of the English conftitution and the political principles on which it is founded. Were they unreasonable when they complained of not have ing the advantage of even virtual reprefentation To fuppofe that a large induftrious and intelligent body of men could be governed against the principles they had imbibed and the prejudices by which they were guided, was abfurd. We were now precifely at the point in which we ftood in 1774 with America; and though the distance, and its population extending over an immenfe tract of country, were difadvantages peculiar to that conteft, he remembered when this circumftance was ftated as an advantage, as it would prevent fudden collections of people. He remembered alfo at that period the expreffion of the American "war," which he was the first perfon in that houfe to use, was treated with the utmost ridicule, and to call fome riots at Boston by that name was regarded as abfurdity. Some might treat the idea of a war with Ireland with the fame contempt, and he fincerely hoped experience would not decide fo triumphantly in his favour as on the former ocBut when he faw, as in the prefent inftance, a government defirous to decide by force against the will of a majority; he clearly faw the danger of a civil war. Ireland was in that ftate which one well acquainted with the fubject defined to be defpotifm; "where the executive power was every thing, and the rights of the people nothing." Suppofe we were to fucceed in difarming the whole of the north of Ireland, they must be kept in fubjection by force. Could we convince them by the bayonet that their principles were falfe, their pretentions unjuft; and de monftrate that they enjoyed the bleffings of a free conftitution by martial law? Never! The hiftory of their country proved that, though repeatedly fubdued, it could not be kept in awe by force. The character of the people of the North had been feverely ftigmatifed as men of the old leaven. They were indeed of those who refcued their country from the tyranny of Charles I. and James II. they were of that leaven which afferted and defended the principles of liberty which fermented, when kneaded together, the freedom of the Britis conftitution. if thefe principles were carried to excefs, it was an excefs to which he openly profeffed himself partial; the oppofition they had fuffered was fome apology. The mode now adopted was this; it was neceflary there fhould be à certificate from the magiftrates to declare a county out of the king's peace; many of these magiftrates were Englishmen, and officers of the fencible corps. Were the people to be told that thefe men were acting only in a civil capacity? Several of the principal inhabitants of Belfast were arrested; and the law was in fuch a state, that men might be kept in prifon without trial. The people of the North, attached to thefe men, were determined they they should not fuffer in their property; they worked for them for nothing; they reaped their harvefts, to fhew their good will to the arrested parties, or their deteftation of the conduct of govern ment. This, however, was conftrued to be a heinous offence; the people were difperfed by the mili tary; and when fome of them were killed, the perfons who attended their bodies to the grave were deemed criminal, and this act of humanity humanity regarded as an act against the ftate. What must be the effect of fuch measures? Was it not likely to influence even' to infurrection thofe who before had preferred monarchy, and to induce the most loyal to question the excellence of a monarchical ftate, on witneffing thefe confequences from its abuses? If the Irish were fubdued (Mr. Fox faid), it would be neceflary to keep up a large military force; or fup pofing they would fubmit, we could not truft them; fubmiffion to laws which they detefted could laft no longer than our force and their impotency. Was it the way to perfuade the catholics to affift us, to refufe all their demands An application had been made, not from the peafantry but the nobility, a ftrong and urgent application to the government to grant the remainder of their requests: it had been unfuccefsful. For himfelf, he profeffed he knew of no way of governing mankind but by conciliating them; and what could we lofe by fuch methods? If Ireland, by conceding to all her wishes was governed, would he be lefs ufeful to Great Britain? What was the now? Little more than a diverfion for the enemy. Even if we could retain her by force, what fhould we do in all future wars? In the first place fecure her from infurrection, which would be no eafy matter whilft fe confidered herfelf aggrieved. The confequences of a war with her were dreadful to contemplate; public horrors would be fo increafed by the laceration of private feelings, as to fpread univerfal mifery through both countries. The connection was fo interwoven between the individuals of each, that no rupture could happen without wounding the most tender friendship and the most facred ties. Rigour had been already attempted, let conciliation be tried before the laft appeal is hazarded. Let the whole people of Ireland enjoy the fame principles, the fame fyftem, the fame operation of government, and all claffes an equal chance of emolu ment. In other words, let the whole Irish government be regu lated by Irif notions, and Irift prejudices; and the more fhe is under them, the more will the be bound to English interefts. Mr. Fox touched next upon the removal of earl Fitzwilliam; he asked those who best knew the country, whether the day of his de parture was not a day of forrow? The catholic petition was rejected, and the prefent distracted state of Ireland had been produced by the hopes of the people being difappointed, and by the cup of enjoyment and liberty having been fuddenly dafhed from their lips. He concluded his fpeech by moving an addrefs to his majesty," that he would be pleased to take into confideration the disturbed state of Ireland, and to adopt fuch lenient measures, as might appear beft calculated to restore tranquillity and conciliate affection." Sir Francis Burdett feconded the motion; he described pathetically the prefent fituation of Ireland; its field's defolated, its prifons overflowing with the victims of oppreffion! He lamented the contrast between a profligate extravagant govern ment, and an enflaved impoverished people. One perfon be faid, whom he knew to be as incapable of treafon to his country, as he was capable of every thing great, generous and noble for the good of his country, was now immured within the walls of Dublin caftle: man whofe private virtues e qualled, qualled, they could not furpafs, the integrity of his public conduct: and of whom it might best be said, nil som laudandum aut dixit, aut fenfa, aut fecit. He named Mr. O'Connor; adding, that when fuch men became the objects of hatred and fear to government, it was not difficult to afcertain the nature of the government. He ended with: declaring there was but, one way of faving Ireland-of faving England and that was, by divesting the prefent minister of the power he had fo long and fatally abufed, and calling him to a strict account at the tribunal of his country. Mr. Pitt expatiated on Mr. Fox's confiderations, in a fpeech too long for the limits of this work to detail. The fubftance of his anfwers was, that the parliament of Ireland was confidered to be the natural fource of legislative ar. rangements in that country, whofe peculiar interests were entrusted to its care: nor could any interference be admitted after the conceffion of 1782, by which we had declared the parliament to be independent, and placed it utterly out of our controul. Nor could we, under pretence of advising his majefty, induce him to give effect to meafures which conftitutionally could only owe their effects to the Irish legillature. He asked Mr. Fox if we could fay to the parliament, "You are an independent le gislative body; but we, the parliament of England, fhali at the end of fourteen years revife and examine, and direct how you fhall exercife your functions, and after wards feel it our duty to tell the Irish people that you are no longer entitled to their confidence, no longer poffeffed of those unalienable: rights to independent legiflation: which we conceded to you." The right honourable gentle. man, he faid, had taken notice of the demands of the catholics in the South, and of the diffenters in the North, with a view of proving that farther conceffions would be pru dent and even abfolutely neceffary on our part. He was himself quite of another opinion: no remedy could be rendered ferviceable to them, by a 'meafure which would operate as an entire alteration of the form of the parliament-analteration too, which, as far as it would arife from the remaining claims of the papists, and the wishes of the prefbyterians, would be par ticularly dangerous. The remedy hinted at, though not fo high in point of legiflation, was one which could only fall within the province of the parliament of Ireland-he meant an alteration of the laws, which might not only affect the right to a large mafs of property, but the practice of the church as to the prefent established mode of worship. This was the principle by which, under the term " lenient meafures," he fuppofed Mr. Fox meant to lay the foundation of the future peace of Ireland. At the commencement of his majesty's reign, the catholics were prevented from voting: they laboured under many difabilities, all of which had been removed by his majefty; nor could it fairly be brought forward, that no pledge had been given by the crown, to extend to that people the benefits enjoyed by the other parts of the community. But it had been afferted, that it was poffible to fatisfy the catholics; if it were, it might be made the fubje&t of advice to the executive government. The right honourable gen tleman tleman (Mr. Fox) would fatisfy them indeed, by giving them the privilege of fitting in parliament. But this could not be done, without reverfing the whole of its prefent form, and new-modelling the conftitution from the beginning to the end; and to make this change when fuch principles were abroad in the world, and were even prevalent in the country where we lived, would be attended (and he appealed to the houfe if it would not) with the most pernicious.con fequences. He would not enter into the fubject refpecting the wishes of the catholics and diffenters in the North, to change the form of the Irish parliament; as it would lead to difcuffions which, whether they were to be decided upon thofe old English principles which Mr. Fox admired, or on the new French ones of modern liberty, might be dangerous. If, in deed, they included the doctrine of the fovereignty of the people, it was contrary to the duty of parliament to give the leaft fanction to the measure. He ftated, he said, all his reafons, trufting that the English house of parliament would. not for a moment hefitate in rejecting a motion calculated to alter the fundamental principles of the independence of Ireland. Mr. W. Smith contended that the addrefs could not interfere with the independence of the parliament of Ireland, and as he was unconvinced by any thing which he had heard, he was called upon in duty to the public to vote for it. Colonel Fullarton asked whether we were or were not on the eve and in the crifis of impending invasion and commotion refpecting Ireland. If we were not-he had. nothing to fay, but beg pardon and fit down; if we were, how prepofterous was the conduct of thofe who wafted their precious moments in idle and pernicious words, inftead of dedicating all their powers to purposes of preparation or precaution? It was time, he faid, to put an end to palliatives and felfdeceptions, and to place these kingdoms on a footing of impervious defence, whilft the delay of the French still offered us the opportunity. General Hoche would find in the province of Ulfter alone 50,000 Irishmen united, with pikes in their hands and arms concealed, bufily employed in fecret difcipline, in order to qualify themfelves to reinforce the French army. This was no fecret, except in London. Thefe people had long fince communicated their force, their numbers, their intentions to France; and, unless we counteracted their fchemes by a fpeedy peace with the common enemy, we were mutually lost. I.ord Wycombe declared it as his opinion, that the prefent fituation of Ireland was owing to the conduct of our minifters towards that country. The disturbances which had taken place in it, proved a manifeft difaffection to the British government: conciliation inftead of rigour ought to have. been tried, for it was time enough to employ force when mildness failed. He could have wifhed, that the Irish parliament had been left to themselves to fettle this, but that he knew they had entirely loft the confidence of the people, and therefore the minifter's obferva tions on the independence of it were thrown away. Indeed, he had quite omitted to prove (for it was impoffible to prove) that the Irish parliament was independent ; the truth was known to be, that a majority of it was at the will of the the cabinet of England. As to As to the fear of the religious fentiments of the catholics, it was fingular fuch a fear fhould be entertained, when every body knew that religion to be on the decline all over Europe. He more dreaded, that, if we did not interfere, we fhould lofe Ireland altogether, which would be more fevere to us than the lofs of America. Lord Hawkesbury re-echoed the fentiments of Mr. Pitt, and was convinced, he faid, by the arguments fo ably alleged, that its government was capable of managing the concerns of the nation, and that there was no neceffity of our interference, fuppofing (which he knew was not the cafe) that it could be done with propriety. Mr. Curwen faid, it was not the motion of his right honourable friend, but the obfervations of the chancellor of the exchequer, which were really mischievous. It was far from wife in him to fix a charge of jacobinifm upon any body of his majefty's fubjects. So far, indeed, was the prefent motion from being mischievous, that even the difcuffion would do good, inafmuch as it would fhew the Irish nation, that there was a part at least of the British parliament who were mindful of their interefts. Mr. Courtenay adverted to colonel Fullarton's account of there being 50,000 men in the province of Ulfter, with arms in their hands, ready to receive the French; he believed that there were; but not to fupport them on the contrary, they were prepared to refift an invafion, if ever it fhould be attempted. The people in that province had a strong fpirit of liberty, and were attached to the popular, or what had been called the republican, branch of the conftitution. But was this a reason to ftigmatise them as jacobins ?-a banditti without laws, without principles, without order! Mr. Courtenay ftated, that many moft refpectable perfons had been arrested at Belfaft, and were now languishing in gaol without being brought to a trial. why? Because government dared not, knowing they could not esta blish their guilt; and their acquital might difconcert the plan on which they were proceeding. And Mr. Fox again rofe: he thought the difcontents in Ireland might be quieted by his majefty removing from places of truft many perfons now at the head of public affairs; men who libelled the character of a nation, at a moment. when its zeal, patriotifm, and courage were most eminently difplayed; men in fhort, whofe adminiftration might be confidered as the fource of those calamities with which the country was afflicted. The chancellor of the exechequer had affirmed, that the principles contended for refpecting liberty, were not English but French; if they were alfo Irish, they were worthy the attention of government. But even allowing them to be French (and he certainly would not recommend fuch in this country), ftill it was better to overcome them by conciliation than to go to war with them. Was the houfe prepared to begin another four years' war, to fquander millions of treasure, and to fhed rivers of blood? If it was, he bade them go on with their noble enterprife; he would, however, warn them, that, by literally fighting against French principles in Ireland, they might in the end be introduced into Great Britain itself. Unfortunately he had been a long time deprecating coercive measures. He had deprecated the adoption of them |