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thought his majesty needed not the advice of their lordips to entertain a tender regard for the interefts of his fubjects, and therefore diffented from the motion.

The marquis of Landfdowne admitted there had been confiderable improvements in the regulation of the internal affairs of Ireland. The having ten feffions in the year, inftead of four, for the trial of offençes he looked upon as a great good. Murders had been too frequently committed in that coun-, try, and the bringing to juftice the perpetrators of fuch horrid acts, was the duty of the executive government; and it was alfo the dus, ty of every individual to fupport, government in that refpect. He had heard it faid, "property was the creature of law :" this was fo far from true, that law was rather the creature of property. He faw the neceffity of doing much in favour of the poor people of Ireland. It was a fact well known that there was a great quantity of land which produced nothing there, but which might be productive of much; and that there was a great number of people who had nothing to do, who might be well employed in the cultivation of thefe lands. He fhould be glad to join in any plan, either in or out of parliament, for public utility Perhaps it might be promoted by dividing a large eftate into feparate properties: he had written abroad with a view to fome scheme of this kind; but it ought to be voluntary, for he had no idea of force in the diftribution or management of any man's property-nor indeed could any benefit accrue to the lower claffes of fociety, till an end was put to this difftrous

war.

The earl of Darnley obferved,

the motion evidently pointed to the emancipation of the catholics, as the means of ending difcontents. He oppofed it upon the grounds that the fituation of Ireland did not call for it, for there never was a time when all defcriptions of men were fo well fatisfied with adminiftration as at prefent. Difcontents there might be among a certain defcription of people, but by no means amongst the general mafs of the people on whofe behalf the popular cry of. catholic emancipation was fuppofed to have been raised, though in fact it was made ufe of for a very different purpose by perfons who had no interest in the caufe of the catholics, but as it ferved to cover the defigns of fubverting the government. The difcontented were not the poor catholics of the South, who had hown fuch attachment to their country, but the rich inhabitants of the North, who had ma, nifefted a very different fpirit. Befides the great body of the Irifh ca tholics, the lower orders of the community never could be inte refted in the queftion, having received every indulgence. For these reafons he gave his negative.

The duke of Bedford confeffcd, that, but for the affurance which the noble lord had given, it would have been to him a matter of wonder that the catholics were contented, because it was extraordinary that they fhould be fo, when profcribed all benefits of the ftate under wuich they lived, where they were marked with difgrace, and put entirely into the hands of the executive government. But it feemed they gave an inftance of their attachment to government in the late threatened invafion; was this the proof that was to be given as a reafon that their complaints

should

hould be paffed without notice? Had we fhewn any inclination to reward this generous attachment? Quite the contrary! He had often obferved the conduct of minifters in all public affairs; he had feen how they evaded all questions which could lead to difcuffions bearing hard upon themfelves. But of all their attempts to fcreen themfelves the prefent was the weakeft: they had not used one argument; they had only made a few affertions, and pretended to found them on the principles of our conftitution. The fecretary of ftate had endeavoured to protect himself hy a fhield which was in' itfelf impenetrable, but which the fecretary was not entitled to use. He meant the facred character of the fovereign upon the throne. There exifted not one perfon more difpofed than Limfelf to pay all due reverence to that: but although he knew he was treading on delicate ground, yet he must perform his public duty. Many of thofe acts which had the fovereign's name to fanction them, ought to be confidered as the acts of minifters who advised them, and were called fo in the language of common fenfe. It was to this fource we might trace the diftreffes we had fuftained; to this was owing the lofs of thirteen flourishing colonies, the difafter of the prefent national bankruptcy, and thofe difcontents in Ireland which it was the object of the motion to remove. There was a character in that house, well known to their lord fhips, and to both countries, of whom he could fay much in commendation (though no praife could exalt him) were he not prefent. To minifters, however, he would offer this advice: Reftore to the Irish the perJon you have recalled; give back

to them the man whom they have tried, and whom they admire: act on the principles on which he act ed, and difcontents will ceafe. If you do not, heaven only knows what dreadful confequences await you.

Lord Grenville, evidently exaf perated at the remarks of his grace, rofe (he faid) chiefly for the pur pofe of doing away the impreffion they might leave:" he was far from endeavouring to fhield himself be hind the virtues of the fovereign's he only paid his majefty that tri bute which all the world knew to be his due: he afcribed no part of that merit to himself, or to any ad miniftration. He had faid, and he contended for the truth of it, that the intereft of the people of Ireland had invariably been a princi pal object with the executive go vernment of this country. The noble duke proposed to do the very thing which he feemed to dread, namely, to create a disturbance in Ireland; for that must neceffarily be the tendency of recalling the prefent lord Reutenant of that kingdom. If his talents, virtues, and exertions could not preferve tranquillity, he believed it would be out of the power of any individual whatever..

The duke of Bedford in return accufed the noble fecretary of mif: reprefentation. He faid, he had anfwered his remarks, as if he had called upon the house to address his majefty to recall the prefent lord lieutenant; he had done no fuch thing. He profeffed as high a veneration for the fovereign and his character as any lord could feel, but he muft add, that, notwithstanding all his own good acts and good intentions, his minifters had contrived to counteract them fo effectually, that England was in a

N 3

ftate

a ftate of public bankruptcy, and Ireland nearly in rebellion.

The earl of Darnley again af firmed there never was a period when the Irifh fhowed more loyalty; and all representations of their being difaffected towards government were without foundation.

The earl of Moira concluded the debate by a few obfervations: It was known that after the catholics had been led to expect relief, a member of the house of commons of Ireland ftarted up in a debate, and pronounced on their hopes an abfolute interdiction. Another member in the other houfe of parliament pro nounced one fweeping condemnation on the north of Ireland. The noble lord and himself differed with respect to the state of the country. He alleged there were great and alarming difcontents there; his lordfhip had declared the mafs of the people were contented: now, as the veracity of one could not be tried against the other's, the only mode of decifion was to refer to facts. Was not a whole county, expofed to invafion, and that a ma ritime one, difarmed on its being alleged to be in a state infurrec tion? Had not many perfons been accufed of high treafon? And when all ranks furrounded thofe who were accufed, protefting they were innocent, but marked out as victims of the vengeance of go vernment-when a general affem bly in Dublin refolved and declar ed it to be their firm perfuafion that Ireland would be lost if there was not a change in the executive government were thefe proofs of the general fatisfaction of the mafs of the people? Yet these were, the facts, their lordships were to judge concerning the accuracy of the reprefentationThe numbers on the e depw balign? 974

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The general frate of Ireland was, on the 23d of March, brought be. fore the house of commons by Mr. Fox. He began his fpeech with obferving, that in the year 182 very great difeontents exiftedia Ireland, and it appeared to him indifpenfably neceffary, that every thing, should be done on the part of the government to appease them. With this view he himself propofed the recognition of the complete independence of that country: it was not of confequence whether that recognition was a boon or a right; but having been the perfon whe propofed the act, he confidered himself bound to follow up the principle of it, which was to make Ireland free and independent, and, above all, to adopt fuch measures as should admit her to all the advantages of that independence, and restore that cordial affection between the two countries fo requifite to the profperity of both.

The parliament of Great Britain was now called upon to inquire how it had happened that thofe conceffions had not produced the falutary confequences which might have been expected from them; and it was the duty of every member of that houfe, and his own in particular, to direct the attention of the British legislature to the prefent ftate of the fifter kingdom.

Ireland, he faid, was in a state of difturbance, and, though a variety of circumftances had concurred to produce this flate, there were two or three leading points to which he propofed chiefly to confine his obfervations. These were, how far, in confequence of our conceffions, Ireland had in fact and in fubftance enjoyed the ad,

vantage

vantages of an independent legiflature; and whether in that form of a free conftitution which they obtained, the people poffeffed that political weight to which they were entitled? It had been generally calculated, that five fixths of the inhabitants of Ireland were Roman catholics; feveral of the grievances under which they laboured had apparently been removed. But if upon inquiry it fhould be found that the mode in which thefe grants had been made, and the acts of the executive power by which they were accompanied, had produced the feverest perfecutions of a political nature; it would appear that the catholics had not been redreffed, and in point of right and real possession had been worfe off than before.

These were the principal, but not the only points involved in the inquiry. There were others, unconnected with the catholics: the inhabitants of the North had been confidered by fome in a lefs favourable light, and their complaints had been heard with a lefs favourable ear: their difcontents had arifen from the preffure of a war in which they had no intereft, from the diftreffes entailed thereby upon their trade and commerce; and from the abufes which they conceived to exist in the conftitution by which they were governed. They complained that it did not refemble that of Great Britain; they had not a legislature in which the people were even virtually reprefented, and they enjoyed as little political liberty as thofe who lived under monarchies in which the principies of freedom were unknown the advantages which the form of a free constitution seemed to promife, had been counteracted by the influence of the executive govern

ment and of the British cabinet. Mr. Fox then obferved, that, at the time of his majefty's unfortunate indifpofition, the legislature of Ireland took a decided part: the parliament cenfured the lord lieutenant for his conduct, and expreffed a decided opinion on the ftate of public affairs: immediately after this, however, and during the adminiftration of the fame lieutenant, a great acceffion of influ ence was gained by the crown, and the parliament was prevailed upon to unfay all they had faid, and to retract every opinion they had given. It was matter of notoriety, that a regular fyftem was then devifed for enflaving Ireland; and this plan of corruption was followed up by fuitable measures. Mr. Fox affirmed, it had been offered to be proved by men of the first character and talents (and when' he mentioned Mr. Grattan, it was enough), that it had been the sys tem of government, by the fale of peerages, to raise a purfe to pur chafe the representation of the peo ple of Ireland. The manner in which thefe events were confidered in that country was this: You have granted us, faid the people, a légiflature certainly independent of your parliament, but dependent on your executive government. The conceffion, therefore, they viewed not as a bleffing, but an infult. When ea:l Fitzwilliam went to Ireland in the capacity of lord lieutenant, it was understood that he lett London with the approba➡ tion of minifters in favour of the complete emancipation of the ca tholics; and though no fuch vote ever paffed the legislature, no doubt was entertained that the meafuré would take effect, and would have experienced the firm fupport of parliament: but after the hopes N4

which

which had been raifed, after the krown preparation of parliament to vote, he was fuddenly difmiffed, the fyftem reverfed, and the queftion, which a few weeks before would have been carried with unanimity, was rejected by a vast majority. Was not this a proof beyond a thousand arguments, that the measure of 1782 had been rendered inefficacious, that Ireland in fact had gained nothing, and was in a state of degradation beyond any former period? Here Mr. Fox ftrongly expreffed his abhorrence of that diabolical maxim, by which Ireland was to be regulated divide et impera- and of that policy which weakly and wickedly fought to feparate the higher from the lower rank of catholics. At the fame time our proceedings (he faid) were fuch, as to convince them all that our conceffions were extorted, that the hoftile mind ftill existed against them, and they continued to be marked out as victims of the moft cruel profcriptions. Sufpicions were infinuated againft men of the first respectability, of confiderable property and of undoubted loyalty numbers were taken up for high treafon; and when acquit ted, it was proved, no grounds of juft accufation could ever have been entertained against them. The remedies applied tended to foment the evil: the authority of the laws was fuperfeded; thofe whom it would have been impoffible to convict were tranfported in great numbers without trial; an act called the infurrection-act was paffed to enable government to purfue those violent measures-and the lapfe of a very short time had fhewed them the confequence of fuch conduct, and the fallacy of fuch reasonings!

:

There were perfons who fuppof

ed that the prejudices of the Ro man catholics and the diffenters would prevent them from forming a union; but was this likely to be prevented when we were daily declaring fo many diftricts out of the king's peace, and in a state of difturbance? and, instead of conciliating the minds of the catholics, were telling them, that they had nothing more to expect? An opinion had gone forth that the catholics had no fubftantial grievances to complain of, and the prefbyterians lefs; that the catholics can vote for members of parliament, and are not diftinguifhed from the proteftants but by being excluded from the high offices of ftate, and from being members themselves. "It is objected (continued Mr. Fox) that it is not civil liberty which they wish, but power and emolument which they purfue. And why fhould they not? To afk civil liberty without political power, would be to afk the poffeffion of a right for which they could have no fecurity. Is it improper that any people who contribute fo largely to the fupport of government as the catholics do, fhould be defirous to flare the emolument it beftows, as a compenfation for what they facrifice? They are men, and are to be governed, the expenfe of maintaining all governments is confiderable, and that of Ireland is certainly no model of economy

but juftice and candour will al low that the catholics ought to fhare in its advantages when they contribute to its fupport." He then proceeded to make fome remarks on the discontents of the diffenters: they confidered their grievances, he faid, to confift in the abufes of government which they had not means to remedy: they wished for the fubftantial bleffings

of

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