circumstances, he thought, Ireland could never suppose itself fairly dealt by, if the legislature refused to make any inquiry into the cirrezistances of an affair so alarming to the tranquillity of that country. Lord Castlereagh insisted, that the Irish government were not surprized; that Dublin was sufficiently Casoned; and that if it was not for the murder of lord Kilwarden, the surrection in Dublin was not important enough to be called rebellion. Mr.Windham thought the motion, teinformation if sought, and the observations, made by the hon. mover, were not of a nature to do any misf; but that, on the contrary, mach good must result from it. The wernment of Ireland appeared to Lim, in spite of repeated warnings, to have suffered itself to be com'etely surprised. He denied that the merit of putting down the reMion, belonged principally to the regulars; it was the volunteers, asisted only by the 21st regiment, who put down the rebellion. The plot of the rebels, was as extensive confederacy, as sudden in its execution; and if it had not haped, that some of the insurgents intoxicated, and that lord Aarden passed that way before the time fixed for their acting, he #ht it probable, that the insurwould have carried the castle 4 Dublin. He then defended geEmily the tenor of his speeches, ng the session. He was accusof alarming and frightening the people of this country; but it was Vain to attempt to rouze people tead themselves, without pointg out the danger. Нетр The chancellor of the exchequer, ccused the right hon. gentleman, of himself shewing that tardiness and indecision; an indecision which he imputed to others, when he hesitated immediately to vote the customary address of thanks to his majesty, for the communication respecting Ireland. On such an occasion as that, delay would have been ruinous, and yet the right hon. gentleman was for delay. As to the general state of Ireland, it would be foolish to suppose, that that spirit which had before manifested itself in rebellion so widely extended, should now be completely extinguished; yet he would say, that he believed it had abated considerably of its violence, and that numbers of persons, in that country, who were formerly disaffected, had now entirely quitted the cause of rebellion, and would be ready to join in the defence of the country, against any invader. Dr. Lawrence, in a long and able speech, recapitulated the charges which had been so often made against ministers, for want of due vigilance and system. The attorney general replied. Lord Temple supported the motion, as considering that the conduct of the Irish government, upon the late occasion, ought to be fully inquired into. He denied that the rebellion in Ireland was a catholic one, as some gentlemen had supposed. Persons of every religion were equally exposed to its ra vages. Colonel Crawford said, that for the sake of Ireland, he almost regretted the act of union, if, on such an occasion as this, parliament were not to demand information. Mr. Hutchinson, made a very P 2 able session took place on colonel Hutchinson's motion respecting the affairs of Ireland. He began by stating, how material it was, especially at the present time, for his majesty to be enabled to avail himself of all the resources of every part of the united kingdom, and therefore it was most desirable to put Ireland into such a situation, as to make her natural strength, wealth, and population, as conducive as possible to the general security of the empire. He, therefore, called up ministers to attend to the state Ireland, and to reform, radio the system by which it had so long governed; as that a to him, the only means that country beyond the foreign attack, or dome He did not mean to ch of men with a deliber. promise, but he m ally, that respecti general, he saw m supineness than nessed respect lish interest. 1688, whic land, bro but, on t dation ences v that ( the cat! he i lief is differe a deputation house, to state of t1 report f From been impr in . h 1 istration red upor t. Some Tually conse were; no nat union of y, conjoined to nisterial phalanx have, in all events rresistable. Still, how ant of connecting princi vailed among the leaders o stile ranks; and though, a period to which we advert circumstance seemed favour e to such a coalescence of ta cat and character, in the country must, so united, have born ioan every opposition; the seaso for political activity closed, as w have seen, without any visible de crease of the influence of the pro sent government, or of establishe co-operation and harmony amon those parties, who seperately pre fessed themselves adverse from i measures. State Papers CHAP. XVII. inister with Mr. Pitt.-Conditions on which the latter ito office.-Unpalatable-and why.- Rejected-and Tof-Subsequent changes in Administration.-No Acength thereto.-Observations. Purse of the month of , in this year, some steps taken towards effecting a age in the administration of in the public affairs. Of these, although red, have they proved at the time wholly inefition; the fictual, it naturally falls within our ty closed to give some account; and this the rather, as the history of ut any and more accurate than any other that has yet appeared. The stability of the administration, which had concluded the treaty of Amiens, was understood to depend on the experience which the country might have of the real merits of that memorable transac tion. The extent of the sacrifices, uence of och transactions is always useful, by which peace had been purchasor of est affording some insight into the harmony o seperate adverse characters and views of our public men; and by developing the occaons and principles of those variations, which all free governments so frequently exhibit in the state and relation of their political partes. The frequent and unreserved discussions, which have since taken place on the subject of this particular transaction, the publications respecting it, which were supposed to be authorized by some of the parties most concerned; and the private letters of others of them, intercepted and published by the emy, have brought the detail of this negociation, much more forward to the public view, than is a) in similar cases. The followng narrative, compiled from all these various sources of information, will, we trust, be found both fuller ed, began indeed to be more genes rally regretted, in proportion, as it was more fully understood; but credit was, for the most part, given to the assurances of its permanence, which were continually repeated from authority; and the country indulged itself in the most sanguine expectations of its beneficial effects on our situation, both at home and abroad. In this state of the public mind, the ministers found little difficulty in discrediting the opinions of that small body in parliament, which had, from the begin ning, openly condemned the system on which that negociation had been conducted; and had always predicted from it, the inevitable and speedy renewal of the war. A opinion began to be received, by some men, that mediocrity rather than preeminence in talent or in knowledge, P 3 A usters And even Ication have to encounter the usual difficulties of a burthensome and expensive war. Difficulties much increased to them, by the continual reference which they must occasion to the errors of their past policy. au not yet of the contien administravisded for, as The duration of select for which might be ex, whose charac> were so closely became manifest, aust immediately re Or own situation was anged as that of the I found that they ve to encounter the reday whom their asx misled into a course conduct, or into projects peculation, neither of been justified by the would be called upon a the detail of negociaarly defective in point and knowledge: and the sve tone of which could not sve galling, to a great and yed people-they would to justify the orders e putting into the hands of on the very eve of hosNose possessions, whose ve is found in war—and, they would be obliged www“, to parliament for a long wwo actively employed under Kas digo yumstances, not in proposing asures of defence, but in disyg disembodying, and dehealteady inadequate force betore existed! In addition to de embarrassments, they would In this situation of things, it was natural that the administration should look to some meaus 01 strengthening themselves in parliament, and of retrieving the ground they had lost in the estimation of the public; among whom a sense o their insufficiency had, for som time past, been rapidly, thoug silently growing up. There wer in parliament, three leading d scriptions of public men, unco nected with the existing ministry from each of whom separately, m nisters had much to apprehend and whose union, even if it cou be effected for that single objec would manifestly be, at any m ment sufficient to overthrow t whole system of Mr. Addingto government. Of these it was nerally understood that the par at the head of which Mr. Pitt v placed, though much dissatisf with the conduct of ministers, however less alienated from th than those with whom either Fox or lord Grenville acted.— Mr. Pitt, therefore, their overt were made. It appears not improbable, t in a transaction of this nature, ried on in a great degree by ver discussion, and embracing the sonal situations and interests of those persons who were partic it, some misapprehension may, in the very outset, have prevai the actual ministers may, haps, have conceived thems en ngaged only in a negociation for an accession of strength to the government, which already existed; while the p e person, with whom they treated, might believe that they had both the desire and the authority to propose to him, that he should undertake to form a new administration. The subsequent transactions render it evident, that no such desire did, in fact, exist, on their part; and it has been generally believed, that they had received no such authority from that quarter, from whence alone it could regu-ville and lord Spencer is said to larly have been given! Yet it appears certain, that the proposal was listened to, in that sense alone, by the person to whom it was made. Mr. Pitt's answer, as stated to the public by one of his confidential trends, was conceived in the folbring terms: That he would not enter upon the question of arrangements, until he was distinctly ormed, by a message from the Lighest authority, that his services were thought essential; that if so called upon, in spite of the precanous state of his health, he should not decline the offer of his best adTire and assistance; that he was Ey aware of the great and increasing difficulties of the country, 2ad that he saw the necessity of a STRONG, VIGOROUS, and EFFICIENT GOVERNMENT." To this te is said, from the same authority, have added, that, as one important step towards the formation such a government, he should, of called upon by his majesty, profree to include, in a new adminiration, lord Grenville and lord pencer, if, on being consulted by tim, they should agree to be so inluded; but that he should not make their admission, or that of any other person whatever, a sine qua non condition of his own acceptance, only reserving to himself the power of declining the undertaking altogether, if he could not form such a government as might afford to the country a fair probability of success. In this state the transaction is said to have been communicated to these two noble persons, and through them to some of their friends. The answer of lord Gren have been, that they could form no final judgment of the propriety of their acceding to such an arrangement, until they were informed, both with what persons it might be proposed to them to act, and on what principles the government was to be` conducted; that they entirely concurred in the opinion expressed by Mr. Pitt, as to the necessity of forming a STRONG, VIGOROUS, and EFFICIENT GOVERNMENT, and wished to carry that principle to the full extent, of including in the new administration, whatever was most eminent in the country for talent, influence and character; that they should, under all circumstances, openly and invariably adhere to those principles, respecting the state and government of Ireland, to which they had been pledged, on the dissolution of the former government; that this point must be distinctly explained by themselves in that quarter, where it was most material, that it should be clearly understood; and that if, on this account, or from any other cause, new difficulties should arise, they earnestly intreated that no consideration personal to themselves should, for a single moment, |