemplation. An Act which may be considered as collateral to 
 this was also passed, by which the Government gave consent to 
 limit the Civil Lists to £80,000 a year, and in which by c. 9 they 
 agreed to limit the secret service money to £5,000 a year4 
 reserving by c. 10 "any sum may be paid to the principal 
 Secretary of State for secret service for the purpose of detecting, 
 preventing or defeating dangerous conspiracies against the State." 
 Both these Acts proved powerful instruments in the hands of the 
 Crown. The Place Bill enabled the office of Escheator for each 
 of the four counties to be available for the vacating of seats in 
 Parliament, as each was a paid office of 30s a year. The other 
 gave discretion without question in the expenditure of money. 
 
 It is to the credit of the House that, while thus involved in 
 questions directly aflFecting itself, it should have adopted 
 Fox's Libel Bill, which had passed in England in the previous 
 Session. This they did in an Act "To remove all doubts 
 respecting the functions of juries in cases of libel," an Act justly 
 
 * H3 Geo. III. c. 2.5. f ^^ C!eo. III. c. 21. J 3.3 Geo. III. c. 34.
 
 77 
 
 regarded as the Magna Charta of the Press. The Session of 
 1793 was, without further important business, brought to its 
 close. 
 
 The active co-operation of Parliament and the energy of the 
 Lord Chancellor had avoided open rupture between the Crown and 
 the people. The Convention and the Militia Bills were for the 
 time equal to the occasion. The sudden change of Ministerial 
 ])olicj in abandoning the Pension and Place Bills soon received 
 its explanation. It was known that a French invasion of Ireland 
 had been determined on. Ostensibly to give strength by the 
 union of parties in face of a common enemy, Portland, Spenser and 
 Fitzwilliam became members of Pitt's administration. Mr. 
 Ponsonby stated in the House: "the Duke of Portland and other 
 members of the Rockingham administration would not have joined 
 Pitt, had the Duke not received ample authority to reform 
 abuses which existed in the Irish Government." To him was 
 confided the general management and superintendence of Ireland ; 
 and leading Irish poh'ticians were invited to England to discuss the 
 position. The Ponsonbies, Grattan, Sir John Parnell and others 
 saw the Premier. The Duke of Portland was not without 
 experience of how little was to be expected fi-om concessions. 
 Grattan's price for Irish peace was the admission of Catholics to 
 Parliament. Pitt was uncertain how to act. He appreciated the 
 necessity of conciliating three millions of people, at a time of gi'ave 
 difficulty, when Irish money and men were both required, and an 
 invitation to rebellion was publicly offered in the event of his refusal. 
 Pitt doubted the efficacy of the remedy proposed, and he adopted a 
 middle course. He induced the King to recall Lord Westmoreland, 
 whilst Lord Fitzwilliam, known to be an ardent supporter of Catholic 
 Emancipation, was appointed his successor. Fitzwilliam informed 
 Grattan that he would proceed to Ireland with full discretionary 
 powers. Grattan returned to Dublin and prepared the Catholics 
 for the complete fulfilment of their wishes. The plan of action was 
 discussed in the English Cabinet. In the eleventh hour a difficulty 
 arose with the King. Fitzwilliam was permitted to go without 
 precise instructions ; he was to discourage Catholic agitation, 
 reserve his opinions, make no promises, and communicate the
 
 78 
 
 views of Irish officials for the information of His Majesty. With 
 these general directions he arrived in Ireland, and was welcomed 
 with acclamation. The people were led to believe they had only 
 to persevere in their demands and they would be granted. Mr, 
 Grattan saw again within his reach the opportunity which he had 
 lost in the Buckingham crisis. He, and those who acted with 
 him, persuaded the Viceroy to take decided action. Lord 
 Fitzwilliam believed himself authorized to remove certain servants 
 of the Crown. John Beresford, chief commissioner of Customs, 
 was dismissed, and the Attorney and Solicitor- General were 
 noticed to leave as soon as the proper consent could be received, 
 Fitz-Gibbon, bold and defiant, was for the present beyond their 
 reach. These were acts of the greatest encouragement to the 
 expectant Catholic party. On the 22nd of January, 1795, Lord 
 Fitzwilliam opened the Session. He made a long speech in which 
 he carefully avoided the object for which he was supposed to have 
 been specially sent. The public were content to wait. On the 
 11th of February Mr. Grattan moved to introduce a Bill to repeal 
 the Police Bill. On the 1 2th he also moved to bring in a Bill " for 
 repeal of Catholic disabilities ;" leave was given, and Mr. Ponsonby 
 and Mr. Knox were ordered to prepare the same. The hopes of 
 the Catholics ran high. In anticipation of their complete success, 
 the Opposition were ready with any sum asked for. £200,000 
 was granted for the Fleet ; the defences of the country having 
 now assumed additional importance. In the meantime Beresford 
 had been to England ; he had seen the Duke of Portland, and 
 explained matters to Pitt. He returned to Ireland and resumed 
 his place at the Kevenue Board. The Law Officers no longer 
 feared change, but as yet their was no public avowal to indicate 
 dissent. News reached London of the doings on the 12th It 
 was stated that the outlines of Grattan's Bill had been laid before 
 Parliament with the consent of the Viceroy, without previous 
 consultation with the Cabinet. On the 5th of February the King 
 was informed, " to his great astonishment," of the change in Irish 
 Policy. He refused his assent, and justified the objections which 
 had been urged by the old servants of the Crown. He left to Pitt 
 and P( irflaud the alternative of either recalling Fitzwilliam, or of
 
 79 
 
 allowing him to remain, forbidden to sanction concessions which 
 it had been declared it was his mission to grant. Fitzwilliam 
 suspected that the Ministers had other views. He wrote to Lord 
 Spenser : " You are thinking of a union between the two 
 Kingdoms as a good to be expected from deferring the concession. 
 Depend on the hope of that, and it will be the union of Ireland, 
 not with England, but with France." On the 21st of February 
 Lord Fitzwilliam was authorised to resign, " the manner being 
 left to his own discretion." It is impossible to over-estimate the 
 effects of this movement. It was asserted the people had been 
 betrayed, that it was expected that the grant of supplies and the 
 redress of grievance swould go hand in hand ; that on the faith of 
 promises, the largest sums ever asked for had been given. Sir 
 Lawrence Parsons said : " It now appeared that the people had 
 been duped, that nothing was to be done. If the British Minister 
 persisted in such infatuation, discontent would be at its height ; 
 the army must be increased, and every man have dragoons in his 
 house." He proposed the old plan of 1779 and 1789, — a short 
 Money Bill : an angry debate with mutual recriminations followed, 
 and the motion was defeated by 14G — 24. Mr. Conolly proposed 
 Resolutions in reference to the Viceroy, which were carried. 
 [App. 20.] 
 
 As might be expected. Earl Fitzwilliam's recall was a sore 
 disappointment to many, and the Catholic Committee at once 
 re-assembled. The dissatisfied of both sides hastened to the 
 city, hoping that in an anticipated conflict they might gain 
 something. G rattan once more saw power slip from his grasp. 
 He condescended to reply to an address in which threats were 
 held out towards any successor of Lord Fitzwilliam. He answered: 
 '* Emancipation will still pass ; it might be the death of one 
 Viceroy, but it would be the peace-offering of another."* He 
 declared that, notwithstanding, he would proceed with his Bills, 
 and added, " in recalling Fitzwilliam, England has planted a 
 dagger in Ireland's heart." [App. 21.] Lord FitzwiUiam took 
 his departure from Ireland in the midst of every demonstration 
 of public mourning. 
 
 * Plow. rol. ii. February 27, 179.T.
 
 80 
 
 Ou the 31st March Lord Camden arrived as Lord FitzwilUam's 
 successor. He made his entry without official announcement, so 
 there was no opportunity for riot. As if to give effect to Grattan's 
 observation, a disorderly mob thronged the neighbourhood of the 
 Castle. It had become known that His Excellency was within, 
 and that the Chancellor, Council, and Lords Justices would 
 return to their homes when the ceremony of swearing-in was 
 complete. The outrages intended for the Viceroy were transferred 
 to them. The Primate's carriage was injured ; he escaped. 
 Fitz-Gibbon was followed, was struck on the forehead and 
 wounded, and was with difficulty rescued. The mob attacked 
 the Speaker's house and became generally riotous. They were at 
 last fired on by the troops, some few being killed and many 
 wounded before quiet was restored. 
 
 The recall of Lord Fitzwilliam led to much discussion. The 
 Catholic party, in the bitterness of their disappointment, were ready 
 for any course Avhich would retaliate on the Government. On the 
 21st April, Mr. Grattan moved for " a Committee to inquire into 
 the state of the nation ;" he reviewed the circumstances attending 
 the recent change of Viceroy, and declared it " to be a shock to 
 the passions and affections of the country, coming at a moment 
 when she was calling forth all her strength to assist Great Britain, 
 under the auspices of a Chief Governor whom she venerated, 
 and just after her Parliament had voted the largest supply 
 which any Minister had ever called for, on the faith of those 
 measures which His Excellency was known to have designed." 
 Mr. Stewart (afterwards Lord Castlereagh), replied in very 
 matter-of-fact language, and informed the House that, on Lord 
 Fitzwilliam's arrival, his confidential friends had declared that no 
 removals would take place. He had listened to the advice of 
 certain men who had given him the most mistaken counsel. They 
 were deceived if they thought that he alone was fit to conduct a 
 mild Government ; the present Chief Governor was fully adequate 
 to it ; the large supplies had been voted after Lord Fitzwilliam's 
 recall was generally known ; and he concluded : " Li his opinion, 
 if Parliamentary Reform or the Repeal of the Convention Act 
 were in the contemplation of the late Ministers, he rejoiced they 
 were no longer in possession of power." The jnotion was lost by 
 ] .58—48.
 
 81 
 
 Mr. Grattan stood committed to the passing of some measm-e of 
 Catholic Rehef. The Eoman Catholic Prelates were in favour of 
 an Educational establishment for their clergy and laymen. The 
 former, they pointed out in their correspondence and petitions, 
 " were educated in France, where they imbibed the doctrines then 
 80 perniciously at work. They enlarged on the advantages of 
 their being removed from such influence, and cultivating a sense 
 of loyalty at home."* Their arguments were unanswerable, and 
 their requests not unreasonable. On the 24th of April Mr. Pelham 
 introduced a Bill " for the establishment of a Roman Catholic 
 College and an Endowment for the same." Mr, Grattan presented 
 a petition in opposition, which set forth "the inexpediency of 
 establishing an Educational establishment fi"om which Protestants 
 should be excluded, inasmuch as it tended to perpetuate the line of 
 religious separation." The Catholics having recently been 
 admitted into Trinity College, saw, with deep concern, the 
 principles of separation revived and re-enacted. This conflict of 
 opinion fairly illustrates the difliculty to be encountered in the 
 settlement of such questions. Mr. Pelham's proposals were 
 carried, Mr. Grattan supporting them, and thus originated the 
 Roman Catholic College of Maynooth.f 
 
 The Roman Catholic Bill, from which so much was expected, 
 came on for discussion on the 4th of May. During the Fitz^villiam 
 administration it had been designed under the sanction of the 
 Catholic Convention, and had been promised as a measure of 
 complete Emancipation, which would open to Catholics, equally 
 with Protestants, the honours of the State. The recall of 
 Fitzwilham damped the Catholic anticipations of its being accepted 
 by the House. Mr. Grattan thought retreat would prove more 
 disastrous than defeat, and forced the discussion ; he spoke with 
 the consciousness of a losing cause, and the desperate valour of one 
 who felt it was his last chance of obtaining for the Catholics the 
 redress demanded. He was met by a direct proposition from 
 the Solicitor-General (Toler), " that the Bill be rejected." The 
 issue was thereby narrowed to the question : Were Catholics to 
 
 * Plowden, Appendix. f 35 Geo. Ill, c. 21. 
 
 G
 
 82 
 
 have seats in Parliament ? All the old arguments, with the new 
 venom which recent disturbances supplied, were urged against the 
 Bill, but the Commons were neither to be intimidated nor 
 persuaded, and rejected it by 155 — 84. 
 
 Parliament in these critical times had duties beyond the routine 
 business of the House. Secret Committees of both Houses had 
 been sitting to inquire into the causes of dissatisfaction. [App. 22.] 
 Both had reported, and the Attorney-General was well informed of 
 what was progressing throughout the country. He had given 
 notice of his intention to introduce two Bills, one* " To prevent 
 insurrections and riots," and the otherf to " Indemnify certain 
 magistrates, and others, who, in their exertions to preserve public 
 tranquillity, had acted against the forms and rules of law." This 
 latter was more particularly intended for the protection of Lord 
 Carhampton, the Irish Commander-in-Chief, who, when the 
 " Defenders " in Kildare attacked magistrates, had arrested their 
 leaders, placed them on board a tender in Sligo, and sent them to 
 serve in the Navy. Mr. Grattan moved that during the debate 
 on the Bill the judges should attend to advise the House ; his 
 motion was rejected. Both Bills became law. [App. 23.] 
 
 On the 13th of October Mr. Grattan again renewed his appeal 
 for Emancipation, but was defeated by 149 — 12 ; evidence that 
 the House was weary of the discussions. On the 14th the 
 Attorney-General asked Parliament to suspend the Habeas 
 Corpus Act, a measure rendered necessary by a threatened descent 
 of the French on the Irish coast, and the known sympathies and 
 (Correspondence of the disaffected.^ Mr, Curran described the 
 method of its passing§ : — " At two o'clock in the morning the 
 House was moved for leave to bring in a Bill to repeal the 
 Habeas Corpus Act ; at five minutes past two the Bill was 
 xjrdered to be read a first time ; and after a grave and mature 
 deliberation, the Bill was ordered to be read, and was read a 
 second time, at ten minutes after two. Its preamble was then 
 jfuUy considered and approved of, and at fifteen minutes after two 
 
 * 36 Geo, III, c. 20, f 36 Geo. III. c. 6. 
 
 X 17 Par. Deb,, p. 80, § 17 Par. Deb., p. 80.
 
 88 
 
 it was laid before Committee of whole House." So impressed was 
 Parliament with the gravity of the situation that, when 
 Mr. Ponsonby moved the Chairman do leave the chair, his motion 
 was lost by 137 — 7. This Act was relied on as a precedent in 
 late years by the English Parliament for in like manner passing a 
 similar Act. 
 
 Again did Mr. Grattan bring forward the rights of Catholics 
 to seats in Parliament, this time as a resolution : " That the 
 admissibility of persons professing the Roman Catholic religion 
 to seats in Parliament, was consistent with the safety of the 
 Crown and the connection of Ireland with Great Britain." The 
 subject, though hackneyed, always led to angry debates. Mr. Knox 
 pointed out, as there appeared no hope of carrying the measure, 
 however desirable, agitating it without success would only tend to 
 inflame. He moved the order of the day. It was lost by 143 — 19, 
 and was so permitted to remain until the united Parliament 
 finally disposed of it. 
 
 In the meantime the disturbances in the country continued to 
 demand the most energetic exercise of authority. It was the 
 occasion when all true patriots should stand by the country. There 
 were those who saw in the difficulties a way to accomplish their 
 purpose. Sir Lawrence Parsons proposed that a force of 50,000 
 yeomanry should be raised in addition to the forces in the country. 
 Mr. Pelham was too experienced to be so caught, or to entrust 
 arms to, and discipline such an Irish force. He declared " that 
 measures had been taken and concerted with Great Britain by 
 which a large force would, in case of need, be immediately sent 
 over." The motion was lost by 125 — 23. 
 
 A vote of censure was next attempted. It was shown that 16 
 French ships of the line had eluded the vigilance of the English 
 Admirals. Mr. Ponsonby moved " That His Majesty's Ministers 
 are highly criminal by the neglect and unskilfulness which they 
 manifested in the provision, direction, and application of the naval 
 and military force of Great Britain and Ireland upon the late 
 attempted invasion of this country by the forces of France in 
 December last." Wind and weather were urged in defence of the 
 English Admirals, and by a curious process of reasoning also 
 G 2
 
 84 
 
 advauced as an explanation of the French being enabled to 
 to approach so near. It mattered little whether the complaint 
 was well or ill founded, the supporters of the Government had the 
 motion negatived without a division, — in which it was more 
 fortunate than a vote of censure proposed on Lord Westmoreland 
 that had 23 supporters. Again was the Absentee Tax proposed 
 by Mr. Vandeleur, who suggested two shillings in the pound. Mr. 
 Grattau supported it, but it was lost by 122 — 49. 
 
 Rebellion progressed ! General Lake had, in March, 1797, issued 
 a Proclamation addressed to the people of Ulster requiring them 
 to deliver up then* arms. On the 16th Mr. Grattan gave notice of 
 a motion on the subject On the 18th Mr. Pelham delivered a 
 message from His Excellency : " The dangerous and daring 
 outrages committed in many parts of the Province of Ulster, 
 evidently perpetrated with a view to supersede the law and prevent 
 the administration of justice by an organised system of murder 
 and robbery, have lately increased to so alarming a degree in some 
 part of that province as to bid defiance to the execution of the 
 civil power, and to endanger the lives and properties of His 
 Majesty's subjects in that part of the Kingdom. These outrages 
 are encouraged and supported by treasonable associations to 
 overturn our happy Constitution." The Message was intended as 
 an adoption of General Lake's proclamation. The debate which 
 followed admitted the urgency for action, but questioned the 
 propriety of the course which had been adopted. The motion 
 was lost by 127—16, The proceedings were varied by an angry 
 personal encounter between Mr. Grattan and Mr. Egan, which 
 obliged the Speaker to interfere. 
 
 Mr. Fox brought forward a motion in the British House of 
 Commons and proposed " that an address be presented to His 
 Majesty to entreat His Majesty that he will be graciously pleased 
 to take into His Royal consideration the disturbed state of His 
 Kingdom of Ireland and to adopt such healing and lenient 
 measures, as may appear to His Majesty's wisdom best calculated 
 to restore tranquility, and to conciliate the affections of all 
 descriptions of His Majesty's subjects in that kingdom to His 
 Majesty's person and Government." The motion was opposed.
 
 85 
 
 Curiously enough, the arguments used against it were, that it went 
 to affect the independence of the Irish Parhament ; that this 
 independence had been recognised in 1782, and that the 
 interference of the British Parliament could not be now admitted. 
 It was lost by 220 — 84. Dr. Diugenan brought Mr, Fox's speech 
 under the notice of the Irish House of Commons — 1st, " as a false, 
 scandalous and malicious libel upon the Irish Parliament ; " 2nd, 
 "as a violent invasion of the independence of the House of 
 Commons ;" 3rd, " as a flagitious attempt to excite treason and 
 rebellion in the country," and concluded by moving " that the 
 libel be read at the Bar." The Attorney-General opposed, and 
 moved the order of the day. Mr. Pelham was against the original 
 motion, which made Ministers responsible for the acts of the 
 Legislature. Mr, Grattan ridiculed men claiming to excel the 
 patriots of 1782, as being the same who had defended the 
 strongest and most penal acts of the Government. The order of 
 the day was carried without a division. 
 
 Whether Mr. Fox had, or had not, renewed his understanding 
 with the Irish Opposition, it is worthy of remark, that his motion 
 preceded that of Mr. Ponsonby, who, for the last time, brought 
 forward the question of Reform. The motion was opposed by 
 many Avho argued that in the situation of the country it was not 
 prudent to agitate such a question ; that a dangerous conspiracy 
 existed, and open rebellion was practised ; that peace must be 
 restored before Reform could be attempted ; that the measures 
 demanded of Reform and Emancipation would not satisfy the 
 people ; that revolution and separation were the real objects 
 sought for." Mr. Grattan reviewed the situation. His speech 
 was sympathetic and to the point. He criticised the arguments 
 that had been urged against the motion, with the consciousness 
 that his efforts would prove unavailing, through his knowledge of 
 the disciplined majority at the Government command. He 
 concluded what he no doubt meant to be a valedictory address : 
 *' We have offered you our measure, you will reject it ; we 
 deprecate yours, you wiU persevere ; having no hopes left to 
 persuade or dissuade, and having discharged our duty, we shall 
 trouble you no more, and after this day shall not attend the 
 House of Commons."— (May 1.5th, 1797).
 
 86 
 
 This famous debate practically concluded the business of the 
 Irish Independent Parliament. The leaders of the Opposition 
 seceded from active participation in the further discussions of the 
 Session. Parliament was prorogued in June, and dissolved by 
 proclamation in the August following. 
 
 The new Parliament, notwithstanding the Pension and Place Bills 
 and the Catholic franchise, presented little diflFerence from the old. 
 The absence of a Catholic Relief Bill admitting to the House, had 
 preserved the representation unchanged. The active insurrection 
 in the country so occupied Parliamentary and public attention, that 
 to its suppression all other matters were subservient. Mr. Grattan, 
 who had suffered in health from his continued exertions, did not 
 offer himself for re-election. He published a letter and an address 
 to the citizens of Dublin, stating his reasons for so doing. 
 Dr. Duigenan replied in bitter comments, which led to a 
 correspondence characteristic of the times. [App. 24.] The 
 Government and Parliament were, during the year 1798, occupied 
 by the suppression of the most formidable rebellion, and for that 
 purpose Acts of exceptional severity became a necessity. As 
 public tranquillity was restored, and Parliament could calmly 
 deliberate, it became evident that some radical change was 
 necessary in the administration of Irish affairs. It was then 
 determined to bring forward a measure for the Union of the two 
 countries — a proposal which on many occasions had been publicly 
 discussed. Its announcement occasioned no surprise. In the 
 English House, Mr. Pitt had, after a long debate, passed Union 
 Resolutions. England held out her right hand to Ireland ; would 
 Ireland accept it? On the 22nd January, 1799, the subject of the 
 Union was incidentally alluded to in the speech from the Throne. 
 Mr. Ponsonby moved an amendment to the address, " declaring 
 their intention of maintaining the undoubted birthright of the 
 people of Ireland, to have a free and Independent Legislature 
 resident within the Kingdom, such as was asserted by the 
 Parliament of the Kingdom in 1782, and acknowledged and 
 ratified by His Majesty and the Parliament of Great 
 Britain." In thus forcing the question, he found the 
 Government with their " arrangements " incomplete. The
 
 debate which followed was the life struggle of the Parliament, 
 the numbers were for the amendment 105 — noes 106 — 
 Majority One ! When the Report was brought up on the 24th, 
 Sir Lawrence Parsons moved that the paragraph which alluded to 
 the measure of the Union be " expunged." Another long debate 
 followed ; on the division, ayes 109 — noes 104, giving him a 
 majority of five. It was understood that for the Session the 
 measure would be abandoned. The public satisfaction was great. 
 Addresses were voted to those who had opposed it. It was the 
 work of the Session. The question had been postponed, not 
 abandoned. Every exertion possible to be made was made by the 
 Government to insure a majority in the coming Session. Lavish 
 promises to many, direct bribes to some, ultimate advantages to 
 all. Public law was practically suspended. Martial law 
 prevailed. Meetings were prevented, and petitions set aside, the 
 Acts in force being specially directed against such proceedings. 
 The House assembled on the 15th January, 1800, prepared to 
 support the proposals of the Crown. Mr. Grattan, on the sound 
 of alarm, had again been elected. The speech from the Throne 
 was silent on the great question. It announced the success of 
 the British arms both on land and sea ; it lamented the disturbed 
 state of the country, commended the ordinaiy topics to 
 consideration, and expressed entire reliance on " the firmness and 
 wisdom " of those whose parliamentary life it was about to destroy ; 
 — no mention of Union to which special allusion had been made in 
 the speech closing the Session. Sir Lawrence Parsons, in replying 
 on the address, moved that the closing speech be read, and 
 proposed an amendment for the maintenance of Independence, 
 The House was crowded. It was a solemn period in the history 
 of the nation. Lord Castlereagh stated "that it was the 
 intention of the Government to make the Union the subject of a 
 distinct communication ; that the question had been given up in 
 the preceding Session to enable the country to decide an its merits;" 
 and he asserted that a great proportion of the country were 
 favourable to the measure. The leaders of both sides spoke to 
 the question. In the middle of the debate Mr. Grattan entered 
 the House, supported, in consequence of illness, by Mr. Ponsonby
 
 and Mr. Moore. He took the oaths and his seat amid the 
 indescribable emotion of all present. When opportunity offered, he 
 spoke, but at the request of the House he remained sitting. All the 
 old arguments were repeated and familiar topics renewed. The 
 same spirit was present, but his energies, subdued by illness, lacked 
 their wonted fire. Zeal for his country was chastened by sorrow for 
 the blood that had been shed, and the disorder even then not 
 altogether subdued. His speeches must ever be cherished by the 
 Irish people — but all was in vain ; a majority of 42 were in favoui" 
 of the Crown. By this majority the Royal Message was steadly 
 supported, and it increased until the Resolutions based on that 
 message ultimately assumed their completion in law. 
 
 It would be a most grateful office to give expression to the 
 grand speeches on this historic occasion, and more particularly to 
 those of that great patriot, whose name will live for all time, 
 and whose example is the most precious heirloom of Irish 
 politicians. Now, when more than half a century has elapsed, 
 his memory is still green in the affections of his country. 
 For modern politicians, who believe that they can better 
 estimate the requirements of Ireland than he did, " who stood 
 by the cradle of its Independence and followed it to its tomb," 
 it may be permitted to quote his testamentary disposition, after 
 an experience of twenty years of Union, and a seat in the English 
 House ; when, with prophetic vision, he foresaw that complete 
 Roman Catholic Emancipation for which he had struggled in vain : 
 — " I most strongly recommend that the two countries may never 
 separate, and that Ireland should never seek for any connection 
 except with Great Britain." This was the almost inspired conviction 
 and advice of one whose last written words were — " I die with a 
 love of liberty in my heart, and this declaration in favour of my 
 country in my hand." 
 
 We have thus attempted to follow in detail — it may be too 
 minutely — the proceedings of the Independent Irish Parliament. 
 The occasion invites to retrospect, and suggests the inquiry: — What 
 measures of practical good had it passed ? What public benefits 
 had it conferred ? What private grievances redressed ? How 
 had it fulfilled those high purposes for which it was rea'ly to
 
 89 
 
 show battle, wheu the unfettered judgment jof. Ireland, as 
 expressed through her representatives, entered on its free. exercise? 
 If, after the perusal of eloquent and, too often, angry debates, the 
 frigid compendium of the Statute Book be taken as the test, it is 
 to be feared the inquirer will be disappointed ; for therein it will 
 be found that, of the many measures introduced, few assumed 
 practical completion in law. The records of the Parliamentary 
 debates, and the motions on the journals of the two Houses, 
 contrast strangely with their ultimate results. Who can deny 
 that both time and occasion offered, wheu acknowledged abuses 
 were publicly discussed without any practical reform, when 
 grievances were admitted without any attempt at redi'ess, when 
 opportunities for the settlement of great questions were sacrificed 
 to the personal prejudices or the antagonism of rival politicans, 
 rather than determined by the requirements and interests of the 
 State ? And yet it was the age of great men, whose memories 
 are hallowed as examples of patriotism and of public virtue ! 
 With whom, or where, did the fault rest ? The general 
 explanation may be found in the long period of oppression and 
 abject subjection from which Ireland had suffered, rendering the 
 people passive to a degree without example in other countries ; 
 and, when the pressure was relaxed and opportunity offered, 
 leading to as violent a reaction. Is this mere surmise ? The 
 condition of the Roman Catholics antecedent to the Volunteer 
 formation is matter of history. The sectarian bitterness and 
 prejudices of the King would, to the last, have refused concessions, 
 were it not that his Ministers, having the example of America 
 fresh in memory, with that " provident fear which is the mother 
 of safety," placed before their Sovereign the alternative of 
 revolution or concession, and so procured the Royal assent to the 
 measures of Parliament, when it determined to remove many 
 of those religious disabilities which conquest had imposed, but 
 reason and justice had long condemned. Were these relief Acts, 
 which so immediately preceded to the claims for Independence, the 
 results of generous convictions, or of political necessity ? There 
 are those who, without excluding the former, afiiz-m the latter, and 
 declare that, wanting the adherence of the Roman Catholics, the
 
 90 
 
 Volunteer movement would have been counteracted in its demand 
 for freedom ; whilst assured, if not of the assistance, at least of 
 the pasiive acquiescence of two-thirds of the people, Mr. Grattan 
 and those acting with him were masters of the situation. Be 
 this as it may, it is worthy of remark that, though the Declaration 
 of Dungannon concluded with expressions of satisfaction that 
 the Roman Catholic claims had been considered, neither the 
 Declaration of Right, nor the answer to the Address which was 
 the avowal of Independence, had any allusion whatsoever to their 
 claims, perhaps through the knowledge that it would be distasteful 
 to the King. It is also remarkable that, from the acquisition of 
 Independence to the close of the Buckingham Viceroyalty, no 
 further advance was made. Religious toleration seems to have 
 been the offering of political intrigue to numerical power. 
 Such concessions as the statutes disclose are traceable to two 
 periods : — the first, when the Roman Catholics co-operated with 
 the Volunteers in asserting Independence, and were otherwise 
 believed to be loyal, and so won consideration of their claims : — 
 the second, after an interval of ten years, when their numbers 
 were again available for political intimidation, and they were 
 known to be disaffected to the Crown and in league with the 
 enemies of the State. The former concessions were the generous, 
 if not the free, acknowledgments of co-operation by authority 
 that felt itself to be strong, and were rendered as tributes to 
 loyalty ; the latter, as unwilling and guarded concessions the 
 Grovernmsnt were unable to resist, were ceded as palliatives to 
 sedition, since their refusal pointed not so much to revolution as 
 to civil war. The Irish Independent Parliament did everything 
 for the Roman Catholics but open to them the doors of the 
 Constitution and permit them to enter the Senate ; this, by their 
 own act, they were unable to do, for England not only held the 
 keys, but paid the keepers. 
 
 What were their measures of social reform ? The Statute Book 
 is all but silent. The Charter Schools received their annual 
 stipends, the local demands as submitted to Committees were 
 fairly attended to ; but the great evils were permitted to go 
 unredressed. Absenteeism was quite within Parliamentary
 
 91 
 
 control ; measures were possible which, in the then circumstances 
 of Ireland, without unduly coercing the landowners, might have 
 equitably provided for those duties which are correlative to the 
 rights of property.* The Marquis of Landowne, in his speech on 
 the Union, observed: " an honourable and efficient measure might 
 be adopted for taxing the Absentees of Ireland, who had been 
 much complained of ; many of them he knew to be conscientious 
 and honourable men, and if equitably taxed they would cheerfully 
 pay the impost." True ; an Absentee Tax had been more than 
 once discussed and lost. Distinguished statesmen had been in its 
 favour " as a measure to which the Crown would have offered no 
 opposition." Is it to the credit of the Parliament that it should 
 have been rejected, when oppressive imposts, affecting the hearths 
 and windows of the people, were exacted, while such a source of 
 revenue was available in their substitution ? Free from the taxes 
 threatened for non-residence, surely the position of those 
 occupying the land thus forsaken received the consideration of 
 Parliament ? Again will the Statute Book disappoint expectation, 
 notwithstanding that the public men of the time, those 
 in ofl&ce and those in opposition, describe the condition of 
 the Irish agricultural classes, as, " for oppression and poverty, 
 being without a parallel amongst the nations of the earth." 
 There were, it is admitted, meagre remedial remedies ; the Lease 
 Acts and the Exemption Act seem to be the sum of Parliamentary 
 proceedings in their behalf. 
 
 Turning to their manufacturing interests, from every quarter, 
 more especially in the early period of the Independent Parliament, 
 are to be found petitions, either from distressed manufacturers or 
 decaying branches of trade, asking for Parliamentary assistance. 
 To these a ready ear was ever afforded, and a generous aid 
 extended, but no attempts were made to look beneath the surface, 
 in order to detect and remedy the insecure foundation on which 
 such operative industries rested. And yet there is proof it was not 
 want of disposition to entertain and investigate causes of complaint. 
 On occasions, Parliamentary dignity assumed the function of a 
 township, which was discharged in the spirit of a vestry, as 
 
 * 34 Hansard, p. 676.
 
 92 
 
 illustrated in the Sedan-chair investigation ! It is not on the 
 successfol settlement of such a question that the reputation of 
 the Irish Parliament during this period rests, but rather on the 
 failures in the commercial and Reform measures introduced ; the 
 debates on which contrast favourably with the Parliamentary 
 discussions of any nation in any age. 
 
 It was no argument in favour of her Legislature that 
 Ireland during these years made gi-eat progress commercially 
 and financially. The petitions for aid became less frequent 
 as prosperity increased. The cessation of the war, the extension 
 of trade through the removal of its restrictions, the revival 
 of enterprise, and generally the reaction which ever follows 
 periods of prolonged depression and suspense, operated most 
 favourably in her behalf, supported as they were by the wealth 
 and power of England, then affording an open market to Irish 
 supplies. It was a time for statesmanship to have come to her 
 rescue, and it was expected that it would have done so. Lord 
 Auckland, in his speech on the Union, stated that he had 
 consented to the abolition of the Appellate Jurisdiction* 
 " in the confidence of measures being taken, pursuant to the 
 resolutions and the address, to establish the connexion of the two 
 Kingdoms on a firm and permanent basis. He had relied on a 
 treaty being opened between the two Parliaments for the purpose 
 of arranging not only commercial points, but all the great 
 questions involved in the future events of peace and war, foreign 
 alliances, commercial treaties, proportionable supplies, with the 
 whole immense detail under each of these heads." No such steps 
 were taken, and why ? Ireland had those capable of guiding her 
 Parliament and insuring her welfare. The mutual antagonism of 
 her two best friends — Flood and Grattan — deprived her of the 
 efficient guidance of both. They might, by placing her 
 commercial relations on a solid basis, by reforming and encouraging 
 her domestic institutions, and consolidating the sources of wealth, 
 which, from many channels were attracted to her soil, have in her 
 prosperity established the stronghold of her loyalty. They did not 
 
 * 34 Hansard. Debate ou Union,
 
 o;3 
 
 do so, and for this reason : Doubt and distrust of England became 
 the party cry of political rivals, and antagonism to each other was 
 their personal characteristic ; and both found their opportunities 
 in the perverted sentiments of a generous, sympathetic, but 
 mistaken people. Co-operation between these two patriots might 
 have preserved to Ireland her Independence, by better fitting 
 her for self-government. Flood, on Grattan's entry into public 
 life, had then great experience. Confidence had been with 
 him a plant of slow growth, while Grattan's impulsive honesty 
 made him credulous and often times betrayed him into excess. 
 Flood was a great statesman — Grattan a true patriot ; the 
 suggestions of the head governed the one, the dictates of the 
 heart guided the other. Their influence in the House corresponded 
 with their individual characters. Flood convinced the judgments 
 — Grattan aroused the passions. There is reason to believe that 
 had they co-operated and, in love of country, merged all their 
 personal differences, their combination would have been irresistible 
 for the stability and good of the Irish nation. The House, under 
 the influence of Grattan, rejected the warnings of Flood. It 
 accepted the shadow of Independence instead of its substance. 
 It was content with the mere admission of rights, and suffered 
 the rights to elude its grasp. It permitted the opportunity to 
 pass of demanding a free Parliament to guide the young life of its 
 new Constitution, which was only possible through a complete 
 change in the then system of representation. He was not wrong 
 who declared that "the jealousy of Patriots is destructive of 
 Liberty." 
 
 How true Mr Flood's anticipations proved was evidenced when 
 questions of grave interest arose between the two countries, 
 Mr. Orde's commercial propositions afforded the occasion. It 
 was known that Mr. Fox was strongly opposed to the generous 
 concessions of Pitt. He believed that if the resolutions were 
 rejected the way might be opened to office. The fourth resolution, 
 by a perverted construction, could be used to awaken the jealousy 
 and susceptibility of the country. Both were accordingly aroused 
 to a degree that, in the end, neither Flood nor Grattan could 
 resist. Parliament offered no suggestions to bridge over the
 
 9^ 
 
 difficulty. No Commissioners were proposed to meet and discuss 
 terms of arrangement. The state of affairs predicted by the 
 Duke of Richmond had arisen. A delirium of national vanity 
 influenced the public mind ; and the occasion on which " the 
 jealousies and discontents" existing between the two nations, 
 might have been brought to a settlement, was not only suffered to 
 pass, but rejected with disdain. 
 
 What can be said respecting the treatment of the question of 
 Reform ? The purchase of Boroughs was open and undisguised. 
 Peerages were known to have been sold, and it was arranged on the 
 part of the Irish Executive that the money should be so applied. 
 Bribery, as a recognized institution, had assumed the form of a 
 political fine art. Representation was but a name; management of 
 votes being practically a charge on the Exchequer. Titles, places, 
 and pensions, were the prizes or rewards of political turpitude. 
 These things were not only done in the green tree, but they were 
 proclaimed from the dry : when the Law officer of the Crown, in 
 the very Temple of Justice, threatened the recusant creatures of 
 pay with additional taxation as the further burden of dishonour ; 
 well might Fitz-Gibbon's scathing retort — most bitter because 
 most true — be oft-times quoted, resented, but not disproved. 
 
 Opportunities arose in which commercial rivalries had no part. 
 The common misfortune of both countries called for action. 
 The mental condition of the King required the appointment of a 
 Regent. The position was not provided for either in the English 
 Act of Settlement, or by the Irish Constitution of 1782. It was 
 an occasion when mutual sympathy might have led to identical 
 action. Again did intemperate haste mark the proceedings of 
 Parliament, and Ireland exercise her Independence in a manner 
 calculated to originate grave complications between the two 
 Countries. It may be affirmed that the House was by conscience 
 justified in its resolution. There is unanswerable evidence to 
 the contrary. What can be said of a Parliament that submitted 
 to the observations of the Attorney-General on the eve of their 
 division on so grave and momentous a question ? What of 
 members who, in the last resort of their Country, were alone 
 mindful of place, and who, having signed " the Robin," when
 
 95 
 
 their machinations were defeated, could sue for mercy from those 
 whom they proved impotent to betray ? Inference from analogy 
 fails to supply an answer, for, of analogous cases, to the honour of 
 Parliaments be it written, there are none ! Is it too much to 
 assert that, while many of its members redeemed the character 
 of the Irish ParHament in the exercise of splendid gifts, directed 
 by the highest sense of public virtue, they were yet powerless to 
 terminate a condition which they denounced, and unable to 
 prevent representations from being a matter, of purchase, political 
 fidelity a bargain, public faith a question of expediency and 
 the most sacred interests of the State from being regarded as 
 subservient to personal rivaky or the mere acquisition of place ? 
 
 Irish members were nevertheless sensitive of their personal 
 honour, and quick in their resentments when it was individually 
 assailed. Oftentimes Mr. Speaker had to interfere to prevent 
 hostile meetings for words spoken in debate. They also knew 
 the respect due to them as a Parliament. When reflections were 
 cast on their proceedings, they were prompt to have oflFenders at 
 the bar, and with dignity above resentment, to reprimand or more 
 severely punish. They vindicated the liberty of the press in their 
 immediate adoption of the Libel Bill, and on many similar 
 occasions gave proof that the good government of their country 
 was within their capacity, even though it seemed to be beyond 
 their attainment. In the ■ necessity of controlling the many 
 for the interests of the few, and the fear that fi-eedom fi'om 
 political restrictions would eventuate in Catholic ascendancy, rests 
 the only explanation of their rejection of Reform admitting Roman 
 Catholics to their House. The fact of the mutual distrust of the 
 two nations, induced the Government to secure a Parliamentary 
 majority, which, when love of country and of place conflicted, too 
 often resulted in a divided allegiance, causing strong influences 
 from without, to be counteracted by weak resolves within, and so 
 yielding to clamour concessions which should have been suggested 
 by justice. Much must also be attributed to the pernicious influence 
 of democratic teaching, and the unfortunate coincidence or 
 Republican successes acting on an excited populace of identical 
 faith. 
 
 It is too late to enter into mutual recrimination, and 
 ask, Why did the Government of the day so act ? Our
 
 96 
 
 duty lies with those who were so acted upon — the majority 
 in the Irish Parliament ! Wliat avails it to anticipate 
 what might have been, when we are alone concerned with what 
 was ? When left to their uncontrolled judgment the sympathies 
 and resolves of the Irish Parliament were always in the right 
 direction. True to their declaration " to stand or fall with Great 
 Britain," they cheerfully taxed the resources of the country to its 
 uttermost ; they promptly passed laws for the suppression of 
 riot and rebellion; they declared their desire to protect and give 
 redress to those who rendered service to the State, and though 
 quick to punish, they were yet merciful to forgive. 
 
 Of Parliamentary Government, in its truest, broadest and most 
 practical sense, Ireland, in her latest years of Independence, had 
 none. The greater number of her members were either nominees 
 or creatures of pay. It was in vain that Flood, Grattan, Forbes, 
 Conolly and others pourtrayed their real condition. Majorities 
 were made to order like Com't suits, to be used as occasion 
 required. So long as they answered the Ministerial call, it was 
 well ; but once independent judgment was exercised, and the fate 
 of Flood in dismissal, or the punishment of others less famous 
 in deprivation of the emoluments of place, awaited those weak 
 enough to be honest, or bold enough to betray. 
 
 That such a condition of things could continue was impossible. 
 Union or separation became the alternative ! By the one it was 
 hoped numerical diflFerences of creed would be so counteracted 
 as to render safe the completion of religious freedom, while 
 identification of interests would eventuate in a common striving 
 of the two countries for their mutual good ; by the other, it was 
 felt that the necessity for re-conquest would prove but a matter 
 of time. The English Government adopted the less hazardous 
 course. It avails nothing now to ask, Did the end justify the 
 means? Ireland had her period of Independence — an Irish 
 Parliament achieved it. An Irish Parliament exchanged it for 
 what was conceived to be the greater advantages of participation 
 in Empire. That period of Independence will, by the impartial 
 historian, be quoted as at once an illustration of her glory and 
 her shame.
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 1. 
 Poyning's Act 10 Hen. VII., c. 23, 
 
 " No Parliament be holden hereafter in Ireland but at such season as 
 the King's Lieutenant in Council there first do certify to the King, under 
 the great Seal of the land, the causes and considerations thereof, and all 
 such Acts as to them seemeth should pass in the same Parliament ; and such 
 causes, considerations and Acts affirmed by the King and his Council to be 
 good and expedient for that land and his license thereupon, as well in 
 affirmation of the said causes and Acts, as to summon the said Parliament 
 under his Great Seal of England had and obtained ; that done, a Parliament 
 to be had and holden after the form and effect afore rehearsed ; and 
 if any Parliament be holden in that land hereafter, contrary to the 
 form and provision aforesaid, it shall be deemed void and of none effect 
 in law." 
 
 II. 
 
 6 Geo. I., c. 5. " An Act for tlie better securing the Dependency of the 
 Kingdom, of Ireland upon the Crown of Great Britain.'''' 
 
 " Whereas the House of Lords of Ireland have of late, against law, 
 assumed to themselves a power and jurisdiction to examine, correct and 
 amend the judgments and decrees of the Courts of Justice in the Kingdom 
 of Ireland, therefore for the better securing the dependency of Ireland 
 upon the Crown of Great Britain, may it please your most excellent 
 Majesty that it be declared by and with the advice and consent of the 
 Lords spiritual and temporal and Commons in this present Parliament 
 assembled and by the authority of the same, that the said Kingdom of 
 Ireland hath been, is, and of right ought to be subordinate unto, and 
 dependent upon the Imperial Crown of Great Britain, as being inseparably 
 united and annexed thereto, and that the King's Majesty by and with the 
 advice and consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal and Commons of 
 Great Britain in Parliament assembled, had, hath, and of right ought to 
 have, full power and authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force 
 and validity to bind the Kingdom and people of Ireland. 
 H
 
 98 
 
 2. " And be it f lutber declared and enacted by the authority aforesaid, 
 that the House of Lords of Ireland, have not, nor of right ought to have, 
 any jurisdiction to judge of, affirm or reverse any judgment, sentence or 
 decree given or made in any Court within the said Kingdom, and that all 
 proceedings before the said House of Lords upon such judgment, sentence, 
 or decree, are, and are hereby declared to be utterly null and void to all 
 intents and purposes whatever." 
 
 III. 
 At II Mcrfinij of the Representatives of one hundred and. forty-three Corps 
 of Volunteers of tlie Province of Ulster, field at Dungannon, on Friday, 
 the 15th day of Feirimry, 1782, Colonel Wm. Irvine in the chair. 
 
 " Whereas it has been asserted that Volunteers, as such, cannot with 
 ])ropriety, debate or publish their opinions on political subjects, or on the 
 conduct of Parliament or public men. 
 
 1st. Resolved unanimously, that a citizen, by learning the use of arms 
 does not abandon any of his civil rights. 
 
 2nd. Resolved unanimously, that a claim of any body of men, other than 
 the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland, to make laws to bind this 
 Kingdom, is unconstitutional, illegal, and a grievance. 
 
 3rd. Resolved (with one dissenting voice only), that the powers exercised 
 by the Privy Council of both Kingdoms, under colour or pretence of the 
 law of Poynings, are unconstitutional and a grievance. 
 
 4th. Resolved unanimously, that the ports of this country are, by right, 
 open to all foreign countries not at war with the King ; and that any 
 burden thereupon or obstruction thereto, save only by the Parliament of 
 Ireland, is unconstitutional, illegal, and a grievance. 
 
 5th. Resolved (with one dissenting voice only), that a Mutiny Bill, not 
 limited in point of duration, from session to session, is unconstitutional and 
 a grievance. 
 
 6th. Resolved unanimously, that the independence of Judges is equally 
 essential to the impartial administration of Justice in Ireland as in England : 
 and that the refusal or delay of this right to Ireland makes a distinction, 
 where there should be no distinction, may excite jealousy, where perfect 
 union should prevail ; and is in itself unconstitutional and a grievance. 
 
 7th. Resolved (with eleven dissenting voices only), that it is our decided 
 and unalterable determination, to seek redress of these grievances ; and we 
 pledge ourselves to each other, and to our country, as freeholders, fellow 
 citizens and men of honour, that we will at every ensuing election, support 
 those only who have supported, and will support us therein ; and that we 
 will use all constitutional means to make such our pursuit of redress speedy 
 and effectual. 
 
 Sth and Oili. Expressive of thanks.
 
 93 
 
 13th. Resolved (with two dissentiug voices ouly to this and the following 
 resolution), that we hold the right of private judgment in matters fo 
 religion to be equally sacred in others as in ourselves. 
 
 14th. Resolved, therefore, that as men, and as Irishmen, as Christians and 
 as Protestanfs, we rejoice in the relaxation of the penal laws against our 
 Roman Catholic fellow subjects ; and that we conceive the measure to be 
 fraught with the happiest consequences to the Union and prosperity of the 
 inhabitants of Ireland." 
 
 IV. 
 
 Resolution of Lords Die Mercurii, 17 Aprilis, 1782* 
 •' That an humble address be presented to His Majesty to return him our 
 thanks for the most gracious message sent to this House by His Majesty's 
 command, through the medium of His Grace the Lord Lieutenant ; and to 
 assure him of our most unshaken loyalty and attachment to His Majesty's 
 person and Government, and of the lively sense we entertain of his paternal 
 care of his people of Ireland, in thus inquiring into the discontents and 
 jealouies that subsist amongst them, in order to such final adjustment 
 as may give mutual satisfaction to his Kingdoms of Great Britain and 
 Ireland." 
 
 Copy of a Resolution of t/w House of Commons in Ireland. Die Martis, 
 16th Aprilis, 1782.-f 
 
 Resolved, That an humble address be presented to His Majesty, to return 
 His Majesty the thanks of this House for his most gracious message to this 
 House, signified by His Grace the Lord Lieutenant ; to assure His Majesty 
 of our unshaken attachment to His Majesty's person and Government, and 
 of our lively sense of his paternal care, in thus taking the lead to administer 
 content to His Majesty's subjects of Ireland ; that, thus encouraged by his 
 Royal interposition, we shall beg leave, with all duty and affection, to lay 
 before His Majesty the causes of our discontents and jealousies ; to assure 
 His Majesty that his subjects of Ireland are a free people ; that the Crown 
 of Ireland is an Imperial Crown, inseparably annexed to the Crown of 
 Great Britain ; on which connexion the interests and happiness of both 
 nations essentially depend ; but that the Kingdom of Ireland is a distinct 
 Kingdom, with a Parliament of her own, the sole legislature thereof ; that 
 there is no body of men competent to make laws to bind this nation, except 
 the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland, nor any other Parliament which 
 hath any authority or power of any sort whatsoever in this country, save 
 
 * Journal of Lords, 17th April 1782. t Commons Journal, 16tb April. 
 
 h2
 
 100 
 
 only the Parliameut of Ireland ; to assure His Majesty that we humbly 
 conceiTe, that in this right the very essence of our liberties existed ; a right, 
 which we, on the part of all the people of Ireland, do claim as their 
 birthright, and which we cannot yield but with our lives. To assure His 
 Majesty, that we have seen with concern certain claims advanced by the 
 Parliament of Great Britain, in an Act, intituled " An Act for the better 
 securing the Dependency of Ireland," an Act containing matter entirely 
 irreconcileable to the fundamental rights of this nation ; that we consider, 
 this Act, and the claims it advances, to be the great and principal cause of 
 the discontents and jealousies in this Kingdom ; To assure His Majesty, that 
 His Majesty's Commons of Ireland do most sincerely wish that all Bills 
 which become law in Ireland, should receive the approbation of His 
 Majesty, under the Seal of Great Britain ; but that we do consider the 
 practice of suppressing our Bills in the Council of Ireland, or altering the 
 same anywhere, to be another just cause of discontent and jealousy. To 
 assure His Majesty, that an Act, intituled " An Act for the better 
 accommodation of His Majesty's Forces," being unlimited in duration, and 
 defective in other instances, but passed in that shape from the particular 
 circumstances of the times is another just cause of discontent and jealousy 
 in this Kingdom. That we have submitted these the principal causes of the 
 present discontent and jealousy in Ireland, and remain in humble 
 expectation of redress ; that we have the greatest reliance on His Majesty's 
 wisdom, the most sanguine expectations from his virtuous choice of a Chief 
 Governor, and great confidence in the wise, auspicious, and constitutional 
 councils which we see with satisfaction His Majesty has adopted; that we 
 have, moreover, a high sense and veneration for the British character, and 
 do therefore conceive that the proceedings of this country, founded as they 
 were in right, and tempered by duty, must have excited the approbation and 
 esteem, instead of wounding the pride of the British nation, and we beg 
 leave to assure His Majesty that we are the more confirmed in this hope, 
 inasmuch as the people of this Kingdom have never expressed a desire to 
 share the freedom of England, without declaring a determination to share 
 her fate likewise, standing and falling with the British nation." 
 
 VI. 
 
 22 Geo. III., c. 53. An Act to repeal an Act vutdc in the sixth year of the 
 Reign of his late Majesty King George the First, intituled " An Act for 
 the better securing the Dependency of tlxe Kingdom, of Ireland vpon the 
 Crown of Great Britain.'' 
 
 •• Whereas an Act was passed in the sixth year of the reign of his late 
 Majesty King George the First, intituled ' An Act for the better securing 
 the Dependency ef the Kingdom of Ireland upon the Crown of Great
 
 101 
 
 Britain.' May it please yooi- most Excellent Majesty that it may be 
 enacted, and be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty by and 
 with the advice and consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and 
 Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of 
 the same, that from and after the passing of this Act, the above mentioned 
 Act, and the several matters and things herein contained, shall be, and is. 
 and are hereby repealed." 
 
 VII. 
 
 From the Duke of Portland, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, tv Lord 
 Shelhurne, Secretary of State. 
 
 Dublin Castle, 6th Marj, 1782. 
 
 My Loed, — The coafideuce I find reposed in me is certainly extremely 
 flattering — I will meet it as it deserves, by continuing to write without any 
 reserve. 
 
 Under the impression of the unavoidable necessity of conceding all the 
 points required, for the sake of deriving any real advantage from the 
 possession of this country, I do recommend that positive assurances be 
 given that the alteration of the Mutiny Bill and the modification of 
 Poyning's Law, shall be conceded to them in the form required by their 
 Address ; that the 6th of George the First shall be repealed, and that Writs 
 of Error shall no longer be received by our Court of King's Bench ; but 
 that, as Great Britain, by these concessions, is desirous not only of satisfying 
 the expectations of the Irish upon all constitutional points, but of preventing 
 every possible source of future jealousy and discontent, she does not doubt 
 of receiving an unequivocal testimony of a corresponding disposition on 
 the part of Ireland, and is persuaded that the Parliament of this country 
 will co-operate in the most efEectual method, either with the King's 
 confidential servants, or with commissioners appointed by the Parliament 
 of Great Britain, or through the medium of the Chief Governor of this 
 Kingdom, to settle the precise limits of that independence which is 
 required, the consideration that should be given for the protection expected, 
 and the share it would be proper for them to contribute towards the 
 general support of the empire, in pursuance of the declaration contained in 
 the concluding paragraph of their own Address. — The regulation of their 
 trade is a subject which, I think, would very properly make a part of the 
 treaty, and which, from the dissatisfaction expressed by many commercial 
 persons at the delusive advantages of the Free Trade, would be a very fit 
 and necessary subject for discussion. I need not inform your Lordship that 
 they will find precedents in the first volume of the Journals of their own 
 House of Commons, of committees or agents being sent to England to 
 represent their grievances and obtain redress. 
 
 As every letter your Lordship has received from me has progressively
 
 reduced the hopes I first held out to you, it will be natural for you to expect 
 
 that I should assign a reason for supposing that the plan which I have 
 
 submitted to you will accomplish the event we desire. All I can say is, 
 
 that, in my apprehension, it ought to accomplish that event. In my 
 
 apprehension, proposals, such as I have stated, cannot be resisted in 
 
 Parliament with any effect. They so directly correspond with the wishes 
 
 of the public, that I conceive that no artifice could induce them to support 
 
 an opposition to them ; the refusal to accede to them, or to appoint 
 
 commisioners for a Final Adjustment, on the grounds of their own Address, 
 
 when they should be assured that persons were properly authorized for that 
 
 purpose, would be such an indication of sinister designs as would warrant 
 
 your directions to me to throw up the government, and to leave them to 
 
 that fate which their folly and treachery should deserve. If such should 
 
 be the sentiments of the King's servants, after using every endeavour to 
 
 bring them to a true sense of their condition, and of the consequences of 
 
 such a refusal, I should hesitate as little to order the yacht, and to leave 
 
 them to be the victims of their own insanity, as I should to say that it 
 
 would be useless to attempt to coerce them, and that the country upon such 
 
 terms would not be worth possessing. 
 
 Suffer me, my Lord, once more to repeat my most earnest intreaties for 
 
 a speedy determination. There are passages in the two last letters I had 
 
 the honour of receiving from you which makes me think that there is little 
 
 or no difference in our opinions upon this unhappy subject ; and let me 
 
 add, that unless negociation can be entered into with persons properly 
 
 authorized by the Parliament of this country, and that the object is to go 
 
 fairly to the bottom of the business, and to form a new system of relation 
 
 between the two countries, upon the basis of their mutual interests, the 
 
 character of the present Administration will be lost, and the English 
 
 Government must be prepared to renounce all pretensions to respect or 
 
 influence in this country, I am, &c., &c. 
 
 (Signed) PORTLAND. 
 
 To Mr. 
 
 Dublin Ca.ttle, Sunday Morniiu/. 
 26th May, 17S2. 
 Sir, — I should be very glad to hear that Lord Charlemont was inclined to 
 accede to any part, or even to the idea of such a plan, as you have been so 
 obliging as to communicate to me. I should consider it as a material step 
 to that situation in which I am sure it is the interests of both kingdoms to 
 be placed ; being convinced, that whatever is most like a UNION is the 
 most probable bond of connexion to restore and perpetuate the harmony 
 and prosperity of the two countries. 
 
 I am, with great respect and regard, Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 (Signed) PORTLAND.
 
 103 
 
 'Extract of a Letter from the Marquis of Rockinyhani to the Duke of 
 Portland, dated Wimbledon. 25th May, 17S2. 
 The essential points on the part of Ireland now acceded to, will, I trust, 
 establish a perfect cordiality between' the two countries ; and as there can 
 no longer exist any grounds of contest or jealousy on matters of right. 
 between the countries, the only object of both will be, how finally to 
 arrange, settle, and adjust all matters whereiy THE Union of power, 
 
 STRENGTH, AND MUTUAL AND RECIPROCAL ADVANTAGE may he hest 
 2}ermanently fixed. 
 
 I observe in Lord Shelburne's letter to your Grace, dated 18th May, he 
 states more reluctance to the idea of Commissioners than I should judge to 
 be a general opinion of His Majesty's Servants ; the measure may be a 
 doubtful one ; but if it appeared to be the inclination among the leading 
 gentlemen of Ii-eland, I should think good would ensue. 
 
 Extract of a Letter from, the Duke of Portland to the Earl of Shelhurne, 
 dated Dublin Castle, 5th June, 1782. 
 
 I have now stated to your Lordship every matter that I can think likely 
 to come before Parliament, and have further to add, that the desire which 
 is generally and emphatically expressed for a speedy conclusion of this 
 Session, will very forcibly tend to unite Gentlemen in discountenancing 
 any attempt to bring on questions of any sort at this season of the year. 
 I presume your Lordship will be of opinion, that it is not desirable to 
 oppose the wishes of this country respecting as early a Prorogation as the 
 business before them will admit. Nor indeed am I disinclined to 
 recommend it ; for the passions of this nation do not appear to me as yet 
 to have sufficiently subsided to let the gratitude which is felt pass quietly 
 and confidentially through that channel which can alone direct it to 
 the reciprocal advantages of both kingdoms. 
 
 There is no doubt of Government being able to stop any mischief ; but I 
 cannot so readily take upon me to answer for the immediate attainment of 
 the benefits which the liberality of Great Britain entitles her to expect. 
 Unless, therefore, one very great measure, which I will make the subject of 
 a separate letter, can be obtained, I submit to your Lordship the propriety 
 of coinciding in the wishes of the Parliament, by putting an end to the 
 present Session, as soon as may be after the return of the Bills from 
 England. 
 
 From the Duke of Portland to the Earl of Shelburne. 
 
 Dublin Castle, 6th June, 17S2. 
 My Lord, — The measure which I stated to your Lordship in my letter 
 of last night, as a sufficient inducement for deferring the prorogation of
 
 104 
 
 Parliameut, is of so delicate a nature, aud requires so mucli secrecy and 
 
 management, thaf I think it iinadvisable to trust the communication of it 
 
 to any hand but my own ; and as it is possible that the event may not 
 
 justify the hopes I entertain, it would perhaps be more prudent to withhold 
 
 the intelligence which I am now about to give you, until I could transmit 
 
 the plan properly authenticated, for the consideration of your Lordship. 
 
 and the rest of the King's confidential servants. However, as I feel that I 
 
 have a right to take credit for my endeavours, and that the Ministers in 
 
 England equally partake of my responsibility in the administration of the 
 
 aflEairs of this country, I am as anxious that they should share any merit 
 
 that can be derived from our joint conduct, as that they should be liable to 
 
 any blame to which the adoption of ill-advised or inconsiderate measures 
 
 may expose them. I shall therefore acquaint your Lordship, that I have 
 
 reason to hope that I may be shortly enabled to lay before you the sketch 
 
 or outlines of an Act of Parliament to be adopted by the legislatures of 
 
 the respective kingdoms ; by which the superintending power and 
 
 supremacy of Great Britain, in all matters of state and general commerce, 
 
 will be virtually and effectually acknowledged ; that a share of the expense 
 
 in carrying on a defensive or offensive war, either in support of our own 
 
 dominions, or those of our allies, shall be borne by Ireland in proportion to 
 
 the actual state of her abilities ; and that she will adopt every such 
 
 regulation as may be adjudged necessary by Great Britain, for the better 
 
 ordering and securing her trade and commerce with foreign nations, or her 
 
 own colonies and dependencies, consideration being duly had to the 
 
 circumstances of this country. I am flattered with the expectation of 
 
 receiving the most positive assurances from ****** 
 
 of their support in carrying such a Bill through both Houses of Parliament ; 
 
 and in case such an object could be obtained, I should presume that it 
 
 would be very advisable to trespass upon the patience of this country to 
 
 bring it to perfection, even in the present moment. Your Lordship may 
 
 depend upon the earliest account of my success and progress in this 
 
 business. 
 
 I have the honour to be &c., &c., &c., 
 
 (Signed) PORTLAND. 
 
 From Lord Shelhurne to the Bulie of Portland. 
 
 Shelhtirne House, Sunday, June 9, 
 Twelve o'clock at Noon. 
 My Lord,— In the very instant of the departure of the messenger with 
 the dispatches accompanying this letter, I have the honour to receive your 
 Grace's of the .5th and 6th. 
 
 The contents of the letter are too important to hesitate about detaining 
 him, while I assure your Grace of the satisfaction I know your letter will
 
 106 
 
 give the Kiug. I have lived in the most anxiouss expectation of some such 
 measure offering itself. Nothing prevented my pressing it in this dispatch, 
 except having repeatedly stated the just expectations of this country, I 
 was apprehensive of giving that the air of demand which would be better 
 left to a spirit of voluntary justice, gratitude, and foresight. I gave your 
 Grace confidence for watching the temper of those you had to deal with, 
 and cannot express the pleasure it gives me to find that confidence justified. 
 Bargains and compacts may accomplish little objects — great ends must be 
 obtained by a nobler and more generous policy. No matter who has the 
 merit, let the two kingdoms be one, which can only be by Ireland now 
 acknowledging the superintending power and supremacy to be where 
 Nature has placed it in precise and unanihiguous terms. I am sure I need 
 not inculcate to your Grace the importance of words in an act which must 
 decide on the happiness of ages, particularly in what regards contribution 
 and trade, subjects most likely to come into frequent question. Your Grace 
 will have every merit I can give you. I have only to assure your Grace of 
 evei-y support necessary to carry this measure, and of the most confidential 
 return to every communication you think the public service may require. 
 
 I entirely agree in your Grace's reasons for putting as speedy an end 
 as possible to the present Sessions, unless the measure you have in 
 contemplation can be obtained. 
 
 The King is at Windsor, and every one else out of town ; I therefore only 
 write the sentiments of 
 
 Your Grace's faithful servant, 
 
 SHELBURNE. 
 
 Extract of a Letter from the Dult£ of Portland, Lord Lieutenant of 
 Ireland, to the Earl of Shelburne, dated Dublin Castle, 22nd June, 1782. 
 
 The disappointment and mortification I suffer by the unexpected change 
 in those dispositions which had authorized me to entertain the hopes I had 
 perhaps too sanguinely expressed in the letter which I had the honour of 
 writing to your Lordship, the 6th instant, must not prevent my acquainting 
 you, that for the present those expectations must be given up. I trust, and 
 am inclined to flatter myself they are only suspended, and that they will be 
 revived when the temper of this country shall have recovered it tone, and 
 acquired that degree of composure which must give it the firmness necessary 
 
 for effectuating so wise and salutary a measure. Mr. F will have 
 
 informed your Lordship of some unpleasant circumstances which were 
 likely to have happened a very few days before the Adjournment, the traces 
 of which are strongly marked in the Address from the Leinster Volunteers, 
 which I have this day the honour of transmitting to you, but which, I think, 
 are to be attributed to a suspicion of the possible effect of a negotiation.
 
 106 
 
 By the account of the events of those three or four days, and of the timidity 
 and jealousy of the first people in this country, it is clear to my 
 apprehension, that any injudicious or offensive measure may be prevented, 
 but that any attempt to conciliate the minds of this nation to any such 
 measure as I intimated the hope of, would at this moment be delusive and 
 impossible. 
 
 vin. 
 
 Copy of Resolutions, 4th December, 1783. 5 Lord's Jonr. 
 
 1. " That all grants ought to be made in separate Acts, and that the 
 practice of annexing such grants to Bills of Aid or Supply for the support of 
 His Majesty's Government, is unparliamentary and tends to the destruction 
 of the Constitution." 
 
 2. " That the House will reject any Bill of Aid or Supply to which any 
 clauses, the matter of which is foreign to, and different from, the matter of 
 such Bill of Aid or Supply, or to which any clause granting money in aid 
 shall be annexed." 
 
 IX, 
 
 2Z Geo, III., c, 28. " An Act for removing and preventing all doubts 
 wMeh have arisen, or might arise, concerning the exclusive Rights of 
 the Parliament and Courts of Ireland, in matters of Legislation and 
 Judicature ; and for preventing any writ of error or Appeal from any of 
 His Majesty's Courts in that Kingdom from being received, heard and 
 adjudged in any of His Majesty's Courts in tlie Kingdom of Great 
 Rritain." 
 
 The preamble recites the Act of the previous session repealing 6 Geo. I. 
 and whereas doubts have arisen for removing all doubts, &c., be it declared 
 and enacted that the said right claimed by the people of Ireland, to be 
 bound only by laws enacted by His Majesty and the Parliament of that 
 Kingdom in all cases whatever, and to have all actions and suits at law or 
 in equity, which may be instituted in that Kingdom, decided in His 
 Majesty's Courts therein finally, and without appeal from thence, shall be, 
 and it is hereby declared to be established and ascertained for ever, and 
 shall at no time hereafter be questioned or questionable. 
 
 The second clause provides for the return of all appeals. Writs of Error 
 shall be returned on application.
 
 107 
 
 X. 
 
 Mr. Flood's Bill proposed amongst other Reforms, -'That every Protestant 
 freeholder or leaseholder, possessing a freehold or leasehold for a certain 
 term of years, of forty shillings value, resident in any City or Borough, shall 
 be entitled to vote at elections of a Member for the same; that decayed 
 Boroughs should have an extension of their franchise to the neighbouring 
 parishes and include them : — that the suffrages of the Electors should be 
 taken by the Sheriff or his deputies on the same day at the respective places of 
 election : — That the Pensioners of the Crown receiving their pensions during 
 pleasure should be incapacitated from sitting in Parliament : — That every 
 member of Parliament accepting a pension for life, or any place under the 
 Crown, should vacate his seat : — That each member should subscribe an 
 oath, that he had neither directly or indvrectly given any pecuniary or other 
 consideration with the view of obtaining the suffrage of an election : — 
 Finally that the duration of Parliament should not exceed the term of three 
 years," The Right Rev. the Earl of Bristol, Bishop of Derry, wished the 
 elective franchise extended to the Catholics. He was a very active politician 
 and a prominent member of the Convention. — (^Memoirs of Flood. Dublin, 
 Cunning. 1830. p. 247). 
 
 Xi. 
 
 Absentee Tax — Absenteeism had long been admitted and recognized as a 
 substantial Irish grievance. The dependent Parliament under Lord North's 
 administration, had attempted to deal with the question. Lord Harcourt as 
 Viceroy, originally approved, but subsequently changed his opinion as to its 
 expediency. Of its merits no one seems to have doubted. On the first 
 mention of the intended measure in 1773, English Peers, resident in 
 England, but possessed of property in Ireland, at once took alarm. Lords 
 Devonshire, Bessborough, Rockingham, Fitzwilliam, Ossory, were loud in 
 their objections, and were not without arguments in their favour. Their 
 exceptional claims were reasons for clauses, but in no wise affected the 
 principle of the Bill. The tax was then proposed as part of a complete 
 scheme of finance for the requirements of the State. Those interested in 
 the defeat of the measure took up the cry that it was but the prelude to a 
 General Land Tax. It was rejected. In the following year Mr. Oliver 
 proposed a tax of two shillings in the pound " on all rents and profits 
 payable to persons who did not reside in Ireland six months in the year." 
 A warm debate followed. The Equity of the tax was admitted, its policy 
 was questioned. It was contended it would lead to the sale of all estates 
 held by wealthy English proprietors, and similar reasons, with no better
 
 108 
 
 foundation were urged for its rejection. These prevailed. The Bill was 
 lost by 120 — 106, a very narrow escape. 
 
 XII. 
 
 23 and 24 Geo. III., c. 56. " An Act for the more effectual Discovery and 
 prosecution of offenders called ' Houghers ' and for the support and 
 maintenance of soldiers and others houghed, maimed, and, disabled by such 
 offenders." 
 
 Its preamble states " Whereas divers protticate and evil disposed persons 
 in a barbarous and inhuman manner, houghed, maimed and disabled 
 several soldiers," &c. The Act proceeds to charge the County or Barony 
 wherein offence is committed with £20 a year for those so injured ; it 
 enacts the penalty of death, but one day after sentence, the prisoner betM'een 
 the sentence and execution to be fed on bread and water, excepting the 
 Sacrament. 
 
 XIIL 
 
 Resolutions proposed at a Meeting of Citizens held in Rotunda, 
 19th August 1784. 
 
 Resolved — '"That the Constitution of Parliament was'unbearable, that the 
 people must have a share in the Representation ; that the Catholics must 
 have the franchise ; that a venal and corrupt House of Commons had 
 treated the demands of Ireland with indignity and contempt ; that under 
 the Constitution of 1782, any administration could have a majority, and that 
 there was danger of absolute monarchy.' A Committee was appointed. 
 They reported in the name of an injured and insulted Kingdom, ' that there 
 liberties were insecure, that their chartered rights had been infringed, and 
 the freedom of the press violated ; that the Commons were a hired 
 instrument to pillage an already impoverished and distressed people ; a 
 Congress freely chosen by the Irish nation must meet in Dublin ; the 
 Majesty of the People would then resume its proper influence, and divine 
 Providence, knowing the justice of their cause, would assist them in 
 obtaining their rights.' " 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Oiarter Schools. — The Irish Charter Schools were the special objects of 
 Government care. Froude describes them, "as the best conceived 
 educational establishments which existed in the world." They were under 
 the management of trustees and Commissioners ; the former held in grants 
 from the Crown large districts of land. By the 21 and 22 Geo. III., c. 27,
 
 109 
 
 Governors of Schools might lease lands in counties of cities and of towns for a 
 term not above forty-one years, with a covenant on tenant to build and renew 
 from time to time, taking fines, but no school was at liberty to demise above 
 twenty acres under this Act, and the consent of the Primate and Archbishop> 
 Chancellor and chief judges, or three of them, must be had under hand and 
 seal, or lease was void. Many tenants held imder these powers for short 
 terms ; as their farms increased in value under cultivation, or their terms 
 expired, they were without any redress, should their rents be raised or 
 renewal refused. To remedy this, was the object of the Act. 
 
 XV. 
 
 Petition from Merchants of Dublin. 
 
 " That it is the inalienable and fundamental right of the people of 
 Ireland to be free from the authority of any legislature whatever, save only 
 the Parliament of Ireland ; and that any covenant, agreement, or statute 
 containing in any shape or form whatever an agreement that the Parliament 
 of Ireland shall from time to time enact in this country laws which shall 
 be passed in another, is inconsistent with the said fundamental right, and 
 would render the Parliament of this realm the register of another 
 Legislature, would in substance revive and introduce by means of our own 
 Parliament the dominion of another, and would overturn the Constitution 
 of this Realm, and would be a surrender of privileges inconsistent with the 
 limited power of an " Octennial trust." — ( Common's Journal, vol. 12.) 
 
 XVI. 
 
 40 Geo. III., c. 100, § 63. *• And whereas doubts are entertained whether 
 under any law or laws now existing the Governors of the Workhouse of the 
 City of Cork have at present a power to grant licenses for, or to limit the 
 number, or make regulations for, the government of any ccach, postchaise, 
 chair, or sedan. Governors of Workhouses are hereby empowered to 
 license persons who keep hackney coaches, post chaises, (diairs or sedans, 
 and to limit the number thereof. 
 
 The Act imposes penalties which shall be recovered before Governors of 
 Workhouses, or five of them.
 
 10 
 
 XVII. 
 
 Round Robin agreement entered into Fehruary 1769, by the Members of 
 hath Hoxtses of Parliament in opposition la the Marquis of BucMngTuim, 
 Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. 
 
 We, the Circumscribers, having on the Question of the Regency dissented from the mode 
 recommended to us by the Marquis of Buckingham, and acted agreeably to the rights and 
 sense of Parliament, and the duty and confidence which we owe to His Royal Highnes the 
 Prince of Wales and the rest of the Royal Family, do make the following Declaration and 
 Honourable Agreement, that is to say : — That if any of the circumscribing persons shall, 
 in consequence of his conduct upon that Question, or upon the measures necessary to be 
 taken in consequence thereof, be deprived of his office or pension, or shall be made, as has 
 been threatened, the "Victim of his Vote," we agree that we will not accept of such Office 
 or Pension for ourselves, or for any other person, and that we shaU consider such 
 deprivation, dismissal, or rendering any Individual the Victim of his Vote upon that 
 occasion, as a reprobation of our Constitutional conduct, an attack upon the public 
 principles and the Independence of Parliament, and that tlie Administration taking or 
 persevering in such a step is not entitled to our confidence, and shall not receive our 
 support. 
 
 27th February, 1789. 
 
 J. ConoUy. 
 
 .T. O'Neill. 
 
 J. Stewart. 
 
 W. Ponsonby. 
 
 Geo. Ponsonby. 
 
 Shannon. 
 
 Granard. 
 
 Ross. 
 
 Lei trim. 
 
 Louth. 
 
 Cavan. 
 
 Grandison. 
 
 Henry Fitzgerald. 
 
 .John Blaquire. 
 
 An. Browne. 
 
 .Tames CufEe. 
 
 Burke. 
 
 R. Day. 
 
 F. Blyth. 
 
 C. J. Sheridan. 
 
 And. Caldwell. 
 
 Drougheda. 
 
 Portarlington. 
 
 Moira. 
 
 Belvedere. 
 
 Landaff. 
 
 Archbishop Tuam. 
 
 Sunderland. 
 
 Farnham. 
 
 Loftus. 
 
 Clifton. 
 
 G. Ogle. 
 An. Dawson. 
 Skeffington Smith. 
 
 Henry Grattan. 
 Donoughmore. 
 P. B. Daly. 
 Henry Hatton. 
 Annesley Stuart. 
 Ed. Newingham. 
 Griffiths. 
 J. P. Curran. 
 Bdwd. Crofton. 
 H. Burgh. 
 H. Langlish. 
 J. Hardey. 
 J. Doyle. 
 W. Ogilvie. 
 Leiuster. 
 Charlemount. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 At the Spring Assizes for the County of Armagh, 1791, the Grand Jury 
 and High SheriflE entered into Eesolutions : " that a rage among the Roman 
 Catholics for illegally arming themselves has of late taken place, and it is 
 truly alarming ; in order then to put a stop to such proceedings and to 
 restore tranquillity, we do pledge ourselves to each other as Magistrates and 
 individuals, and do hereby oflEer a reward of five guineas for the conviction 
 of each of the first twenty persons illegally armed and assembled as 
 aforesaid." — Plow. vol. ii, 33.5. 
 
 XIX.* 
 
 •• They have not been blessed in England with a succession of Lord 
 Lieutenants' secretaries whose sole occupation has been to debauch the 
 
 * Grattans Lite, vol. ii, p. S.")'
 
 IIJ 
 
 morality of the gentlemen of Ireland. No Minister will venture to tell the 
 gentlemen of England that they must be bought ; no man wiil venture to 
 say that the best Minister is he who buys Parliament the cheapest. Men 
 do sometimes desert and oppose their own party, but not themselves and 
 their own list of measures. A man does not in England publicly cross the 
 House to reverse every part of his conduct, and then hold out his little paw 
 to the Minister like a penny boy. There was, indeed, one man in England 
 supposed to have done so, but he was in England a prodigy ; let me add, he 
 had been Irish Secretary in Ireland. 
 
 The people of this country supposed that England acceded to their 
 liberties, and they were right ; but the present Ministry have sent the curse 
 after the blessing. Hear the curse ! You have got rid of the British 
 Parliament, but we will buy the Irish ; you have shaken off our final 
 judicature, but we shall sell yours ; you have got your Free Trade, but we 
 will make your own Parliament suffer our monopolists in one quarter of the 
 globe to exclude you, and you shall remain content with the right, destitute 
 of the possession. Your corporate rights shall be attacked, and you shall not 
 stii' ; the freedom of your press and the personal freedom of the subject shall 
 be outraged ; and you shall not arraign ; your city shall be put under 
 contribution to corrupt its magistracy ; and pay a guard to neglect and 
 insult her ; the seats of justice shall be purchased by personal servitude, and 
 the qualification of your judges shall be to have borne the suffrage and 
 testimony against the people. Taxes shall be drawn from the poor by 
 various artifices to buy the rich ; your Bills like your people shall be sold ; 
 you shall see the genius of your country neglected, her patriotism dismissed 
 from the commission, and the old enemies of the Constitution made the 
 rulers of the realm." 
 
 The above allusion to " dismissal from the Commission," referred to Lord 
 Charlemount, who resigned the Government of the County of Armagh, a 
 confidential honour which his ancestors had enjoyed since the days of 
 Elizabeth. He considered the joint appointment of another nobleman with 
 him in the Government as an insult. 
 
 XX. 
 
 Resolutions.* — That his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant, by his public 
 conduct since his arrival in this kingdom, deserves the thanks of this House, 
 and the confidence of the people. 
 
 Resolved — That to prorogue Parliament before these grievances, of which 
 the people complained, were redressed, would be highly inexpedient. 
 
 Resolved — That the foregoing Resolutions be laid before His Majest3^ 
 
 * Com. .Tour. Marcli, 170.5.
 
 112 
 
 There were two other resolutious which were withdrawn. 
 
 It was also Resolved — That the Speaker with the House should attend 
 His Excellency with the Resolution. He did so, and His Excellency 
 returned the following answer : — 
 
 Gentlemen of the House of Commons, — It gives me infinite satisfaction to 
 find by this unanimous resolution, that my public conduct since my arrival 
 in this kingdom, has appeared to you to be deserving of your thanks, and to 
 entitle me to the confidence of the people. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 Earl Fitzwilliam did not remain silent. Before his departure he 
 published two letters addressed by him to Lord Carlisle, in which he 
 alleged he was sacrificed to party intrigue. He quoted the secret and 
 confidential communications addressed to him by the Duke of Portland, and 
 did not hesitate to avow what had passed in the Cabinet, — a course which 
 in modern times has been severely censured as being unconstitutional. 
 
 " The letters were distributed among Lord Fitzwilliam's friends, and are 
 now in general circulation. One passage is much talked of here. It is a 
 quotation from a confidential despatch of your Grace, in which you say : — 
 that 'deferring this question would be the means of doing a greater 
 service to the British Empire, than it has been capable of receiving since 
 the Revolution. The construction put on these words by many people, 
 though falsely in my opinion, is that the intention of Ministers was to 
 keep the Catholic question alive and in suspense till a Peace, and then 
 employ it as a means of forming a union between the countries." 
 
 " (Pelham to Duke of Portland, March 30. Secret S.P.O.)* 
 
 XXII. 
 
 Report of Lords (Lords Jour, vii, p. 580.) " The attainment of what are 
 called Parliamentary Reform, and Catholic Emancipation were, and 
 continued to be held out merely as a pretext for their (United Irishmen) 
 Associations, and with a view to seduce persons who were not apprised of 
 their traitorous designs, to unite with them." Report of Commons. Committee 
 "had discovered that the test of the United Irishmen had undergone a 
 change," a full representation of the people was now their object. The 
 words " in the Commons House of Parliament being purposely omitted," 
 the reason for which has been admitted by three members of the executive 
 examined before your Committee to be the better to reconcile Reformers 
 and Republicans in a common exertion to overthrow the State. — 17 Com. 
 Jour, 179.5. 
 
 • Fronde, vol. iii, p. 142.
 
 11^5 
 
 Form of Oath of United Irishiueu (Plow, ii, 53(5) : — 
 
 " In the awful presence of God, I do voluntarily declare that I will 
 
 persevere iu endeavouring to form a brotherhood of affection among 
 Irishmen of every religious persuasion, that I will also persevere iu 
 endeavouring to obtain an equal, full, and adequate representation of all the 
 people in Ireland, I do further declare that neither hopes, fears, rewards, 
 or punishments shall ever induce me directly or indirectly to inform or give 
 evidence against any member or members of this or similar .societies for any 
 act or expression of their, done or made collectively or individually in or 
 out of this society, in pursuance of the spirit of this obligation. 
 
 XXIll. 
 36 Geo. III., a. 20. Rc.^niutions of Attonuij-di'iu'rcd <i.s foKaddfidn of Bill. 
 
 1. " That the spirit of conspiracy and outrage which has appeared in 
 certain parts of this Kingdom, and has shewn itself in various attempts to 
 assassinate magistrates, to murder witnesses, to plunder houses, and seize by 
 force the arms of His Majesty's peaceable subjects, requires that more 
 effectual powers should be given to the magistracy." 
 
 2. " That (in such parts of this Kingdom as the said spirit has shown 
 itself, or to which there may be cause to apprehend it being extended), it 
 will be necessary that the magistracy should have enlarged powers of 
 searching for arms, ammunition, and weapons of offence and of seizing or 
 securing the same for the preservation of the peace, and the safety of the 
 lives and properties of His Majesty's peaceable and loyal subjects," 
 
 3. " That from the many attacks which have been made on the houses of 
 I'ndividuals by large bodies of armed insurgents for the purpose of taking 
 arms and money by foi'ce, and murdering those who had the spirit to 
 enforce the laws or give information against offenders, it will be necessary 
 that the magistrates have enlarged powers to prevent such bodies hereafter 
 from a'-sembling or meeting either to plan or execute such horrid purpose." 
 
 4. " That it will be necessary to give the Magistracy further powers with 
 respect to vagabonds, idle and disorderly persons, and to persons liable to 
 be deemed so, or who have no lawful trade, or any honest means to obtain a 
 livelihood." 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 Letter from Mr. Grattan to Dr. Duigenan. 
 
 Mr. Grattan has seen a very gross, a very uu[)rovoked, and a very ludicrous 
 performance written against him, and signed Patrick Duigenan,
 
 114 
 
 Mr. Grattan don't explain bis public rouduct to iudividnals. 
 
 The Statute Book and the Journals of the House of Commons are open. 
 Were he to make his public conduct a subject of explanation, it would not 
 be to such a person as Dr. Duigeuan. 
 
 But as the above-mentioned attack mixes with its folly much personal 
 rudeness, Mr. Grattan judges it not wholly beneath him take some sort of 
 notice of it, and he is sorry to be forced to observe that the author has 
 departed from the manners and language of a Gentleman, and has thought 
 jiroper to adopt a strain so false, so vile, and so disgusting, as to render 
 Doctor Duigenan a******** too * * * and ludicrous 
 to give an affront or to make an apology. 
 
 Mr. Grattan remains in Dublin for three days, and is to be heard of at 
 Kearn's Hotel, Kildare-street. — (Plow. vol. ii, p. 6.50). 
 
 In moving for new writ for Dublin, June 14, 1820, Mr. Beecher said, 
 his principal reason for rising was to mention to the House that a 
 document — the dying exhortation of Mr. Grattan to his Catholic countrymen 
 had been communicated to him (Mr. Beecher), which, with the i)erniissi()n 
 of the House, he would now read. 
 
 Finding himself unable to go down to the House, Mr. Grattan dictated 
 it a short time before his death : — 
 
 " I have entreated of Providence to give me an opportunity to submit 
 a few propositions, regarding your situation ; they goto the Pioraan Catholic 
 interest and to your own. 
 
 " First — I most strongly' recommend that the two countries may never 
 separate, and that Ireland should never seek for any connection except with 
 Great Britain. 
 
 " My next advice is, that the people of these countries should not look to a 
 Deraocratical Government; th^y are not fit fur it; and the Democracy 
 proposed means nothing hut a Military Govcrriinent. Universal Suffrage 
 and Annual Parliaments profess to give power, which thry do not. Their 
 first operation is to repeal all the laws which prevent the army from voting, 
 and of coumn lanvrs the election, to the army. The next operation is to 
 remove all the laws that prevent persons who are connected with the 
 revenue from voting, and leaves the election and tlu- inftvence of the Cron-n; 
 the result of both would be a riot, and not an election. I have just breath 
 enough to enter my pi'otcst against both.
 
 115 
 
 •• With respect to the Roman Catholics, they have a right to worship tlieir 
 God as they please, the Roman Catholics have a right to believe in 
 transuhstautiation ; they owe allegiance to their God and to their King ; 
 hut tJif^t, do not owe allegiance to the Pope: there exists no right, there 
 exists no power to control them under the circumstances. I beg to ])ro])Ose 
 the following resolutions : — 
 
 " Resolved — That a Committee be appointed with a view to repeal the 
 Civil and Political disabilities, which affect His Majesty's Roman Catholic 
 subjects on account of their religion. 
 
 " Resolved — That such repeal be made with due regard to the inciohibilitii 
 of the Protestant Religion and Establishments. 
 
 ''Resolved — That these Resolutions do stand the sense of the Commons of 
 the Imperial Parliament, on the subject of Civil and Religious Liberty, and 
 as such be laid before His Majest}'. 
 
 "These Resolutions contain ray sentiments; tJiix in mij textameiitai-ii 
 Ji.<tpo.sition, and I die with a lore of lihertij in mij heart, and this 
 declaration infaroiir of mij country in my hand.' 
 
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