DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from Duke University Libraries https://archive.org/details/risefallofirishn01barr it A* €. THE EISE AND II OF FALL THE IRISH NATION. A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION BY WHICH THE UNION WAS CARRIED; ' THE FAJHILY HISTORIES OF THE MEMBERS WHO VOTED AWAY THE IRISH PARLIAMENT: an <2^xtraot:liinari) iSIacft itist or TUB TI'ILES, PLACES, AND PENSIONS WHICH THEY RECEIVED FOR THEIR CORRUPT VOTES. BY SIR JONAH ^ARRINGTON, LL.D., K.C., MEMBER IN TUB LATE IBISH PARLIAMENT FOR THE CITIES OF TUAM AND CLOQIIER. DUBLIN: JAMES DUFFY AND CO., Ltd., 15 WELLINGTON QUAY. |)nnftb btt Edmund Burke & Co., 6l & 62 GREAT STRAND STREET, DUBLIN. TO THE BARON PLUNKET, LOKD CHANCELLOE OF lEELAND. ■—— My dear Lord, Even whilst the twilight of life is rapidly descending into that mysterious night, by which the whole human race must inevitably be enveloped, there yet remains one gratification, which, whilst intellect survives, age cannot deprive us of—the recollection of past pleasures. To me none afford more happy recollections than the splendid days of my variegated life, spent in the s'ciety of those great and gifted charac¬ ters, who once adorned that talented and happy island, we were then proud to call the place of our nativity. From that society all distinctions of party were banished, and politics were forgotten ; all merged in the general glow of private friendship. Tiiere were no contests save those of wit, no emulation but in the animated sallies of classic conviviality, there your talents were con¬ spicuous, and your elevation was predicted. In those societies our intimacy commenced, and generated a friendship, from which my heart and my actions have never for one moment deviated. No man knew me better than your Lordship ; no man knows better the sacrifices I made to uphold our country. Once I was formidable to its enemies ; but 1 have lost my sting, and it required the strength of more than ordinary philosophy to bear up against that overwhelm¬ ing weight of injustice, illegality, haughty and irresistible oppression, which, through unconstitutional proceedings, and for a palpably corrupt purpose, were heaped upon one of the oldest and most proven friends of the British Monarchy. I trust, however, to the justice and liberality of a reformed representation to afford me a full opportunity of bringing before their eyes that unprecedented scene of injustice, and of convincing the Empire, that real culprits, of the higher orders, were, at the same moment, not only screened, but elevated. On the most important subject that ever a Stated (and Las not ceased to agitatejthe British Empire, our sentiments, my Lord, were congenial. We fought side by side in the cause of Ireland, upon that vital point; I tv DEDICATION. rielded my warmest friends, and acquired most inveterate enemies; you broke from no connexion. Talent, patriotism, eloquence and integrity stamped your character; I feel, therefore, that, as the intimate of my society, the comrade of my battles, and, I believe, the friend of my de¬ clining years, I should pay to you this tribute of regard, by presenting to you a volume, which fibs up the chasm of events for twenty of the most momentous years of Irish History; and if God gives me health to com¬ plete what I am undertaking, the Reigns of the seven Viceroys which have succeeded the Union shall be given to the public, as an irrefragable proof of the truth of the predictions, which, in 1800, were urged in vain against the adoption of that disastrous measure. As some novel points of view in which I have in this volume placed th* present state of the Union question, spring solely from myself, they ar^ only to be considered as the isolated opinion of a worn-out public man; full, perhaps, of those national prejudices, which are inseparable from his pature, but excusable when they are genuine, and founded on the purest nrinciples of equity and constitution. One of the proudest days of my life was, that when a candidate for the Metropolis of Ireland, the five first names found on my tally, were those of the Grattan, G. Ponsonby, Plunket, Curran, and Ball. You, my Lord, are the only survivor of that illustrious group, who has lived to see the fulfilment of their prophecies, and in that point of view, I feel that not only my private friendsliip, but almost public duty, commands me to pre¬ sent to you a work, which, whilst narrating the glorious, but unsuccessful struggles for our common country, for its independence, offers a feeble and melancholy tribute to the patriotism of those illustrious characters, whose memory will ever be revered by a generous and grateful people. Believe me, my dear Lord, to be. With the utmost sincerity. Tours, most faithfully, JONAH BARRINGTONv Paris. 1st of May, 1833- PREFATORY OBSERVATIONS More than thirty summers have now passed by, since that disastrouj measure called a “Legislative Union’’ extinguished at one blow, the prid^ the prosperity, and the independence of the Irish Nation. A measure which, under the false colours of guarding for ever against ti disunion of the empire, has taken tlie longest and surest stride to lead it tc dismemberment. A measure which, instead of “ consolidating the strength and resources oj the empire" as treacherously expressed from the throne of the Viceroy, has through its morbid operation, paralyzed the resources of Ireland; whilst England is exhausting her own strength, squandering her own trea¬ sures, and clipping her own constitution, to uphold a measure effected by corruption, and maintained by oppression. A measure which, pretending to tranquillize, has, in fact, excited more hostile, and I fear, interminable disgust, than had ever before existed be¬ tween the two nations and has banished from both, that mutual and in¬ vigorating attachment, which was daily augmenting, under the continuance of the federative connexion. The protecting body of the country gentlemen have evacuated Ireland, and in their stead, we now find official clerks, griping agents, haughty functionaries, and proud Clergy. The resident aristocracy of Ireland, ii not quite extinguished, is hourly diminishing; and it is a political truism, that the co-existencc of an oligarchy, without a cabinet, a resident executive, and an absent legislation, tenants without landlords, and magistrates with¬ out legal knowledge, must be, from its nature, a form of constitution at once incongruous, inefficient, and dangerous. The present is a state which cannot exist: it is a struggle, that cannot cocVinue, there is “a tide” in the affairs of Empires, as well as of individuals; every fever has a crisis: Ireland is in one now, I am no fanatic, I am the partisan only of tranquil - lity, in the country where I drew my first breath. The people of England, and also of some continental kingdoms, are fully aware of the distracted state of Ireland, but are at a loss to account for it > it is now, however, in proof, that thirty-three years of Union have been thirty-three years of beggary and disturbance, and this result, I may fairly say, I always foresaw. And when my humble sentiments as to the susceptibility of Irclaxsd. and r PltEFATORT OBSEUVATIONS. the inisnile tiiat setiris entailed on her generations, have the hononr of co¬ inciding with those of the highest authority in England on that subject, 1 feel myself inracible in the position, that “ If Ireland was well governed, she would be the brightest jewel in the King’s crown. The proof that the people are not bad, is that during two rebellions in 1715 and 1745 that raged in Scotland and England, the Irish people were quite quiet. BuJ she has been badly governed, and has not and does not improve with the rest of the Empire.” In fact the world has now become not only enlightened, but illuminates, by the progress of political information; and it is clear as day that there are but tw'o ways, through which eight millions of Irish population can ever be governed with security: either through the re-ejojuuent of her own constitution, and voluntary affection to her rulers, or by physical force of arms, and the temporary right of conquest, the former even now requires only the will of England, and the word reconciliation. But both ancient and modern examples fully prove, that the whole physical force and power of Great Britain might find itself dangerously deceived in try¬ ing to establish by the sword, a system so repugnant to the very natuixi of the English people. During the short reign of Earl Fitzwilliam, with a resident Legislature, five thousand men were sufficient to garrison every spot of Ireland. Undef the protracted reign of the present Viceroy, more than thirty thousand soldiers are found necessary to enforce obedience, even to a single statute of the Imperial Legislature. These are proofs and matters of fact, they carry conviction to the reason . of every man susceptible of conviction, and of every party not hurried away by prejudice, and Great Britain herself must now perceive that above a third of her military are employed in Ireland, by her Minister, to keep down the exuberant spirit of that peopole, and that army paid out of the JilngliGh purse, by taxes levied on the English people, is solely maintained to extingush that very spirit which they have themselves so triumphantly exercised to obtain a reform of their own corrupt Legislature. The subject of this volume, and some novel suggestions and doctrines it embodies, will, of course, excite many different opinions, as to the object of its author, in producing such a work, at so critical an epoch of the British Empire. I therefore hesitate not a moment in avowing my reasons; they ara just, true, and conciliatory ; one is to dispel that profound ignorance of the real state of Ireland, its claims and its deprivations, which appear? to have pervaded every class of the British people, and in v/hich lack tX Information, so great a proportion even of the present Parliament appear^ to participate. But above all, to convince the British people, that they are the very worst friends of the connexion, who raise up a “ repeal of the Union” as a sprite to terrify the English people into a false belief, that it would be only a certain prelude to a separation of the countries. Never yet was a more mischievous or false position forced on the credu¬ lity of an uninformed people; whoever reads this volume will detect thsS falsehood. There they will find, by conip;tring times and incidents, that, so far from a resident Legislature being a ground of separation, it PREFATORY OBSTCKVATIONS. vii was the knot that indissolubly united them, whilst the increasing miseries of Ireland, arising from this Union, are only the prelude to a convulsive separation of the two countries. In the body of this volume (page 190), I have given my suggestion as to the term “Kepeal of the Union,” and my opinion, that no power of the Irish representatives or trustees could enact a line of it, that as a constitutional measure, it is a nullity unqualified, and that no such Union dejure is at present in existence. I must here observe, in reply to the ingenious verbiage of my able friend, Baron Smith of the Irish Exchequer Bench, that of all the feeble attempts to uphold the affirmative of that untenable position, his alone is worthy of the most trivial animadversion. When simply a member of the extinguished Legislature, he might, like many others, have supported that vicious doctrine for his tem¬ porary purposes. But it is to be lamented, that being a Judge, he still supports the same doctrine as to the competence of Parliament, though so distinctly and palpably repugnant to the eternal principles of justice and equity w’hich form the very essence and the practice of his jurisdiction. It is impossible to reconcile such pertinacious retention of that doc¬ trine, save through a supposition, that the subtlety of sophistry and metaphysics have suggested to his fancy some imaginary distinction between that equity to which private property and public right have been invariably and equally entitled; and that an individual may be entitled to a justice, which a people can be deprived of, and a con¬ stitution betrayed by the very trustees, who were delegated for its protection. The case of England and Ireland is not merely a question of law, or even simply of constitution ; it is a question actually embracing the law of nations. Commercial treaties existed between them as in¬ dependent countries, and Ireland enjoyed for eighteen years all the rights which the law of nations confers on independent states. The difficulties of dissolving the Union are exaggerated; the situation of both countries presented far greater obstacles for their arrangement in 1782, than are at this moment existing. England at that period had usurped a dominion over the Irish Legis¬ lature; policy and justice called on her to relinquish that dominion ; she obeyed the call, and the repeal of her own statute (sixth George I.) by inference admitted the usurpation of centuries. Still the power of re-enactment remained ; Ireland claimed a statut¬ able renunciation of such a power, and a guarantee for the entire and unqualified Independence of the Irish Legislature and realm/or ever. England saw, and admitted, the policy and justice of the demand ; she again obeyed the call, and voluntarily did guarantee for ever, the independence and integrity of Ireland. The experiment succeeded, and both countries prospered. The Union was enacted, and both countries feel the ruin of it. England, therefore, has only to act upon the very same principle of viii PREFATORY OBSERVATION 3. honour, policy, and justice, as in 1782, and follow her former prece¬ dent, which conferred such benefits on both—Ireland has nothing to repeal; her Parliament was incompetent, and her statute was a nullity. The English Act of Union was a statute dejure, and may be renounced as in 1782. I cannot terminate these observations, without expressing how much the arrangement and the correctness of this volume, owe to the research, and revision, of my zealous and talented friend, Doctor Halliday, of Paris. That congeniality of sentiment which generated our mutual friendship, excited that exertion, and gives me the pleasing opportunity, of saying, how much my esteem has been increased, by a more intimate knowledge of his mind and of his principles. Paris, 1st May, 1833. CONTENTS. CHAPTER 1 . frrlaiid at an early period— Misgovernment and oppression of England— Irish staUstios—Climate—Geoginpliical advantages—Internal resources—Popnla- tioi*—Her depressed condition in 1779 —Causes of it—Poyning’s law—^Uenr* pation by England to bind Ireland by British statutes—The Penal Statutes against Cathohcs—Fatal consequences to Ireland—Ireland roused by the exam¬ ple of America—Success of America—Its effect on the Irish people—Origin of the Irish Volunteers—Character of Lord Clare—His intolerance— His poli¬ tical inconsistency—His fall, - - • - n. 1 CHAPTER II. Stats of the Irish Parliament previous to 1779 —Previous to 1780, occasional contests arose in the Irish Parliaments—The Absentees—The Irish Bar— Its Influence and Independence—Mr. Burgh, Prime-Seijeant—The Attorney- General—France assists America against England—France, the champion of Liberty ; England of Slavery—France threatens to invade Ireland—England prostrate and incapable of assisting Ireland—Moderation and patriotism of the Catholics—Character of the Irish people misrepresented and misunder¬ stood in England—Irish character defamed by English Writers—Character of the Irish peasant—Their undaunted courage—Attachment to their countiy— The Gentry—Komantio chivalry of the Irish gentry—Suicide unknown in Ireland—Irish Peerage—Protestant Clergy—Catholic Clergy—Their conduct and manners, - • . . . • • CHAPTER III. Ireland awikened to a sense of her slavery—The Irish Parliament totally inde« pendent of England—The King acknowledged in Ireland through his Irisli crown, and not through the crown of England—Perilous position of Eng¬ land—Moderation and attachment of Ireland—Ireland determined to demand her just rights—Conspiracy against the manufactures of Ireland—The non- consumption agreement adopted throughout all Ireland—Progress of the Vo¬ lunteers—Their principal Leaders—Sir John Parnell—His charactei'—General effects of Volunteering upon the people of Ireland, • - - p, 29 CHAPTER IV. Unexpected events in the Irish House of Commons—Mr. Grattan’s amendment to the Address—His public character and vicissitudes—The Amendment—Its effects—Sir Henry Cavendish—His character—Mr. Hussey Burgh (the Primo- Serjeant) secedes from Government, and substitute^ an Amendment for Mr- Grattan’s—The Amendment passed—First step towards Irish independence—- The English Parliament callous to the wrongs of Ireland—Lord Shelbonrue X CONTENTS. Bnd Lord Ossory propose resolutions—The Irish Nation determined to as8e'.*t its rights — Eesolntion for a free trade carried naanimously — This circnm- jtance one of the remote causes of the Union—Rapid progress of the Volun¬ teers—Extraordinary military honours paid to the Duke of Leinster—At¬ tempts io seduce the Volunteers—Earl of Charlemont—His character, p. 32 CHAPTKR V. Spirit of the Irish and humiliation of the English Government—Preparation for hostilities—Lord North’s embarrassment—King’s conciliatory speech and th? consequent proceedings—Duplicity oC Ministers—The people alarmed—Volun¬ teer .Organization proceeds—Mutiny BiU—Alarming Eecontre of the Volun¬ teers and Regular Army-Intolerance of England—Further Grievances of Ireland—^Proceedings in the Irish Parliament—O’Neill of Shane’s Castle—Hi* Character and influence—Address to the Volunteers—Its results, - p. 45 CHAPTER VL Observations as to the strength of a people—German mercenaries—Further subject of discontent in Ireland—Dispute between Ireland and Portugal— Portugal encouraged in her hostility towards Ireland by the British Minister— Perseverance of Portugal—Mr. Fitzgibbon’s motion—Sir Lucius O’Brien— Proposes that Ireland in her own right should declare war against Portugal— Sir J. Blaquiere—Efiects of Sir Lucius O’Brien’s amendment—Distinctness of Ireland proved—Federative compact—Arguments for and against prompt pro¬ ceedings—Spirited reasonings of the Irish—No Habeas Corpus Act in Ireland Determination of the Volunteers—Origin and Progress of delegated assemblies —The Northern Irish—Dungannon meeting—Mr. Dobbs—Extraordinary min d —Hie eccentricity—Theories—Colonel Irwin—Accountof the Dungannon meet¬ ing continued—Dungannon resolutions, • « - - p. 64 CHAPTER AHL Xhe Earl of Bristol, Bishop of Derry, declares for Irish independence—Sketch of his character—Resistance to English Laws unanimously decided on—Declara¬ tion of tha Irish Volunteers disclaiming all British authority—The Irish Judges dependent on the English Government—Numerical force of the Irish Volun¬ teers—Dissenting Clergymen—Their Leaders—State of the Irish Parliament- Members divided into classes—The leading members—Mr. Thomas Connolly— Mr. Yelverton—His character, • • • • - p. 66 CHAPTER Vm. 'The alarm in England increases—The Earl of Carlisle recalled—The Duke of Portland appointed Lord Lieutenant—Duke of Portland’s character—He at¬ tempts to procrastinate—Remarks on the policy of the Union at that junc¬ ture—Mr. Grattan refuses to delay his proceedings—Especial call of the House —Comparison of the English and Irish Houses of Parliament—Character o£ Mr. Sexton Parry—Embarrassment of the Patriots—Mr. Hutchinson, Secre¬ tary of State, unexpectedly declares the assent of Government—Mr. Ponsonby moves an address considered insuflicient—Dangerous dilemma of Parlia¬ ment, • - • - ■ * - •p»78 CHAPTER IX. Mr. Grattan moves a declaration of rights and grievances in Parliament—Me.. CONTENTS. xi Brownlow—Mr, Georgo Ponsonby—Mr. Flood—Mr. Fitzgibbon's coadcot-— His declaration of Independence—Enthnsiastio rejoicing*, - p. CHAPTER X. Design of tbe British GoTemment to recall the Independence of Ireland—Singu¬ lar conduct of tbe Attorney-General—His speech—Its powerful effect—Palpa¬ ble dread of an Insurrection—Effect on England—Dube of Portland’s duplicity Attains an ascendancy over Earl Cbarlemont—Embarrassment of tbe English Cabinet—The Volunteers prepare for actual service—Imbecility of England— Insidious designs of tbe English Government—Mr. Fox—Mr. Pitt—Inuportant meeting of Parliament—The Volunteer Regiments occupy the avenues to the House of Commons—Designs of the Duke of Portland—Duke of Portland’s tpeech—Mr. Grattan—Mr. Brownlow—The Recorder and Mr. Walshe oppose Mr. Grattan’s address—Mr. Flood neutral—Mr. Walshe—Mr. Yelverton—The Secretary—Division—Consequent efnbarrassment, • • - P- 101 CHAPTER XI. Temporary credulity of the Irish Parliament—Country Gentlemen—Singular character of Mr. Bagenal—His Exploits—Popularity—His Patriotism—Com- manded many Volunteer Corps—Gives notice of a motion to reward Mr. Grattan — Anti-prophetic observation—Mr. Grattan’s increasing popularity— Hasty repeal of the declaratory act, 6th Geo. III.—And transmitted by the Vice¬ roy to the Volunteers—Doctrine of Blackstone declared unconstitutional—Mr. Bagenal’s motion to grant £100,000 to Mr. Grattan—Mistaken pride of his friends—Extraordinary occurrence—Insidious conduct of Government—Mr. Thomas Connolly makes a most unprecedented motion—Viceroy offers the Pa¬ lace to Mr. Grattan and his heirs as a reward for his services—Objects of the Government in making the offer—Discovered by the indiscretion of the Secre¬ tary, Col. Fitzpatrick—His character—Real objects developed—Mr. Grattan’s friends decline so large a grant—Their mistaken principle—Effects of the calumnies against Ireland—False arguments—Comparison of the conduct of England and Ireland—Comparatively loyal, - • * P- CHAPTER XII. Epitome of Irish History—Treacherous system of the English Government- First Irish Union—Second Union compared with the first—King Henry’s acta in Ireland—His plan to decimate the nation—He relinquished his dominion over Ireland—Abortive attempts to colonize—Totally failed, p. 118 CHAPTER XIII. Ireland kept in a state of oppression and turbulence—Elizabeth becomes Queen — Character, public and private, of Queen Elizabeth—Henry VIII.—Fanaticism of the English—True principles of tolerance—Union of religion and politics, fanaticism—Religious schisms excited through Luther—Violent dissensions— The Irish Roused—Cruel tyranny of Elizabeth—Earl of Tyrone excites the Irish—Extract from his speech—General rising of the Irish and old Eng. lish colonists—Immense slaughter—Confiscati'in of whole provinces to Eliza beth—Accession of James the First—Comp.rison with Elizabeth—His wise maxims—Conciliatory principles — Their full success—Charles the First— Disloyalty of the English—Ireland desolated by CromweU, - p. 1111 CONTENTS. KH CHAPTER XIV. Hestoration of the Stuart Dynasty; Usurpation of William; Ireland remained loyal; Comparison of the people; The revolutionary principle undefined} The Irish treated as Rebels by William for their loyalty to their King; Character of William the Third; Continued oppression and mal-governmeni of Ireland; The Scotch and English rebelled; Ireland remained tranquil; Comparison of the English and Irish as to their kings j Ireland first infected by the Scotch and English Rebellions; Mr. Pitt suppressed the spirit of insar. rection in England promptly; Suffered it to increase in Ireland, • p. 129 CHAPTER XV. Oatholio Relaxation Bills opposed by Mr. Rowley; Sir Edward Newennamj Doctor Patrick Duigenan; His character; Mr. Ogle; Bills passed; Unjust doctrine ; Change in the Irish Parliament; Mr. Fox’s candour; His speech j Deception of the British Government developed; Marquis of Rockingham; Total absence of energy; Mr. Burke; Inactive as to Ireland; New debates; Embarrassing consequences of Mr. Grattan’s address ; Mr. Grattan’s motion objectionable; Mr. Flood’s reply; Unfortunate collision of Grattan and Flood; Mr. Grattan’s faUacions motion ; Mr. Flood s reply ; Mr. Montgomery moves to build an Irish navy ; Negatived; Parliament prorogued; Most impor¬ tant session; Moderation of Ireland; The Duke of Portland’s hypocritioal speech, . . . . ■ • *P- CHAPTER XVI. InsufiSciency of Mr. Grattan’s measures; Death of tne Marquis of Rockingham and its consequences; Earl Temple, Lord Lieutenant; Mr. GranviUe, Secre¬ tary ; His character; Lord Temple; Not unpopular; Mr. Oorry, a principal instrument of Lord Temple; Proceedings of the Volunteers; Strong reso¬ lutions to oppose English laws ; Bad effects of the dissensions between Grattan and Flood; Sir George Young; Effect of Sir George Young’s speech; Lord Mansfield’s conduct accounted for; Consequence of these speeches; British Parliament belie their own act; Lord Abingdofl denies the King’s right to pass the BiU; England by statute admitted her usurpation, and relinquished for ever her right to legislate for Ireland; Renunciation Act; Mr. Grattan BliU perversely opposes Mr. Flood; The Renunciation Act confirmed by Mr. Flood’s doctrine, • . « • « • *P- CHAPTER XVIt. Lord Charlemont’s courtly propensities; Comparison of Gratten and Flood} Consequences of their jealousy to the country; The people enlightened, learn the true state of their situation; Discussion and Arguments; Inefficiency of the measures as a future security; A Reform of Parliament indispensable to public security; Mr. Pitt; His duplicity and corruptios • Constitutional rea. sons for a reform of Parliament; Deduction; Conclusion drawn by the V olunteers ; Proved by incontrovertible fact; State of Blectors and Represent tatives compared ; Mr. Curran; His character, • ■ * P- CHAPTER XVIII. Volunteers received by the King; Happy state of Ireland—Progressively pros¬ perous) Untoward consequences of the collision between Flood and Grat- CONTENTS. xiii tau; A second Dungannon meeting of delegated Volunteers ; Mr. Flood gainr ground ; Arguments; A National Convention decided on; Their first meeting; Interesting procession of the Delegates described ; Entrance of the Delegates; Extraordinary coincidence of localities; Embarrassing situation ; The Delegates meet at the Botunda, • • ' • * P* CHAPTER XIX. The Bishop of Derry takes his seat at the Convention ; His splendour; And Pageantry; Procession ; Popularity; Extraordinary Visit to the House of Lords; A Guard of Honour mounted at his house; Entirely devoted to the Irish People; His great qualities and acquirements; Opposes Cbarlemont and Grattan; First treacherous scheme of the British Government again to enslave Ireland; The spirit of the Irish Parliament declines: Reasons for Reform in Parliament; Absolutely essential to her prosperity; Further traits of Lord Charlemont’s character; His inefficiency; His views; Opposes the Bishop of Derry’s election for the Presidency of the National Convention ; Many Members of Parliament attend the Convention also ; Earl Cbarlemont’* dilemma; Proceedings of the Convention; The Bishop and Mr. Flood ac¬ quired the ascendancy; The Parliament and Convention ; Desperate step of Government j Fitegibbon’s Philippic; Most violent debates; Bill rejected; Extraordinary coincidence of facts; Mr. Connolly’s motion; Feeble and insi¬ dious resolutions of Lord Cbarlemont; Fatal adjournment; Called a meeting of his partisans; Breaks his trust; Inexcusable conduct; False statement; Virtually dissolves the Convention before the fuU meeting ; Lord Cbarlemont justly reprobated; Volunteers beat to arms ; Lord Charlemont’s intolerance; Opposed by the Bishop of Derry, • - • • • P- 175 CHAPTER XX. Celebrated Address of the Volunteers to the Bishop; Reply of the Bishop; Some thought the Bishop’s answer too strong; A new Bill suggested; New measures of Earl Cbarlemont; Decline of the Volunteers; Insincerity of the concessions; Cupidity of English traders; Sordid interest absorbed her jus¬ tice ; Commercial treaty and tariff proposed; Commercial propositions; Mr. Pitt’s duplicity ; Magnificence of the Irish Court; The Propositions rejected ; Mr. Brownlow opposes the eleven propositions; Passed the Commons; Mr. Pitt roposesd twenty propositions; Embarrassment of the Secretary ; Most violent debates in the Irish Parliament; The Ministry virtually defeated; The treaty ended; Defeat of the treaty effected by the country gentlemen; Mr. Forbes a leading member of tbe House of Commons; Mr. Hardy; Mr. Carleton, Solicitor-General; His singular Character, • * P- 185 CHAPTER XXI. Death of the Duke of Rutland; Marquis of Buckingham’s second Government f The question of a Regency; Mr. Pitt’s sonduct; The Prince submitted to the restraints; The Irish resisted, and refused to restrain him; Unprecedented case; Collision between the two Parliaments; Round Robin; Irish addresses to the Prince; Sketch of the Arguments on the Regency question in Ireland ; Constitutional state of both nations; Conduct of the nations contrasted; Reasons for the Irish Parliament proceeding by Address, and not by Statute,, to appoint a Regent; Question whether the Parliaments of England or Iro. X17 CONTEXTS. laud had committed a breach of the Constitution; Threats of the Viceroyj The Bound Robin; Viceroy determined to retire; Reception of the Irish De- legates by the Prince; Address of the Irish Parliament to the Prince; Reply of the Prince, oulogirdng the Irish Legislature; Afterwards neglected, p. 194 CHAPTER XXII. Ireland acted on her independence; Prosperous state of Ireland at that period The Rise of the Irish Nation consummated by the withdrawal of the Vice¬ roy ; Particularly important observation; Lord Westmoreland; Major Ho- oart; His character; State of Ireland on his accession to office; Concessions toy Government; Delusion and negligence of the opposition ; Catholio emanci¬ pation commenced; Arguments of the Catholics; Catholio petition rejected by a great majority; Deep designs of Mr Pitt; Mr Pitt proceeds with hifl measures to promote an Union; Lord Pitzwilliam appointed Lord Lieuten¬ ant; His character; Deceived and calumniated by Mr Pitt; Great popn- larity of the Lord Lieutenant; Earl Pitzwilliam recalled; Fatal Conse¬ quences ; Ireland given up to Lord Clare, aud insurrection excited; Lord Camdeo ; United Irishmen ; Unprecedented Organization ; Lord Camden’s character; Despotic conduct of Loin Clare; Earl Carhampton commander- in-chief; Disobeys Lord Camden; Again disobeys; The Eling’s sign-manual commands him to obey; He resigns, - - • * P- 201 CHAPTER XXIII. Insurrection; Topography of Wexford county; Persecutions and cruelties of the Wexford Gentry; Commencement of Hostilities; State of the Insur¬ gents, and their number; Expected attack on Dublin; Excellent plan of the Insurgents; Executions in cold blood, and barbarous exhibition in the Castle- yard ; Major Bacon executed without trial; Major Foot defeated; Colouel Walpole defeated and killed; General Fawcett defeated; General Dundas and the Cavalry defeated by the Pikemen ; Captain Armstrong’s treachery; Henry and John Sheares; The execution of the two brothers ; Progress of the Insur¬ rection ; Different Battles; Important Battle of Arklow; Spirited reply of Colonel Skerritt; Battle of Ross; Bagenal Harvey; Death of Lord Mountjoy; Unprecedented instance of Heroism in a Boy; The Royal Army driven out of the town ; Description of Vinegar Hill; Details of the Engagement; General Lake’s horse shot under him ; Enniscorthy twice stormed; Wounded Peasants burned; Mr Grogan tried by Court-martial; His witness shot by the mUitary; Bill of Attainder; Ten thousand pounds costs to the Attorney-General; Bar¬ barous execution of Sir Edward Crosby and Mr Grogan, under colour of a Court-martial, • - - • • - "P- 211 CHAPTER XXIV. Appointment of Lord Cornwallis ; His crafty conduct; French invade Ireland in a small number; British troops totally defeated, their artillery all taken; Races of Castlebar; Ninety militia men hanged by Lord Cornwallis ; French outwit Lord Cornwallis; Lord Jocelyn taken prisoner; French surrendered; Mr Pitt proceeds in his projects of an Union ; The subserviency of the Lords ; The Bishops; Bishops of Waterford and Down; Political characters of Lord Cornwallis and Lord Castlereagh; Unfortunate results of Lord Cornwallis’s conduct in every quarter of the world; Lord Castlereagh: Union proposed| CONTENIS. xv Gi’eat fiplendour of the Chancellor; Celebrated Bar Meeting; Mr Bani’in > Mr Saint Gooige Daly j Mr Thomas Grady; Mr Grady’s curious harangue j Mr Thomas Goold’s speech} S2 County Judges appointed by Lord Clare] Lord Clare opposes the Bar; Opening of the Session of 1799 ; Lord Clare’s great power; Lord Tyrone’s character; Seconded by Mr Fitzgerald; Mr John Ball; His character, . • • - - - P- ^20 CHAPTElt XXV. The three leading arguments used in Parliament in favour of an Union; Argu¬ ments of the Anti-Unionists; Not England which quelled the insurrection; English militia never acted in Ireland; Mr. William Smith supports the Union; Corrupt conduct of Mr. Trench and Mr. Fox; Mr Trench palpably gained over; Mr Trench recanted what he had a few moments before declared; The Place Bill and its unfortunate effects; Mr Fox created a Judge of the Common Pleas for Lis tergiversation; Originally a Whig; Made a false declaration to avoid being counted; Effect of the Place Bill; His second deception; Con- duct of Mr Cooke and Admiral Packenham; Mr Marshall’s disgraceful con- duct; Debate commenced; Great popnlarily of the Speaker; Lord Castle- reagh’s pobey; Sir John Parnell denied the competence of both the King and the Parbament to enact an Union ; Mr Tighe the same; Great effect of Mr Ponsonby’s speech; Kemarkable agitation; Description of the scene; Lord Castlereagh’s violent speech; Attack on Mr Pousonby; Mr Ponsonby’s sar¬ castic reply ; Lord Castlereagh’s desperation; Mr John Egan attacks Mr Wil¬ liam Smith ; Sir Laurence Parsons made a most able and eloquent speech; Mr Frederick Falkiner nothing could corrupt; Prime-Serjeant Fitzgerald dismis¬ sed ; Mr Plunket’s speech; Spirited speech of Col. O’Donnel; Second shame¬ ful tergiversation of Mr Trench, created Lord Ashtown; Most important in¬ cident in the annals of Ireland; State of the Honse of Commons; Mr Por- tescue’s fatal speech, Mr French and Lord Cole seceded; John Claudius Beres- ford; Extraordinary change in the feelings of the House; Sarcastic remark of Sir Henry Cavendish; Great popularity of the Speaker; Joy and exaltation of the people; Singular anecdote of Mr Martin; Meeting of the Lords; Theil infatuation; Conduct of Lord Clare; Unpopularity of the Irish Peers; Two Bishops, Down and Limerick, opposed him; Character of the Bishop of Down; Commission of Compensation; Subsequent proceedings of tlie Viceroy and Lord Castlereagh; Ruinous consequence of Mr Fortescue’s conduct; Mistaken conduct of the Anti-Unionists; Their embarrassment; Bad effects of Mr For- tescue’s conduct; The Catholics; State of parties, p. 237 CEAI’TER XXVL ITie different views of the Opposition; Opposition not sufficiently orgamsed or connected; Disunion in consequence of the Cathobo question; Cathobes duped; alternately oppressed and fostered; Lord Clare’s great influence; Very impor¬ tant despatch from Mr. Pitt to Lord Comwallis; Unprecedented plan of Lord Castlereagh; Remarkable dinner; Tho plan or conspiracy; Acceded to; Re- wards in perspective; Meeting of Anti-Unionists at Lord Charlemont’s; Op- position Lords meet; Lord Castlercagh’s plan laid before them; Counter-plan proposed; Rejected; Earl Belmoro ; His motion to the same effect as Mr Pon- Bonby’si Rejected; Very numerous addresses against the Union; Particularly Dublin j (I Privy Council; Lord Clare’s violence; Military execution; People killed and wounded a Inefficien^JY brought before Parliament, Anti-Unioo CONTENTS, xvt dinner; Mr Handoock of Athlone, a conspicuous patriot; Corrupt state ut the British Parliament; Compared with that of Ireland at the Union; Mi Handcock bribed, • . . • • . p. 261 CHAPTER XXVII. Felons in the gaols induced, by promise of pardon, to sign petition in favour of the Union; Every means of corruption resorted to by the Viceroy; Viceroy doubtful of future support; Resorted to Place Bill; Unparalleled measure of public bribery avowed by Lord Castlereagh; Bill to raise £1,500,000, for bribes; Grave reflection on tbe King’s assenting to an avowed act of corrup. tion; A few bribes called Compensation; the British Parliament had antici* pated the proposal; Lord Cornwallis’s speech peculiarly artful; Lord Loftus moves the Address; Lord Castlereagh’s reason; Sir Laurence Parson’s impor¬ tant motion and speech; Debate continued all night; Lord Castlereagh’s plan put into execution; Mr. Bushe; Mr. Plunkett; Mr St George Daly; His character; His attack on Mr Bushe; On Mr Plunket; Replied to by Mi Barrington; Mr Peter Burrows; Affecting appearance of Mr Grattan in the House of Commons; Returned for Wicklow the preceding evening; The im¬ pediment laid by Government; Returned at midnight; Entered the house at seven in the morning in a debilitated state; Description of his entry; Powerful sensation caused by his splendid oration ; Mr Cony induced to reply; No effect on the House; The three Bagwells seceded from Government; Lord Ormond changed to the minister; Mr Arthur Browne’s tergiversation; Division: Mr Poster’s speech; Important incident; Bad conduct of the clergy; Veiy sin¬ gular circumstance; Mr Annesley chairman of the committee on the Union; Bishop of Clogher returns H"-Annesley to Parliament; Messrs Ball and King petition; Succeed; Mr Annesley declared not duly elected; left the chair and quitted the House; Not a legal chairman; Shameful and palpable act of corruption by Sir William Gladowe Newcomen; Bribery proved; Bribery of Mr ^ox and Mr Crowe; Their speeches against the Union; The Earl of jBelvidere most palpably bribed to change sides; His resolutions; Mr Knox and Mr Crowe bribed; Mr Usher bribed to secrecy; The corrupt agreement of Mr Crowe and Mr Knox to vacate their seats for Union members, in pr^ sence of Mr Usher, a parson; The terms with Lord Castlereagh; Mr Chariot Ball’s affecting conduct; The Anti-Union members, despairing withdraw in a body) Last sitting of the Irish Parliament; The House surrounded by military;' Most affecting scene; Bad consequences to England; Unhappiness of the Speaker; Ireland extinguished, • • • • • P- 269 EISE AND FALL CT THE IRISH NATION, - 4 - CHAPTER, I. I, More than six centuries had passed away, since Ireland had first acknowledged a subordinate connexion with the English monarchy—her voluntary but partial submission to the sceptres of Henry and of Richard had been construed by their successors into the right of conquest—and the same spirit of turbulence and discord, which had generated the treachery and treasons of M‘Morrough, was carefully cultivated by every English potentate, as the most effectual barrier against the struggles of a restless and semi-conquered people—and Ireland, helpless and distracted, groaned for ages in obscurity, under the accumulated pressure of internal strife and external t 3 n'anny. The apathy produced by this habitual oppression had long benumbed the best energies of Ireland;—her national spirit, depressed by the heavy hand of arbitrary restraint, almost forgot its own existence; and the proudest language of her constitution could only boast, that she was the annexed dependant of a greater and a freer country. It was not until an advanced stage of the American revolt had attracted the attention of enlightened Europe to the first principles of civil liberty, that Ireland began steadily to reflect on her own deprivations. Commerct and constitution had been withdrawn from her grasp, and the usurped •supremacy* of the British Parliament gave a death-blow to every struggle of Irish independence. II. But in whatever relative situation the two nations really stood, the same jealous and narrow principle might be perceived uniformly attending every measure enacted as to the Irish people. If at any time a cheering ray of commercial advantages chanced for a moment to illuminate the dreary prospects of Ireland, the sordid spirit of monopoly instantly arose in England, and rendered every effort to promote a beneficial trade, or ad- rance a rival manufacture, vain and abortive. • The claim of the British Parliament to bind Ireland by British statutes was ut length most ably refuted by Mr. William Molyneux, representative for Dublin University, in hie celebrated work, published in 1698, entitled “ The Case of Ireland.” 4 3 RISE AND fall of THE IRISH NATION. Commercial jealousy and arbitrary government united therefore, to suppress every struggle of the Irish nation, and root up every seed of prosperity and civilization. Alarmed at the increasing population, the unsubdued spirit, and the in¬ exhaustible resources of that strong and fertile island; a dread of her growing power excited a fallacious jealousy of her future importance. In her timidity or her avarice, England lost sight of her truest interests, and of her nobler feelings; and kings, usm^ers, and viceroys, as they respec¬ tively exercised the powers of government, all acted towards Ireland upon the same blind and arbitrary principles, which they had imbibed from their education, or inherited from their predecessors. This desperate policy, so repugnant to the attachment, and fatal to the repose of the two countries, excited the spirit of eternal warfare:—an en¬ thusiastic love of national independence sharpened the sword, and the zealots of religious fanaticism threw away the scabbard— the septs fought against each other, the English against all—the population was thinned, but the survivors became inveterate; and though the wars and the massa¬ cres of Elizabeth and of Cromwell, by depopulating, appeared to have sub¬ jugated the nation—the triumph was not glorious—and the conquest was not complete. Direct persecution against principles only adds fuel to a conflagration— the persons of men may be coerced—but it is beyond the reach of human power to subdue the rooted, hereditary passions and prejudices of a perse¬ vering, ardent, and patriotic people:—such a nation may be gained over by address or seduced by dissimulation, but can never be reclaimed by force or overcome by persecution—^yet from the very first intercourse between the two countries, that destructive system of force and of dissension, which so palpably led to the miseries of Ireland, had been sedulously cultivated, and unremittingly persevered in. Thus grievously oppressed, and ruinously disunited, Ireland struggled often, but she struggled in vain ; the weight of her chains was too heavy for the feebleness ot her constitution, and every effort to enlarge her liberty only gave a new pretext to the conqueror, to circumscribe it within a still narrower compass. On the same false principle of government, this oppressed nation was also ^tematicaUy retained in a state of the utmost obscurity, and represented to the world as an insignificant and remote island, remarkable only for her turbulence and sterility; and so pei-fectly did this misrepresentation suc¬ ceed, that, while every republic and minor nation of Europe had become, the theme of travellers, and the subject of historians, Ireland was visited only to be desjused, and spoken of only to be calumniated. In truth, sho is as yet but little known by the rest of Europe, and but partially even tc the people of England. But when the extraordinary capabilities, the re sources, and the powers of Ireland are fully developed, an interest must arise in every breast, which reflects on her misfortunes. It is time tha. the curtain, which has been so long interposed between Ireland and the rest of Europe, should be drawn aside for ever, and a just judgment formed of the un])o]icy of measures, which have been adcpt^, nominally to govern but sttbataiitiaJly to suppress bar power and prosperity. KISE AND FALL OF TUE IRISH NATION, 8 III. The position of Ireland upon the face of the globe, peculiarly formed her for univeroal intercourse, and adapted her, in every respect, for legisla¬ tive independence. Separated by a great sea from England—^the Irish people, diseimilar in customs, more than equal in talent, and vastly supe¬ rior in energy, possess an island about 900 miles in circumference; with a climate for the general mildness of temperature and moderation of seasons unrivalled in the universe—the parching heats, or piercing colds, the deep snows, the torrent, and the hurricane, which other countries so fatally ex¬ perience, ate here unknown. Though her great exposure to the spray of the Atlantic increases the humidity of the atmosphere, it adds to the fecun¬ dity cf tho soil, and distinguishes her fertile fields by the productions of an almost perpetual vegetation. The geographical situation of Ireland is not less favourable to commerce, than her climate is to agriculture. Her position on the western extremity of Europe would enable her to intercept the trade of the new world from all other nations—the merchandise of London, of Bristol, and of Liverpool, skirts her shores, before it arrives at its own destination; and some of the finest harbours in the world invite the inhabitants of this gifted island to accept the trade of India, and form the emporium of Europe. The internal and natural advantages of Ireland are great and inexhaus¬ tible. Rich mines are found iu almost every quarter of the island; gold is discovered in the beds of streams, and washed from the sands of rivulets; the mountains are generally arable to their summits—the valleys exceed in fertility the most profilic soils of England—the rivulets, which fiow along the declivities, adapt the country most peculiarly to the improvement of irrigation ; and the bogs and mosses of Ireland utterly unlike the fens and marshes of England, emit no damp or noxious exhalations; and give a plentiful and cheering fuel to the surrounding peasantry ; or, when re¬ claimed, become the most luxuriant pastures. The population of Ireland is great and progressive. Above five* millions of a brave and hardy race of men are seen scattered through the fields, or swarming in the villages—a vast redundancy of grain, and innumerable flocks and herds, should furnish to them not only the source of trade, but every means of comfort. Dublin the second city in the British empire, though it yields in extent, yields not in architectural beauties to the metropolis of England. For some years previous to the Union, its progress was excessive—the locality of the Parliament—the constant residence of the nobility and commons— the magnificent establishments of the vice-regal court—the mdefatigabla hospitality of the people—and the increasing commerce of the port, all together gave a brilliant prosperity to that splendid and luxurious capitaL Ireland, f possessing the strongest features of a powerful state, though • KTow upwards of eight millions. + Tho relative size of Ireland, compared to England and Wales, is about 18 sO 30. It contains about eighteen millions of acres; is about 285 miles long, and above 160 broad. In time of war she sende more than one hundred t-houBaud eoldiei'S and sailors to the English fleet and army, and retains at home above oM suUion of hardy men, from 17 to 47 years of age, fit to bear ai'us. 4 Mas AND FALL CF THR UliaH NATION. labouring under every disadvantage which a restricted comnievce and a jealous ally could iuflict upon her prosperity, might still have regarded with contempt the comparatively unequal resources and inferior powers of half the monarchies of Europe. Her insular situation—her great fer¬ tility—the character of her people—the amount of her revenues—and the extent of her population, and gave her a decided superiority over other nation* and rendered her crown, if accompanied by her affections not only * a brilliant but a most substantial ornament to the British empire. However, though gifted, and enriched by the hand of Nature, the fomented dissensions of her own natives had wedded Ireland to poverty, and adapted her to subjugation—her innate capacities lay dormant and inactive—her dearest interests were forgotten by herself, or resisted by her ally; and the gifts and bounties of a favouring Providence though la¬ vished, were lost on a divided people. rV. By the paralyzing system thus adopted towards Ireland, she was at length reduced to the lowest ebb—her poverty and distresses, almost at their extent, were advancing fast to their final consummation—her com¬ merce had almost ceased—her manufactures extinguished—her constitution withdrawn—the people absolutely desponding—while public and individual bankruptcy finished a picture of the deepest misery ;t and the year 177? found Ireland almost every thing but what such a country and such a people ought to have been. This lamentable st te of the Irish nation was not the result of any one distinct cause: a combination of depressing circumstances united to bear down every progressive effort of that injured people. Immured in a la¬ byrinth of difficulties and embarrassments, no clue was found to lead them through the mazes of their prison; and, helpless and desponding, they sunk into a doze of torpid inactivity, while their humiliated and inefficient Parliaments, restrained by foreign and arbitrary laws, subjected to the dictation of the British Council, and obstructed in the performance of its constitutional functions, retained scarcely the shadow of an independent legislature. A statute of Henry the Seventh of England, framed by his Attorney- General, Sir Edward Poyning, restrained the Irish Parliament from origi- * In the very words of the highest authority in Great Britain this day, " T/ well governed, Ireland would be the brightest jewel in the king’s crown.” f This wretched period cannot be more pathetically described, than by a most Able and just statement of Irish grievances, published in the year 1779, by Mr. Hely Hutchinson, (father of the present Lords Donoughmore and Hutchinson,) then Provost of the Dublin University, an eloquent and very distinguished mem- ber of the Irish Parliiiusnt. Ju his book entitled “ Commercial Restraints,’* Mr. Hutchinson gives ap?.tbetio description of the state to which Ireland was reduced by the jealous and narrow policy of England. This book acquired so much character, and spoke so many plain truths, that for many years it was quoted sj! an authority in the Irish Parliament. Mr. Flood often declared, that, if there were but two copies of it in print, he would give a thousand pounds for one -f ilitca, it will ho interesting to compare the miser, able state of li eland in 1?'79 with her prosperity in 1794, when she had enjoyed only twelve years of constitutional independence and unrestricted oommeroe. hloA oAD FALl OF THE IKISH NATIOH. 6 fitting any law whatever, eithei in the Lords or CoerTnous. Before eay ftatnte could be finally discussed, it was previously to be submitted totlie I.okI Lieutenant of Ireland and his Privy Council, for their consideration, who might at their pleasure reject it, or transmit it to I* ngland. If trans¬ mitted to England, the British Attorney-General and Privy Council were Invested with a po^for either to suppress it altogether, or model itatthei* own will, and then return it to Ireland, with permission to the Irish Par¬ liament to pass it into a law, but without any alteration, though it fre¬ quently returned from England so changed, as to retain hardly a trace of its original features or a point of its original object. Yet, as if this arbitrary law were insufficient to secure Great Britain from the effect of those rival advantages, which Ireland might in process of time eventually acquire; and as if that counteracting power, with which England had invested herself by the law of Poyning, were unequal to the task of effectually suppressing all rivalship of the Irisl people, and inde¬ pendence of the Irish Parliament, it was thought alvisable by Great Britain, to usurp a positive right to legislate for Ireland, without her own consent, or the interference of her Parliament: and a law was accord¬ ingly enacted at Westminister, in the sixth year of the r ign of George the First, by one sweeping clause of which England assumei a despotic power, and declared her inherent right to bind Ireland by every British statute, in which she should be expressly designated: and thus, by the authority of the British Council on the one hand, and the positive right assumed by the British Parliament upon the other, Ireland retained no more the attri¬ butes of an independent nation, that a monarch, attended in a dungeon with all the state and trappings of royalty, and bound hand and foot in golden shackles, could be justly styled an independent potentate. The effect of this tyrannical and ruinous system fell most heavily on the trade of Ireland. Its influence was experienced not merely by any par¬ ticular branch of commerce, but in every stage of manufacture, of arts, of trade, and of agriculture. In every struggle of the Irish Parliament to promote the commerce or the manufactures of their country, the British monopolizers were perpetually victorious; and even the speculative jealousy of a manufacturing village of Great Britain was of sufficient weight to negative any measure, however beneficial to the general prosperity of the sister country. The same jealousy and the same system, which operated so fatally against the advancement of her commerce, operated as strongly against the improvement of her constitution. England was well aware, that the acquirement of an independent Parliament would be the sure forerunnel of commercial liberty; and possessed of the means to counteract these objects, she seemed determined never to relax the strength of that power by the despotic exercise of which Ireland had been so long continued in a state of thraldom. But exclusive of these slavish restraints (the necessary consequence of a dependent legislature,) another system, not less adverse to the general prosperity of the whole island, than repugnant to the principles of nattiral justice of sound policy, had been long acted upon with every severity that bigotry could suggest or intolerance could dictate. 6 inSE AND FALL OF THE IBJWr tlATION, V. The penal gtatnios, un'ler the tyrannical pressure of which the Catho¬ lics had so long and so grievously laboured, though in some instanca? softened down, still more heavily upon four-fifths of the Irish population— a code which would have dishonoured even the sanguinary pen of Draco, bad inflicted every pain and penalty, every restriction and oppression, under which a people could linger out a miserable existence. By these statutes, the exercise of religion had been held a crime, the education of children a high misdemeanour—the son was encouraged to betray his father—the child rewarded for the ruin of his parent—the house of God declared a public nuisance—the officiating pastor proclaimed an outlaw—• the acquirement of property absolutely prohibited—the exercise of trades restrained—plunder legalized in courts of law, and breach of trust rewarded in courts of equity—the Irish Catholic excluded from the possession of any office or occupation in the state, the law, the army, the navy, tho munici¬ pal bodies, and the chartered corporations—and the mild doctrines of the Christian faith perverted, even in the pulpit, to the worst purposes of re¬ ligious persecution. Tet under this galling yoke the Irish, for near eighty years remained tranquil and submissive. The ignorance into which poverty and wretched¬ ness had plunged that people, prevented them from perceiving the whole extent of the oppression; and these penal laws, while they operated as an insuperable bar to the advancement of the Catholic, deeply effected the general interest of the Protestant. The impoverished tenant—the needy landlord—the unenterprising merchant—^the idle artizan, could all trace the origin of their wants to the enactment of these statutes. Profession •was not permitted to engage the mind of youth, or education to cultivate his understanding. Dissolute habits, the certain result of idleness and illi¬ terateness, were consequently making a rapid progress in almost every class of society. The gentry were not exempt from the habits of the peasant; the spirit of industry took her flight altogether from the island; and as the loss of commerce and constitution had no counteracting advantages, every thing combined to reduce Ireland to a state of the most general and un¬ qualified depression. VI. It was about this period, when the short-sighted policy of the British Government had, by its own arbitrary proceedings, planted the 3eeds of that political philosophy, afterwards so fatal to the most powerful monarchies of Europe, that i-eland began to feel herself affected by the struggles of America. The spirit of independence had crossed the Atlan¬ tic, and the Irish people, awakened from a trance, beheld with anxiety the contest, in which they now began to feel an interest. They regarded with admiration the exertions of a colony combating for the first principles of civd liberty, and giving to the world an instructive lesson of fortitude and perseverance. Spread over a vast expanse of region, America, without wealth—with¬ out resources—without population—without fortresses—without allies— had every thing to contend with, and every thing to conquer. But free¬ dom was her call, and, as if she had been designed by Providence for aa example to the universe of what even powerless states can achieve by en tbusiasm and unanmity, her strength increased with her deprivations and ElbE AND FALL OF Tins IRISH NATION. 7 iho firmness of one great and good man converted the feebleness of a colony Into the power of an empire. The defeats of Washington augmented his armies - his wants and necessities called forth his intellect—while his wis¬ dom, firmness and moderation, procured hiu? powerful friends, and secured him ultimate victory. The strength of Great Britain at length yielded to the vigour of his mind, and the unflinching fortitude of his people; and Lord Cornwallis, (the chosen instrument for oppressing heroic nations,) by his defeat and his captivity, established the independence of America The arrogance of England bowed its proud head to the shrine of liberty, and her favourite general led back the relics of his conquered army, to commemorate in the mother country the impotence of her power, and emancipation of her colonies. While these great events were gradually proceeding towards their final completion; Ireland became every day a more anxious spectator of the arduous conflict—every incident in America began to communicate a S3rmpathetic impulse to the Irish people:—the moment was critical:—the nation became enlightened—patriotic ardour took posse.ssion of her whole frame, and, before she had well considered the object of her solicitude, the spark of constitutional liberty had found its way into her bosom. The disposition of Ireland to avail herself of the circumstances of those times, BO favourable to the attainment of her rights, now openly avowed itself. Her determination to claim her constitution from the British Go¬ vernment became unequivocal, and she began to assume the attitude and language of a nation ^'■entitled to independence." The soimd of arms and the voice of freedom echoed from every quarter of the island—distinctions were forgotten, or disregarded—every rank, every religion, alike caught the general feeling—but firmness and discretion characterized her pro¬ ceedings : she gradually arose from torpor and obscurity—her native spirit drew aside the curtain, that had so long concealed her from the world; and exhibited an armed and animated people, claiming their natural rights, and demanding their constitutional liberty. When the dawn of political liberty begins to diffuse itself over a nation, great and gifted characters suddenly spring up from among the people— animated by new subjects, their various talents and principles become developed—they interweave IJiemselves with the events of their country, become inseparable from its misfortunes, or indentified with its prosperity. Ireland, at this era, possessed many men of superior capacities—some distinguished by their pure attachment to constitutional liberty—others by their slavish deference to ruling powers and patronizing authorities. Among those whom the spirit of these times called forth to public notice was seen one of the most bold and energetic leaders of modem days, an anticipated knowledge of whose marked and restless character is a neces¬ sary preface to a recital of Irish occurrences, in which the effects of his passions will be every where traced, and the mischievous errors of hia judgment be perceived and lamented. VIL This person was John Fitzgibbon, afterwards Earl of Claro— Attorney-General, and Lord High Chancellor of Ireland. Hia ascer¬ tained pedigree was short, though his name bespoke an early respacta- bility. Hia Rraudfathec was obscure—Ida father, intepde'l for the pro- 8 RISE AilD FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. fession of a Catholic pastor, but possessing a mind superior to the habits of monkish seclusion, procured himseli' to be called to the Irish bar, whers his talents raised him to the highest estimation, and finally established him in fame and fortune. John Fitzgibbon, the second son of this man, was called to the bar in 1772. Isaturally dissipated, he for some time attended but little to the duties of his profession; but on the death of his elder brother and his father, he foimd himself in possession of all those advantages, which led him rapidly forward to the extremity of his objects. Considerable for¬ tune—professional talents—extensive connexions—and imdismayed confi¬ dence, ele vated him to those stations, on which he afterwards appeared so conspicuously seated; while the historic eye, as it follows his career, per¬ ceives him lightly bounding over every obstacle which checked his course, to that goal where aU the trophies and thorns of power were collected for his reception. In the Earl or Clare we find a man eminently gifted with talents, adapted either for a blessing or a curse to the nation he inhabited; but early enveloped in high and dazzling authority, he lost his way; and con¬ sidering his power as a victory, he ruled his country as a conquest: indis¬ criminate in his friendships—and implacable in his animosities—he carried to the grave all the passions of his childhood. He hated powerful talents, because he feared them; and trampled on modest merit, because it was incapable of resistance. Authoritative and peremptory in his address; commanding, able, and arrogant, in his lan¬ guage, a daring contempt for public opinion was the fatal principle which misguided his conduct; and Ireland became divided between the friends of his patronage—^the slaves of his power—and the enemies to his tyranny. His character had no medium, his manners no mediocrity—the example of his extremes was adopted by his intimates, and excited in those who knew him feelings either of warm attachment, or of rivetted aversion. While he held the seals in Ireland, he united a vigorous capacity with the most striking errors: as a judge, he collected facts with a rapid precision, and decided on them with a prompt asperity; but he hated precedent, aad despised the highest judical authorities, because they were not his own As a politician and a statesman, the character of Lord Clare is too well known, and its effects too generally experienced, to be mistaken or misre¬ presented—^the era of his reign was the downfall of his country—^his coun¬ cils accelerated what his policy might have suppressed; and have marked the annals of Ireland with stains and miseries unequalled and indelible. In council,—rapid, peremptory, and overbearing—he regarded prompt¬ ness of execution, rather than discretion of arrangement, and piqued hunv self more on expertness of thought than sobriety of judgment. Through all the calamities of Ireland, the mUd voice of conciliation never escaped his lips; and when the torrent of civil war had subsided in his country, he held out no olive, to show that the deluge had receded. Acting upon a conviction, that his power was but co-existent with the order of public establishments, and the tenure of his office limited to the continuance of administration, he supported both with less prudence, and more desperation, than sound policy or an enlightened mind should permit SISK AND FALL OF TUB IRISH NATION. 01’ dictate; hig extravagant doctrines of religious intolerance created the most mischievous pretexts for his intemperance in upholding them ; and, under colour of defending the principles of one revolution, he had nearly plunged the nation into all the miseries of another. Ilis political conduct has been accounted uniform, but in detail it will bo found to have been miserably inconsistent. In 1781 he took up arms to obtain a declaration of Irish independence; in 1800, he recommended the Introduction of a military force to assist in its extinguishment; he pro¬ claimed Ireland a free nation in 17^, and argued that it should be a pro¬ vince in 1799; in 1782 he called the acts of the British Legislature toward* Ireland “ a daring usurpation on the rights of a free people,"* and in 1800 he transferred Ireland to the usurper. On all occasions his ambition aa despotically governed his politics, as his reason invariably sunk before his prejudice. Though he intrinsically hated a legislative Union, his lust for power induced him to support it; the preservation of office overcame the impulse of conviction, and he strenuously supported that measure, after having openly avowed himself its enemy: its completion, however, blasted his hopes, and hastened his dissolution. The restlessness of his habit, and the obtrusiveness of his disposition, became insupportably embarrassing to the British cabinet—the danger of his talents as a minister, and the inadequacy of his judgment as a statesman, had been proved in Ireland; he had been a useful instrument in that country, but the same line of services which he performed in Ireland, would have been ruinous to Great Britain, and Lord Clare was no longer consulted. The union at length effected, through his friends, what Ireland could never accomplish through his enemies—hb total overthrow. Unaccus¬ tomed to control, and unable to submit, he returned to his country, weary, drooping, and disappointed; regretting what he had done, yet miserable that he could do no more; his importance had expired with the Irish Parliament, his patronage ceased to supply food for his ambition, the mind and the body became too sympathetic for existence, and he sunk into tbs grave, a conspicuous example of human talent and human frailty. In his person he was about the middle size, slight, and not graceful, his eyes, large, dark, and penetrating, betrayed some of the boldest traits of his uncommon character; his countenance, though expressive and manly, yet discovered nothing which could deceive the physiognomist into an opinion of his magnanimity, or call forth a eulogium on his virtues. During twenty momentous and eventful years, the life of Lord Clare is, in fact, the history of Ireland—as in romance, some puissant and doughty chieftain appears prominent in every feat of chivalry—the champion in every strife—the hero of every encounter, and, after a life of toil and of battle, falls surrounded by a host of foes, a victim to his own ambition and temerity. • In his Lordship’s answer to the address of the Dublin University, on the 14th of April, 1782, upon the declaration of rights, he used these words: and added, that “ he had uniformly expressed that opiuion both in public and is private.” 10 KI3E AND FALI. OP THB IKISH NATIOU. Thus Earl Clare, toougliout those eTentiul jiad nevsr before experienced. Her forcra in America were captured or defeated; her fleets, had not yet attained that irresistible superiority which has since proved the only protection of the British islands—Ireland, without money, militia, or standing army—without ordnance or fortifications—almost abandoned by England, had to depend solely on the spirit and resources of her own natives; and this critical state of Ireland, which the misconduct of Great Britain herself had occasioned, gave the first rise to those celebrated asssociations, the immediate means tf obtaining Irish independence. Many inducements prevailed, to fill the rants of these associations. The warlike propensities of the Irish people, so long restrained—and per¬ sonal attachment to their chiefs and leaders, were with them the first excitements : but the blending of ranks, and more intimate connexion of the people, which was the immediate consequence of a general military system, quickly affected an extensive and marked revolution in the minds and manners of the entire nation; an important and extraordinary change, of which the gradations became every day more conspicuously discernable. The primary stimulus of the Irish fanner was only that which he felt, in common with every other animated being, the desire of self preserva¬ tion. He associated against invasion, because he heard that it would be his ruin: but his intercourse with the higher ranks opened the road to ' better information. Thus he soon learned that the Irish people were deprived of political rights, and that his country had endured political injuries: his ideas became enlarged, and quickly embraced more numerous and prouder objects ; he began, for the first time, to know his own im¬ portance to the state ; and, as knowledge advanced, the principles of constitutional independence were better understood, and more sedulously cultivated. The Irish peasant now assumed a different rank, and a higher character. Familiarised with arms, and more intimate with his superiors, he every day felt his love of liberty increased: the spirit at length became general and enthusiastic; and, in less time than could have been supposed, from the o. mmencement of these associations, the whole surface of the island was seen covered with a self-raised host of patriot soldiers. VI. In the formation of those armed associations, the long-established distinetions between the Protestant and the Catholic could not be altoge¬ ther forgotten. Many of the penal laws were still in full forco; CathoUca were prohibited by statute from bearing ai'ms in Ireland; and, from the rooted prejudices against allowing to that body any civil or military power whatever, strong objections arose to their admission into those armed bodies. The Catholics, however, neither took offence nor even showed #ny jealousy at this want of confidence, on the contrary, with their money and their exhortations, they zealously assisted in forwarding those very aasociations into which they themselves had not admission. Their calmness and their patriotism gained them many friends, and a relaxation of intoler¬ ance appeared rapidly to be gaining ground, but it was not until the Volunteers had assumed a deliberative capacity, and met as armed citizens, to discuss political questions, that the necessity of uniting the whole popu.- Ifttion of the country in the cause of independencs became distinctly RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. t6 obviouB. Those who foresaw that a general association of the Irish people was essential to the attainment of their constitutional objects, endeavoured to reconcile the schisms of sectarian jealousy by calm and rational ot>ser- vations; they argued, that religious feuds had, in all countries, proved subversive of national prosperity, but to none more decidedly fatal than to modem Ireland; that the true interest of the Catholic and of tha Protestant was substantially the same, they breathed the same air, tilled the same soil, and had equal rights and claims to the participation of liberty; that they were endowed by nature with equal powers and facul¬ ties, intellectual and corporeal; that they worshipped the same God; the truths and doctrines of revealed religion equally constituting the baris of their social duties, and the foundation of their religious tenets; and tha principles of virtue and of morality being equally inculcated from their pulpits, and propagated at their altars. “Why, then,” they asked, “ should a few theological subtilties, whose mysterious uncertainties lay far beyond the reach of human determination, and were altogether unne¬ cessary to the arrangements of municipal institutions, why should they distract a nation which, to become free should become unanimous ? Why should they excite controversies so strongly tainted with fanatic phrensy, that no personal insult or aggravated injury, no breach of moral tie or of honorable contract, could rouse rancour more acrimonious, or animosity more unrelenting, than that which originated solely from the theoretic dis¬ tinctions upon inexplicable subjects ? As if Irishmen were bound to promote the happiness of their neighbours in a future state, by destroying their comforts and disturbing their tranquillity in the present ?” It was also observed, that although this strange insanity might have existed in remote and dark ages, when the disciples of every new sect pro¬ claimed themselves the meritorious murderers of the old, when Christian chiefs assailed the pagan power, only to make new proselytes to their own errors, and victims to their own intolerance; and though, in such unhappy times, Ireland might have partaken of the general madness, and, without peculiar disgrace, have participated in the infirmities of Europe, yet, when the progresss of civilization had opened the eyes and enlarged the under¬ standing of the people, when the voice of rational liberty loudly called for the unanimous exertion of every sect in the common cause of indepen¬ dence it was full time to discard those destructive prejudices, which had BO long and effectually restrained the rights and retarded the prosperity ef the Irish nation. Nor can any historic incident more clearly illustrate the inestimable value of unanimity to an oppressed people, than a contrasted exhibition of the independent spirit displayed by the Catholics in 1782, when they ac¬ quired a constitution by their firmness, and of their degenerate conduct in 1800, when they lost that constitution through their divisions and their servility. VII. Before the progress of the Irish Volunteers is particularly detailed, or the ultimate objects which they had in view, the genuine character of the people among whom so extraordinary an association originated, should be clearly developed and perfetly understood ; as many important events in Irish history would appear obscure and unaccountable, without a due KISB AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 17 .tnowledge of tba national character—a character, ever inisconcelTf*! or misrepresented in England, because the persons by whom the picture was drawn were generally either too ignorant or too interested to draw it with fidelity, and so little of intimate intercourse had subsisted between the two countries, that the people of England were in general as acquainted with the real dispositions and habits of the Irish, as with those of any nation upon the European continent. It was therefore impossible that England should judiciously govern a people with whose feelings she was wont to trifle, and with whose natural character she was so imperfectly acquainted, nor can she ever effectually acquire that knowledge, until she is convinced that Ireland, though formed by nature for her mter, teas never intended for her servant —and that, within her own bosom, she possesses powers, treasures, and resources, yet unex¬ plored by England, but which, if kindly cultivated and liberally encour¬ aged, would contribute more strength and benefit to both than Great Britain has ever heretofore derived, or ever yet merited from the connexion. To attain a just conception of the remote causes of two great and repug¬ nant revolutions in Ireland within eighteen years, we must view the rankf of which society is there composed, as well as their proportions and theii influence on each other; and in the peculiarities and ardency of that cha¬ racter, will be clearly discovered the true sources of many extraordinary events; it will evidently appear, that, to the foibles of that unfortunate nation, worked upon by art, and imposed upon by policy, and not to native crimes or peculiar views, are attributable the frequency of her miseries and the consummation of her misfortune. VIII. The Irish people have been as little known, as they have been grossly defamed to the rest of Europe. The lengths to which English writers have proceeded in pursuit of this object would surpass all belief, were not the facts proved by histories "^written under the immediate eye and sanction of Irish Governments, his¬ tories replete with falsehood, which combined with the still more mischie¬ vous misrepresentations of modern -w liters, form all together a mass of the most cruel calumnies that ever weighed down the character of a meri¬ torious people. This system, however, was not without its meaning. From the reign of ElLiabeth, the policy of England has been to keep Ireland in a state of liternc,! division, perfect unanimity among her inhabitants has been con- &idercJ as likely to give her a population and a power incompatible with subtection, and there are not wsaiting natives of Ireland, who, impressed witi that erroneous idea, zeslounly plunge into the same doctrine, as if they could best prove their lo 3 '-t‘ty to the King by vilifjdng their country. IX. The Irish peasantry, who necessarily composed the great body of the population, combined in their character many of those singular and repugnant qualities which peculiarly designate the people of different nations; and this remarkable contrariety of cliaracteristio traits pervaded ftlmost the whole current of their natural dispositions. Laborious, do¬ mestic, accustomed to wants in the midst of plenty, they submit to hard¬ ships without repining, and bear the severest privations with stoic forti¬ tude The sharsest wit, and the shrewdest subtility, which abound in the B 18 Risa AND FAIL OF THE IRISH NATION. character of the Irish peasant, generally lie concealed under the semblance of dulness, or the appearance of simplicity; and his language, replete with the keenest humour, possesses an idiom of equivocation, which never faiU successfully to evade a direct answer to an unwelcome question. Inquisitive, artful, and penetrating, the Irish peasant learns mankind without extensive intercourse, and has an instinctive knowledge of the world, without mingling in its societies, and never, in any other instance, did there exist a people who could display so much addi’ess, and so much talent in the ordinary transactions of hfe as the Irish peasantry. The Irish peasant has, at all periods, been peculiarly distinguished for unbounded but indiscriminate hospitality, which, though naturally devoted to the necessities of a friend, is never denied by him even to the distresses of an enemy.* To be in want or misery, is the best recommendation to his disinterested protection ; his food, his bed, his raiment are equally the stranger’s and his own ; and the deeper the distress, the more welcome is the sufferer to the peasant’s cottage. His attachments to his kindred are of the strongest natime. The social duties are intimately blended with the natural disposition of an Irish pea¬ sant, though covered with rags, oppressed with poverty, and perhaps with hunger, the finest specimens of generosity and heroism are to be found in his unequalled character. A martial s]?mt and a love of desultory warfare is indigenous to the Irish people. Battle is their pastime ; whole parishes and districts form themselves into parties, which they denominate factions; they meet by appointment at their country lairs, there they quarrel without a cause, and fight without an object; and having indulged their propensity and bound up their wounds, they return satisfied to their own homes, gene¬ rally without anger, and frequently in perfect friendship with each other.f • It has been remarked that the English and Irish people form their judgment of strangers very differently :—an Englishman suspects a stranger to be a rogue till he finds that he is an honest man; the Irishman conceives every person to be an honest man till he finds him out to be a rogue; and this accounts for the very striking difference in their conduct and hospitality to strangers. f Natural cruelty has been imputed to the Irish peasant by persons who either are unacquainted with his character or wish to misrepresent it. National cha¬ racter can never be drawn with justice from incidents which take place amidst all the rage and violence of civil war or religious phrensy. The barbarities, oom> mitted in Ireland during the insurrection of 1798, were not all on the one side; and at least as many persons were sacrificed in cold blood by the musket or ■jabre of the soldiery, as by the pike or blunderbuss of the insurgent. But all those enormities are incidental to civil wars, and should never be brought up as a criterion, whereby to judge of the national character of any people. In Eng¬ land, during a peaceable year, (1794,) two hundred and eighteen persons re¬ ceived sentence of death, of whom forty-four were for murder. In Ireland, dur¬ ing a troublesome year, (1797,) eighty-seven received sentence of death, of whom only eighteen wore for murder: so that England committed her full pro¬ portion of crimes and more than her proportion of murders; which does not substsmtiata the charge of cruelty, with which the Irish character has been ex¬ clusively aspersed. The murders in Ireland, moreover, are verv different from RISE a:<1) fall of the ikish nation. 19 It le a DTieldflcholy reflection, that the successive Governments of Ireland should have been so long and so obstinately blind to the real interest of the country, as to co :ceive it more expedient to attempt the fruitless task of suppressing the national spirit by legal severity, and penal enactments, than to adopt a system ot national instruction and general industry, which,' by affording employment to their faculties, might give to the minds of the people a proper tendf ncy, and a useful and peaceful direction. In general, the Iri.h are rather impetuously brave, than steadily perse¬ vering; their onsets are furious, and their retreats precipitate; but even death has for them .10 terrors, when they firmly believe that their cause is meritorious. Though exquisitely artful in the stratagems of warfare, yet, when actually in battle, their discretion vanishes before their impetu¬ osity; and—the most gregarious people under heaven—they rush forward in a crowd with tumultuous ardour, and without foresight or reflection whether they are advancing to destruction or to victory. An enthusiastic attachment to the place of their nativity is another striking trait of the Irish character, which neither time nor absence, pros¬ perity nor adversity, can obliterate or diminish. Wherever an Irish pea¬ sant was born, there he wishes to die; and, however successful in acquir¬ ing wealth or rank in distant places, he returns with fond affection to re¬ new his intercourse with the friends and companions of his youth and his obscurity. An innate spirit of insubordination to the laws has been strongly charged upon the Irish peasantry; but a people, to whom the punishment of crimes appears rather as a sacrifice to revenge than a measure of pre¬ vention, can never have the same deference to the law, as those who are instructed in the principles of justice, and taught to recognise its ec^uality. It has, however, been uniformly admitted, by every impartial writer on the affairs of Ireland, that a spirit of strict justice has ever characterized the Irish peasant.* Convince him, by plain and impartial reasoning, that he is wrong; and he vnthdraws from the judgment-seat, if not with cheer¬ fulness, at least with eabmission; but, to make him respect the laws, he must ne satisfied that they are impartial; and, v/ith that conviction on his mind, tne Irish peasant is as perfectly tractable, as the native of any other country in the world. An attachment to, and a respect for, females is another marked charac¬ teristic of the Irisn peasant. The wife partakes of all her husband’s vicissi¬ tudes : she shares his labours and his miseries, with constancy and with affection. At all the sports and meetings of the Irish yesantry, the women are always of the company; they have a great influence f and, in his smoky cottage, the Irish peasant, surrounded by his family, seems to forget those in England : many murders in Ireland occur in the heat of theiv battles: moiit of those in England are perpetrated in cold blood and on women. • Sir John Davis, Attorney-General of Ireland, who, in the reign of James the First, was empdoyed by the King to establish the English laws thronghont Ir*. land, and who made himself perfectly acquainted with the character of the in- habitanta, adnrits that “there were no people under heaven, who loved ean&l aad mpaxtiii justice better than the Irish.’’ 20 RISS AND FALL OF ITIE HUSH NATION. all Lis priTaliona. The natural cheerfulness of his disposition banishes re« flection; and he experiences a. simple happiness, which even the hij^ heal ranks of society might justly envy. X. The middle class of gentry, interspersed throughout the country parts of the kingdom, possessed as much of the peasant character as ac¬ corded with more liberal minds and superior society. With less necessity for exertion than the peasant, and an equal inclination for the indulgence of indolence, their habits were altogether devoid of industry, and adverse to reflection: the morning chase and evening conviviality composed the diary of their lives, cherished the thoughtlessness of their nature, and banished the cares and soUcitudes of foresight. They uniformly lived be¬ yond their means, and aspired beyond their resources; pecuniary embarrass¬ ment only gave a new zest to the dissipation which created it; and the gentry of Ireland at this period had more troubles and fewer cares than any gentry in the universe. These habits, however, while they contracted the distance between the lower and the superior order had also the effect of promoting their mutual good-will and attachment to each other. The peasant looked up to and admired, in the country gentleman, those propensities which he himself possessed; actuated by a native sympathy of disposition, he loved old customs; he liked to follow the track and example of his forefathers, and adhered to the fortunes of some ancient family, with a zealous sincerity; and, in every matter of party or of faction, he obeyed the orders of his landlord, and even anticipated his wishes with cheerfulness and humility. The Irish country gentleman, without either the ties of blood or the weight of feudal autTiority, found himself surrounded by followers and ad¬ herents ever ready to adopt his cause, and risk their lives for his purposes, with as warm devotion as those of the Scottish laird or the highland chief- lain; and this disposition, cultivated by family pride on the one side, and confirmed by immemorial habit on the other, greatly prompted the for- naation, the progress, and the zeal, of those armed associations which soon afterward covered the face of the country, and for a moment placed the name of Ireland on the very highest pinnacle of affective patriotism. It was the fashion of those days to cast upon the Irish gentry an impu¬ tation (it would be uncandid not to admit that there was some partial ground for it) that they showed a disposition to decide petty differences by the sword, and too fastidious a construction of what they termed the “point of honour.” This practice certainly continued to prevail in many parts of Ireland, where time and general intercourse had not yet succeeded in ex¬ tinguishing the romantic but honourable spirit of Milesian chivalry; and, when we reflect on the natural warlike disposition of the Irish people, that indigenous impetuosity and love of battle which so eminently distinguLshed their aboriginal character, it is not surprising that hasty and unnece.ssary encounters should occasionally occur among a people perpetually actuated by the pride of ancestry and the theories of honour. But, even in these con¬ tests, the Irish gentleman forgave his adversary with as much readiness aa he fought him; he respected the courage which aimed at bis own life; and the strongest frien ^ohips were sometimes formed, and frequently regenerated, on the field of battle. It is natural to suppose that this practice should RISE AKI» FALL OF THE IRISH KATTOK. 21 ha^•r t«on exaggerated, by the English people, whom luature had endowed with less punctilious and much more discreet propensities. The cowardly crime of suicide, which prevailed and prev.aiis In Eugland, was scarcely ever known among the Irish. Circumstances, which would plunge an Englisham into a state of mortal despondency, would only rouse the energies of an Irishman to bound over his misfortunes:* under every pressure, in every station, and in every climate, a lightness of heart and openness of disposition distinguishes him from the inhabitants of every other country. On the whole of their characters, the Irish gentry, though far from being faultless, had many noble qualities: generous, hospitable, friendly, brave, but careless, prodigal and indiscreet; they possessed the materials of dis¬ tinguished men with the propensities of obscure ones, and, by their open¬ ness and sincerity, too frequently became the dupes of artifice, and the vic¬ tims of dissimulation. Among the highest orders of the Irish people, the distinguishing features of national character had been long wearing away, and becoming less pro¬ minent and remarkable. The manners of the nobility, in almost every European country, verge to one common centre: by the similarity of their education and society, they acquire similar habits; and a constant inter¬ course with courts clothes their address and language, as it does their per¬ sons, in one peculiar garb—disguising the strong points, and concealing the native traits, of their original characters. I’he unprecedented expenses of the American war, which first familiarised the English people to empty their purses for the support of unnecessary and inglorious warfare (in which they have since become such extraordinary pro¬ ficients,) called every day for new resources; and the minister conceived and executed the artful project of increasing his financial means and par- liamentry power by erecting a banking and commercial interest on the site and the ruins of the landed representation. Money brokers, began to consti¬ tute a new order in the state, and to form, if not an integral part, at least a necessary appendage to every subsequent administration of Great Britain. Experience has proved the mischiefs of that fatal policy to the whole of the empire. Though the greater number of the Irish noblemen had been of remote creations, a few had not been long enough removed from the mass of the community to have acquired very high ideas of hereditary pride, or to have emblazoned the shield of every ancient or illustrious pedigrees. As a body, the Irisli lords were not peculiarly prominent in the affaire of their country; but they were dignified. Their debates (until the acces¬ sion of Lord Clare) were calm and temperate; and, though, like the mem- • The Irish people have been accused of frequently committing what ara termed blunders, or perverted phraseology; but many sayings, which have ao- i^uired that name, are, in fact, the aphorisms of sound sense, and strongwitted observation. The Irishman’s remark, that “ he would rather commit suicide on any one than himself,” would puzzle the ingenuity of a moral casuist, and plaoM the orimo of self-murder in a very uncertain rank of homicide. 22- RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. bers all ether political assemblies, they were, individually, various in ta- lentaad Li character, the appearance of the whole was grand; and their conduct, if not spirited, was firm, respectable and decorous. The Protestant Church had great weight in the community; the hierar¬ chy, participating in the dignity of an independent Parliament, possessed the united influence of spiritual rank and legislative importance; the parochial clergy, though well affected to the state, still adhered to the interests of their country, and, assuming a deportment decorous and characteristic, were at that time, generally esteemed, and deservedly respected. The provision of the inferior Protestant clergy was then (as at present) qmte disproportioned to their duties and their profession. Many of that meritorious class of men, the officiating curates, whoso precepts and exam¬ ple were to direct the morals and guide the conduct of the people, had become gray in poverty, and labouring under the pressure of severe necessities, effectualy preached up to their congregations the exercise of that charity, which would have been aptly and benevolently applied te their own persons. The general conduct of these men had at all times remained unexcep' tionable. From them the character of the Irish clergy was best to be collected; the luxurious possessor of sinecure and plurality, enjoying ease and abundance, without care or solicitude, must form a very inferior crite¬ rion of experienced merit, when compared to the distressed pastor, whose conduct remains exemplary, while his indigence and necessities might have tempted him into errors. The extremes of income among the Protestant clergy were too distant, their wealth and their poverty formed too strong a contrast. The Catholic clergy had then an unlimited influence over the people of their own persuasion. Though the cruel impolicy of the penal statutes had not been altogether set aside, they remained dutiful and obedient to the sovereign power, cheerfully submissive to the existing laws, and friendly and affectionate to their Protestant fellow-subjects. Candidates for Catholic ordination were sent to France for spiritual instruction, and returned to their own country, though learned, still retaining many of the propensities of their origin, they showed that their respect to superior rank, and submission to the constituted authorities, were rather increased than diminished by their foreign education. The monarchy of France, despotic, splendid, and powerful, was at that time regarded with devotion by the French people, as a structure which neither time could destroy, nor tempests endanger. Its broad base covered every portion of the people; its stupendous height was surveyed with awe, and its colossal strength beheld with admiration. The ecclesiastical com¬ munities, fostered uuder its shelter, experienced the protection of despotic power, and, by their doctrine and their practice endeavoured to increase ite strength, and secure its permanence. The Irish student, early imbibing those monastic principles, was taught at Saint Omer the advantages of undefined power in a king, and of passive obedience in a subject; he was there instructed to worship a throne, and to mingle his devotion to heaven and to monarchy. The restoration of a RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 23 Catholic king over Ireland had long ceased to be practicable, such projects, the efore, were hopeless, and relinquished; and the Irish Catholic clergy* man, however he might naturally have wished for the regal supremacy ol his own sect, had long since abandoned every view of an object altogether unattainable. British supremacy had then no overt enemies, save its own ministers, nor any conspiracies against its power, but the arbitrary determinations of its own cabinet. Thus, returning from his noviciate, and educated with all the disposi tions of a submissive subject, he found his native country in a state of pro* found tranquillity. His views were contracted; his ambition extended no further than the affections of his flock, and the enjoyments of society. The closest intimacy subsisted between him and his parishioners, he mingled in all their pastimes, and consoled them in their miseries; but the most convivial among them knew how to distinguish clearly between the occa¬ sional familiarities of personal intercourse, and a dutiful respect for his re¬ ligious functions; and, even though their companion might have been con¬ demned, their priest was always sure to be respected. The Catholic and the Protestant at the same time h'ved in habits of great harmony; they harboured no animosities or indisposition toward each other; the one governed without opposition, the other submitted without resistance; and the Catholic clergy had every inclination to retain their flocks within proper limits, and found no difficulty in effecting that object. The severity with which the agents of the Protestant clergy in some parishes collected their tithes, and the exactions and oppressions which the middle-man exercised over the occupant of the land, occasionally excited partial disturbances; but, in these, there was nothing of a revolutionary aature; they were only the nocturnal riots of some oppressed and mis¬ managed districts, which the civil power in general found no difficulty in tappressing. CHAPTER HI. L The population of Ireland, distributed into those classes, endowed with those qualities, and borne down by an accumulation of impolitic and ungenerous restraints, at length awakened as it were from a deep trance. The pulse of that nation, torpid through habitual oppression, began to throb; her blood, stimulated by the stings of injustice, which she had so long and so patiently endured, circulated with a new rapidity: her heart reanimated, sent motion and energy through her whole frame; and from a cold and almost lifeless corse, Ireland was seen majestically arising from the tomb of obscurity, and paying the first tribute of her devotion at thf shrine of liberty. Roused to a sense of her miserable situation, she cast her eyes around on the independent States of Europe and compared their strength, their capa- nty, and their resources with her own. Encouraged by the view of her eomparative superiority, she soon perceived that she had strength, and neans, and opportunity to redress herself from the wrongs and degradations 24 KiiB AJID iALL OF THE IRISH NATION. fcke v>j«$ suiiwifig; and that so long as sha tolerated the authority of the British Legislature over her concerns, so long her commerce, her consti¬ tution, and her liberties, must lie prostrate at tho foot of every British minister. The political situations of both nations at that critical period, afforded a more than a common scope for political contemplation: even the coldest po¬ liticians of that day, were led involuntarUy to reflect on the nature of the federative compact between the two countries, and could not avoid per¬ ceiving the total absence of that reciprocal good faith and confidence which alone could ensure the integrity of the empire, or the perma¬ nence of the connexion. In theory, the two nations were linked toge' ther by tho strongest ties of mutual interest and mutual security; but in practice those interests were separated, and that conjunction of strength, on which the security of empires must as all times depend, was too frequently disregarded, as if England had forgotten that she owed a great proportion of stability to the co-operation of the Irish people, and that if one hundred thousand Irish subjects, who fought her battles in her armies and in her navy, became even neutralized, by insults or by injuries to their country, the English nation might too late discover the fatal impolicy of her system. II. The fundamental principles upon which the connexion between the two nations was intrinsically founded, soon became a subject of general inquiry and universal discussion among every rank and class of society; and it required but little difficulty to convey to the quick conception of a naturally acute and intelligent people, a comprehensive view of their rights and of their deprivations. Nor was Ireland, at this period, destitute of able and active partisans, anxious and competent to instruct her people, iu language best adapted to impress upon the poignancy of their national feelings, and enlarge the scope of their political understandings. They were told by those instructors, that Ireland was constitutionally connected with Great Britain, upon the basis of a complete equality of rights that she possessed a resident Parliament of her own, competent, in aU points, to legislate on her own concerns, in no point connected with, r sulordinate to, that of Great Britain. That their king was bound to govern Ireland, not through his crown of England, hut through his crown of Ireland —conferred upon him by the Irish nation, and worn by him, in conjunction with that of Great Britain, as the chief magistrate of both— but to govern each country severally by their respective laws and their distinct legislatures, and not the one through the other; and though the Irish crown was, by the constitution of that country, placed for ever on the head of the same legitimate monarch who should wear that of England; yet the Irish people were not legally bound to obey any laws but those enacted by their own legislature, to transfer the sceptre of their realm to any usurped authority, or to submit to the hos¬ tile or corrupt policy of any minister who might occasionally occupy the seat of power in England that their oath of allegiance was taken to the king of Ireland, and not to the Parliament of Great Britain; that tbe establishment of this principle was indispensable to their existence as & nation, and that every violation of it was a direct deviation from the duty of the Irish crown, and a virtual dereliction of tho compact between thn RISE AND RAIX 01' THE IRISH KATIWT. 25 two couutnoe; and that the king’s ministers of either country advising an* constitutional measures to violate tUe constitutional independence of Ire¬ land, must be considered as traitors to the Irish crown, and enemies to the British empire. It was iso observed, that this assumption of authority to legislate for Ireland, whatever colouring it might have received by the dissimulation or ingenuity of its supporters, had, in fact, for its real object the restraint of her commerce and the suppression of her manufactures, so far as they might interfere with the interests of England; because the management ol the mere local concerns of Ireland, by her own Parliament, was altogether immaterial to great Britain, unless where a commercial rivalship might be the probable consequences of successful industry and legislative en¬ couragement. From this reasoning, it was obvious that the redress of these grievances could not depend solely upon any exertions of the Irish Legislature. The Peers, from the causes hereinbefore assigned, were influenced at that time by a very small portion of public feeling; the measures of the Commonf might be suppressed by an act of the Privy Council; and it became mani¬ fest, that an universal and determined co-operation of the whole people with their representatives, to rescue their representation, by vigorous measures, could alone operate with sufficient effect upon the pobcy and fears of England; and that a general appeal to the people would be justi¬ fied by the soundest axioms of civil government—as long experience had fully ascertained, that nothing was to be gained by the forbearance of the one nation, or to be expected from the voluntary justice of the other. The Irish people being thus apprised of the real source of all their grie¬ vances, the subject quickly engrossed their whole thoughts, and became familiar to their understandings. A new and broad field of reflection was opened to the middle orders; political discussions necessarily followed from day to day : at every public and private meeting, and in every dis¬ trict, these discussions turned on the principles of liberty; and as the sub¬ ject expanded, their ideas became enlarged; those who could read, liber- llly instructed the illiterate as to the rudiments of their history and tlic rights of the constitution; and by familiar deductions, the misery of the peasant was without difficulty brought home to the corruption of the ministers. AH ranks of the community began to mingle and converse at their public meetings; the influence of that general communication diffused itself rapidly amongst every class of society; and the people, after having perfectly ascertained the hardships of their situation, naturally proceeded to discuss the most decisive means of redressing their grievances. 111. 'I'he circumstances of public affairs in America and on the Conti¬ nent of Europe, but more especially in England herself, where every mo¬ ment becoming more and more propitious to the political emancipation of Ireland. A dark cloud appeared collecting over the head of Great Bri¬ tain ; the rays of her setting sun could scarcely penetrate the obscurity o! tho gloom which surrounded her; and though she faced the impending hurricane with magnanimity and perseverance, she ex|)erieuced a most anxious solicitude at the awful crisis which was rapidly approaching her. Her situation was terrific. The States of America, colonized bv her ii»- S6 RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. dustry, and peopled by her convicts, tearing themselves away from the mother country, and appealing to the whole world against the tyranny which at once had caused and justified her disobedience. British armies, wandering through boundless deserts, and associating with the savage tribes for savage purposes, dwindling by their victories, and diminishing % their conquests, surrendering their swords to those whom they had recently ranquished, and lowering the flag of England, with all the courtesies of continental warfare, to those very men whom the preceding moment they had proclaimed as traitors to their king and to their country.* However, the wise and deliberate measures which Ireland on this oc¬ casion adopted, proved not only her unshaken fidelity, but her moderation and her unaffected attachment to Great Britain. She saw the perilous situation of her sister country; and though she determined to profit by the crisis, in justly reclaiming her commerce and her constitution, she also determined to stand or fall with the British empire, and to share the fate of England in the tremendous confederacies which were formed and were forming against her. The Irish people felt that they had a double duty to perform—to them¬ selves, and to their posterity. England herself had given them a prece¬ dent. She had proved, by the experience of centuries, that when she had an object to achieve in Ireland, she had never been restrained by the punctilious dictates either of honour or humanity, and had never failed to take advantage of the feebleness of Ireland to impose the grievous weight of her arbitrary restrictions; she had, at all periods, systematically en- • The very different lino of conduct adopted by England towards America and Ireland, when respectively in a state of insurrection, is very remarkable. The Americans (a mere colony), united with French troops, stood in open rebellion, tor the avowed purpose of final separation from the mother country, and were proclaimed traitors and rebels by the King and Parliament; yet they uniformly experienced from the British military commanders the most decorous and respect¬ ful treatment. Their generals were addressed by their appropriate official titles; their military rank was recognised by the British army; their officers, when taken, were admitted on their parol of honour; and their prisoners were treated with humanity and attention. The Irish experienced a very different conduct in 1798, when immediate erecu- Uon was generally the gentlest punishment inflicted upon the insurgents of every rank, office, and description, and the laws of retaliation giving rise to a compe¬ tition of barbarities, deluged the whole country in blood, extinguished its spirit, divided its people, and destroyed its reputation. To persons unacquainted with the true history of those transactions, and the project of the British Minister, the ambiguous conduct of Lord Cornwallis will appear altogether inconsistent and unaccountable. But the difficulty will be eolved, when it becomes evident, from historic facts, that, without that general horror, depression, and dismay which the extent and continuance of those mu¬ tual barbarities had excited throughout all ranks and classes of people, the mea¬ sure of a Legislative Union never durst have been proposed to Ireland, and that this terrific sensation was critically made use of, as the strongest instrument, to impose that measure on a people sunk under the lassitude of civil war, and while in search of peace, forgetting liberty. RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATTOH. 27 eooraged the internal dissensions of that people, the better to humble them for the yoke which she had always been ready to place upon their countrj. Ireland, therefore, felt that she would be Justified, by British precedent, to take advantage of this important crisis, and that even the practical prin¬ ciples of the British constitution had declared and justified the right of popular resistance, England had, upon the same principle of resistance to arbitrary power, attempted to justify the murder of one king, and the deposition of another; whilst Ireland, preferring her allegiance to her policy, remained faithful to both, and was rewarded for her loyalty by massacre and confiscation. However, a hasty or impetuous resistance of the Irish people, even to the most arbitrary acts of their King or of their Government, was by no means a principle congenial to their political character; whilst it was obvi¬ ous to the whole world that England had adopted those violent and outra¬ geous proceedings against her own monarchs, upon principles and pretences far less constitutional, and more inconsistent with her liberties, than the measures and conduct which had been wantonly and systematically prac¬ tised by British ministers against Irish freedom. With this useful and awful lesson before her eyes, Ireland wisely considered that she would best raise and establish her national character, and effect her just objects, by a gradual reassumption of her rights, and a temperate and fair demand of constitutional liberty; that her moderation would form an edifying con¬ trast to the violence and intemperance of England, whenever her liberties were invaded, and that the advantage which the embarassed state of Great Britain had now thrown into the hands of Ireland, would be most honourably exercised by a crlm and loyal, but resolute and effectual procseding. She perceived, however, that the moment most favourable to her objects had arrived; which, if suffered to pass by without effort, might never recur; and it therefore only remained to Ireland to ascertain the means most moderate, but most likely to call Great Britain to a sense of reason and of justice, and to secure to herself the attainment of her rights, without the danger of hostile convulsion, or the horrors of civil conflict. England, notwithstanding she had in some instances suspended, and in others prohibited, the exportation of Irish manufactures mdundated the Irish markets with every species of her own; and with a view effectually to destroy all power of competition in Ireland, the great capitalists of England determined, even at any loss, to undersell the Irish in their own markets—a loss, however, which they thought would be eventually and amply repaid by the monopoly which must necessarily succeed the utter de¬ struction of the Irish manufacture. This system it was impossible for the Irish manufacturer to resist or counteract; his capital was too small to bear the losses of competition; resistance would have been vain; he had therefore no alternative but to change his trade, or submit, and famish. It depended on the exertions of the people at large to resist every vicious and destructive project; and they lost no time in adopting incipient mea¬ sures of resistance. With this view, they resolutely determined to adopt a non-importation and non-consumption agreement throughout the whole kingdom; and by excluding not only the importation, but tho ccusump- ■28 RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. tion of any British manufacture in Ireland, visited back upoa the Eng* lish combinators the ruin of their own treachery. No sooner was this measure publicly proposed, than it was universally adopted; it flew quicker than the wind throughout the whole nation: the manufacturiag bodies, the corporate towns, the small retailers, the general merchants, at once universally adopted this vigorous determination, and the great body of the people by general resolutions, and universal acclamations, avowed their determination to support the measure, till they should acquire a re¬ storation of their political rights. IV. Meanwhile, the armed associations hourly gained strength in num- bem ; they began to acquire the appendages and establishments of a regular army, discipHne and confidence; and gradually consolidated themselves into regiments and brigades ; some procured cannon and field equipages, and formed companies of artillery; the completion of one corps stimulated the formation of another, and at length almost every independent Protes¬ tant of Ireland was enrolled as a patriot soldier; and the whole body of the Catholics declared themselves the decided auxiliaries of their armsd countrymen. This extraordinary armament^—^the recollections of which will for ever excite in Ireland a devotion to the cause of liberty, which neither time can efface nor misfortunes extinguish; actuated solely by the pure spirit of in¬ corruptible patriotism, and signalized by a conduct more temperate and more judicious than had ever controlled the acts and objects of any mili¬ tary body in the histuy of the world. The modern military corps, which have been skilfully, and perhaps wisely, emlxidied, to preclude any recurrence to the measure of volunteer¬ ing, possess no analogy to these celebrated a^ooiations, save that the loyalty of the Volunteers was to their country and their King, the loyalty of the Yeomen to the King of England and to his Ministers. Self-formed and self-governed, the Volunteers accepted no commissions whatever for the Crown, and acknowledged no connexion whatever wibh the Government; the private meu appointed their own officers, and occa¬ sionally cashiered them for misconduct or incapacity; they accepted no pay, the more wealthy soldier cheerfully shared his funds with his poorer comrade, and the officers contributed their proportions to the general stock purse. Yet notwithstanding this perverted state of all military establishments, their subordination was complete; the soldier obeyed, from the instinctive impulse of honour to himself and duty to his country; the officer com¬ manded upon the same principle, and very few instances occurred where either were found to deviate from the straightesst line of military rectitude The rules of discipline were adopted by general assent, and that passiva obedience which, in regular armies, is enforced by punishment, amongst the Volunteers of Ireland was effected by honour. They assumed various uniforms; green, white, scarlet, or blue, were the prevailing colours.* Their line, therefore, appeared variegated, and pecu- * The Lawyers’ Regiment of Volunteers adopted eiactlv the naiform of the King’s Guards ; tlioir motto, “ Pro arts et focis.” The EJlkenny Regiment (th« RISK AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 2® Harl/ striking. Their arms were at first provided by tliemsclveu; by the eiii33idifiary increase of their numbers rendered them at length unaSlo to procure a sufficient supply by purchase: they had then but one course, they confidently required arms from the Government; the Government, what¬ ever reluctance they might have felt to arm men who acknowledged no supremacy, yet did not think it safe to refuse their demand; and, with an averted eye, handed out to the Volunteers twenty thousand stand of arms from the Castle of Dublin. V. Being completely equipped, the acquirement of persons capable of instructing so large a body in military tactics, appeared a matter of the greatest difficulty ; but the same events which had at first inspired the Irish with a determination to arm, furnished them with the means not only of acquiring discipline, but of increasing their ardour. The disasters of the American war had restored to the bosom of IrelaLd many brave men, whose health had sunk under the consequences of wounds and sufferings, and who, having witnessed the successful struggles of America for liberty, had returned to Ireland at that moment when she was critically preparing to assert her own. The association of these ex¬ perienced veterans was sedulously courted by the Irish Volunteers; their orders were obeyed with confidence and alacrity, and amongst the. country corps the effect of their instructions became suddenly conspicuous; and, under their experience, discipline advanced with a rapid progress. The intercourse and conversation of those persons also had a powerful effect, by transfusing into their pupils that military mind which a veteran soldier can never relinquish. In their convivial hours, the sergeant, sur¬ rounded by his company, expatiating on the events of actual service, and introducing episodes of individual bravery, perhaps of his own undaunted- ness and sagacity, gradually banished every other topic from their conver¬ sation at those meetings. The successful perseverance of America had aupressed even the soldier himself who had fought against her, with an involuntary respect for the principles of his enemies; a constant inter¬ course with his Irish associates soon excited in him congenial feelings, and he began to listen with pleasure to their interesting question. “ Why, should not his own brave countrymen possess as much constitutional liberty as those foreign colonists who had conquered him?” It is difficult to conceive the fascination whicli seized upon tho hereto¬ fore contracted intellect of the military farmer, by a repetition of tliese novel and warlike subjects; the martial propensity of his innate cbi'.ractcr had already rendered him peculiarly susceptible of these animating impres- raons, and he now almost imperceptibly imbibKl a military mind, and Late Earl of Ormond’s) and the Eegiments of Irish Brigades, &o., wore green ; the motto of the latter, “ Vox populi suprema Itx est.” During tho continu¬ ance of the Volunteer corps, no other police whatever was necessary throughout the whole nation ; no public delinquent could possibly escape apprehension ; and 1 10 most perfect peace and tranquillity prevailed throughout every county and district in Ireland; the Volunteers exerted themselves in every department, aa the preservers of public peace, acd with aa effect never known at any former or later period in that country. 30 BISE AND PALL OF THE IRISH NATION. acquired a soldier’s feeling. In a word, the whole nation became enamoured of arms; and those who were not permitted to bear them, considered themselves as honoured by being employed to carry the food and ammuni¬ tion of the soldier. The chief commanders of these armed bodies were men of the highest and most distinguished characters, and each corps was in general he^eil •by persons of the first respectability in their respective districts, selected generally for their popularity and independence ; but all these corps were, for a considerable time, totally distinct and unconnected; nor was it until they had formed into a consolidated column, under the command of the amiable and the illustrious Charlemont, that they acquired the irresistabU impulse of a co-operating power. The mild but determined patiotism ol that respected nobleman, gave a new tint of character to the whole armj which he commanded, and chased away the tongue of slander from theii obj^ects and their conduct. In the number of those who, at this moment, were launched, for the first time, into public observation, there appeared a person, who, without possessing the highest reputation for public talent, or the most undeviating line of public principle, by the honest and spirited termination of his po¬ litical life, has been justly raised upon the elevated pedestal of national gratitude; a person, whose early appointment to the first financial depart¬ ment of Ireland, and whose ofiicial conduct, from that day to the catas¬ trophe of Irish Parliaments, will necessarily be the subject of frequent and important observations, and authorizes an introduction of his name and character, at an earlier stage of this history, that would otherwise be consistent with the regular detail of a progressive narrative. VI. Sir John Parnel, the commandant of a Volunteer association,* was the son of a crafty and prudent minor politician (Sir John Pamel, of Kathleague, in the Queen’s County,) and was educated with a view to a diplomatic situation; but on his return from the Continent, was found by his father too deficient in the necessary attainments of evasion and dupli¬ city, to qualify him for the high departments of foreign diplomacy: his talents, therefore, became destined for home consumption, and by the in¬ trigues of his father, and a forced exertion of his own abilities, he was soon noticed in the Irish Parliament as a person of more than ordinary capacity, and after a veering course of local politics, he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer. In that situation he continued, till the project of a Union called forth the public virtues of every man who possessed any, and too late opened the eyes of the nation to its steady friends, and to its temporizing enemies. Sir John Parnel had an eminent capacity for public business, but a lamentable deficiency of system in its arrangement. His strong mind and cultivated imderstanding lost much of their effect by the flurry of his manner, which frequently impeded the perspicuity of his language. His intellect was clear, his memory retentive, and his conception just; ho possessed esteem, withoiU; an effort to obtain it, and preserved his friends, without exercising his patronage; he supported the Ministry without ♦ The Maryborough Volunteers- RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 31 lending the opposition, and all parties united in calling him an honour- ible man. Plain, frank, cheerful, and convivial, he generally preferred society to trouble, and seemed to have rid himself of a weight when he had executed a duty. As a financier, he was not perfect; as a statesman, he was not deep; as a courtier, he was not polished ; but as an officer, he was not cor¬ rupt ; and though many years in possession of high office, and extensive patronage, he showed a disinterestedness almost unparalleled; and the name of a relative, or of a dependent, of his own, scarcely in a single instance increased the place or the pension lists of Ireland. Though his education and habits were ministerial, his mind was intrin¬ sically patriotic, and a sentiment of independent spirit not unfrequent ly burst out from under the pressure of that official restriction which tlie duties of his station had necessarily imposed upon him; but his appoint¬ ment as a minister never induced him to forget his birth as an Irishman f and his attachment to the Sovereign, never diminished his philanthropy to the subject. After an honest, faithful, and zealous service of his king, for seventeen years, as Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer, he was called upon by the Minister to sacrifice his principles, and betray his country ; to efface the impressions of his youth, and tarnish the honour of his maturity ; to vio¬ late his faith, and falsify his conviction; but the fetters of office could not restrain the spirit of its captive; he lost his station, but he retained his integrity, and was compensated for the consequences of an undeserved dismissal, by the approbation of his conscience and the affection of his country. The Volunteer corps which he commanded, early and zealously adopted the cause of Irish independence—a cause he strenuously adhered to, to the last moment of his existence—and in that noble firmness with which he resisted a Legislative Union, and disobeyed the mandates of a crafty and vindictive Viceroy; he has left to the present age a brilliant and a rare ex¬ ample of a minister, honest enough to prefer his character to his oluce, and proud enough to postpone his interest to his honour. VII. The Volunteer system now becoming universal in Ireland, effected an important and visible change in the min ds and manners of the middle and lower orders of the people. By the occurrence of new events, and the promulgation of novel principles, their natural character became affected m all its bearings, and acquired, or rather disclosed, new points, which at that period tended to promote their prosperity, but eventually formed the grand pretence for the extinguishment of their independence. The famihar association of aU ranks, which the nature of their new military connexion necessarily occasioned, every day lessened that wide distinction, which had theretofore separated the higher and lower orders of society, the landlord and the tenant, the nobleman and the artisan, the general and the soldier, now, for the first time, sat down at the same board, shared the same fare, and enjcjod the same conviviahty. The lower order learned their own weight in the community; the higher were taught their dependence upon the people; and those whose illiterate minds had never before conceived or thought on the nature of pohtical constitutious, 82 RISK AND lALL OF THE IRISH NATION. or tio fundamental principles of civil government, now Larne ' fre m the intercourse and conversation of their superiors, the rudiments of that com¬ plicated but noble science; the misconception and the abuse of which, has since become the severest scourge that ever afflicted the states of Europe. A visible alteration was also soon observable in the general appearance of the people; the squalid garb and careless dress of the Irish farmer was now exchanged for the minute cleanliness and regularity of the soldier. A striking revolution took place not only in the minds, but also in the external appearance of the Irish; their intellect acquired strength by ex¬ ercise and information—their address was improved by intercourse and discipline—and their general appearance by dress and regularity; and had not the same causes, which led to the concessions of 1782, induced the British Government to recal that constitution which had been wrested from its feebleness, these unparalleled associations would have conferred advan¬ tages on the country, beyond all measures which human wisdom could have suggested for its improvement. CHAPTER IV. L While those transactions were taking place throughout the country, a memorable and unexpected event occurred in the Irish parliament. The sessions of 1779-80 commenced with a scene, which, while it elevated the Ii’ish people to the height of expectation, and inspired them with a new confidence, paralyzed the British Government, and for the first mo¬ ment, made known decidedly to the councils of that country, that they had no longer to deal with a timid, dispirited, and unprotected nation. The adoption of non-importation and non-consumption agreements had already created considerable anxiety in the British Minister as to the pro¬ bable result of the ensuing session, and the Lord Lieutenant was directed to open the parliament with a speech, remotely alluding to his Majesty’s sentiments of liberality, but without specifying any measure of concession, and so cautiously guarded, as neither to alarm the public, nor commit the Government, but the days of insipidity had now passed away; the Vice¬ roy’s speeches from the throne, for almost a century, had been composed nearly in the same common-place language and trite observation, and the addresses of both houses, in reply of those speeches, had been almost in¬ variably mere echoes of the speech itself, with general assurances of liberal supplies and increasing loyalty. On the opening of this Session, however, there appeared a more than common sensation amongst the leading members of Parliament, the strong and animated declarations of public sentiment which had been published during the prorogation, made an extraordinary impression, but the extent or consequences of that impression could not be ascertained, until the pro¬ ceedings of the House of Commons gave an opportunity of observing what efiect the new spirit of the people would now have upon the conduct ol their representatives. At length the Parliament assembled; the anxious and inquisitive eye of RISE A.ND FALL OF TOE IRISH NATIOM. 8?. the Secrefary and of the steady partisans of Government passed rapidly throughout the whole House, alarmed by the appearance of some unusual resistance, they endeavoured, from the looks, the suggestions, the manner of the members, to prejudge the result of the first night’s debate, which had generally decided the complexion of the ensuing session, but no sagacity could have anticipated the turn which Irish affairs were to receive on that night—^no human foresight could have predicted that blow which the system of the British Cabinet was about to receive by one single sentence, or have foreseen that that single sentence would be the composition of the first law officer of the Irish Government. The Lord Lieutenant’s speech was delivered by him in the House of Lords, in the accustomed tone of confidence; ambiguity, and frivolous re¬ commendations ; and in the Commons, the usual echo and adulatory ad¬ dress was moved by Sir Robert Deane, a person completely devoted to the views of Government. A pause succeeded, and an unusual communication was perceivable between several members on the Government and Oppo¬ sition sides of the House. A decided resistance to the usual quahfied ad¬ dress now became certain; the Secretary, moving irresolutely from place to place, was seen endeavouring to collect the individual opinions of the members; and the law officers of the Crown evinced a diffidence never before observable in their department; throughout the whole House a new sense of expectation and anxiety was evident. II. At length Mr. Henry Grattan arose, with a somewhat more than usual solemnity; he semed labouring with his own thoughts, and pre¬ paring his mind for a more than ordinary exertion. The address and the language of this extraordinay man were perfectly original: from his first essay in Parliament, a strong sensation had been excited by the point and eccentricity of his powerful eloquence 1 nor was it long until those trans¬ cendent talents, which afterwards distinguished this celebiated personage, were perceived rising above ordinary capacities, and, as a charm, commu¬ nicating to his countrymen that energy, that patriotism, and that perse¬ verance, for which he himself became so eminently distinguished; his action, his tone, his elocution in public speaking, bore no resemblance to that of any other person; the flights of genius, the arrangements of com¬ position, and the solid strength of connected reasoning, were singularly Idcuded in his fiery, yet deliberative language ; he thought in logic and he s]X)ke in antithesis; his irony and Iris satire, rapid and epigrammatic, bore down all opposition, and left him no rival in the broad field of eloquent in^' vective; his ungraceful action, however, and the hesitating tardiness of his first sentences, conveyed no favourable impression to those who listened only to his exordimn, but the progress of his brilliant and manly eloquence soon absorbed every idea, but that of admiration at the overpowering ex¬ tent of his intellectual faculties. This was Mr. Henry Grattan of 1779, in the vicissitudes of whose sub¬ sequent hfe will be remarked three distinct eras of public character, and disgusting proofs of popular inconsistency—the era of his glory, the era of his calumny, and the era of his r&sun-ection; in the first, elevated to a pitch of unbounded gratification, by the attachment, the gratitude, and tho Kunincanc© of his countrymen ; in the second, despoiled of health, of 0 KISE AKD FALL OF THE IU13H NATION. happiness, and of character, by the artifices of a powerful enemy; and in the third, rising from the bed of sickness, re-embarking a shattered frame in the services of his country. In Parliament he taught the doctrines of hlolyueux and of Lucas : he drew the true constitutional distinctions be¬ tween the Crown and the Government, the magistrate and the function, the individual and the sceptre. But the partiality of the friend may pos¬ sibly bias the pen of the historian; Ins public principles will be best t^cer- taiaed by ti’acing the undeviating line of his publii? conduct. The career of this extraordinary man is finished. But he survived his country ; he lived to view the demolition of that noble fabric raised by the exertion of his own virtue and perseverance, and the catastrophe of that constitution, which, “as he watched over it in its cradle, so he attended it to its grave.” III. After an oration, replete with the most luminous reasoning, the severest censure, pathetic and irresistable eloquence, Mr. Grattan moved an amendment to the address, viz.: “That we beseech your Majesty tc believe, that it is with the utmost reluctance we are constrained to ap¬ proach you on the present occasion; but the constant drain to supply absentees, and the unfortunate prohibition of our trade, have caused such calamity, that the natural support of our country has decayed, and oui manufacturers are dying for want; famine stalks hand in hand with hope-, less wretchedness; and the only means left to support the expiring trade of this miserable part of your Majesty’s dominions, is to open a free export trade, and let your Irish subjects enjoy their natural birthright.” His arguments had been so conclusive, his position so self-evident, his language so vigorous and detennined, his predictions so alarming, and the imp-essioa which those combined qualities made upon the House was so deep, and so extensive, that the supporters of Government, paralyzed and passive, seemed ahnost ready to resign the victory, befoKJ they had even attempted a resistance. The confusion which now appeared on the Treasury bench was very re¬ markable, because very unusal. The Secretary (Sir llichard Heron,) for the first time, showed a painful mistrust in the steadiness of his followers ; fie perceived that the spirit of the House was rising into a storm, which all the influence of his office would not be able to aUay, direct opposition would be injudicious, if not fatal, palpable evasion would be altogether im¬ practicable, the tomperizing system was almost worn out, and procrastina- tign seemed to yield no better prospect of a favourable issue; the officers of Government sat sullenly on their benches, awaiting their customary cue from the lips of the Minister, but he was too skilful to commit himself to a labyrinth, from whence return was so difficult and precarious, and all v.as silent. At length Sir Henry Cavendish hesitatingly arose, to declare ills dissent to this fost decided effort of the Irish Pai’hament to assert its liberties. IV. Sir Henry Cavendish was one of those persons who are generally found in the front of a popular assembly, and acquire notoriety by becom¬ ing the oracle of some instated department. Though possessed of a piain, Elirewd understanding, abundance of craft, a convenient temper, and im¬ posing plausibility; after unavailing effort to the fame of a rhe- RISE AND TALL OF UTtS IRISH NATION. »5 {diician, Sir Henry contented himself with the reputation of profound knowledge in parliamentary precedents and points of order. He was ever prepared with a string of parliamentary precedents, appro¬ priate to every question, and adapted to every circumstance, which ha skilfully contrived to substitute for reasoning, and oppose to argument, and should his prolific memory chance to fail him in the quotation of hia documents, his inventive genius never let the subject fail for want of an auxiliary. On points of order he was at least as garrulous as orthodox, and pecu¬ liarly expert at critical interruption; under colour of keeping order, he as¬ sumed a licence for transgressing it; and in affecting to check the digression of others, he frequently made it the first figure of his own rhetoric; he was admirably calculated for desultory debate; when he was right, ho was concise; when he was wrong, he was pertinacious, sarcastic, obstinate, plausible, persevering ; he gained time when he could not make proselytes, and became the very essence and soul of procrastination. Sir Henry was well iware that he durst not venture an unqualified negative, and en¬ deavoured craftily to administer his panacea of precedents, and to propose what he termed “somethhig more orderly in the House, and more graci¬ ous to the Sovereign.” He said he would vote against the amendment, that the business would be better effected by following a precedent in the year 16G1, when the Lords and Commons of Ireland appointed commis¬ sioners to attend the king to “ supplicate the redress of grievances.” V. The die was now cast, and a resistance to the measure was an¬ nounced and preceded on. hir. Scott (Attorney-General) affected to support Sii’ Henry, but, as if conscious of his ultimate failure, he appeared almost a new character; the bold audacity of his address degenerated into an insidious plausibility; his arrogance fled without an effort; and, for once in his life, he was tame, vapid, and unequivocal. An ardent spirit now burst forth from every quarter of the House. Mr. Henry Flood, a most prominent personage in Irish history, whoso endowments were great, and whose character was distinguished, the Provost, Mr. Ogle, Sir Edward Newnham, and many others, declared their coincidence with the amend¬ ment. But though it stated, in true and pathetic language, the miserisa Ireland was subject to, by reason of her absentees, if pressed too strongJy' on the tenderest spot of the interest of Britons, to admit of their concur¬ rence ; while, on the other side, it was conceived not to be thoroughly ex¬ plicit, and not sufliciently peremptory; the object was most imi ortant; the moment w'as most critical; and the amendment was exceptionable^ These difiiculties had been foreseen. i "VI. Mr. Hussey Burgh (the Prime Sergeant) at length arose from the Treasury bench, with that proud dignity so congenial to his character, and declared that he never would support any Government, in fraudulently concealing from the King the right of his people—that the high office which he possessed could hold no competition with his principles and his conscience, and he should consider the relinquishment of his gown only as a just sacrifice upon the altar of his country; that strong statement, rather than pathetic supplication, was adapted to the crisis; and he proposed to Mr. Grattan to substitute for his amendment the following words: “ That SG RISE AND FALL OF TUE IRISH NATION. it ifl not by temporary expedients, that this nation is now to be saved from impending ruin.” The effect of his speech* was altogether indescribable, nor is it easily to be conceived by those who were not witnesses of that remarkable transac¬ tion. The House, quick in its conception, and rapidly susceptible of every impression, felt the whole force of this unexpected and important secession. The character, the talents, the eloquence of this great man, bore down every symptom of further resistance; many of the usual supporters of Government, and some of the Viceroy’s immediate connexions, instantly followed his example, and in a moment the victory was decisive; not a single negative could the minister procure, and Mr. Burgh’s amendment passed unanimously, amidst a tumult of joy and exultation. This triumph of Irish patriotism, made an instantaneous and powerful impression on the minds of the people; it was their first victory, and the minister’s first discomfiture. The Volunteers attributed this unexpected success to the impressions which their spirit had diffused throughout the country, and they determined to adopt this measure, as if it had been their own offspring, and thereby identify the virtues of fhe Parliament with the energies of the people. On the circumstance being announced, the drums beat to arms ; the Volunteer associations collected in every part oi the metropolis, and they resolved to line the streets, and accompany to the gates of the Castle that part of the legislative body which moved in solemn procession, to present their wholesome warning into the hands oi the Viceroy. The secession of Mr. Burgh from the Government, was not more im¬ portant than that of M. Connolly, brother-in-law to the Viceroy, and Mr, Burton Cunningham, a constant supporter of ministerial measures ; men in high estimation and of large fortunes; which gave Mr, Grattan an opportunity for observing, that “ the people were thus getting landed security for the attainment of their liberties.” The effect of this measure, though in its nature inconclusive, appeared to lay the first stone of Irish independence, and greatly increased both the numbers and confidence in Volunteer associations.f * The author of this memoir was present at that memorable debate, (if 'le- bate it can be called) and the impression it then made upon his mind can never be effaced. The depression on the one side; the exultetion on the other; the new sensation on both ; the obvious feeling which this unexpected event excited in the galleries crowded by six or seven hundred of the most respectable persona out of Parliament, and a groat number of ladies of high rank—the general con. gratulation on the spirit of the Parliament, was a scene so remarkable, as never to be forgotten; but is attended by the sad reflection, that Mr. Burgh did not long survive the service he did his country—nor did his country long survive the service which he rendered it. f The secret history of this celebrated amendment is worthy of recording; it proves that the measures adopted by Ireland, at that period, were not the^ work of party or of faction, but the result of the secret and deliberate consideration of the most able and virtuous men of the Irish nation. Mr. Dennis Daly, a man of great abilities, large fortune, exquisite eloquence, and high character, together with Mr. Grattan, withdrew themselves to Bray, (a MSB AND FALL OF THE nUSH NATION. 3T Several attempts had been preriously made to fix the attention of the British Legislatui-e on the distressed and dangerous situation of Ireland; but every such effort had proved totally aboitive. Although the critical state of that country had been discussed in both Houses of Parliament, and addresses had been voted to the King requesting his immediate atten¬ tion to the affairs of Ii'eland, to which favourable answers had been re¬ turned by his Majesty; and though the Irish Commons had also framed a resolution, in the language of more than common expostulation; yet the subject passed away from the attention of the Ministers, and even this session closed, affording only further and decided proofs of their tempo¬ rising duplicity. VII. Great Britain was not as yet sufficiently alarmed, to become just; she could not as yet be persuaded that the Irish people were competent to the redress of their own grievances; and she considered the warmth of their public declarations only as the brLUiant flashes of a temporary patriotism. Her egotism blinded her to her state, and she fancied that the same revolution which had confirmed her liberties, had subjected to her power the liberties of her sister; and stiU paramount to justice and to policy, she felt too proud as yet to bend her attention to the grievances which she had herself inflicted. Some powerful friends of Ireland at length began zealously to espouse her interests. 'Pho good Earl Nugent, whose memory and character are still reveroi by those who recollect the sincerity of his attachment to that country in ITiS, made an effort in the British Lords to call their atten¬ tion to the distresses of IreWid: but his efforts were ineffectuah The same nobleman soon after repeated the same effort; but his weight and abilities were not equal to his zeal and integrity. His motion was treated with an unbecoming superciliousness by Lord North, and death, unfor¬ tunately, soon after, deprived his country of one of its truest friends and most dignified and honest advocates. VIU. The Earl of Shelburne, in the Lords, and the Earl of Upper village ten miles from the metropolis,) there to deliberato privately on tho most effectual means of attaining the just rights of their country. Previous confiden¬ tial communications had taken place between them and Mr. Perry, then Speaker of the liouse of Commons, who recommended a strong and comprehensive amendment to the address of the ensuing session, as the first step to be taken on the occasion. Mr. Grattan drew up one amendment—Mr. Daly another— and Mr. Daly’s, in his own handwriting, formed that which Mr. Grattan moved ill the Commons. At the same time similar communications had taken place between Mr. Hussey Burgh and Mr. Henry Flood, which gave rise to the amendment moved by Mr, Burgt, That proposed by Mr. Grattan, leaning heavily on absentees, the friends of that body, did not from tho complexion of the House, wish to hazard any division re- epeoting them; and therefore, to avoid such discussion, acceded to Mr. Burgh’s amendment, which did not allude to absentees, to avoid Mr. Grattan’s which did. And to this circumstance is to bo attributed the unaccountable unanimity with which the measure p.assed both Houses of Parliament, and tho extraordinary se. cession of Mr. Connolly, and other wei^'hty supporters of the Adminirtratioa, RISE AXD FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. ss Ossory, in the Commons, also proposed strong resolutions in both Hc'.fes, declaratory of the dangerous state of that country.* But though the mo¬ tion yras well-timed, the motives of the noble movers did not proceed from the same feeling which actuated the resident inhabitants of L-eland, Neither of those noblemen had been habitual friends to the general inte¬ rests of that country. Both of them were total absentees; they possessed large estates in Ireland, and trembled for their properties; they acted in general opposition to the Government, and wished to register the culpa¬ bility of their adversaries. Their motions were, after very sharp debates, rejected in both Houses, and Ireland became fully and finally convinced, that it was not through the occasional exertion of Irish emigrants, in a foreign legislature, that she was to seek for the recovery of her rights, and alleviation of her miseries. Applications to the Government, petitions to the Parliament, and Bupphcations to the Crown, had all been tried in vain: neither the bold remonstrances of right, nor the piercing cries of necessity, could reach the royal ear, or penetrate the circle of Ministers which surrounded the British throne, and concealed from the Irish king a distinct view of his Irish people. Humble and pathetic language had failed; the voice of the nation was exhausted by unavailing supplication; and it now became full time to act in the cause of liberty. Such being the ascertained disposition of the whole body of the people, not a moment was to be lost in the adoption of some measure, too strong to be despised by ministers, and too moderate to be dangerous to the con¬ nexion. Delay might now terminate all the hopes of Ireland; the crisis might pass away; the public spirit might cool; and the moment so auspi¬ cious to the interests of the nation might be lost for ever. Though this determination quickly circulated throughout the whole country, the people still acted with that deliberate firmness, which, of all conduct, is the most fatal to a political adversary, and adds more strength and character to popular proceedings. IX. The personages who ihrn led Ireland forward to her bloodless vic¬ tory, well knew the inestimable value of that prudent principle. They were men of great abilities, profound wisdom, and that effectiT® patriotism, which considers activity its necessary friend, but precipitation its most dangerous enemy. They instructed the people, that while they acted with undeviating firmness, they should also act w'ith prudential moderation; *The following reoolution was moved, by the Earl of Shelburne, in the Esitisb House of Lords, on the 1st day of December, 1779:— “ Resolved—That it is highly criminal in his Majesty’s Ministers to have ne- /,lected taking effectual measures for the relief of the kingdom of Ireland, and Lo have suffered the discontents of that country to rise to such a height, as eri- dently to endanger the constitutional connexion between the two kingdoms, and to create aev ombarrasamonls to the public councils, through division nud diffi¬ dence, in a moment v/hon real unanimity, grounded upon mutual confidence and affection, is confessedly essential to the preservation of the British empire.” After a ehort debate, this motion was rejected. Eor the motion—S7 Lords Against it—82 KISE AKD FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. tiiat the suspended liberties of a people were most likely to be recovered from a powerful oppressor, by a determined but cool and progressive per¬ severance ; that by deliberate system none would be alarmed; wise men would be attended to; the impetuous be restrained; the wavering con¬ firmed ; and the people steadied; patriotism and confidence wouid grof up together and become intimately blended, and the whole nation without alarm, be imperceptibly led to one common centre, and become competent to achieve the strongest measures, before they were well aware that they had commenced the preparation for them. They were instructed that, on the other hand, undigested and impetuous proceedings, if not successful, by the first rapidity of their execution, in gene¬ ral defeat their own object, and rivet the chains of that country which they were intended to emancipate, that it is more practicable to advance on gradual claims than recede from extravagant determination; and that the inevit¬ able miseries of civil war, however justifiable upon the principles and pre¬ cedent of constitutional resistance, established at the revolution, should bs the last resource even of an enslaved people ; and, that though the Irish were armed, and might demand concession in the attitude and tone of «on- fidence, it would be much wiser to give their incipient proceedings the weight and character of citizens, and reserve for the last extremity the threat of soldiers, that England, by this means, would be sufficiently in¬ formed of the determination of Ireland, without feeling her pride, too much hurt, to propose a negociation, or so much alarmed as to prepare for. resistance. This discreet reasoning had ib full effect upon the generality of the na¬ tion ; and though the ebullitions of public feeling occasionally broke forth in ardent resolutions of the Volunteer associations, the temperate system was generally adopted ; and it was only upon fully experiencing its final failure, that the exhilarating shouts of an embattled people were heard re¬ verberating from every quarter of a military country. X. As before mentioned, public resolutions neither to import, purchase, nor consume any British manufacture or commodity whatever, had been universally but peaceably adopted, throughout the whole island . a measure at all times justifiable by any people, \vho may h.ave been deprived of their commerce and their constitution by the power or machinations of an insidious neighbour. Inundated asirelandbadbecn with every species of British manufacture, there could be no step so just, so moderate, or which promised so many be¬ neficial consequences,as thetotalexclusionfrom the Irish markets of every commodity which she was herself competent to manufacture, or of which she could possibly dispense with the immediate consumption. IIowever,it was not until after the grievances of Ireland could be no longer endured, and shefound that nothing but proi)Ositions, without sufficient latitude to be beneficial, or security to be permanent, were offered for her acceptance, that these resolutions became almost universal, spread themselves like a rapid flame throughout every village of the island, and were zealously pro¬ moted by almost every individual in the country. At length a general meeting was convened by the High Sheriffs of the city of Dublin, and re¬ solutions then entered into by the whole metropolis, which finally cou- 40 RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. firmed and consummated that judicious measure, and at length convinced Great Britain, that Ireland would no longer submit to insult and domina¬ tion, and had commenced a gradation of active proceedings, of which the climax might ultimately, though unfortunately, produce a rupture of the connexion.* These resolutions were enforced with rigour and strictness. Few men, however, their interest might be affected, would wantonly risk the impu¬ tation of being traitors to their country, and encounter the dangers of popular retribution, which was, in some few instances, actually inflicted. The nation now paused for a moment: it found itself prepared to com¬ mence its great work of constitutional regeneration, and stood steadily and firmly watching with an anxious eye, for the operation of this first overt act of determined patriotism. The people had now ascended an eminence sufficiently elevated to give them a full view of their friends and of their enemies; they had peaceably hoisted the first standard, and made the first proclamation of liberty. A mutual compact of the citizen to support the soldier, and the soldier to defend the citizen, formed a very remarkable feature in all their resolutions; and though the military association had not (as such) yet assumed a deliberative capacity, it was obvious that their discretion alone had continued the distinction—and, that though they spoke by two tongues, there was, in fact, but one heart amongst the people. This bold measure, however it may have been eclipsed by the more striking importance of events which succeeded each other in a rapid pro¬ gression, yet had a momentous influence on the subsequent fate ard policy of Ii’eland and must be considered as the commencement of th?,t interest¬ ing course of political transactions, which suddenly raised her to the * THOLSEL, DUBLIN. At a general meeting of the Freemen and Freeholders of the C%ty of DuoV/n, convened hy puhlic notice, William James, and John Exshaw, High Sheriffs, in the Chair. The following Eesolntions, amongst others, were nnanimously agreed to “That we will not, from the date hereof, until the grievances of this country ehall he removed, directly or indirectly import or consume any of the mannfac* tures of Great Britain; nor will we deal with any merchant, or shopkeeper, who shall import such manufactures; and that we recommend an adoptic.T. of a similar agreement to aij our countrymen who regard the commerce aad con¬ stitution of this country. “Eesolred unanimously—That we highly applaud the manly and patriotic sentiments of the several corps of Merchants, Independent Dublin, Liberty, and Goldsmiths’ Volunteers, and heartily thank them for their determination of zeal and ardour in the cause of their country—and that we shall ever be ready to join with them in defending our rights and constitution, and gladly and cheerfully contribute to peotect them from peosecution or peesecution. “ Signed, JOHN EXSHAW, Sheriff.” N.B.—This resolution had been preceded, some months before, by similar re¬ solutions in Galway and other parts of Ireland; but the nation could not be considered as having generally adopted those oentiments, till thoy wore 33a> tioned by tho motropolia RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 41 highest pitch of national pride and prosperity, and afterwards hurled her down the destructive precipice of misery and degradation. The spirited adoption and obstinate adherence of the Irish people to these resolutions, now flashed as a new light in the eyes of the British Administration. The power of the English statutes, which bound the commerce of Ireland, was, by these resolutions, almost at the same mo¬ ment denied and demolished, without the aid of arms or tumult of insur¬ rection, and the pride and power of Great Britain received that warning blow, which taught her what she had to expect from a further perse¬ verance in her favourite system. The Ministry were astonished; the arm of usurpation, which had so long wielded alternately the sword and commanded the coffer, fell paralyzed and lifeless by the side of the usur¬ pers. But the fate of empires is governed by the same fatality as the chequered life of individuals; and this very measure, which so auspiciously and proudly asserted, and the events which afterwards so completely ac¬ quired, the constitutional independence and commercial freedom of Ire¬ land, will be found the ulterior pretence for revoking those great acquire¬ ments. England, compelled to concede, w^as determined to reclaim, and from the first hours of reluctant concession, pursued that deep and in¬ sidious system, which will be fully traced and developed in the course of Irish transactions, and \vill be found conspicuously active, from the com¬ mercial tariff of 1784, through every stage of the regency, and the rebel¬ lion, to the completion of that measure, entitled a Legislative Union be¬ tween the two countries. XI. The Volunteer associations of the metropolis soon perceived, that however numerous their force and extensive their popularity, it requii'od some strong link of connection to unite military bodies, so entirely distinct and independent of each other, who acknowledged no superior to their reroective commanders, and no control but voluntary obedience. To secure their imanimity, perhaps even their permanence, it required some consolidating authority, whose weight might restrain within proper limits the uncontrolled spirits of a body, assuming the double capacity of a soldier and of a citizen. This essential object could only be attained by the selection of some high and dignified personage, whose rank and character, rising beyond the reach of common competition, might unite together, under one common chief, that diversity of views and objects which must ever distract the proceedings of detached associations. The Volunteers of Dublin saw clearly, that military bodies, however laudable their views, must be more than commonly subject to the fallibihty of human institutions, and that to have the effect and impetus of an army, they must submit themselves fully to its control and organization. They did not, however, long hesitate in their choice of a commander. Every eye seemed to turn, by general instinct, on William, Duke of Leinster. Ilis famOy, from the earliest periods, had been favourites of the people; he had himself, when Idarquis of Kildare, been the popular repre¬ sentative for Dublin; he was the only Duke of Ireland; his disposition and his address combined almost every quality which could endear him to the nation. The honesty of his heart might occasionaUy mislead the 42 rjSE AND ¥ALL Ot THE IRISH NATION. . accuracy cf liis judgment; but he always intended right, and his political ciTors usually sprung from the principle of moderation. This amiable nobleman was therefore unanimously elected, by the armoi bodies of the metropolis, their general, and was imtnediately invested witli aJl the honours of so high a situation ; a guard of Volunteers was mounteef at his door, a body guard appointed to attend him on public occasion^ and sentinels placed on his box when he honoured the theatre: he was fob lowed with acclamations wherever he appeared; and something approaching to regal honours attended his investiture.* This was the first measure of the Volunteers towards the formation of cl regular army ; its novelty and splendour added greatly to its importance, and led the way to the subsequent appointments which soon after com¬ pleted their organization. The mild and unassuming disposition of the Duke, tending, by its example, to restrain the over zeal of an armed and irritated nation, did not contribute much to increase the energy of their proceedings, and at no distant period deprived him, for a moment, of a portion of that popularity which his conduct (with but little deviation) en¬ titled him to, down to the last moments of his existence. A new scene now presented itself to the view of the British Minister^ and embarrassed, to an unparalleled degree, every measure of the Irish ad¬ ministration. A regular army, composed of every rank of society, raised, armed, and disciplined in the midst of the metropolis, independent of the Crown, and unconnected with the Government, disdaining all authority of, either over their military concerns, and, under the eye of the Viceroy, ap¬ pointing a commander-in-chief, and avowing their determination to free their country or perish in its ruins,f the standing army tame spectators of this extraordinary spectacle, and almost participating in the flame which they might be called upon to extinguish; the Government, irresolute, and shrinking within the Castle, not only tolerated, but even affected to coun¬ tenance, this unparalleled procedure. The nev,r commander of the Volun¬ teers was received and recognised by the public authorities, and the regulai * A whimsical circumstance took place on this occasion, which shows the ex¬ treme credulity with which every intelligence respecting Ireland was then swal¬ lowed in Great Britain. The appointment of the Duke, as General-in-Chief, was celebrated by the Volunteers in College-green, with great solemnity. Their ar¬ tillery was ordered out, and a vast concourse of people were assembled. The captain of a Whitehaven collier, who had just landed, and come unexpectedly to the spot, on inquiring the reason of such rejoicing, was jocularly informed, that the people were crowning the Duke King of Ireland. He waited for no turtliei information—got back with all expedition to his vesael in the bay, and sailed in- stantiy for Liverpool; where ho made an affidavit before tbe Mayor, that he wa; present, and saw the Duke of Leinster crowned King of Ireland the preceding, day. An eipiecs was instantly despatched to London, with the affidavit, to thfi British Ministers—a cabinet council was immediately summoned, to deliberate on this alarming intelligence, when the arrival of a regnlsi mail dissipated thoh consternation, by stating the real cfcufisg of the rejviolng. t following label was affixed to the moath of the Toluntaar oinnon— “ A Fra TraA« uw— KIJS: AOT) FALL OF T22 IRISH KATIOH. is ^Idiery at length involuntarily paid him the same military attentions as their own commanders. Bat ihoagh the Government, from policy, affected to bear the sight witb complacency and patience, they rcdected, with the deepest solicitude, on the situation of the country, and secretly made every effort to divide or weaken the military asscciatk>ns. Every device was used to seduce the soldier from his officers, or to detach the most popular officers from the command of the soldiers. The one was offered commissions and pay from the Crown, the other offices in the public departments. No scheme was left untried—no means were forgotten, to achieve this object; but it was all in vain, ihe spirit of the people was then too high, and their patriotism too ardent to admit of such negociation, and every attempt became not only futile, but also gave an additional strength to the measures and decla¬ rations of the people. The appointment of the Duke of Leinster to the command of the Volun¬ teers of the metropolis, was quickly followed by that of other district generals; and the organization of four provincial armies was regularly pro¬ ceeded on; the country gentlemen, of the highest consideration and largest fortune, vied with each other in their efforts to promote it; many leading members of the Irish Parliament were individually active in promoting the common object, and from single corps were soon collected county regiments and provincial armies ready to take the field at the command of their officers, and to sacrifice their lives and their properties for the emancipation of their country. StiU, however, something was wanting to complete their organization , provincial armies had been formed and disciplined, but still these armies were independent of each other, there was no general head to pat t)je whole in motion, no individual to whom all would own obedience, and such an appointment seemed indispensably essential to secure their co-operation. But this was a t;usk more serious and more difficult than had yet occurred. Where could be found the man, whose integrity was incorruptible—whose wisdom was profound, whose courage was invincible, yet whose modera¬ tion was conspicious, and whose popularity was extensive ? Ireland could not boast a Washington, yet so critical was her situation at that moment, that a combination of all these tiualities seemed to be requisite in the per¬ son to whom should be entrusted the guidance of eighty thousand patriot Eoldiere. Such a pemonage was not to be discovered ; and it was only left to the Volunteer to select the purest character of that day, and leave his guidance to the councils, less of the concurring than of the coimteracting qualities, cf the inferior commanders. XII. Public affairs in Ireland now began to wear a serious and alarming rtspect. The Leinster army a^ipointed the Earl of Charlemont its com- inander-in-chief, the other armies proceeded rapidly in their organization. Provincial reviews were adopted; and every thing assumed the appearance of vTJtenistic umTCtaent. The elevation of Lord Charlemont to the high command, though it formed ft more decided military esiabbshment for the Volunteer army, was pro¬ bably the very means of preserving the connection between the two couu- ti'iea. Had the same con deuce and commomd been entrusted to a more 44 EISE AND FALL GT THE HUSH NATION. an!ent and ambitions character, it might have been difficult to oa'enlateoD the result of combining an intemperate leader with an impatient anny, but the moderation of Lord Charlemont gave a tone and a eteadinesa to the proceedings of the people which might otherwise have pointed to a distinct independence. His character had long preceded his elevatico: in the North, his influence was unlimited, and though the Southern and Western Volunteers had not as yet consolidated their force with the other provinces, they were in a high state of discipline and prejiararion, and soon adopted the same principles, which the appointment of the Earl of Ghar- lemont, had now diffuse through the other parts of the nation. From the first moment that James Earl of Charlemont embarked in Irish politics, he proved himself to be one of the most honest and dignified personages that can be traced in the annals of Irish history. The love of his country was interwoven with his existence—^their union was complete, their separation impossible. But his talents were miner of the conducting class, and his wisdom of a deliberative nature—his mind was more pure than vigorous—^more elegant than powerful—and his capacity seemed bet¬ ter adapted to counsel in peace, than to command in war. Though he was not devoid of ambition, and was proud of his popularity, his principles were calm, and his moderation predominant. For some years at the head of a great army in the heart of a powerful people—in the hand of an injured nation, during the most critical epoch that a king¬ dom ever experienced, he conducted the Irish nation with incredible tem¬ perance, and, in the midst of tempests, he flowed on in an unruflied stream, fertihzing the plain of liberty, and enlarging the channel of independence, but too smooth and too gentle to turn the vast machinery of revolution. His view of political objects, though always honest, was frequently erro¬ neous; small objects sometimes appeared too important, and great ones too hazardous: though he would not actually temporize, he could be seduced to hesitate, yet even when his decision was found wandering from the point of its destination, it was invariably discoverable that discretion was the seducer. Had the unwise pertinacity of England persisted in her errors, and plunged his country into more active contest, his mildness, his constitution, and his love of order, would have unadapted him to the vicissitudes of civil commotion, or the energetic promptitude of military tactics; but, for¬ tunately, the adoption of his counsels rendered his sword unnecessary; and by the selection of one man, to combat for the hberties of Ireland, ho raised a youthful champion for his country, whose sling soon levelled the giant of usurpation, and he wound a laui’el round the bust of the dehvercr, which will remain unfaded till the very name of Ireland shall be obliterated from amongst nations. His indisposition to the extent of Catholic liberty, nourished by the pre¬ judice of the times, was diminished by the patriotism of the people. The Catholics of 1780 preferred their country, to their claims, as those of 1800 preferred their claims to their country, and amongst that people he gained by his honesty what he lost by his intolerance, and lived just long enough to experience and to mourn the fallibility of his predictions. Around tlfis nobleman the Irish Volunteers flocked as around a fortress; RISE AKD FALL OF THE IRISH NATIOH'. 45 the standard of liberty was supported by hia character, the unity of the Empire was protected by his wmom; and as if Providence had attached him to the destinies of Ireland, he arose, he flourished, and he sunk with his country. CHAPTER V. 1. The British Government at length awakened from their slumbers, their dreams of power and security now vanished before the view of their increasing dangers; a reliance on the omnipotence of English power—at all times chimerciS—would now have been presumptuous. The Irish nation, to whose bravery and whose blood the victories and conquests of Britain had been so eminently indebted, now called imperatively for their own rights, and demanded a full participation of that constitution, in support of which they had daily sacrificed so great a proportion of their treasure and their population. The Irish soldier and the Irish seaman could never be supposed to remain unfeeling spectators, whilst their own country was struggling for its dearest liberties, or become the mercenary instruments of their own subjugation. Even their indisposition to the British service would have reduced the army and navy to debility; but their defections would have been fatal to the power of Great Britain, and have enabled Ireland irresistibly to effect her total independence. The balance of Europe was likely to undergo a great change; the improvident attachment to continental politics, almost exclusively engrossed the attention of England; and the completion of a mercenary league with a. petty potentate of a Germanic principality, in¬ ferior even to one Irish county, was considered of more importance by the British Cabinet, than all the miseries, the dangers, and oppressions of Ireland. But the British Government now perceived their error when it was too late to temporize ; and that arrogance, which, for centuries, had hardly condescended to hear her groans, was now started into attention. n. Affairs now approached fast towards a crisis; the freedom of com¬ merce being the subject most familiar and comprehensible to the ideas of the people, was the fct object of their solicitude. “A free trade,” became the watchv;ord of the Volunteers, and the cry of the Nation;—the Dublin Volunteer Artillery appeared on parade, commanded by James Napper Tandy, with labels on the mouths of their cannon, '•'•Free Trade or speedy Revolution." Placards were posted up in every part of the city, to the same effect, until the determined proceedings of all ranks and classes of the people, connected with the operation of the non-importation agreements, left no further room for ministerial procrastination. The British Minister now became alarmed, and trembled for the conse¬ quences of ills political intolerance; he had no passage to retreat by, and after every struggle which circumstances could admit of, the British Ca¬ binet at length came to a resolution, that, “something must be done to tranquillize Ireland.” The King was informed of their determinatioa, and was prevailed upon to accede to it. His Majesty had received a severe shock, by the unexpected events of the American centest, and the additicaai ^0 RISE AKD FALL OK ’lUE IRISH NATIOH. r iortiScaticii of compulsory concessions to Ireland, was little calculated to tranquillize his feelings; however, absolute necessity required his acqui¬ escence ; and it was finally determined, by the Executive Power of Great Britain, to adopt means, if not altogether to satisfy, at least to conciliate, and to concede considerably to Ireland. From this determination, the affairs in the British Empire began to wear a new aspect; the day was fast approaching when England, for the first time, must condescend to acknowledge her own errors, and, in the lace of Europe, to hmnble herself before a people, who had, for six centu¬ ries, been the slaves of her pow'er, rather than the subjects of her affection. Lord North had now a more difficult task to perform than he at first conceived, to recant his avowed principles, to humble the pride of his own country, and submit to the justice of another, and above aU, to justify his own conduct, which had reduced both countries to that state which re- quu’ed those concessions; an awful lesson to aU. Governments how cauti¬ ously they should arrogate to themselves a dominion, of which the basis was power and the superstructure injustice. III. But all subterfuge had ended, and on the 24th of November, 1782, his Majesty ascended the throne, to proclaim his first substantial act of grace to the Irish nation, and to call the immediate attention of his British Parhament to the situation of that country.* But his Majesty obviously insinuated, that his attention to Ireland was attracted by a consideration for the safety of Great Britain; and that the benefits to be extended to Ireland should be only such as would be for the common interest, not of Ireland abstractedly, but of all his dominions; and by that very act of conceding to Ireland, he virtually asserted the supremacy of the British Parhament. This speech was immediately attended to by the British Parhament; the opposition received it as a triumph over the Minister, and gladly acceded to a declaration which proclaimed the imbecility and misconduct of the Ca¬ binet. An actual insurrection in Ireland, the certain consequence of fur¬ ther inattention, would have certainly deprived the Minister of his station, and perhaps eventually of his head. A coincidence of events thus united two hostile interests in one honest ob- * That clause of his Majesty’s speech, which related to Ireland, ran as follown; “In the midst of my care and solicitude for the safety and welfare of this country, I have not been inattentive to the state of my loyal and faithful king, deal of Ireland. I have (in consequence of your addresses, presented to me in the Iasi session) ordered such papers to be collected and laid before you, as may assist your deliberations on this important business; and I recommend it to you to consider what vurthek benefits and advantages may be extended to that king¬ dom, by such regulations and such methods, as may most efiectually promote the toiUfON strength, wealth, and interest of all my dominicar.” This was quickly followed up by resolutions—giving the lie direct to Einj William, and to the assertions of their own ancestors—and by paasing biUj, dis¬ tinctly repealing all the acts which their predecessors had deolareJ. tbsoiutcly essenkal lo eecuxs the prosperity of Bviglanl from the daixy^rous mdusiry o( the Irish. BISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 47 feet; a-nd Ireland was destined to receive, through, the ambition »f ono party, and the terror of another, those rights which she hud so long in vain solicited from their justice. This speed was immediately followed by the measures recommended by ais Majesty, and the same Parliament which had so repeatedly withheld the hist rights of Ireland, now thought they could not too hastily accede to heu claims; and hardly a day was omitted, till the proposed arrangement was proceeded on.* Messages were sent over to Ireland, to announce the happy tidings to the people, and emissaries were dispersed over every part of the kingdom, to blazon the liberality and justice of Great Britain. IV. The JNlinister, however, justly suspecting, that so soon as the par¬ oxysms of Irish gratitude, for this unaccustomed condescension, should sub¬ side, a,nd give way to calm reflection, that nation could not avoid per¬ ceiving, that until their constitution became independent, and the usurpa¬ tion 0 / England should he altogether acknowledged, these favours could have no stability, and m'ght be revoked at a more favourable opportunity, by ihe same authority which originally conceded them. To obviate these feelings, the hlinister continued the Committee on Irish Affairs open from time to time, now and then passing a resolution in favour of that country, and thus endeavouring to wear out the session, which he, 10 doubt, intended should terminate his favours. The whole nation at length perceived the duplicity of proceedings which while they purported to extend benefits to Ireland, asserted the paramount luthority of Great Britain, and converted its acts of concession into decla¬ ratory statutes of its own supremaexj. Keasoning of this nature soon made a deep impression on the public mind, and meetings were held throughout the Idngdom, to declare the national feeling on this important subject; fourteen counties at once avowed their determination to tear down these barriers which excluded ihem from a full participation of the British constitution, and to establish, at the risk of their lives and fortunes, the independence of the Irish Legislature, beyond the power of British re-assumption.f * The British Parliament met the 25th of November, and the first bills of toncession received the royal assent the 2l8t of December. t As the genius and disposition of a people are often discoverable, not only by trivial but ludicrous circumstances, so their national poetry and music have a very considerable effect in rousing the spirit, and disclosing the character. At this period the press teemed with publications of eveiy quality, in prose and verse, on tii.o subject of fresh grievances. A stanza from one of tie popular aoaga ct that day, slioivs the pointed humour o.ni whimcical lightness which ohcractcrize that people, even upon the most important subjocts. In alluding to the Irish being deprived of tlio woollen trade by Enjlatid, and the military sssociationo of Iieland to assert her liberty, the eijiOA T-aw tb.sL*;— “ Was she not » fool, Wiion sho took of our inocj, To lea. re us so much of tie LuLkar, the Imiher/ 48 KISE AND JVJ.L OF THE IRISH NATION. TLifl spirit and this determination spread themselvea aniversally amongst the people: the cry of “ Free Trade^’ was now accompanied with that of “ Free rarliament," and that patriotic enthnsiasm which had so effectually asserted the commerce of Ireland, now arose with double vigour to asseri its constitution. V. The Volunteer army, in the mean time, rapidly advanced in discip¬ line and numbers: the success which had attend^ this first effort of their steadiness acted as a powerful incitement to the continuation of their exertion; they felt, with exultation, that at the very time they were in arms, u'iikeut the authority of the Crown, or control of their Sovereign, his Majesty, from Lis throne, condescended to pass unqualified eulogiums, on (he loyalty and fidelity of the people —expressions, which, if considered with reference to the King, were gracious; but with reference to the Government, which framed them, were clearly intended as an anodyne to lull that spirit which durst not be encountered. Provincial reviews of the Volunteer armies were now adopted, and a more regular staff appointed to the general officers; new trains of artillery were foiuned—that of Belfast was brought to considerable perfection. Earl Charlemont was called on to review the Northern army. On his tour he was attended by many persons of the highest distinction; and his suite had all the appearance of military dignity and national importance. His Lord¬ ship returned to review the I>einster corps in Dublin. His aides-de-camp were men of the highest character and of the first ability. Barry Yelver- ton, Hussey Burgh, (both of whom were afterwards Chief Barons of the Exchequer,) and Mr. Grattan, were on his staff. The Volunteer army had acquired the discipline of an efficient force, and at that period amounted to above eighty thousand soldiers, ready for actual service, aided by the zeal, the prayers, and the co-operation, of nearly five millions of unarmed inhabitants. The British Government, which had vainly supposed that enough had been done, if not to satisfy, at least somewhat to disunite the Irish people^ now perceived how ill they had calculated on the character of that nation, and felt, with pain and disappointment, the futility of their designs, and the feebleness of their authority. The dilemma of the Minister was difficult and distressing; any effort to seduce the Volunteers would have roused, any attempt to dupe them would but inflame, and to resist them would have been impossible. Distracted, therefore, by every species of embarrassment, he suffered the Irish nation to pursue its course without direct opposition, and trusted to the chance of events for the preservation of the empire. Grave and most important circumstances now opened to the public It ne’er entered her pate, That a sheep’s shin, well beat, Would draw a whole nation TOGETHER, TOGETHER.'' Thaae words wero adapted to a popular air, and became a favourite march oi the Volunteers, and a, polsnotio song amongst the peasantry, throughout the kingdom. EISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. iSI view, and imperatively concurred to put the constitutional claims of Ireland directly in issue with the British Legislature. The army in Ireland had been under the regulations of a British statute; and the hereditary revenue of the Crown, with the aid of a perpetual mutiny bill, enabled the British Government to command at all times a standing army in Ireland, without the authority or the con¬ trol of its Parliament. This unconstitutional povror, hitherto almost unnoticed in Ireland, now that the principles of liberty had been disseminated amongst the people, and that an independent army of Irislimen had been organized, became a subject of general dissatisfaction. Some patriotic magistrates determined to make a stand upon that point, and to bring the legality of British statutes, as operating in Ireland, into issue, through the medium of their own conduct, in refusing to obey them. To effect this measure, they determined to resist the authority of the • British mutiny act, and by refusing to billet soldiers, under the provisions of that statute, solicited complaints against themselves, for the purpose of trying the question. This measure would at once have put Ireland and the usurpation of Great Britain in direct issue; but the Irish judges were then dependent upon the Crown; they held their offices during pleasure only; judges might differ with the juries, the people with both, and the result of a trial of such a question, in such a way, was considered by all parties as too precarious, to hazard the experiment. The career of independence, however, proceeded wiih irresistible impe¬ tuosity ; a general feeling arose that a crisis was fast approaching, when the true principles of the Irish constitution must be decisively determined. Though the regular forces and the Volunteer army were on the most amicable terms, yet jealousies might eventually be widened into a breach, jiregnant with the most disastrous consequences. This was an extremity the Viceroy determined to avoid; and orders were issued to the army, to show every possible mark of respect to the Volunteers; their officers re¬ ceived the usual military salute from the regular soldiers, and, at tho request of the Volunteers, a few troops of cavalry were ordered by the Lord Lieutenant to assist in keeping the Volunteer lines at a review in the Phoenix Park. But an accidental circumstance some time afterwards occurred, which showed the necessity for cultivating that cordiality, on the continuation of which the tranquillity of the nation so entirely depended. VL Lieutenant Doyne, of the second regiment of Horse, marching ti relieve the guards in Dublin Castle, at the head of the cavalry, came acei® dentally, on Essex Bridge, directly at right angles with a line of Volunteer infantry, commanded by Lord AltamonL An instant embarrassment took place—one party must halt, or the other could not pass: neither would recode—etiquette seemed likely to get the better of prudence—the cavalry advanced; the Volunteers continued tlieir progress, till they wore nearly in contact; never did a more critical moment exist in Ireland. Had ona drop of blood been shed, through the impetuosity of either offincr, even hi that silly question of precedence, tho IrLh Volunteers would Ivavo beat to O 50 lilSE AND E^LL OF Till'; liHSH NATION, arms, from corlli to sontb, in every part of tlie kingcioui, and British con¬ nection would certainly have been shaken to its very foundation. As the cavalry advanced, Lord Altamont commanded his corps to con¬ tinue their march, and incline their bayonets, so as to be ready to defend their lino. The cavalry officer, wisely reflecting, that by the pause even of asingle moment, every possibility of disagreement would be obviated, halted Lis men for an instant, the Volunteers passed on, and the affair ended wdth- out further difficulty. This circumstance, however trivial, was quickly circulated, and increased the public clamour. Eesolutions were intered into by almost every mili^ tary corps, and every corporate body, that they would no longer obey any laws, save those enacted by the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland; and this spirit gradually embraced the whole population, till at length it ended in the celebrated resolutions of Dungannon, which established the short lived independence of that nation. VII. William Duke of Leinster had long been the favourite and the pa¬ tron of the Irish people, and never did the physiognomist enjoy a more for¬ tunate elucidation of his science; the softness of philanthropy, the placidity of temper, the opennesss of sincerity, the sympathy of friendship, and the ease of integrity, stamped corresponding impressions on his artless coun¬ tenance, and left but little to conjeciure as to the composition of his cha¬ racter. His elevated rank and extensive connexions gave him a paramount lead in Irish politics, which his naked talents v/ould not otherwise have justi¬ fied ; though his capacity was respectable, it was not brilliant, and his abili¬ ties were not adapted to the higliest class of political pre-eminence.* On public subjects, his conduct sometimes wanted energy, and his pursuits per¬ severance ; in some points he was weak, and in some instances erroneous, but in all he was honest; from the day of his maturity to the moment of his dissolution he was the undeviating friend of the Irish nation; he con¬ sidered its interests and his own indissolubly connected. Alive to the op¬ pressions and miseries of the people, his feeling heart participated in their misfortunes, and felt the smart of every lash which the scourge of power inflicted on his country. As a soldier, and as a patriot, he performed his duties ; and in his plain and honourable disposition, w'as found collected a a y specimen of those qualities which best compose the character of an gentleman. He took an early and active part in promoting the formation and discip¬ line of the Volunteer associatioag, i-'e raised many corps and commanded the Dublin army. The ancient celebrity of his family, the vast extent of bis possessions, and his affability in private intercourse, co-operated with bis own popularity in extending his influence, and few persons ever enjoyed a more general and merited influence amongst the Irish people. ’The Irish Catholics, at this period, were much attached to the Geral¬ dines, and pursued a conduct so meritorious, that even the bitterest enemies of that body acknotvie-Igcd the uncommon merit cx their conduct: tb?.ir ^The pclitioal abilities of his Grace ware likened, by a gintleruan of great fsblio talent, to “a fair fertile field, without either aweed or a wiki iioviftr in it/* ■niSE AND FALL OF THE IKISH NATION. 51 open friends multipiied, tbeii* secret enemies diminished, and they gra¬ dually worked themselves into the favour and confidence of their Protes¬ tant countrymen. Thougli loaded v.’itb severe restrictiou.=>, though put out cf the pale of the British constitution, and groaning under the most cruel and unjust oppression, they were active and patriotic, they forgot the ty¬ ranny under which tliey groaned, and only felt the chains which fettered and oppressed their country. A general union of all scots seemed to be ce¬ menting ; the animosity age.3 was sinking into oblivion, and it was re¬ served for the incendiaries of a later period to revive that barbarous secta¬ rian discord—a weapon, without which the British Government would have ever found Ireland too proud for the influence of power, and too strong for the grasp of annexation. The doctrine of pure democracy was then but a weak exotic, to which the heat of civil war in America had given the principle of vegetation. In Ireland, it was uncongenial to the minds, and uuadaiited to the charac¬ ter of the people; and during the whole progress of those events, which preceded the attainment of Irish independence, its progress was only observable in tlie intimate association of the distant ranks in military bodies and the idea of revolution never extended further than to attain the undisturbed enjoyment of a free Parliament, and to remove for ever the ascendency of the British Government over the crown of Ireland. VIII. Notwithstanding all these occurrences, the British people, in their nature jealous and egotistical, still remained obstinately blind to the true state of Ireland enjoying the blessings of independence, under a resi¬ dent monarch and an unfettered Parliament. They felt interested only in their own aggrandizement, their solicitude extended solely to their own concerns, and without reflecting that the same advantages which they so liberally possessed, were denied to Ireland, they attributed the uneasi- ne-ss of that nation rather to innate principles of disaffection, than the netural result of misery and oppression. iivsry element of a free constitution had been torn away by the rough band cf a foreign legislature, enacting laws, to which the representatives of tie Irish people were utter strangers. Yet this usurpation had been janclioncd by the dictum of a British judge, who added to his reputation, by giving an unqualified opinion for Irish slavery.* IX. Tlie salaries of the Judges of Ireland were then barely sufficient to keep then above want, and they held their offices only during the will of tlie British IMinister, who might remove them at his pleasure: all Irish justice, therefore, was at bis control. lu all questioTis between the CroY;-!; and the people, the purity of the Judge was consequently suspected * It is painful to see a British judge and commentator—whose duty it was a» least to respect the vital principles of that constitution under which ho acted—■ giving a decisive oj>iaioa for legislation ivithont reprcsenlativei,” and, in the case of Ireland, condemning that sentinel, by whoso vigilance alone ths property, the liberty,and the lives of Eiigluhnon are protected. Ills seal to support this arbitrary principle over Ircltad, blinded him to ifo oporafits M to the rest of the world, disentitled him i-athjv to the chractar of a sonrtiiuticual lawyer, and stamped him with that of a uibcsahio atAtesmaa. 12 RISE AND FALL OF TEE IRISH KATIOE. if ho could noi bo corrupted, he might be caohiered; the dignity of his office was lost in his dependence, and he was reduced to the sad alternative of poverty or dishonour; nor was this grievance lessened by many of the judges being sent over from England, prejudiced against the Irish, and unacquainted with their customs. The Irish Parliament, at this period, met but once in two years, and in the British Attorney-General was vested the superintendence of their pro¬ ceedings, and the British Privy Council the alteration and rejection ot their statutes; and the declination or ruin of her commerce was at least a matter of indifference, if not of triumph, to the British monopolists. These grievances, in themselves almost intolerable, were greatly aggra¬ vated by the abuses which had been creeping into the executive and legis¬ lative departments of the British Government, and infected every proceed¬ ing adopted as to Ireland. X. However, the British Government found that resistance had now become impossible, and that something more must be done. The Irish Vice¬ roy, therefore, was instructed to act according to the best of his judgment. Accordingly, on the 9th of October, 1781, he, for the first time met the Irish Parliament with a speech from the throne; which, though received with great cordiality by the House, upon a close investigation, appears a composition of the most Jesuitical sophistry, it complimented the country on a prosperity which it never enjoyed; expressed a solicitude for its inte¬ rest, which was never experienced, promised future favours, which were never intended to be conceded, and was mingled, at the same time, with recommendations the most vague, and observations the most frivolous. The good temper of the House, however, was so excited by the cordial assurances it contained, that it was received with general approbation, and Mr. John O’NeiU, of Shane’s Castle, the first Commoner of Ireland, was very wisely prevailed upon, by the Secretary, to move an address of thanks to his Majesty, for this gracious communication of his Minister with a view that the weight and character of this gentleman might excite that unanimity at the present crisis so very desirable, and which must be so highly advantageous to the Irish Government. Mr. John O’Neill, descended from one of the most celebrated chiefs of ancient Ireland, bore in his portly and graceful mien indications of a proud and illustrious pedigree; the generous openness of bis countenance, the grandeur of his person, and the affability of his address, marked the dig¬ nity of his character, and blending with the benevolence of his dispo¬ sition, formed him one of the first Commoners of the Irish nation, a rank from which he so unfortunately sunk, by humbling his name to the level of purchased peerages, and descending from the highest bench of the Com¬ mons to the lowest amongst the Nobles. In public and in private life Mr. O’Neill was equally calculated to com¬ mand respect, and conciliate affection; high minded, open, and weU edu« cated, he clothed the sentiments of a patriot in the language of a gentle¬ man; his abilities were moderate, but his understanding was sound: uu- suspecting, because he was himself incapable of deception, he too fre¬ quently trusted to the judgment of others that conduct which would have baea far more respectably regulated by his own; though he did not shrink RISE AND EALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 53 from the approbation of the court, ho preferred the applause of his country, and formed one of the most perfect models of an aristocratic patriot. This step, however, was instantly succeeded by a measure, which did honour to the patriotic spirit of Mr. O’Neill, and preserved his character .n that station, from which it might have sunk, had he concluded his ob¬ servations, by the fulsome and indecisive address which he had so injudici¬ ously patronized. As soon as the address to his Majesty had passed, Mr. O’Neill moved a resolution of thanks to “all the Volunteers of Ireland, for their exertii^s and continuance." This motion was received with exultation by the op^- sition and created a new embarrassment to the Minister. To return thanks to an independent army for their exertions and continuance, which ac¬ knowledged no military superiority, and called, with arms in their handf^ upon their Irish king to restore their civil rights and plundered constitution, was a step, undoubtedly, not warranted by precedent. But prompt de¬ cision was necessary, and the then Mr. John Fitzgibbon, in one of the first efforts of that decided but inconsiderate impetuosity which distinguished him throughout life, harshly opposed Mr. O’Neill’s motion. But by endea¬ vouring to support Government he deeply embarrassed it, and Mr. Scott, the Attorney-General, on that occasion showed, in its strongest colours, the advantages of well regulated policy. He instantly acceded to what he could not oppose, and gave an appearance of full approbation, on the part of the Government, to an address of thanks to those men, whom nothing but that political duplicity, which be so amply possessed, could have induced him to consent to. All opposition to the motion, therefore, fell to the ground. Mr. Fitz¬ gibbon, who, however, never relinquished an object from a conviction of its impropriety, though he persisted in his opposition, was reluctantly ne¬ cessitated to give way, and an address to the armed Volunteers of Ireland was unanimously voted, and directed to be circulated throughout all Ire¬ land, and to be communicated by the Sheriffs of the counties to the corps within their bailiwicks. Never had a measure been adopted, which gave so sudden and singular a change to the aspect of affairs in Ireland. It seemed to reverse all ths maxims of former Governments, and gave to the people an ascendancy they had never expected. It legalized a military levy, independent of the Sovereign, and obliged the Ministers to applaud the exertions, and court the continuance of an army, whose dispersion was the leading object of all their councils. This resolution made a considerable progress towards the actual emanci¬ pation of the Irish people; it brought down the British Government to the feet of the Volunteers, and raised the Volunteers above the supremacy of Britain, by a direct Parliamentary approbation of self-armed, self-governed, and self-disciplined associations, whose motto* bespoke the fundamental principle of revolution of which England had given the precedent. * The motto of the Barristers’ corps of Volunleere, which always took ths •ead of, and, in most instances, gave tho precedent to, all the other corps, was— ' ‘ Vox Populi suprerna Lex est"—a maxim which, whilst it gives the widest lath 54 riSE ANO FALL OF Tjffi TEISH J^ATION.' It also taught the people the strength of their own aruts and the tircidit/ of their opponents, they perceived, by the ^rnauitnous adoption of this re* solution, that the people had only to march, and as certainly to conquer. It was, in fact, a flag of truce from the Miriistcr, and proved to the world, that unable to contend he was preparing to capitulate. In reflecting on the circumstances which led the Government to this con¬ cession, observations on the moral and physical strength of the nation must naturally occur. The Irish Nation saturated with patriotic spirit, by a Union of its mental and corporeal energies, had united in its narrow focus all the laoiul and physical powers of w’hich a people are susceptible. CHAPTER VI. I. When the physical strength only of a nation is employed in the accomplishment of its objects, however great its bodily force, it loses the advantages of its dead weight, by the absence of that animating fire of intellect, which alone gives real vigour to bodily exertion; clumsy power’s, mechanical discipline, and compulsory obedience, must ever yield to the force of an opposing body, where both the moral and the physical powers of the people are blended and inseparable. It is only, therefore, by the union of those qualities, that a limited popu¬ lation becomes invincible. The rigour of the body receives inexhaustible subsistence from the energy of the mind, and bids defiance to any power vrhere these qualities are not united. Thus circumstanced were the Irish people at the moment of this resolu¬ tion ; and perhaps in no former period of modern history has any nation been discovered in so powerful rmd commanding a position. It was a triumphant moment, A population above five millions, whose moral and physical powers were so intimately united, tliat the whole nation seemed one great and active giant, endowed with all the warlike qualities of the human race_, one heart, one soul, anci one object. Thougji preji'dice and Intolerance had limited the possession of arms to a comparatively very small proportion of the people, yet it was difficult to determine whether the armed or disarmed were most zealous for their country’s liberties. The armed and disciplined Volunteers by this time exceeded in numbers the whole regular military force of the British Empire, while those, who, in case of action, would pant to s’upply the ranks of tlieir fallen ccuntrj’men, numerically surpassed the whole or¬ ganized military power of the European continent. This great force also, from the smallness of the island, was collected in a narrow space, its pov/ei’S were concentrated, its resources were always within its grasp, the Bound of the horn could reach from one village to the other, every man tude of corjitruction to the first principles of the conafcitatica, would open too •wide a door; to deruocrafcic authority, unless guarded against by the system of ated represent a Hon. StlSE A^'D FALL OF THE IKISn NATION. 55 , ■u'as ready to obey its call, and the whole population was prepared to rush to every station where it would be most likely to attain its liberty and independence. It was impossible for a reflecting mind not to contrast the noble fire and voluntary spirit which at that time raised, and embodied iu patriotic bands, an entire people for the sole purpose of supporting, with their lives and property, the purest principles of constitutional freedom, with these troops of foreign pfincipaiitiea, wuo, at tise sajiio moment, were employed not as fair auxiliaries by treaty on priiiciple.s, but as mere mercenary automata, collected to supi>ress the natural liberties of America, and who, had they Idogu sncceufui tlicre, would have attemrt:d their next triumph over the independence of Ireland—vassals, purchased from the avarice of petty German princes, who filled their narrow treasuries by measuring out the blood of their peasantry to the highest bidder, and transporting their wretched subjects to put down the eternal rights of civilized society, men, who had no object but their pay, no enthusiasm hut for plunder; bought by mercenary treaty from the potentates of the old world, to butcher the iuhahitants of the new; sold like the oxen of the field, for like profit and like slaughter; and, as the combatants of the brute creation, lighting only through a vicious instinct, and seeking no higher glory than to gore their fellow animals. If. Notwithstanding the avowed disposition of the British Legislature to concede full commercial liberty to Ireland, intrigues were soon fo¬ mented by monopohsts, to render abortive, or diminish as much as possible, the advantages of the concessions: and, amongst other circumstances of that nature, oue of the greatest importance, in every point of view, constitu¬ tional as well as commercial, occurred, which excited throughout Ireland well-founded suspicious as to the sincerity of Great Britain. By the resolutions of the British Legislature, Ireland had been admitted to export her linen and woollen manufactures to Portugal, agreeable U) the provisions of the treaty of hlethuen, from which liberty she had been pre¬ viously and explicitly prohibited by express statutes. The Irish merchant, taking advantage of this concession, liberated from these commercial re¬ strictions, and left freely to wing his way to all the amicable ports of Europe, immediately exported a considerable quantity of Irish manufac¬ tures to Portugal; but to the surprise of the Irish people, the Portuguesa IMiuistry peremptorily refused to receive Irish manufactures iuto their ports, and not only absolutely prohibited their importation, but seized on the property of the Irish merchants! This strong and unaccountable proceeding being adopted by a nation, not only in profound peace with Great Britain, but by a people always de> peudeut upon her for protection, subservient to her views, and obedient to her wishes, and by a court Avhere a British Minister resided, and in ports where British Consuls were resident, it was palpable, that such a step never durst have been adopted by the Court of Portugal, without at least the comiivauce of the British Cabinet. It was incredible that a nation, ahnost dependent upon the will of England, would presume to insult a federative portion of the British King’s dominions, and it liecame neociisary to invea* tigate the grouzids of so unwarrantable a proceeding. EiSE AKC k'ALL OE THE IRISH SATION. No doubt could exist that the active jealousy of the Britich manufac¬ turers had been roused by the resolutions in favour of Ireland, and that the trade of England might be somewhat affected by these resolutions. The avarice of the British monopolists would naturally take every secret method ■of counteracting advantages, the possession of which, by Ireland, would certainly operate somewhat as a drawback upon their own; and the British Minister durst not displease the British trade. The Irish merchants soon felt the effects of their exclusion. Their new epirit of enterprise was damped, the earliest commercial exertions of Ire¬ land were paralyzed, their speculations extinguished, and the whole trans¬ action appeared to be of the most suspicious character. The Irish, as a nation, now felt themselves not only aggrieved, but Borely insulted. The merchants of Dublin, through their Kecorder, Sir Samuel Broadstreet, presented a Petition to Parliament, expressive of their Bufferings. Mr. Eden, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, who generally affected to be well disposed towards that country, had recourse to the usual •diplomatic plausibility—arguing on the impolicy of precipitation, and the •disinterested feelings of the British, he resisted any immediate resolution •on the subject, but moved that this transaction, and the fair and just petition of the first commercial body in Ireland should lie on the table, and wait for the result of negociations, the commencement of which was nncertain, and the termination of which would certainly be protracted. This proceeding, however, did not satisfy the Irish nation; and as is generally the case of impolitic, short-sighted evasion, that line of conduct •which was intended to quiet the subject, and evade the investigation, served to raise it into greater notice, and excited a latitude of discussion which the Irish Government had never dreamed of, and which ultimately became highly serviceable to the cause of liberty. Some negociations were certainly carried on by the British Ministers •with the court of Portugal upon the subject, but without that sincerity •which could effect their purposes. Portugal could have no just cause to iresist the admission of Irish manufactures into her ports; she had no ■distinct treaties with Ireland, and no foreign treaties hostile to the inte¬ rests of the British Empire; she relied on the good will of England and. of Ireland for the reception of her own wines, on which so great a proportion of her commerce depended; yet, yielding to the secret machinations of interested English merchants, she depended on the feebleness and incapa¬ city of Ireland to resist her determination, and on the disposition of Eng¬ land to favour her monopolists. Nor was she deceived in her expectation. The deceptive remonstrances of the British Ministry ended in the peree- . verance of Portugal; and, at the commencement of the ensuing session, Mr. Eden found Ireland in a state of general agitatio i, and it became ab- ■solutely necessary to retreat from his mean system of procrastination; a line of conduct now too palpable, and which the Irish nation would no longer submit to ; and feeling it impossible any further t) evade the dis¬ cussion, Mr. Eden, with an address and skill, highly useful on many occai* ■sions to a Minister, determined to anticipate a subject which bo kne'S' must come forward, and, as a Minister, unexpectedly snatch from the Opposition the merit of the inquiry. BISE AJO) FALL OF TUE IRISH NATION, 67 Mr. Eden, on this occasion, with all the symptoms of sincerity commenced his statement by representing the strong and unavailing efforts of England to bring the Court of Portugal to a due sense of its impropriety; and concluded by declaring, that notwithstanding every effort the Minister of Portugal bad given a final and adverse answer to the rightful claims of Ireland. This statement, however plausible, could not escape the sagacious pene¬ tration of many members; and it appeared clearly, that llr. Eden had determined, by this means, to rid himself of responsibility, by employing a person of less compunction than himself. The person who was thus selected for the purpose of again sacrificing the rights of his country, was the same Mr. J. Fitzgibbon, who, in the arrogant and able manner so peculiar to himself, seemed rather to com¬ mand than move an address to his Majesty, as if it was his own compo¬ sition, though, in fact, it was the production of the Secretary. In this ad¬ dress, he prayed “His Majesty to take into consideration the subject (already discussed,) and to apply for a redress (already decidedly negatived)—and the whole address was couched in terms feeble, fulsome, and indecisive, unbecoming the dignity and the importance of any independent nation. This vapid and insidious measure was warmly opposed by the real friends of Ireland; and Sir Lucius O’Brien, with a spirit and language which spoke his real attachment to the interests of his country, and a per« feet knowledge of its commercial rights, moved an amendment to Mr, Fitzgibbon’s address, the terms of which form a very remarkable circum¬ stance in Irish history, and by its peremptory and independent language, led directly to the consideration of national rights and constitutional dis¬ tinctness, which, till that period, had never been so strongly expressed or so decisively put in issue. III. Sir Lucius O’Brien was descended from one of the most ancient and illustrious of the aboriginal Irish families, a large part of whose for¬ tune he stiU retained, and by means of a rational understanding, and very extensive and accurate commercial information, he acquired a considerable degree of public reputation; though his language was bad, his address miserable, and his figure and action unmeaning and whimsical, yet, as his matter was good, his reasoning sound, and his conduct spirited and inde¬ pendent, he was attended to with respect; and, in return, always conveyed considerable information. Sir Lucius was always strong and decisive; he carried with him at least a portion of that weight which justly appertained to his information his family, and his character. Mr. Fitzgibbon’s motion was most strongly reprobated by Sir Lucius ; but aware that he could not completely defeat the measure, he moved an amendment of a grand and novel nature, which, if adopted, would have placed Ireland on a pinnacle. This amendment called upon his Majesty, a.s King of Ireland, to assert the rights of that kingdom, by hostility with Portugal, and concluding with these remarkable expressions—“ we doubt not that Nation has vigour and resources sufficient to maintain all her r'ghts, and astonish all her enemies!" at once manfully asserting the con- Jtitutional independence, and publishing the military power of hS country, rJS£ AKU FALL CF THE IRISH RATION. 58 ' and giving to England licrself a wliolesone bint of her spirit and determi¬ nation. The boldness of this motion, its promptitude, its vigour, its consequences, made an instantaneous and visible impression on the whole bouse; it was at once a declaration of wai’, a declaration of rights, and a declaration of superiority; it gave a new character to the Irish Parliament, and a new existence to the Irish people. But they were not yet sufiiciently prepared to receive the impression with conclusive effect, their chains were not yet loosened, they had not been enlarged from tlieir prison, and however dis¬ posed to adopt this spirited and vigorous proceeding, then’ keepers were yet too numerous and too strong to permit their liberation. The motion of Mr. Fitzgibbon was, however, opposed by many of the first characters in Ireland ; and even some friends of Government, ashamed of its imbecility, refused to support it. Sir John Blaquire, a habitual supporter of the Minister, holding offices and pensions, and who had been himself a minister, spiritedly, amongst others, gave it his decided negative. However, after a warm and animated debate, the Secretary succeeded, and Mr. Fitzgibbon added a new thorn to that goad with which he endeavoured to drive, but which he finally found had only the effect of irritating his country. IV. Sir Lucius O’Brien’s amendment gave the keenest spur to the cause of national independence. The King of Ireland, required by an Irish Par¬ liament, and his Irish subjects, to take hostilities on behalf of Ireland, against a foreign nation, with which England had no quarrel, exhibited a new scene to an enlightened people, and soon excited thoughts and inqui¬ ries, which led to the important discussion that soon followed, and at length attained their emancipation. An inquiry into the nature of the federative compact between England and Ireland was now excited, and occupied every thinking mind through¬ out the latter country. It was a subject which the depressed state of Ire- kind had heretofore suspended. So desperate had been its situation—sc desponding the people—so hopeless its redress—^that the nature of tha,t connection had been hardly considered worthy of discussion ; and tliough its abuses had been frequently resisted, its principles had never been defined. So soon, however, as the people learned their connection with England was strictly federative, that the King of Ireland might, in right ©f hia Irish crown, make war with a foreign i’ower, without the King of England (as such) being a princixial in the contest-—that Ireland was, in fact, an independent nation, conuecled with England only by the ideu. tity of the Monarch, and that the King governed Ireland only in right o£ his Irish crown, and not as a part of ihe realt.t of Great Britain, the fea-^ tuxes of tho Irish constitution soon became familiar to the people : a dis^ tiactQ«3 perfectly apparent and unequivocally proved, by the language £.nd the conduct of the British Ministers themselves, who calmly permitted Portagal to insult and injure Ireland, without treating it as insult to, or ■>ggr€ision against the Crown of Great Britain. This unanswerable reasoning, and these indispalahlft facta, now engrossed almost the excIuBive com^idexation of gD the armed &»:X!ciutioiie, It was ma- riSE .VND FALL OF THE lElSH NATICaJi 59 aifest that, ia every point of vieiv, Ireland had been denied the rights of z free constitution, though, in every point of view, she was entitled to enjoy it; if she was to be considered merely as a partner of the British empire, she was then entitled to the full rights and advantages of the whole British constitution; but if, on the other hand, she was connected with. England solely as a federative state, she w'as then decidedly entitled to enjoy the distinct rights and advantages of a distinct constitution; but, in fact, she enjoyed neither the one nor the other, and that usurpation of Government, though sanctioned by the statutes of the usurping Power, could never bind the constitutional rights and prerogatives of the suffering nation longer than until it could mature the power of resistance. V. The reason and the justice of these considerations penetrated the un¬ derstanding of the people, in every quarter of the nation. The Volunteers reflected, that the remedy was with themselves; their grievances were heavy—their means ample, their determination decisive, and their redress attainable. If the Parliament would not act, the people would ; if the re¬ presentatives w'ere corrupt, the constituents w'ere honest. Kothing w'as necessary but a declaration of the rights of the Nation, and of the will of the People; and England, already humbled, disgraced, and dispirited by America, had lost the means and the spirit of opposition, and w'ould coii> cede, however reluctantly, to the just claims of a free and defined consti¬ tution to Ireland. On the other hand, it was suggested, by those whose irresolution, timi¬ dity, or corruption, still endeavoured to damp the spirit and curb the ino- petuosity of the nation, that, circumstanced as England was, it would be ungenerous to take advantage of her feeble moment, to enforce, by threat, those claims wliich her late conduct evidently showed a disposition to con¬ cede without force or reluctance; that it would be more magnanimous to wait till Great Britain had recovered from her panic, and from her dangers, to give her time to breathe, and receive from her friendship and generosity those certain and amicable concessions, which would be more gratifying and more permanent, than those acquired by humbling her pride, and taking advantage of her weakness. But this reasoning, peculiarly adapted to the 01)011 and generous character of the Irish people, was, in this instance, too feeble to bo attended to, and recourse was had to another liue of argument. It was stated that Ireland had no navy to protect her commerce; no wealth to support a contest, and, after a destructive effort, might ulti¬ mately fall iuto the trammels of England, with lost claims and diminished importance. But this reasoning only added to the spirit of the Nation,its pride was roused, its jealousy^ excited, arguments ill adapted to a people, who had lately acquired a thorough knowdedge of its own powers and re¬ sources, who were now unanimously leagued against usurpation, and who, after an inactivity of almost a century, had once more been roused to that pa&time of arms, which had ever been the favourite and predomiuant pas¬ sion of the Irish people, from the moment their Island had been peopled. They said, that it was neither ungenerous nor dishonourable to catch the favourable momeut of rescuing, from an usurping power, those liberties which had been wrested from the weakness of their ancestors, and there- 60 RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. fore retained from them through the feebleness of themselres: thisC ic ii never necessary for the plunder^ to await the awakening of plunderers U take back their property, theX the favourable moment might never recur; and that the laws of God, and of Nature, prescribe no peculiar moment to assert the liberties of a people, or arrest the oppression of an usurper. Those grievances which Irishmen so loudly complained of, and those constitutional rights which they so resolutely demanded, were numerous and indispensable to the liberty not only of the nation, but of the indivi¬ dual. Ireland had then no security for either; the Judges, dependent on the Crown, the army independent of the Parliament, her Legislature at the feet of the British Attorney-General, and the people bound by the laws of Scotch and English delegates, altogether formed the means and basis of a despotism, which the caprice or displeasure of England might at any time put in practice, if she were strong enough. VI. The precarious state of personal liberty in Ireland, was one of the most glaring grievances; the want of a Habeas Corpus statute gave abso¬ lute power to any government which might venture experiments of a de¬ spotic nature, and enabled the Minister to suppress, in the very first in¬ stance, the liberty of the press, the ablest advocate of reform, the most powerful auxiliary of freedom. But it was now too late, the people were united, and their divisions suspended or forgottten ; it would have been desperate to have resorted to the hand of power, and in vain to attempt any measure but conciliation. England was reduced to the singular and humiliating situation of stooping to the dictates of an inferior country, and beholding her arrogant and arbit’ary Ministers, treating with aU the courtesy of fawning courtiers, a people armed in defiance of their authority, and conceding to the peremptory demands of the Irish Nation, those rights which had been refused, not only by themselves, but by every former Go¬ vernment of Great Britain. A repeal of the English statute the 6th of George the First, was the first and most indispensable measire to be effected; and it required no logical deductions to prove to the armed Volunteers, that the attainment even of aU their objects would probably, at a future day, become void and nugatory, unless they tore up by the root that standard of usurpation. The effects and operation of this statute became perfectly understood, and formed one of the most insufferable of those grievances, which the Volun¬ teers, at every risk, were determined to abolish.* * Nothing can more clearly speak the determined spirit of the Volunteers than the following Eesolutions, entered into about this time by the Volunteer corps of the city of Dublin, published in all the newspapers, and circulated throughout every part of the kingdom. The same language was generally adopted by the whole nation; and the Lord Lieutenant, immediately after the publica¬ tion of these Eesolutions, permitted the military bands of the regular army tc attend a review of the very same corps in the Phcenix Park, to which they marched, playing the Volunteers’ march, under the windows of the Castle, and in the view of his Excellency. “ At a meeting of the corps of Dublin Volunteers, on Friday, the 1st of Ifirch 1782, his Grace the Duke of Leinster in the chair: RISE AUD FAU. OF 7U£ IRISH NATIOH. 61 VIL An explicit and detailed declaration of the people’s rights was now demanded in every part of the nation : the press teemed with publications on the subjects best calculated to call patriotism into activity: the doc¬ trines of Swift, of Molyneux, and of Lucas, were republished in abstract pamphlets, and placed in the hands of every man who could read them; their principles were recognised and disseminated; the Irish mind became enlightened; and a revolution in literature was made auxiliary to a revo¬ lution in liberty. Delegates from all the armed bodies of the people were regularly ap¬ pointed by their respective corps, and met, for the purpose of giving addi¬ tional weight and importance to t eir resolves, by conjointly declaring their sentiments and their determination. These meetings, first confined to districts, soon multiplied, and extended themselves to the counties; thence to provinces; and at length to the united nation. Their deliberations became regular and public, and thei resolutions decisive ; and at length, the celebrated convention at Dungannon, was convoked, which formed a most remarkable incident of Irish history, and one of the wisest and most temperate measures that ever signalized the good sense, good conduct, and the spirit of a people. The northern counties of Ireland, though net more spirited, more regu¬ lar and more intelligent than the other provinces, took the lead in this cele¬ brated meeting. The armed associ tions of Ulster first appointed dele¬ gates, to declare the sentiments of the' province, in a general assembly; and, on the 15th day of February, 1782, one of the most solemn and impressive scenes which Ireland had ever witnessed, took place in the inconsiderable town of Dungannon. There were comparatively but few Roman Catholics in the northern counties of Ireland, and still fewer of the strictly Protestant religion. The population of Ulster were principall Dissenters, a people differing in cha¬ racter from the aboriginal inhabitants, fond of reform, and not hostile to equality: examining the constitution by its theory, and seeking a recurrence to original principle, prone to intolerancy, without being absolutely intole- rants; and disposed to republicanism, without being absolutely republicans. Of Scottish origin, they partook of many of the peculiarities of that hardy people: penetrating, harsh-minded, persevering, selfish, frugal, by their in- “Kesolved—That the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland, only are compe¬ tent to make laws binding the subjects of this realm ; and that we will not obey or give operation to any laws, save only those enacted by the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland, whoso rights and privileges, jointly and severally, we are determined to support with our lives and fortunes.” “At a meeting of the Corps of Independent Dublin Volunteers, on Thursday, March 5tb, 1782: “Eesolved—That wo do not acknowledge the jurisdiction of any Parliament, save only the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland,. “ Kesolved—That we will, in every capacity, oppose the execution of any sta. tute, imposed upon us by the pretended authority of a British Parliament.” More than 200 resolutions to the parao effect (many stronger) were quickly (Whlished by corps and regiments of Volunteers throughout Ireland. 62 H!EE .VND FALL OK TUE IIUSH yATTOK. dustry they acquired individual, and by individual political independence. As brave, though less impetuous tliau the •western and southern Irish, they are more invariably formidable: less slaves to their j>assions than to their interest, their habits are generally temperate, their address quaint, blunt, and ungracious, their dialect harsh and disagreeable, their persons hardy and vigorous. With these qualities, the Northern Irish convoked dele¬ gates from twenty-five thousand soldiers, to proclaim the sentiments of the Irish people. This celebrated meeting was conducted with a decorum, firmness, and discretion unknown to the popular meetings of other times and of other countries. Steady, silent, and determined, two hundred delegated Volun¬ teers, clothed in the uniform and armed with the arms of their respective regiments, marched, two and two, to the Church of Dungannon, a place selected for the sanctity of its nature, to give the greater solemnity to this memorable proceeding. The entrance of the Delegates into that sacred place, was succeeded by an awful silence, which pervaded the whole assembly; the glittering arms of two hundred patriots, for the first time selected by their countrymen, to proclaim the v.'rongs and grievances of the people, was in itself a scene so uncommon and so interesting, that many of those men, who were ready in a moment to shed the last drop of their blood in the cause of their country, as soldiers, were softened into tears while contemplatively they surveyed that assembly, in wJiich they were about to pledge themselves to measures irrevocably committing Ireland with her sister nation—the result of which must determine the future fate of themselves, their children, and their country. VIII. This memorable assemblage of patriotism and discretion, whose proceedings soon became a theme of eulogium throughout every nation of Europe, was composed of men not of an ordinary description, they were generally persons of much consideration, selected for character and abili¬ ties, many of them persons of high rank and large fortune, some of them members of Parliament, and all of them actuated by one heart, filled with one spirit, and determined upon one procedure. Amongst those who, at this meeting, first distinguished themselves, was ]\rr, Erancis Dobbs, who afterwards became a person of singular reputa¬ tion, the mere incidents of whose life have nothing to engage diffusely the pen of an historian; no great transitions of rank, no deep depressions, no unexpected elevation, no blaze of genius, no acts of heroism distinguished his moderate and peaceful progress through the world, but the extraor¬ dinary bent of his understanding, and the wliimsical, though splendid ex¬ travagances of his eccentric mind, introduced him into a notice, which the common exercises of bis talent would never have effected. Francis Dobbs was a gentleman of respectable family, but of moderate fortune, iie had been educated for the bar, where he afterwards acquired some reputation as a constitutional lawyer, and much as a zealous advo¬ cate, but his intellect was of an extraordinary description. He seemed to possae *jTfO distinct minds, the one adapted to the duties of his profession, and the usual offices of society, the other, diverging from its natural centre, ted him through wiids and ways, rarely frequented by the human under- UlSli AND ?ALL OF lUE IKISH NATION. 63 standirjg, entangled him in a maze of contemplative deduction from reve<^ laticn 'vO futurity, and frequently decoyed his judgment beyond the fron¬ tiers of reason. Kis singularities, however, seemed so separate from his sober judgment, that each followed its appropiate occupation without in¬ terruption from the other, and left the theologist and the prophet sufficiently distinct from the law'yer and the gentleman. There were but few virtues he did not, in some degree, partake of, nor were there any vices discernablc in liis disposition. Though obstinate and headstrong, he was gentle arid jhilantliropic, and, with an ardent temper, he was inoffensive as an infant. By nature a patriot and an enthusiast, by science a iaivyer and an liisto- rian, on common topics he was not singular, and on subjects of literature was informed and instructive; but there is sometimes a key in the human mind which cannot be touched W'itliout sounding those wild chords which never fail to interrupt the harmony of reason, andjwhen expatiating on the subjects of Antichrist and the hlillennium, liis_^whole nature seemed to undergo a change, bis countenance brightened up as if by the complacent dignity of a prophetic spirit, his language became earnest, sometimes sub¬ lime, always extraordinary, and not unfrequently extravagant. These doctrines, however, he made auxiliaries to his view of politics, and persuaded himself of its application to Ireland and the infallibility ©f his reasoning, hlaukind has an eternal propensity to be seduced by the lure of new sects, and entangled in the trammels of inexplicable mysteries; and problems of theology, in their nature incapable of demonstration, are received with avidity by the greediness of superstition. Yet on these mysterious subjects Mr. Dobbs seemed to feel no difficul¬ ties, he devoted a great proportion of his time to the development of reve¬ lation, and attempted to throw strange and novel lights on Divine pro¬ phecy. This was the string on which his reason seemed often to vibrate, and his positions all tended to one extraordinary conclusion : “That Ire¬ land was decreed by heaven to remain for ever an independent state, and was destined to the supernatural lionour of receiving the Antichrist; and this he laboured to prove from passages of Revelation. At the Dungannon meeting Jlr. Dobbs first appeared as a delegate from a northern Volunteer corps, he was afterwards appointed a member of the national convention of Ireland for the province of Ulster, and will be found throughout the whole course of Irish events, during his life, a distinguished and ardent advocate for the constitutional rights of liis country. The deliberations of the Dungannon meeting were continued for several days without interruption or intermission; its discussions were calm and dignified; its resolutions firm, moderate, and patriotic. Every member of that assembly, on taking Lis seat in the awful hall, felt the great impor¬ tance and novelty of his delegation, as the elected representative of unite I civil and military bodies, blending the distinct functions of the armed sol¬ dier and of the deliberative citbeu, to protect las country agauist the still more unconstitutional coalescence of a mercenary army, and an extenui-l legislature. Colonel Irwin, a northern gentleman of the highest respectability, ol a 64 fcISE AND FALL OF TUE IKISH NATION. discreet, moderate, and judicious, though active, steady, and spirited cha¬ racter, was called to the chair by the unanimous voice of the assembly, and conducted himself in that most important presidency, throughout the whole of the business, with a moderation and decorum, which aid the cause, and never fail to give weight to the claims of a people. At length on the 15th of February, 1782, this assembly finally framed and agreed upon that celebrated declaration of rights and of grievances, under which the Irish nation had so long been languishing, and announced to the world the substantial causes by which its commerce had been so long strained, and every trace of free constitution almost obliterated. To give the complexion of constitutional legality to the unprecedented organization of this meeting, it was thought judicious to refer pointedly to the first principle of popular freedom universally admitted, established, and acted upon in England by the Revolution, namely, “ the people’s right of preparatory resistance to unconstitutional oppression.” The assembly there¬ fore plainly recognized that principle by ite first resolution: “That citizens, by learning the use of arms, abandon none of their civil rights,” thereby asserting the otherwise questionable legality of a self created military body, exercising also the deliberative functions of a civil delegation, and boldly bottoming the assertion of that right upon the very same principle which the Prince of Orange had used to usurp the throne of England, “the po¬ pular expulsion of a tyranical monarch.” This resolution was also wisely adapted to check all legal proceedings, or even ministerial cavil, as to the constitutionality of their meeting, by put¬ ting in direct issue with the British Government, a previous question of right, which, if contested, must have drawn into public discussion and con¬ troversy the principles of the Revolution, and the very tenure of the crown of England: for the English nation had, by that Revolution, exploded the doctrine of passive obedience, and acting on that ground, had armed against their own Sovereign and put the sword of popular resistance into the hand of William, to cut away the allegiance of the Irish people even to his own father. The Dungannon meeting next proceeded to denounce, by subsequent re¬ solutions, as altogether unconstitutional, illegal, and grievances, all British legislation over Ireland—the law of Poyuing—the restraint of Irish com¬ merce—a permanent standing army in Ireland—the dependence of the Bupexior Judges on the Crown, and consequently on the Minister—and the assembly finally resolved to seek a redress of all those grievances, and in¬ vited the armed bodies of the other provinces of Ireland to unite with them in the glorious cause of constitutional regeneration. The most weighty grievances and claims of Ireland were by these means, in the mildest and simplest language, without argument or unne¬ cessary observation, consolidated into one plain and intelligible body of resolutions, entered into by delegates from twenty-five thousand Ulster soldiers, and backed by the voice of about a million of inhabitants of that province, combining together the moral and physical strength of one of the strongest quarters of Ireland, and all actuated by a fixed and avowed deter¬ mination to attain redrees at every risk of life and fortune, and headed by the highest and most opulent gentlemen of that province, feeling the BISi: AND FALL OF TUK IRISH NATION. 65 claims to be equally just and irresistible, and therefore not speculating on success without substantial grounds, or denouncing grievances without solid and just foundation. “ Whereas it has been asserted that Volunteers, as such, cannot with propriety debate or give their opinions on political subjects, or the conduct of Parliament, or public men : “Resolved unanimously—That a citizen, by learning the use of arms does not abandon any of his civil rights. “ 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 unconstitu¬ tional, illegal, and a grievance. “ That the power exercised by the Privy Council of both kingdoms,^. under pretence of the law of Poyning, is unconstitutional and a grievance. “ That the ports of this country are by right, open to all foreign coun¬ tries, not at war with the King, and that they are burthens thereupon, or obstructions thereto, save only by the Parliament of Iiieland, are uncon- titutional, illegal, and grievances. “ That a mutiny biU, not limited in point of duration from session to session, is unconstitutional and a grievance. “ Tliat 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 imconstitutional and a grievance. “That it is our decided and unalterable determination to seek a 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 us therein, and that we will use every constitutional means to make such our pursuit of redress, speedy and effectual. “ That as men, and as Irishmen, as Christians, and as Protestants, 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. “ That four members from each county of the province of Ulster (ele¬ ven to be a quorum) be, and hereby are appointed, a committee till next general meeting, to act for the Volunteer corps here represented, and as occasion shall require, to call general meetings of the province. “That the said committee do appoint nine of their members to be a committee in Dublin, in order to communicate with such other Volunteer associations in the other provinces, as may think proper to come to similar resolutions; and to deliberate with them on the most constitutional means sf carrying them into effect.” The truth and the simplicity of these resolutions, whilst they defied every imputation of party faction or of revolutionary disloyalty, yet convinced the Minister that the Irish people would be no longer trifled with. By the lircanees that was observed respecting them, the wavering were steadied, the too moderate roused, and the too ardent moderated, while the adverst 66 EIS£ .VND FALL OF THE HUSH NATIOHr were deterred by an anticipation of their success. Adapted almost to o/ery class, and to the disposition of almost every character, their effect through all Ireland was electric, and the con.-equeuce fully answered the most san¬ guine hopes, nay Wiahes, of their framei-s. Having passed these resolutions, the assembly adjourned, committing the further procedure to the coincidence and zeal of the other provinces of the nation : and, with a discretion almost iiuparalleled, a body of patriots, who might in one v/eekhave collected a military force, which all the power of England ccaild not then have coped with, and, at the head of an irresistible army in a triumphant attitude, might have dictated their own terms to a trembling Government, by their wise and temperate conduct avoided the horrors of a civil commotion, proved to the world the genuine attachment of Ireland to her Eistev countiy, and deliberately represented to Great. Britain the grievances, which, by more hostile proceedings, they could by their own pov/er have redressed in a moment. CHAPTER VII. This transaction, which, with reference to aU its circumstances, may be ranked as one of the most extraordinary incidents thathaved marked the page of modern history, brought into notice a most singular personage, Erederick Earl of Bristol; an Englishman by birth, a British peer and Bishop of Derry, who altogether adopted the views, and avowed himself a partisan for the rights of Ireland. Like many others of his profession, not content with ecclesiastical authority, he became ambitious of political power, and sought by patriotic professions, and decisive conduct to place himself at the head of the Irish nation. Possessed of an immense revenue, by rank a temporal peer, by consecration a spiritual one, with powerful patronage and extensive connexions, he united most of the qualities best calculated to promote his objects; and in particular, had acquired a vast popularity amongst the Irish, by the phenomenon of an English nobleman identifying himself with the Irish nation, and appearing inferior to none in a zealous assertion of their rights against his own countrymen. It was a circum¬ stance too novel and too important to escape their marked observation, and a conduct too generous and magnanimous not to excite the love, and call forth the admiration of a grateful people. The bishop, at one time, assumed nearly a royal state. Dressed in purpla he appeared in the streets of Dublin in a coach drawn by six horses, and attended by a troop of light dragoons as a life-guard, which had been raised and M'as commanded by his nephew—the unfortunate and guilty George Robert Fitzgerald. He was a man of elegant erudition, extensive learning, and an enlight¬ ened and classical, but eccentric, mind. Bold, ardent, and versatile, ho dazzled the vulgar by ostentatious state, and worked upon the gentry by ease and condescension ; he effected public candour, and practised private cabal; without the profound dissimulation of Becket, or the powerful abili¬ ties of Wolsey, he was little inferior to either of them, in their minor quali- RlSii A-NU FALi. OF THE IRISH KAllON. 67 tiei; a’i'J altogelLer formed aa accomplished, active and splendid noble- vian, a plausible and powerful prelate, and a seemingly disinterested and italous patriot. He was admirably calculated to lead on an inflamed and injured people; and had there been no counteracting discretion in the country—at a crisis, too, when almost any measure could have been carried by boldness, popularity, and perseverance—it is more than probable his views might have extended to the total separation of the two nations. .11. But though the voice of the people had decided unanimously upon 1170 points, namely, national independence and a redress of grievances; yet many different shades of opinion existed among some of the leading cha¬ racters, as to the precise time and modes of proceeding to attain those objects. The moderate and cautious party in general followed the inde¬ cisive and feeble councils of Earl Charlemont: whilst the more bold, deci¬ sive, and straightforward conduct of the Bishop of Derry, appeared far more congenial to the critical aud proud position of the Irish nation, and better adapted to hasten the attainment of their rights, than the slow and almost courtly approaches of the Charlemont system. The Duke of Leinster also, as well as hir. Brownlow, and many of those who had occasionally been in the habit of supporting the Dish Government, leaned to the moderate and regular course of proceeding recommended by Earl Charlemont, whilst fewer of the leadere, but more of the people, fol¬ lowed the fascinating boldness of the military prelate who wished to take instant advantage of a crisis, the continuance of which miglit be uncertain ; ind the conduct of those two noblemen becoming decidedly dissimilar, if not altogether adverse, it was soon apparent, that one or the other of them must necessarily sink in public estimatiou. This contest for pre-eminence, however, was carried on only at a dis- iance, and in no respect impeded the general cau^e. The partisans of each never came into decisive collision, until a contest for the presidency of the general national convention decided that important ])oiut in favour of Earl Charlemont, and the rough dissolution of that assembly, through the imbe¬ cility of his Lordship, soon after put a final conclusiou to the power and controversies of both those personages. However, on one point no difference of opinion existed between them. All the leading characters were unauiinous as to giviug immediate and full effect to the Dungannon resolutions, by calling upon every mihtary asso¬ ciation iu the kingdom forthwith to declare their public sentiments on all the important subjects discus.«ed by that assembly. Au immense number of publications immediately issaed from the press, auxiliary to this deter- nination; au iucreased activity as well as spirit pervaded the whole king¬ dom ; meetings were called in every county, city, town, and village; the municipal as well as military bodies held public meetings, the determination of all coincided with those of Dungannon, no important difference of opinion existed; all appeared unanimous in the common cause; and Poy- uiug’s Law, the true parent of all Irish grievances, became the pass-word of liberty. A particular word has frequently had an extraordinary effect in exciting the enthusiasm aud rousing the passions of the Irish people, “ Poyning’s Law,” therefore, acquired by repetition almost the power of a, talisman! it operated on all occasions as a reviving stimulant against tha 68 RISE AND FALL OF THE HUSH NATION. usurpation of Er gland, and became the most obnoxious and reprobated of all their grievances. III. The statute of George I., declaratory of the legislative supremacy of the British Parliament over Ireland, though a more modern was a stiU more decisive grievance; as without ite abolition the redress of all other grievances would be vain and precarious. The statutes had originally been enacted upon principles the most unjust, and for objects the most tyrannicial; the first to reduce the Irish House of Commons to a mere instrument of the Privy Council of both nations, and consequently of the British Cabinet; the second, to neutralize the Irish Le¬ gislature altogether, and to establish an appellant jurisdiction to the Bri¬ tish Lords, whereby every decree and judgment of the Irish superior courts, which could tend to effect or disturb the questionable or bad titles of the British adventurers and absentees to Irish estates or Irish property, might b? reversed or rendered abortive in Great Britain by a vote of the Scotch and English nobility. * Many British peers and commoners, through whose infiuence the latter statute had been enacted, had themselves been deeply interested in effecting that measure, to secure their own grants of Iri^ estates; and some British Judges were led to disgrace their judicial cha¬ racter by giving decisive opinions on the justice of a statute unequivocally illegal and unconstitutional. It was therefore unanimously agreed upon by all the armed associations of Ireland, to publish, on their own behalf, and that of the nation in general, a counter-declaration to that of the British Judges, renouncing all future obedience to that statute—by one bold and decisive step to throw off the weight of that usurped authority altogether; and, by actual unanimous resistance to its operation, for ever extinguish the most extravagant and illegal assumption of power, which one free country and limited monarchy ever yet attempted to impose upon a people supposed to wear even the tattered garb of freedom. The Volunteers reasoned and reasoned unanswerably, that an attempt to legislate for a nation not represented in the acting legislature, was the very acme of despotic power; the practical ground of tyrannic polity; and whether exercised by a king, a parliament, or a privy council, was unna¬ tural to the governed. It was still a subj ection to foreign j urisdiction, which nothing but the rights of conquest and the superiority of power could jus¬ tify or perpetuate. It was upon the same principle, though differently modified, that Pagan princes had established Christian slavery; it was upon the same principle, that so large a portion of the eastern world was subjugated to the domi¬ nation of a few British merchants—and it was the success of that vicious precedent, the 6th George III., which had encouraged the British Parha- ment fatally to attempt to legislate for America. But it was a species of usurpation which the renovating principles of the British constitution itesli never could extend to a sister nation, and which the immutable laws of nature gave her the right of resisting, the very first opportunity which occ'urred to render that resistance effectual. 3 V. It was now perfectly understood by the Irish people, that the Bri» ^ This waa re-enacted bv the Union. RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION, 69 tiali statute in question, having passed only in England, could have received the royal assent by George I., only as king of Great Britain, in which distinct capacity the Irish nation altogether denied his power or authority over Ireland, because the federative principle, though it placed the two distinct crowns of the two distinct nations for ever in one dynasty, yet acted in the name of two distinct legislations, and if it authorised the legislature of either nation to counter-legislate for the other, it must have reciprocally authorized both, and would equally have enabled the Irish Parliament, and George I., as King of Ireland, to pass a similai statute, declaratory of their legislative supremacy over the kingdom oi Great Britain. The truth of this position admitted of no argument; but even if it did, the physical strength of Ireland was now too much alive to its own po vcr to admit of any prolonged discussion upon so clear a subject: all diplo¬ matic evasions were now useless—the Irish people were right, and they were peremptory—^the British Government was wrong, and it was intimi¬ dated—the English fleets and armies, crowded with Irishmen, could not be supposed to remain indifferent spectators to such a contest with their own coimtry—^the claim of rights was upon a principle so plain and so comprehensive, that soldiers and sailors could not be supposed to bo igno¬ rant of what the simplest peasant was capable of understanding. The Irish judges (though some of them, as before remarked, were very respectable men) were at this time but little to be trusted on subjects re¬ specting which England appeared to be deeply involved, or the hlinister much interested. The precarious tenure of their offices almost obliged them to be partisans for British supremacy; and being totally dependent on the Government for their bread, were prepared to discountenance, and if pos¬ sible, by judicial dictums to put down the military associations. It was therefore obviously necessary, that the public declaration of positive resist¬ ance to all British statutes and legislation should be universal, proceeding from all ranks, and all bodies, civil and military, magistrates and people— that by its generality every attempt to check it by judicial interference, 0! individual prosecution, might be rendered impracticable and desperate. V. The armed associations, therefore, assembled in every quarter of the kingdom, and, by corps and regiments, distinctly adopted the resolutions of the Dungannon meeting, and explicitly declared, “that no earthly au¬ thority, save the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland, had power to make laws for their country; and that they would resist, with their lirea and fortunes, the execution of all British statutes, affecting to bind the independent kingdom of Ireland. These resolutions* were unanimously adopted by the Volunteer corp3 • The author’s father and brothers commanded four Volunteer regiments, viz..: ITio Cullenagh Rangers, Burrow Light Dragoons, Kilkenny Horse, and Ballyrooci Cavalry. The first essay of the author’s political pen was the following rosolutioao, adopted by the first of these corps; and proves that an attachment to the consti¬ tutional independence of Ireland had been tho earliest, as it wae the lart, of hii political predilections. “ At the meeting of the Cullenagh Bnngere, Z2».i. of May, 17S2, C 0 LOKE& 73 EISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. in every province of Ireland, some in more cool, others in warmer lan¬ guage, but all to the same effect—all in terms equally decisive, explicit, and patriotic. The necessity of adopting the Dugannon resolutions distinctly as to all their points, was manifest; for they were so congenial in their nature, and BO closely allied, as to be inseparable. That respecting the independence of Irish Judges seemed quite indispensable to the security of individuals, perhaps to the success of any of their other measures. Unless Judges were totally independent of the King and his Government, their purity never could be confidently relied on, in any case where the Crown and the sub¬ ject might be at issue on questions of English Legislature. To preserve, in legal decisions, as much as possible the appearance of consistency. Judges generally consider themselves as bound to follow the precedents of their predecessors; and when imperative justice and their own conviction oblige them to overi’ule any of those precedents, they do BO delicately, upon some actual or supposed shade of distinction between wie cases, authorizing cin alteration of rule, without a change of principle, vrhich alteration would otherwise prove that wrong had been done to either the former or the latter snitor: and the repugnant decisions would appear to form a code of legal incongruity, changing its rules as often as it changed its interpreters, and exhibiting justice as obscure, and decision as incon¬ clusive. But as to Ireland, the decided opinion of the celebrated British Judge^ Blackstone, that “she was by right, as well as law, bound by all British statutes specially naming her,” would have been a precedent permanently imperative on dependent Irish Judges. The total independence of ihe Irish Judges on the Crown was therefore indispensable to the Irish people, and was peremptorily demanded by the whole nation. VI. The Volunteers also perceived, that though their exertions for national independence miglit, by their then power and unanimit}’", be entirely successful, yet England, when she recovered her strength, might re-assume her power, punish the champions of Irish liberty, and again plunge Ireland into its former state of dependence and imbecility.* Barrington in the chair, the following resolutions were unanimously agreed to : “ Kesolved—Tliat as citizens armed in defence of the laws and constitution of our country, and disclaiming every political jurisdiction, save the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland, we are determined to resist, with our lives and for¬ tunes, every statute whiou the usurped authority of the British Parliament have heretofore enacted, or may hereafter attempt to impose on a country determined to be FREE. “ Resolved—That we heartily coincide in all the resolutions of the Dungannon meeting, as the surest step towards redressing those grievances, which it was as im- politio in England to adopt, as it would be pusillanimous in Ireland to submit to.- “ Signed by order of the Corps, GEORGE REILLY, Secretary.” Resolutions to the same effect were entered into by almost every Regiment of Ireland. * The Irish Parliament toot the most quiet, constitutional, and effectual means of cariTf'^S their point, that could possibly be suggested. Their sessions wera i:iSE AX'-/ TALL OF TILE JJiJS!! XV.TION. 71 ■lliej, therefore, saw the necessity of a mutiny bill, enacted by their t',ra Farliainent, and limited in its duration, as in England, only from session to session; by -which the Irish Parliaments would constitutionally acquire the power of protecting their national independence, as their refusing to re-enact the mutiny bill would at any time operate as a dis¬ charge of the whole standing anny of the Irish establishment. This, and nothing less than th.is could effectually preserve the nation from future shackles, should any minister of Great Britain be bold enough again to attempt the subjugation of the couutiy. Accordingly, this resolution of the Dungannon meeting was also unanimously decided on throughout all Ireland, and formed one of those demands from which the Volunteers de¬ termined never to recede, and never to lay down their arms until they had unequivocally obtained it. Beasons equally cogent and conclusive induced the Volunteers to adopt Hud peremptorily to insist upon each of the other resolutions of the Dun¬ gannon meeting, whilst the old habits of domination, the pride of national sxiperiority, the prejudices of a mistaken policy, the avarice of a monopo¬ lizing commerce, and the principles of an arbitrary hlinister, equally ope¬ rated against such concessions. But England felt that she had neither pretences to justify, nor means nor strength to support, a direct refusal ol the claims of Ireland. VII. When a people are bold enough to throw oft oppression, strong enough to resist it, and wise enough to be unanimous, they must succec'C Oppression, though clothed in all the haughtiness of arbitrary power, is ever accompanied by the timidity of guilt. On the contrary, a just resist¬ ance to tyranny, however feeble in its commencement, acquires strength in its progress, the stimulants of rising liberty, like the paroxysms of fever, often communicating a supernatural strength to a debilitated body. Ireland had arrived at that crisis, her natural vigour was rapidly surmounting the malignancy of her disorder, and her dormant powers at once burst forth on an astonished empire, and an embarrassed administration. By this time the national armed force had greatly increased, not only is numbers, but in respectability, and had improved not only in discipline, but in all the military requisites for a regular and active army. About that period there were nearly ninety thousand soldiers ready, armed, disciplined, and regimented, burning with impatience for the enjoyment of their liberties, not acting on a wild enthusiastic impulse, but guided by reason, and depending upon justice.* The conduct of the tiennial, and consequently their grants to Government were for two years at once; and till more money was required, their legislative was inactive. They now de¬ termined on granting supplies to the Crown for six months only, as a hint that they would grant no more till their grievances were redressed: this had its effect. * It is impossible with precision to compute the number of effective Volun. tcers who had taken up arms in Ireland, because many were enrolled who were mcapable of duty. The number on paper, therefore, exceeded the effective force ; nor is it probable that more than eighty thousand effective disciplined troop* could at that time have been brought into the field, until the arming became ge¬ neral, and the numbers increased by the admission of Catholics, when, had there 72 mss AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. British Parliament had taught them the necessity of national unanimity, the whole population therefore were ready to be embodied, if necessity required it, and in one month five hundred thousand active soldiers might have been enrolled for service. They saw clearly that Great Britain, by the consolidation of her strength, had risen to that height of power, which alone protected her from her ambituous neighbours, and that, whilst she kept all her liberty at home, for her own consumption, she was able to exercise despotic authority over every other quarter of the world, which she governed. It was, therefore, only by the same unanimity that Ireland could counteract her; and all the capacities and talents which the Irish people possessed seemed to collect their united strength for the cause of their independence. They had now, by the constant discussions of political subjects in every rank of society, acquired a capacity of acute reasoning on constitutional •controversies, their native eloquence breaking forth at every meeting nour¬ ished their native ardour, and almost every peasant became a public orator.* “Kings” (said a private Volunteer at one of those provincial assemblies in Leinster) “are, we now perceive, but human institutions, Parliaments are but human institutions, Ministers are but human institutions, but Liberty is a right Divine, it is the earliest gift from Heaven, the charter of our birth-right, which human institutions can never cancel, without tearing -down the first and best decree of the Omnipotent Creator. The pulpit too, from which fanaticism was expelled, did not fail to be- -come auxiliary to the general cause. Some dissenting clergymen in the north of Ireland were particularly eloquent; a passage in one of their ser¬ mons deserves to be recorded. “ My brethren and brother-soldiers, said the pastor, let us, by prayer and by humiliation supplicate Heaven to grant our attainment of that liberty without which life is but a prison, and society a place of bondage. Our tutelary Providence has permitted that blessing to be so long with¬ held from us by the corrupt and the unworthy, only as a punishment for our past offences, and a trial for our future fortitude and perseverance. been arms in the kingdom for all who were anxious to bear them, above four hundred thousand effective men certainly would have come forward. In the in- iurrection of' 1798, the county of Kildare alone had more than twenty thousand insurgents in arms, and the county of Wexford above thirty thousand { and had the other counties furnished in proportion to their population, the amount would have exceeded a million; but this comprised the Catholics, who were in very scanty numbers enrolled as Volunteers in 1782. * Eloquence was at that period highly estimated and universally cultivated in Ireland. The number of able men who at that period filled the bar and the se¬ nate had never been equalled at any former period. The flame of hberty seemed to communicate a glow to the language even of the humblest orator. The bar was not a trade, it wa a profession, from which servility was excluded. The sennLe was not a bank; it was a lyceum; eloquence flourished in both; the stu¬ dents of the University had free access to the gallery of the Commons; their young minds became enlarged and enlightened by what they daily heard and ad¬ mired, and were thus trained by their imitetiva powers to supply the place of declining veterans. The change has been great and lamentable. RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 73 But the time of our expiation seems no'ir to have been completed, a bright flame has blazed up amongst the people, and in the hands of justice, light? them to the plains of Virtue and of Victory, The justice of our cause laa drawn down that flame from a superior power, and we may well antici¬ pate, that through its fire, the priests of Baal will soon perish before the altars of the Almighty.” Almost every Irish gentleman had now either raised a military corps, or had enlisted himself in that of his neighbour. Some Roman Catholic gentlemen also took to arms, and raised corps composed solely of pereons of that persuasion, whilst many Protestants, relinquishing their prejudices, received their Catholic fellow-subjects into their ranks with cordiality, and the whole nation became almost as a single family. The most profound peace and good conduct signalized the lowest peasantry, the most perfect and effectual police was established, hardly a public crime of any kind was committed without instant detection, and every man of every rank seemed to have adopted one prominent and permanent principle, that of uniting good order, patriotism, and firmness. The love of liberty, however, is often palled by enjoyment: the miseries of former oppression are sometimes forgotten in the views of avarice, or the pursuits of ambition, and there are too many instances in history, of sanguinary contests for the attainment of independence, and voluntaiy re¬ lapses into the fangs of tyranny. Human natm’e is subject to inconsis¬ tencies, and man ceinnot counteract the errors of his original formation: but when that inconsistency is the voluntary residt of depraved or cor¬ rupted principles, the weakness becomes a vice, and the object disgusting. Nor can there be a stronger elucidation of this position, or a more painful comparison of times and persons, than that which will occur in the progress of this Narrative, where we shall discover the very same men, who in 1782 were foremost in offering their lives and fortunes to attain the independence of their country, metamorphosed on the Union, eighteen yeais afterwards, into the veriest slaves of direct and shameless corruption, and publicly selling themselves, their connexions, and their country, for money, for oflBce, or for title. The individual proofs of this are numerous, indispu¬ table, and easily produced; and the comparison will afford a wholesome lesson for states and nations to look with more caution and less confidence on the professions of public men, who too frequently remain no longer honest, than till public opinion may safely be encountered by plausible pretences. The shouts of popularity only gratify the momentary vanity of man, whilst successful ambition rewards more subsantially his pride, or fills the measure of his avarice. The instances are rare, and therefore more precious, of perfect purity attending public character, without deviation, through the whole course of its career. VIII. Of those who led the Volunteer associations in Leinster, Lord Charlemont, the Duke of Leinster, Mr. Grattan, and Mr. Henry Flood, had the greatest weight and authority: their popularity was extreme, and i.t was merited. To this list may be added the names of many others particularly Arch- dall, Stewart, and Brownlow, names that will for ever remain engravad on the tablet of Irish gratitude, as belonging to men who remained steady 74 - lil F/.LL 07 THE IRISH KATION,- during all the subsequent ordcab through wliich their unfortuui’^ {/OUiitry was doomed to pass, and formed a striking and melancholy contrast tr Altamont and Belvidere, Shannon and Clanricard, Longfield and Kevil., and the crowd of those, whose apostasy in 1800, has stained the records of Irish history, and tarnished the character of Irish patriotism. A derelic¬ tion of public principle can only be accounted for by reflecting, that the accomplished politician and the polished patriot are no less susceptible ol the debasing passions of the human mind, than the most humble and illi¬ terate amongst uncultivated society. High rank and influence oftener er- pose the dormant errors, than multiply the virtues of a public character. As soon as the Dungannon Volunteers had received the concurrence of the armed associations, the Commons’ House of Parliament assmned a no's aspect. Its former submission and unqualified adulation to the Minister and the Lord Lieutenant, had departed. The old supporters of the Go¬ vernment seemed only solicitous how they could diminish their obcdlenc?, without sacrificing their connexion, and every successive debate showed evident symptoms of an approaching and decisive crisis. The proceedings of the people without doors, now began to have their due weight on their representatives within: the whole house appeared forming into parties, accordingly as they ivere operated on by different de¬ grees of caution, of timidity, of patriotism, and of interest, the leaders oi each party became more conspicuous, and every question however trivial, confessed the unsteadiness of the Government, and betrayed the embar¬ rassment of its supporters. Fitzgibbon pursued an unvaried course. Ills haughty and inflexible mind despised the country which he hoped one day to govern. Her release from British domination might also liberate her from his own grasp, and, so long as he could, he uniformly opposed every measure which might tend to her emancipation, save in a few instances, which, by exposing his du¬ plicity, confirmed his character. Perfectly indifferent as to the public, he every day gave fresh proofs of that arbitrary and impetuous talent, which so strongly contributed to bring the nation to its end, and himself to his conclusion ; and he often embarrassed the Government more by the intem¬ perance of his support than their opponents by the steadiness of their op¬ position. A variety of causes contributed to add both numbers and weight to the opposition, and gained it the accession of many country gentlemen, whom the excitation of the moment had aroused from their lethargy, and who found it no longer possible indolently to temporize on those ministerial measures, which even their own tenantry in arms had resolved to resist. Several, on this principle, united with the opposition. The flame reached even those who, from office or connexion, were neces¬ sitated to adhere to the measures of Government, lowering their usual tone of arrogance and of triumph, they condescended to give reasons for their conduct, and appeared ^almost to court a supposition that this adherence was compulsorjq and their conviction open ; while the number was small of those who looking to the possibility of a termination favourable to Government, and their future interests, still gave them a support, the more acceptable, because now more necessary. But it was too l!)to. negociation I:ISE AKD FALL OF THE I SISK NATIO>:. ■5 W 0 ii at an end, the mine was charged, the train laid, the malch wra buni- ing, the euKEions was peremptory, and either surrender or explosion was inevitable. At this moment the leading characters all started froio their ranks; every party had its chief, and every chief turned his eyes, by almost unanimous assent, to the eloquence and energy of the ardent Grattan. The favourite of the Parliament, the terror of the Minister, the intimate Tiend of the ablest men, and the indefatigable advocate of his country, he seemed most peculiarly calculated to bring forward some great or decisive measure, which should at once terminate the dangerous paroxysm to which the minds of the whole nation were now worked np, and by its decision inform them, whether they were to receive their rights from the justice, o’* to enforce them by the humiliation of Great Britain. The period, however, had not quite arrived for this step. Extensive as the abilities of hfr. Grattan were, they had many competitors. Jealousies intrude themselves even into the highest minds ; the spirit of rivalship is inseparable from great talents; Mr. Grattan’s importance was merely indi¬ vidual, and he was then only advancing to that pre-eminence, which ho soon after acquired over all competitoi’s. Though it was approaching fast, it was evident that it had not indisputably arrived; it was essential that all those parties in the house should be a little more approximated, before a measure was announced on which unanimity was of vital importance. IX. So much talent never had before appeared in the Irish senate as at that particular moment; rank and fortune also were in higher estimation there than in England, where both are more common, and consequently iess imposing. Eloquence and talents have always had their appropriate weight in a popular assembly; but several members of the Irish Parlia¬ ment, in addition to splendid talents, having great fortune and distin¬ guished rank to recommend them, the Commons’ House was not as yet fully prepared to give so splendid a lead to any individual, who, devoid of these, cad nothing to recommend him but his talents and his character. Those who led their respective parties were all men of eminent abilities, or of extensive connexions. Flood, Grattan, Brownlow, Burgh, Daly, Yelverton, appeared the most respected or efficient leaders of the opposi¬ tion ; Scott (the Attorney-General) and Fitzgibbon were the most active and efficient supporters of Government; while Daly, Bagenall, Sir Edward Newenham, Mr. Joseph Dean and a number of country gentlemen, all dissimilar in habits, and heterogeneous in principles, were grouped together without any particular leader, but always paid a marked deference to the opinions of Mr. Brownlow, whose good sense, large fortune, and reasonable efficiency, constantly ensured him a merited attention. A few of these country gentlemen had a sort of exclusive privilege o* speaking without interruption, whether they spolm good sense or folly, with reason or without as suited their whims, or accorded with their capa- oities. Of this class was hlr. Thomas Connolly, who appeared to have the largest personal connexion of any individual in the Commons’ House of Parliament. He took a principal lead amongst the country gentlemen, because he spoke more than any of them, though probably his influence would have been greater, if he had remained totally silent. He was a person of very high family, ample fortune, powerful connexions, and 76 RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. splendid establisliments; friendly, sincere, honourable, and munifioent m disposition; but whimsical, wrongheaded, and positive, his ideas of politics were limited and confused. He mistook obstinacy for independence, and Jingularity for patriotism, and fancied he was a Whig, because he v.’as not professedly a Tory. Full of aristocracy, he was used by the patriots, when they could catch him, to give weight to their resolutions, and courted by the Government, to take advantage of his whimsicality, and embarrass the opposition. Ho was bad as a statesman, worse as an orator. In Parliament he gave his opinions at the close of a debate, without having listened to its progress, and attacked measures with a sort of blunt point, which generally bruised both his friends and his opponents. His qualities were curiously mixed, and his principles as singularly blended ; and if he had not been distin¬ guished by birth and fortune, he certainly would have remained all his life in obscurity. This gentleman had an extensive circle of adherents. On some ques¬ tions he was led away by their persuasions, on others, they submitted to his prejudices, as a bait to fix him on more important occasions ; and some¬ times he differed unexpectedly from all of them. He was nearly allied to the Irish Minister at the discussion of tho Union, and he followed his lord¬ ship’s fortunes, surrendered his country, lost his own importance, died in comparative obscurity, and in his person ended the pedigree of one of the most respectable English families ever resident in Ireland. X. Many other persons, who distinguished themselves at this period of public trial, will be subjects of observation in the course of this memoir; but scarcely any of them more justly deserve notice than Mr. Yelverton, who was, perhaps, the only public character of those days, whose every act could be with ease accounted for, his motives for the act being as palpable as the act was public; and whether his conduct was right or wrong made no difference in this respect, its causes could be traced with equal facility, and he generally struggled as little against the propensities of his nature as any man that ever existed. In this uaiTative of the concerns of Ireland his name will frequently occur; and as so extraordinary a character can never bo forgotten in the mindis of Lis countrymen, it may properly be anticipated. Barry Yelverton, of humble origin, afterwards Lord Avonmere, and successor to Hussey Burgh, as Chief Baron of the Exchequer, had acquired great celebrity as an advocate at the Irish bar, and was at this time rapidly winging his way to the highest pinnacle of honourable notoriety and forensic advancement. He h^ been elected Member of Parliament for the town of Carrickfergus, and became a zealous partisan for the claims of Ireland. It would be difficult to do justice to tbe lofty and overwhelming elocu¬ tion of this distinguished man, during the early periods of bis political exertions. To the profound, logical, and conclusive reasoning of Flood; the brilliant, stimulating, epigrammatic antithesis of Grattan; the sweet- toned, captivating, convincing rhetoric of Burgh; or the wild fascinating imagery and varied pathos of the extraordinary Curran, he was respec¬ tively inferior; but in powerful, nervous language, be excelled them all. RISE AND fall OF THE IRISH NATION. 77 A vigoroTis, commanding, undaimted eljquence burst in rolling torrents from his lipa, not a word was lost. Though fiery, yet weighty and distinct, the authoritative rapidity of his language, relieved by the beauty of his luxuriant fancy, subdued the auditor without the power of resistance, and left him in doubt, whether it was to argument or to eloquence that he sur¬ rendered his conviction. His talents were alike adapted to public purposes, as his private qualities to domestic society. In the common transactions of the world he was an infant; in the varieties of right and wrong, of propriety and error, a frail mortal; in the senate and at the bar, a mighty giant; it was on the bench that, unconscious of his errors, and in his home unconscious of his virtues, both were more conspicuous. That deep-seated vice, which with equal power freezes the miser’s heart, and inflames the ruffian’s passions, was to him a stranger; he was always rich, and always poor; like his great pre¬ decessor, frugality fled before the carelessness of his mind, and left him the victim of his liberality, and, of course, in many instances a monument of ingratitude. Ilis character was entirely transparent, it had no opaque qualities; his passions were open, his prepossessions palpable, his failings obvious, and he took as little pains to conceal his faults as to publish his perfections. In politics he was more steady to party than to principle, but evinced no immutable consistency in either; a patriot by nature, yet susceptible of seduction, a partisan by temper, yet capable of instabihty. The com¬ mencement and the conclusion of his political conduct were as distinct as the poles, and as dissimilar as the elements. Amply qualified for the bench by profound legal and constitutional learning, extensive professional practice, strong logical powers, a classical and wide-ranging capacity, equitable propensities, and a philauthropio disposition, he possessed all the positive qualifications for a great Judge ; but he could not temporize: the total absence of skilful or even necessary caution, and the indulgence of a few feeble counteracting habits, greatly diminished that high reputation, which a cold phlegmatic mien or a solemn, imposing, vulgar, plausibility, confers on miserably inferior Judges. But even with all his faults. Lord Avonmore was vastly superior to all his judicial contemporaries. If he was impetuous, it was an impetuosity in which his heart had no concern; he w.as never unkind that he was not also repentant, and ever thinking that he acted with rectitude, the cause of his greatest errors seemed to be a careless ignorance of his lesser im¬ perfections. He had a species of intermitting ambition, which either led him too far or forsook him altogether. His pursuits, of course, were unequal, and his ways irreguls;.’. Elevated solely by his own talents, ho acquired new habits without altogether divesting himself of the old ones. A scholar, a poet, a statesman, a lawyer, in elevated society he was a brilliant wit, at lower tables, a vulgar humourist; he had appropriate anecdote and conviviality for all, and whether in the one or in the other, he seldom failed to be either entertaining or instructive. He was a friend, ardent, but indiscriminate even to blindness, an en«m 7 , wunn, but forgiving even to folly; he lest his dignity by the 78 »iiss ai;d fall of iue nasii nahon. injudiciousaess cf Ms selections, and sunk his consequence in the pliability «.’f tk nihl’ue; to the first he was a dupe, to the latter an instrument. On the whole, he was a more enlightened than efficient statesman, a more able than unexceptionable Judge, and more honest in the theory than the prac¬ tice cf his poUtics. His rising sun was brilliant, his meridian cloudy, hia setting obscure. Crosses at length ruffled his temper, deceptions abated pis confidence, time tore down his talents, he became depressed and in¬ different, and after a long life of chequered incidents and inconsistent con¬ duct, he died, leaving behind him few men who possessed so much talent, io much heart, or so much weakness. This distinguished man, at the critical period of Ireland’s emancipation, burst forth as a meteor in the Irish senate, his career in the Commons was not long, but it was busy and important; he had connected himself witli the Duke of Portland, and continued that connexion uninterrupted till the day of his dissolution. But, through the influence of that nobleman, and the absolute necessity of a family provision, on the question of the Union the raidance of his public character was obscured for ever, the laurels of his early achievements fell withered from his brow; and, after having with zeal and sincerity laboured to attain independence for his country in 1782, he became one of its sale-masters in 1800, and mingling in a motley crowd, uncongenial to his native character, and beneath his natural superiority, he surrendered the rights, the franchises, and the honors of that peerage, to which, by his great talents and his early virtues, he had been so justly elevated. Except upon the bench, his person was devoid of dignity, and his ap¬ pearance ordinary and mean, yet there was something in the strong, marked lines of his rough unfinished features, which spoke a character oi no common description. Powerful talent was its first trait, fire and phi¬ lanthropy contended for the next. His countenance, wrought up and va¬ ried by the strong impressions of his labouring mind, could be better termed indicatory than expressive; and in the midst of his greatest errors and most reprehensible moments, it was difficult not to respect, and impossible not to regard him. CHAPTER Vin. I. As the proceedings of the Volunteers and municipal bodies became every day more serious and decisive, and the Irish House of Commons, on the subserviency of which the British Ministers had been so long accus¬ tomed to rely, assumed an unusual tone of independence, and evinced strong symptoms of an approaching revolution of sentiment, the British Cabinet were alarmed for the consequences of further neglect, and at lengtli reluctantly gave up all hopes of effectually resisting or evading the de¬ mands of Ireland. They now only sought how they could best gain time for deliberation, so as to moderate the extent of their concessions, and adopt a mode of conduct the least likely to humiliate the pride, or alarm the jea¬ lousies of Great Britain. But Hard North’s administration had been disgraced, and ruined through AE-D FALL mitted, no man, I trust, will shrink from her support, but go through, hand and heart, in the establishment of our liberties. As I wars caution; in committing, so I am now firm in asserting the rights of my country. My declaration, therefore, is, that as the nation has determined to obtain the restoration of her liberty, it behoves every man in Ireland to stand FIRM.” Yet this was the Fitzgibbon who in a feiv yearn trampled on hcj liberties, and sold her constitution. The effect produced by this extraordinary speech from a man, the wholo tenor of whoso public life had been in hostility to its principles, neither weight to the measure nor gainsd character for the speaker, disgust ItlSE AND FALL OF TUE IRISH NATION. 99 WBkS tbe most prevalent sensation, but had he been a less able man, con¬ tempt would have been more prominent. All further debate ceased, the Speaker put the question on Mr. Grattan’s amendment; a unanimous “aye" burst from every quarter of the house, he repeated the question, the ap¬ plause was redoubled, a moment of tumultuous exultation followed, and, after centuries of oppression, Ireland at length declared herself an inde¬ pendent NATION. This important event quickly reached the impatient crowds of every rank of society, who, without doors, awaited the decision of their Parliament, a cry of joy and of exultation spread with electric rapidity through the en¬ tire city, its echo penetrated to the very interior of the house, every thing gave way to an effusion of happiness and congratulation that had never before been exhibited in that misgoverned country. VII. Ireland from that moment assumed a new aspect, she rose ma¬ jestically from her ruins, and surveyed the author of her resurrection with cidmiration and with gratitude. A young barrister, without professional celebrity, without family connexions, possessed of no considerable fortune, nor of any personal influence, save that which talent and virtue involun¬ tarily acquire, leagued with no faction, su25ported individually by no poli¬ tical party, became the instrument of Providence to liberate his country, and in a single day achieved what the most able statesman, the most ele¬ vated personages, the most i^owerful and best connected parties never could effect. Aided by the circumstances of the moment, he seized the oppor¬ tunity with promptitude, vigour, and perseverance; but whilst he raised his country to jirosperity, and himself to unexpected fortune and never- fading honour, he acquired vindictive enemies by the brilliancy of his suc¬ cess, and afterwards fell a temporary sacrifice to the perseverance of their malice and to the dissimulations of their jealousy. Mr. Connolly and Sir Henry Cavendish also, on this night, as ardently- supported the independence of Ireland, as if it was a principle engrafted on their nature, both of them had put their signatures to a “life and for¬ tune" declaration, to uphold the perpetual independence of their country, but it will appear in tlie progress of Irish affairs, how little reliance is to b? placed on political declarations, where an alteration of circumstances or CJuaexions so frequently operates as a renunciation of principle. On the discussion of the Union in the year eighteen hundred, Sir Henry had ex¬ changed the Duke of Devonshire for an employment in the treasury, and a new planet had arisen to influence Mr. Connolly; in that year both those gentlemen declaimed as conscientiously against the independence of the Irish nation, as if they had never pledged their “lives and fortunes” for their perpetual support of it. = It wa-s impos.sibIe for any uninterested observer of the character and composition of the Irish rarliament to have conceived that the apjxirenfe unanimity of this night could have arisen from any one principle of uni¬ versal action, men v/ere actuated by various motives forming a mixed com¬ position of patriotism and of policy ;* it was the unanimous firmness of the * The following address of the Dunginnon convention to the memhera of Par. liamout who had voted in the minoritiea, in 1781, and the begianing of 1782 ia 100 RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. ptopJe and not the abstract virtue of their delegates, which achieved this revolution, nor is it possible to read some of the popular resolutions* of that day without feeling admiration at the happy union of spirit, of patriotism, and of prudence, which characterized their proceedings. VIII. 'When the intelligence of these events was circulated through the nation, the joy and the rejoicings of the people were beyond all descrip¬ tion ; every city, town, and village in Ireland, blazed with the emblems of exultation, and resounded with the shouts of triumph; the Volunteers, however, were not dazzled by the sunshine of the moment, they became rather more active than more remiss: much indeed was faithfully promised,, but still everything remained to be actually performed, and it soon appeared, that human life is not more uncertain in its duration than political faith, precarious in its sincerity. The fair intentions of one government are gene¬ rally called at least injudicious by its successors, political honesty has often vegetated in British Councils, but never yet did it survive to the period of maturity, and the short existence of the Duke of Portland’s splendid A dminis tration warranted the cautious suspicion of the Volunteers, and affording the succeeding INIinistry an opportunity for attempting those in¬ sidious measures which soon afterwards characterized anew the dispositions of the British Cabinet. The parliament, and the people, when the paroxysm of their joy had subsided, waited with some solicitude for the King’s reply to the Declara¬ tion of their Independence, and a general suspension of public business took place until its arrival. It was, however, the first pause of confidence and tranquillity that Ireland had experienced since her connexion with Great Britain; little could she then foresee that her new prosperity was hut the precursor of future evils, and of scenes as cruel and as destructive as any she had ever before experienced. The seeds of the Irish Union were sown by the very same event which had procured her independence. So early as seventeen hundred and eighty-foui* that independence was assidi- ously assailed by a despotic Minister, under colour of a commercial tariff. In seventeen hundred and eighty-nine events connected with the malady of the Monarch and the firm adherence of the Irish Parliament to the constitutional rights of the Heir Apparent, determined the same Minister in the fatal project of extinguishing the Irish Legislature, and in seventeen hundred and ninety-eight a rebellion artificially permitted, to terrify the country, and followed by acts and scenes of unparalleled corruption, for a moment warped away the minds of men from the exercise of common extremely illustrative of their temper and firnmese, and made a very deep imptM- sion on the public mind: “ My Lords and Gentlemen, “We thank you for your noble and spirited, though hitherto ineffectual efforts in defence of the great constitutional rights of yoar country. Go on, go on, the almost unanimous voice of your country is vrith 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 bo free. We eeek for our rights, and no more than our rights, and in so just a pursuit we Dhoold 2oBbt the being of a Providence,we douited 0 / success." RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION, 101 reason, and gave power and pretence to the British Cabinet to effect that "xtinguishment at a moment of national derangement. CHAPTER X. I The foimdation of Irish independence had now been laid, by the cpiiit of the Parliament and the unanimity of the people ; and the stately structure of Irish liberty seemed likely to raise with solidity and magnifi¬ cence. The labourers v/ere numerous and indefatigable; and nothing was to be dreaded but contrariety in the plans, or jealousy among the archi¬ tects; dangers which are proved, by the sequel of her history, to be the • true and substantial cause of Ireland’s annexation. It is demonstrated by facts, beyond the power of refutation, that from the moment the British Ministry found it imperatively necessary to submit to this declaration of Irish independence, no consideration was paramount in their councils to the desire of counteracting it. In furtherance of that object, from the period of the Duke of Portland’s Administration to that of Lord Corn- ^^'allis, the old system of dividing the Irish against each other, and pro¬ fiting by their dissensions, was artfully pursued by the English Ministry, to re-establish their own supremacy, and from that moment they resolved to achieve, at any risk or price, that disastrous measure, which at on^ blow, has prostrated the pride, the power, and the legislature of Irelandj and reduced her from the rank of a nation to the level of a department^ But the people had now no leisure for suspicious forethought or matm-q reflection, and the interval between the Declaration of independence, the reply of his Majesty to that Declaration, though a period of deep anxiety, neither awakened serious doubts, nor produced implicit confidence; An adjournment for three weeks was now proposed in the Commons, to g 've time for the arrival of his Majesty’s Answer to their Address and eclaration. This motion though it gave rise to a conversation rather than a debate, produced one of the most singular political phenomena that hard ever appeared in the history of any nation. hlr. John Scott, then Attorney-General, afterwards Lord Clonmel, whose despotic conduct had previously given rise to many and severe ani¬ madversions, took advantage of this sceasion to recant his former and fa¬ vourite political principle, that “ might constitute right.” lie now de¬ clared his firm and unqualified adherence to the claims of Ireland, in terras which, a week before, he would have prosecuted for as a seditious hbel; and tendered his large fortune towards a general fund, to enforce from Great Britain the rights of his country, if force should became necessary. He said, that, “he now felt it indispensable for him to throw off aU equivocal and mysterious silence, and declared as his unchangeable opinion that Great Britain never had any right whatever to bind hrs country, and that any acts she had ever done for that purpose were decided usurpations— that if the tenure of his offee of Attorney-General depended upon ths audnteaance of doctrines injurious to the rights and independenco ol Ireland, it was an infamous tenure—and if the Parliament of Great 102 RISE ASO FALL OF THE IRISH KATIOH. Britain-were determined to lord it over Ireland, he Avas restlred not to be their villain in executing their tyi-aiiny.* That if matters should procewl to the extremity to -which he feared they were verging, he should not ha an insignificant subscriber to the fund for defending their common rights. That a life of such labour, together witli the blessing of Providence, and what is commonly called good luck, had given him a landed propei'ty of £5,000 per year, and an office of great emolument, all-which should cer¬ tainly be devoted to the service of his country. That it would be dis¬ graceful, for the paltry emoluments of an office to stand watching the vibrations of the balance, when he had determined to throw his life and fortune into the scale. I know,” concluded the Attorney-General, “that the public mind is on fire; 1 know that the determination of the people is to be free; and I adopt their determination. A speech of so strong and stormy a nature, never having before been uttered by any Minister or Law Officer of the British Empire, nor even by any member of the Irish Parliament, created a sensation which it is scarcely possible to describe.f One sentence conveyed a volume of infor¬ mation. “If matters proceed to the extremities to which I fear they are verging,” was a direct declaration of mistrust in the Government he served: and such a speech, made in Parliament by the first confidential executive Lavr Officer of the Crown, possessed a character of mystery and great im¬ portance. The dread of an insurrection in Ireland was thus, in direct terms, announced by the King’s Attorney-General; and by his intrepid determi- tion to risk his life and fortune to support its objects, he afforded good reason to apprehend that his Majesty’s reply was not likely to be such as • It is a very curious fact, that Mr. Attorney-General Scott’s declaration ol resisting the usurpation of England, in 1782, was repeated in 1800, by two suc¬ cessive Attorney-Generals of Ireland, though under different circumstances. Mr. William Saurin, in bis place in Pai-liament, declared that be considered the Irish Eepresentatives incompetent to exact a Legislative Union; and that any statutes, made by a Parliament, so constituted, would not be constitutionally binding on the Irish people. That gentleman, some time after became Attorne 3 --General of Ireland himself, and never afterwards repeated his scepticism. Mr. Plunket made the same declaration, but in rather stronger terms, as he vouched for bis son as well as himself; and soon after became Attorney-General, Mr. Foster, and manerous able lawj'ers, some of them junior Judges, and many country magistrates, united in those sentiments. No member of the Irish Parliament opposed the Union more strenuously than the Author of this Work, and he united with those gentlemen in their opinion as to the incompetence of the Irish Parliament. + The author wae present at all these important debates. On Mr. Scott’s re¬ cantation, the sensation of the house was so striking and singular, that ho ca^ never recollect it without emotion. For a moment, there was profound silence, gradually, the murmur of astonishment -was heard, spreading from bench to benoL, till one loud and general cry of approbation burst from every quarter of the house, and in rapid and continued plaudits, evinced the enthusiasm of that era, and the importance of that secession. lilSE AND FALL OF TUE IRISH NATION. 103 would cultivate tranq^uillity, and left no doubt that the Attorney-General foreboded an unwise reluctance in the British Cabinet, to a measure so vital to the peace, perhaps to the integrity of the British Empire. This conduct of Mr Scott, coupled with the previous secession of Mr. Eitzgibbon, must be looked on as among the most extraordinary occurrences of these^, or any other times in Ireland. In the history of Nations and of Parliaments, there is not another in¬ stance of two such men, publicly professing and practising the principles of arbitrary power, being so humbled, and reduced to the abject condescen¬ sion of feigning a public virtue they had theretofore hut ridiculed, and as¬ suming a fictitious patriotism, the result, at best, of their fears or of their policy. However, be the motive what it might, that most unprecedented con¬ duct taught the British Government that they could no longer trifle with Ireland. Their power was then extinct; and no course remained but that of instantly relinquishing their long-vaunted supremacy, and surrendering at discretion to the just demands of a determined and potent people: and the splendid, though temporary triumph acliieved by Ireland, affords a glorious precedent for oppressed nations, and an instructive lesson for ar¬ rogant usurpation. II. Immediately on this unexpected turn, the Duke of Portland sent off two dispatches to England; one to the Cabinet as a public document, and the other, a private and confidental note to Mr. Fox. The latter docu¬ ment explained his reasons for the necessity he felt of acceding, without any appearance of reluctance, to any demands which might at that mo¬ ment be made by the Irish Parliament: but intimated “that so strong a difference of opinion appeared to exist between some gentlemen of weight, that arrangements more favourable to England might posssbly be effected through their controversies, although he could not venture to propose such, were they perfectly unanimous. He stated, in conclusion, that he would omit no opportunity of cultivating his connexion with the Earl of Charle- mont, who appeared entirely disposed to place confidence in his Adminis¬ tration, and to give a proper tone to the armed bodies over whom he had the most considerable influence.” So skilfully did he act upon these suggestions, that he inveigled the good hut feeble Earl Charlemont entirely into his trammels, and as long as his Grace remained in the Irish Government, he not only much influenced that nobleman, but kept him at arm’s length from some of the ablest statesmen of the country, without their perceiving the insidious power that caused the separation. The other Ministers adopted the same principles, and they did not de¬ spair, by plausible conduct, according to the Duke of Portland’s policy, to temporize with all parties, play off the people and the Parliament imper¬ ceptibly against each other, and, by gradually diminishing their rnutuav confidence, bring both to a dependence upon the good faith of the Britis’i Ministry, and so indispose the Irish Parliament from insisting upon any measures v/hich might humble the pride, or alarm the interests of the Eri» tish nation. XH. The British Cabinet had certainly great embarrassments to encctui* lOi EISE AND FALL OF TUE IRISH MATIOJI. ter. They had the difficult step to tahe of gratifying tho clauns of Ireland, without affecting the egotism of Great Britain. But the relatire interestA of the two countries being in many points fundamentally repugnant, the dilemma of Ministers was extremely embarrassing. It was doubly increased by a declaration of rights, and a positive demand, which anticipated the credit of a spontaneous generosity—an advantage which was now lost to them for ever. Their voluntary favours would now be changed to com¬ pulsory grants, the extent of which they could neither foresee nor control M'hilo the British Cabinet and the Irish Viceroy actively corresponded, the Irish nation was not iffie. No relaxation was permitted in the war¬ like preparations of the Volunteer army. Eeviews and discipline were con¬ tinued with unintermitting ardour and emulation. Their artillery was daily exercised in the Phoenix Park, near Dublin. Camp equipage was preparing for actual service, and on the day to which the Parliament ad¬ journed, the w'hole of the Volunteer force of the metropolis was under arms, and fully prepared for the alternative (which the decision of his ^Majesty’s Cabinet, through the speech of its Viceroy, might impose upon the people) either to return to their homes for the peaceable enjoyment of their rights or instantly to take the field. Musters had been ordered, to ascertain the probable numbers of Volunteers ready for immediate and active service. The returns had increased from the former census to about 124,000 officers and soldiers, of w'hom upwards of 100,000 effectives, well armed and disciplined, and owing no superior but God and their country, would, on the first sound of an hostile trumpet, have rushed with enthu¬ siasm to the standards of independence. The Volunteer regiments and Eorps were commanded by gentlemen of rank and consideration in the country, and disciplined by retired officers of the British army; the ser- jeants being chiefly veteran soldiers who had fought in the American cam¬ paigns, and learned from their own defeats, the powers of a people deter¬ mined to obtain their freedom. The whole disposable military force of Great Britain was at that period inadequate to combat one week with tho Volunteers of Ireland, composing an army which could be increased, at a call, by a million of enthusiasts; and which, in case a contest had arisen, worild have also been liberally recruited by the desertion of the Irish sol¬ diers from the British army—and nearly one-third of that army was com¬ posed of Irishmen. The British Navy, too, Avas then also manned by what were generally denominated British tars;* but a large proportion of whom were, in fact, sailors of Irish birth and Irish feelings, ready to shed their blood in the service of Great Britain while she remained the friend of Ire¬ land^ but as ready to seize and to steer the British navy into Irish ports, if she declared against their country, and thus it ever will be. The safety of England was then clearly in the hands of Ireland, and one hostile step, at that perilous crisis of the tAvo nations, must have terminated ®Th 0 mutiny at the Nore, in the Channel Fleet, confirms this observation. Had tho mutineers at that time chosen to carry the British ships into on Irish port, no power could have prevented them; and had there been a strong insurrec- Don in Ireland, it is more than probable they would have delivered one-half of the English fleet into the hands of their coumrymen. SISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 105 tlieir unity, and, of course, the power of the British Empire. But tha I'abiuet at length considered that resistance to the just demands of Ire¬ land would be unavailing; and that she was then too powerful for England to hazard an insurrection, which, if once excited, it would have been im¬ possible to suppress. Too cautious to risk a danger so imminent, they yielded to existing cir - iumstances, and determined to concede. A system of conduct, which is (xvlled perfidy in private life, and policy by Governments, has been very generally and very successfully resorted to in important political dilemmas, and they adopted the low and cunning course of yielding with affected candour, and counteracting with deep duplicity. IV. The Cabinet reflected, also, that times and circumstances cannot always remain unchanged, and that the political vicissitudes to which every state is subject, frequently enable conceding powers to re-assumo usurpation; and, when restored to strength and vigour, again to forget the law of nations and of justice, and explain away or deny the spirit of those engagements which their feebleness had contracted. The events which have since occurred in Ireland, and the conduct and equivocation of the British Ministers in 1799 and 1800, proved to the world, that such were the pre¬ meditated and ulterior views of the British Cabinet in 1782; and that the Duke of Portland was well aware of its objects, and freely lent himself to their perpetration. Mr. Fox never had any especial predilection for Ireland. He was igno¬ rant equally of her rights,* and her localities; and he considered her only as the segment of a great circle, which ho laboured to encompass. He wielded the grievances of Ireland only as a weapon of offence against the Ministry, He was a great man, with a popular ambition, and assumed the hereditary title of Whig, when its purest prineiples had nearly become obsolete, Mr. Pitt had in view the very same object, to rule; and they only differed in the means of effecting it. The one wished to rise upon the shoulders of the people; the other, to be elevated upon those of the aristocracy. But the ambition of both was to govern the Empire. Their rivalry was of party, and their struggle was for power; but the internal prosperity of Ireland, as a distinct abstract consideration, gave not one hour's solicitude to either one or the other of those celebrated Ministers, though its resources were in part an object to both. The Duke of Portland was not of sufficient talent or weight to lead tha Ministry; but he had enough of both to bo an efficient accessory. A man of plain, fair, undistinguiHicd reputation, can effect important acts of duplicity, with less suspicion and more facility than moro prominent and energetic personages; and when the moment of development arrives, ho can plead the honesty of his character, and the error of his judgment; lay gain a gi-eat point, and can only lose a nariw may bo interesting, as decidedly applicable to tiie Administration of the Duke of Portland, Ilia Grace’s conduct and * See Mr. Fox’s Letter to Bari Charlemont, April, 1782, Hardy’s ** Life of Chaiiemont. or, at the worst, he i reputation. These observations i06 RISE AND FALL OF THE IKISH NATION. Bpceches on the question of the Union, in 1800. leave no doubt that the whole tenor of his conduct, in 1782, must have been a premeditated tissue of dissimulation. V. The Irish House met, pursuant to the adjournment, on the 27th hlay, 1782, a day teeming with importance to the fate of Ireland and the character of Great Britain. It is not easy to imagine the solicitude and impatience with which the people awaited the decision of Great Britain on its claims. On the morning of that memorable day, the Volm.teers were under arms at an early hour. Their artillery, under the orders of James Happer Tandy, was stationed on the quays, and commanded all the bridges leading from the Military Barracks to the House of Parliament. The other corps, horse and foot, were posted at different stations of communication in the city; while some regular troops, formed in treble files, lined the streets for the passage of the Lord Lieutenant. But, though neither party knew what would be the result of that day’s p’^oceedings, nor whether war or peace would be proclaimed by the British Ministry, not a symptom of hos¬ tile feeling appeared on any side. The Volunteers and the regular troops saluted each other as they passed, and reciprocally showed every mark of military courtesy. The strictest order prevailed; and the whole, by a combination most interesting and extraordinary, formed a scene to which history affords no parallel. The Duke of Portland had not a very dignified demeanour, but, unfor^ Innately, every body then considered him as a man of political integrity. His time, during the recess had been skilfully employed, to gain upon the country gentlemen by flattering attention and courtly blandishment. His Grace had learned, from Earl Charlemont, the character of Mr. Grattan, before he saw him. He was fully apprised of his spirit and pa¬ triotism, and knew well that neither could be conquered. But he conceived that by operating on the moderation and generous confidence of that vir¬ tuous Irishman, he might eventually divide the Parliament; chill the general enthusiasm of the people, and effect the objects of the British Government; and, before the meeting of Parliament, his Grace had made great progress in exciting shades of difference in the opinions of those who should have been unanimous. A premature gratitude, and credulous con¬ fidence, had already prepared the House for his reception; and he deli¬ vered the Speech from the Throne, with a well-affected honesty of em¬ phasis, and an imposing appearance of individual gratification. The Viceroy’s speech gave rise to a debate of the very highest impor¬ tance, not only as affecting the interests and feelings of that day, but as influencing the subsequent events and destiny of the Irish nation. “My Lords and Gentlemen. It gives me the utmost satisfaction, that the firat time I have occasion to address you, 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 rciDresentations, and that the British Legislature have ccncuri-ed in reso¬ lution to remove the causes of your discontents and jealousies, and ai'e united in a desire to gratify every wish, expressed in your late .Addresses to the ThroujO, RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 107 “ If any thing could add to the pleasure I feel in giving you those as¬ surances, it is that I can accompany them with my congratulations on the important and decisive victory gained by tlie fleets of his Majesty over those of the common enemy in the West Indies, and on the signal advan¬ tage obtained by his hlajesty’s arms in the Island of Ceylon and on the Coast of Coromandel. “ By the papers which, in obedience to his Majesty’s commands, I have directed to be laid before you, you will receive the most convincing testi¬ mony of the cordial reception which your representations have met with from the Legislature of Great Britain ; but his hlajesty, whose first and most anxious wish to exercise his Royal Prerogative in such a manner RS may be most conducive to the welfare of his faithful subjects, has further given it me in command to assure you of his gracious disposition to give his Royal Assent to acts to prevent the suppression of Bills in tho Privy Council of this Kingdom, and the alteration of them any where j and to limit the duration of the Act for the better Regulation and Accom¬ modation of his Majesty’s forces in this Kingdom, to the term of two years. “These benevolent intentions of his Majesty, and the willingness of his Parliament of Great Britain to second his gracious purposes, are un¬ accompanied by any stipulation, or condition whatever. “The good faith, the generosity, and the honour of this nation, afforded 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. “ On my own part, I entertain not the least doubt, but that the same spirit which urged you to share the freedom of Great Britain, will confirm you in your determination to share her fate also, standing or falling with the British Empire.” Mr. Grattan immediately rose. Ilis rinsuspecting and grateful mind, though congenial to the honest liberality of a patriot, was quite too con¬ ceding and inexperienced to meet the ways and wiles of deceptions statesmen. Misled by the apparent sincerity of that speech, and the plain and plausible demeanour of the Duke of Portland, ho lost sight of every thing but confidence and gratitude, and left to deeper politicians to discover the snare that lay concealed amidst the soothing and honourable language of the Viceroy. lie said—“That as Great Britain had given up every claim to authority over Ireland, ho had not the least idea that she should be also bound to make any declaration that she had formerly usurped that power. I’his would be a foolish caution, a dishonourable condition.* Tho nation that insists upon the humiliation of another, is a foolish nation; and Ireland is not a foolish nation. I move you to assui’o his hL'.jcsty of * This was a juvenile syllogism, where there were neither premises nor cone elusion to support tho argument. Credulity and wisdom are nearly incompati. b’e. Ireland was a crednlona nation ; ergo, she could not have beon a wise one. Had Ireland been more sceptical La 1782, she would have been less ULiortan^te |n 1800. KISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. im our unteigned affection to his Royal Person and Government; that WB feel most sensibly, the attention our reprsentations have received from the magnanimity of his Majesty, and the wisdom of the Parliament of Gieat Britain; to assure his Majesty, that we conceive the resolution for an unqualified, unconditional repeal of the 6th George the First to be a measure of consummate wisdom and justice, suitable to the dignity and eminence of both Nations, exalting the character of both, and fur¬ nishing a perpetual pledge of mutual amity; to assure his Majesty, that we are sensibly affected by his virtuous determination to accede to the wishes of his faithful subjects, and to exercise his Royal prerogative in the manner most conducive to their welfare. That gratified in those parti¬ culars, we do assure his Majesty, that no constitutional question between the two nations will any longer exist, to interrupt their harmony ; and that Great Britain, as she approved of our firmness, may rely on our affection; and that we remember, and do repeat our determination, to stand or fall with the British Nation.” When Jlr. Grattan concluded the Address, which was seconded by Mr. Brownlow, a most animated and interesting, though desultory debate, im¬ mediately ensued; a debate too much connected with the subsequent transactions on the Union, not to be particularly noticed in this stage of the history. The Recorder of, and Member for, Dublin, Sir Samuel Brodstreet, a strong-minded, public spirited man, an able lawyer, and independent Member of Parliament; of a rough, decisive, firm deportment, was the first who ventured to insinuate his dissent from the Address, and his sus¬ picions of the Duke’s sincerity. He entirely objected to that sweeping clause of Mr. Grattan’s Address—“ That all constitutional questions be¬ tween the two countries were at an end.” He stated that many were not yet touched upon—many that were vital to Irish independence still re¬ mained unoticed; for he insisted that the Irish Parliament actually sat at that moment under an English Statute; and that the Address, as moved, was in some instances premature—in others too comprehensive—in all, defective. Subsequent events have since proved the soundness and acute¬ ness of his judgment and his foresight. Mr. Flood said but a few words, and they were rather insinuating than insisting on his dissent. lie started some difficulties on the subject of external legislation—ho expressed his opinion, that matters were not yet sufficiently advanced to form a decided judgment upon the extent and modifications of the proposed arrangements. But it was obvious that this great man was neither confident nor satisfied; and that he conceived, that Slough the chief demano had been made, and that grant acceded to, yet that it would require profound consideration, and a steady comprehensive system, to secure the tenure. He pubhely anticipated nothing; but his owu want of faith in the British cabinet was obvious and comprehensive. Mr. David Walsho, an able pertinacious lawyer, courageous and not con¬ ciliating, was a still more determined sceptic. He had a clear head, a auspicious, perverse mind, and a temper that never would outstretch itself to meet pacific objects. He debated well, but was too intemperate to ac¬ quire or maintain a general popularity. A pari of his speech on this RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 109 memorable night is also of great Importance. He followed Sir Samuel Bradstreet on the point of external legislation, and concluded with these remarkable exp essions :— “ I repeat it, that until England declares unequivocally, by an act of her own Legislature, that she had no right, in any instance, to make laws to bind Ireland, the usurped power of English legislation never can bo considered by us as relinquished. We want not the concessions of Eng¬ land to restore us our liberties. If we are true to ourselves, we possess the fortitude, we po sess the will, and, thank God, we possess the power to as¬ sert our rights as men, and accomplish our independence as a nation.” VI. The gauntlet was now thrown, the vital question was started; England was put on her defence, and Ireland on her trial. The great point of confirming the Irish independence and constitution being once started, could never be relinquished; it must be decided—the suspicion of English sincerity once raised, must be satisfied; and it ap¬ peared in a mom ;nt, that I\Ir. Grattan’s address could never be considered either secure or conclusive. But even those who thought so, did not con¬ ceive that the moment had as yet arrived when that subject should be so warmly discussed. Those who feared that a difference at so early a period might defeat all their expectatioms, chose rather to accede to an address they did not ap¬ prove of, than ha ard a disunion which might never be remedied. Mr. Yelverton strongly recommended unanimity at that moment. If seemed for prudential reasons, to be the general wish; and Mr. Walshe had withdrawn his opposition, when Mr. Fitzpatrick, the Viceroy’s Secre¬ tory, artfully seized on the moment of inconsiderate gratitude, and threw out a defiance to those who endeavoured to diminish its unanimity. This, to such a temper as Mr. Walshe’s had the effect intended, of causing a c ivision, and the kilful Secretary succeeded in his object. On the division, the Recorder and Mr. Walshe alone divided on the mi¬ nority, and Mr. Grattan’s address was triumphantly carried, and with all imperfections; and a short period proved that these imperfections were neither few nor ummportant. The House adjourned amidst the universal acclamations of the ignorant and eredulous people ; and the constitutional arrangements between the two countries were fatally supposed, from the tenor of the speech and the address, to have been entirely and for ever ar¬ ranged to their mutual satisfaction. It is here proper to pause and reflect upon the embarrassing situation into which tliis day’s debate had thrown both nations; an embarrassment whicn, since that day, has never yet completely terminated and probably never will. The transcendent merits of Mr. Grattan, the unparalleled brillkncy oi his language, in moving the declaration of rights, his firmness and his patri¬ otism, had raised him above all his countrymen. That declaration, it was believed, bad restored the liberties of his country, and given him a just claim to all the rewards and honours which even the glowing gratitude of that country could confer upon him. But unfortunately, his own honesty led him to mistaken confidence in tliat of others. The courtly patriotism of Lord Chariemontj always inclining him to a blind principle of oencilia- no EISE AND F^VLL OF THE IRISH NATION. tion, had its influence on Mr. Grattan, who was a statesman, great in priu:> ciple, but inefficient in detail; and the moderation of Lord Charleniont was not ineffective nor merely passive, when restraining the vigour of a mind, that seemed to be created to think greatly and act decid^y, only upon great and decisive occasions. CHAPTER XL I. It is as extraordinary as it is true, that the weakness and foibles of Irish character were more strikingly displayed during this important diS" cussion, than upon any former occasion. A generous, ardent, credulous, unstatesman-like sensibility, appeared to have seized upon the whole as¬ sembly; and even the natural quickness of perception and acuteness of in¬ tellect, which the Members of that House displayed on ordinary and trivial subjects, seemed totally to have forsaken them during this memorable de¬ bate ; of more vital importance to the nation than any other that had ever taken place in the Irish Parhament. II. The country gentlemen of Ireland, at all times bad casuists, and worse lawyers, appeared on this occasion to close both their ears and eyes, and to resign with one accord, all exercise of judgment and discrimina¬ tion. The word unanimity ” operated as a talisman amongst them, and silenced all objections. The very important observations of Sir Samuel Bradstreet and Mr, Walshe were hardly listened to with paLlnnce. Mr. Flood himself seemed to be overwhelmed and manacled; and those axioms and that reasoning which were ultimately acceded to and adopted, even by the British Ministers themselves, were on this night considered as a species of treason against the purity of the British Government, and the sincerity of the Ii’ish viceroy. No voice but that of congratulation, joy, and confi¬ dence, could make itself heard. No suspicions durst be suggested—no murmurs durst be uttered. The scene was new to Ireland; and exultation took precedence for a time of both reason and reflection. Beauchamp Bagenal, representative for Carlow county, as soon as the flurry of mutual congratulations had a little subsided in the House, pro¬ posed a measure well adapted to the circumstances of that moment, and most hapjjily coincident with the sentiments of the people. How far it had been premeditated, or arose from the impulse of the moment, no per¬ son acquainted with the character and eccentricities of Mr. Bagenal could possibly detennine. Ha was one of those persons, who, born to a large inheritance, and hav¬ ing no profession jlo interrupt their propensities, generally made in those times the grand tour of Europe, as the finishing part of a gentleman’s education. Mr. Bagenal followed the general course; and on that tour had made himself very conspicuous. He had visited every capital of Europe, and had exhibited the native original character of the Irish gentle¬ man at every place he visited. In the splendour of his travelling establish¬ ment, he quite eclipsed the patty potentates wdth whom Germany was garnRaefi. His person wa»s finCj his m.aimei.-s open and generous, hia RISE AND F^VLL OF THE IRISH NATION. in ipirit high, and his liberality profuse. During his tour, he had performed A variety of feats which were emblazoned in Ireland, and endeared him to his countrymen. He had fought a prince; jilted a princess; intoxicated the Doge of Venice; carried off a Duchess from Madrid; scaled the walla of a convent in Italy; narrowly escaped the Inquisition at Lisbon; con¬ cluded his exploits by a celebrated fencing match at Paris; and he re¬ turned to Ireland with a sovereign contempt for all continental men and manners, and an inveterate antipathy to all despotic kings and arbitrary governments. Domesticated in his own mansion at Duiileckny, surrounded by a nume¬ rous and devoted tenantry, and possessed of a great territory, Mr. Bageual determined to spend the residue of his days on his native soil, according to the usages and customs of country gentlemen; and he was shortly after- v;;i; ds returned a representative to Parliament for the county of Carlow, by universal acclamation. Though Mr. Bagenal did not take any active part in the general busi¬ ness of the Irish Parliament, he at least gave it a good example of public spirit and high-minded independence. His natural talents were far above mediocrity; but his singularities, in themselves extravagant, were increased by the intemperance of those times; and an excellent capacity was neutral¬ ized by inordinate dissipation. Prodigally hospitable, irregular, extrava¬ gant, uncertain, vivacious; the chase, the turf, the sod, and the bottle, divided a great portion of his intellects between them, and generally left for the use of Parliament, only so much as he could spare from his other occupations. However, in supporting the independence and prosperity of Ireland, he always stood in the foremost ranks. Liberal and friendly, but obstinate and refractory, above all his con¬ temporaries, he had a 23erfect indifference for the opinions of the world, when they at all differed from his own; and he never failed to perform whatever came uppermost in his thoughts, with the most perfect contempt as to the notions which might be formed either of his rectitude or impro¬ priety. He was one of the first country gentlemen who raised a volunteer regi¬ ment in the county Carlow. He commanded several military corps, and was one of the last Volunteer Colonels in Ireland who could be prevailed upon to discontinue the reviews of their regiments, or to relinquish that noble, patrioii. 0 , and unprecedented institution. However, he was, ou this occasion, as pohtically short-sighted as he was nationally credulous. He could see nothing but sincerity in the Viceroy, honour in the British Cabinet, and an eternal cordiality between the two nations: and before the constitutional arrangement was well begun, he fancied it was com¬ pletely concluded. His admiration of hlr. Grattan vras unqualified and extravagant; and it was with an honest zeal and pure sincerity ho rose to propose a measure, at that period the most popular and gratifying to the Irish nation. III. Having passed many eulogiuma on Mr. Grattan’s services to Ireland, he gave notice of an intended motion, “that a Committee should be appointed, to consider and report what aura tlig Irish Parfiameat chould 112 EISE AND FALL OF THE ISISH NATTOIT. grant, to build a suitable mansion and purchase an estate for thslr great deliverer.” In prefacing this notice, Mr. Bagenal, full of candour and credulity, used some expressions, so unfortunately anti-prophetic, as to render them worthy of marked observation. He said, that Mr. Grattan had saved the country from an iron age, and unequivocally restored a golden one to his own country for ever. “By our affectionate alliance -with Great Britain^ we shall not only be benefitted ourselves, but shall see a beloved sister re- \dve from her misfortunes. This great man has crowned the woik for ever; under his auspices the throne of freedom is fixed on a basis so firm, and which will always be so well supported by the influence the people must acquire under his system, that, with the help of God, there is no danger, even of Parliament itself ever being able to shake it; nor shall any Parliament be ever again profanely styled omnipotent.” Mr, Grattan attempted to make some observations, but his voice was drowned in the general applause; and the house adjourned without further observations. IV. He alone now occupied the entire hearts of the people. They had no room for any other individual. Almost frantic with gratitude to their deliverer, they cried out, that the doctrines of Molyneux had triumphed in the same place where they had before been consigned' to infamy. But the day of those pure and lofty feelings has passed away. A broken down constitution seldom recovers its pristine elasticity; and that enthusiastic, proud, patriotic spirit wMch signalized the Irish nation in 1782, driven to its tomb by misrule and by misfortune, can never rise again but on some congenial crisis. V, The British Ministry and Parliament now began to feel their own weakness. Their intolerance degenerated into fear; and responsibility began to stare them in the face. The loss of America had been got over by their predecessors without an impeachment; but that of Ireland would not have passed over with the same impunity. The British Cabinet had already signed the capitulation, and thought it impossible to carry it too soon into execution. Bills to enact the concessions demanded by Ireland were, therefore, prepared with an expedition nearly bordering on precipi¬ tancy. The 6th of George the First, declaratory of, and establishing the supremacy of England, and the eternal dependence of Ireland on the Parliament and Cabinet of Great Britain, was now hastily repealed, without debate, or any qualification by the British Legislature. This repeal received the royal assent, and a copy was instantly transmitted to the Irish Viceroy, and communicated by circulars to the Volunteer com¬ manders. Chap. LIII. An Act, to repeal an Act made in tlie sixth year of tho reign of his late Majesty Iling George the First, intituled, An Act for the better flecuring the dependency of the kingdom of Ireland upon the crown of Greai Britain. “Whereas, an Act was passed in the sixth year of the reign of his lata Majesty King George the First, intituled: An Act for the better securing the dependency of the kingdom of. Ireland upon the crown of Great Britain; may it pkasa your Most Excellent Majesi.y, that it may ena-cted, and RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. ll? be it enacted, by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the ad¬ vice 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 therein contained, shall be, and is, and are hereby re¬ vealed." Thus, the doctrine of Blackstone, that venerated Druid of English juris¬ prudence, who by his dictum had tried to seal the slavery of the Irish people, was surrendered as unconstitutional, and renounced by the very same Legislature that had enacted it. As England drooped, Ireland raised her head; and for a moment she was arrayed with all the exterior insignia of an independent nation. VI. On the 30th of May, 1782, Mr. Bagenal resumed the subject of the reward to Mr. Grattan ; and after a short, but animated speech, moved “that £100,000 should be granted by Parliament, to purchase an estate, and build a suitable mansion, as the reward of gratitude by the Irish nation, for his eminent services to his country.” No member could directly oppose a measure so merited, so popular, and so honourable to the nation. No absolute murmur was heard; but the magnitude of the sum gave rise to many incidental observations; and some friends of Mr. Grattan endea • voured to impress the house with the idea that he was altogether adverse to the measure, and conceived that his honours and gratification would be greater by the feeling of having served his country without other reward than that arising from its pure and unsophisticated enjoyment. This idea in modern times, and under Mr. Grattan’s peculiar circum¬ stances, was considered less the result of a true pride than of a patriotic vanity. Roman precedents were not applicable to Ireland; and his pa¬ ternal estates were not sufficiently ample to support so distinguished a man in the dignity of his station. And the wisest friends of Mr. Grattan con¬ sidered such a grant not as a mercenary recompense, but the reward of patriotic virtue, conferred by the gratitude of a nation, to elevate a deliverer. VII. While the House seemed to hesitate as to the wisest course of carrying the proposed grant into immediate execution, a most unexpected circumstance took place, which, though in its results of no important con¬ sequence, fonns one of the most interesting anecdotes of liish events, developes the insiduous artifices to which the Government resorted, and forms an episode without a precedent in ancient or modern annals. Mr. Thomas Connolly, who, as a leading member of the Whig party, had entirely connected himself with the Duke of Portland; and though not holding any ministerial office, was a Privy Councillor, and considered to be particularly confidential in the councils of the Viceroy, after many eulogiums upon hlr. Grattan’s unparalleled eervioce to Ireland, stated “That the Duke of Portland felt equally with tho Irish people, the high value of those' services ; and that he was authorized by the lA>rd Lieute¬ nant to express, in the strongest terms, the sense he entertained of the public virtue of Mr. Grattan, and of his eminent and important serviofes to Ireland: and as the highest proof ho could give of his admirafioB end, .*cspeot for that distinguished personage, he (the Lord Lderatdnaafc) begg«4 u MSS iKD FALL Oif 'i'llE IRISH NATIOIT. H4 to offer, as a part of the intended grant to IMr, Grattan, the Viceregal Pa¬ lace in the Phoenix Park, to be settled on IMr. Grattan, and his heirs fo: ever, as a suitable residence for so meritorious a person.” VIII. The Viceroy of his Britannic Majesty, offering to a private individual a grant for ever of the King’s best Palace in Ireland, was re» pugnant to the principle of Monarchical Governments; while Mr. Bagenal’s proposal of a grant by the House of Commons, as a reward for the publio services of one of their own independent Members, appeared to the Vice¬ roy as making the people every thing and the Administration nothing. He saw clearly, that the public spirit was irresistible, and that the grant must pass; and the Viceroy determined, at any sacrifice, to give it a tinge of ministerial generosity, and thereby deaden, as much as possible, the brilliancy and effect of a popular proceeding. He knew that if his pro¬ posal, through Mr. Co nnolly should be accepted, the grant would have very considerably changed its democratic complexion, the prerogative would be somewhat preserved, and Mr. Grattan no longer considered as deriving his reward exclusively from the gratitude of his countrymen ; the Crown would Have its share in a claim to his acknowledgments; and thus the merit of the favour be aivided between the people and the Minister. This magnificent and unexampled offer, at first view, appeared flatter¬ ing and showy ; at the second, it appeared deceptions; and at the third inadmissible. Delicacy prevented any debate on the subject; and it would have died away without remark or observation, and have been rejected by a judicious silence, had not the indiscretion of Colonel Fitzpatrick be¬ trayed the whole feeling and duplicity of the Government, and opened the ?yes of many to the jealousy and designs of his Grace’s Administration. Though the Secretary was extremely disposed to serve Mr. Grattan indi¬ vidually, the entire failure of the plan, and the frigid manner in which the royal offer had been received on every side, hurt his official pride, and affected him extremely. He recollected his Ministry, but forgot his dis¬ cretion ; and he could no longer restrain himself from some observations equally ill-timed and injudicious. Colonel Fitzpatrick was the brother of the Earl of Upper Ossory. Though not an expert diplomatist, ho was well selected to make his way amongst the Irish gentry, and consequently carry into effect the objects of the British Ministers, and the deceptions of the Duke of Portland. He was ingenuous and convivial; friendly and familiar; and theoretically honest, even in politics. His name was musical to the ear of that short¬ sighted community (the Irish gentry), and his casual indiscretion in Par¬ liament were kindly attributed to his undesigning nature; and of all qua¬ lities, an appearance of unguarded openness is most imposing upon the Irish people. But the office of a Minister or of a Secretary is too well adapted to alter, if not the nature, at least the habits of a private gentle¬ man ; and, as a matter of course, he relinquishes his candour when he commences his diplomacy. Whatever his individual feelings might have been ss Colonel Fitzpa trick, it is impossible that in his capacity of Secretary, hlr. Bagenai’a mo¬ tion could have given him any gratification. He declared, that “ he con- reived the power of rewaKling eminent men was one oi the nobletit of tkj RISE AND FALL OF TIIE IRISH NATION. 115 Royal Prerogatives, -which were certainly a part of the constitution. He did not wish to be considered as giving a sullen acquiescence, but he con- ;civcd that marks of favour of this nature always appertained to the Crown alone, and he should have wished that this grant had come from the Royal hand; but, as the man was unprecedented, so was the grant; and he hoped this would not be considered as a precedent on future occasions." IX. By these few, but comprehensive observations of the Secretary, the apparently magnificent liberality of the Viceroy appeared in its real cha¬ racter, and dwindled into a narrow subterfuge of ministerial jealousy. Mr. Connolly appeared to have travelled out of his station, and officiously to have assumed the office of a Minister, for a deceptive purpose, and lent himself to a little artifice, to trepan the Parliament aad humiliate the people. By this rejected tender the Whig.'bdinmistration gained no credit; they evinced a disposition to humble the Crown, wi.tbout elevating the people, and to wind the laurels of both around, their own temples. The Viceroy considered a grant by the Commons too democratic; and the Parliament considered the Viceroy’s tender too ministeriaL Mr. Grat¬ tan was a servant of the Irish people, and was utterly unconnected with the British Government. In every point of view therefore, the Viceroy’s offer, at that moment, was improper, and derogatory alike to the Crown and tho individual. The Viceroy of Ireland proposing, on behalf of the Kingof Eng¬ land, to Ireland’s great patriot to reward his services for having emanci- pated his country from the domination of Great Britain, was an incident ^s extraordinary as had ever occurred in any Government, and, emanating from that of England, told, in a single sentence, the whole historj- of her terrors, her jealousy, her shallow artifice, and humbled arrogance. This proposal waslinked with many other insidious objects, but theywera too obvious to be successful, and only disclosed that of shallow cunning, llis Excellency had perceived in Ireland the phenomena of a governing people, without a ruling democracy—an armed and unrestrained popula¬ tion, possessing, without abusing, the powers of Sovereignty, and turning their authority, not to the purposes of turbulence or sedition, but to those of Constitution, order, and tranquillity. These armed Associations, how¬ ever irreproachable in their conduct, were unprecedented in their forma¬ tion, and were fairly considered by his Grace with a lively jealousy, as tending to estabh'sh a species of popular aristocracy, dangerous to the very nature of the British Constitution. X. Many friends of Mr. Grattan, or those who professed to be so, de¬ clared he would not accept of so large a sum as that proposed by Mr. Bagenal; but this was a mistaken, or an affected view of that subject. In fact, the grant itself, not its amount, was the only point of dignified consideration. However after a considerable discussion, it was diminiehed. by M'r. Grattan’s friends, to the sum of fifty thousand pounds, which was unanimously voted to him; and never had a reward, more merited or more honourable, been conferred on any patriot by any nation. The times when civic crowns conferred honours no lenger existed; pro¬ perty had become essential for importance in society. The Irish Parlia¬ ment had before them a sad and recent example of the necessity of such a reward, in the fate of Dr. Lucas, one of the best friends of Ireland, who U6 RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. had sacrificed himself to support his principles: a man who had, so far as his talents admitted, propagated and applied the doctrines of the great Molyneux; and like him, was banished, and, like him, declared a traitor; who had sat a Representative for the metropolis of Ireland ; and whose statue still adorns the Royal Exchange of Dublin; a venerable Senator, sinking under the pressure of years and of infirmity, carried into tlieii House to support its liberties,—sinking in their cause and expiring in tlieii service: a rare example of patriotism and independence; yet suffered to die in indigence, and leave an orphan offspring to become a prey to famine. With such a reproachful warning before the nation, it was for the people, not for the crown, to take care that they never should be again disgraced by similar ingratitude. In these degenerate times, honours give no suste¬ nance ; and in the perverted practices of modern policy, it is not the pro¬ vince of the Monarch to reward the patriot. And this event leads the historian to others still more important. Upon every important debate on the claims of Ireland in the British and Imperial Parliaments, the native character and political propensities of the Irish people had been uniformly made a subject of animated discussion; and the loyalty of that Nation to her Kings had been put directly in issue, 1 y both her friends and her enemie:; by the latter as a pretext for having abrogated her Constitution; by the former as a defence against libel and e.xaggeration; each party asserting, that the past events of Irish his¬ tory justify their reasoning, and afford evidence of their respective alle¬ gations. XI. It is therefore, at this important epoch, highly expedient that this controversy of opinions, as to the loyalty of the Irish people, though probably digressive, should be decided by unequivocal historic matters of fact, undeniable by either party; and thereby, that the true prin¬ ciples of a long persecuted and calumniated people, should be no longer mistaken nor misrepresented. A reference to the authentic Annals and Records of Irish History indis¬ putably proves that the unrelenting cruelties and misrule of their British Governors, in early ages, goading the wretched natives to insurrection, formed the first pretext for afterwards branding them with an impu¬ tation of indigenous disloyalty, thereby exciting an inveterate prejudice against the Irish people: which, becoming hereditary, has descended though with diminished virulence, from father to son throughout the English nation. These calumnies had their fuU and fatal operation, as an ai'gument in urging the necessity of a Legislative Union ; an argument at once refuted by reference even to the modern events of 1782, and to the unexampled moderation, forbearance, and loyalty of the Irish Nation, who sought only a, full participation in the British Constitution, though the moral and physical powers of that ardent people were then consolidated by their patriotism, and rendered irresistible by their numbers, their discipline, and their energy. XII. At that awful crisis of the British Empire, the Irish were an armed and triumphant people; England a defeated and trembling nation, ire- bjid was in the bloom of energy and of vigour; England on the couch of riSE AND FALL OF THE lEISH NATION. 117 discomfiture and maLody. And if the spirit of indigenous disaifection, so falsely imputed to the Irish Nation, had, in reahty, existed, she had then lull scope, and ample power, to pursue and effect all its disposition for an eternal separation. It is not, however, by modern or isolated events alone, that a fair Judg¬ ment can be formed of the chracteristic attributes of any nation; still less so of a worried and misgoverned people. It is only by recurring to re¬ moter periods, thence tracing, step by step, the conduct of Ireland through¬ out all her provocations, her miseries, and her persecutions, and then com¬ paring the extent of her sufferings, her endurance, and her loyalty, with those of her sister countries during the same periods, that the comparative character of both can be justly appreciated, and those calumnies which have weighed so heavily on her reputation be effectually refuted. It is a matter of indisputable fact, that during the twenty reigns which succeeded the first submission of the Irish princes, the fidelity of Ireland to the British monarchs was but seldom interrupted, and that Irish soldiers were not unfrequently brought over to England, to defend their English sovereigns against the insurrections of English rebels. But when we puruse the authenticated facts of British annals during the same twenty reigns, we find an unextinguishable spirit of disaffection t 4 their princes, and that an insatiable thirst for rebellion and disloyalty sig¬ nalized every reign, and almost every year of British history, during the same period; that above thirty civil wars raged within the English nation; four of their monarchs were dethroned; three of their kings were murdered, and during four centuries, the standard of rebellion scarcely ever ceased to wave over some portion of that distracted island ; and so deeply had dis¬ loyalty been engrafted in the very nature of the British nobles and British people, that insurrection and regicide, if not the certain, were the expected consequences of every coronation. Through these observations, the eye of England will at length be directed to these events. They will then be convinced that there lurked within the bosom of Great Britain herself the germs of a disquietude more unre¬ mitting, a licentiousness more inflammatory, a fanaticism more intolerant, and a political agitation more dangerous and unjustifiable, than any which even her most inveterate foes can justly extract from an impartial history of the libelled country. This short digresson must have the advantage of illustrating the prin¬ ciples which led to the transactions of 1798 and 1800, those gloomy epochs of Irish calamity; it may enlighten that dark and profound ignorance of Irish History and transactions which still obscure the intellect of the Eng¬ lish people, and even leads Members of the United Parliament to avow that utter ignorance of the very country and people as to whom they were at the same moment so severely legislating. Those men are surely the most injurious to the general tranquillity of a state, the collective power of united nations, and the safety of the common weal, whose prejudices, igno¬ rance, and bigo^y, lead them by wanton irritation to engender uncon¬ genial feelings in eight millous of so powerful, ardent, and generous a portion of the empire. IIS RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. CHAPTER XIL L The Irish annals, though more imperfect, can be traced by tradition farther back than those of England. Ancient records, and other evidence also of a most indisputable nature, of the eighth and preceding centuries, prove that in the earliest ages Ireland had been the seat of literarture, arts, and refinement; and scarcely a year passes without discovering strong proofs of her former wealth, skill, and magnificence.* She first degene¬ rated under the invasion of northern barbarians; and while England pro¬ fited by the intercourse of her great and accomplished conquerors, Ireland had retrogaded under the ignorance and brutality of hers. By the great battle of Howth, her Danish tyrants were at length exter¬ minated, and Ireland was gradually recovering her original prosperity, when she found that she had only changed the name, not the nature of her slavery. It was at this commencement of her convalescence, and before the Irish monarch had as yet been able to reform the chiefs or re-establish his au¬ thority, that a band of British adventurers, headed by Stiguel Strougbow, a British nobleman, abetted by the subtility and practices of a vicious na.tive chieftain, the treacherous Mac Murrough, landed in Ireland, with a view to mend their fortunes by conquest, and by plunder. Earl Strongbow found in Ireland a powerful but a disjointed people, vfho though they had regained them independence, were still divided by jealous factions, enfeebled by civil warfare, and dispirited by the dread of recurring contests. He found it a worn down, palsied nation, well adapted to become a prey to the impression of arms, or the wiles of treach¬ ery. He was lavish in the use of both. She struggled much with these disciplined adventurers; but her vigour had been exhausted by her civil contests, and, though occasionally victorious, her energy had declined, and Aer powers were but intermitting. As her strength failed., her terrors augumented; and she was finally induced to listen to the deceptions re¬ presentations of Strongbow and Mao Mui'rough; and after an ineffec- ® Some English Vfriters, of the best authority, aclmowledgo the high state of learning and civilization, which existed in Ireland during the early ages; and numerous works and manuscripts now in the Vatican and the Eoyal Library at Paris, put the truth of that fact beyond all question. The variety and exqui- site workmanship of ornaments and weapons of solid gold, still occasionally found buried in the bogs of Ireland, leave no doubt that groat metallic wealth ,x,nd superior skill once existed in that country, and that some of the arts were cultivated there to an almost unexampled perfection. Tho author has seen a solid piece of virgin gold, found in one of the V^icklow gold mines, about twenty- eight miles from Dublin, larger than a racket hall, and a great quantity of smalller dimensions. The mines extend many miles up the bed of a shallow stream, spring# ing from the cliffs in the mountains. And an Irish statute, in tho reign of Ileniy the ifourth, prohibiting the native Irish from using gold stirrups and bridles, is a convincing p'roof that, even since the English invasion, sumptuary laws were judged proper to restrain the remaisung tendency to profuse sploudour among ^0 Irish chieftains. AXD i'ALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 119 tual resistance she fell beneath the mingled pressure of arms and of se¬ duction. At a conference in 1170, her Ch cftains were told, nearly in the same words which disgraced her Parlianio t in ISOO, that there could be no remission of her internal feuds, no protection against future massacres, but by a voluntary sacrifice of that mischievous and agitating indepen¬ dence, which she had so uselessly enjoyed, and was so unavailingly con¬ tending for, but that, if united to the flourishing and powerful realm oi Britain, its benevolent and potent monarch would then find it to be the interest of his empire to arrest all her feuds, and promote her pi’osperity. ir. though the spirit of national independence still lingered in the country, her heart was broken; the melancholy recollection cf feuds, oi defeats, and misfortunes, made a powerful impression on the jealous and divided leaders. Mac Murrough’s treachery had destroyed all confidence amongst the Princes; discord had torn the Koyal Standard of the Irish Idonarch, the Cliieftains had no general ra ying station to collect thcii pov/ers; they submitted to the invaders, and each stipulated for himself, and influenced his Kernes* to a reluctant capitulation. The choice of difficulties and dangers, or of rewards and honours, was held out to the most obdurate opponents of British annexation. Some leaders were gained by specious promises of territory; many were beguiled by the assurance of future protection, and a large portion of the chieftains at length yielded to the sway of a British sceptra But this submission never was unanimous. Many who would have re* sisted it to the last extremity, were dismayed and scattered; many whj retained the power to resist it, were terrified or corrupted; and though tha acquisition of the entire island appeared to have beeen affected by the ad¬ venturers, the appearance was fallacious. However, the English Strong- bow gained great honours for his achievement; the Irish Mac Murrough obtained great rewards for his treachery; the adventurers were compen¬ sated at the expense of the natives; and the First Union of Ireland with Britain, in the year 1173, received a royal assent and consummation from the Second Henry. It is very remarkable, that though the occurrences were so different, the persons so dissimilar, and the periods so remote, the circumstances attend¬ ing this first annexation of Ireland cannot be reflected on without the * Kernes were a epecics of followers who attended theTrish Chieftains, ready to execute any business to which their patrons might order them. The Chiefs generally gained importance with the King in proportion to the number of kernes ho could produce, when the King had occasion for their assistance: and when a Chief made terms for himself, ho generally stipulated for Lis himcs into the bargain. They despised any independent mode of livelihood ; and often lived in a state of expectation on their Chief, or by the public. This race seems not to have been totally extinct In Ireland in 1800, though they then existed under the do* aomination of gentlefolks. See the fao simile of Mr. Ilobert Crowe’s letter, an¬ nexed to this volume, respecting Lord Castlereagh’e trerily with the Earl of Bel* 'ridero, to purchase Messrs. Knox and Crowe (two of his Lordship’s members) 7 ITitnessed by the Eev, Mr, Usher, his Lordship’s chaplain, — LitCT’o scripto tnanet^ RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. Tnemory also recurring to the circumstances of the last. Though Coro- ■wallis was not Strougbow, though Castlereagh was not Mac Murrough, though the Peers were not Princes, and the Commons were nol Kernes, ind though nearly seven centuries had intervened between the accom¬ plishment of these Unions, it is impossible not to recognize in their features rALli U« TBI IRISH MATIOH. 137 hereditary prejudices, that though he most generously afforded his Ca¬ tholic tenantry, and to Individual Catholics, every service and kindness in his power, ho considered and represented them, collectively, as a body of demons; their chapels, temples of idoatry; their schools, seminaries of rebellion; and their clergy as a gang of necromancers. So infatuated was he by these prepossessions, that ho saw, or rather fancied that he saw, in any relaxation of the penal statutes, nothing but a total overthrow of the entire Protestant Establishment, and an immediate revolution in favour of some Popish monarch. Those Bills were also pertinaciously opposed by Sir Edward Newenham, member for Dublin County, a weak, busy, narrow-minded, but not ill-in¬ formed, nor ill-intentioned person. He was very defective in talent, but very confident that he possessed much of it. He fancied he was a great patriot, and was disposed to imagine himself a distinguished personage. He had drawn General Washington into a short literary correspondence with himself as to Ireland, on the strength of which, he affected, with great importance, to be an importer of the most early and authentic infor¬ mation from America. He was an active ofiBcer in the Volunteer Artillery, and a good Irish¬ man ; but a busy, buzzing, useless, intermeddling member of Parliament, and one of the most credulous, feeble, and fanatical of aU the Irish into- lerants. Many inveterate opponents of any concessions to the Catholics, made their appearance in the Irish Parliament; and as the concerns of that body must form a prominent topic in the progress of this memoir, it may be interesting and useful to introduce, even by anticipation, the most dis¬ tinguished of its opponents. This celebrated antagonist of the Irish Catholics, so far as invective and declamation could effect their interests, was Doctor Patrick Duigenan, Judge of the Prerogative Court of Ireland: a man whose name must sur¬ vive so long as the feuds of Ireland shall be remembered, and whose singular conduct, on many points, was of a nature so inconsistent and irre¬ gular that, even now, when his race is run, and no further traits of hC character can ever be developed, it is yet impossible to decide with cer¬ tainty as to his genuine principles, if such he possessed, upon any one sub¬ ject, religious or pohtical. His father was parish-clerk of St. Werburgh’s Church, Dublin, but in what part of Ireland he originated is still uncertain. He -was educated in the Parish School, and (as he told the Author himself) was humorously christened Paddy, having been born on St. Patrick’s-day, He signahzed riimself as a scholar in the University of Dublin, of which he was chosen a, fellow; he soon afterwards quarrelled with the Provost, Mr. Hutchinson, and every person who did not coincide, with his humours, and wrote a number of severe pamphlets of which "Luchrymx Academicae" and Pranccriana," are the moat notable; the first personally against the conduct of the Provost and ^ir John Blaquiere; the second, on a propoeal of the Provost’s to establish a riding house for the students. lie was sdways at open war 'Jith some person, during the whole couree of his public life. Ho left the University, retaining the office cf Law Professor; was 138 RISE AND TALL OT THE IP.ISU NATION. sliortiy afterwards appointed King’s Counsel; Judge ol' tho Prsrognti^rfe and Consistory Courts: King’s Advocate to the High Court of Admiralty one of Lord Castlereagh’a Commissioners for bribing Members of Parlia¬ ment ; (Post;) and to many other public ofBces, most of which he retained to his death. His income was very kxge, and ho must have privately done many liberal and charitable acts, because he was not extravagant, and left no considerable fortune behmd him. Dr. Duigenan having been King’s Advocate to the High Court of Ad¬ miralty, where the Author presided; and the Author being a Doctor of Laws, and Advocate in the Court of Prerogative, of which Dr. Duigenan was Judge, their intercourse was constant and very intimate for many years, and the Author had daily private opportunities of observing the curious habits of this most eccentric character—the most outrageous, and at the same time one of the best natured men in the world, to those whom he regarded. This eccentric person, whose celebrity originated from his crusades foi Protestant supremacy, would probably have been a conspicious character in whatever station he might have been placed, or in whatever profession he might have adopted. Incapable of moderation upon any subject, he possessed too much vigorous and active intellect to have passed through life an unsignalized spectator; and if he had not at an early period enlisted as a champion of Luther, it is more than probable he would, with equal zeal and courage, have borne the standard of St. Peter’s followers. A hot rough, intrepid, obstinate mind, strengthened by very considerable erudi¬ tion, and armed by a memory of the most extraordinary retention, contri¬ buted their attributes equally to his pen, and his speeches. He considered invective as the first, detail as the second, and decorum as the last quality of a public orator: and he never failed to exemplify these principles. A partisan in his very nature, every act of his life was influenced by invincible prepossessions. A strong guard of inveterate prejudices were sure, on all subjects, to keep moderation at a distance, and occasionally prevented even common reason from obtruding on his dogmas, or inter¬ rupting his speeches. A mingled strain of boisterous invective unlimited assertion, rhapsody, and reasoning erudition and ignorance were alike perceptible in his writ¬ ings and orations. Yet there were few of either, from which a dispafjsion- ate compiler might not have selected ample materials for an able produc¬ tion. He persuaded himself that he wa.s a true fanatic. But though the world gave him full credit for his practical iutoleraiice, there were many excep¬ tions to the consistency of his professions, and many who doubted his theo¬ retic sincerity. His intolerance was too outrageous to be honest, and too unreasonable to be sincere; and whenever hjs i’rotestant extravagance appeared to have even one moment of a lucid interval, it wa£ immediately predicted that he would die a Catholic. His politics could not be temred either uniform or coherent. He had a Latent spark of independent spirit in his composition, vthich the Minister Bometimes found it difficult to extinguish, and dangerous to explode. He EISE AND EALL OF THE IRISH NATION. ii:9 had the game respect for a Protestant bishop that he would probably have had for a Catholic cardinal. Episcopacy was his standard; and avten La shewed symptoms of running restive to the Government, the Primate cl Ireland was called in to be the pacificator. lie held a multiplicity of public offices at the same time, unconnected with Government.* He was Vicar-General to most of the bishops; and whenever he conceived the rights of tlie Church were threatened, hia bristles instantly arose, as it were, by instinct; Lis tusks were bared ror combat; he moved forward for battle; and would have shown no naori mercy to the Government than he would have done to the patriots. He injured the reputation of Protestant ascendancy by his extravagant support of the most untenable of its principles. He served the Catliolics by the excess of his calumnies, and aided their claims to amelioration, by per¬ sonifying that virulent sectarian intolerance v/hich was the very subject of their grievances. He had, however, other traits, which frequently disclosed qualities of a very superior description. His tongue and his actions were constantly at variance; he was hospitable and surly; sour and beneficent; prejudiced and liberal; friendly and inveterate. His bad qualities he exposed with out reserve to the public; his good ones he husbanded for private inter- couree. Many of the former were fictitious; all the latter were natural, lie was an honest man, with an outrageous temper and perverted judg¬ ment ; and, if he conceived that right was wrong, he sedulously endeavoured to conceal his philanthropy under the garb of a misanthrope. In private society, he was often the first in conviviality; and when his memory, his classic reading, and his miscellaneous information were turned to the purposes of humour or of anecdote, they gave a quaint, joyous, eccentric cast to his conversation, highly entertaining to strangers, and still more so to those accustomed to the display of his versatilities. The most striking singularity of this most singular man, was his uuac* countable inconsistency in words and actions towards the Catholic com¬ munity. He alternately fostered and abused, caressed and calumniated many intimates of that persuasion; an inconstancy, however, which hia last matrimonial connexion was supposed to have redeemed; and he died at a very advanced age, upon a short notice, retaining all his strength and faculties, and in the full vigour of all his prejudices. His strong, sturdy person, and coarse, obstinate, dogmatic, intelligent • On the Union, he accepted the office of Commissioner for paying the bribes to hlembero of Parliament, (under the name of compensation for the loss of their Beats or patronage. (Vide Post.) Tho Doctor, the late Lord Anneslcy, and a Mr. Jameson, an Englishmar. tmder this commission, distrihuted, hy Lord Castlereagh’s appointment, ONE MIL-. LION riVK HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS of the Insh money, amongst Members of the H 'ostr of Lords and Commons; without wbicli bribes and gifts of peerages, there would be a vast roaiorivy against the Union. The Doctor told the Author that he accepted that office, solely that he might be able to take core of the bishops; and the Author believes at least half his assertion. Bat the bishans vrero outwitted. 140 SISl! AND FALL OF TH£ IKLSH KAHOK. countenauoe, indicated many of Lis characteristic qnalilies. Ee wm too rongh and too unaccommodating to have had many partisans; and after the Union, •which he vigorously supported, his public importance and re¬ putation dwindled away to nothing; and his death afforded no great cause of regret to his friends, or of gratification to his enemies. Mr. George Ogle, and many other decided opponents of the Catholic claims, were also prominent characters in the general affairs and politics of the country, and will appear in most of the miscellaneous transactiona of the Irish Parliament. But the whole bent and efforts of the Doctor’s mind and actions were concentrated and publicly arrayed aga inst the Ca¬ tholic community, some members of which were in private his chief asso¬ ciates, and his nearest connexions, and the early introduction of such a personage may tend to illustrate the singular situation of that body, and that inconsistency which from first to last has signalized the conduct both of their friends and their enemies. Those Bills relaxing the severity of the penal code passed, however, through both Houses, without any considerable difficulty; and, though the concessions were very limited, they afforded great satisfaction to the Catholic body, as the first growth of a tolerating principle, which they vainly imagined was a sure precursor of that general religious and politied freedom, without which, in an ardent and divided population, peace and security must ever be precarious. Some men, however, saw in those incipient concessions the germ of dis¬ cord and extravagant expectation. The most unrelenting of their oppo¬ nents, in the full zeal of unqualified fanaticism, used arguments so crue’ and unjust in principle, that the distorted mind, or crooked policy of legis¬ lators alono could have resorted to them. They argued, that the nearly insupportable oppressions under which the Irish Catholics had so long laboured, were rapidly disgusting them with their own tenets, which had entailed upon them all the attributes of slavery and deprivation—that, worn down by penal codes, under the pressure of which they could neither rise nor prosper, they were daily recanting those disqualifying tenets, and embracing that religion, under which their wants and tlieir ambition could be fully gratified—that noblemen, gentlemen, peasants, and even their priests, were rapidly embracing the Protestant profession; and that if the same propensity to recantation was still kept La pirogress, by a full and strict continuance of that same penal code, the severity of which had originally caused it, Ireland would gradually acquire a Protestant population, if not a majority of the people, at least more ihan a proportion of all whoso property, rank, and interest, would lead them to preserve the peace of the nation and the connexion with Great Britain. II. This was a barbarous doctrine, which could never be supported hj any principle either of justice or of policy. The principle of concession which actuated the Parliament in these relaxations, proved that the light of justice and reason had broken in upon them, and excited reasonable ex¬ pectations of further grants and general toleration. The wealth of the Catholics multiplied, their numbers increased. The first chain of intolerance v/as loosened, and permitted them to take a view niSE AKD FAIi OF THE IRISH NAHON. i41 of that total emancipation which by unremitting etnigglea they cer¬ tain of attaining. Ill. The paroxysms of ardent patriotism having somewhat abated in the Irish Parliament, distinctions and shades of distinctions were rising and re-opening into party and into jealousies. Some men conceived that Ireland had obtained everything, others argued that she had acquired no securities. That enthusiastic unanimity which had so proudly signalized their first movements was gradually degenerating; the old courtiers, who had wandered from their standards, seized greedily upon every pretence to re-assume their stations; and many of that body, who a moment before had been unanimous, and were supposed to be incorruptible, now began to lemember themselves, and forget their country. But the people werestaunch, their spirit was invincible, the voice of the Volunteers was raised, it was loud and clear, and echoed throughout the Parliament. The Government was arrested in its corrupting progress; many were recalled to a sense of duty by a sense of danger, and the situation of the country seemed ap¬ proaching to another crisis. Jlr. Grattan acted on the purest patriotic principles, but they were over¬ moderated by Earl Cbarlemont, and occasionally neutrahzed by an honour¬ able confidence in Whig sincerity. He still contended (because such was his conviction) that the Irish Nation should rest satisfied, and confide in the sincerity of the British Ministry, and the existing guarantees, for the permanence of their constitution. He was devoted to the Whigs, because they professed the purest principles of well-regulated liberty; and he would not doubt the integrity of those whose principles he had adopted, till at length Mr. Fox himself, wearied by a protracted course of slow deception, uncongenial either to the proud impetuosity of his great mind, or the na¬ tural feelings of his open temper, at once confirmed the opinions of the Irish people, and openly proclaimed to Ireland the inadequacy of all the measures that had heretofore been adopted. He took occasion in the British Parliament, on the repeal of the sixth of George the First being there alluded to, to state, “ that the repeal of that statute could not stand alone, but must be accompanied by a final adjustment and by a solid basis of permanent connexion.” He said, “ that some plans of that nature would be laid before the Irish Parliament by the Irish Ministers, and a treaty entered upon, which treaty, when proceeded on, might be adopted by both Parliaments, and finally become an irrevocable arrangement be¬ tween the two countries.” By that short, but most important speech, the Irish delusion of a. ilnul adjustment was in a moment dissipated, the Viceroy’s duplicity became indisputably proved; his Majesty’s reply to the Irish ParUament was re¬ nounced by the very hlinister who had written it. The Irish address to the Duke of Portland appeared to have been premature and inconsiderate; and his reply could no longer be defended on the grounds either of its truth or its sincerity. Mr. Fox himself, with the true candour of an able statesman, avowed the insufficiency of the existing arrangement; and thus, by easy inferences, decided against the adequacy of the simple repeal for general purposes. His declaration, that “a further treaty was in con¬ templation,” was pro.spectivo and ambiguous and gave not only plausible 2ISE /iNiJ FiiL OF TUE lElSH NATiQN. 14i but justifiable groauiJs, for an alarming uneasiness amongst the Irish people. Not'inths.tanding this avowal, ilr. Flood was still but feebly supported in Iho House of Commons. The Volunteers, rather than the Parliament^ bad now the prepoiiderauce in public estimation, and their activity in¬ creased and dilhculties augumented. In England public matters were sinking into a state of languor and tcrpidily. The Marquis of Rockingham, in a fatally declining state of health, and his friend Lord Charlemont, in an habitually complaining cue, carried on a well-bred, superficial wbining correspondence, as to the aflairs of Ireland, every thing that was courteous, but notliing that was statesmanlike ; and even if death had not, unfortunately for the Whigs, snatched away Lord Rockingham, he and the Earl of Charlemont were not likely to effect the consummation of the political arrangements be tv/-e8a the two nations. The latter nobleman could see wide, but he could not see deep. The former could neither see very wide, nor very deep, but he could see very distinctly. In cultivating moderation, they lost sight of energy, and their conduct at this moment was shallow and insipid. Mr. Buike might have been sincere towards Ireland: but be bad a game to play at for himself; and his talents, however great in their extent, were not found so consistent in their application. And though his fame never can be eclipsed, bis abiUties never depreciated; though bis lessons will be ever instructive, and the vigour of his intellect could not be van¬ quished, still he had his trances, his visions, and his theories; and though alwaj s in the first line of general admiration, he stood not in the front rank of public confidence. He took no distinguished part in those trans¬ actions, appearing as if he were repugnant to commit himself in an imperfect treaty. Whilst affairs remained in this precarious state, a debate occurred, more embarrassing than any that had preceded it, and which gave new feature? to the close of this, the most remarkable session of Irish Parliaments. IV. The question of simple repeal had now been so often canvassed, so often argued, and had caught so strong a hold of the Irish people, that it was obvious it could not rest where it was, and that something further must be done to satisfy the Irish Nation ; but what that something should be, was more embarrassing to the Government of both countries than any consideration which had theretofore occurred to them. After the address of the Irish Commons to his Majesty, moved by Mr. Grattan, England could not be again so strongly applied to for further concession. She had promptly acceded to every thing that was then required of her, and was told by that Address, that nothing remained fur¬ ther to be done as to a constitution between the two countries: she might, therefore, plausibly decline further demands upon the same subject. That Address had. in plain language, renounced all further constitutional claims by the Lish parliament; and Mr. Grattan could not recede from such hia own reiterated declarations. Blr. Flood, however, remained unshaken, and fii-m in his opinion of the insufficiency of the arrangement, and de¬ termined to increase their security, through an unequivocal act of the Irish Legislature} and on the twenty-ninth day of July, he movod lov RISE AND FALL OF lUZ lUISd NATION. 143 leave to bring in a bill, “to affirm the sole exclusive right of the Irish I’arliaiiient to make laws efTccting that country, in all concerns external incl internal whatsoever.” A most animated, and even vcrulant debate, took place on that motion. It was debated with great ability, but ill-placed confidence or ill-timed moderation still guided the majority of the Commons; and even the introduction of the bill was negatived without a division. Mr. Grattan, heated by the language of his rival, blinded by an unli¬ mited confidence in the integrity of the Whig Ministry, and for a moment losing sight of the first principle of constitutional liberty, then proposed a motion, equally singular for the language of its exordium, and the ex¬ travagance of its matter. lie moved that the Legislature of Ireland was independent; and that any person who should propagate in writing or otherwise, an opinion thut any right whatsoever, v/hether external or in¬ ternal, existed in any other rarliamenfr, or could be revived, was inimical to both kingdoms.” The ingenuity of man could scarcely have formed a more objectionable precedent or dangerous resolution. It was too great an opportunity not to be taken immediate advantage of by Mr. Flood ; his reply was equally severe and able. He represented the resolution as “ placing Ireland in js state of tyranny worse than Russia; prohibiting both the Lords and Com¬ mons of Ireland, under a denunciation of being enemies to their country from the common rights of every British citizen, to discuss the same con¬ stitutional question which had been so often before, and was at that very moment, debating in the house of Rarliameut, depriving every Irish sub¬ ject of his natural liberty, either of speech or of writing: a proscription against all who differed with the honourable gentleman on a vital question respecting his own country, or who should presume to publish or even to whisper that difference, a r-esolution v/hich would be scoffed at in Ire¬ land, ridiculed in Great Britain, and bo contemptable in both; a resolution which could have no operation as a law, no justification as a principle, and which could have no character to support it, but those of folly and of ty¬ ranny.” He therefore moved an adjournment. The tide, however, flowed too strong against Mr. Flood personally. It was the great object of the Government to conquer him first, and then neutralize his adversary ; and. even those who were determined to negative Mr. Grattan’s motion, also determined to negative the motion of adjournment,* because it was Mr, *■' The division was ninety-nine to thirteen against Mr. Flood’s motion, though the whole house saw clearly that Mr. Grattaa’.s resolution could not possibly pasa; yet so strong was the opposition to any thing proposed by Mr. Flood, that lu adjournment was rejected. This debate, so near tho termination of tho ses. siou, appeared at firet very disagreeable; but in the event it had great effect; and tlie oiubarrassments which Mr. Grattan’s resolution, if carried, must necessarily have created, was a very strong ingredient amongst those considerations which induced the British Parhamont voluntarily to pass an Act of Eenunoiatiou, •vijic'-i Mr. Grattan had thought uuneoessaxy, beforo tho Irish Parliament ooulcj meet again to discuss the subject, when the accumulating disoatisfactioa of UiQ liatioa might have given rise to more distraatiug measures. 144 RISE AKD FALL OF THE IRISH NATIOH. Flood’s and & consideraHo majority decided against it. Mr. Grattan then proposed another declaratory resolution, stretching away from the real facts as to any political application of those that existed, but unaccom¬ panied by most of the former objections ; and, at all events, leaving both his own and Mr. Flood’s principles nearly where it found them at the commencement of the altercation. Mr. Grattan moved, that leave was “ refused to brii^ in the (Mr. Flood’s) Bill, because the sole and exclusive right to legislate for Ireland in all cases whatsoever, internally and ex¬ ternally had been asserted by the Parliament of Ireland, and had been fully, finally, and irrevocably acknowledged the British Parliament.” This resolution obviously stated some facts which did not exist. N« final irrevocable acknowledgment ever had been made by the British Par¬ liament. On the contrary, acts had been done, and declarations made by the Minister himself, that a future treaty would be necessary to render the arrangement, full, final, or irrevocable. Mr. Flood saw the weak point, and he possessed himself of it. He al¬ tered his language, became satiric, and ridiculed the resolution as the “ innocent child of fiction and of fancy.” He congratulated Mr. Grattan on changing his tone, and declared “ that he would willingly leave him in the full enjoyment of this new production of his lively imagination.” Mr. Grattan’s motion then passed without further observation, and the House adjourned. V. No further proceedings of importance took place in the House of Commons during the session, except two motions of Mr. Montgomery, of Cavan county, for leave to bring in a Bill to build Irish men-of-war for the protection of the trade of Ireland. This motion appeared too distinct, and was of course, negatived. He also moved for an Address to the King, to reinstate Mr. Flood in his office of Vice-Treasurer, from which he had been dismissed for supporting his country. This would have been just, but it was not eligible. Mr. Fitzpatrick received it in civility, but w".s also negatived, as encroaching on the prerogative. And on the 27th of July, the Duke of Portland prorogued the Parliament, with a speech detailing all the advantages Ireland had received under his paternal Administration; and thus ended the public transactions of his Grace the Duke of Portland’s first Viceroyalty to the Irish nation. VI. This session of the Irish Parliament was the most interesting and important its history records; important not to Ireland only, but to the best interests of Great Britain; illustrative of the first and finest principles of civil liberty; and a lecture on the rights and foundations of rights, by the establishment of which alone the independence of nations can be at¬ tainable, or, being attained, preserved. It displayed a scene of loyalty and of forbearance in the Irish nation, unef^uallea in the history of any armed people. It proved the possibility of an irresistible democratic power, roused without commotion ; the entire population of an extensive country, con¬ verted into a disciplined and independent array to assert its liberties, yet, m the pursuit of that most animating of all objects, preserving perfect peace end substantial loyalty. It showed an independent and patriotic army, bUo in one day to crush or to drive every relic of usurpation from its shores for over, with a moderation almost incredible; accepting, os a kind con- BISE AND FiJj:. OF THE IRISH NAnOH. nz tcssion, those natural riglits which it had had tho power of commanding; and, with a liberal and generous coniidence, peculiar to its character, honourably, but fatally, insisting on no furlhur guarantee for her consti' tution, than the faith of a Goyernment which had never before omitted an opportunity of deceiving her. The Duke of Portland’s proroguing speech to the Irish Parliament, July 27, 1782, is in itself the most unsophisticated tissue of hypocrisy on re¬ cord, totally unparalleled in the history of the British Empire, or of any Jliuister who regarded either the law of nations, or the character of the sovereign. It was emphatically delivered by a Viceroy, who, a few yearn afterwards, in 1800, in his place in Parliament, unblushingly declared, that- ho never considered the treaty between England and Ireland (consummated- by himself) as final. His Grace’s speech, addressed, in the name of the King, to the assembled Peers and Commons of Ireland, on the prorogation of that Parliament, is of the greatest importance, as connected with the events of 1799 and ISUO ; and when that speech is compared with a sub¬ sequent speech of the same nobleman to the Peers of England, not only an Irish subject, but even a disinterested citizen of the world, would draw con¬ clusions in no way favourable to his Grace’s political integrity. It was, however, a useful lesson to all people, to trust their statesman just so far and so long as their iutere.st or their party called for their consistence. His Grace was pleased to speak as follows : “The great and constitutional advantages you have secured to your country, and the wise and magnanimous conduct of Great Britain, in con¬ tributing to the success of your steady and temperate exertions call for my congratulations, on the close of a session which must ever reflect the high¬ est honour on the national character of both kingdoms. It must be a most pleasing consideration to you, to recollect, that in the advances you made towards the settlement of your constitution, no acts of violence or impatience have marked their progress. A rebgious adher¬ ence to the laws, confined your endeavours within the strictest bound? o^ loyalty and good order; your claims were directed by the same spirit that gave rise and stability to the liherly of Great Britain, and could not fail of success, as soon as the councils of that kingdom wM’e influenced by the avowed friends of the constitution. “ Many, and great national objects, must present themselves to your consideration during the recess from parliamentary business ; but what I would [most earnestly press upon you, as that on which your domestia peace and happiness, and the prosperity of the Empire at this inoTnent, most immediately depend, is to cultivate and diffuse those sentiments of affection and confidence which are now happily restored between the two Ixingdoms; convince the people in your several districts, as you are your- iclvea convinced, that every cause of past jealousies and discontents » 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 candour of Ireland, engages your national character to a return of sentiments equally liberal and enlarged. Cenvineo them tkvt tho two Kingdoms are now one, indissolubly connected in unky 140 I5ISE jVND fall of TnE iriSH NATION. of constitution, and unity of interests; and that the danger and security^ the prosperity and calamity of the one, must equally affect the other, that they must stand and fall together.” CHAPTER XVI. I. Bills to carry into effect the concessions of England had been passed through the British Parliament with unusual expedition. The sixth of George I., declaratory of the dependence of Ireland, had been repealed; and the arbitrary dictum of Blackstone, that favourite Druid of modern Britain, had been abandoned by his countrymen. But it quickly became obvious, that though Mr. Grattan’s declaration of grievances had left to the Irish Parliament x certain latitude for reclaiming their constitutional rights in detail, he had not foreseen to what lengths those details might extend, or the danger of attempting to conclude on narrow discussions that in¬ tricate subject. His Address to the King now appeared to have so con¬ tracted in its tenor the claims which the declaration of grievances, if not specifically, had virtually alluded to, that many of the most important of Irish constitutional rights had been thereby altogether passed over; and concessions of England had been accepted of, withoirt those guarantees which the invariable practices and principles of Bi’itish Government, there¬ fore rendered absolutely indispensable to the permanence and security of Irish independence. Had the constitutional arrangement been complete and final, and the concessions of Great Britain as sincere as they appeared to be liberal, and Avithout any view to ulterior revocation, never would trvo nations have baen placed in an attitude more powerful and imposing, or pregnant with I'.appier consequences to the interests and prosperity of both. They would have been firmly united by indissoluble ties, and bound to each other by a Gordian knot, which nothing but the scythe of time could have divided. But, unfortunately, England was not sincere. Her Cabinet remained men¬ tally intolerant; and Ireland, after ten years of unexampled prosperity, ■was again destined to future miseries, equally unforeseen and unmerited. It was for a moment supposed that commercial jealousies towards Ire¬ land, those eternal enemies to e'very thing generous or cordial, had been at least partially excluded from British councils, to make room for a more just, liberal, and enlightened policy. Had it been so, the interests oi both nations would have found their conmnir level in their mutual pros¬ perity ; the moral and physical powers of both would have been invigor¬ ated and embarked in the? same cause, attracting and consolidating their united strength into oce impenetrable mass, which would have defied all the enmities, the machinations, and the powers of united Europe. Arrangements of such a nature, founded on so strong and broad a basis, aright have been as durable as the ancient towers of Ireland, of Avhich even tradition cannot trace the origin, hut which neither time nor the elements havo as j^et Lad the power to dilapidate, Ireland was disposed, for a hiaae, to bo contented with her Parliament; suspicion is not one of hec VTSR and fall of THS JI’.LSn NATION. U7 characteristic feelings: she loolced at every object through the snncy medium of her own bright and warm generosity, and threw herself at once into the arms of her sister country. She did not, or she would not, till forced by its glare upon her vision, see the false and fatal artifices by v/hich her independence was surrounded. She disdained to suspect those on wliom she had already lavished a noble confidence, and she fancied she beheld all her better fortunes circling, like a glory, round the brow of her new-born freedom. A phenomenon so novel and captivating, absorbed for a time the rcflc-c- lioa of the people, and concealed from them that treacherous reservation wliich subsequent events Lave proved to have then lurked behind the faithless, but specious language of the yielding country. However, the matter was suddenly brought to a decisive issue. After a lingering indisposition, the hlarqnis of Rockingham, the only link which bound the Whig Ministry together, ceased to exist. This loss was irre¬ parable, the Cabinet became incomplete, and could not be recruited. Its members suspected each other, and the nation suspected them, and but a short period had elapsed, when the most unnatural and corrupt ministerial coalition in the annals of British Government, between Mr. Fox and Lord North, justified the suspicions of both the people and the parties, and taught Ireland what she might expect from the consistency of British Ministers. II. A temporary confusion was the consequence of the Marquis of Rock- ingltam’s death. However, an entire new Ministry was formed, and pub¬ lic affairs in England appeared to be acquiring at least a semblance of some etohility. £n Ireland the scene entirely changed. The Marquis of Rockingham was no more, the Administration of England was remodelled without being im¬ proved, and Earl Temple was sent over to supersede the Duke of Portland, and to take his chance of governing and tranquillizing the Irish people, as ciicnmstances might warrant. Ih's Excellency was accompanied to Ireland by his brother, Mr. (now, Lci'd) Gi’euA'iile, in the office of Chief Secretary: a person not adapted to tie habits of that people, the temper of the times, or the circumstances of the coiuitiy. A proud English gentleman, deficient in that modulation and flexibility of cliarac'icr so useful to a Minister at times when he can- aot control, and so peculiarly serviceable at all periods to the temporary rulers of the LLsIi nation; and as be and his family assumed a leading part, eighteen years afterw:ircls, in the suppression of that constitution which he then came over professedly to complete, it became necessary to alluda to some of those public qualities which have distinguished that persenago his political capacities on both occasions. hlr. Grenville bad improved, by unremitting assiduity, whatever talents nature had entrusted him with: and, so far as they could be extended, he ■worked them up into very considerable reputation, and never failed to. tiorclise them with firmness, though not always with discretion, and occasionally with inco.usktcncy. He ccminenoed his public course in an Irish office, and he pursued it till he arrived at the Briijah Cabioet. In both he was etficieut; but in ihe^ BI3E AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. liS first be was mistaken, and in tbe latter be was overrated. Too tinbendit for the Crown, and too aristocratic for the people, he sought influence frojk both, without attaching himself to either: and like the coffin of Mahomet, he was suspended between attraction. The popularity of the man was circumscribed by the austerity of the courtier; and the ambition of the courtier, counteracted by the inflexibility of the statesman. His powers were inferior to domination, but his pride superior to subserviency. His party, therefore, have been placed in a long abeyance, but which certainly could not be well justified, either by tbe policy of the state, or by thie gratitude of the ruler. The Viceroy, though a grander person, was a very inferior statesman. He was a man of business; not less proud, yet rather more accessible than his brother, and would have worked his way better, had he been aided by a more elastic Secretary. They both mistook their course; they began where they should have concluded, and acted upon the vain idea of divert¬ ing away the attention of an ardent people, from an animating object, by the novel purity of pecuniary retrenchments. On this erroneous principl'e they passed over more important concerns, and proceeded to the detection of official peculations with unprecedented activity. They even sacrificed to tills delusive, and comparatively frivolous object, one of the highest officers, and one of the most extensive political connexions in Ireland. Earl Temple and his brother thus setting to work steadily, as men of business, laboured to gain a confidence amongst the people by financial reforms, before they had established a foundation for deserving it by constitutional services. III. However, few acts of the first Temple Administration gave the Irish Nation any important grounds for complaint or for suspicion. Every day discovered and exposed some new official delinquency, and every day brought its dismissals or its punishments. In other times, and under othei circumstances, this meritorious exertion would have had its full weight, and received adequate approbation. But that moment was not an ordinary one; a financial reform was but a secondary object, and was soon considered rather aa an interruption to the view of constitutional arrangement, and leading av.'ay the attention of the Nation from great measures, by those of comparatively unimportant consequences. This system failed in all its objects: the Nation saw and despis^ the principle. They were not in a hu¬ mour to relish naked financial arrangements, the idea of national inde- jicndencc had filled their minds, and popular tranquillity should have pre- coded financial retrenchment, then it would have been grateful, now it was contemptible. The Viceroy, however, persevered in his official reformations; and though he obtained no credit from the body of the people, he appeared to make considerable progress amongst the aristocracy of the patriots. Amongst those whom Lord Temple selected to aid him in this plausible reformation of public abuses, was a person, who, from that period continued an active and on some occasions, a distinguished member of the Irish Par- h.oment. On the question of an Union, he made himself particularly re¬ markable, and had nearly ended his mortal career in supporting the ulinister. Mr. Isaac Corry, the son of an eminent merchant in Newry, had been RISE AKD FALL OF ‘IHE IRISH NATION. U'J elected representative in Parliament for his native town, and commenced h\8 public life under the patronage of that dignified Irishman, Mr. Jolm 0 iJeill, with great advantages. His figure and address were those of a gentleman, rather graceful and prepossessing; and though not regularly ^ucated, he was not badly informed. He was a man of business, and 4 man of pleasure; he had glided over the surface of general politics, and collected the idioms of superficial literature; he possessed about a third rate of public talent; his class of elocution in Parliament was sometimea useful and always agreeable, but on momentous subjects he was not effi- lient. In facing great questions, ho frequently shrunk back, in facing great men, he was sufficiently amusing. His public principles were natu¬ rally patriotic; but his interest lost no time in adapting them to his pur¬ poses. He sought to acquire the character of an accomplished financier, but he was totally unequal to the mazes of financial speculation, and there he altogether failed. His private habits and qualities were friendly and engaging, his public ones as correct as his interest would admit of. As a reward for his fidelity to the Irish Minister of 1799, he succeeded in the first object of his life, the supplanting of Sir John Parnell in the Chancellorship of the Irish Exchequer. But it added little to his emolu¬ ment, and nothing to his reputation. He wrangled through the Irish Union as a ministerial partisan, and exposed himself os a financier in the Imperial Parliament. His influence was neutralized when he lost his country, his pride was extinguished when he lost bis office, and he was defeated at Eewry, in which he thought himself established. Like others of his repenting countrymen, he withdrew from public life, upon the por- chase of his integrity, regretting past scenes, and disgusted with the pass¬ ing ones. He lingered out his latter days in an inglorious retirement, the prey of chagrin, and the victim of unimportance. As a private friend, it Is impossible but to regret him; as a pubfic character, he has left but little of celebrity. ,. Lord Charlemont and Mr. Grattan, dazzled by specious appearances, pheed much confidence in, and formed somewhat of a political connexion with, the new Lord Lieutenant. But they soon found that it had become imperatively necessary to change the tone of their representations to Go¬ vernment ; and during the recess of Parliament, they adopted language very different from and much stronger than that which they had conceived, to bs sufficient during the last Administration. The interval between the prorogation and the meeting of a new Parliament, comprised a period of great importance in Irish history, and merits considerable attention, as bearing strongly on the subsequent transactions which extinguished its constitution. ry. The armed Volunteers had now a»umed a deliberative capacity. Politicol subjects became topics of regular organized discussion in every district of Ireland, and amongst every class and description of its population. They paraded as soldiers, and they debated as citizens: and but few days passed over, in which they did not exercise in both capacities. More than 160,000 Volunteers now appeared npoa their regimental mufiter-rolls; pre¬ pared to join tKdt standards the moment their country demanded theip 150 Klb£ AND FALL OF TKE IRISn KATIOX exortiOBs: an army so constituted must have been strong, an army so anii mated must have been invincible. The Catholics now became also practically active in the same cause, con« siderable bodies of that creed now took up arms, formed regiments in seve* raj districts, and placed themselves entirely under the command and con¬ trol of their Protestant officers and fellow-subjects. All was unanimity in the armed bodies; but a general discontent and suspicion, as to the con¬ duct of Great Britain, appeared in rapid progress, and proceedings more than usually alarming were occurring every moment throughout the whole nation. Many collateral and important constitutional points now successively ap- peeu’cd to have been omitted in the claim of rights; and many remained iinafiected by the repeal of the English statute, but which sooner or latei must necessiu'ily give rise to new and great collisions. The debates of the last session, inconclusive in their results, had, without remedying these difficulties, inflamed the people; and a new paroxysm of discontent actu¬ ally seized upon the entire population. The Volunteers, however, soon placed the matter beyond all doubt or argument; they again entered into decisive resolutions, no longer to obey, or suffer to be obeyed, any statute cr law lliereiofore enacted in England, and to oppose their execution with their lives and fortunes.* The magistrates refused to act under them, the Judges were greatly embarrassed; no legal causes could be proceeded on, under the authority of the British statutes,! though naming Ireland, no * A few resolutions of the Volunteer Corps will serve to show the spirit and temper of the whole; the most important will ho detailed in the Appendix. t Kesolutions, County of Monaghan. “ We, the High Sheriff, Foreman, and Grand Jury of tho County of Monaghan, assomhled. Lent Assizes, 1782: “Thinking it now peculiarly necessary to declare our sentiments respecting the fundamental and undoubted rights of this Nation, wo do una,uimously declare that we will, in every situation of life, and with all tho means in our power, as. sort and maintain the constitutional rights of this kingdom, to be governed hy such laws only as are cuactod hy tho Hiug, Lords, and Commons of Ireland, and that we will, in every instance, uniformly and strenuously oppose the execu¬ tion of any statutes, except such ns derive authority from said Parliament, pledg¬ ing onrselvos to our country, and to each other, to support, with our lives and foilunos, this our solemn declaration; and further, wo hind ourselves, that we will yearly renew this necessary vindication of our rights, until such time as they shall he explicitly acknowledged, and firmly established. “Tscmas Couxr, Shori^ "ILlwosl Madden, Foreman, and Fellowat" Xlesclutions entered into by the Corps of Dublin Volunteers, on Friday, the March, 1782, his Grace the Duke of Lcinateir in the Chair: “Ecsolved—That Great Bntsin Md Ireland are, and ought to be, msepar^hly CGi'meotcd, hy Ireiag undor tho uoniiidca of the eamo King, and enjoying er^ual lihertv, fcind aoular oonslitutioM. “That Uie King, Lords, and Gomiaens of Ireland only, are competent ^ make laws, bindiug the Buhjecta of this realm j and that W3 will not obey or give SISE AND FALL OF T2E IlUSa KATIOif. 151 coiLJJsel would plead tliem, no Juries would find for them, tho operation cf many important laws, theretofore in force, was necessarily suspended ; and matters seemed verging tov/ards great perplexity. Tho general dissatis faction made rapid progress, assumed a more decisive altitude, and every discreet person became alarmed for the consequences. The discussion and arrangement of those numerous constitutional and legal difiicultics, though complicated and irritating, appeared absolutely indispensable. It became impossible longer to support the terms af the Ad¬ dress to his Majesty, or to argue that “ all constitutional questions between the two nations were at an end forever; “the fact was practically nega¬ tived, and all reasoning on (he siiScieucy of the simple repeal, daily lost its weight amongst the people. V. Whilst these important subjects were in agitation, and many men’s opinions remained undecided in Ireland, the conduct of theBridsh Parlia¬ ment and of the British hlinistry justly confirmed all the suspicious which Lad been entertained as to the sincerity of Great Britain. Every day dur¬ ing tho session of Parliament discord had been augmenting; Mr. Flood was frequently victorious in theargument; but Mr. Grattan was always vic¬ torious in the majority. Their contests were, at the first, moderate; but at length, discretion was abandoned on both sides, and gave way to alter¬ cations, abounding in eloquence, but too personal and too acrimonious to be recorded in these memoirs. This violent difference of opinion between those two great men, of course, communicated its effects, more or less, amongst all their supporters, and became injurious to the general cause of the country, hlr. Grattan firmly believed that he Avas right; and he would not recede. Ilis pertinacity formed a rallying station for some of the old courtiers, who liated both men, but Mr. Flood most, and gave them a pretence for their re-embodying against tlic country. Strong patties in Parliament had assailed hlr. Flood, lie stood at bay, and no local statesman ever shoAved more talent, more judgment, more constitutional knowledge, and effective firmness, than he did in this memorable contest. Tiiis divided state of tlie Irish Nation was exactly what the Ministiy were desirous to bring about. It somewhat discredited all the Irish parties, gave breathing time to tho British Cabinet; and if disunion Lad extendea itself materially to the people, it Avould have given the Government an opportunity of making arrangements entii'ely conformable to their own ob¬ jects. This dividing system however, became entirely defeated by the iu- - judicious conduct of some members'of the British Parliament, who could not restrain their chagrin at concessions which they disapproved of; but, carTled by their zeal beyond their discretion, their injudicious conduct' united parties in Ireland, as against a common enemy. Events uoav rapidly succeeded each other, to impress the Irish Nation with a thorough conviction that they had to deal with a Government, from ration to (my laws, save only those enacted by the King, Lords, and Commons of Lelaud, whose rights and privileges, jointly and severally, wo are detormiac4 !i) soppoi t Avith our llyts and fortunes. “.jSij/Hei (by crdc-i) John Wiluahs, Sey-f isi EUiE AND TAIAi o» TmE IRISH NATION. whom, ndther political sincerity nor cordial concession could be furthej expected. VI. Sir George Young, a member of the British Parliament, neither a •Dative nor a resident of Ireland, had been placed in the office of Vice- Treasurer of Ireland, as a sinecure reward for his parliamentary cappor t of the British Government. It was an office during pleasure only; and therefore no person holding that office could act contrary to the desire of the Government wliich ap- pointed him. Yet so circumstanced. Sir George Young, in his place in Parliament, did oppose the Bills of Concession to Ireland, and the repeal oJ 6 th George I., which had been brought in by the British Ministers them- selves. He also protested against the power of passing such Bills by the English Parliament, and disclaimed the power of the King himself to re¬ linquish the inherent rights of the British Legislature to legislate for Ireland. No person therefore could suppose, that Sir George Young, a depen¬ dent placeman, and partisan of the British Ministers, durst have so acted, ' oc have ostensibly opposed the King and his Government^ without the ex- -press desire or implied concurrence of the Ministers themselves. The effect of such a speech, by such a person, at such a moment, was 'almost electrical; but a much weightier authority against the independence of Ireland soon succeeded it. Lord Mansfield (though one of the greatest, was an arbitrary, and in some points, one of the most mischievous, Judges . that ever sat upon the English bench,) notwithstanding the repeal of the •Gth of George L by the British Parliament, proceeded to entertain in the • Court of King’s Bench, at W'estminster, an Appeal form the Court of : King’s Bench of Ireland; observing, that “ he knew of no law depriving 'Ihe British Court of its vested jurisdiction.” The interest of money in England was only five per cent., in Ireland it was six ; and Lord Mansfield had placed very large sums on Irish mort¬ gages, to gain the additional one per cent. His Lordship well knew that such Irish investments were, in their nature, a troublesome species of secu¬ rity ; but that they were not likely to gain any additional facilities by the appeUant’s jurisdiction bebg taken from the British Courts and transfesred to Ireland herself: hence his Lordship’s reluctance to part with it. These considerations were not concealed by his Lordship. He was forced, .however, to yield to circumstances; but he never did it with a good grace. VII. The effect of this proceeding was sufficiently alarming; but another exciting circumstance immediately took place, of still higher order. The . English Parliament passed an Act, regulating the importation of sugars from St. Domingo to all his Majesty’s dominions in Europe. Ireland was a part of his Majesty’s dominions in Europe; and this statute was con¬ strued as of course embracing Ireland, and thereby constituting an act of, ^xtcMud legislation over Irish concerns, by the King of England and Par¬ liament of Great Britain, without the concurrence of the Irish Legislature. This, however, was rather a refinement of construction; but the coadutt ,of Lord Abingdon, in the British Lords, rendered all further confidence in &e state of arrangement between the two oauutries, as it then stood, tctally ijiAdmisaible; it was too explicit to be mistaken. ^jfd Aidsid'SCi 02«d5y adverse ’/O the rig’-.hi of l/cland, followed, ir^ Rials AND FALL OF niE IRISH NATION. 153 House of Peers, the example of Sir George Young in the House ol Gommons; and totdly denying the authority of the King and the Parlia¬ ment of England to emancipate Ireland, he moved for leave to bring in e Declaratory Bill to re-assert the right of England to legislate externally in the concerns of Ireland. This remarkable Bill stated, “ that the Kings of England, being masters of the British seas for eighteen centuries, and the AVestern sea, which surrounded Ireland, belonging to the Kings of England, the British Parliament had the sole right to make laws to regulate the commerce of Ireland, &c.” It was impossible now for the Irish Nation longer to remain silent. The aggregate of all these circumstances went clearly to a simultaneous attack upon the new independence of Ireland, and a decisive proof of what might occur when Great Britain acquired sufficient vigour to reassert, with any prospect of enforcing, her supremacy. Lord Abingdon’s attempt was candid and direct, and, above all others, alarmed the Irish people. The Volunteers beat to arms throughout the whole kingdom ; above 120,000 paraded. The Volunteers’ March was played by every band, and sung by every voice the war hymn of Ireland. All confidence in the sincerity of the British Ministry, its Cabinet, its Officers, its Parliament, was dissipated ; and there were not wanting per¬ sons who believed and disseminated their opinion, that the rights of Ire¬ land were actually betrayed. The danger and confusion of the times hourly increased; Mr. Flood preserved his firmness and Lis dignity, and gained much ground amongst the people. The repeal of the Cth Georg* I. could no longer be urged by Mr. Grattan as a guarantee; the sin¬ cerity of England could no longer be relied upon; the people began to ao6 for themselves; and the Anglo-Irish Government was driven back to its old practices, and endeavoured, by every means within its power to dimi¬ nish the number and overwhelming weight of their parliamentary oppo¬ nents. But the Volunteers were in line: the people cried to arms; the British Cabinet now trembled for the consquences of their own dupli¬ city ; yet they had neither honor to relinquish their system, nor courage lo support it: they reluctautly perceived it was totally inoperative : and at length became sensible to the imminent dangers of her own situation. They felt the impossibility of either evasion or resistance ; and early in the ensuing session, the British Ministry and the British Parliament, without any stimulating debate, and without waiting for further and peremptory remonstrances from Ireland passed the most important statute that ever had been enacted as to the affairs of Ireland, a statute unequivocally an£ explicitly renouncing all future right to legislate for Ireland. Tbey there¬ by appeared to have abrogated for ever that principle of legislative usur¬ pation which they had for bo many ages pertiiiaciouBly and unjastly erercisod Anno vicessimo lertio. GEORGE HI. REGIS. CiLiu’. XX Vm. An Act for removing and preventing all doubts V/ bich ho ve atiseo, or might Arise, concerning the exdusiv* Righta cl tia? pcuil&£&s.nt tiul Courts cdL^dand, in matters of legiolatien aiid n;sE faix of the irisk natiow; aud for preventing any Vr'rifc of e ror or appeal from any of his hl'ajesty' Courts in that Kingdom from beii g received, heard, and adjudged in anj of his Majesty’s Courts in the Kingdom of Great Britain. Whereas, by an Act of the last Session of this present Parliament, (intituled an Act to rei)eal an Act, made in the Sixth Year of the Beign of his Late Majesty King George the First, intituled an Act for the better securing the De pendency of tlie Kingdom of Ireland upon the Crown of Great Britain,'s it was enacted, that the said last mentioned Act, and all matters and things therein contained, should be repealed: And whereas, doubts have arisen whether the provisions of the said Act are sufficient to secure to the people of Ireland the Eights claimed by them, to be bound only, by laws enacted by his Majesty and the Parliament of that Kingdom, in all cases iwhatever, and to have all .actions and suits at law, or in equity, wdiich 'inay be instituted in that Kingdom, decided in his Majesty’s Courts there¬ in finally, and wdthout appeal from thence. Therefore, for removing all doults respecting the same, may it please your hlajesty that it may be de¬ clared and enacted, and be it. declared and 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 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 liave 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 estaUished and ascertained for ever, and shall, at no time hereafter, he questioned or questionalh. 2nd. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that no writ of error or appeal shall be received or adjudged, or any other proceeding be had by or in any of his IMajesty’s Courts in this Kingdom, in any action or suit at law or in equity,.instituted in any of his Majesty’s Coui'te in the Kingdom of Ireland ; and that all such writs, appeals, or proceed¬ ings shall be, and they are hereby declared null and void to aU intents a3id purposes; and that all records, transcripts of records, or proceedings, which have been transmitted from Ireland to Great Britaim by virtue of any writ of error or appeal, and upon which no judgment has been given or decree pronounced, before the first day of June, one thousand seven iundred and eighty-two, shall upon application made by or in behalf of Jthe party in wLose favoir judgment was given, or decree pronounced in Ireland, be delivered to such party, or any person by him authorised to apply for and receive the same. VII. This most important measure was brought into the British House of Commons by Mi’. Townsend, passed through both Houses, and received the Royal a^ent •without debate and with very little observation. Id England it was cautiously held out neither in the light of a new concession to Ireland, nor of a relinquishment of any then existing supremacy of Great Brifeiin; but as a consequential declaratory part of a general con¬ stitutional arrangement sntered into betvfeen the two nations. Tn Ireland it was represented as not presuming to create a new, but merely to defiae.a pre-exifitiug constitution. These were wise RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 155 dons, and in these points of view gave no alarm nor jcalonsy to either country; while it seemed to consummate the desires and objects of the Irish nation. England had now smTendered all the interests and concerns, constitutional and commercial, external and internal, which Ireland claimed, into the Lands and guardianship of her own Legislature. To many, this great and finishing concession appeared a conclusive, magnanimous, and sapient measure of the British ^Ministry. Irish freedom appeared complete; her independence as a nation legislatively acknowledged Tor ever. This great outline of her constitution appeared to Lave been drawn irrevocably, the possibility of redssumption was regarded aschimerieal, and nothing but commercial arrangements remained to be adjusted by the mutual good will, and according to the reciprocal interests of the two na¬ tions. Eor a moment, general happiness, great cordiality, and invincible strength, seemed to be in store for the British Empire, as the result and re¬ ward of this wise and honourable confederacy of two independent nations. A. union of powers and mterests more dignified, substantial, and invigorat¬ ing to a people, and more ennobhng to an empire, never had existed. And it is grievous to contrast that moment of pride and strength with the desolating measure which in eighteen years afterwards sacrificed the pledged honour and good faith of one nation, to annihilate the independence and paralyse the prosperity of another.* VIII. This legislative renunciation of British supremacy, however, ap¬ peared to some in a different point of view. Mr. Grattan, and many per¬ sons of great talent, considered that statute rather a confirmation than a relinquishment of British supremacy, and still adhered more strongly to the adequacy of simple repeal in preference to such a renunciation; and many considered that it did not go far enough. The arguments on both sides v/ere carried on with great warmth and pertinacity; and the doubtful se^ cuiity of Irish independence was debated u^xin the construction of that very statute which was enacted to confirm it. This Act of Renunciation, however, appeared to have a conclusive oper¬ ation. It w'as conceived by many, that nothing further was necessary to he done, but such as the L-ish Parliament was now in itself competent to enact. But though the measure tended to give a strong confidence in the good intentions of the Britisli Parliament, it came too late to satisfy the Irish peo])le as to the purity of their own. On the contrary, it convinced them of either its inefficiency or its corruption, or the Renunciation Act of the British Parliament would have been totally uimecessary. Mr. Flood’s argument now appeared not only triumphant in Ireland, but fully acknow¬ ledged, and legishitively acted upon, even by Great Britain herself. The unfortunate opposition in the Irish Commons, and the still more unfortu¬ nate majorities of tliat House, which had scouted doctrines and measures thus subsequently admitted to be just and necessary, by the voluntary acts of England herself, mp.de a deep impression on the Volunteers of Ireland. It was true they bad acquired their liberties, they had gained their in¬ dependence; but they still had to secure it. The Renunciation Act of Eng- ® A full orpohonoe of riiirty-two years Las prorod unanswerably the troth of this obJciTation. RISE A^’D FALL OF THE lUISH NATTOK, land had discredited the Irish Parliament with the Irish peoplo. lint it had its apology. It had been so long enfeebled and corrupted, so long within the iron trammels of usurpation, that the chain bad become habi¬ tual, and therefore it was more to be dreaded that its broken links might be rivetted anew, and Ireland, in lapse of time, sink again under the same power which had originally enslaved it. The Irish Declaration of Rights had been one of those sudden events which ages might not again produce; it was the powerful struggle of an enslaved people, and the irresistible en¬ ergy of an extraordinary man, uniting to command the acquiescence of 8* corrupt Legislature. Without the people, the Parliament would have been neutralized; and without the man, the people would have been unsupported: and it was indisputable, that whilst the work remained as yet unfinished, the Irish Parliament had slackened in its duties, and relapsed into its old habits of a corrupt and indolent confidence, contrary to every principle of prudenc* and foresight, and the opinion of the nation: the Irish people, therefore, as they gave credit to the British Parliament for voluntary conceding what their own Parliament had refused, naturally lost all confidence in the future conduct and purity of their own Legislature; a suspicion bat too justly founded, and which has given rise to consequences deeply inte¬ resting to the fate of that country. CHAPTER XVII I. These historic incidents have been anticipated, to give a clearer in* sight into the interesting and important debates which immediately suc¬ ceeded them. Durmg the Marquis of Rockingham’s lifetime, Earl Charle- mont, always virtuous but often feeble, had found something most con¬ genial to himself in the refined habits and mild plaintive disposition of that nobleman; and was led, by his love of order, to conceive a visionary amal¬ gamation of popular rights and ministerial generosity; and the funda¬ mental object of all British Cabinets—disunion amongst patriots, seemed likely to g^in much ground through so debilitating a doctrine. Those who were guided by Lord Charlemout’s tranquil credulity and courtly mode* ration, had been disposed to be content with simple repeal. But Mr. Flood had seen the crisis, and had boldly thrown down the gauntlet. Mr, Grattan had as boldly taken it up; direct hostilities commenced; and tho same Parliament, which for a moment had bicen all confidence and unani¬ mity, arrayed itself for combat under two powerful leaders, Mr. Flo^ had become most prominent amongst the Irish patriots. He was a man of profound abilities, high manners, and great experience in the affairs of Ireland. He had deep information, an extensive capacity, and a solid judgment. His experience m.\do him sceptical, Mr, Grattan’s honesty made him creduloiu. Mr. Grattan was a great patriot. Mr. Flcod was a great statesn^an. The first was qualified to acliieve the liber- ties of a country—the latter to eutanglo a complicaWd constitution. Gratton was tho moi t brilliant man. Flood the more able senator. Flood BISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH RATION. was the wiser politician. Grattan was the purer. The one used more logic, die other made more proselytes. Unrivjilled, save by each other, they were equal in their fortitude: but Grattan was the mere impetuous. Flood had qualities for a great prince; Grattan for a virtuous one; and a combination of both would have made a glorious monarch. They were great enough to be in contest; but they were not great enough to be in harmony: both were too proud; but neither had sufficient magnanimity to merge his jealousies in the cause of his country. It was deeply lamented, that at a moment, critical and vital to Ireland, beyond all former precedent, an inveterate and almost vulgar hostility, should have prevented the co-operation of men, whose counsels and talents would have secured its independence. But that jealous lust for undivided honour, the eternal enemy of patriots and of liberty, led them away eve’v beyond the ordinary limits of Parliamentary decorum. The old courtiers fanned the flame, the new ones added fuel to it, and the independence of Ireland was eventually lost by the distracting result of their animosities, which in a few years was used as an instrument to annihilate that very Legislature, the preservation of which had been the theme of their hos¬ tilities. This irreconcileable difference of opinion between two of the ablest men of Ireland, generated the most ruinous consequences for that ill-fated country. Both had their adherents, as pertinacious as themselves. The simple repeal had contented Mr. Grattan and Earl Charlemont; the Re¬ nunciation Act was enforced by the perseverance of Mr. Flood and the people, and still considered inconclusive. Both parties adhered to their own conviction; nothing could warp the opinions of either; and to tho day of their death their opinions remained unaltered, and events proved that both were mistaken. IL By those two statutes, by daily political discussions amongst the V olunteers, and by a multitude of literary publications, circulated with activity, the people were at length informed of the plain true facts of their own case and situation. They were reminded, as at their first for¬ mation, that Great Britain had long usurped the power of binding Ireland by acta of their own Parliament, and that Ireland had thereby been re¬ duced to a state of constitutional slaver/; that tho British Government, intending to carry its usual usurpation to an extraordinary length, had parsed an Act in “ the British Parliament,” during the reign of George L. “tindiag Ireland by British statutes,” cutting off at once every branch ol tiish liberty;* that this statute did not affect to originate any new power a Wif-a the Author usoo the term liberty, as connected with Ireland, lest hii onpliratioD of that term might be misconceived, he thinks it right to state that it applies tho term ” liberty,” previous to 1782, in contradistinction to the then dsasUng con3tltutiona.l subservionoy of that country. From 1782 to 1800, he uacs it as a constitutional quality, actually and fcUy enjoyed by Ireland j and ajler IdOO, *8 t constitutional quality actually relinquished ; because he thinks, and Elv»a 3 s has thought, and that in *.1013011 with tho avowed opinion of many of fc'c.a Kicg’a prc»U3t law officers and Judges of Ireland, that no detached iis- tiatt Hation oan be said to possess the attributes o! ^ cetutiiiiiionai Uberty K13E ASD FALL OF THE HUSH NATIOfT. bj Er.f/land, but declared peremptorily, that such a right had al'wsyg existed in the English Parliament, and always would be acted on when *it suited the convenience of the British Ministry. They were reminded,' that when the Irish nation became too wise and too powerful to bo longer retained in subjection, England (in order to pacify the Irish nation) had nerself voluntary repealed that statute declaratory of her pre-exiDting •power; but did not, by that repeal, renounce the right which she had so long exercised, nor did she in any way declare that she would never re-enact that the same right I’emained, in abeyance: nor had England admitted in Auy way that she had been originally erroneoiis in enacting it. III. These being the plain and undisputed facts of the case, it v/as thence argued that the mere repeal of the declaratory statute, so far from defiui- tivcly renouncing the existing right of legislation over Ireland, confirmed it; and, by repealing, only enacted the expediency of discontinuing ifa exercise under existing circumstances. The statute which had declared that there existed such a pre-existing right in England to bind Ireland, was indeed repealed by England; but still, though the declaration was re¬ pealed, the right was not renounced, and remained only dormant till it might be advisable, under a change of circumstances, to re-declare it by a new statute. The simple repeal of any statute certainly leaves the original jurisdiction untouched, exactly in the same situation as before the repeal of it, and with an undiminished right to re-enact it as might be convenient: and the 6th of George I., its enactments and repeal, stood exactly in the same situation as any enactment and repeal of any ordinary statute of the same monarch. It was therefore argued, that it had become indispensably necessary, fo* the security of Ireland, that the British Parliament should, by statutes o3 their own, not only repeal the Act declaratory of Irish ind:. j>endcnce, but also expressly and for ever renounce the existence of any such legislative aulliority over Ireland, or future renewal of such usurpation, without ■Rbich renunciation Ireland had no guarantee for her constitution. ■ Had the statute of George I. been an assumption of a new authority to legislate for Ireland, its simple repeal would have at once admitted the usurpation of such modern assumption; but as that statute was the recog¬ nition and declaration of pre-existing authority, coeval with tie British Parliament itself, a repeal could not be binding on any fut'ure Parliament, ■which might at any future time be disposed to re-enact it. But a statute of the British Parliament and l.lie King of England, by his royal assent, directly renouncing the pre-cxisten'.-e ol such assumed right by England, pledged all future Parliaments (as far as Parliaments can V witho-Qt a resident Legislature of her otth to regalatG her ovon concerns; ana because he conceives the Union, between Great Britain and Ireland, considered abstractedly as a union, has too much of the " imyeriura in irnperio” remaining', to be a perfect union of two nations, and too htlle of it to bo a. federal compact i and he considers that the tie of cormexion between England and Ireland, as Q Jtood on the 1st day of January, 1800, ■was the most perfect, firm, and advaa? tageons union (illnstxaiiiig the term “ liberty”) that htmua v.’i3diMa oonld ha'tS devised. RISF. ACT of the IRISH NATIOS. m to lt.« m’no principle, and also definitively' pledged all future Kings of England against any future re-assumptiou or exercise of such ^eirrer over the kingdom of Ireland; and though the kings of England and llre’exd must always be the same individual, the realms were totally dis- tirct, their crowns were distinct, tliough on the same head; and Ireland, possessing her own independent legislature, any such future attempt by a king of England would then be a direct breach of !he law of nations, and a dereliction cf his Irish office by the king of Ireland. 'These arguments* became a universal subject of discussion; and were rendered of still greater interest by debates, which every day arose on other points interwoven with the arrangements. Numerous Eritish statutes had been enacted, expressly naming and legislating for Ireland, as if enacted by its own Parliaments. All these remained still in activity, and great iuconvenience must necessarily have arisen from an immediate and indis¬ criminate suspension of their operation. None were enacted in Ireland to supply their places: and great difficulties were occurring. Modeim Eng¬ land could not be humiliated by generously declaring that her ancestors had exceeded their constitutional authority as to Ireland. On the con¬ trary, it should have been her proudest boast to have done justice by avow¬ ing it. This was not humiliation—it was true glory; and when England, shortly afterwards, acctually renounced for ever, by the act of her own Legislature, her domination over Ireland, she could not have been much gratified by the temporizing complaisance of the Irish Parliament. IV. It is also very remarkable, that though IMr. W Isbe and the Re¬ corder alone divided against the address of U.Ir. Grattan, in a very short time afterwards there was scarcely a Member of Parliament, or a man in Ireland, rvho did not concur decidedly in their opinions; and even the British Ministry and the British Legislature, by their own voluntary act, jonfirmed their doctrine. Public discussions on one great subject seldom fail to involve reflections upon others, and these naturally brought the Irish people to discuss the imperfections of their own Cotnincns’ tloi'se of Parliament, and to perceive, that without a compreh^^nsive rtiorm of that' department there was no security against the instability of events and the duplicity of England. The following letter, how'ever, fi’om IMr. Grattan to the Author, ajtpeafs to throw new aud materhU light upon the subject, and to dovclope the in- • Tlie argumonta used by Mr. Flood aud Mr. Crailan on this intricate point, aud which finally decided the fate of Ireland, branched out into so many part?, were debated with such ahilty by both parties, that though t re argunjeuts may be compressed, the strength and beauty of the language never can be given ia any publication. At all events, those argnmenis have been p'cblished by a num¬ ber of persons, and partly appear in Mr. Grattan’s speeches, published by his son. The Author, however, never being on that point of the samo opinion as Mr.' Grattan, mentioned to him h's dissent and his difficulty, as to the terms in whicb ne shcnld publish the points and issue of those arguments ; and the Author baa no mode so authentic as by Mr. Grattan’s letter to himself on that subject, ob¬ viously not a. nrive.to one, but rather intended, in point of sahjcci, to bo juaJci publia. 160 RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. ^yidual vie-ws and politics of Mr. Grattan Umself, more clearly than any speech or document heretofore published. This letter also proves, more than volumes, the insincerity of the Dube of Portland and the English Government: their distinction between tbe; words “recognised” and “established,” leaves their political reservalion beyond the reach of scepticism. This letter shows palpably the ruin that a want of co-operation between two great men brought upon the country; and, above all, it incidentally exposes the courtly, credulous, and feeble politics of Earl Charlemont, so injurious to the public cause, and so depressing to the vigom: and energies of its greatest advocate. To Mr. Ponsonby's chance remissness on a future crisis, is attributable the Viltimate loss of the Irish Legislature, as Lord Charlemont’s political cour¬ tesy was, on this, fatal to its security. Patriots without energy, as beei without stings, may buzz in sunshine, but can neither defend their hiv« nor assail their enemy. “ House of Commons^ London^ March 2 nd. “Mt dear Barrington, “ I am excessively sorry that your health has been impaired, and hope it will soon be restored. “I will get you the PFAiy-Club resolution. They proposed to obtain an internal reform of Parliament, in which they partly succeeded : they pro¬ posed to prevent an union, in which they failed. “ The address that declared no political question remained between the two countries, had in view to stop the growth of demand, and preserve en¬ tire the annexation of the Crown. It was, to us, an object to prevent anj future political discussion touching the relative rtate of the two countries; because we might not be so strong as in that moment. And it wa.s an ob¬ ject to us, and to the English Minister, to guard against any discussion that might shake the connexion to which we were equally attached. Fox wished sincerely for the liberty of Ireland without reserve. He was an enemy to an union, and wished the freedom to be annexe! 11 his name. “The Act of repeal was a part of a treaty with England A declaratory Act of title is the affirmance of the emtonce of* n former title; the repeal is a disaffirmance of any such former title; th*: mote so tvhen accom¬ panied by a transfer of the possession, viz, ths transfer of the final ju¬ dicature and the legislation for the cclony-trade c£ the ccw-acquired islands, made in consequence of a protest by Ireland against the claim of England. “ The repeal was not any confession of usurpatjon—^it was a disclaimer of any right. You must suppose what I have said, untahi, A man of spirit may say that; but he will hesitate to unsay tvoml ly word. That was the case of England. She would not in so many worJ.s confess hei usurpation nor did she; on the contrary, when they pressed her, she ex¬ ercised the power, and said, ‘ The constitution of Ireland is estsbiiah^ and ascertained in future by the authority of the British Parliament.’ It '"'as pronosed in the Honsc of Commons to change Hie words, and s’-y, nised for ever.’ They agreed to thewordB ‘ for ever,’ and refused ihs cCCfd RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATiaU. 161 ‘ recognised,’ and kept in the word ‘ established.’ Tlus, I call making Ire¬ land free with a vengeance. “I wish, in your History, you would put down tlio au'gument on both sides. I can get you Flood’s published by his authority. “ I am excessively thankful for the many handsome things you have said of me. “Your’s most truly, “HENRY GRATTAN. “ Chevalier Barrington, “ Boulogne, pres Paris." V. Their late constitutional acquirements, though apparently confirmed beyond the power of revocation, might be yet a precarious tenure, whilst 'Ireland had a House of Commons so framed and elected as to be sus¬ ceptible of relapse into its former degradation ; and though their constitu¬ tion was not in any state of present danger, future insecurity must be tlie necessary consequence of a feeble or corrupt representation. Over the Lords and over the Crown, the control of the people was insufficient and uncertain. It was just, therefore, that they should have a counterpoise, by a House of Commons of their own free selection ; and events have since proved that the suspicions were prophetic. These, and such like reflections, led the Irish people gradually, according to their capacities, into a train of constitutional deductions; and suggested topics as to the reform and purity of Parliament, which they had never before thought of. The great body of a people can never be capable of that cool and dis. criminating course of reasoning, which individuals or limited delegations- are capable of exercising, hence they too frequently, in great general assemblies, follow, wliether right or wrong, the sentiments of those who reason more plausibly than themselves, or whose elocution grasps at their feelings, and gives them a factitious superiority over ordinary under- jtandings. It was impossible that the great body of the Irish Volunteers, which had now assumed the guardianship of Ireland, could be capable of methodical, leep, systematic, reasoning, or of unerring political deduction from argu¬ ments of enthusiastic and heated orators; but a great proportion of them •easoned by that instinctive power which nature confers on shrewd uncul¬ tivated capacities, and on none more than the humble orders of the Irish people; they caught the strong features of their case and their constitu¬ tion ; they knew that they had contributed by their arms and by their energy, to the common cause of their country, they feli that they had been victorious, they listened attentively to their officers, who, more learned than the soldiers, endeavoured to adapt their explanations to the strong, coarse minds which they sought to enlighten, they instructed them as to existing circumstances, and to future possibilities, and thus endeavoured to teach those whom they commanded, not only how to act, but why that principle of action was demanded by their country. At this time, the visionary and impracticable theories of more modern days had no place amongst the objects of the armed societies of Irelani ; L 162 KISE AKD FALL OF iUE IRISH NATIOM. but the naturally shrewd and intelligent capacities of the Irish people were easily convinced, iLit without some constitutional reform in the mode of electing the Commons’ House of Parliamnet, they could have no adequate jecurity for permanent independence. They learned that paroxysms of liberty which give rise to revolutions, do not endure for ever, and that the spirit of Irish freedom, wdiich had affected the liberation of their country, might expire; that the independence of the constitution, unless protected by a free Parliament, never could be secure; that the enemy might attempt to regain her position, and that the battle \Yould then be fought again under multiplied disadvantages. Such a reform, therefore, as might insure the uninfluenced election and individual independence of the Irish representatives, appeared to be indis¬ pensable, not as a theoretical innovation, nor of a revolutionary complex¬ ion, but as a practical recurrence to the first and finest elements of the constitution as it then existed, without any deviation from the principles on which it had been with so much wisdom originally constructed. This species of reformation, and none other, was that which the Irish nation so judiciously sought for; nor were they without high authority and prece¬ dent to countenance that requisition, hlr. Pitt, that great, but mischie¬ vous and mistaken statesman, at that time professed himself to be a reform¬ ing patriot, but it was profession only, his deep and solid intellect was soon perverted by the pride of his successes, and confidence in his omni¬ potence. He reigned at an unexampled era, his fertile and aspiring, but arrogant genius, led him into a series of grand and magnificent delusions, generating systems and measures which, while professing to save, sapped the outworks of the British constitution, and accelerated, if not caused, the financial ruin in which he left his country. He, however, lived long enough to rule as a minister by that system of corruption which, as a pa¬ triot, he had reprobated: and to extinguish the Irish Parliament, by the loyalty and attachment of which his Government had been uniformly sup¬ ported. The Irish people coincided with Mr. Pitt as to the necessity of a reform nor did the leading reformers of Ireland materially differ with him in tha details of that reformation: the principle was admitted by both nations, but Mr. Flood was undisguised, and Mr. Pitt was in masquerade. The course of reasoning which led the armed associations of Ireland at that period to decide upon the imperative necessity of a reform of Parlia¬ ment, was of that sober and convincing nature, which, without sophism or declamation, proves itself by the force of uncontrovertible premises, and of plain and simple deductions. VI. 1st. It could not be denied that the fundamental principle of the British constitution is a perfect relative equipoise and distinctiveness of its three component estates, the King, the Lords, and the Eepresentatives of the people. 2ud. It could not bo denied, that any deviation from that equipoise and distinctiveness, necessarily altered the political symmetry of the whole, and destroyed that counteracting quality of the three estates, oii the preserva j.ioa of which public liberty entirely depended. Sfii It could not be denied that the members of tho IlyoeS oi Comjuom* nSE AIi'D FALL OF THE IFilSH NATION. 1<53 fortning the third estate, should, by the theory of the coastitution, bo jiersoud freely selected by the people themselves, to guard above all tliiuga against any coalition of the other estates, (the Crown and the Peers,) which coalition must endanger the liberties of the people, by extending the prerogatives and powers of the Executive Government beyond the limits the constitution restrains them to. 4th. It could not be denied, that any one individual, arrogating to him¬ self, and actually exercising a power to nominate, and by his own sole will elect and return representatives to the Commons’ House of Parliament, sent them into that assembly, not to speak the sentiments of the people, but the sentiments of the individual who nominated them, and caused au immediate deviation from the fundamental principles of the British Con¬ stitution. But where members of the House of Peers so nominated and re¬ turned persons to sit and vote as members in the House of Commons, it was, in fact, the House of Peers voting by proxy in the House of Com¬ mons ; thereby at once destroying the independence and distinctiveness of the third estate, and enabling the Crown and the Peers, by coalition, to control the Commons, and establish a despotic throne and an arbitrary aristocracy. The power, therefore, constitutionally conferred on the King by his royal prerogative of creating I’eeis, coupled with the power unconstitu¬ tionally practised by Peers, of creating Commoners, left the people no sufficiently counteracting constitutional protection for their liberties. 5th. It could not be denied that purchasing the representation of th^ people in the Commons’ House of Parliament for money, and selling the exercise of that representation for office, was a constitutional crime of great magnitude; and that when such a practice was publicly countenance, it of course destroyed the purity of Parliament, the principle of representa.- tion, and safeguard of the constitution. But if tliese purchases were made by servants of the Executive Govern¬ ment, in trust, for the uses and purposes of its ministers to enable them ta carry measures througli the Legislature, which their naked strength, official character, or the merits of the measure, might be unable to effect, it was unequivocal that such practices put an end totally to all security in the constitution, and that the people must owe the enjoyment of their liberties only to the timidity, the forbearance, or the possible wisdom of on official oligarchy. The Volunteers now examined existing matters o! fact in Ireland as applicable to these pi’emises, and comp>ai'ing the one with the other, the conclusion became so plain and obvious to the humblest capacities, that* tli; necessity of reform or raodilication in the mode of electing mciubeiA for the Parliament of Ireland, required no further argument. To ascertain the relative matters of facts, as applicable to these prsmisee, the Volunteers caused to be printed and published, lidts of their House of Commons, dft-igns.ting the mode of election of every individual; tho indi- vidu^ by whoso personal influence exdi teprsacntaU'Te was elected; tha (lumber of p&reona who nominally returned (iie member; end, ss la? ca could bo fscertained, the money or vaiue considef^iticn, paid fop eucls en- coiistitutional representauon, 'ihe reault of tiio in^uKy left no room to 164 RISE AKD FALL OF TCS IWJH KATIOM. (10X11)4 the applicability of tboso inquiries to a great proportion of the Commons’ House of Parliament. The Earl of Ely liominated nine mem' bers to the House of Commons. The Earl of Shannon nominated seven' and above twenty other members of the House of Lords nominated ano elected members for the House of Commons. Many individuals openly sold their patronage, for money, to the best bidder, others returned membera at the nomination of the Viceroy or his Seeretary; and it appeared that tlie number of representatives elected freely by the people, upon constitu¬ tional principle, did not compose one-fourth of the Irish Commons. VH. An internal reform of Parliament was, on full consideration, deemed quite incompetent to meet the danger. Numerous statutes had been passed to punish, as a public crime, the bribery of an elector; but no law reached the individual who possessed and e.xercised an influence over electors, and then secretly sold that influence for money or for title. The elector who corruptly voted, was considered as a criminal; but the man who corruptly bought and sold his vote, was tolerated. On the fulle,st in¬ vestigation, therefore, it appeared that in Ireland the third estate was, in a considerable degree, nominated by the second estate; that both the se¬ cond and third estates were influenced by the first estate; and that the whole symmetry and equipoise of the constitution were theoretic, but had no solid or permanent existence. The Volunteers at length determined to demand a reform of Parliament and to bring the measure before the existing Commons in a garb which they conceived would render it irresistible; and from that determination arose the formation of a national representative convention of patriotic delegates, selected from the armed regiments, the most extraordinary, animating, but unprecedented assembly ever yet beheld in the midst of a people, at the moment enjoying an ascertained constitution. Had this assembly been conducted with discriminating caution and un¬ flinching firmness, it might have attained all its objects, and have effected a complete renovation of the British Constitution, through the Irish people. England would not long have delayed acting on the successful precedent of Ireland. This extraordinary meeting, however, though ita objects were not effectuated, brought forward a great mass of talent and of patriotism which had theretofore lain dormant. During the progress of all political reforms and revolutions, men have been frequently found pressing themselves forward into public notice, solely by the strength of their talents, and tlie power of their energies; springing at once from the humblest ranks of obscurity, to the highest class of reputation. One of these luminaries was about this period seen arising in Ireland, V((hose celebrity in that country had no competitor. John Philpot Curran, a person of humble origin, of careless habits, and contemptible enterior, rose at once to give new lustre and spiiit to an already highly-eclightened and spirited profession. He had passed through the University of Dublin uusignalized by any very peculiar honours ; and was admitted to the Irish bar, scarcely known, and totally unpvatronised. With the higher orders ho had no intercourse, and had contracted man¬ ners, and adopted a kind of society, tending rather to disqualify him fo* SISK AND FALL OF TEE IRISH NATION. ISS advancemcnti; T)ut whatever disadvantages he suffered from humble lutdh were soon lost sight of amidst the brilliancy of his talent, and a comparison of what he had been, with what he rose to, rendered the attainments of his genius the more justly celebrated. Never did eloquence appear in so many luminous forms, or so many affecting modulations, as in that gifted personage. Every quality wliich could form a popular oralor was in him combined; and it seemed as if nature had stolen some splendja sstribute from all former declaimers to deck out and embellish her adopted favoui’tte. Oa ordinary occasions, his language was copious, frequently eloquent, yet generally unequal, but, on great ones, the variety of his elocutica, its luxuriance, its effects, were quite unrivalled, solemn, ludicrous, dramatic, argumentative, humorous, sublime, in irony invincible, in pathos over¬ whelming, in the alternations of bitter invective and of splendid eulogy, totally unparalleled; wit relieved the monotony of narrative, and classic imagery elevated the rank of forensic declamation. The wise, the wealr, the vulgar, the elevated, the ignorant, the learned, heard and were af¬ fected—he had language for them all. He commanded, alternately, the fciar or the laugh; and at all times acquired a despotic ascendency over the most varied auditory. These were the endowments of early Curran ; and these were the qua- Rties which, united to an extraordinary professional versatility, enabled him to shoot like a meteor beyond the sphere of all his contemporaries. In private and convivial society, many of his public qualities accom¬ panied him in their fullest vigour. His wit was infinite and indefatigable. A dramatic eye anticipated the flights of an unbounded fancy; but the flashes of his wit never wounded the feelings of his society ; except, per- b/ips, those minds of contracted jealousy, which shrink up from the re- hictant consciousness of inferiority. He was, however, at times, very unequal. As in a great metropolis (to use one of his own illustrations,) “ the palace and the hovel, splendour and squalidness, magnificence and misery, are seen grouped aud contrasting within the same precincts there were occasions when his wit sunk into ribaldry, his sublimity de¬ generated to grossness, and his eloquence to vulgarity; yet his strength was evident even in his weakness. Hercules, spinning as a concubine, still was Hercules; and, probably, had Curran been devoid of these singu¬ lar contrarities, he might have glided into a brilliant sameness ; and, hko his great contemporary, Burgh, though a more admired man, he would probably have been a less celebrated personage. The innumerable difficulties he had to encounter in early life, were not easy to conquer; but once conquered, they added an impetus to his pro¬ gress. His ordinary, mean, and trifling person ; his culpable negligence of dress and all those disadvantageous attributes of early indigence, were imperceptible or forgotten amidst his talents, which seldom failed to gain a decided victory over the prejudices even of those who were predetermined to condamu him. His political life was unvaried from the moment he became a member of the Irish Parliament his temperature never changed. He pursued the same cocauo, founded on the same principles. He had closely connected himself in party and in friendship with ilr. George Ponsonby; but ha 168 RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION j more than equalled that gentleman in the sincerity of his politics. From the commencement to the conclusion of his public life, he -a^as the inva¬ riable advocate of the Irish people; he never for a moment deserted theii interest, or abandoned their defence. He started from obscurity -with the love of Ireland in his heart, and while that heart beat, it was his ruling passion. As a mere lawyer, he was in no estimation, hut, as an able advocate, he bad no rival: and in his skill and powers of interrogation, he vastly excelled all his rivals. lie never failed to uphold the rights and inde¬ pendence of the Irish bar, on every occasion where its privileges v/ere trenched upon, and the bench trembled before him when it merited big rtnimadversions. None ever assailed publicly, who was not overthrown in the contest, and even the haughty arrogance of Fitzgibbon seldom haz.arded an attack, being certain of discomfiture.* Mr. Cmran was appointed Master of the Rolls (Mr. Ponsonby then Lord Chancellor.) He was disappointed in not obtaining a legal situation more adapted for his description of talents. He was also chagrined at not having obtained a seat in the imperial Parliament, and at length resigned kia office, upon a pension of £2,700 per annum. He died at Brompton, on the 14th of October, 1817, after a short illness, and now not a stone tells where he lies. His funeral was private, and he was buried in the yard of Paddington Church. The Author knew him. He had too much talent to last; every thing is worn out by incessant action. He wms never fond of show, and in his latter days he both sought and obtained obscurity. Of the close of his life I have heard much, and credit little. CHAPTER XYin. I, TSAT unparalleled army, the Irish Volunteers, had now ascended to the zenith of their character and prosperity. They had liberated their country from a thraldom of seven centuries. Their numbers, their attitude, and respectability, had conquered tbeir independence from a more power¬ ful nation, without bloodshed. The King received at his court, and his levees, with apparent cordiality. Volunteer officers and soldiers who with¬ out his authority, formed an army unconnected with his Crown, and inde¬ pendent of his Government: they acted without pay, and submitted to discipline without coercion. 'fhe regular forces paid them military honours; the Parliament repeat¬ edly thanked them for supporting a constitution upon whicli their estab¬ lishment li&d undoubtedly encroached. They were adored by the people, * Mr. Carran and Lord Clare, whilst the latter was Attorney-General, had on tme occasion a controversy, which could only be terminated by a persona] battle. The combatant# fired twe cases of very long pistols at each other, but certainly with very bad eucceas, and very little iclats for they wore neither kiilod, wonnded, cabifiod, nor reconciled ; nor did either of them express the slightest dispoaitioa to continue the engagement. HI3E AKD FALL OF T::^ lEISS NATION, 137 dreaded by the Minister, honoured by the King, and celebrated through Europe. They had raised their country from slavery, and they supported, their Monarch against his enemies. They were loyal, but determined to be free; and if their Parliament had been honest, Ireland would have kept her rank, and the nation preserved its tranquillity. The rise and progress of that institution have been already traced; its decline and fall must now be recorded. At this period, Ireland appeared to have nothing to desire but capita!' and indu.stry. She was free, she was independent, populous, powerful, and patrlctic. Her debt did not exceed her means of payment; but of trading capital she had insufficient means, and her industry was cramped by the narx'owness of her resources. All the materials and elements of industry were within her own realm, and the freedom of trade she had acquired, now promised a stimulus to her commerce which she had never before ex¬ perienced. The people were united; Catholic and Protestant were on thf most cordial terras; the voice of patriotism had exorcised the spirit of dis¬ cord ; the Catholic for the moment forgot his chains, and the Protestant no longer recollected his ascendancy; peace, order, and security extended over the whole Island; no army was required to defend the cos-sts, no police was wanted to preserve tranquillity, neither foreign nor domestic enemies could succeed against a prospering and united people. Had the ardent nature of Ireland been then tempered by calm and per- eevering judgment, had ordinary foresight controlled or guided her zeal, and had rational scepticism moderated her enthusiasm, one short session of her ov/a Parliament might have intrenched her independence, and estab¬ lished her constitution, beyond the power or the influence of all her enemies,. Untoward destiny, however, had decreed that unfortunate and over mal- governed Island to fall into the error by which individuals so often meet their ruin. Having obtained successes beyond their expectation, a mist ob¬ scures their vision; they know not where to stop, but they rrah blindly to the dangers that surround them, and lose by indi-scretion what they had achieved by fortitude. It was justly feared that the too sensitive, credulous, and enthusiastic-, Irish, in a fallacious piaroxysm of gratitude, might raise the draw-hndgo of their fortress for the admission of their enemies, and, amidst the di.ssen- sions of the most able and honest of their warders,* those who sought theig overthrow might again penetrate into her citadel. II. The unfortunate difference of sentiments between Mr. Flood and Mr. Grattan, by enfeebling the authority of both, had diminished the se¬ curity of the nation, Mr. Flood’s diffidence of G overnment was most con genial to the prospective interests of a people long enslaved. The energy of patriots bad achieved, but it required the wisdom of statesmen to secur.e^ their newly-acquired constitution. Both, however, united in opinion as to the necessity of a free and independent Parliament to protect that coq^ • The jealovsio'!, the adverse feelings, and discordant proceedings of Mr, Flood and Mr, Grattan, and their partisans, prevented the adoption of incaBurif which might have secured the country against any attempt at nnicn or asOTia.* tiua, th* rpoeeh of Lord Owjilaecngb, on i5th Janar.ry, PSOO, 1C>3 RKE AhTi TAEL OF THE IRISH NATION. Btitution; but no unanimity existed between them or throughout tlie tfOimtry, as to the detaOs of that measure. By this unfortunate collision, the old courtiers obtained breathing tiinn, and the Minister acquired hope. The hundred eyes of the British Argua were keen to discover the failings and frailties of the Irish patriots; nor did they watch long in vain; for a measure which forms one of the moefc remarkable incidents of Irish History, soon gave the English Government an OTportunity of resuming its operations against that devoted country. The line of reasoning already described, as to the state of the Parlia¬ ment, and the necessity for its reform, made a deep and general impres¬ sion, and was indefatigably circulated throughout the whole nation. Dis¬ content quickly sprang up amongst the people, and their meetings in¬ creased. At length delegates from several Volunteer regiments again assembled at Dungannon, to consider the expediency and means of an immediate reform of Parliament. Plence originated one of the most ex¬ traordinary scenes in the annals of any country. III. Mr. Flood was now considered the most able leader of the Irish, patriots. Those who supported his opinions, still pertinaciously contended that the measures already conceded were not, in themselves, guarantees for the constitution which had been acquired, or in any respect sufficient for the preservation of independence; that confidence in the existing state of her Parliament, would lull the nation into a fatal slumber, from which she might be awakened only by a new assault upon her freedom; and that no arrangement, without an explicit, formal, and unequivocal recantation by England, of her original usurpations, ought to have been accepted. They urged that such an avowal would certainly have been obtained, if the Parliament had not been corrupted or deceived. They contended, that if England should refuse such a declaration, that, in itself, would be positiva proof of her general insincerity; and that if she haughtily persisted in re¬ taining the theory of her usurpation after the practice of it had been relinquished, it was evident she would watch the first favourable moment to impose still stronger chains than those that she had loosened. This strong language had already been freely used to rouse the friends of Ireland to a conviction of the versatility which her representatives had given such practical proofs of. It was most assiduously disseminated, and not without foundation, that the Irish Parliament in its recent proceed¬ ings, had clearly evinced more talent than prudence, and less wisdom than declamation; that whilst patriots were debating in the House, the Secre¬ tary was negociating in the corridor; and therefore it was necessary to the public safety to strangle corruption in its cradle, and give the people a due confidence in the integrity of their representatives. It was considered, by many men of influence and fortune, that a reform of the Commons’ House of Parliament was attainable, and should be then attained. The national arrangements daily appeared more imperfect, for they had not been conducted with the sound principles of cautious states¬ men, nor had satisfactory guarantees been established for their future security. As Parliament was then returned, no v/ell-founded confidenca could be placed in its permanent protection; and it was most judiciously stated by Mr. Flood that the speech of u puzzled Minister, put into the RISE AND FALL OF TQK UUOH NATION. 1C3 mouLi of an embarrassed Monarch, -was at that moment the only security for the continuance of Ireland as an independent Nation; that such inde¬ pendence might rest solely upon a single word of two aylbhles,* on which every future Minister might found fallacious reasoning, and place his own equivocal construction. This was, in truth, prophetic. It wm olso more than insinuated, by men of clear and dispassionate )udgrs€£ii, that the struggles in Parliament were becoming rather for the Biptiemacy of men and party, than for the preservation of the Constitu- tiaa; that they were blind, rancorous, and ill-timed individual contests, dangerous to the state, and initating to the people. They argued, that the piercing eye of the British Minister would not fail to watch for the moment when, the Irish being enfeebled by their dissensions, ho might destroy that independence which the architects of 1782 had attempted to establish, without guarding against the insecurity of the foundacioa. 8o far these arguments were true, but men stopped not here. It was suggeated that a requisition to the Parliament, to reform itself, urged by the people, in their civil capacities only, might not have a suflicieiit weight to command attention. If, however, 300 delegates were chosen by Volunteer Kli¬ ments, from men of fortune, influence, and character, it would prove tj the Parliament that a reform was required by those who had a right to require it, and could enforce it. They might send the heads of a Bill to Par¬ liament through the hands of their own members; such a mode of presen¬ tation could create no cavil; and, above all, the very same men who would deliberate as Volunteer delegates, and prepare such a bill, would be, in a great measure, those who, in their civil capacities, composed the several grand juries of the nation, many of them being members of the Legislature. Tho measure was almost unanimously determined upou. IV. Three hundred delegates were now chosen by different corps, and the 10th of November, (1783,) was proclaimed for the first sitting of the Grand National Convention of Ireland, within the precincts of the two Houses of Parliament, the members of which were at the same period ex¬ ercising their legislative functions. Never was any country placed in a more extraordinary or critical situation. This state of affairs in Ireland was then seriously felt by the English Cabinet. It became alarmed. Ireland now stood in high station. No lenger (in the language of Mr. Gibbon), a remote and obscure Island, sho formed a new feature on the face of Europe, and might assert her ra-nk amongst the second order of European nations. In constitution and in laws, municipal and international, she was fundamentally tho samo .xs England; her legislature was, in tI; 2 ory, altogether independent. The indi¬ viduality of their joint Monarch comstituted the indefeasible basis of their federative connexion; but their respective Parliaments alone, could mako laws to bind their respective people, to regulate their own commerce, and to pay their own armies. Ireland had wisely and magnanimously recorded her loyalty, and proclaimed her determination, that whilst she shared the liberty, she would share the fate of the British nation;” but that the com¬ pact was reciprocal, and she had bound hei'self no further. • The word Final, 170 RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. England conld not with f.pntby regard a military Convention, meeting and operating on political subjects, in the centre of the Irish Metropolis. The attention of England was, by the adoption of these extraordinary proceedings, naturally roused to a more detailed review of the statistical circumstances of Ireland, By the acquisition of a free commerce, and of unshackled manufactures, the revenue and resources of Ireland conse¬ quently became susceptible of extraordinary improvement, and might soon have equalled those of many continental nations, and solely at her own disposal and appropriation. In the capability of military power also she had few rivals. At th .\i period she contained, (and continues to contain) more fighting men, or men who love fighting, and who might be collected in a week, than any other state in Europe. The powerful and elevated position she was then about to occupy, and tbe unprecedented stops by which she had mounted to that eminence, could not be regarded without strong feelings of solici¬ tude by the sister country. The example of Ireland had afforded a grave and instructive lesson to an oppressed and vassal people, and a wholesome lecture to griping and monopolising governments. Of all the extraordinary circumstances which the state of Ireland then displayed, none was beheld, at that critical period, with such mingled wonder and alarm by England, as the rapid progress of the Volunteer associations, and the bold step of a delegated convention, the increasing numbers, discipline, and energy of that military institution, had no precedent, nor iu the changed state of Europe, can the phenomenon ever appear in any country. The Volunteers, now actually armed and disciplined, and whose delegates were now to be assembled were said to exceed 150,000 organised me:; But whatever the force then was, the Volunteer recruits, if called c;;, would have comprised the male iuhahitants of nearly the whole island, including every rank, religion, and occupation. Such a force, though self-levied, self-officered, and utterly independent of any control or subjection, save to their own chosen chiefs, still re¬ mained in perfect harmony amongst themselves, in entire obedience to the municipal laws of the country, holding the most friendly and intimate intercourse with the regular forces, and by their activity and local knov/- ledge, preserving their country in a state of general and unprecedented tranquillity. This extraordinary military body, equally ready to shed their blood in opposing a foreign enemy, supporting their own liberties, or defending those of England, combining the moral and physical powers, and nearly the entire wealth, of an immense population, nothing could have resisted; and wh.atevcr ground of alarm the British Government might then have felt, had Ministers been mad enough, at that period, to have attempted its direct or compulsory suppression, instead of its attachment to the sister country, the result would inevitably have been & prompt separation of the two islands. Ireland was in this state at the first meeting of the National Convention, and the Parliament assembled about the same time. The Volunteer elec¬ tions were quickly ended without tumult or opposition, aud their 300 dele- JOSE AND FALL OF THE TRISII NATTON, 171 gatc3, each escorted by small detactmcnts of Volnrtcers from their respec¬ tive counties, entered the metropolis, and were universally received with a respect and cordiality impossible to be depicted; yet, all was harmony and £ eace. Many men of large fortune, many of great talent, and many meiu- ers of the Lords and Commons, had been elected delegates hy the Volnn- teers, and took upon themselves the double functions of Parliament and of the Convention. The Royal .Evehange oi Dublin was first selected for the meeting of the Volunteer .Delegates. Whoever has seen the metropolis of Ireland must •jdmire the external architecture of that building; but it was found inade- .juato to the accomodation of a very large deliberative assembly. It was therefore determined that the Rotunda (being then the finest room in Ire¬ land) was best adapted for the meeting of the National Convention. This WM, and continues to be, the great assembly-room of Dublin. It consists uf a circular saloon of very large dimensions, connected with numerous and very spacious chambers, and terminates Sackville-street, the finest of the Irish metropolis. It is surmounted by a dome, exceeding in diameter the Irish House of Commons, and was perfectly adapted to the accommodation of a popular assembly. This saloon and the connected chambers had been fitted up for the im¬ portant purpose to which they were to be appropriated. Put little did the Irish people conceive that what they then considered as the proudest day tneir Nation had ever seen, only preceded a little time her national dissolu¬ tion, and even prepared the grave in which her new-gained independence was to be inhumated. Every measure, however, had been previously taken to prepare that splendid chamber for this unparalleled assembly, and to receive the delegates and their escorts with every possible mark of re¬ ject and dignity. Volunteer grenadiers were ordered to attend on the Convention as a guard of honour during their sittings, and to mount an officer’s guard at the house of the President; whilst Volunteer dragoons patrolled during the sittings, in the utmost tranquillity, throughout the entire city. The detachments of country corps, who had escorted their delegates, having a great emulation as to their appearance and equipmeiite on this grand occasion, had new dresses and accoutrements, and it was agreeable to see the noble hunters on which a great proportion of the cavalry were mounted. The horse had entered Dublin in very small detach¬ ments, from exceedingly numerous corps, and when occasionally formed into line, the great variety of their dresses, ensigns, and equipments, pre¬ sented a splendid, but very striking and singular appearance.* The citizens of Dublin excelled in their hospitality, they appeared ia * The Author had been gent to town v;ilh s. detachment of his fathePo cavalry corps, the “Cnllenagh Rangers;” their undress was white, with black velvet facings, the full dress, scarlet. At the head of these few men, the Author felt prouder than an emperor, it made an impression on his youthful mind, which, even in the chill of s.ge, is still vivid and animating, a glowing patriotism, a mjo litary feeling, and an instinctive, though a eenseless lust for actual service, arose within him, a sensation which ia certainly inherent in a groat proportion of the Irish people, and which seldon forsakes tliem but tbai? Ibaa. KiSE AND FALL OF TliE UlISH NA'iIOlL iy2 crowds every whore, forcing their invitations on the eonntry Volonteers, every soldier had mimeronB billets pressed into hia hand, every householder who could afford it, vied in entertaining his guests with zeal cand cordiality. Every thing was secure and tranquil, but when it was considered that 300 member^ had virtually proclaimed a concurrent ParlLament, under the title of a National Convention, and were about to lead a splendid procession through the body of the city, to hold its sittings within view of tlic Houses of Legislature, the affairs of Ireland seemed drawing fast to some decisive catastrophe. But it was also considered, that the convention was an as¬ sembly of men of rank, of fortune, and of talent. The convention, there¬ fore, possessed an importance and a consistence that seemed to render some momentous consequence absolutely inevitable, ^lie crisis did arrive, but it was unfortunate; Ireland tottered, retrograded, and has fallen. The firing of twenty-one cannon announced the fimt movement of the delegates from the Royal Exchange to the Rotunda. A troop of the Rath- down cavalry, commanded by Colonel Edwards, of Old Court, county of Wicklow, commenced the procession: the Liberty Brigade of Artillery,* commanded by Napper Tandy, with a band, succeeded. A company of the Barristers’ grenadiers, headed by Colonel Redder, with a national standard for Ireland, borne by a captain of grenadiers, and surrounded by a company of the finest men of the regiment came after, tlieir muskete slung, and bright battle-axes borne on their shoulders. A battalion of infantry, with a band, followed, and then the delegates, two and two, wdth side-arms, carrying banners with motto, and and in their respective uniforms, broad green ribands were worn across their shouldera. Another band followed playing the special air alluded to. The chaplains of the different regiments in their cassoclcs, marched each with his respective corps, giving solemnity to the procession, and as if invoking the blessing of Heaven on their efforts, which had a wonderful effect on the surrounding multitude. Several standards and colours were borne by the different corps of horse and foot, and another brigade of artillery, commanded by Counsellor Calbeck, with labels on the cannons’ mouths,f was escorted by the Barristers’ Corps, in scarlet and gold (the full dress uniform of the King’s Guards;) the motto on their buttons being “Vox populi suprema lex esl." The procession in itself was interesting, but the surrounding scene was still more affecting. Their line of march, from the Exchange to the Rotunda, was through the mo.st spacious streets and quays of the city, open on both sides to the river, and capable of containing a vastly larger assemblage of people than any part of the metropolis of England. An * Some of the musicians of Dublin in 1780, had been employed to composa a march for the general adoption of the Volunteer Corps throughout tho king¬ dom, that all might bo accustomed to march to the same air at their review^ &c. They composed a simple-noted march, now obsolete, but of which the Author retained a copy, etiil interesting, as connooted with a reooUeotion of the times, and of that unparalleled Institution. f Their motto was, ”Oh, Lord, open thou our lips, and our mouths shall sound forth thy praise!” filSE AND FAIX OF THE IRISH NATIUl'i. !73 immocse hody of spectators, crowding every window and house-tcrp, wouid be but an ordinary occurrence, and might be seen and described without novelty or interest, but on this occasion, every countenance spoke zeal, every eye expressed solicitude, and every action proclaimed triumph. Green ribands and handkerchiefs were waved from every window, by the enthusiasm of its fair occupants, crowds seemed to move on the house-tops, ribands were flung upon the delegates as they passed ; yet it was not a loud or boisterous, but a firm enthusiasm. It was not the effervescence of a heated crowd, it was not the fiery ebullition of a glowing people, it was not sedition, it was liberty that inspired them, the heart bounded though the tongue was motionless : those who do not see, or who did not recollect that splendid day, must have the mortification of reflecting that (under all its circumstances) no man did before, and no man ever will behold its like again.” V. The entrance of the delegates into the Rotunda was more than in¬ teresting, it was awful. Each doffed his helmet or his hat, as if he felt the influence of that sacred place where he was about to sacrifice at the shrine of Freedom. Every man knew he was, in some respect, overstepping the boundaries of the Constitution, but he considered that his trespass was for the purpose only of adding security to that Constitution which he seemed to transgress. Such a state of things never existed in any other country, consistent with perfect tranquillity. Ireland, however, proved on that occasion her superior loyalty, and gave the retort courteous to all her calumniators. It was a matter of fact that the independence of Ireland had been achieved, that it had been proclaimed in Ireland and in England, that it had been solemnly ratified and confirmed for ever by his Majesty from his throne as monarch of both countries. That compact was therefore firm, because it was federal and final, and the delegates sought what their own Parlia¬ ment alone was competent to discuss, and over which England had nc control. A partial reform of the representation was a measure whieh the British Minister himself had the duplicity of proposing in England, yet o! undermining in the sister country, even in the face of his own renuncia* tion of all innovation and acknowledgement of the former usurpation. VI. These would at any other time, have been subjects for deliberate consideration, but it was too late to reflect, the die was thrown, and, as if every thing conspired to increase the peculiarity of the scene, even the site of the Rotunda, where the Convention assembled, exactly terminated the street and fronted the river, on the other side of wliich, in a direct line, was seen the magnifieent dome of the Commons’ House of Parliament, where 300 members, returned as representatives of the Irish people, accord¬ ing to the praetice of the Constitution, were also deliberating. Those localities excited, in every rational mind, something like a dread of possible collision. It was also a grave and curious consideration, that the avowed object of the Volunteer delegation was, in fact, to degrade the character of the parliamentary delegates, and, under the name of reform, convict them of corruption. It was impossible not to perceive, that both were placed in a situation^ ^hich must necessarily terminate in the hi\wiliation of one of them. rUbS tMV FALL OF MK IRISH ilATION. I7i It was also remarlLxb'ie that the Voiaiitcor? v/'ho h&d tiius sent their de¬ legates to refonii the Commons’ Kouse o! Parlianiexit, had Lueu themselvef solemnly thanked the preceding cession, for their support to the Con- Bttutiou, by the very same House of Commons which they new determinea to recognanize and reiorm. It is impossible not to contrast this National Convention of Ireland with tlie democi-atio assemblies which, in later days, overwhehaed so many thrones and countries. With what pride must aa Irishman call to his re¬ collection the concentration of rank and fortune, and patrotism and loyalty, which composed that convention of the Irish people! With what pride must the few survivois remember the 300 Irish nobles and gentlemen, as¬ sembling peaceably and loyally to demand a reform, an object of a)J others the neai’est to their hearts, and the most necessary to their independence 1 Yet the recollection of that assembly must also cast a dark shade ovet tlic History of Ireland, by transferring a reflection on its proud birth tc its humble termination. A delineation of those scenes may appear, to modern readei-s, an exag¬ gerated episode. That generation which beheld, or acted in those days, is drawing fast to a close; and whilst a few contemporaries exint, it would be nnpaidonaLle to leave the scenes altogether to future historians, who could convey but an imperfect recital of actions they had never seen, and frigid ideas of feelings they had never experienced. The results of that c.xtraordiuary measure may enable posterity to do some justice to calum¬ niated Ireland, where loyalty appears to have wonderfully retained its in- flueiice over a powerful, proud, and patriotic assembly, and over an armed aiul irresistible population, under circumstances the most dangerous ad iri'iinuiag tliat had ever toriniuated with tranquillity in any nation. The Artillery had scarcely announced the entry of the delegates into the Rotunda, when that silent respect which had pervaded the entire popula¬ tion, during the procession, yielded to more lively feelings; no longer could the people restrain their joy. At first, a low murmur seemed to proceed from different quarters, which, soon increasing in its fervour, at length burst into an universal cheer of triumph, like distant thunder, gra¬ dually rolling on, til] one great and continued peal burst upon the senses. The loud and incessant cheering of the people soon reverberated from street to street, contributing the whole powers of acclamation to glorify an assembly which the vainly conceived must he omnipotent. It Wiis aa acclamation, long, sincere, and unanimous, and occasionally died away, only to be renewed with redoubled energy. The vivid interest excited by this extraordinary and affecting scene can never be conceived, save by those who were present and participated in its feelings, nor can time or age obliterate it from the memory. It is not unworthy of remark, that a wonderful proportion of fecial? voices was distinguishable amidst these plaudits. A general illumination kwok place throughout the city; bands of music were heard every where, and never did a day and night of rejoicing so truly express the unsiophis” ticated gratification of an entire population. The Governme-'it W£5 astounded, the Privy Council had sat, but were far from uuanimouH, an/], had separated without decision. The old courtiers called tho Bceno frantiirf IIISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 175 but ft was not the frenzy of a rnob. it was the triumph of a Nation, incom¬ prehensible to the vulgar meetings of another country. The scene within was still more novel and impressive. The varied uni¬ forms of the delegates had a very singular appearance; sent from different rigiments, no two of them were dressed or armed alike; cavalry, infantry, gre.iadiers, artillery, generals, colonels, serjeants, privates; in fine, all iiossible varieties of military dress and rank were collected in one general iQody, destined to act solely in a civil capacity. The cheers, the cannon, the music, the musketry, combined to prevent any procedure that day, save that of the members giving in their delega¬ tions, and nominating some ofucers to act during the session. CHAPTER XIX. I. Previous to the meeting of the delegates, the Bishop of Derry had determined to convince the Irish people, that he was no lukewarm profes¬ sor of adherence to their interest. His character, already giveu, is confirmed by every act of his life when in Ireland. He took his seat amongst the Irish delegates, at the Rotunda, with the greatest splendour; and to prove that he preferred the claims of the Irish Volunteers to both his English rank as Earl of Bristol and his Irish rank as a spiritual noble, he entered Dublin in royal state, drew up his equipage at the entrance to the House of Lords, as if he halted to teach the Peers their duty to their country, and then moved forward to take his seat at the Rotunda, as an Irish Delegate in the National Convention. SucL a circumstance can be scarcely credited in England; but had not Lord Charlemout’s temporizing neutralized his spirit, it is probable that the Convention might have succeeded in its object. It is not, therefore, wonderful, that a British Peer, an Englishman, and, above all, a Bishop, taking so decided a part in the cause of Ireland, should gain a popularity that few before him ever had so fully, or perhaps, more jrstly, experienced. He certainly was sincere; his proceedings on this occasion were extraordinary, and not unworthy of a special notice. The Lords had taken their seats in the House of Peers when the Bishop of Derry began his procession to take his seat in the Couvention. He had several carriages in his suite, and sat in an open landau, drawn by six beautiful horses, comparisoned with purple ribands. He was dress^ in purple, his horses, equipages, and servants being in the most splendid trappings and Uveriea. He had brought to Dublin, as his escort, a troop of light cavalry, raised by his unfortunate and guilty nephew, George Robert Fitzgerald; they were splendidly dressed and accoutred, and were mounted on the finest chargers that the Bishop or their Commander could procure. A part of these dragoons led the procession, another closed it, and some rode on each side of liis Lordship's carriage. Txumjiets announcetl hie approach, and detachments from several Volunteer corps of Dubliq joinedlu8 Lordship’s cavalcade. He never ceased making dignifiedobei- fcr.iices to the multitude; Ins salatutious were enthusiastically returned on every side; “Long live he Bishop,” echoed from every wiudQV; 176 RISK AND FALL OF THE IKISE NATION. waa peace and liarmony, and never did there appear so extr aordinaiy r procession ■ivitbin the realm of Ireland. This cavalcade marched slovrly through the different streets, till it ar- riv'od at the portico of the House of Lords, which adjoined that of the Com¬ mons. A short halt was then made, the trumpets sounded, the sudden and unexpected clangor of which echoed throughout the long corridors. Both Houses had just finished prayers, and were proceeding to business, and, totally unconscious of the cause, several members rushed to the en¬ trance. The Eisboj) saluted all with royal dignity, the Volunteers pre¬ sented arms, and the bands played the Volunteers’ march. Of a sudden another clangor of trumpets vras heard; the astonished Lords and Com¬ mons, unable to divine what was to ensue, or the reason of the extraordi¬ nary appearance of the Bishop, retired to their respective chambers, and tvith great solicitude awaited the result. The Bishop, however, had done what he intended; he had astonished both Houses, and had proved to them his principles and his determination; amidst the shouts and cheers of thousands, he proceeded to the Rotunda, where, in point of dignity and importance, he certainly appeared to sur¬ pass the whole of his brother delegates. He entered the chamber in the greatest form, presented his credentials, took his seat, conversed a few moments with all the ceremony of a temporal prince, and then, with the excess of that dignified courtesy of which he was a perfect master, he re¬ tired as he had entered, and drove away in the same majestic style, and amidst reiterated applauses, to his house, where the Volunteers had pre¬ viously mounted a guard of honour. He entertained a great number of persons of rank at a magnificent dinner, and the ensuing day began bis course amongst the Delegates, as an ordinary man of business. The personal appearance of the Bishop was extremely prepossessing; rather under the middle size, he was peculiarly well made, lus countenance fair, handsome, and intelligent, but rather expressive of a rapidity of thought than of the deliberation of judgment; his hair, receding from his forehead, gave a peculiar trait of respectability to his appearance. His manner appeared zealous and earnest, and rather more quick than is consistent with perfect dignity; but he seemed to be particularly well- bred and courteous; and altogether, he could not be viewed without an impression that he was a person of talent and of eminence. lie appeared always dressed with peculiar care and neatness; in gene¬ ral, entirely in purple, and he wore diamond knee and shoe buckles. But what I most observed in his dress was, that he wore white gloves, with gold fringe round the wrists, and large gold tassals hanging from them. The Author was then too young, and too unimportant, to have tht honour of any personal acquaintance with that distinguished prelate; but the singularity of his habits, his patriotic conduct, popular character, and impressive appearance, excited a satisfaction in beholding him, and im¬ pressed him strongly on my recollection. Tlie Bishop in devoting himself to the service of the Irish people, could have no personal object but popularity. He could be greater in title: hfl was rich, and in health, vigour, and spirits; his learning was rare, hiu talcnte very coneidorable—-in ail respects he was an able man. From the EISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. nr moment he became an Iiish Bishop he adopted Ireland, built an immense palace in a remote and singular situation, and did numerous acts which nobody could account for. He had many of those qualities in an eminent degree, which our more ancient histories have attributed to the proudest churchmen ; but they were in him so blended with liberality, so tempered by enlightened principles, that they excited a very different mode of con¬ duct from that of his episcopal predecessors. However, his ambition for popularity obviously knew no bounds, and his efforts to gain that popularity found no limits. His great failing was a portion of natural versatility, which frequently enfeebled the confidence of his adherents. It was sup¬ posed that the gentle, lambient flame of Charlemont, would soon be quenched in the rolling rapid torrent of the Bishop’s popularity; and that the epigrammatic eloquence of Grattan, cramped or overpow'ered by the influence of his splendour, would probably be withdrawn from the sceno cC action. The Bishop soon adopted his course; he paid his whole atten¬ tion to Mr. Flood. In this he was right. It is not too much to say, that hlr. Flood was, at least, the best educated and deepest statesman, and the most able partisan, in the Irish Senate. II. Whilst these extraordinary and brilliant scenes were proceeding in Ireland, the embarrassment of the British Ministers must necessarily have been on the increase, if possible. They well knew, that if the Convention succeeded in reforming the Commons’ House of Parliament, the British Government would lose the use of the only instrument through which they ever could hope to regain their ascendancy. With this view, and at this critical period, the plot was suggested and the conspiracy formed, to re¬ place Ireland within the trammels of the sister country, whenever a feas¬ ible opportunity should offer. The sequence of Irish events leaves no doubt of the truth of this observation. These collisions were to England a golden opportunity: jdans against the Volunteer Associations were deeply laid, and with considerable pros¬ pect of eventually succeeding, first by working upon the courtly modera¬ tion and courteous feebleness of the short-sighted Charlemont, and credu¬ lity of Grattan, to dismiss the Convention, and thereby divide and dispirit the Volunteers. And next by corrupting Parliament and seducing the Irish gentlemen, under pretence of upholding the BritishConstitution, to recapture the Irish independence. Whoever reads the political history of those realms from 1782 to 1800, cannot doubt that this object, from that period to the completion of the Legislative Union, w'as never lost sight of. The British Minister had also reasons nearer home for determining to undermine the reforming spirit of the Irish Volunteers. He knew that if a reform of Parliament were effected in Ireland, though the same reasons did not exist, yet the same measure could not be long withheld from tho English nation; and as the Parliament of England was at that era sup¬ posed to be ruled absolutely by the influence of the Crown, the control of the Minister would receive a vital blow, which it never could recover. The commercial system of England, also, whilst without external rival- rhip, had no necessity for a special protection. But now she had a rival in tho fiee trade of Ireland, a subject which soon after came under fuU dis¬ cussion. The jealousy of England was proved by her commercial proposi- -T 173 RISK AND FALL OF TUE IRISH NATION. tions, and the Irish Parliament had yet sufficient honesty to resist that il> road. But as a body that had laboured long and much, a lassitude and relax¬ ation were obviously commencing in the Irish Senate. How long that spirit which had acquired their rights, might retain its vigour to protect them, depended on the purity of the reiwesentatives, and this was the true reason for considering a I’eform imperative in Ireland. Whilst, therefore, the subject of Eeform, is under discussion, it may be proper to see how far the then existing state of Ireland substantially re¬ quired that measure, or warranted that conclusion. She was to commence as a trading country, and her situation on the map of the world seemed to combine many defects and many advantages. Sue appears partially se¬ cluded from that general intercourse which other states of Europe enjoy from their localities. England, on the east, intervenes between her and the British Channel and German Ocean; Scotland intercepts the Northeru Seas; and though the most western point of Europe, aud of course, well situated for the western commerce, the enterprise and great •capital, or jealousy, of England, could have excluded her at pleasure, if unprotected by her own Parliament, from any proportional participation in the colonial trade.* On a view of the whole, her position might have entitled her to become a considerable emporium, but jealousy is natural to commercial nations, and Ireland would probably have possessed the same lust for monopoly, had she been circumstanced as Great Britain.’ But the non-importation resolutions of Ireland had alarmed Great Britain, and proved to her to what a zeal of retaliation the Irish people might be urged by any future measures of injustice. The situation of Ireland places her comparatively out of the pale of busy Europe, by the absence of that political interest which the Powers of Europe take in the commerce of other inferior countries. This was a de¬ privation which nothing could ever remedy or counteract, but a local Legis¬ lature, constantly resident, and constantly alive to the foreign and domestic interests of their country.f These were some of the causes which rendered a pure and independent Parliament more necessary to L’eland than to her sister country.J Belaud * It could not bo very gratifying to tho Irich traders or people, to seo the iiu- monss colonial and general trade of Liverpool necessarily pass by tho ports of ■Waterford and Dublin. Tlio author has seen a fleet of seventy 'West ludiamey sail proudly down tho Irish Channel to tho merchants at Liverpool, and on? solitary vessal sejiarata from tho fleet, and steer into the port of Dublin, wili sugar and molasses, for homo eonsumpition. t See ante Sir Lucius O’Brien’s speech on the conduct of Portugal. He pro- ■posed merely a declaration of war by Ireland against her, aud in the end Portu¬ gal was obliged to redress her, notwithstanding tho duplicity of the British it’- uister and Mr. Eden. J Vide Kin g William’s reply to tho British I'tiiTiamont; and in 14S-1 the great mauufooturing towns of England and Scotland fully displayed the same attache menl to their monopolies, even to the roin of Irish comincree. They have boi ©tree better in/ormsd eince that pcido-i, and are, of coarse^ more liberal. RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 17S Lever had been a nation of extensive commerce, yet even the narrow chau^ cels of her trade were ever contracted by the jealousies and monopoly oi England; and this in public opinion, rendered a pure Parliament indispen¬ sable, as the only ample security against such interference. To constitute an Irish Parliament, therefore, as much as possible free from every tinge of English commercial or political influence, was plausibly considered essential to the security of the former country. The neces.sity, in point of fact, can only be judged of by this view of the external state of Ireland at the crisis, when a military convention to discuss reform sur¬ prised every nation of Europe, that would condescend or taka the trou¬ ble to think about an island so secluded. III. The public characters of the Bishop of Derry and his more mode¬ rate rival, were so extremely dissimilar, and their composition so totally repugnant, that any amalgamation of sentiment was utterly impossible. A cautious attachment to regularity and order, a sincere love for the people, a polished, courtly respect for the aristocracy, with a degree of popular am¬ bition and a proportion of individual vanities were the governing principles of Lord Charlemout during the v/hole of his political conduct. But, un¬ fortunately, these were accompanied by a strong taint of that religious intolerance which has since been proved the interruption of Irish tran¬ quillity. No man in Ireland could do the honours of a review better; and though his personal courage was undoubted, no man in Ireland was hkely to do the duties of a battle worse than Lord Charlemont. He guessed the extent of his own powers, and sedulously avoided any situation to which they might prove inadequate. If the people had not respected his virtues, they T’ ould not have submitted to his weakness; and if he had not loved the people, he would not have sacrificed his tranquillity to command them. He was an excellent nurse, tender of the constitution, but dreading every effective remedy prescribed for its disorders. Lord Charlemont saw clearly that the Presidency of the National Con¬ vention was of vital consequence to the country, and the master-key of his own importance. He had his little as well as Lis great feelings, and both were set into action by this dilemma. He knew full well that if the bold and enterprising Prelate were at the head of that Convention, he would lose all Aveight with the Government, and all influence with the people. Ihe measure was altogether too strong for the character of Lord Charle¬ mont, he knew he should be incapable of governing that body, if it onca got into any leading-strings but his own, and it was obvious that if his Lordship should get one step beyond his depith, he never could regain his position. His friends, therefore, anticipated every means to ensure his nomination to the I'residoncy. And the Bishop of Derry, before he wa.s aware that there would bo any effectual opposition to hinnself, found lord Charlemont actually placed in that situation, where he might restrai.u, if not counteract the ultra energies of the reforming party. This was tlio very stepi the Government desired; Earl Charlemont might be managed, but the Bishop of Derry would have been intractable. Lord Charlemont Involuntarily became the tool of Government, Avhilst he fanciedhe was la- tttuiiav in the servks of the people, i'rcui this ipwient the neutralizing 180 WSE ANy FALL OF TUE IRISH NATION. syBfem by •which its President ■wished to tiooduct that assembly became ob¬ vious. Every body might foresee that not only the Convention, but perhaps the Volunteer Associations, -were likely to droop. Many sensible men had apprehended that the Bishop’s politics might be too strong; the very act of his attaching himself to Ireland proved at once their vigour and eccentricity; and hence the Presidency of the Con¬ vention, in every point of view, became a measure of extreme importance. IV. A few of the members of the House of Commons had declined their election to the Convention,* but some of the ablest and most respectable members performed their duties alternately in both assemblies. The Lord Lieutenant and his Privy Council at the same time held their sittings at the Castle, exactly midway between the tv/o Parliaments. They received alternate reports from each, and undecided whether the strong or the passive system were least, or rather most, fraught with danger, they at length wisely adopted their accustomed course, and determined to take advantage of the chances of di\ision, and of the moderation, ductility, and. pride of Lord Charlemont. It was artfully insinuated to Lord Charlemont, by the friends of Govern¬ ment, that the peace of the country was considered to be in his hands, and that he had accepted a situation of the most responsible nature, and that if he did not possess sufficient influence to curb the Convention, he ought at once to resign the trust, and thereby give the Parliament a ground of requiring the immediate dissolution of its unconstitutional rival. Lord Charlemont found himself in a situation of great embarrassment. If he held the Presidency, he was responsible for its proceedings; if he re¬ signed it, he would still be responsible for having countenanced the organi¬ zation of the assembly. The Bishop would succeed him in his G.:air, and he would stiU be considered the inceptive promoter of whatever might be adopted by his successor. Lord Charlemont’s pride resisted his resigna¬ tion. He "was too high to be commanded, he was too feeble to control, and be found himself in a state of great perplexity. After much deliberation, he adopted the suggestions of the courtiers, and was led blindfold to that de¬ ceptions course, which might answer his tranquil objects for the moment, but was beneath his character, and which must eventually have extinguished til the popular influence of the Volunteers, and have destroyed that of the country. In fine, he lost himself, he sacrificed his country, and lieter- tnined on a line of proceeding entirely unworthy of his former conduct. If be could not govern, he resolved to temporize, divide, neutralize, and dis¬ solve the assembly. This fatal system was eventually successful, and his Lordship effected * The state of Parliament may be imagined from Mr. George Molyneux’a apot bgizing to the Uonse of Commons for being unable to bring forward a motion of -which he had given notice—“As the close attention he had been obliged to give to the National Convention, did not leave him time to prepare himself on parliamentary subjects. The members trying the petition on the Cork election, adjourned the trial, though the expense was daily very great, as there were some of the committos who were obliged to attend their duty in the National Convention. RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 131 tlic dissolution of tliat body whose confidence had raised him lo so glorion? an eminence, by which the British Government now foresaw the poiislbility of recapturing Irish independence. Lord Charlemout had been seized with a nervous dread of that very institution he had originally been oo active in creating; and entirely, though unconsciously, surrendered him¬ self to the darling objects of a deep and treacherous Administration. And here let it be remarked, that the independence of Ireland, which certainly was first achieved by the exertions of the Whigs, was now left unguarded, and afterwards destroyed by the corrupt tergiversation of many members of that same party. The inconsistent conduct of some of the Vl'higs, and their Place BUI, in 1794,* were the proximate means through which the Union was ultimately effected. V. The proceedings of the Convention were carried on for some time with the utmost regularity. The rules and orders, and customs of Parlia¬ ment were adopted, and the meetings were held and continued without any material interruption. But when such an assembly had been delega¬ ted for the purpose of requiring the Parliament to purify itself, and re¬ model its constitution, it could not be expected that every member could possess similar views or similar feelings, or perhaps observe the most unin¬ terrupted order and discipline in discussions. But the decorum and regu¬ larity of the Convention may be the best exemplified by observing that there was not any meeting or discussion of the National Convention of Ireland, from its first to its last sitting, more confused or boisterous than what has very frequently been witnessed in the Commons’ House of the Imperial Parliament. A strong opposition soon arose to the imbecile system of Lord Charle- mont. Superior public characters at length assumed their stations, and effectively overwhelmed that childish affectation of delicacy, so utterly in- compatable with the circumstances of the times, and the spirit of the patriots. Yet unfortunately, Lord Charlemont was elected, and took the chair as president. The Bishop, dissappointed of the chair lost no time in rendering at a seat of tliorns. He took to his council, the man of all others best adapted to give weight and dignity to the measure of parliamentary reform. Lord Charlemont supported reform most sincerely. Mr. Grattan was also a sincere and honest friend to a purification of Parliament: but his favourite scheme, as he said, to begin with, was an internal reform.f He partially • The Place Bill, perseveringly forced by the Whigs upon the Government, by admitting the vacating of seats by nominal officers, fEscheatorship of Hun- stor,) enabled Lord Castlereagh to pack the Parliament in 1800, with a degree of undisguised efirontery never before attempted by any Minister. See hereafter, Mr. Crow’s Letter to Lord Belvidere, in which the high crimes and misdemeanours of Lord Castlereagh are apparent beyond the power of refutal. t The Author, when a member of the Irish Parliament, clearly foresaw the use that any Minister might make of the vacating clause, and strongly opposed that clause in his place, though conceded by Government. The title of a Place Bill was so agreeable to the Opposition, that very ferr of them ever gave themseUcs tln» trouble of considering the details of it. 182 > UISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. accomplished that object by the Place Bill, whilst, by one of its clauses he most certainly lost both the Parliament and the Constitution. VI. The Bishop and Mr. Flood soon gained a full ascendancy in thr Conyention, and many men of the very first rank, fortune, and influence, took part in its deliberations. Numerous plans were proposed, and reform of all others the most difficult of political measures, was sought to be too promptly decided in a heated and impatient assembly. By the imprudence of both parties, the Convention and the Parliament were driven into a direct collision. After much deliberation, a plan oS reform, framed by Mr. Flood and approved by the Convention, was di¬ rected by them to be presented to Parliament forthwith, and the sittings of the Conyention were made permanent till Parliament had decided the question. Mr. Flood obeyed his instructions, and moved for leave to bring in a Bill to reform the Parliament. The Government felt that a collision of the two assemblies was unavoid¬ able. The crisis, however, afforded no opportunity for matui'e consider¬ ation, and it was not long before the danger of so hasty a proceeding was fatally experienced. Government had yielded to the Volunteers when it could not resist them; but it was not probable that the Parliament would quietly capitulate to the Convention; whilst the triumph of the Parlia¬ ment implied not only the destruction of the Convention but of the Volunteers. The measure of reform, patriotic and noble, blinded the nation to every consideration but its attainment, actual and prompt; yet so many persons of character, fortune, and influence, were in both assemblies, that a dis¬ creet and prudent deliberation might possibly have devised means of averting so dangerous a crisis. The Government resolved to risk a direct assault upon the Volunteers, by refusing leave to bring in Mr. Flood’s Bill, because it had originated from their deliberations. Strong language was used, but with some pre¬ caution, even by Mr. Yelverton, who had been a zealous Volunteer, but v/as now the Attorney-General. His eloquence was splendd; but the bold, restless, arrogant spirit of Fitzgibbon, ever prone to offend, to irritara, and to pervert, in a speech replete with the most imnecessary invective, unwarrantable fury and abuse, assailed the Convention, the Volunteers, and the Bill with every epithet and allusion that could bring the Govern- iuent and the Volunteers into a state of direct hostility. Had his efforts been crowned with success, British connexion would probably not have been of three months’ duration. The House felt the danger of his conduct, and he was not supported in Iiis philippics, hir. Curran called Mr. Fitzgibbon a maniac and an incen¬ diary ; ilr. D. Daley termed Mr. Flood a demagogue. The debate be¬ came quite unprecedented in point of violence and party recrimination, but the good sense of some members endeavoured to moderate the partisana The Bill after a dreadful uproar, was rejected by 158 to 49 ;* 138 of the majority were placemen, and the very persons on whom the reform ia- iended to operate. It is very renmrkable thr.t it was 188 placemen thta * Ninety-three moaihera were absent. RISE AND FALL OF TUE IIUSII RATIOil. 183 rejected the Eeform Bill in 1783, and that it was the same number of placemen who carried the Union Bill in 1800, which, if the reform had succeeded, never could have been passed. Upon this very decision ultimately depended the existence of Irish independence. The Volunteers v/ere insulted, their BUI was rejected without a hearing, their intentions were culminated, even their name was reprobated; their services were forgotten, and that very corruption which they sought to reform thus had its full revenge. hir. Connolly—that weak, obstinate, and most inconsistent of the Irish Whigs, whom family and fortune alone could have raised from obscurity, endeavoured to give a finishing blow to that virtuous association,* which, in the same place, he had so often eulogised. He now explicitly denounced the Volunteers as enemies to that Constitution which they had obtained for their country, and which he afterwards surrendered to the Ministers, against whose measures he had arrayed himself on every important occa¬ sion. This too great confidence of the Volunteers, in the success of their mea¬ sures had thus led them too rapidly into a proceeding that required the most deliberate consideration. The refusal of Parliament to receive their Bill created a sensation which, for a moment, left the peace of Ireland on the very brink of a precipice. Lord Charlemont mistook his fears for his pruJencs, the Volunteers mistook their resentment for their patriotism, both were disposed to extremities, and some decisive crisis appeared abso¬ lutely inevitable. That great and patriotic army, which had the year before received the unanimous thanks of the Parliament, were by the motion of a Whig, nearly denounced as rebels, and little less than a declaration of war against them was voted, even without a division iu the Parliament. Vn. By this fatal dilemma, resistance or dissolution alone remained to the Convention. The most intelligent of that body determined that a day or two should bo taken to reflect on the best course of proceeding. But Lord Charlemont dreaded the consequence of discussion, and decided rather to betray his trust than hazard insurrection, and to adopt the safer step of dissolving the Convention. It is not easy to descril e the uneasiuess and deep solicitude of the Con¬ vention pending that deoate. Reporters w'ere perpetually passing and repassing between the two assemblies; the impatience of the 'Volunteers was rising into a storm. Earl Charlemont, overwhelmed by his a 2 )pre- hension, saw no course but to induce them to adjourn; they, however, waited till long after midnight, iu a state between auger and anxiety. Lord Charlemont did not oppose, but he duped them. He received a note from the House ot Commons, which he said left no hoj^ of a epeedy decision, and he had the address and influence to induce the * After the division, Mr. Connolly moved, “That an humble addresa be prec Ecnted to his Majesty, to declare the perfect eatisfaction we feel, and the bless, ings wo enjoy under his Majesty's most auspicious Government, and our present bappy constitution. And tuat, at this time, we feel it pecnliaily meumbeut oa ns to declare our resolution to support the same with onr lives and fortoiiofi.** This was an unequivocal attack upon the Volunteers: it was aarried. l84 KISE AND FALL OF TDE TKISn NATION. Contention to adjourn till Monday morning, at the usual hour, then to decide upon ulterior measures, if their Bill should be rejected. But hi? Lordship had secretly determined that they should meet no more; the death Sif the Convention vas pronounced by their adjournment: and the honest, p.atriotic, but feeble Charlemont, on the hlonday morning began to ex- linguish that institution to which he owed his celebrity; and to paralyse that proud popular spirit to which alone Ireland was indebted for its con¬ stitution and independence. VIII. Sunday was jiassed between his indecision and his timidity. In his weak and vii'tuous mind, pride and patriotism were ranged on the one side; but imbecility and a sense of incapacity to meet the crisis, blinded him to the nature of that insidious conduct, which on this, and perhaps the only occasion of his life, he meditated against his benefactors. He had a meeting of a few of his friends, most of whom had the same sensations as himself. The Bishop of Derry and Mr. Flood appeared like daring spectres to his imagination; he dreaded to meet them at the Con¬ vention, and after much deliberation, he decided on a course which de¬ tracted from his reputation, and for which even the critical situation of 'the country could not allow him one point of justification. On the Monday morning he repaired to the Ilotunda, before the usual hour of sitting. None but his own Immediate partisans were aware of his intention; the meeting was expected to be most important, and the dele- . gates had no suspicion of his Lordship’s early attendance. On his taking the chair, a delegate immediately arose to expatiate on 'the insults which the Convention had received during the debate of Satur¬ day. His Lordship became alarmed; a protracted statement might give time for the arrival of delegates, when all his objects would surely be frus¬ trated. He at once took a step which had scarcely a parallel for duplicity, and which, though of the shallowest nature, proved the most effectual. He instantly silenced the member, as being out of order, on the grournl that one House of Parliament never could take notice of what passed in another; and that the Convention had adopted the rules and orders of I’arliament. Thus by collecting every ray of feeUaiess and olsurdity into one focus, he prevented any continuation of the subject; and whilst he declared tho Convention a House of Parliament, resolved to terminate its existence. IX. After some conversation, a farewell address was rapidly passed to his Majesty, and his Lordship boldly adjourned the Convention —sine die. The Rotunda was quickly vacated, and rvhen the residue of the delegates, the ardent friends of the Volunteer body, came to take their places, they found the doors closed, the chairman withdrawn, and that body upon which the Nation rehed for its independence dissolved for ever. The delegates, mortified and abashed, returned to then homes; many friends of Earl Charlemont were soon ashamed of their conduct; and his Lords’nip 8 want of sincerity, for the first time was indisputably proved, and .underwent well-merited animadversions. The Volunteer Delegates having returned to their constituents, could give but a puerile account either of their proceedings or of their chairman. Every eye now turned on the Earl of Bristol, who became the idol of thg i:iSE AND FALL OF THE IRISII KATUN. 186 people. Whilst Lord Chaiiemont gently descended into the placid rankg of order and of courtesy, the Bishop rose like a phoenix from the ashes of the Convention. The Volunteer Corps in many districts beat to arms; they paraded, they deliberated, but their bond of union was enfeebled or dissevered. Amongst the weaknesses of Lord Charlcmont, he had an odious tinge of bigotry, and was decidedly opposed to the admission of Catholics to the full enjoyment of the Constitution. The Bishop, with more zeal and much greater abilities, was their warmest advocate. Exclusion on the one side, and toleration on the other, became the theme of both. The dispute ran high ; partisans were not wanting, the people began to separate ; and this unfortunate controversy gradually ter¬ minated in that fatal dissension which never ceased to divide the Irish na¬ tion and at length effected all the objects of mischief that the most ruthless enemies of the Irish could have expected, or have even wished. CHAPTER XX. I. After this fatal event, the Volunteers became less calm and more unguarded. The address of one regiment to the Bishop of Derry, forms an interesting feature of Irish history, and it gave rise to a reply, such as had not been ventured upon by any public character in either country. A northern corps, of considerable strength had adopted the patriotic title of the ‘‘ Bill of Rights’ Battahon,” and had entered into resolutions to “ support their constitution, or be buried under its ruins.” A large de¬ tachment of that corps marched from their county, determined to uphold the Bishop’s principles, and support his measures, with their hvos and fortunes. The address and the answer are strongly Olustrative of the spirit of the times, and the embarrassment of the Cabinet. This declaration ran like wild fire throughout the Nation. The last sentence was the boldest and most unequivocal, the most daring and de¬ cisive, used in Ireland. A British Earl and Irish Bishop, of great wealth, learning, abilities, and of unbounded popular influence, risking his for¬ tune, and perhaps his life, in support of Ireland was in every respect a phe¬ nomenon. His Ijordship’s desire to put himself at the head of the Irish Nation was DO longer doubtful, and well was he calculated to lead it to every extre¬ mity. All men were now convinced that, had his Lordship been Presi¬ dent of the National Covention, the moderate courtly Charlemont must either have submitted to his standard, or have sunk into nihility. “BILL OF RIGHTS’ BATTALION. Resolved—that the following Address be presented from this Batta¬ lion, under arms, to the Earl of Bristol, Lord Bishop of Derry, for hia truly patriotic exertions in support of our rights and hbertica;— 186 niSE AKD FALL OF THE lllISH NATION'.' “ To the Honourable the Earl of Brista., Lord Bishop of Derry^ The Address of the Bdl of Bights' Battalion of Volunteers. “My Loeo, —Having, with the eye of silent approbation, viewed yoat conduct iu every stage of its progress, at the Grand National Convention of Volunteer Delegates, we are impelled by those generous sentiments that actuate the breasts of Irishmen, to offer your Lordship this Address, as a mark of affection and of gratitude. “ IVA see with indignation and concern, the treatment which the ■wise, spirited, and salutary llesolutious of the Volunteer Convention have re¬ ceived ; but we trust the virtuous efforts of a united people, under the auspices of your Lordship, will cleanse the Augeau stable—the noisomo stalls of venality and corruption. “ The gloomy clouds of superstition and bigotry., those engines of dis¬ union, being fled the realm, the interests of Ireland can no longer suffer by a diversity of religious persuasions. All are united in the pursuit of one great object—the extermination of corruption from our Constitution; nor can your Lordship and your virtuous coadjutors, in promoting civil and religious liberty, be destitute of the aid of all professions. “ Permit us to assure you, that, as freemen, freeholders, and as Volun¬ teers, our exertions to aiffectuate the grand work of reformation, shall be as strenuous as the aim is important: and that we are, with unfeigned gi’atitude and attachment, your Lordship’s most faithful friends. “ Signed, by order of the Battalion, “JOHN OKR, &c.” A detachment from the Battalion, consisting of eighty rank and file, headed by their Lieutenant-Colonel, waited on his Lordship, on the 14th instant, at Downhill, and presented, under arms, their Address: to which his Lordship was pleased to give the subsequent reply :—' Gentleiien,—W hen you acknowledged the services of your fellow citizens, in the County of Antrim, in the late struggle for liberty, you rewarded their toils iu that coin most valuable to virtuous men ; and your approbation of theh efforts, in some measure, consoled them for their want of success. “ But when you step forth from your own country, to hail the indivi¬ dual of another, unknown to you but by his honest endeavours, and un¬ connected, except by that kindred spirit which seems now, at length, ^ pervade the whole body of Irishmen, and, like a Promethean fire, to ani-- mate a hitherto lifeless mass, the satisfaction excited in his mind by the applauses of men who have a right to approve what they dare to support, can be known only to those “irho are conscious of deserving ■what they aia fortunate enough to receive. “When the conscience of a patriot bears testimony to the truth of the panegyric, and the sincerity of the panegyrist’s praise ce^es to be adula¬ tion, then they become the wholesome food of a manly mind, and nourish that virtue they were, at first, intended only to approve. “ But, gentlemen, those who dare assert their o'wn rights, shonld rise above the mean policy of violating the rights of otliers. IM33 AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. IM ‘‘There is, in this island, a class of citizens equally respectable, and Infinitely more numerous than those who have hitherto oppressed them— “ Men who have long crouched under the iron rod of their oppressors, not from any dastardly insensibility to their shackles—not from any un¬ manly indift'ereuce to the inalienable rights of men; but from a pious dread of wounding our common country through the sides of its tyrants — “ hlen, in whose hearts beats at this instant as high a pulse for liberty, and thi’ough whose vaius pours a tide of as pure blood, and as noble too, as any that animates the proudest citizen in Ireland— “Men, whose ancestors, at the hazard of their property, and with the loss of their lives, obtained the first great Bill of Bights, and upon which every other must be founded—the Magna Charta of Ireland— “Men, whose ancestors, in the midst of ignorance, could distinguish between the duties of a religionist and the rights of a citizen, and who enacted those elementary and never obsolete statutes of prgemuuire, which, for centuries, have been an firefragable monument of their sagacity in distinguishing, and their fortitude in severing, their duty to the Church oj Rome from their dependence on its court — “Men, the undegenerate progeny of such virtuous ancestors, who, with a firmness worthy of our imitation, and still more worthy of our gratitude, have endured those very outrages from their country which their fore¬ fathers spurned at from its sovereign, and who, under a series of accumu¬ lated wrongs, which would heighten the disgrace of human policy if they could be paralleled in its annals, have, with a fortitude as unexampled as their oppression, allowed every thing dear to the human heart to bo weehed, except their religion and their patriotism, except their acquies- lenco to the will of an inscrutable Gcd, and their affection for a mistaken and deluded country. “But, gentlemen, the hour is now come, when sound policy, as v/sll as irresistible justice will compel those who demand their own rights, to support their claim by a restitution of those of their fellow-citizens. “ When Ireland must necessarily avail herself of her whole internal force to ward off foreign encroachments, or once more acquiesce under those encroachments, the better to exercise anew the tyranny of a pari of the community over the dearest and inalienable rights of others. “For one million of divided Protestants can never, in the scale of human Government, be a counterpoise against three millions of united Catholics. But, gentlemen of the Bill of Bights’ Battalion, I appeal to yourseive::; and summon you to consistency— Tyuanny is not Government, and diLEGIANCE IS DU3 ONLY TO BruTECTION. “BBISTOB. “ 14/A January, 1784.” IL IBe Government now became seriously akrmed. Never waa Kuy Government in greater difficulty. Vaiious were its advisers at this im¬ portant moment; those in council, whose arrogance and arbitrary feelings generally outweighed their prudence, strongly enforced the most danger¬ ous of ail measures, the immediate arrest of the Bishon. They contended that, by such energy, aud by at once depriving ttie Volanteers o& so cu- 183 RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. thusiastic a partisan, they might check their progress; but they uover rgland. From that day Ireland rose in wealth, in trade, and 202 rJSE AXD FALL OF THE IP.ISH KATIOW. in manufactures, agriculture, and every brauch of iudurtiy that ceuld enhance her value, or render a people rich and prosperous. She bad acquired her seat amongst the nations of the world, she had asserted her independence against the insolence of rortugal, she had suggested an Irish navy to protect her shores, she had declared a perpetual league of mutual amity and aid with Groat Britain, d’lie court of Jier Viceroy appeared as splendid as her monarch’s. Her nobles resided, and expended their great fortunes amongst the Irish people, the Commons all resided on their own demesnes, supported and fostered a laborious and tranquil tenantry. The peace of the country was perfect, no standing army, no militia, no police were wanting for its preservation ; the activity of the Volunteers had sup¬ pressed crime in every district, religious prejudices were gradually diminish¬ ing; every means of amelioration were in contemplation, or in progress. The distinctness of Ireland had been proclaimed to the world by overt acta of herself, and of her monarch, and the King of England. The Irish sceptre in the hands of her King had touched the charter of her inde¬ pendence. On the faith of nations, before God and man its eternal freedom had been declared, and should have been inviolable. But by some in¬ scrutable will of Heaven, it was decreed that she should soon be again erased from the list of nations, punished without a crime, and laid prostrate at the feet of a jealous ally. II. The spirit and independence of the conjoint Peers and Commons of Ireland, and their reception by the Heir-apparent, convinced the Viceroy of the impossibility of his retaining office; his declaration of departure be¬ ing again repeated, was greeted in Dublin as a measure of the highest gratification to the Whigs and Patriots, and of the deepest regret to the adherents of the Minister, However, though the recovery of the King rendered the appointment of their Eegent, at the time, unnecessary, it sufficiently asserted their con¬ stitutional and national independence, and as we have already mentioned, consummated the epoch which is termed the Rise of Ireland. One observation is here not out of place, and it is rather a remarkabla occurrence, that it was during the short interval which occured between the first and second announcement of the entire incapacity of King George the Third, that he was induced by the same hlinisters who had resisted the Regent, to forego his own Royal acts, rescind his constitutional assent— melt down his Irish Crown, and place his Irish subjects under the guar¬ dianship of a mutilated and absent representation. It is therefore not easy to reconcile to ordinary reason the probability that a conscientious and monJ monarch, during the interval of a disease so deep-seated and enfee¬ bling to the human intellect, could calmly and judicially reflect on a ineacn.re so cemprehensivo in its results, and so corrupt in its attainment^ as the I.egialative Union. It was under all tlmse circumstances, and the departure of the Viceroy, that tb-e Earl of Westmoreland came over as his successor. But the lini of ilia politics or Government had not preceded him. •ILL Mr. Pitt felt that be had made but slight progress towawTi: t/a scheme of an Union with Ireland; his projects had turned agrinst hirartif and the Irish Parliament, on the subject of the Regency, had taught AilD FALL OF THE IHISU NAXIOIT. 203 k lesson Ibe liad but little expectation of learning. Ko'weTer, the spirit of the Irish confirmed that amtere and pertinacious statesman in his resolution to rule Ireland in Great Britain, and to leave her no power to impede tho course of his ambition. The Earl of Westmoreland was by no means ill adapted to the Irish people. He was sufficiently reserved to command respect, and dignified enough to uphold ids station. His splendid conviviality procured him many rational partisans, and his extreme hospiitality engendered at least tem¬ porary friendships. He wms honourable and good-natured, and amongthe fiigher orders and bis intimate associates, he was a popi'.lar Viceroy. "His Secretary, Major Hobart (Lord Buckinghamshire), was more a man of the world, and was admirably caculated for tho higher classes of the Irish. A perfect gentleman, cheerful, convivial, and conciliating, though de¬ cided ; liberal, yet crafty; kind-hearted, but cautious ; and with a mix¬ ture of pride and affability in his manner, he particularly adapted himself to his official pi’rposes by occasionally altering the proportion of each, as persons or circumstances required their application. With an open, pre - possessing countenance, he gained wonderfully upon every gentleman with whom he associated.* The period of Lord Westmoreland's Government was certainly the summit of Irish prosperity. From the epoch of his de¬ parture she may date the commencement of her downfall. Lord West¬ moreland’s was charged with being a jobbing Government, but it was less so than that of any of liis predecessors; ami if he did not diminish, be cer¬ tainly did not aggravate the burthens of the people. IV. When I mrd Westmoreland arrived, Ireland was in a state of great prosperity. He met a strong opposition in Parliament, but it was au honest oppositioi, the guardian of public liberty, and not a faction. It was constitutinal in principle, and formidable in talent; it was rather a party to effect wholesome measures, than a .systematic opposition to tho Government. Only two subjects of vital importance were introduced du¬ ring his administration ; most of the others being plausible demands, cal¬ culated rather to gratify the people than to produce any radical change in the system of the Government. A Place Bill, a Pension Bill, and a Re¬ sponsibility Bill, an inquiry into the sale of Peerages, and into the Police of Dublin, w'ere amongst the most material measures pressed by the opposi¬ tion during his Viceroyalty. The Place Bill, however supposed to be re¬ medial, eventually became the most important that had ever been passed by an independent Irish Parliament. •The Board of Green Cloth, (the Lord Lieutenant’a second table,) never was supported with more splendour than duiing Lord Westmoreland’s Government It was, at least, as good as his own, the class of society the same, the convivk ality superior. Economy had not crept into that department, and every shilling, that was granted to that establishment was expended upon it. Major Uobai’t saved nothing In Ireland ; be expended in the metropolis all ha received; and the entire of the giants, tlien made by the Irish Parliament to tupport the Viceregal establishment, was actually laid out on it, end the citizens tf Dublin, in fact, reaped the profits of their taxation- 201 iUSE AND FALL OP THE IRISH NATION. The perseverance of the able men who formed the opposition, at length jjive a pretence to the Minister to purchase an armistice, by conce^g tome of the measures they had so long and pertinaciously resisted. It could not have been flattering however, to the warm supporters of Government, to be required by the Secretary to become absolutely incon¬ sistent, and to change their language without a change of circumstances, and recant opinions they had so frequently declared in conjunction with the Minister. Some of the most active supporters of Gov'ernment, therefore deter¬ mined not to interfere in these concessions, and the opposition, on the other hand, was so keen at the chase, and so gratified at the concession of theii long-sought measures, that they but superficially regarded the details or the mode of conceding, and never reflected, as legislators or as statesmen, that one of those measures might prove a deadly weapon, by which the ex¬ ecutive Government might destroy the Parliament under pretence of puri¬ fying it. A Bill was brought in to vacate the seats of members accepting offices under Government, omitting the term of hona fide offices ; thereby leaving the hlinister a power of packing the Parliament. The opposition, blinded by their honest zeal, considered this ruinous Bill a species of reform, and were astonished at the concession of a measure at once so popular, and which they conceived to be so destructive of minis¬ terial corruption. The sagacity of Mr. Pitt, however, clearly shewed him, that measure would put the Irish Parliament eventually into his hands; and the sequel proved, that, without that Bill, worded as it was, the corruption by the Ministers, the rebellion, force, and terror combined, codd not have affected the Union. The Place, Pension, and Responsibility Bills were proposed by Mr. Grat¬ tan, acceded to by the Viceroy, passed into laws, and considered as a triumph of the opposition over the venality of the Government.* hlr. Grattan was certainly the most incorruptible public character on the records of the Irish Parliament. He worshipped popularity, yet there was a tinge of aristocracy in his devotion, which whilst it qu.alifled its enthu¬ siasm, still added to its purity. Such men may occasionally err in judgment, or may he misled by their ardour; and this was the case with Mr. Grattan on this armiatice with the Government. Mr. Grattan did not always foresee the remote operation of his projects. He was little adapted to labour on the details of measures; he had laid the broad foundation of the corLstitution, but someti/ues regarded lightly the out-buildings that weie occasionally attached to it. On this occasion, the Ministers were too subtle tor him, and he heeded .not that fatal clauso w'hich made no distinction bet ?seeu real and nominal offices. He considered • The author was requested by Govenuueut to give his assent, in the llocupf*, to the Place Bill; but ha had, at their crigir.al request, as well as on hla own opinion, for some years opposed it; ho tiiereiore pooitiveiy i©fused, and Stood nearly ^one in his oppesitioa. Mr. Newenham and Sir John M'Cartney only supported him. He foresaw its possible operation i:lSE Al’.D rALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 295 not, that though offices of real emolument could not be so frequently va- 3t^ and transferred as to give the Minister any very important advan* tage, those of nominal value might be daily given and resigned without observation, and that, as the House was then constituted, the Minister might almost form the Commons at his pleasure.* By comparing the Irish Parliament at the epochs of the Proposition and the Regency Bills, and at that of 1800, the fatal operation of the Place Bill can be no longer questionable. In one word—it carried the Union.f Y. During the administration of Lord Westmoreland, the first question (which so deeply affected the subsequent events of IrelacJ.) was the par¬ tial emancipation of the Irish Catholics. Though the question did not,, when introduced, appear to involve the consideration of a Legislative Union, its results communicated a pov erful influence to that measure. The national annihilation of Ireland was, in a considerable degree, pro¬ moted by the impolitic mismana,gement of the Catholic population. Though many of the penal and restrictive statutes, by which the Catholics had been so long excluded from all the most valuable rights, not only of British subjects, but of freemen, were repealed; and though the power of taking freeholds, and possessing landed property, was restored to them, these concessions were but a stimulus to further claims, and for which they created a most rational expectation. The Catholics argued, that if they were allowed to purchase freeholds, and to receive by descent, lands in fee, it must consequently be an injus¬ tice, an absurdity, and an insult, to debar them from the elective francMse, and the privileges which were by law attached to the possession of the same species of property by their Protestant fellow-subjects. They said, that noblemen and commoners of great fortune, of their per¬ suasion, who had been deprived of their rights by their attachment to he¬ reditary monarchy, notwithstanding those partial concessions, still remained loaded with many attributes of actual slavery, in the midst of a free peo¬ ple ; that after a century of loyal and peaceful demeanour towards a Pro¬ testant dynasty, they were still to bo stigmatised as neither trustworthy nor loyal. Their language, firm and decided, was rational, and eventu¬ ally successful. Government were now alarmed, and affected to take a hberal view of the subject; but were by no means unanimous as to the extent of the concessions. They conceived that tranquillity might be at- iained by mere religious toleration. This may be true, where but a small portion of the people are claimants; far different, however, where those excluded form the bulk, and the exclusionists a small minority of the peo- * Tliere are four nominal ofilces in Ireland— tlio E.'ichatorships of Leinster, tiunstor, Connanght, and Ulster, which are obsoleto: their emoluments are 3t*i. per ar,num. By means of these offices, Lord Castlereagh packed tho Parlin- ment in 1800. The Chiltem Hundreds in England are of the same nature; but the large number of the British Commons renders any thing like packing Parliament for occasional purposes, by that means, impossible. Nor durst a British naioitter practise that artifice, except to a very Lmited “xte.nt f See liercaftee Mr. Crowe’s Letter to Lord Belridw^. 206 RISE AND I'ALL OF THE IRISH NATION. pie. IloiTCTer, tlie concessions were important, and greater tlian ctiuld have been credible before Lord Westmoreland’s Administration, Iha grant to Catholics of the elective franchise was the act more of Major Ilcbart and of his Government than of himself. The forty shilling fran» chise was then granted to the poorest and most dependent peasantry of Europe, who might one day be influenced by one motive, and the next by its reverse. It is easier to grant than to recall, and strong doubts were fairly entertained as to the wisdom of that part of it. The first important debates, on granting the elective franchise to Irish Catholics were in 1792, on a petition presented in their favour. It was then looked upon as a most daring step; intolerance was then in full vigour, and Mr. LaTouche moved to reject the petition without entering on its merits. The prejudice against the Catholics was then so powerful, that their petition was rejected with indignation, by a division of 208 to 23. The Government, ly this majority, hoped to render similar applications hopeless; but, a few months after, it was found necessary that the measure should be recommended from the throne, and supported by Government, and was carried in the same house by a large majority. The strange proceeding of the Irish Parliament on this subject, may be accounted for by then’ dread of reclamation by the Catholics (should they be admitted to power) of their forfeited estates, held by Peers and Commoners, by grants of Elizabeth, Cromwell, and Wilham; but which, on more mature refiection, they found to be chimerical. The Legislature, however, by granting the elective franchise to the Irish Catholics, conceded to them the very essence of the Briti'sh Consti¬ tution. hlr. Pitt’s ulterior views as to Ireland solve the enigma, that tlie virulent enemies of the Catholics, who opposed the slightest concession, should directly after vote then the elective franchise. Mr. Pitt’s object was to reciprocally exasperate the two parties against each other. The indignant rejection nf the petition of 1792, inflamed the Cathohe with resentment, and elated the Protestant with triumph. The concession of 1793 reveisei these pas¬ sions ; and both parties felt equally disgusted. The Minister took every advantage of the unpopularity of the Parliament. A very remarkable incident of inconsistency occurred in the House, of Lords upon this occasion. Lord Clare, the most unqualified enemy t’ne Catholics ever had, and the most virulent against them, on the debate in 1793 spoke and voted for giving them the elective franchise, which he had previously asserted w'Oifld be a breach of the Coronation Oath, and de- -itructive to the Church and State. On the other hand. Lord Charlemont. always the most zealous friend to the Irish people, and the most distin¬ guished of the gentle breed of patriots, on the same debate spoke in favour of the Catholics, yet voted against any concession whatsoever. Lord Clare wished to do mischief on Mr. Pitt’s system, even at his ovre. expense. Lord Charlemont wished to do good, but was too shaflow to 6S$ the designs of the Chancellor, or even to mix policy with his candour.® • Xkc alilest of the Catholic leadersi at that tinre, wae Mr. Keogh, ho poi. RISE XSiHD FALL OF TUE IRISH NATION. 207 TLliough Lord Westmoreland rras powerfully opposed in Parliament, daring the whole of his government, the country was in peace, and he was Epalously supported. He had not been recalled, under the pretence of making way for a general pacification, the nation had no reason to sup- {)ose his place would be much better filled. His recall, and the appoint¬ ment and deposition of Lord Fitzwilliam, his successor, within three months, completed the train v/hich Mr. Pitt had laid for the explosion. Having divided the country, and obtained the means of packing the Par¬ liament, through the Place Ilill, he suffered some men to disseminate the French revolutionary mania : and having proceeded so far, recalled Lord ^Vestmoreland, and encouraged others to raise their loyalty into the region of madness. His Lordship had not completed the usual term of residence, nor had he failed in his duties; and his appearing not to feel hurt at his abrupt re¬ call was mysterious, and seemed to forebode some important scheme or deception. VI. The appointment of Lord Fitzwilliam, who had previously opposed the Administration, was, perhaps, the most deep and treacherous design ever contemplated by any Minister. But Mr. Pitt had never been in Ire¬ land, and experienced difficulties he did not anticipate. He fancied he might excite and su 2 ipress commotion at his convenience ; but, in deciding upon forcing a premature insurrection for a particular object, he did not cdculate on a torrent of blood that would be shed, and the inveterate ha¬ tred that might be perpetuated against the British Government. His reso¬ lution was taken, and he prevailed upon one of the most pure and respected of the Whig leaders to become a Viceroy of Ireland, under a supposition that 'he was selected to tranquillize and to foster that country. The IMinister 'Aanted only a high-minded victim, as an instrument to agitate the Irish. His Lordship had great estates in Ireland—was one of its most kind and indulgent landlords, and was extremely jiopular. Ills manners were, per¬ haps, too mild, but he had enlarged principles of political liberty, and of religious toleration, hlr. Pitt had assured him he should have the gratifi¬ cation fully emancipating the Irish Catholics. I.ord Fitzwilliam accepted uic ol:c» only on that consideration, and with this entire conviction he re- paire-i to Dublin, to carry into immediate execution what he conceived v. oidd for ever tranquillize that country. Mr. Pitt intended to inflame the coimtry—throw upon the Viceroy the insinuation of disobedience—and openly charge him with a precipitancy, of which he himself was the real author. Never was a scheme conducted with more addi'ess and secrecy. Lord Fitzwilliam was received with open arms by the people—he immediately C'.'inmeuccd his arrangements—and Mr. Pitt began as closely to counteract lihem. In every act of his Government, Lord Fitzwilliam was either de- oC'ived or circumvented. iussed a very strong intellect, and Lad more intelligenca emd mono iaSncncod with tb&t body than any mac of that parsuasion ; he was a lesKler *t all their early a?«e'i:lng3, and of very groat uaa in forwarding their measarus. Aflei their attain- isent of the elsotiTS fciachise, ha stiii urgou their elMuos with teloiit, vas>ur. wid vCjSevijraace. 208 RISE AND FALL OF THE HUSH NATION. Mr. Pitt’s end (ras answered; he thus raised the Catholics to the height of expectation, and by suddenly recalling their favourite Viceroy, he in¬ flamed them to the degree of generating the commotions he meditated, which would throw the Protestants into the arms of England for protection, whilst the horrors would be aggravated by the mingled conflicts of parties, royalists, and republicans. By this measure, too, Mr. Pitt had the gratiflcation of humbluig Earl Fitzwilliam, disgracing the Whigs, overwhelming the opposition, turning the Irish into fanatics, and thereby preparing the gentry of that country for the project that was immediately to succeed it. The conduct of the Duke of Portland must have been either culpable or imbecile—he must either have betrayed Lord Fitzwilliam to Mr. Pitt, or Mr. Pitt must have made him a blind, instrument of treachery to his friend. The first is most probable, as he remained in oflice after his friend had been disgraced, and in direct contradiction to his own declaration, aided in the fatal project which was effected by that treachery. The limits of this volume do not admit of stating in detail all the im¬ portant facts which constituted the treachery of the Premier, and the fraud on Earl Fitzwilliam. His Lordship’s letters to Lord Carlisle cannot be abridged: every line is material; in those letters only can the deception practised on that nobleman be found with that weight and accuracy which so remarkable an incident in both English and Irish history requires. In those letters will be found, as in a glare of light, on the one side, that high-minded, pure, virtuous dignity of mind and action, and on the other, that intrepid, able, crafty, inflexible, and unprincipled conduct, v/hich marked indelibly the characters of those remarkable personages. Mr. Pitt having sent Lord Fitzwilliam to Ireland with unlimited powers to satisfy the nation, permitted him to proceed until ho had unavoidably committed himself both to the Catholics and country, when he suddenly recalled him, leaving it in a state of excitation and dismay. The day Lord Fitzwilliam arrived, peace was proclaimed throughout all Ireland. The day he quitted it, she prepared for insurrection. The Beresfords and the Ponsonbys were arrayed against each other— and, in one week more, the Beresfords would have been prostrate. Mr. Pitt, however, terminated the question, by dethroning Lord Fitzwilliam ; the IVhigs were defeated—and Ireland was surrendered at discretion to Lord Clare and his connexion. Within three montirs after Lord Fitz- william’s dismissal. Lord Clare had got the nation into full training for military execution. Vn. The arrival of Lord Camden to succeed Earl Fitzwilliam was at¬ tended by almost insurrectionary outrage. The Beresfords were the osten¬ sible cause of the people’s favourite being overthrown: on that family, therefore, they conceived they should signalize their vengeance; and their dcternunation was nearly carried into execution. The Chancellor in his carriage was assailed; he received the blow of a istone on his forehead, which, with somewhat more force, would have rid the people of their enemy. His house was attacked; tlie populace were determined to destroy him, and were proceeding to execute their inten¬ tions. At tl'ojt, moment Uieir rage was, most foriuERtely, divert-vj by tus RISE ANX) FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 20 & address of his sister, Mrs. Jeffries, who, unknown and at great risks, had mingled in the crowd: she misled them as to the place of his concealment. Disappointed of their object, they then attacked the Custom House, where Mr. Beresford, first commissioner of the revenue resided. Dreadful re> suits were with reason apprehended. Such was the inauspicious beginning of Lord Camden’s government. From the day of his arrival the spirit of insurrection increased, and in a short period, during his Lordship’s Government, more blood was shed, as much of outrage and cruelty was perpetrated on both sides, and as many military executions took place, as in ten times the same period during tha sanguinary reign of Elizabeth, or the usurpations of Cromwell or King William.* VIII. The conspiracy of united Irishmen—never profoundly secret, soon became public; its members avowed themselves; but the extent of Its objects was unknown, and its civil arrangements and military organiza¬ tion far exceeded those of any association in history. Constituents knew not their representatives, and the soldiers knew not the names of those by whom they were to be commanded. Even the members of their executive Directory were utterly unknown to some hundred thousand men, who had sworn obedience to their orders. Jlr. Pitt was surprised, and found the conspiracy becoming rather too extensive and dangerous for his purposes. For a moment he felt he might possibly get beyond his depth, and he con¬ ceived the necessity of forcing a premature explosion, by which he might excite sufficient horrors throughout the country to serve his purpose, and be able to suppress the conspiracy in the bud, which might be beyond his pow'er should it arrive at its maturity. Individually Lord Camden was an excellent man, and, in ordinary times, would have been an acquisition to the country, but he was made a cruel instrument in the hand's of hlr. Pitt, and seemed to have no will of his own. Earl Camden was of a high mind, and of unblemished reputation; his principles were good, but his talent was not eminent; he intended right, but was led wrong; he wished to govern with moderation, but was driven by his council into most violent proceedings; to the arrogant dictum of Lord Clare he had not a power of resistance, and he yielded to cruelties that his mind must have revolted at. His Lordship became extremely popular amongst the armed associations which were raised in Ireland under the title of Yeomen. He was con¬ sidered the guardian of that institution. He did what justice he was per- • I have always considered, and still consider, William the Third as an usurper in Ireland, tintil the flight of James, and the Articles of Limerick, capitulated for the whole nation; after that, he was to be considered king de facto, by eon- guest. At all events, it was the result of a rebellion in England, and of loyalty in Ireland; and it should be recollected, that the Irish people, after that capito- lation, never did rise or rebel against his government, or that of hia saoceseors aa they did in Scotland twice, and partially in Englani 0 raSE AND FALL OF THE IRIbH NATION. s:o luUted to do; and a single false act of his omi, during liis residence in Ire- /and, never was complained of. His Secretary, Earl Cliicliesler (Mr, Pelham), held up rhe reputation of the Government to its proper standard Mdtliout great talents, he had good sense, good manners, a frank address, with humane, honourable, and just intentions; but, at a critical moment he was obliged to return to England for his health, and Lord Camden filled up the vacancy by his nepherv. This relative became one of the most celebrated persons of his day, and is the principal hero in the sequel of Irish histoiy, and in England proved himself a most destructive Minister to the finances and character of the British Empire. However, with all his good qualities as Viceroy, Lord Camden’s Go¬ vernment was by its consequences, the most ruinous, and most unfortunate, that Ireland ever experienced. Lord Clare and his connexions, intoxicated by their victory over the late Viceroy, set no bounds to their triumph; they treated the people as then.’ vassals, the country as their demesne, and its patronage as their pri¬ vate property. IX. On a review of the state of Ireland at that period, it must be ob¬ vious to every deliberate observer, that the design of Mr. Pitt, to effect some mysterious measure in Ireland, was now, through the unaccountable conduct of the Irish Government, beginning to develope itself. The seeds of insurrection, which had manifested themselves in Scotland and in Eng¬ land were, by the vigour and promptitude of the British Government, ra¬ pidly crushed; and by the reports of Parliament, Lord Melville had ob¬ tained and published prints of the different pikes manufactured in Scot¬ land, long before that weapon had been manufactured by the Irish pea¬ santry. But in Ireland, though it appeared, from public documents, that Government had full and accurate information of the Irish United Societies, and that their leaders and chiefs were well known to the British Ministry, at the same period, and by the same means that England and Scotland were kept tranquil, so might have been Ireland. Mr. Pitt, however, found he had temporized to the extremity of pru¬ dence: the disaffected had not yet appeared as a collected army, but a succession of partial outrages, convinced him that prompt and decisive measures became absolutely indispensable. The Earl of Carhampton, Com¬ mander-in-chief in Ireland, first expressed his dissatisfaction at hir. Pitts inexplicable proceedings. His Lordship had but little military experieuccr but he was a man of the world, of courage, and decision, ardent, and ob¬ stinate; lie determined, right or wrong, to annihilate the conspiracy. Without the consent of the Irish Government, he commar-ied the troops, that, on all symptoms of insurrectionary movements, they should act with¬ out waiting for the presence of any civil power. Martial law had not then been proclaimed. He went, therefore, a length, which conld not possibly be supported; bis orders rvere countermanded by the Lord Lieu¬ tenant; but he refused to obey the Viceroy, under colour ti'.at he had no rank in the army, Iiord Carhampton found that the troops in the garrison of Dublin were daily corrupted by the United Irishmen; he therefore withdrew them, ind formed two distinct camps on the south aud uyrth. some miles BISE AND TALL OK Tm! IRISH NATIOIf. 211 !roiri the capital, and thereby, as he conceived, prevented aU inters course of the army with the disaffected of the metropolis. Both measures were disapproved of by the Lord Lieutenant, whom Lord Carhampton iigain refused to obey. The King's sign manual was at length procured, ordering him to break rp his camps, and bring back the garrison; this he obeyed and marched the troops into Dublin barracks. He then resigned his command, and publicly declared, that some deep and insidious scheme of the Minister was in agitation; for, instead of suppressing, the Irish Government was obviously disposed to excite, an insurrection. hlr. Pitt counted on the expertness of the Irish Government to effect a premature explosion. Free Quarters* were now ordered, to irritate the Irish Population; Slow Tortures were inflicted under the pretence of forcing confessions; the people were goaded and driven to madness. General Abercromby, who succeeded as Commauder-in-Chief, was not f ermitted to abate these enormities, and therefore resigned with disgust.f reland was by these means reduced to a state of anarchy, and exposed to crime and cruelties to which no nation had ever been subject. The people could no longer tear their miseries. Mr. Pitt’s object was now effected Sad an insurrection was excited. CHAPTER XXIII. r. These sanguinary transactions will, in the opinion of posterity, bo placed, to the account of those who might have prevented them. The success of the illiterate insurgents at the commencement, nearly con¬ firmed them in the idea of their cause being divine; they were led to hope, that, by their numbers, impetuosity, and perseverance, they could obtain then,’ liberation from an oppressive Government and a tyrannical aristo¬ cracy. The ignorance, or indiscretion of many of the King’s officers who had encountered them, excited their contempt, whUe their own natural habits and instinctive tact led them to a system of ambuscade and strata¬ gem, which, in many instances proved disastrous to the King’s forces. The pike, at the commencement, very frequently succeeded against the regular, and always against the yeoman cavalry; and, in close combat with even the infantry, it proved in some instances irresistible.J * Free quarters is a term not yet practically known in England. Free quarj tera remlerod officers and soldiers despotic masters of the pleasantry, their houses, food, property, and, occasionally, their families. This measure was resorted to, with all its attendant horrors, throughout some of the best parts of Ireland, pre¬ vious to the insurrection, and for the purpose of exeitiug it. t General rVbercrotnhy, in general orders, stated that tha army placed undot his command, frorr, their state of disorganization, would soon bo much more for- midiable to their friends than to their enemies j and that he would not ooonto- nanco or admit free quarters. J The extrema experlness with which the Irish handled the pika was snrpris- fngj by withdrawing, they ceuld shorten it to little more thw the length of •212 P.ISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. Almost all countries possess some national weapon, in the use of which the inhabitants are more expert than at any other, and their superioritj at which is evinced in every insurrection. The Highland broadsword and target, in the rebellions of Scotland, were eminently successful; the Polish lances, the American rifle, and the Indian tomahawk, were often as suc¬ cessful against regular troops. II. Wexford, though so near the metropolis, is not a frequented county, as it is not a direct thoroughfare to any other part of the kingdom: the towns of Gorey, Arklow, and Wicklow, intervene between Wexford and Dublin. The King’s troops were in possession of Arklow, and the country to the metropolis, through Wicklow. They interrupted the communica¬ tion between Wexford and the Wicklow mountains; and, on that side, left the Wexford insurgents almost isolated in their original position. In the interior of the county, however, the insurgents had many strong positions; and, on the south side, the town of New Rosa was the only im¬ pediment to their making themselves masters of Waterford, where they were certain of being immediately joined by the Munster insurgents, par¬ ticularly by the Waterford and Tipperary men, the most numerous and efficient in the kingdom; and this possession of New Ross gave rise to one of the most bloody and most protracted battles ever fought in Ireland. The reckless ferocity, so natural to men resisting oppression, here had full scope for its terrific developement. The peasantry of tliat country were, in a great proportion, of English descent; they had '^een taught that it was right to separate themselves from England; and ;hey were filled with that dreadful doctrine, that, “if the object be good, the means are imma¬ terial. Upon this doctrine, however, many of the higher orders had unequivo¬ cally acted. A portion of the gentry of the county of Wexford were boisterous, overbearing, and devoid of judgment; their Christian prin¬ ciples were merged in their Protestant ascendancy. The frenzy of an exterminating principle seemed to have taken root amongst them; and they acted as if under the impression, that burning every cottage, and torturing every cottager, were a meritorious proof of their faith and loyalty. Great and m(/st unwarrantable excesses had been practised by some of the Protestant gentry on the lower orders; some of them was nearly as sa¬ vage, and certainly as sanguinary as the most vicious of the insurgents. Those men committed their loyal brutalities without calculating that a single victory might enable the insurgents to retaliate. The conduct of the Wexford gentry was held out, by insurgent leaders, a dagger, and, in a second, dart it out to its full extent. At Old Kilcullen, they entirely repulsed Oereral Dnndas, and the heavy cavalry, in a regular charge, killing two captains, and many soldiers: the General escaped v;ith great diffi¬ culty, by the fleetness of his horse. At New Ross, they endrely broke the heavy horse by their pikes. A solid mass, or deep column of determined pikemen, wnld only be broken by artillery, or a heavy ffia of musketry; well-served artil« tery they could not withstand, if not cloee enough to be ruehed upon. Colonel deta.ihment of infantry was nearly annihilated by the pike at Oulart; only £?>o and two others escaped. RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 213 to the inflamed population, as a system to be retaliated; nor is it possible to deny, that natural justice gave some colour to that sanguinary doctrine. The lower orders uninstructed in the distinction between the rights of Government and the mad excesses of the bigoted gentry or tyrannical functionaries, naturally mistook retaliation for justice, and followed exactly the course of devastation which had been inflicted upon themselves. The mansions of the gentry experienced the same fate which the gentry had inflicted ou the cottages. The insurgents considered every Protestant a tyrant; the Protestants proclaimed every Catholic a rebel; reason was banished, mercy was denounced, and the reciprocal thirst for blood became insatiable. Lll. Actual hostilities now commenced by skirmishes round the city of Dublin, and several simultaneous attacks were made by the insurgents, upon various posts and garrisons, with surprising pertinacity. They had neither officers, regular arms, nor discipline; their plans, therefore, though, acutely devised, could have no certainty of regular or punctual execution; yet a masterly system of tactics, of combinations, and of offensive warfare had been originally determined upon. Though these, in a great measure, had been frustrated by the death of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, and the arrest of the Directory, they were executed sufficiently to prove that there had been the plan of an effectual resistance to the Government. The number of the insurgents is utterly impossible to be stated with accuracy. There then existed in Ireland at least 125,000 effective men at arms, who, from the smallness of the island, could be collected and mar¬ shalled in a week throughout the entire kingdom.* The insurgents were unpaid—many of them nearly unclothed, few of thorn well armed, all of them undisciplined, with scarcely any artillery, no cavalry, their powder and ammunition mostly prepared by themselves, no tents or covering, no money, no certainty of provisions, obedient to their chiefs, and adherence to their cause, were altogether voluntary. Under these circumstances, their condition must have been precarious, and their numbers variable. No one leader amongst them had sufficient power to control or counteract their propensities, yet they fought with wonderful perseverance, address, and intrepidity, f • Some of the returns stated that ahoro four hundred thousand inon had bo en sworn, and privately drilled ; but little faith can bo placed in any document on the subject. Had the cause coutiuuod to succeed, the numbers would have been doubled. In 1782, above one hundred thousand Independent Volunteers were well clothed, armed, and disciplined, and about fifty thousand more of an inferior description, were assembled. t One of the insurgents in the town of Wexford, with whom I was w-ll ac¬ quainted, gave me much information, and a great insight into the transactions of that county. Ho was a rational man, and disgusted with both parties, ho would have been neutral, but neutrality was impossible; and Mr. Taylor, a Eoy- alist, and a man of truth and integrity, whom the insurgents, on pain of death, had forced to print their proclamation, gave mo many of their documents, and • great deal of intelligence. I collected, on all hands, that, on the first rising, there wore not five thousand insurgents to attack the town of Wexford j but tlitit. Iho King’s ti'oops having evacuated the place, with a considerabl® foroov and EISE AND FALI, OF THE IRISH NATION. '7U rV. A night attack on the metropolis had been long meditated by the united Irishmen, but its early execution had not been anticipated by the Government. The Lord Lieutenant ascertained that such an attempt was to be made on the 23rd of May, 1798, by a large body of insurgents then collecting on the north of Swords and Santry, and on the south under the Sathfarnham mountains less than five miles from the city. Of their numbers, leaders, arms, or tactics, every body was ignorant, all was con¬ fusion, and every report was extravagantly exaggerated. The regular garrison, and the yeomanry, prepared themselves with the utmost anima¬ tion, but nobodj- knew his station, or could ascertain his duty. Orders were issued, and immediately revoked, positions were assigned and coun¬ termanded, more confused, indecisive, and unintelligible arrangements of a military nature never appeared. No probable point of attack was signified, and the only principle of defence appeared to be comprised in one sentence, “ every man for himself, and God for us all.” Lord Clare appeared the most busy and active, as far as his tongue extended. Confidence and bravery were recommended in all quarters; but a very serious uneasiness was perceptible throughout the metropolis; his Lordship’s activity was confined to the council cham¬ ber, and to the upper court of the Castle. As night approached, orders were given that the yeomen, cavalry and infantry, should occupy Smithfield, which was, at length, considered as the probable point of attack from Santry, where the peasantry were re¬ ported to have collected in the greatest numbers. The yeomen, amongst whom were nearly eight hundred attorneys, horse and foot turned out. without any effort to defend it, and on being harassed on their retreat, this first and most important success had its immediate effect, and before noon tho next day more than twenty thousand Wexford men had flocked to their standards, and they hourly increased in number while success was possible. At the battle of New Ross, I was assured that Bagenal Harvey had thirty thousand; at the Battle of Arklow there were more than twenty thousand: and, as the most uno- quivocal proof of their formidable numbers, at the engagement of Vinegar Hill, General Lake did not think it advisable to attack them with less than twenty thousand regular troops and a considerable artillery. Cavalry and mortars wore brought to force their line, and even against such an attack they made a long and desperate resistance, and retreated from that large and disciplined army with very little (comparative) loss. I had every reason to believe (and I omitted no means of ascertaining the reality), that above thirty.five thousand men had risen in the county of Wex- ford alone. This species of computation may, thei’efore, be indnlgsd in as theory, certainly not as true criterion. Wexford is only one of thirty-two coun¬ ties, by no means the most populous, and far from the most extensive. Had the rising been general, the northern counties might have furnished as many, ths southern counties more, and the midland less than Wexford. A rough (bub, r.o foubt, uncertain average) may bo drawn from these data, as to what the possibln tr probable amount of insurgents might have been, throughout the entire king¬ dom, if the struggle had been prnir.actcd. It is equally clear, that had the insur¬ gent's possessed arms, officers, and discipliae, their numberji would soon har'? fendertd them mastqia of the lingdoigi,' RISE FALL 0? THE IRISH NATION. 215 TiifJr infantry ■were eifectirc; and tlieir cavalry excellent. The gradation? of their discipline and enthusiasm were, however, extremely amusing^ th(»8 wh'3 had imbibed their full quantum of generous fluids, were thj most fierce and enthusiastic; others who had dined on substantial matters, ■were as steady as posts. But those wdio had been paraded before dinner, after standing under arms for some hoiu’s, could endure it no longer, and a forced loan of cheese, tongues, and bottled porter, from a Mr. Murray, of Great George’s-street, was unanimously decided upon, and immediately carried into execution. The barristers, commanded by Captain 'Saurin, ■were from their position likely to sustain the first onset of the pikemen; and as night closed, such a scene of military array never was, and probably never will be witnessed. Smithfield is a long and very wide street, open at both ends, one of which is terminated by the quays and river. It is in¬ tersected by narrow streets, and formed altogether one of the most disa¬ greeable positions in which an immense body of demi-disciplined men and horses ever were stationed in solid mass, without any other order than, "■if you are attacked, defend yourselves to the last extremity." The cavalry and infantry were, in some places, so compactly interwoven, that a dragoon could not wield his sword without cutting down a foot soldier, nor a foot soldier discharge his musket without knocking down a trooper. The cavalry being elevated, could breathe freely in the crowd; but the infantry could scarcely avoid suffocation. A few huridred insur¬ gents, with long pikes, coming on rapidly in the dark, might, without diffi • culty, have [assailed the yeomen at once from five different points. The Barristers’ and Attorneys’ corps occupied three of those points. So much for General Craig's tactics. The danger was considered imminent, the defence impracticable; yet there was a cheerful, thoughtless jocularity, with which the English nation, under grave circumstances, is totally unacquainted; and plain matter- of-fact men can scarcely conceive that renovating levity which carries an Irish heart buoyantly over every wave, w'hich would swamp, or at least water-log, their more steady fellow-subjects. All the barristers, attorneys, merchants, bankers, revenue-officers, shopkeepers, students of the Univer^ sity, doctors, apothecaries, and corporators of an immense metropolis, in red coats, with a sprinkling of parsons, aU doubled up together, awaiting in profound darkness (not with impatience), for invisible executioners to dis¬ patch them without mercy, was not (abstractedly) a situation to engender much hilarity. Scouts now and then came, only to report their ignorance, a running buzz occasionally went roimd, that the -videts were driven in— and the reports of distant musketry, like a twitch of electricity, gave a slight but perceptible movement to men’s muscles. A few (faintly heard) shots on the north side also seemed to announce that the vanguard of the Santry men was approaching. In the mean time, no further orders came from the general, and if there had, no orders could have been obeyed. It appeared, at break of day, that both the Santry and Bathfarnham men had adjourned their main assault till some other opportunity. The different corps now got more regular, the bands struck up “ Gkxi save the King,” the danger of the night in all its ramifications, re-occu- p;od the tongue of every soldier in Smithfield: and at length an ordes 315 RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. came from General Craig (Lord Roden being victorious in a skirmish), to dismiss the troops, and to parade again in the evening. Never was an Drder obeyed with more alacrity, and never did insurgents lose so favour- ■able an opportunity of covering a field of battle with more distingiushed carcases. The insurgents on the south intended to take the Castle by surprise, whilst the Santry men assailed the barracks; but their plan was discon¬ certed by Lord Roden, at the head of his dragoons (called the fox-hunters, from their noble horses). His lordship marched rapidly upon them, and surprised the few who had collected; and, being supported by a small number of light infantry, the attack completely succeeded. A few were sabred, and some few made prisoners ; but the body dispersed with little resistance. Lord Roden received a ball on his helmet, but was only 'bruised, and some dragoons were wounded ; the other (county of Dublin) men retreated to join the Kildare men; the southern marched to unite themselves with those of Wicklow. Their plan had'. Saurin, IV. C. Plunket, C, Bushe, W. Sankey, B. Burton, J. Bar¬ rington, A. M‘Cartney, G. O’Farrell, J. O’Driscoll, J. Lloyd, P. Burrowes, R. Jebb, and H. .Joy, Esquires. hir. Saurin opened the debate. His speech was vapid, and his resolu¬ tion unpointed ; but he had great influence in his profession. He vns a. moderate Huguenot, and grandson of the great preacher at the Hague; he was an excellent lawyer, and an amiable pious Christian. Ho was foh lowed by Captain Spencer, of the barrister’s cavalry. hlr. Saint George Daly, a briefless barrister, was the first supporter ot the Union. Of all men he was the least thought of for preferment; but it was wittily observed, “ that the Union was the first brief Mr. Daly had spoken from.” He moved an adjournment. Mr. Thomas Grady was the Fitzgibbon spokesman, a gentleman of in- iependent property, a tolerable lawyer, an amatory poet, a severe satirist, Pmd an indefatigable quality-hunter. He had written the “ Flesh Brush f for LadyCfiare; the “We.st Briton,” for the Union; tho “ Barrister,’” for the Bar ; and the “Nosegay fora banker at Limerick, who sued him succe.ssfully for a libel. '”'rhe Irish,” said Mr. Grady, “ are only the rump of an 2S2 RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. Shall I visit posterity -with a system of tear, pestilence, and famine Jio . no ! give me an Union. Unite me to that country where all is peace, and order, and prosperity. Without an Union we shall see embryo chief judges, attorneys-general in perspective animalcula serjeants. All the cities of the south and west are on the Atlantic Ocean, between the rest of the world and Great Britain: they are all for it —they must all become warehouses: the people are Catholics, and they are all for it,” &c., &c., '&c. Such an oration as hir. Grady’s had never before been heard at a meeting of lawyers of Europe. Mr. John Beresford, Lord Clare’s nephew and purse-bearer, followed, as if for the charitable purpose of taking the laugh from hlr. Grady, in which he perfectly succeeded, by turning it on himself. Mr. Beresford afterwards became a parson, and is now Lord Decies. Mr. Goold said—“There are 40,000 British troops in Ireland, and with 40,000 bayonets at my breast. The IVIinister sh^ not plant another Sicily in the bosom of the Atlantic. I want not the assistance of Divine inspiration to foretell, for I am enabled by the visible and unerring de- C-'-onstrations of nature to assert, that Ireland was destined to be a free nnd independent Nation. Our patent to be a state, not a shire, comes di¬ rect from Heaven. The Almighty has, in majestic characters, signed the great charter of our independftice. The great Creator of the world has given our beloved country the gigantic outlines of a kingdom. The God of nature never intended that Ireland should be a province and by G - she never shall." The assembly burst into a tumult of applause; a repetition of the words C8.me from many mouths, and many an able lawyer swore hard upon the subject. The division was— Against the Union, ... ... 166 In favour of it, ... ... ... 33 Majority ... ... ... —134 Vni. Thirty-two was the precise number of the County Judges, and of this minority the following persons were afterwards rewarded for tlieU adherence to Lord Clare:— List of Barristers vtiho supported the Union, and their respective reiuards. Per Annum. 1. Mr. Charles Osborn, apijointed a Judge of the King’s Bench, ... £3,300 2. Mr. Saint John Daly, appointed a Judge of the King’s Bench, ... 3,300 3. Mr. William Smith, appointed Baron of the Exchequer.... ... 3,300 ® Nothing could be more unfortunate than this crudo observation of Mr. Grady, ds the very three evils, war, pestilence, and famine, which he declared an Union would avert, have since visited, and are still'visiting the unioned country; which has received aid from England to avert depopulation by that famine which 'the result of that Union was a leading cause of it; and, inoculated with the lata plague from Great Britain, they aro now declared in a etate of war by ilifl British Legislature. RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 233 Per Ar.nunj,' 4. Mr. M'Clelland, appointed Baron of the Exchequer, ... ..£3,300 5. Mr. Robert Johnson, appointed Judge of the Common Pleas, ... 3,300 6. Mr. William Johnson, appointed Judge of the Common Pleas, ,,, 3,300 7. Mr. Torrens, appointed Judge of the Common Pleas, ... ... 3,300 8. Mr. Vandeleur, appointed Judge of the King’s Bench, ... ... 3,300 9. Mr. Thomas Maunsell, a County Judge, ... ... ... GOO 10. Mr. William Turner, a County Judge, ... ... ... 600 11. Mr. John Scholes, a County Judge, ... ... ... ... 600 12. Mr. Thomas Vickers, a County Judge, ... ... ... 600 13. Mr. J. Homan, a County Judge, ... ... ... ... 600 14. Mr. Thomas Grady, a County Judge, ... ... ... ... 600 15. Mr. John Dwyer, a County Judge, ... ... ... ... 600 16. Mr. George Leslie, a County Judge, ... ... ... ... 600 17. Mr. Thomas Scott, a County Judge, ... ... ... ... 600 18. Mr. Henry Brook, a County Judge, ... ... ... ... 600 19. Mr. James Geraghty, a County Judge, ... ... ... 600 20. Mr. Richard Sharkey, a County Judge, ... ... ... 600 21. Mr. William Stokes, a County Judge, ... ... ... 600 22. Mr. William Roper, a County Judge, ... ... ... ... 600 23. Mr. C. Garnet, a County Judge, ... ... ... ... 600 24. Mr. Jamison, a Commissioner for the distribution of one million and a half Union Compensation, ... ... ... ... 1,200 25. Mr. Fitzgibbon Henchy, Commissioner of Bankrupts, ... ... 400 26. Mr. J. Keller, Officer in the Court of Chancery, ... ... 500 27. Mr. P. W. Fortescue, M.P., a secret pension, ... ... ... 400 28. Mr. W. Longfield, an Officer in the Custom House, ... ... 500 29. Mr. Arthur Brown, Commission of Inspector, ... ... ... 600 30. Mr. Edmund Stanley, Commission of Inspector, ... ... 800 31. Mr. Charles Ormsby, Council to Commissioners, Value, ... ... 6,000 82. Mr. WilUam Knott, M.P., Commission of Appeals, ... ... 800 33. Mr. Henry Deane Grady, Council to Commissioners, Value, ... 6,000 34, Mr. John Beresford, his father, a title. Soon after this decision, Sir Jonah Barrington resigned his ccmmission as an officer of the Barristers’ Cavalry, and the corps shortly after ceased to act. “ Letter from Sir Jonah Barrington to Captain Saurin, Barristers' Cavalry!' “ Merrion-square, January 20th, 1799. “ Permit me to resign, through you, the commission -which I hold in the Ija-wyers’ Cavalry, I resign it -with the regret of a soldier, -who kno-wshis duty to his King, yet feels his duty to his coimtry, and -will depart from neither but with his life. “ That blind and fatal measure proposed by the Irish Government, to extinguish the political existence of Ireland, to surrender its Legislature, its trade, its dearest rights, and proudest prerogatives, into the hands of a British hlinister, and a British Council, savours too much of that foreign principle, against the prevailing influence of which the united powers of Great Britain and Ireland are at this moment combating, and as evidently throws open to the British Empire the gate of that seductive political in* BKE AND FALL OP THE IRISH NATION. ^4 novation, v.'liicli has already proved the grave of half the Govemneiiis or Europe. “ Consistent, therefore, rvith my loyalty and my oath, I can no iongo:; continue subject to the indefinite and uuforeseen commands of a miiitaiy Government, which so madly hazards the integrity of the British 'Umpire, and existence of the British Constitution, to crush a rising Nation, and aggrandize a despotic Minister. “Blinded by my zealous and hereditary attachment to the establisheo Government and British connexion, I saw not the absolute necessity ol national unanimity, to secure constitutional freedom, 1 see it now, and trust it is not yet too late to establish both. “I never will abet a now developed system, treacherous and ungrateful, stimulating two sects against each other, to enfeeble hath, and then making religious feuds a pretext for political slavery. “ Eejecting the experiment of a reform, and recommending the experi¬ ment of a revolution. “Kindling Catholic expectation to a blaze, and then extinguishing it for ever. “ Alternately disgusting the rebel and the royalist, by indiscriminate pardon, and indiscriminate punishment. “Suspending one code of laws, and adjudging by another without authority to do either; and when the country, wearied by her struggles for her King, slum.bers to refresh and to regain her vigour, her liberty is treacherously attempted to be bound, and her pride, her security, and her independence, are to be buried alive in the tomb of national anni¬ hilation. “ Mechanical obedience is the duty of a soldier, but active uninfluenced integrity, the indispensable attribute of a legislator, when the preservation of his country is in question. And as the same frantic authority, which meditates our civil annihilation, might in the sfane frenzy meditate military projects from wbicTi my feelings, my principles, and ray honour might revolt, I feel it right to separate my civil and military functions; and, to secure the honest uninterrupted exercise of the one, I relinquish the indefinite subjection of the other. “ I return the arms I received from Government—I received them pure; and restore them not dishonoured. “ I shall now resume my civil duties with zeal and with energy, elevated by the hope, that the Irish Parliament, true to itself, and honest to its country, will never assume a power extrinsic of its delegation, and will convince the British Nation, that we are a people equally impregnable to the attacks of intimidation, or the shameless practice of corruption. \ riiiTQ ’“JONAH BARRINGTON,; “ Lkvi.y L. Cavedry, “To William SAunnLEsq, Commaudant Lawyert' Corps.'’ The Right Honourable James Fitzgerald, then Prime-serjeant, wus dia* aviaaed from oSce, having peremptoiBy refused to vote for the Union., ' mSE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 235 The office of prime-serjeant, unknown in England, in Ireland took prece¬ dence of the Attorney and Solicitor-General. The emoluments were very great; Mr. St. George Daly was immediately rewarded by that office, to the duties of which lie was totally incompetent, never having been in any considerable practice at the bar. A meeting was then called to express to Mr. Fitzgerald the thanks of his profession for his disinterested patriotism, never was there a more just and honourable tribute paid to an honest public character. The Bar had also determined, that the precedence in the courts should be continued to Mr. Fitzgerald; to this Lord Clare would not accede, and he treated the subject with great arrogance in his court. That session con* eluded without any other meeting of tlie profession. The day after that debate, klr. St. George Daly drew up a protest of the minority, some of whom refused to sign it; he got some substitutes, so as to keep up his number of thirty-two, but not one person of professional eminence, of public character, or independence, appeared in the whole num¬ ber. It was universally ridiculed, but Mr. Daly carried liis object—hi? own promotion. Five of the debates on the Union in the Irish Commons comprised every thing of the first importance ujion the subject; of these, three took place in January, 1799, whilst men were impressed with the horrors of the re- belhon and the fears of a French invasion. The debates of 1800 were after the Parliament had been packed through the Place Bill. The com¬ petence of Parliament to relinquish the constitution, and their own exist¬ ence, was discussed with extraordinary ability. IX. The first debate took place on the 22nd January, 1799, and lasted till eleven o’clock in the morning of the 23rd, or twenty-two hours. The Government obtained a majority of only one, and tliat by the palpable se¬ duction of Mr. Fox. The second debate commenced at five o’clock on the same day, and continued till late in the morning of the 21th, v.'hen, the country being roused, the Treasury Bench was unexpectedly defeated. The speech from the Viceroy, delivered on the opening of the session, which gave rise to the debate of 22nd January, recommended—“the un¬ remitting industry with which our enemies persevere in their avowed design of endeavouring to effect a separation of this kingdom from Great Britain, must have engaged your particular attention, and his hlajesty commands me to express his anxious hope that this consideration, joined to the senti¬ ment of mutual affection and common interest may dispose the Parlia¬ ments in both kingdoms to p: ovide the most effectual means of maintain¬ ing and improving a connexion essential to their common security, and of consolidating, as far as possible, into one firm and lasting fabric, the strength, the power, and the resources of the British Empire.” The address to that speech, almost an echo, was moved by Lord Tyrone, who thus stamped for himself an eternal impression on the annals of Ireland. He was the eldest son of the Marquis of Waterford, a keen and haughty noble¬ man, possessed of that local influence which rank, extensive connexions, unlimited patronage, and ostentatious establishments, are almost certain to acquire: inflated udth aristocratic pride and blinded by egotism, ho became a powerful instrument of Lord Clare’s ambition, v/hiht he cc-n-* 236 RISK AND FAI,L OF THE U{lSH NATION. ' ceived that he was only gratifying his own. Lord Clare, at that period Lad covered the surface of the nation with the partisans of the Beresforda, and himself, and no family ever possessed so many high and lucrative em¬ ployments ; they had no talent, no public services, no political honesty, which should have entitled them to the authority they exercised over their Sovereign and country. liord Tyrone, an automaton of Lord Clare, possessed plain manners, an open countenance, a slothful uncultivated mind, unsusceptible of any re¬ fined impressions, or patriotic feelings ; the example of his relatives gave him no stimulus beyond that of lucrative patronage. Whatever were hia individual opinions upon the Union, his vapid, disingenuous, and arrogant speech evinced that he was not calculated to give weight to his fai^y. His speech had been written by his friends, and, conceahng it in the crown of his hat, he took a glance at it when at a loss ; the exhibition, on such a subject, was too disgusting to be ridiculous : Lord Clare, on this occasion, exhibited the voracity of his ambition. The ancient and proud house of Beresford were, on that night, cringing as the vassals of an arrogant and splendid upstart. The address was seconded by Mr. Robert Fitzgerald, of Corkbeg, an elderly country gentleman. He had an honest character, blunt, candid manners; and though he had not talent, he could deliver himself with some strength, and with the appearance of sincei'ity. His speech on this occasion was short and feeble. He had been artfully seduced as a lure to the country gentlemen, by Lord Cornwallis’s assuring him that, in the event of the Union, a royal dockyard would be built near Cork, which would double the value of his estates. In every debate upon that measure, it was insisted upon that the Ptirlis;- ment was incompetent, even to entertain the question of the Union. Such was the opinion of Mr. Saurin, since Attorney-General; Mr. Plunket, since Lord Chancellor; Sergeant Ball, the ablest lawyer of Ireland; Sir. Fitzgerald, Prime-Sergeant of Ireland; Mr. Moore, since a Judge; Sir John Parnell, then Chancellor of the Exchequer; Mr. Bushe, since Chief Justice; and Lord Oriel, the then Speaker of the House of Commons. Nearly every unbribed or uninfluenced member of the learned profession adopted the doctrine of which these learned and able men were the unqua¬ lified organs. Lord Glenbervie, in his famous speech in favour of the Union, in the English House of Commons, in 1800, expressed his surprise that Messrs. Saurin, Plunket, and Barrington, could reason upon so unten- abla position. He admitted their sincerity, but considered them not very clear in their intellects. His own speech was splendidly printed, but was miserably heavy. The Irish Union materially changed the representation of England, and altered the letter and spirit of the Scotch treaty. Ireland, however, was alone disfranchised. Mr. John Ball, Member for Drogheda, who gave his unqualified opinion as to the legal and constitutional incapacity of the Commons to enact an Union, was the ablest lawyer of his day, and one of the purest characters, public and private, that had ever flourished in Heland ; amiable and con¬ sistent in every station and in every capacity, combining spirit and mild¬ ness, fortitude and moderation; he was in one of the finest moulds of firm- niSE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 237 aesB and patriotism. During his progress from comparative obscurity to the attachment and highest esteem of his profession, and of the public, he evinced an independence above all temptation. Though the ablest lawyer of his day, he was passed over in all Lord Clare’s promotions. CHAPTER XXV. I. It would be impossible to do justice to the brilliant eloquence, and unanswerable reasoning, by which this measure was combated. Even a short abstract of the speeches delivered on that momentous question would swell this volume beyond its intended limits. Those speeches will be the subject of a future publication. At present, it must suffice to state the abstract points on which tha arguments of Government for annexation were founded, and those by which they were so ably, and unanswerably refuted. First, the distracted state of the Irish Nation, its religious dissensions, and the consequent danger of a separation, unless protected from so imminent a peril, by the incorporation Avith Great Britain, and the incapacity of the Irish Legisla¬ ture done to avert the dangers of the country, and preserve the constitu- tioa Secondly, the great commercial advantages of an Union, which must eventually enrich Ireland, by an extension of its commerce, the influx of British capital, and the confidence of England in the stability of its insti¬ tutions, when guaranteed by the Union. Thirdly, the Government pressed with great zeal the example of Scotland, which had so improved, and become so rich and prosperous, after its annexation; a precedent which must convince the Irish of the incalculable advantages, which must ensue from a similar incorporation. Many other arguments, but of a, minor description, were urged by the purchased partisans of Government. But the leading points which elicited the splendid eloquence, the reasoning, and the high spirit of its opponents, were exemplified by the argument of Mr. George Ponsonby. II. Sir Laurence Parsons, and many others in reply, not only animated, but convinced the assembly; the fa.cta weie too strong to be refuted, that the country had been worked up by the English Minister to terrify the Irish gentry into a re-submission to whose shackles from which the spirit of the Volunteers and of the Nation, had but a few years before released them. They asked what could the Union do, which could not be done without it? That there was no species of aid, no auxiliary power which England could afford to Ireland, either to restore or secure her tranquillity, that Ireland had not fully within her own reach and power. She had men— she had means—she had asms—she had spirit—she had loyalty—all in her domestic circle sufficient to restore her to peace, which had for a moment, been interrupted by the machinations of those who would now take advan¬ tage of their ovra treachery. The Irish Parliament had within her own the power of reconciling religious differeuoes, restoring peace or EISE AND FALL CF THE lElSH NATION. i:38 patting down insurrection, far more effectually than the English Govern- meut could pretend to possess. It was argued that the insurrection, first organized and fostered by Mr. Pitt, and protracted by Lord Cornwallis, had been suppressed by the active zeal and measures of the Irish Parliament; and that the intro¬ duction of foreign and mercenary Germans, to immolate the Irish, instead of tending to extinguish, added fuel to the conflagration, and excited tba strongest feelings of retaliation; nor could tlie people of independent Ire¬ land brook the idea of being cut down by Welshmen. III. It was not to the arms of England, but to the distinguished loyalty of the Irish Commons, and the prompt and vigorous measures of the Irish Parliament, that the speedy termination of that insurrection was to be at¬ tributed. The Emjlish militia were brought over, after the contest had nearly ended, and never fired a shot in Ireland. They conducted themselves with decorum and due discipline, and returned to England with at least as good a character as they left it. The German mercenaries, who were wantonly imported, as if to teach barbarity to the Irish insurgents, amply experienced by their own blood the expertness of their pupils, and only aggravated that people whom they had been brought to conquer. The argument, therefore, that the Irish Legislature had not sufficient power to protect itseff, was unfounded and fallacious, and only invented to keep up and augment the terrors of the Irish gentry. The second ground of argument used by the supporters of the Union, great commercial advantages, appeared still more fallacious; its deception was too palpable to deceive the most ignorant of the people. IV. The proposers of the Union were asked, what were the commercial advantages which Ireland could possibly gain by an Union, that she might not equally attain through her own Parliament without one? She was an independent nation, she had an independent Legislature, she might regu¬ late her own tariffs and conduct her commerce by her own statutes; the reciprocal connexion of the two countries was an equal object to the com¬ mercial interests of both. The non-importation and non-consumption resolutions of Ireland had once brought back the English monopolists to their reason; the saina power remained with the Irish people. If she could resist commercial restraints in 1782, v/ith tenfold more facility she could resist them in 1800; she could trade with more success, because she had since learned the rudiments of commerce, from a participation in which the avarice of monopolists and the unjust jealousies of Great Britain had therefore excluded her. The crafty prediction that English capital would flow into Leland, when an Union was effected, was a visionaiy deception. For more capital woidd be annually withdrawn from Ireland by the emigration of the lauded proprietors, in consequence of the Union, than could be gained by any accession of British capital. Ireland was an agricultural country; her natural fertility pointed out to her the true soiuce of her internal employ- inout and the proper subjects of her external commerce; and v/hen famine^ which the slightest stagnation of trade causes amongst the manufactureri of ths first towns of Enghurd, the decrepitude of their meagre operative;:!, RISE AMD FALL OP THE IRISH .UTIOM. 239 tiie wretched enervating slavery to which the necessity of the parcnta and the brutality of the manufacturer condemn the infants of that nation, are considered, it would make a sufficient reply to either the certainty or the consequence of of British capital. V. The third and most deceptions argument of the Union eupportcra, tecause the moat plausible, was the precedent of Scotland, and the great advantages derived by her in consequence of her Union. Of all the false reasoning, mis-stated facts, fallacious premises, and un¬ founded conclusions, that any position ever was attempted to be supported on, the arguments founded on the Scottish precedent were the most erro¬ neous, and no deception ever was more completely and fully detected than by the speeches made in the Irish Parliament in 1799 and 1800, and by several able pamphlets, v/hich, at that period, flowed in full tide upon the public.* These replies, being founded on matters of fact, and attested by incon¬ trovertible records, put at once a decisive conclusion to every argument deduced by the advocates of Union, from that subject. First as to matter of fact, Scotland and Ireland, in their relation with England, stood on grounds diametrically opposite to each other on every point that could warrant an Union on the one side, or reject it on the other, Scotland and England forming only one Island, divided by a frontier, many parts of which a man could step over, Lad ever been in a state of sanguinary warfare. I'he facility of invasion on both sides, left no mo¬ ment of a certain undisturbed tranquillity to either. Their inroads were incessant; their reconciliations, only the forerunner of new contests, inter¬ rupted by short intervals of peace, until the accession of Mary. She had been Queen of France, and on her return to her uaitive country, intro¬ duced a French connexion with Scotland, which added to the excitement of both nations, and naturally increased the apprehensions of England from thepower of a neighbour, sosuppcrtedasScotland then must have been. The two crowna were united in the person of James the First; and in the reign of Charles, the Scottish army renounced their allegiance and sold their King, and surrendered him to his enemies, and eventually to the executioner. It was considered by King William III., when he usurped the British throne, that if they so acted by one King, they might do so by another, and his sanguinary conduct towards that country, still widened the breach between the two nations. At length the reign of An.”e brought the question of Union forward, not as in Ireland, a mere voluntwy discus¬ sion, but one of absolute necessity. VI. Had Anne died childless, the crowns must have been sovered, and that of Scotland, by descent, would have gone to tJie Scoiaaii Duke of Ilamiltou, as Hanover was, on the demise of his late Majsaiy, separated from England. This'.imiDortant fact puts an end to all comparisons cctwecn the relative state of tire two countries. The Scotch Parliament, to put au end to all doubts on the subject off separation, passed an Act euLitled the Act of Securily. By tiiAt * Two pamphlets, and & (ipeech of Mr. Goeld at the Bat meofeg, guljlwhsi ia 1799, go veny ably into lU those subject. 240 RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. the Scottish Parliament enacted that the crown of Scotland should never he worn hy the same Monarch us that of England. By the Irish Parlia¬ ment it was enacted that the two crowns should “ ever" he worn hy the same Monarch, and never disunited. VII. Thus it incontestibly appears by an Act of Scotland herself, that < without a Scottish Union England and Scotland, though the same Island, must in a short space of time have been constitutionally severed and governed by different and distinct monarchs for ever; whereas Ireland, though a different and distinct Island, with a great intervening sea, had decided the very reverse of Scotland, and had united herself indissolubly and volun¬ tarily to England, by a mutual federative compact, both crowns to be for ever worn by the same hlonarch. How the supporters of the Irish Union, therefore, could have the face to call in the Scottish Union, as a precedent, to show the necessity of an Irish Union, can only be accounted for by that voluntary blindness, and premeditated absence of all candour and liberality, which are the insepar¬ able companions of political delinquency. But, in fact, the supporters of an Irish Union were themselves the greatest enemies to British connexion, for this clear and obvious reason; the Scottish Union was a matter of state necessity; the connexion of Eng¬ land and Ireland a mutual international compact, and as such equally binding, sacred, and inviolable, on both sides; and, as the principle of all international as well as individual contracts, is binding just as long as the mutual compacts are adhered to. Such a mutual, sacred and interna¬ tional compact, voluntarily, constitutionally, and legally guaranteed by both Legislatures, confirmed by the King of both countries in his double capacity, and touched by his sceptre, had been enacted and did exist be¬ tween England and Ireland long previous to the measure of an Union, so pressed on Ireland by England ; such an Union was, therefore, a dii'ect unequivocal infraction, of that international treaty, and federative com¬ pact, the mutual and inviolable adherence to which, in all its provisions, was the only valuable consideration to Ireland. It was truly argued, that in this point of view, therefore, no similarity existed between the position of Scotland and of Ireland, when the Irish nobles were cashiered of their hereditary honour, and the Irish people plundered of two-thirds of their constitutional representation. VIII. Another fact stated, and most ably reasoned on, during the de¬ bates on the Irish Union, to prove the absurdity of the attempted com¬ parison, was that the Scottish and Irish Parliaments, at that period, had in their organization and proceedings no similitude whatsoever. The Lords and Commons of Scotland formed but one chamber, the representatives of the people (such as they wore) and the Peers called the hereditary coun¬ sellors, of the Crown) sat mingled and voted together promiscuously; nothing like the British constitution, even in theory, existed in Scotland: church, state, and legislation had no analogy. Two countries, therefore, possessing such incongruous materials of legislation, and a species of im- perium in imperio, entirely inconsistent with the constitution of the superior -nation, could not continue to exist in the samo island, without the daily probability of coUiion, and the danger of hostilities, aided by the facility BISE AND PALT, OF TirE IBISn lUTION. Ml of invasion by either country. This condition imperatively required some' means to avert so probable and imminent a danger to both oountries. No such dangers, however, existed as to Ireland; and if she had not been politically excited by the BritLsh Minister, and by the example of England and Scotland, or even after that excitement had subsided, and been put an end to, had she been permitted to rest, and regain her tran¬ quillity, no country on earth had more capabilities, and no country ia Europe would have been more prosperous, tranquil, and happy, than mis¬ governed Ireland. The grand and fundamental point, which was then urged, reasoned upon, sud which never has, and never can be refuted, was the incompetence of Parliament to betray its trust. Whilst the first elements of the British' constitution exist, that principle is its surest protection. The entire incom¬ petence of representatives elected by the people, as their delegated trustees, to represent them in the great national inquest, and as such trustees, and guardians, to preserve the rights and constitution so entrusted to them, inviolate, and at the expiration of the term of that trust, deliver back their trust to their constituents, as they received it, to be replaced in their own hands, or of other trustees for another term. But they had and could have no power to betray their trust, convert it to their own corrupt', purposes, or transfer the most valuable of all funds, an independent con¬ stitution, the integrity of which they became trustees solely for the purpose of protecting. This being a fundamental principle of British law, is placed under tha * protection of the Judges; and the very essence, first principle, and element of British equity, is placed under the protection of the Chancellor. That high functionary, in his double capacity, of the first judge of the country, and also the adviser of the King in all cases within his jurisdiction, is bound to support by authorities, that principle which forms the only safeguard to the British Constitution. IX. Many of the ablest lawyers of 1799 and 1800, justly estimated for their deep knowledge, great talents, and incorruptible integrity, gave both in and out of Parhamenl unqualified and decided opinions, which are too important not to be recorded; they entirely denied the competence of the Irish Commons, to pass or even to receive any act of iJnion extinguishing their own existence and betraying the trusts they were delegated to pro¬ tect. When the names of Saurin, Ponsonby, Plonket, Ball, Bushe, Curran, Burrowes, Fitzgerald, A. Moore, &c., are found supporting that, doctrine by their learning, their public character, and their legal reputa¬ tion; and such men as Grattan, Parsons, Forbes, Parnel, O’Hara, &c.,. &c., united with Corry, Clements, Caulfield, Cole, Kingsborough, &c., y.nd the flower of the young Irish nobles, in the Commons’ House of Par¬ liament ; it is impossible not to accede 'o a doctrine, supported by every principle of law, equity, and constitution. This great fact, therefore (and the irrefragable authorities on which it vests are repeated, and spread over many parts of this short history,) necessarily produces a deduction, more intrinsically important, and invol¬ ving more grave considerations, than any other tJiat can arise upon this subject. From these principles, it follows as a corollary, that the Aet 2i2 EISB ANK VMS. OP THK IRISH NaTIOM. Union carried by such means, -was in itself a niJlity ah initio, and a fraud upon the then existing constitution; and if a nullity in 1800, it is incontro¬ vertible that nothing afterwards did, or possibly could, validate it in' 1833. No temporary assent, or in this case submission, could be deduced as an argument, no lapse of time, unless by prescription (beyond which the Jnemory of man runneth not,) can ever establish any Act originally ille¬ gal; no limitation through lapse of time, can bar the rights and claims of the Crown, there is no limitation, through lapse of time, to the Church, no limitation through lapse of time, can bar the chartered right of even a petty corporation; and a fortiori, no lapse of time can legalize any act hostile to the rights of a free people, or extinguish the Legislature of an independent nation. In that point of view, therefore, no Legislative Union ever was constitutionally enacted between the two countries. But considering that question in another point of view, it is the invari¬ able principle of all international law, that the infraction of a solemn treaty, on the one side, dispenses with any adherence to the same treaty by the other, of course, annuls both, and leaves the contracting parties in statu quo, as they respectively stood before the treaty, and it was there¬ fore argued by those able men, that the renunciation act of the 23rd George III., “ recognising the unqualified independence of Ireland, and expressly stipulating and contracting that it should endure for ever,” was the very essence, and consideration, of the international and federative treaty; and through its infraction by England, both countries stood in the • very same state as at the period when England repealed her own statute of George I., and admitted its uuconstitutionality, and her oivn usurpa¬ tion, Ireland, of course, remained in the same position as she stood at that period. X. From all these considerations it inevitably follows that if, througli force, or fraud, or fear, or corruption in enacting it, the Union was null, then any act of the Imperial Parliament, repealing the Act of Union, would be, in fact, only repealing a nullity, and restoring to Ireland a Legis¬ lature she never had been constitutionally deprived of. It was admittei that, had the infraction of the federative treaty been the act of Ireland, then this reasoning would have lost its validity; but the contrary is direct and indisputable. The Union propositions came from England herself, they were rejected; she retuimed to the charge, and forced them upon Ireland, though at the same time the English Parliament had solemnly pledged the honour, both of themselves, and their Sovereign, for the eternal support of its indepen¬ dence, and the federative treaty. These arguincnts, and many more, were used both in and out of Par¬ liament, to arrest the progress of that destructive and faithless measure, but in vain. However, two great events, so long and so violently resisted for more than a century, have lately been accomplished; which give rise to constitutional questions, and have materially changed the state both of the people and the Legislature, roused Ireland from her torj)or, and brought zorwpjd claims which had so long lain dormant. And it is by the late ^easrai-iifl oi England herself, that the Irish people have been led to con- RISfi AOT) FAI.L 07 l^HE IRISH NATIOH. 243 sidcr that tlie nation "was only in a slumber, and her Legislature only in abeyance. XI. These grave and embarrassing points of constitutional law were, by various speeches and pamphlets, combated by Mr. William Smith (the present Baron,) who lent the whole power of his able and indefatigable genius, to prove the omnipotence of Parliament, and combat all the reason¬ ing of those distinguished men, who have been heretofore alluded to; particularly Mr. Foster, against whose doctrine he wrote a long and la¬ boured pamphlet, Baron Smith’s ideas and reasoning are so metaphysically plaited and in¬ terwoven, that facts are lost sight of in the multiplicity and minuteness of theories and distinctions, and ordinary auditors, after a most learned, eloquent, and argumentative charge, or argument, are seldom able to re¬ collect a single sentence of either, (the dogmas excepted,) after they are out of the Court-house. In all his arguments, as to the omnipotence of the Irish Parliament to surrender its Legislature, he manufactures his theo¬ ries as if the Irish Commons submitted willingly to prostitution, and ar¬ gued in principle, that if members were purchased, it was in a market and that the unconstitutionality of the sale merged in the omnipo¬ tent majority of the purchaser. It is to be regretted that the learned Baron, who is always able, and frequently four days in the week patriotic, should, in 1800, have accepted a seat on the Bench, as a premium for his share of the omnipotency. Tho English people would have considered the Baron’s reasoning, for the ex¬ tinction of the Irish Parliament, in a very different point of view, if i6 had been used by him to prove the expediency of removing the British Parliament, to legislate in Dublin. XII. A very remarkable incident during the first night’s debate occurred fn the conduct of hir. Luke Fox and Mr. Trench, of Woodlawn, after¬ wards created Lord Ashtown. These were the most palpable, undisguised acts of public tergiversation and seduction ever exhibited in a popular assembly. They afterwards became the subject of many speeches and of many publications; and their consequences turned tho majority of one in favour of the hlinister. It was suspccu-A chat hlr. Trench had been long in negociation with Lord Castlercagh, but it did not in the early part of that night appear to have been brought to any conclasion, his conditions were supposed to be too extravagant. Mr. Trench, after some preliminary observations, de¬ clared, in a speech, that he would vote against the hlinistcr, and support Mr. Ponsonby’s amendment. This appeared a stunning blow to Mr. Cooke, who had been previously in conversation with Mr. Trench. Ho was im¬ mediately observed sideling from his seat nearer to Lord Castloreagh. They whispered earnestly, and, as if restless and undecided, botli loofcd ■wistfully towards hlr. Trench. At length the matter seemed to be deter¬ mined on. Mr. Cooke retired to a back seat, and was obviously endea¬ vouring to count the house, probably to guess if they could that night dis- 'pense ■with Mr. Trench’s services. He returned to Lord Castlereagh, they whispered, again looked most affectionately at hir. T'rench, who seemed Kzv&nscious that he was the sub ect of their cousideratiou. But there was S44 EISE AND FAIi Or THE ;EISH KATIJJ», BO time to lose, the question was approaching, all shame was banished, they decided on the terms, and a significant and certain glance, obvious to every body, convinced Mr. Trench that his conditions were agreed to. Mr. Cooke then went and sat down by his side; an earnest but very short conversation took place; a parting smUe completely told the house that Mr. Trench was that moment satisfied. These surmises were soon verified. Mr. Cooke went back to Lord Castlereagh, a congratulatory nod announced his satisfaction. But could any man for one moment suppose that a mem¬ ber of Parliament, a man of very large fortune, of respectable family, and good character, could be publicly, and without shame or compunction, ac¬ tually seduced by Lord Castlereagh, in the very body of the house, and under the eye of two hundred and twenty gentlemen? Yet this was the fact. In a few minutes Mr. Trench rose to apologize for having indis¬ creetly declared he would support the amendment. He added, that he had thought better of the subject since he had unguardedly expressed him¬ self ; that he had been convinced he was wrong, and would support the Minister. Scarcely was there a member of any party who was not disgusted; it had, however, the effect intended by the desperate purchaser, of proving that Ministers would stop at nothing to effect their objects, however shame¬ less or corrupt. This purchase of Mr. Trench, had a much more fatal effect upon the destinies of Ireland. His change of sides, and the majority of one to which it contributed, were probably the remote causes of persevering in an Union. Mr. Trench’s venality excited indignation in every friend of Ireland.* Another circumstance that night proved by what means Lord Castle- reagh’s majority of even one was acquired. The Place Bill, so long and so pertinaciously sought for, and so indis¬ creetly framed by Mr. Grattan and the Whigs of Ireland, now, for the first time, proved the very engine by which the Minister upset the oppo¬ sition, and annihilated the constitution. That bill enacted, that members accepting offices, places, or pensions, during the pleasure of the Crown, should not sit in Parliament unless re¬ elected; but, unfortunately, the bill made no distinction between valuable offices which might influence, and nominal offices, which might job, an i the Chiltern Hundreds of England were, under the title of the Escheator- ships of Munster, Leinster, Connaught, &c., transferred to Ireland, with salaries of forty shillings, to be used at pleasure by the Secretary. Occa¬ sional and temporary seats were thus bartered for by Government, and by the ensuing session, made the complete and fatal instrument of packing the Parliament and effecting an Union. Mr. Luke Fox, a barrister of very humble origin, of vulgar manners and of a coarse, harsh appearance, was endued with a clear, strong, ana acute mind, and was possessed of much cunning. He had acquired very * Had Mr. Fox and Mr. Trench voted as they professed, a majority of three would have appeared in favour of Mr. Ponsonby’s amendment; and Englishmen will scarcely credit that any Government conld, with a majority against them^ Lave presumed to persevere in their sahversion of the constitution. RISE Xl- ■jects of the utmost in nortance were often totally lost for want of due at¬ tendance. Never did a slight-of-hand man juggle more expertly. One of his Lordship’s prepared accessories (as if it were a new thought) proposed, humorously, to have a dinuer for twenty or thirty every 641 j', in one of the committee chambers, where they could bo always at hand to make up a house, or for any emergency, which should call for an unexpected •einforcement, during any part of the discussion. The novel idea of such a detachment of legislators was considered whim¬ sical and humorous, and, of course, was not rejected. Wit and puns began to accompany the bottle; Mr. Cooke, the Secretary, then, with significant rods and smirking inuendos, began to circulate his official rewards to the company. The hints and the claret united to raise visions of the most gra¬ tifying nature, every man became in a prosperous state of official pregnancy: embryo judges, counsel to boards, envoys to foreign courts, compensation pensioners, placemen at chance, and commissioners in assortments, all re¬ velled in the anticipation of something substantial to be given to e%'ery member who would do the Secretary the honour of accepting it. The scheme was unanimously adopted. Sir John Blaquiere pleasantly observed that, at all events, they would he sure of a good cook at their dinners. After much wit, and many flashes of convivial bravery, the meeting separated after midnight, fully resolved to eat, drink, speak, and fight for Lord Castlereagh. They so far kept their words, that the sup¬ porters of the Union indisputably showed more personal spirit than their opponents during the session. The house of Lord Charlemont was the place of meeting for the leading members, opponents of the Union: the hereditary patriotism and honour of his son, the present Earl, pointed him out for general confidence. The nert morning after Lord Castlereagh’s extraordinary coterie, a meeting was held at Charlemont House, to consider of the best system to be pur¬ sued in the House of Commons, to preserve the country from the im¬ pending ruin. No man in Ireland was more sincere than Lord Charlemont. Lord Corry was by far more ardent, and Lord Leitrim more reserved, in their manners: the Commoners who attended, were alike honest and honoui-able, their objects were the same, but their temperature was unequal; and this meeting, with very few exceptions, was exactly the reverse of that of the Minister: patriotic, disinterested, independent, and talented; but of a calm, gentle, and reflective character. Lord Castiereagh’s project against their courage was communicated to most of them; and three distinct proposals (it would, perhaps, bo im¬ proper to state them now) were made on that occasion. In the judgment of the proposer (who still retains the same opinion,) either of them, if adopted with spirit and adhered to with perseverance, would have defeated the Minister; but the great body of the meeting disapproved of them, Mr, Grattan, Lord Corry, Mr. John Ball, Colonel O’Donnell, Mr. O’Donnell, Mr. Egan, and some other gentlemen, zea¬ lously approved of by far the most decisive and spirited of the thre.e expedie.uU. The proposer well knew that no ordinary mcasur's ba 366 ItKE AND FjVLL of the IRISH NATION snccessful against the Government, and that by nothing but extreme! could the Union be even suspended. The residue of the meeting were, perhaps, more discreet; and never was there seen a more decided predis¬ position to tranquillity, than in the majority of the distinguished men at that important assembly of Irish patriots. However, on the very first debate in 1800, it appeared indisputably that Lord Castlereagh had diffused his own spirit into many of his adhe¬ rent, and it became equally apparent, that it was not met with correspond¬ ing ardour by the opposition : to this, however, there was one memorable exception, to Mr. Grattan alone w-as it reserved to support the spirit of his party, and to exemplify the gallantry he so strongly recommended to others. Roused by Mr. Corry, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, he gave him no time for repentance; and considering the temper of the times, the propensity of the people, and the intense agitation upon the subject, it is marvellous, that this was the only instance of bloodshed during the contest. Mr. Grattan had shot him at day-break, and the intelligence arrived whilst the house was yet sitting, its effect was singular. The project at Lord Castlereagh’s well warranted reprisals.* V. Lord Corry, now Earl Belmore, was one of the most zealous, un¬ flinching, and respectable of the Anti-Unionists; a young nobleman of considerable talent and integrity, he felt sorely the ruin which the flippant imbecility and short vision of Mr. Fortescue and Lord Cole had brought upon the country. He could not believe but that all those who had composed the majority against the Union, would, on recover¬ ing their recollection, see the necessity of Mr. Fonsonby's motion, and he determined, by a declaration of a similar purport, to give them an opportunity of recovering from that error which they inadvertently fell into. Lu this, however, his Lordship was mistaken, the extreme impolicy of any pledge of eternal enmity to Union had, from the last day, been sedu¬ lously inculcated by the friends of Government, upon every feeble-minded or wavering member; and Lord Corry’s motion, after an animated, long, and highly-blooded debate, was definitively negatived by a considerable majority, and gave another handle to the Viceroy for ulterior efforts. Though the fate of Lord Corry’s motion was of a most distracting nature, it made but little impression on the confidence of the Anti-Union¬ ists ; they could not bring themselves to suppose that a measure so vital, so conclusive, and so generally detested, being once negatived, could again be proposed by the (defeated) Ministers to the same Parliament. Thousands of addresses were presented, and resolutions passed against any further discussion, and, for a time, rejoicing and confidence were the general subjects throughout the whole nation. VL The rejoicings in the metropolis exceeded all others. Dublin was more than any other place interested in defeating a measure which must, by the consequent emigration of the nobles and commoners, deprive it of • Two of the three expedients proposed, at first view, might appear extrava¬ gant, and were called impracticable; one was cei tainly easy, all were Icyai, twd either of them would have been effectiva. IlISK AND FALL CF THE IRISH KATION. 26.7 every advantage ■which their splendour and luxury of society, their grand and numerous establishments, influx of strangers, and expenditure ol great fortunes amongst its citizens, must confer upon a city which was not commercial. These ebullitions of joy and gratitude to their deliverers, and hostility to the Unionists, were excessive. Lord Castlercagh was hung in effigy, and burnt facing the door of the Author, in Merrion-square; but no dis¬ turbance occurred that could possibly justify military execution. The violent spirit, however, of the Chancellor, anticipated some attack on his partisans, which conscious culpability, a heated imagination, and his own terrors had raised up as a spectre before him, and led him to countenance one of the most unjustifiable. On the universality of the rejoicings and rather boisterous demonstrations of joy at the defeat of Government, his alarmed Lordship, under colour of taking precautions to preserve the peace, called a Privy Council to the Castle, which might screen himself under the authority of that body, from the individual imputation of those measures of severity, which he determined to put in force against the rejoicing population, should any feasible opportunity be given for the interference of the military. This is a matter of fact, but care was taken that any order which might be given, or the proximate authority through which any wanton violence might be committed amongst the people, should not be made public. About nine at night, a party of the military stationed in the old Custom House, near Essex Bridge, silently sallied out with trailed arms, without any civil magistrate, and only a serjeant to command them; on arriving at Capel-street, the populace were in the act of violently huzzaing for their friends, and, of course, with equal vehemence execrating their enemies; but no riot act was read, no magistrate appeared, and no disturbance or tumult existed to warrant military interference. The soldiers, however, having taken a position a short way down the street, without being in any way assailed, fired a volley of balls amongst the people; of course a few were killed and some wounded; amongst the former were a woman and a boy, a man fell dead at the feet of Mr. P. Hamilton, the King’s Proctor of the Admiralty who as a mere spectator, was viewing the illumination. This is only meutioned to evince the violent spirit which guided the Government of that day, and the tyrannic means* which were resorted to, to terrify the people from testifying their zeal at their deliverance, as they fancied, from the proposed annexation. This outrage was made a subject of complaint to Parliament, but so well were the actors concealed, that nothing could be developed to lead to punishment. The rejoicings, however, were neither ended nor checked by military execution, and, at the conclusion of the session, the same spirit of hostility to the Union remained, not only as unsubdued, but still more de¬ cided than at its commencement. A most remarkable proof of the shameless lengths, at that period, re¬ sorted to by the Viceroy and Minister to gain over a sufficient number oS the Anti-Unionists against the ensuing sessions, occurred immediately siter the close of the session of 1799. VII. A public dinner of ali the paLiotic members bad ia Dulilitt 268 EISS AKD FALL OF THE IRISH NATICK. to commemorate the rescue of their country from so imminent a danger, j One himdred and ten members of Parliament sat down to that splendid i and triumphant entertainment. i Never was a more cordial, iiappy assemblage of men of rank, considera- | tion and of proven integrity, collected in one chamber, than upon that | remarkable occasion. Every man’s tried and avowed principles were sup- | posed to be untaintable, and pledged to his own honour and bis couutrj’s ( safety; and amongst others, Mr. Handcock, member for AthloDo, ap- ] peared to be conspicuous: he spoke strongly, gave numerous Anti-Uniou ( toasts, vowed his eternal hostility to so infamous a measure, pledged Lim- 1 self to God and man to resist it to extremities, and to finish and record | his sentiments, he had composed an Anti-Union song of many stanzas, which he sung himself with a general chorus, to celebrate the spirit, tbs cause, and the patriotism of the meeting; this was encored more than once by the company, and he withdrew towards day with the reputation of being in 1799, the most pure, unflinching opponent of the measure he so cordially resisted. From that day, Lords Cornwallis and Castlereagh wisely marked him out as one of their opponents who should be gained over on any terms. Human nature is the same in every part of the globe; wherever ambi¬ tion, vanity, or avarice take root, and become ruling passions, their vege¬ tation may be checked for a day, but the root is perennial; and Ireland bad no reason to suppose nature would favour her by an unqualified ex¬ emption of her representatives from those alluring vices which she had so profusely lavished on and exemplified in the British Parliament, that at : length it became so politically vicious and intolerably corrupt, that the remedy of a democratic reform, in the Commons, or more properly, a re- cun'ence to the theory of the constitution, vras found indispensable to secure the remains of that constitution against the oi'erwhelming influence of the Peers, and the oligarchy which menaced its annihilation. It was, therefore, the very summit of British egotism and injustice, to pretend that the corrupt state of the Irish Parliament formed a leading and just ground for altogether extinguishing its existence, though it ap¬ pears in full proof, that in proportion to their respective numbers, the ' British Commons, at the period of the Irish Union, contained one-fourth more corrupt, corruptible, and influenced members than that of Ireland at a7iy period., and that the British. iEuister on the regency question, intimi¬ dated, influenced, or corrupted the British House of Commons, v'hen that of Ireland was found pure enough to resist aU his efforts, and support the Heir-apparent. The English people, therefore, from a recurrence to unequivocal facts, and from a sad experience of the infinite ease with which any MLnistei corrupted and controlled at pleasure their own Parliament, will scarcely believe that all the arts, the money, the titles, the offices, the bribes, their Minister could bestow, all the influence he possessed, all the patronage ho could grant, all the promises he could make, all the threats he could use, all the terrors he could excite, aU the deprivations he could inflict, could seduce or warp away scarcely more than a half of the members of the Irish Commoufl, from their duty to their country, and thaii on the question of I niSE AND FALL OF THE lEISH NATION. 269 ( aiiaexation by iriiion, bis utmost efforts could not influence more tliaa eight above a moiety of their number; yet, with only 158 out of 300, which in England would be eonsidered a defeat, he persevered, and effected tho extinguishment of the Legislature, a majority, which, on any im¬ portant question would have cashiered a British Minister. Yet such was ^ the fact in Ireland; and the division of the 5th and 6th February, 1800, ] on the Union, will remain an eternal reeord of the unrivalled incorruptible I purity of 115 members of that Parliament. This observation is a matter ' of absolute fact; it may be proper to give it even by anticipation, as an iilustration, and a fact of which the English people seem to have been to¬ tally ignorant. For her own sake, probably, England will soon recur to Irish history, where she will find her long sufferings, and more unshaken loyalty to her English Kings, than in any other country or portion of her people.* This not m'splaced digression will be considered as a prelude to the sequel of Mr. Handcock, being a sample and a warning to England of what might be also the fate of their own representation. The blandishments of the crafty Viceroy, were now unsparingl}- lavished on Mr. Handcock; simple money would not do, they endeavoured to per- I suado him that his principles were disloyal, his song was sedition, and that further opposition might end in treason ; still he held out until title 1 was added to the bribe, his own conscience was not strong enough to re¬ sist the charge, the vanity of his family lusted for nobility. He wavered; but he yielded; his vows, his declaration, his song, all vanished before vsnlty, and in the year 1800 saw Mr. Handcock of Athlone, Lord Castle- maiue. But the reputation of a renegade was embodied with the honours of his family, and pecuniary compensation for a Parliamentary return could do no mischief to his pubbe reputation; he became a strong sup¬ porter of the Union. CHAPTER XXVIL 1. It is not possible to comprise in a single volume a tithe of the means And measures of every description, resorted to by the Viceroy and Secre¬ tary, not only to seduce the members, put to procure ddresses favourable to their views, from every or any rant or descriptio of people, from tho first rank to the very lowest order; beggars, cottagers, tradesmen, every individual who could be influenced, were tempted to put in their names or marks to addresses, not one word of which they understood the intent, still less the ruinous results of. Even public instances were adduced, lOme mentioned in Parliament, and not denied, of felons in the gaols purchasing pardon, or transmutation, by signatures, or by forging names, ‘0 U uiou eulogiums. English generals, who, at a moment when martial law existed, or a re- oollcction of its execution was still fresh in every memory, could not fail to havn their own influence over proclaimed districts and bleeding peasantry,* • Tiod ante, Fuko IS 2f0 A.xn faij:, of the ifjsh nation'. of coiTTsn, thoir snccesa in procui-in" addresses to Parliamerit, vras noi limited either by their power, their disposition, or their instructions. The Anti-Union addresses, innumerab'e and fervid, in their very nature voluntary, and the signatures of high consideration, were stigmatized by the title of seditious and disloyal; whilst those of the compelled, the bribed, and the culprit were printed and circulated by every means that the trea¬ sury, or the influence of the Government, could effect. hir. Darby, High Sheriff of King’s County, and Major Kogers of the artillery, had gone so far as to place two six-pounders towards the doors of the Court House, where the gentlemen and freeholders of the county were assembling to adddress as Anti-Unionists; and it is not to be wondered at, that the dread of grai^e short; not only stopped those, but numerous meetinp for similar purposes.. Yet this was one of the means taken to prevent the expression of public meetings without, and formed a proper oomparison for the measures—resorted to, within the walls of Parliament. As this volume cannot detail the innumerable circumstances and episodes which a perfect history of those times would embody, it may be enough to eay, that if the English readers of this work will imagine any act that an indefatigable, and, on this subject, the most corrupt Governments, could by possibflity resort to, to carry a measure they had determined on, such readers cannot imagine acts more illegal, unconstitutional, and corrupt, than those of the Viceroy of Ireland, his Secretary and Under-Secretary employed, from the close of the session of 1799 to that of 1800. In the last ' of the Irish Parliaments every thing therefore is passed over, or but slightly 'touched on, till the opening of the last session. II. Lords Cornwallis and Castlereagh, having made good progress dar¬ ing the recess, now discarded all secrecy and reserve. To excite the vari¬ ous acts of simple metallic corruption which were practised without any reserve, during the summer of 1799, are too numerous for this volume. It will be sufficient to describe the proceedings, without particularising the in¬ dividuals. Many of the Peers, and several of the Commoners had the pa¬ tronage of boroughs, the control of which was essential to the success of the Minister’s project. These patrons Lord Castlereagh assaik 1 by every means which his power and situation afforded. Lord Cornwallis w'as the remote. Lord Castlereagh the intermediate, and Mr. Secretary Cooke, the immediate agents on many of these bargains. Lord Shannon, the Marquis of Ely, and several other Peers commanding votes, after much cci.iuetry, had been secured during the first session, but the defeat of Govtrnment rendered their future support uncertain. The Parliamentary patrons had breathing time after the preceding session, and began to tremble for their patronage and mportauce; and some desperate step became necessary to Government to insure a continuance of the support of these personages. This object gave rise to a measure which the British nation will scarcely believe possible, its enormity is without parallel. Lord Castlereagh’s first object was to introduce into the house, by means of the Place Bill, a sufficient number of dependants to balance all opposi¬ tion. He then boldly announced his intention to turn the scale, by bribes to all who would accept them, under the name of compensation foi' the loss pf patronage and interests He publicly declared, first, that evei'j uobla- RIS£ AND FALL OF TEE lEISU NAIUN. 171- nf.n v/ho rctuineJ moraliers to Parliament, should be paid, in cash, £15,000 for every member so retuimed ; second!;/, that every member who had purchased a seat in Parliament should liave his purchase-money repaid to him, by the Treasury of Ireland; thirdly, that all members of I'arlia- ment, or others, who were losers by an Union, should be fully recompensed for their losses, and 'hat 1,500,000 should be devoted to this service; in other terms, all who supported his measure were, under some pretence or other, to share in this bank of corruption. A declaration so flagitious and treasonable was never publicly made in any country; but it had a powerful effect in his favour ; and, before the meeting of Parliament, he had secured a small majority, (as heretofore mentioned,) of eight above a moiety of the members, and he courageously persisted. After the debate on the Union in 1800, he performed Ids promise, and brought in a bill to raise one million and a half of money upon the Irish people, nominally to compensate, but really to bribe their representatives, for betraying their honour and selling their country. This Bill was but feebly resisted; the divisions of January and February (1800) had reduced the success of the Goveimment to a certainty, and all further opposition was abandoned. It was nnimportaut to Castlereagh, who re¬ ceived the plunder of the Uation; the taxes were levied, and a vicious partiality was effecte;! in the partition. The assent to the Bill by his Majesty, as King of Ireland, gives rise to perhaps the most grave consideration suggested in these memoirs. A King, bound by the principles of the British Constitution, gives his sacred and voluntary fiat to a Bill to levy taxes for the compensation of members of Parliament, for their loss of the opportunities of selling what it was criminal to sell o? purchase, could scarcely be believed by the British people. It may be curious to consider how the English would endure the pro¬ posal of such a measure in their own country, a British Premier who should advise his Majesty to give his assent to such a sti-tute, would ex¬ perience the utmost punishment that the severest law of England could inflict for that enormity. Kor should tho Irish people be blamed for re¬ fusing to acquiesce in a measure which was carried in direct violation of the law, and infraction of the statutes against liberty and corruption, and in defiance of every precept, moral and political. There were times when Mr. Pitt would have lost his head for a tithe o' his Government in Ireland Stafford was an angel compared to that cele¬ brated statesman. When the compensation statute had received the Royal assent, the Viceroy appointed four commissioners to carry its provisions into execution. Three were members of P rliament, whose salaries of £1,200 a year each (with probable advantages) were a tolerable consideration for their former services. The Honourablo Mr. Annesley, Secretary Hamilton, and Dr. Duigenan, were the priii ipal commissioners of that extraordinary dis¬ tribution. It is, however, to be lamented, that the records of the proceedings have been unaccountably disposed of. A voluminous copy of claims, accepted 272 RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. raJ rejected, ivas published, aud partially circulated; but the great and important grants, the private pensions, and occult compensations, havo never been made public, further than by those vi^ho received them.*' It is known that Lord Shannon received for his patronage in the Commons, £45,000 Tho Marquis of Ely, ... ... ... ... 45,000 Lord Clanmorris, besides a Peerage, ... ... ... 23,000 Lord Belvidere, besides his doitceitr ... ... ... 15,000 Sir Hercules Langrish, ... ... ... ... 15,000 III. At length, the Parliament being sufficiently arranged to give Government a reasonable assurance of success. Lord Castlereagh deter¬ mined to feel the pulse of the House of Commons distinctly before he proposed the measure of the Union. The British Parliament had already framed the terms on which the proposition was to be founded, giving to its own project the complexion of a favour, and triumphing by anticipation over the independence of Ireland. This was a masterpiece of arrogance ; and it was determined to try the feelings of the Commons by a negative measure, before the insulting one should be substantially propounded to them. The 15th day of January, 1800, (the last session of the Irish Parliament,) gave rise to a debate of the most acrimonious nature, and of great importance. The speech of Lord Cornwallis from the throne was expected to avow candidly the determination of tho Minister to propose, and if possible achieve, a Legislative Union. Every man came prepared to hear that proposal; but a more crafty course was taken by tho Secretary. To the surprise of the Anti-Unionists, the Viceroy’s speech did not even hint at the measure, the suggestion of an Union was sedulously avoided. Lord Viscount Loftus (now hlarquis of Ely)t moved the address, which was as vague as the speech was empty. Lord Loftus was another of those young noblemen who were emitted by theii’ connexions to mark their E olitics: but neither the cause nor his Lordship’s oration conferred any onour on the Author; and his speech would have answered any other subject just as well as that upon which it was uttered. * Tho extraordinary claims for compensation, and some extraordinary grants by tho Commissioners, would, on any other occasion, be a fit subject for ridi¬ cule. But the application of one million a/iid a half sterling, to purposes bo public and so vile, renders it an eternal blot on the Government in Ireland, and on the Minister and Cabinet of England for permitting the King to give tha royal assent to so indisputably corrupt a statute. Amongst other curious claims for (Juiou Compensafions, in the Rt'portpfiit.frd eivd circulated, appear, one from the Lord Lioutenaut’s rat-catcher at the Castle, for decrease of employment; another from the necessary woman of the Privy Council of England, for increased trouble in her deportment j with numerous others of the same quality. t His Lordship, who took so prominent and invidious a part in the trinsac- tion, had been christened Leo Boo, by the humorous paity of the house, and wse cnlj eeiected to show the Commons that his father had been purchased. JIISE AND FA- L 0? IflE IRISH NATIOH. STS’ There -was not a point in the Viceroy’s speech intended to he debated Lord Castlereagh, having judiciously collected his flock, ■w'as better enablea to decide on numbers, and to count -with sufficient certainty on the result of his labours since the preceding session, without any hasty or premature disclosure of his definitive measure. This negative and insidious mode of proceeding, however, could notl C permitted by the opposition; and Sir Laurence Parsons, after one of the most able and luminous speeches he had ever uttered, moved an amend¬ ment, declaratory of the resolution of Parliament, to preserve the Consti¬ tution as established in 1782, and to support the freedom and in lependenco of the Nation. This motion was the touch-stone of the parties; the at¬ tendance of the Unionists in the house was compulsory, that of its oppo¬ nents optional; and on counting the members sixty-six (about a fifth of then whole) were absent, a most favourable circumstance for the Minister. Every mind was at its stretch, every talent was in its vigour; it was momentous trial, and never was so general and so deep a sensation felt in' any country. Numerous British Noblemen and Commoners were present? at that and the succeeding debate, and they expressed opinions of Irish eloquence which they had never before conceived, nor ever after had an op- portui.ity of appreciating. Every man on that night seemed to be inspired ^ ijv the subject. Speeches more replete with talent and energy, on both ■ sides, never were heard in the Irish Senate—it was a vital subject. Tho sublime, the eloquent, the figurative orator, the plain, the connected, tho metaphysical reasoner, the classical, the learned, and the solemn declaimer in a succession of speeches so full of energy and enthusiasm, so interesting.- in their nature, so important in their consequence, created a variety of sen¬ sations even in the bosom of a stranger, and could scarcely fail of exciting- some sympathy vrith a nation which was doomed to close for ever that school of eloquence which had so long given character and celebrity to Irish talent. The debate proceeded with increasing heat and interest till past ten o’clock the ensuing morning (16th). Many members on both sides sig¬ nalized themselves to an extent that never could have been expected. The- result of the convivial resolution at Lord Castlereagh’s house, already men¬ tioned, was actually exemplified and clearly discernible. An unexampled, zeal, an uncongenial energy, an uncalled-for rancour, and an unusual ani¬ mation broke out from several supporters of Government, to an extent which none but those who had known the system Lord Castlereagh had skilfully suggested to his followers, could in any -waj- account for. This excess of ardour gave to this debate not only a new and extrordinary va¬ riety of language, but an acrimony of invective, and an absence of all moderation, never before so immoderately practised. This violence was in imison with the pugnacious project of anticipating the Anti-Unionists in offensive operations, some remarkable instances of that project were actu¬ ally put into practice, and are not unworthy of being recorded in th®. Irish chronicles. Mr. Bushe, the late Chief Justice of Ireland, was as nearly devoid of pri¬ vate and public enemies as any man. Endowed with superior talents, ba had met with a corresponding success In an ambitious profession and in d s 274 JIISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. iealous country. Ills eloquence was of the purest Itind; tut the more de¬ licate the edge, the deeper cut the irony, and his rebukes were of that ■Jescription; and when embellished by his ridicule, coarse minds might hear them, but the more sensitive ones could not. Mr. Plunket’s satire was of a different nature, his weapon cut in every direction, and when onOe unsheathed, little quarter could be expected. His satire was, at times of that corroding, yet witty nature, that no patience could endure; yet, on the debate, both these gentlemen were assailed with intrepidity by a person whose talents were despised, and the price of whose seduction glared in an appointment to the highest office at the Irish bar—a barrister without professional practice or experience, and who was not considered susceptible of black letter. As a statesman he had no capacity, and as an orator he was below even mediocrity, from an embarrassed pronunciation which seemed to render any attempt at elocution a most hopeless experiment. Such was Mr. St. George Daly, appointed Prime-Serjeant of Ireland in the place of Mr. Fitzgerald, raised over the heads of the Attorney and So¬ licitor-General, and from a simple briefless advocate elevated to the verj highest rank of a talented and learned profession. Mr. Daly, however, was a gentleman of excellent family, and common sense, and, what was for¬ merly highly esteemed in Ireland, of a “ fighting family.” He was the brother of Mr. Denis Daly, of so much talent, and of so much reputation amongst the patriots of eighty-two. He was proud enough for his pre¬ tensions, and sulBcienty conceited for his capacity ; and a private gentle¬ man he would have remained, had not Lord Castlereagh and the Union placed him in public situations where he had himself too much sense not tc feel that he certainly was over-elevated. This gentleman is particularly noticed, as on this night, he, in some points, overcame the public opinion of his incapacity, and he surprised the house by one of the most clever and severe philippics which had been pronounced during the discussions upon the Union, more remarkable from being directed against two of the most pure and formidable orators in the country. The contempt with which Mr. Daly conceived his capacity was viewed by the superior members of his profession, the inaptitude he himself felt for the ostensible situation he was placed in, the cutting sarcasms liberally lavished on his inexperience and infirmity, in lampoons and pamphlets, combined to excite an extraordinary exertion to extricate himself from the humiliating taunts that he had been so long experiencing. Mr. Daly’s at¬ tack on Mr. Bushe was of a clever description, and had Mr. Bushe one Vulnerable point, his assailant might have prevailed. He next attacked Mr Plunket, who sat immediately before him; but the materials of his vocabulary had been nearly exhausted: however, ho was making some progress, when the keen visage of Mr. Plunket was seen to assume a curled sneer, which like a legion offensive and defensive, was prepared for £iny onouiy. No spoGch. could liis gla-ncG of contGinpt and ridi* cule; Mr. Daly received it like an arrow, it pierced him, he faltered like a wounded man, his vocal infirmity became more manifest, and after an embarrassed pause, he yielded, changed his groimd, and attacked by whole* sale every member of his own profession who had opposed an Union, and termed them a disaffected and dangerous faction. Here agaia he re- P.15tf ArrD FALL OP TUB IRISH NATION, 275 loived a reply not calculated to please him, and at length he concluded one of the most remarkable speeches, because one of the most unexpected, that had been made during the discussion. Every member who had been in the habit of addressing the house, new ones who had never spoken, on that night made warm, and several of them, eloquent orations. Air. Peter Burrows, a veteran advocate for the rights of Ireland, wher¬ ever and whenever he had the power of declaring himself, on this night, made an able effort to uphold his principles. He was a gentleman of the bar who had many friends, and justly; nothing could be more ungracious than the manner, nothing much better than the matter, of his orations. Ilis mind had ever been too independent to cringe, and bis opinions too intrac¬ table for an arbitrary Minister; on this night he formed a noble and dis- finguished contrast to those of his own profession, who had sold them¬ selves and the representation for a mess of pottage. The house had nearly exhausted itself and the subject; when, about seven o’clock in the morning, an incident the most affecting and unex¬ pected occurred, and which is too precious a relic of Irish parliamentary chronicles, not to be recorded. IV. The animating presence of Mr. Grattan on this first night of the debate, was considered of the utmost importance to the patriots, it was once more raising the standard of liberty in Parliament. He had achieved the independence of his country in 1782, and was the champion best calcu¬ lated at this crisis to defend it. An union of spirit, of talent, and of honesty, gave him an influence above all his contemporaries. Ho had been un¬ gratefully defamed by the people he had liberated, and taking the calumny to heart, his spirit had sunk within him, his health had declined, and ho had most unwisely seceded in disgust from Parliament, at the very mo¬ ment when he wa most required to defend both himself and his country. He seemed fast a] preaching to the termination of all earthly objects, when he was induced once more to shed his influence over the political crisis. At that time Air. Tighe returned the members for the close borough of Wicklow, and a vacancy having occurred, it was tendered to Mr. Grattan, who would willii^gly have declined it but for the imjiortunities of his friends. The Lord Lieutenant and Lord Castlereagh, justly appreciating the effect his presence might have on the first debate, had withheld the writ of election till the last moment the law allowed, and till they conceived it might be too late to return Air. Grattan in time for the discussion. It was not until the day of the meeting of Parliament that the writ was delivered to the returning officer. By extraordinary exertions, and perhaps by fol¬ lowing the example of Government in overstraining the law, the election was held immediately on the arrival of the writ, and a sufficient number of voters were collccti d to return Air. Grattan before midnight. By one o’clock the return was on its road to Dublin; it arrived by five; a parly of Mr. Grattan’s friends, repaired to the private house of the proper oflicer, and making him get o; t of bed, compelled him to present the writ to Par¬ liament before seven in the morning, when the house was in warm debate on the Union. A wiiis; er ran through every party that Air. Grattan was elected, would immediately take his setit. The Mbisteriallsts emiled 27S RISE AND BALL OP TIIE UUSU NATION. w-ith incredulous derision, and tlie opposition thought the news too good tc be time. Mr. Egan was speahing strongly against the measure, when Mr. George i’onsonby and hlr. Arthur Moore (now Judge of the Common Pleas) walked out, and immediately returned, leading, or rather helping, Mr. Grattan, in a state of total feebleness and debility. The effect was electric. Mr. Grattan’s illness and deep chagrin had reduced a form, never sym¬ metrical, and a visage at all times thin, nearly to the appearance of a E-pectre. As he feebly tottered into the house, every member simultane¬ ously rose from his seat. He moved slowly to the table; his languid eouutenauce seemed to revive as he took those oaths that restored him to nis pre-eminent station; the smile of iuward satisfaction obviously Ulu- r.iinated his features, and reanimation and energy seemed to kindle by the labour of his mind. The house was silent, Mr. Egan did not resume his speech, hlr. Grattan, almost breathless, as if by instinct, attempted to rise, but was unable to stand, he paused, and with difficulty requested permission of the house to deliver his sentiments without moving from his seat. This was acceded to by acclamation, and he who had left his bed of sickness to record, as he thought, his last words in the Parliament of his country, kindled gradually till his language glowed with an energy and feeling which he had seldom surpassed. After nearly two hours of the most powerful eloquence, he concluded with an undiminished vigour, miraculous to those who were unacquainted with his intellect. Never did a speech make a more affecting impression, but it came too late. Fate had decreed the fall of Ireland, and her patriot came only to witness her overthrow. For two hours he recapitulated all the pledges tiiat England had made and had broken, he went through the great events from 1780 to 1800, proved the more than treachery which had been prac¬ tised towards the Irish people. He had concluded, and the question was loudly called for, when Lord Castlereagh was perceived earnestly to whisper to Mr. Corry, they for an instant looked round the house, whispered again, Mr. Corry nodded assent, and, amidst the cries of question, he began a speech, which, as far as it regarded Mr. Grattan, few persons in the house could have prevailed upon themselves to utter. Lord Castlereagh was not clear what impression Mr. Grattan’s speech might have made upon a few hesitating members; he had, in the course of the debate, moved the question of adjournment; he did not like to meet Sir Laurence Parsons ou his motion, and Mr. Corry commenced certainly an able, but, towards Mr. Grattan, an ungenerous and an unfeeling personal assault; it was oeeless, it was like an act of a cruel disposition, and he knew it could not be replied to. At length the impatience of the house rendered a division necessary, and in half an hour the fate of Ireland was decided. Tha numberawere— For an Adjournment, Lord Castlereagh had ... ... 138 For the Amendment, ... ... ... ... 96 Majority, ... ... ... ... 42* • One of the most unexpected and flagitious acts of public corraption wa# that of Mr. Arthur Brown, member for the University of Dublin. He wac by PISE AXD FALL OF TUE IRISH NATION. 277 This fiecisioii, undoubtedly, gave a death wound to the Irish Isatioo. i\Iany, however, still fostered the hope of success in the opposition ; and Lord Castlereagh did not one moment relax his efforts to bribe, to seduce, and to terrify his opponents. The Anti-Unionists, also, lost no opportunity of improving their mino¬ rity: and the next division proved that they had not. The adjournment was to the 5th day of February; the Union propositions, as passed by the British Parliament, were, after a long speech, laid before the House of Commons by Lord Castlereagh: on that day Mr. Bagwell, of Tipperar}'- County, seceded from Government, the present Marquis of Ormond had also divided from it; and the minority appeared to have received numerous acquisitions. !Mr. Saurin, Mr. Peter Burrows, and other eminent gentlo- rnen of the Bar, now appeared to make the last effort to rescue theii' country. V. Lord Castlereagh, upheld by his last majority, now kept no bounds in his assertions and in his arrogance; and, after a debate of the entire night, at eleven the ensuing morning the division took place. It appeared that the Anti-Unionists had gained ground since the former session, and that there existed 115 Members of the Irish Parliament, whom neither prcuio- tion, nor office, nor fear, nor reward, nor ambition, could procure to vote against the independence of their country, though nations fall, that oppo¬ sition will remain immortal. Lord Castlereagh’s motion was artful in the extreme, ho did not movo expressly for any adoption of the propositions, but that they should be printed and circulated, with a view to their ultimate adoption. This was opposed as a virtual acceptation of the subject; on this pollit* the issue was joined, and the Irish Nation was, on that night, laid pros¬ trate. The division was— Number of Members, .., ,, • 300 For Lord Castlereagh’s Motion, ,„ 15S Against it, , 116 Of Members present, majority , 43 Absent ,,, 1 27 birth an American, of most gentlemanly manners, excellent character, and verj' considerable talents. He had by his learning become a senior fellow of the Uni versity, and was the law professor. From his entrance into Parliament he bad been a steady, zealous, and able supporter of the rights of Ireland, he had never deviated; he would accept no office; he had attached himself to Mr. Ponsonby, and was supposed to be one of the truest and most unassailable supporters of Ireland In the session of 1799 he had taken a most unequivocal, decisive, and ardent part against the Union, ^nd had spoken against it as a crime and as the ruin of the country: ho was believed to bo incorruptible. On this night he rose, but crest-fallen and abashed at his own tergiversation, he recanted every word hg bad uttered, deserted from the country, supported the Union, accepted a Bribe fr®^^ Iho Minister, was afterwards placed in office, but shame haunted him, no hated himself: an amiable man fell a victim to corruption. Ho rankled and nued. and ^ wretched mind and a broken constitution. 278 iUSE AND FALL OP THS IRISH NATION. By this division, it appears that the Government had a majority of the house of only eight, by their utmost efforts, 27 were absent, of whom every rtian refused to vote for an Union, but did not vote at all, being kept away by different causes; and, of consequence, eight above a moiety carried the Union; and of the 158 who voted for it in 1800, 28 were notoriously bribed or influenced corruptly. Although this was ominous to the ultimate fate of the Nation, the con¬ test still proceeded with unremitting ardour, numerous debates and nume¬ rous divisions took place before the final catastrophe. In numbers. Govern¬ ment made no progress, and never could or did obtain a majority of fifty on the principle of an Union. The details of the subsequent proceedings are not within the range of this desultory memoir. The speech of Mr. Foster, the Speaker, against the measure occupied four hours: a deference to his opinion, and a respect for his true patriotism, caused a dead silence throughout the entire of his oration. On any other occasion, that oration would have been overwhelm¬ ing ; but the question was, in fact, decided before he had, in the com¬ mittee, any opportunity of declaring his opinion; and his speech Avas little more than recording his sentiments. Some very serious facts occurred during the progress of the discussion which may be worth reciting. The house was surrounded by military, imder the pretence of keeping the peace, which was not in danger, but, in fact, to excite terror. Lord Castlereagh also threatened to remove the Parliament to Cork, if its proceedings were interrupted. But, unfortu¬ nately, the Anti-Unionists had no efficient organisation, no decided leader; scattered and desponding, they* did not excite sufficient external exertion; destiny seemed to resign the Nation to its fate; their own brethren forsook them. The Bishops Troy, Lanigan, and others, deluded by the Viceroy, sold their country, and basely betrayed their flocks, by promoting the Union. The great body of Catholics were true to their country; but the rebellion had terrified them from every overt act of opposition, all Was confusion, nothing could be effected against Lord Castlereagh, who had one mOlion and a half to bribe with, under pretence of compensation, besides, the secret service-money of England was at his command, and that was boundless. Had the proposal been made two years later, all ** The fulsome address from the Catholic clergy and Bishop Lanigan from Kilkenny to Marquis Cornwallis, in favour of the Union, fortunately rendered the addresses perfectly ridiculous. One of his Esoelleney’s eyes, by some na¬ tural defect, appeared considerably diminished, and, like the pendulum of a clock, was generally in a state of motion. The Eight Eevorend Bishop and olergy having never before seen the Marquis, unfortunately commenced their address with the most «ittl d propos exordium of “yonr Excellency has always kept a steady eye on the interests of Ireland.” The address was presented at Levea. Hie Excellency, however, was graciously pleased not to return any answer to that jwrt of their compliment. Mr. CuiTan, on seeing the address, said the only match for it he had over read was the Mayor of Ocventry’s speech to Queen Elizabeth! “ When the Spanish Armada attacked your Majesty, ecod they got the wrong sov! by the ccjr,’ The Queen desired tliem to go home and sho would, ecud aa imswer. RISE AND FALL OF TUE lEISn NATION. 279 the wealth and power of England could not have effected the annexa¬ tion. The subject is now ended, posterity will appreciate the inj'uries of Ireland. The only security England has for the permanence of the Union, is a radical change in the nature and genius of the people; or a total change of system in the mode of governing. How blind must those Governments be, which suppose that Ireland ever can be retained permanently by the coercive system 1 Eight millions of people, whose lives cannot be precious to them, never can be permanently yoked to any other Nation, not much more physically powerful, and not near so warlike, save by a full partici¬ pation of rights and industry. With employment, protection, and any means of subsistence, the Irish might be the easiest managed people on the face of Europe. Naturally loyal, naturally tractable, naturally adapted to labour, it is a total ignorance of their character abroad, with a system of petty tyranny at home, that destroys this people. Governing by execu¬ tions has the very opposite effect from that intended, death is too common to have much terrors for a desperate peasantry, hang 100,000 every year, it would make no sensible dimunition of the Irish population, and certainly would add nothing to the tranquillity of the country; on the contrary, every execution increases the number of the dissatisfied. Who can be con¬ tented with the execution of his kindi-ed? The only guaidian of that devoted people, the only persons who could direct or guide them, are now by the Union, for ever taken away from them; their landlords now reside in other countries; no labourers are now employed on the old demesnej that supported them. AVhat are they to subsist upon ? An idle popula¬ tion can never cease to be a disturbed one; and, if it bo possible to convince the English people that the state of Ireland must soon influence their own condition, much will be effected. If England should be con¬ vinced that Ireland has been plundered by a British Minister, of the only certain means of ensuring her tranquillity t^a resident Parliament), that I'.ie plunder has been without any beneficial operation to England her¬ self, great progress will be made towards some bettej: system. Half tho time of the Imperial Parliament is now occupied upon a subject of which nothing but local knowledge can give a competent idea; and it is the opinion of the wisest and most dispassionate people, that now reflect upon the state of the connexion, that either tho Union must be rendered closer and more operative for its professed objects, interests must be more amalgamated, and the nations dovetailed together, or the Union be alto¬ gether relinquished. The dilemma is momentous, but the alternative is inevitable. This digression arises from the circumstances which have been men¬ tioned just preceding it. To a true-hearted Irishman, it must be a sub¬ ject of solicitude, but a reflection on 1800, never can arise v/ithout exciting emotions of disgust and feelings of indignation. After a long, an ardent, but an ineffective struggle, tho Anti-Unionlsta gave way entirely; and but little further resistance was offered toany- thing. During the nrogress of tho Union Bill through the ‘^.ommitte">a circum- RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. ^3 •■stance took place, •wliicli with reference to analagous subjects, is of the ut¬ most legal and constitutional importance. Mr, Kichard Annesley (afterwards Lord Annesley) was called to the chair of the committee, on the motion of Lord Castlereagh, and sat as chairman nearly throughout the entire discussion. Mr. R. Annesley and General Gardner, had been returned members for tbe city of Clogher by the Bishop, whose predecessors had exercised that 'patronage through the votes of four or five of their own domestics, or, •perhaps of only their steward cr chaplain, and in their own hall. On this occasion, however, the Bishop’s nomination of Mr. Annesley and GenerrJ 'Gardner was opposed by Mr. Charles Ball and Colonel lung, as an experi- ■ment, at the suggestion of hir. Blanket. On the election, these candidates ^•eridered a number of the resident inhabitants of the districts as legal ccu- tituents of that ancient city, over which the Bishops had, in despotic times, assumed a patronage, not only contrary to the inherent rights of franchise, but altogether unconstitutional, it being merely a nomination oi Members of the Commons by a spiritual Lord. The Bishop’s returning officer had, of course, rejected all lay interference, and Mr. Annesley and General Gardner were returned by five or six domestics of the prelate. This election, however, ■n'as most vigorously, contested by Mr. Ball and ^ Colonel King; they canvassed the vicinity, informed the landholders of ( their inherent rights, and of the Bishop’s usurpation. A great nmuber appeared, and tendered their votes for the new candidates, who in their turn, objected to every voter received for those of the Bishop ; and, thus, circumstanced, the return came back to Parliament. The Bishop’s nominees took their seats, as lawful members of Parlia inent; and as such Mr. Annesley was named chairman to the committee of the whole house, which voted all the details and articles of the Union. Mr. Ball and Colonel King, hoAvever, petitioned against that return. A com¬ mittee was appointed to decide the question : every possible delay was con¬ trived by the Government, and every influence was attempted, even over the Members of the committee, nothing was too shameful for the arrogance of the Chancellor (who took a furious part) and the corruption of the Sec- ' fetary. VI. After a month of arduous and minute investigation, an old docu- :-ment was traced to the Paper Office at the Castle, which the Viceroy en¬ deavoured to have suppressed by tbe keeper of the records. On its pro¬ duction, the usurpation of the Bishops -wms proved beyond all possibility of argmnent, and hir. Annesley, through whose voice every clause of the Union had been put and carried, was declared by the house an usurper, and his election, and the return thereupon, was pronounced null and void. By this decision, the wholejof the proceedings of the committee had been cai’i’ied on, through the instrumentality and functions of a person not de jure a member of Parliament at the time he so acted. This point, if it had been then vigorously pushed, must ha-ve led to most serious and deep con¬ stitutional questions. It was the lex Parliamentaria, that on an election for a member of Par- RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 281 liament, all votes taken before a returning officer not legally qualified as such, were all null and void.* filr. Charles BaU was excluded from voting against the Union, the whole time of Mr. Annesley’s so usurping the duties of a member and voting in (ts favour. Whether his acts could be construed to be legal was a point rendered useless, by the certainty of the Union being effected. filr. Annesley was in his seat in the house when the report of tlie com¬ mittee was read : the effect was considerable. Mr. Annesley and General Gardner instantly rose and left the house, and Mr. Charles Ball and Colo¬ nel King were as quickly introduced, dressed in the Anti-Uuion uniform, and took their seats in the place of the discarded members. A new chair¬ man was substituted for Mr. Annesley. Another courious instance of palpable corruption remains on record. Sii William Gladowe Newcomen, iWt., member for the county of Longford, in the course of the debate, declared he supported the Union, as ho w;ii not instructed to the contrary by his constituents. This avowal surjjrised many, as it was known that the county rvas nearly unanimous against the measure, and that he was well acquainted with the fact. However, he voted for Lord Castlereagh, and ho asserted that conviction alone was hh guide. His veracity was doubted, and in a few mouths some of his bribe? were published. His wife was also created a peeress. One of his bribes has been discovered, registered in the Rolls’ Office, l document which it was never supposed would be exposed, but which would ha\ e been grounds for impeachment against every member of Government who thus contributed his aid to plunder the public and corrupt Parliament. The following is a copy from the RoUs’ Office of Ireland : Bij the Lord Lieutenant and General Governor of Ireland, CORN’WALLIS. “ Whereas Sir William Gladowe Newcomen, Bart., hath, by his memo¬ rial laid before us, represented that, on the 25th day of June, 1785, John, late earl of Mayo, then Lord Viscount Naas, Receiver-General of Stamp Duties, together with Sir Thomas Newcomen, Bart., and Sir Bany Denny, Bart., both since deceased, as sureties for the said John, Earl of hlayo, executed a Bond to his Majesty, conditioning to pay into the treasury the stamp duties received by him; that the said Earl of Mayo continued in the said office of Receiver-General until the 30th day of July, 1786, when he resigned the same, at which time it was stated that he was indebted to his hlajesty in the sum of about five thousand pounds, and died on the 7th of April, 1792 ; that the said sureties are dead, and the said Sir Thomas Newcoman, Bart., did, by his last will, appoint the memorialist executor of his estate ; that the memorialist proposed to pay into his filajesty’s Ex¬ chequer the sum of two thousand pounds, as a composition for any monej' • It was contended by the constitutional lawyers, that the vctes of a corn. inittce taken by a chairman who was not a member of the house, the journals hi .'i£.aed, and the reports he brought up, were void, and d fortiori, every act of Uio comicittce. 282 RISE AKD FALL OF THE MISH NATION that might be recovered thereon, upon the estate being released from any further r-barge on account of the said debt due to his Majesty. And the before-mentioned Memorial having been referred to his Majesty’s Attorney- General, for his opinion what would be proper to be done in this matter, and the said Attorney-General having, by his report unto us, dated the Doth day of August, 1800, advised that, under all the circumstances of the case, the sum of two thousand pounds should be accepted of the memo¬ rialist on the part of the Government, &c., &c. “J. TOLER.” Ry this abstract it now appears, even by the memorial of Sir WilliaD Gladowe, that he was indebted at least five thousand pounds from the year 1786, to the pubhc treasury and Revenue of Ireland ; that, with the interest thereon, it amounted in 1800 to ten thousand pounds; that Sir William had assets in his hands, as executor, to pay that debt: and that on the Union, when all such arrears must have been paid into the Trea¬ sury, the Attorney-General, under a reference of Lords Cornwallis and Castlereagh, was induced to sanction the transaction as reported; viz. •. “under all its circumstances," to lovego the debt, except two thousand pounds. Every effort was made to find if any such sum as two thousand pounds was credited to the public, and none such was discovered. The fact is, that Lord Raas owed ten thousand pounds, consequently. Sir Wil¬ liam owed twenty thousand; that he never bona fide paid to the public one shilling, which, with a peerage, the patronage of his county, and the pecuniary pickings also received by himself, altogether formed a tolerably strong bribe, even for a more qualmish conscience than that of Sir William. But all the individual instances of the corrupt influence which seduced BO many members of the Irish Parliament to betray their trusts, and trans¬ mit their names to posterity as the most fatal enemies of that island where they drew their breath, would be a labour of too great an extent for a work of this description. But it will suffice to convince the British Empire, that the Union between England and Ireland was the corrupt work of the very .hlinister who was afterwards called over, with his Irish flock, to become the shepherd of the British nation. VII. The following authenticated examples of corrupt seduction by Lords Cornwallis and Castlereagh individually, may give some slight idea of the general system : Mr. Francis Knox and Mr. Crowe, two Irish barristers, were returned to Parliament for the close boi-cugh of Philipstown, under the patronage of Lord Belvidere. In the session of 1799, they violently opposed the Union; Mr. Knox said, “ I am satisfied that in point 6f commerce, Eng¬ land has nothing to give to this country ; but, were it otherwise, I would not condescend to argue the subject; for I would nob surrender the fiber- ties of my country for the riches of the universe! I cannot find words to express the horror I feel at a proposition so extremely degrading. It is insulting to entertain it, even for a moment. What! shall we deliberate whether this kingdom shall cease to exist; whether this land shall be struck from the scale of nations; whether its very name is to be erased from the map of the world for ever? Shall it, I say, be g. question RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. *^83 whether we surrender to another separate country and to another separate legislature, the lives, liberties, and properties of five millions of people, who delegated us to defend, but not to destroy, the constitution ? It is a monstrous proposition, and should be considered merely in order to mingle our disgust and execration with those of the people, and then to dash it from us never to be resumed!” Mr. Crowe held similar language. The Earl of Belvidere then called a meeting of the county of Westmeath, to enter into resolutions against the Union ; and his proposed resolutions, in his own hand-writing, declaratory of his resistance to that measure, ara here inserted. Mr. Crowe termed its supporters “ flagitious culprits,” and boldly declaimed against the unexampled profligacy of the Viceroy and bis Irish Secretary. It is fortunate for history that irrefragable jiroofs exist of this statement, and that Great Britain may peiuse the mode by which Ireland has been united to her. Every line of such documents might well form a ground of prosecution or impeachment, for high crimes and misdemeanours, against both the Viceroy and the Secretary. The Earl of Belvidere and his two friends had expressed themselves too sTongly against the Union, and were of too much importance to be left untempted. The Marquis, therefore, undertook to manage the Peer, whilst Lord Castlereagh engaged to seduce the Commoners. Mr. Usher, the Earl’s chaplain, wise man, and adviser, was also enlisted to effect the se¬ duction of his patron and of his accessories. The negociation completely succeeded. The English Nation will scarcely believe the fact, that, within a few months, his Lordship, with Mr. Knox and Mr. Crowe, were literally pur¬ chased ; and, in four months after pubhshing the resolutions against the Union, new resolutions, in favour of the measure, were circulated by his Lordship among his tenantry. As soon as the bribe was fixed, as he con¬ ceived, the whole of his Lordship’s former principles were recanted, and condemned as hasty, and against the general opinion of the people. Lord Cornwallis had now gained his point, and turned round on the apostates, they were disgraced traitors; they were now helpless, they durst not again recant. The terms had been munificent, nothing required by Lord Belvidere had been refused by the Marquis; but, after he had made their defection public and irrevocable, he gave his Lordship to understand that there was a misconception as to the terms, which, being matters of detail, could bo more properly arranged by the Secretary; and thus ha turned them over to the mercy of Lord Castlereagh. Ilis Lordship, seeing they were entrapped beyond the power of escaping, soon convinced them that he also knew how to despise the instruments he had corrupted. Mr. Usher, the chaplain, was to bo renumerated for soothing the conscience of Lord Belvidere; tho clergy are seldom reluctant when good bargains ara going forward ; but a general dissatisfaction now arose among all the p.ar- ties. Usher, however, was contented, he got a cure of souls for his poli¬ tical guilt, and after having aided in corruption, went to preach purity to his parishioners! Vm. The English people would scarcely credit the most accuiato histo¬ rian, did not the annexed letter prove the whole transaction, and leave them to ruminate upon the nefarious system to wlucli they v/cre themaclvea RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. FdViject under the same Minister. In England, an impeachment would have been the result of this disclosure; but, in Ireland, it was the least ol Lord Castlereagh’s malpractices. Mr. Crowe's Letter, shortly after Lord Belvidere was purchased hy Lord Cornwallis. “ October 4th, 1799. Mt De.ab Lord—T his moment yours of the 8rd inst. has been deli- yored by the postman. I am heartily concerned that I am obliged to differ ,ndtli your Lordship (for the first time during a three-and-twenty years’ friendship) in point of fact: as to what passed between you and Lord Corn¬ wallis, it has nothing to do with the present question, which is simply, whether the agreement made by Mr. Knox with Lord Castlereagh La to be adhered to or violated.” This agreement was two months subsequent to your conversation with Lord Cornwallis, and you will recollect you had two interviews with the Viceroy, the latter of which was, by no means, so flattering as the first, and was very far from holding out splendid ex¬ pectations, but all prior discussions are always done away by a subsequent agreement; for otherwise it would be absurd ever to think of making one, which would be always open to be departed from by any of the parties, oa a suggestion that in a prior conversation this thing was said or the other thing was offered. An agreement once made, nothing remains but to carry it into effect according to its terms as fast as possible. The business then comes to this, v/hat was the agreement made by Mr. Knox with Lord Castlereagh, respecting the only point that has induced your Lordship fu delay matters, aU the rest being confessedly understood, namely, ‘ the va¬ cating Mr. Knox’s seat and mine, in order to give the return of the two members to Government in our places.’ “TLis particular hlr. Knox stated distinctly and explicitly, that Lord Castlereagh, at the outset of the negociation, laid it down as a sine qnd lion, ‘ that we must vacate our seats in the present Parliament, and that he should have the nomination of the two new members.’ But such a dis¬ tinction as your Lordship conceives of vacating for the question of Union, and in case Government should bo defeated on that measure, that those two new members should vacate, and that you should have a pmver of no¬ minating in their stead for the remainder of the Parliament, never in the slightest degree was made by Mr. Knox, nor even by your Lordship; but, on the contrary, your Lordship’ assented to that part as well as to every other part of the treaty with Lord Castlereagh, and from the instant you tims gave your assent, a full, complete, and jicrfcct agreement took place. Jlr. ’Usher was present at all this, and it is his duty to come forward and declare the fact. “ On the 10th of July this negotiation commenced, and from that period lo this, I have been kept in town from my concerns in law, in constant expectation of having it concluded, and now, nearly at the end of three months, to have it all upset is very severe. “ As to the engagement tl'.at your Lordship describes and that your bur¬ gesses signed, it is a direct contradiction to that pait of the agreement is professes to be epfiformabJe to, and is so much trouble for nothing, bsfc. EISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 285 wb&t appears extraordinary to me, along with all the rest of this extraor'< dinary business is, that your Lordship should prepare or get this eu* gagement signed alter you were apprised, both by Mr. Knox’s letters and mine to you and Mr. Usher, that anything short of the identical paper sent down by Mr. Knox, would not answer. I have nothing more to add thad to request your Lordship will bring Mr. Usher up with you directly. “I am, my dear Lord, “Yours, most sincerely, “KOB. CROWE. To the Earl of Belvidere, ^e., ^-c.” [Tie original of this letter is in the Author^s possession.] RESOLUTIONS Tn the hand-writing of the Earl of Belvidere, prepared by him for the Free-- holders of the County of Westmeath, against a Legislative Union in 1799. His Lordship afterwards voted for and supported that measure warmly. Resolved—That the free and independent Legislature of Ireland, having been unequivocally established, every measure that tends to encroach on it calls for our implicit disapprobation. The depending project of an Union uith Great Britain, the appearance of being merely a transfer of the Parliament is, in fact, a complete extinc¬ tion of it; that it is the duty of Irishmen of every description to come for¬ ward, and by all constitutional means to resist a scheme so subversive of the real interest, prosperity, and dignity of their country. 'That we entertain too high an opinion of the integrity of our represen¬ tatives, to suppose them capable of voting away the rights of the people, had a power of such a nature been ever invested in them. [The original Is in the Author’s possession.] This transaction between Lords Cornwallis and Castlereagh, and Lord Belvidere and Messrs. Knox and Crowe, ought to be one of the most useful lessons to the British nation; there will be seen, in the sad fate of Ireland, the means by which their own liberties may be destroyed. Before the third reading of the bill, when it was about to be reported, Mr. Charles Ball, Member for Clogher, rose, and, without speaking one word, looked round impressively, every eye was directed to him, he only pointed his hand significantly to the bar, and immediately walked forth, casting a parting look behind him, and turning his eyes to heaven, as if to invoke vengeance on the enemies of his country. Ilis example was con¬ tagious. Those Anti- Unionists who were in the house immediately followed his example, and never returned into that Senate which had been the glory, the guardian, and the protection of their country. There was but one scene more, and the curtain was to drop for ever.* • One of those singular incidents which, though trivial, occasionally produce a grost sensation, occurred in the progress of the bill, on the debate respecting the local representation. From the nature of the subject and the strong feelings of trery party, the slightest incident, the most immaterial word, or unimportant RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 'i86 The da/ for extinguishing the liberties of Ireland had now arrived, and the sun took his last view of independent Ireland, he rose no more over a proud and prosperous nation. She was now condemned, by the British Mi¬ nister, to renounce her rank amongst the states of Europe. She was sen¬ tenced to cancel her constitution, to disband her Commons, and disfranchise her Nobility, to proclaim her incapacity, and register her corruption in the records of the empire. On this fatal event, some, whose honesty the temp- action, was construed into an indication of something momentons. Mr. Charlos Ball, the new Member for Clogher, was a most ardent, impetuous, and eren furi¬ ous opponent of an Union, on any terms or under any circumstances. Ho wat a very large, eager, boisterous, and determined man; he uttered whatever he thought, and there was no restraining his sentiments. In the midst of tho crowded coffee-room he declared his astonishment, that whilst hundreds of wretched men every day sacrificing their lives in resisting those who openly attacked their liberty, there were none who did not at once rid their country of tho mOk'Sters who were betraying it. “It could be easily done,” said he, “by fev.' hand-grenades, or shells, thrown from the gallery when your ministerial gen¬ tlemen are locked up for a division. The extravagance of the idea excited general merriment; but there were soms who actually conceived the practicability of the scheme. Mr. Ball, with affected gravitj', added, that he had heard that such a plan was intended; and this o) ly mureased the previous merriment. Tho house presently commenced its sitting tuid Mr. Secretary Cooke had taken the chair of the committee, when suddenlj a \oico like thunder burst from the gallery, which was crowded to exo ss “Now,'’ (roared the Stentor,) “now let the bloodiest assassin talce the chai /— let the bloodiest assassin talce the chair /” Any attempt at a description of the scene would bo unavailing, the shells an^ hand-grenades of Mr. Ball presented themselves to every man’s imagination. All was terror and confusion; many pressed towards the doors, but the door¬ keepers had fled, and turned the keys to prevent tho escape of the culprit. A few hats fell by accident from the galleries, which were in a state of tumult. These appeared like bomb-shells to the terrified members; pocket-pistols and swords were opon the point of being produced; every man seemed to expeo the bloody assassins to rush in hundreds from the galleries. No explosion, how ver, took place; no assassins descended; and a scuffle in tho gallery was succeeded by an exclamation, “ We have secured him ! We have secured him 1” whicl rc» stored some confidence to the senators. The serjeant-at-arms now ascended, sword in hand, and was followed by many of the members, whose courage had been quiescent till there had been a certainty of no danger. Mr. Denis Brown, as a forlorn hope, was the first to mount the gallery. After a valiant resista' ce^ a Herculean gentleman was forced down into the body of the house, by a hun¬ dred hands. As soon as he was effectually secured, all the members were n ost courageous'; some pommelled, some kicked him, and at length ho was thrown flat upon tho floor, and firmly pinioned. Tho whole power of Parliament, how¬ ever, could not protect them from his eloquence; and most powerfully did h.t nse his tongue. The gigantic appearance of the man struck every body wi h awe, and none but tho lawyers had the least conception that ho was a Mr, Sin¬ clair, one of the most quiet and well-behaved ban-isters of tho whole profes-iju. Ho was a respectable, independent, and idle member of tho Irish Bar, but an oiilhasi^ ^.gainst au Union, Ho bad db^d with a party of the same opinions /tlSE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION*. 287 ter could not destroy, some, -whose honour he dur3t not assail, and many woo could not control the useless language of indignation, prudently with* drew from a scene where they would have witnessed only the downfall of their country. Every precaution was taken Ly Lord Clare for the security, at least, of his own person. The Houses of Parliament were closely in¬ vented by the military, no demonstration of popular feeling was permitted, a British regiment, near the entrance, patrolled through the Ionic colo- nades, the chaste architecture of that classic structure seemed as a monu¬ ment to the falling Irish, to remind them of what they had been, and to tell them what they were. It was a heartrending sight to those who loved their country, it was a sting to those who sold it, and to those who purchased it, a victory, but to none has it been a triumph. Thirty-three years of mise¬ rable experience should now convince the British people that they have gained neither strength, nor affection, nor tranquillity, by their acquisition; Jin I that if population be the “wealth of nations,” Ireland is getting by far too rich to be governed much longer as a pauper. The British people knew not the true history of the Union, that the bril¬ liant promises, the predictions of rapid prosperity, and “ consolidating re¬ sources,”* were but cnimerical. Whilst the finest principles of the consti¬ tution were sapped to effect the measure, England, by the subjugation of her sister kingdom, gained only an accumulation of debt, an accession of venality to her Parliament, an embarrassment in her councils, and a pro¬ spective danger to the integrity of the empire. The name of Union has been acquired, but the attainment of the substance has been removed far¬ ther than ever. The Commons’ House of Parliament, on the last evening afforded the most melancholy example of a fine independent people, betrayed, divided, sold, and, as a state, annihilated. British clerks and ofilcei-s were smuggled into her Parliament to vote away the constitution of a country to which thev were strangers, and in which they had neither interest nor connection. Thiy were employed to cancel the royal charter of the Irish Nation, guar¬ anteed by the British Government, sanctioned by the British Legislature, and unequivocally confirmed by the words, the signature, and the great seal cf their Monarch. L he situation of the Speaker on that night, was of the most distressing >t tho house of a friend, who was undouhtoJly a madman, hut whoso exoellen .;rin0 and wild conversation had elevated Mr. Sinclair so very far above all dread, that he declared he would himself, that night, in spite of all the traitors, make a speech in tho house, and give them his full opinion of tho only mcas-uro that should be taken against them. He accordingly repaired to tho gallery, and, on leoing tho Secretary take the chair, he could no longer contain himself, and at¬ tempted to leap down among the members; but being restrained by some friends who were with him, bo determined to make his speech, and commenced with tho most appalling expressions of what he conceived should be tho fate of the Union¬ ists; He was committed to ITewgato by the house, and remained there till the session ended. * “ Consolidating the strong th and, resources of the Empire,” was Lord Castle- ceagh’s fundamental argument on proposing that measure : but he lived long snoegh to see that it had the very contrary opers-tion. f 283 RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATIOK. nature ; a sincere and ardent enemy of the measure, he headed its oppo¬ nents ; he resisted it with all the power of his mind, the resources of his ex¬ perience, his influence and his eloquence. It was, however, through his voice that it was to he proclaimed and con¬ summated. His only alternative (resignation) would have been unavailing, and could have added nothing to his character. His expressive counte¬ nance, bespoke the inquietude of his feeling; solicitude was perceptible in every glance, and his embarrassment was obvious in every word he ut¬ tered. The galleries were full, but the change was lamentable, they were no longer crowded with those who had been accustomed to witness the elo¬ quence and to animate the debates of that devoted assembly. A mono¬ tonous and melancholy murmur ran through the benches, scarcely a word was exchanged amongst the members, nobody seemed at ease, no cheerful¬ ness was apparent, and the ordinary business, for a short time, proceeded in the usual manner. At length the expected moment arrived, the order of the day for the third reading of the Bill, for a “ Legislative Union between Great Britain and Ireland,” was moved by Lord Castlereagh, unvaried, tame, cold¬ blooded, the words seemed frozen as they Issued from his lips; and, as if a simple citizen of the world, he seemed to have no sensation on the subject At that moment he had no country, no God but his ambition; he made his motion, and resumed his seat, with the utmost composure and in¬ difference. Confused murmurs again ran through the house, it was visibly effected, every character, in a moment, seemed involuntarily laishing to its index, some pale, some flushed, some agitated; there were few countenances to which the heart did not dispatch some messenger. Several members with¬ drew before the question could be repeated, and an awful momentarj silence succeeded their departure. The Speaker rose slowly from that chair which had been the proud source of his honours and of his high character: for a moment resumed his seat, but the strength of his mind sustained him in his duty, though his struggle was apparent. With that dignity which never failed to signalize hisoiBcial actions, he held up the bill for a moment in silence; he looked steadily around him on the last agony of the expiring Parliament. He at length repeated, in an emphatic tone, “ as many as are of opinion that this bill do pass, say aye.” The affir¬ mative was languid but indisputable, another momentary pause ensued, again his lips seemed to decline their office; at length, with an eye averted from the object which he hated, ho proclaimed, with a subdued voice, “ the AYES have it." The fatal sentence was now pronounced, for an in¬ stant he stood statue-like; then indignantly, and with disgust, flung the bill upon the table, and, and sunk into his chair with an exhausted spirit An independent country was thus degraded into a province, Ireland, as a Nation, was extinguished. EISE AND FALL OF THE IRLSH NATION. 289 ORIGINAL RED LIST, Or the Mewbers who voted against the Union in 1799 and 1800, with observations. Those Names with a • affixed to them, are County Members j those with a t» City Members; and those with a §, Borough Members; and those in Italiot c HANOED SIDES, and got either Money or Offices. OBSERVATIONS. 1. * Hononrable A. Acheson.... Son to Lord Gosford. 2. * William 0. Alcock. County Wexford. 8.* Mervyn Archdall. County Fermanagh. 4.§ W. H. Armstrong. Refused all terms from Government. 6.* Sir Richard Butler . Changed sides. See Black List. 6.* John Bagwell . Changed sides twice. See Black List. r.§ Peter Burro wes. Now Judge of the Insolvent Court; a steady Anti-Unionist. 8. * John Bagwell, jim . Changed sides. See Black List. 9. t John Ball. Member for Drogheda— incorruptihlei 10. t Charles Ball. Brother to the preceding. 11. t Sir Jonah Barrington. King’s Counsel—Judge of the Admiralty— refused all terms. 12. § Charles Bushe. Afterwards Solicitor-General, and Chief-Justice of Ireland—incorruptible. 15. f John 0. Beresford.. Seceded from Mr. Ponsonby in 1779, on his de¬ claration of independence. That secessioa was fatal to Ireland 14. Arthur Brown. .Member for the University, changed sides in 1800; was appointed Prime Seijeant by Lord Castlereagh, through Mr. Cooke—of all others the most open and palpable case. See Black List. 16. § William Blakeney. A Pensioner, but opposed Government, 16. * William Burton. Sold his Borough, Carlow, to an Unionist (Lord Tullamore), but remained staunch himself. 17. * H. V. Brooke. 18. § Blayney Balfour. 19. § David Babbington. Connected with Lord Belmore: 20. t Hon. James Butler.. (Now Marquis of Ormonde) voted in 1800 against an Union, but with Government on Lord Corry’s motion. H-* Ool. J. Maxwell Barry. (Now Lord Favnham) nephew to the Speaker. 22. § William Bagwell . Changed sides twice, concluded as an Unionists See Black List. 23. * Viscount Corry. (Now Lord Belmore) dismissed from his rogi> ment by Lord Cornwallis—a sealous leader of the Opposition. Mkf Robert . A Barrister, bribed by Lord Casilereagh. See his letter to Lord Belvidere, T 290 RISE AND FALL OP THE IRISH NATION. Obsei'jations. 25. * Lord Clemente.. (Now Lord Leitrim.) 26. * Lord Colo.(Now Lord Ennistillen) unfortunately db Bonted from Mr. Ponsonby’e motion for a do claration of, independonce in 1779, whereh'^ the Union was revived and cawied. £7.§ Hononrahle Lowry Cole.... A General; brother to Lord Cole. 28. * R. Shapland Carew. 29. t Hon. A. Creighton.. . Changed sides, and became a Unioniet. See Black List. SO.f Hon. J, Creighton . Changed sides. See Black List. 81.^ Joseph Edward Cooper. 32. t James Cane . Changed sides. See Black List. 33. * Lord Caulfield. (Now Earl Charlemont) son to Earl Charlemont, a principal Leader of the Opposition. 81.f Henry Coddington. S5.§ George Crookshank. A son of the Judge of thA Common Pleas. 33.* Denis B. Daly.. Brother-in-law to Mr. Ponsonby j a most active Anti-Unionist. B7.t Noah Dalway. B8.* Prichard Dawson. B9.* Arthur Dawson.. formerly a Banker, father to the late Under F'oretary. 40. * Francia Dobbs...Famous for his Doctrine on the Millennium; an ENTHUSIASTIC Anti-Unionist. 41. t John Egan,.,,.....King’s Counsel, Chairman of Kilmainham; offered a Judge’s eeat, but could not be pur chased, though far from rich. 42. R. L. Edgeworth 43. t George Evans 44. * Sir John Freke, Bart. (Now Lord Carberry.) 45. * Frederick Fi-kiner..,..,,..., Though a distressed person, could not be pur* chased. 46. § Rt. Hon. J. Fitzgerald.Prime-Serjeant of Ireland; could not be bought, and was dismissed from his high office by Lord Cornwallis; father to Mr. VeseyFitz. gerald. 47. * SVilliam C. Fortescue.One of the three who inconsiderately opposed (Poisoned by accident.) Mr. Ponsonby, andthereby earriedthe Union 48. * r,t. Hon. John Foster. Speaker, the chief of the Opposition through, cut the whole contest 4!).* Hon. Thomas Foster. 50.* Sir T. Fetlierston, Bart.... Changed sides. See Black List. 61. * Arthur French.Unfoitniiately coincided with Mr. Fortescue in 17 V9, against Mr. Ponsonby. 62. § Chickestsr Foriescue . King-at-Arm.s; brought over in 1800 by Lord CasUereagh; voted both sides; ended a Unionist. (“•S.l William 0 «.». Bought by Lord Castlereagh in 1800. 64 .§ Hamilton Georges. A distressed man, but could not be puoohas father-in-law to Secretary Cooke. 65 § lit. Hon. H. Graltiri, msj AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION, 291 ObE-jrvalloM. 56.§ Thomas Gooid. Now Serjeant, brought into Parliament by liis Ajiti-Unionista. t7.j' Hans Hamilton. Member for Dublin County. Edward Hardman. City of Drogheda; the Speaker’s friend. 69.§ Francis Hardy. Author of the life of Charlemont; brother-in law to the Bishop of Down. 60. § Sir Joseph Hoare. 61. * William Hoare Home. Wicklow County. 62. § Edward Hoare. Though very old, and stone blind, attended all the debates, and eat up all the nights of debate. 63. § Bartholomew Hoare. King’s Counsel. 64. § Alexander Hamilton.. King’s Counsel; son to the Baron. 65. § Hon. A. C. Hamilton. 66. § Sir P. Hopkins, Bart.Prevailed on to take money to vacate, in ISOO, and let in a Unionist. 67. t H. Irwin. 68. * GUbert King. 69. t Charles King. 70. * Hon. Robert King. 71. * Lord Kingsborongh.. (Now Earl Kingston.) 72. Hon. George Knox.. .. Brother to Lord Northland; lukewarm. 73. t Francis Knox.Vacated his seat for Lord Castlereagh. Sty Mr. Crowe’s Letter. 74. * Right Hon. Henry King. 75. t Major Ku g. He opened the Bishop of Clogher's Borough in 1800. 7G.§ Gustavns Lambert.Brother to Countess Talbot. 77. * David Latouche,jun. Banker. 78. § Robert Latouche. Ditto. 79. § John Latoucbe, sen..... Ditto. 60.§ John Latoiehe, jun.Ditto. 81. * Charles Powell Leslie. 82. * Edward Lee. Member for the County of Waterford; zealoos, 83. t Sir Thomas Lighton, Bart. A Banker. 84. * Lord Maxwell. Died Lord Farnham. 85. * Alexander Montgomery. 86. § Sir J. M'Cartney, Bart. Much distressed, but could not be bribed; ne- phew, by afSnity to the Speaker. 67.§ William Thomas Mansel... ActaaMj purchased by Lord Castlereagh. 6S.§ Stephen Moore . Changed sides on Lord Corry’s motion. Beta Debates, 69.§ John Jloore. 90. Arthur Moore. Now Judge of the Common Pleas; a staunch Anti-Unionist. 91. * Lord Mathew. (Now Earl Llaudaflf) Tipperary County. 02. § Thomas Mahon. 93. § John Metge. Brother to the Baron of the Exchequer. 94. § Richa/rd Neville . Had been a dismissed treasury officer; sold hif vote to be reinstated; changed sides. Sm B lack List. 292 RISE AKD lALL OF TUE IRISH KATION. Obaervations, 95. § Tbomas Newenbam.The Author of various Works on Ireland} on# of the steadiest Anti-Unionists. 96. * Charles O’Hara. Sligo County. 97'* Sir Edward O’Brien. Clare County. 98. § Col. Hugh O’Donnel. A most ardent Anti-Unionist; dismissed fron his regiment of Mayo militia. 99. § James Moore O’Donnel... Killed by Mr. Bingham in a duel. 100. § Hon. W. O’Callaghan.Brother to Lord Lismore. 101. Henry Osborn. Could not be bribed: his brother was. 102. * Et. Hon. Geo. Ogle. Wexford County. 103. § Joseph Preston. An eccentric character; could not be purchased, 104. * John Preston . Of Bellintor, was purchased by a title (Lord Tara,) and his brother, a parson, got a living of £700 a-year. 105. * Et. Hon. Sir J. Parnell.... Chancellor of the Exchequer, dismissed by Lord Castiereagh; incorruptible. 106. § Henry Parnell.* 107. § W. C. Plunket.Now Lord Plunket. See his able speech. 108. * Et. Hon. W. B. Ponsonby. Afterwards Lord Ponsonby. 109. § J. B. Ponsonby.Afterwards Lord Ponsonby. 110. § Major W. Ponsonby. A General, killed at Waterloo. 111. * Et. Hon. G. Ponsonby.... Afterwards Lord Chancellor; died of apoplexy 112. * Sir Laurence Parsons.King’s County; now Earl of Eosse; made *■ remarkably fine speech. 113. § Eichard Power.. Nephew to the Baron of the Exchequer. 114. * Abal Ram . Changed sides. 115. * Qustavus Roclifort .. County Westmeath; seduced by Government, and changed sides in 1800. See Black List. 116. § John S. Eochfort..Nephew to the Speaker. 117. Sir Wm. Eichardson. 118. § John Reihy . Changed sides. 119. William E. Eeily. L20.§ Charles Euxton. 121. § William P. Euxton. 122. * Clotworthy Rowley . Changed sides. 123. § William Rowley . Changed sides. 124. § J. Rowley . Changed sides. 125. * Francis Saunderson. 126. * William Smyth.Westmeath. 127. * James Stewart. 128. § Hon. W. J. Skeffington. 129. * Francis Savage. IS0.§ Francis Synge. 181.§ Henry Stewart. 132, § Sir E. St. George, Bart. * Sir John Parnel was one of the ablest supporters of Government 0 ? hIS day. His son has taken assiduously a more extensive and deeper field ot hzdf ness in finance, but in any other point, public or private, has no adrantagt over' his father. See Black List. See Black List. See Ditto. See Ditto. RISE AM) FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 293 ObserTations. 133. § flow. Beil), Stratford .Now Lord Aldborough; gained by Lord Cas« tlereagh; changed sides. See Black Liet. 134. * Nalbaniel Sueyd. 135. * Thomas Stannus . Changed sides. Lord Portarlington’* member. See Black List. 136. § Robert Shaw. A Banker. 137. § Eight Hon. Wm. Saurin... Afterwards Attorney-General; a steady bnt calm Anti-Unioniet. 138. § William Tigbe. 139. § Henry Tigbe. l-lO.f John Taylor. 141.§ Thomas Townshend. 143.* Hon, Richard Trench .Voted against the Union in 1799; was gained by Lord Castlereagh, whose relative he mar* ried, and voted for it in 1800; was created an Earl, and made an Ambassador to Hoi* land: one of the Vienna Carvers; and a Dutch Marquess. 143.* Hon. R. Taylor. 144. § Charles Vereker.. (Now Lord Gort) City Limerick. 145. § Owen Wynne. 14G.* John Waller. 147. § E. D. Wilson. 148. § Thomas Whaley .First voted against the Union; purthasei by Lord Castlereagh; he was Lord Clara’s brother-in-law. See Black List. 149. * Nicholas Westby. 150. * John Wolfe.Member for the County Wicklow; Colonel of the Kildare Militia, refused to vote for Government, and was cashiered; conld not be purchased. By the Red and Black Lists (published at the time, the originals being now ill the Author’s possession), it is evident, beyond all contradiction, that of those who bad, in 1799, successfully opposed the Union, or had declared against it, Lord Castlereagh palpably purchased twenty-five before the second discussion in 1800, which made a difference of fifty votes in favour of Government; and it is therefore equally evident, that, by the public and actual bribery of those twenty-five members, and not by any change of opinion in the country, or any fair or honest majority, Mr. Pitt and his instruments carried the Union in the Commons’ House of Parliament; and it is proper the English nation should know accurately how they have acquired the incumbrance of Ireland in its pre* tent form, and what little importance was set on every principle of the British Constitution, in the mind of the same Minister whom they immediately after* wards entrusted with their own liberties, their money, and their national repo* tation—every one of which was more or less sacrificed, or squandered, during hia administration in England, and his negotiations at Vienna. The observations annexed to the names in these Lists wers, at the time eithes in actual proof, or sufficiently notorious to have been printed in various dooa* meats at that epoch. As to the House of Lords, the servile—almost mirMOa 294 RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. Iona—snbimssion with which they surrendered their hereditary prerogatives, honours, rights, and dignities, into the hands of the Lords Clare and Castlereagh, is a subject unprecedented. But this being announced for discussion by the Im¬ perial Parliament, in the ensuing seseiou, througn the interference of Lord Rosa, more, &c., &o., no list of the Lords is here given, in order not to anticipate that parliamentary stricture, which will bo, no doubt, moie potent and elucidating than any which could with propriety bo made in any other place than in that august assembly. As the capitulation was disgusting, the discussion must bo severe. ORIGINAL BLACK LIST. OBSEEVATION3, 1, B. Alridge. An English Clerh in the Secretary’s OfiBce j no connexion with Ireland. 2. Henry Alexander. Chairman of Ways and Means; cousin of Lord Caledon; his brother made a Bishop; him. self Colonial Secretary at the Cape of Good Hope. 8. Richard Archdall. Commissioner of the Board of Works. 4. William Baily. Commissioner of Ditto. 6. Eight Hon. J. Beresford. First Commissioner of Revenue; brother-in- law to Lord Clare. 6. J. Beresford, jun.... Then Purse-bearer to Lord Clare, afterwards a Parson, and now Lord Decies, 7. Mareus Beresford... A Colonel in the Army, son to the Bishop, Lord Clare's nephew. 8. J. Bingham*.Created a Peer; got £8,000 for two seats; and £15,000 compensation for Tuam. This gen¬ tleman first oTeied himself for sale to the Anti-Unionists: Lord Clanmorris. 9. Joseph H. Blake. Created a Peer —Lord Wallscourt, & 0 , ID. Sir J. G. Blackwood. Created a Peer —Lord Dufferin. 11. Sir John Blaquiere. Wumerous Offices and Pensions, and created a Peer—Lord de Blaqmere. 12. Anthony Botet. Appointed Commissioner of the Barrack Board, £500 a-year. 13. Colonel Burton. Brother to Lord Conyugham; a Colonel in tha Army. 14 Sir Bdchard Butler . Purchased and changed sides j voted against the Union in 1799, and/oi it in 1300. Cash. •The Author of this work was deputed to learn rxom Mr. Bingham what hi* expectations from Government for his seats were j he proposed to take from the Opposition £8,000 for his two seats for Tuam, and oppose the Union. Govern, ment afterwards sdded a Peerage, and £15,000 for the Borough. RISE AND FALL OF TUE IRISH NATION. 295 15, Lord Boyle, 16. Bight Hon. D. Bi'owu. 17. Stewart Bince.. 18. George Burdet. 19. George Banbury. 20. Arthur Brown . 21. —— Bagwell, sen., 22. - Bagwell, jun, 23. William Bagwell..., 24. Lord Castlercagb.., George Cavendish.. 26. Sir Q. Cavendish... 27. Sir £. Chinnery.... 28. James Cano. 29. Thomas Casey.. 30. Colonel C. Cope..., 81. GeaeradCridock.... 82. James Crosby. 23. Edward Cooke. 84. Charles H.Coote.... 86. Bight Hon. L Cony. 86. Sir J. Cotter... 87. Eichard Cotter. 88. Hou. E. Creighton..., 89. Hon. J. Creighton...., 40. W. A. Croabio,.. 41. James Cuiie... Observations. Son to Lord Shannon; they got oa immensi emu of money for their Seats and Boroughs; at £15,000 each Borough, Brother to Lord Sligo. Gentleman Usher at Dubliu Castle i now s Baronet. Commissioner of a fublio Boards £500 per annum. Ditto. Changed sides and principles, and was ap¬ pointed Serjeant; in 1799 opposed tho Union, and supported it in ISOO; ho was Senior Fellow of Dublin University; lost his seat the ensuing election, and died. Changed twice; got half the patronage of Tip* pcraiy; his son a Dean, &o., &o. Ditto, got the Tipperary Eeglment, &o. His brother. The Eish Minister. Secretary to the Treasury daring pleasure; son to Sir Henry. Eeceiver-General during pleasure; deeply in¬ debted to the Crown, Placed in ofSco after the Union. Eenegaded, and got a pension. A C'^mmission of Bankrupts under Lord Clare; made a City Magistrate. Eenegaded; got a Kegiment, and the patronage of his county. Eetumed by Government; much military rank; now Lord Howden. A regiment and the patronage of Kerry, jointly; seconded tho Address. Under-Secretary at the Castle. Obtained a Kegiment, (which was taken trom Colonel Warburton,) patronage of Queen’s County, and a Peerage, (Lord Castlecoote,) and £7,500 in cash for his interest at tho Borough of Maryborough, in which, in fact, it was proved before the Commissioners that the Author of this work had more interest than his Lordship. Appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, oo dismissal of Sir John Parnell. Privatery brought over by cash. Kenegaded (see Bed List) privately purchased. Comptroller to theLord Lieutenant’s Household Natural son to Mr. Cuffeof the Board of WorkSi his father created Lord Tjrawly. 296 RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. Observations. ■i2. General Danne..... Eetnmed for Maryborough by tbe united in. fluence of Lord Castlecoote and Government, to keep out Mr. Barrington; gained tbe election by only one. 43. William Elliott... Secretary at tbe Castle. 44. General Eustace. A Regiment. 15. Lord 0. Fitzgerald. Duke of Leinster’s brother; a Pension and a Peerage j a Sea OfiBcer of no repute. 46. Right Hon. W. Fitzgerald. 47. Sir 0. Fortescue.... Renegaded (see Red List) Officer, King-at-Arms, 48. A. Fergusson. Got a place at a Barrack Board, £500 a-year, and a Baronetcy. 49. Luke Fox.. Appointed Judge of Common Pleas; nephew by marriage to Lord Ely. 60. William Fortescue. Got a secret Pension, out of a fund (£3,000 a year) entrusted by Parliament to the Irish Government, solely to reward Mr. Reynolds, Cope, &c., &o., and those who informed against rebels. 51. J. Galbraith. Lord Abercorn’s Attorney; got a Baronetcy. 62. Henry D. Grady*. First Counsel to the Commissioners. 63. Richard Hare. Put two members into Parliament, and was created Lord Ennismore for their votes. 64. WillliamHare... His son. 65. Colonel B. Henniker.. A Regiment, and paid £3,500 for his Seat by the Commissioners of Compensation. 66. Peter Holmes... A Commissioner of Stamps. 67. George Hatton.. Appointed Commissioner of Stamps. 68. Hon. J. Hutchinson. A General—Lord Hutchinson. 69. Hugh Howard. Lord Wicklow’s brother, made Postmaster- General. 60. Wm. Handcock. An extraordinary instance; he made and sang (Athlone) songs against the Union, in 1799, at a publio dinner of the Opposition; and made and sang songs for it in 1800; he got a Peerage. 61. John Hobson.Appointed Storekeeper at the Castle Ordnance. 62. Colonel G. Jackson.A Regiment. 63. Denham Jephson. Master of Horse to the Lord Lieutenant. 64. Hon. G. Jocelyn. Promotion in the army, and his brother con- socrated Bishop of Lismore. 65. William Jones. 66. Theophilus Jones. Collector of Dublin. 67. Major-General Jackson. A Regiment. • This gentleman the Author knew to bo entirely indisposed to an Union, but peculiar circumstances prevented him imperatively, but honourably, from follow, ing his own impression. The Author communicated to Mr. George Ponsonby these causes, as he thought it but justice to Mr. Grady, who, on some occasions, did not conceal his sentiments, and acted fairly. RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 297 Observations. 63. William Johnson. Returned to Parliament by Lord Castlereagh, as he himself declared, “to put an end to it;" appointed a Judge since. 69. Robert Johnson. Seceded from his patron, Lord Downshire, and was appointed a Judge. 70. John Eeane. A Renegade; got a pension; See Red List. 71. James Kearny. Returned by Lord Clifton, being his Attorney; got an office. 72. Henry Kemmis. Son to the Crown Solicitor 73. William Knot.Appointed a Commissioner of Appeals, £800« year. 74. Andrew Knox. 75. Colonel Keatinge. 76. Rt. Hon. Sir H. Langrishe... A Commissioner of the Revenue, received £15,000 cash for his patronage at Knoctopher. 77. T. Lingray, sen. Commissioner of Stamps, paid £1,500 for his patronage. 78. T. Lindsay, jun. Usher at the Castle, paid £1,500 for his patronage. 79. J.Longfield. Created a Peer; Lord Longueville. 80. Capt. J. Longfield. Appointed to the office of Ship Entries of Dublin, taken from Sir Jonah Barrington. 61. LordLoftus. Son to Lord Ely, Postmaster-General; got £30,000 for their boroughs, and created an English Marquis. 82. General Lake. An Englishman (no connexion with Ireland) ; returned by Lord Castlereagh, solely to vote for the Union. 83. Right Hon. David Latonche. 84. General Loftus... A General; got a Regiment; cousin to Lord Ely. 85. Francis M‘Namara.Cash, and a private Pension, paid by Lord Castlereagh. 86. Ross Mahon... Several appointments and places by Govern. ment. 67. Richard Martin. Commissioner of Stamps. 68. Right Hon. Monk Mason.... A Commissioner of Revenue. 89. H. D. Massy.Received £4,000 cash 60. Thomas Mahon. 91. A. E. M'Naghten.. Appointed a Lord of the Treasury, &c. 92. Stephen Moore,. A Postmaster at will. 93. N. M. Moore. 94; Eight Hon. Lodge Morris... Created a Peer. 65. Sir R. Musgrave. Appointed Receiver of the Customs £l,2CO a year. 96. James M'Cleland.A Barrister—appointed Solicitor-General, rtnf then a Baron of the Exchequer. 97. Colonel C. M'Donnel.Commissioner of Imprest Accounts, £500 per annum. 98. Richard Magenness.Commissioner of Imprest Accounts, £500 per annum. 69. Thomas Nesbit... A Pensioner at will. 298 aiSL' AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. Observation 0 . 100. Sir W, Q.'Eewcomen,Bavt. Bought (aeo Memoir ante), and a Peorago tot bis wife. 101. Eicbard Neville.Renegaded; reinstated as Teller of the Ex* chequer. 102. VVilHam Odell.A Regiment, and Lord of the Treasury. 103. Charles Osborne-.A Barrister; appointed a Judgo of the King’s Bench. 104. C. M. Orrasby. Appointed First Council Commissioner. 105. Admiral Pacltenham.Master of the Ordnance. 106. Colonel Packenham.A Regiment; killed at New Orleans. 107. H. S. Prittie.A Peerage—Lord Danalley. lOS. R. Pennefather. 109. T. Prendergast.An office in the Court of Chancery, £300 b year; his brother Crown Solicitor. 110. Sir Richard Quin.A Peerage. 111. Sir Boyle Eoche.Gentleman Usher at the Castle. 112. R. Rutledge. 113. Eon. C. Rowley.Renegaded, and appointed to office by Lord Castlereagh. 114 Eon. E. Skeffington.Clerk of the Paper Office of the Castle, aud £7,500 for his patronage. 115. William Smith.A Barrister; appointed a Baron of Exchequer. 116. E. M. Sandford.Created a Peer; Lord Mount Sandford. 117. Edmond Stanley.Appointed Commissioner of Accounts; 118. John Staples. 119. John Stewart....-.Appointed Attorney-General, and created g Baronet. 120. John Stratton. 121. lion, B. Stratford .Renegaded to get £7,600, his half of the com* pensatiou for Baltinglass. 122. Hon. J. Stratford .Paymaster of Foreign Forces, £1,300 a year, and £7,500 for Baltinglass. 123. Richard Sharkey.An obscure Barrister; appointed a County Judge- 124. Thomas Stannus .Eeuegaded. 123. J. Savage. 123, Eight lion. J. Toler.Attorney-General; his wife, an old woman created a Peeress; himself made Chief Justice, and a Peer. 127. Frederick Trench..... Appointed a Commissioner of tho Board ol Works. 129. Eon. E, Trench.. A Barrister; created a Peer, and made an -AiU' bassador. Sea Red List. t.28« Oharlea Trench.,Eis brother; appointed Commissioner of Inland Navigation—a new offioe created by Lord ComwalliB, for rewards. I.B0. Richard Talbot. i31. P. Tottenham....Compensation for patronage; cousin, aiid politically connected with Lord Ely, 182.. Lord ... . 104 offices in the gift of his family; proposed the Uaion in Parliament, by a arjoath written in tho crown of his hat. EISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 299 133. Charles Tottenham 134. -Townsend. 135. Robert Tighe.. 136. Robert Uniack. 137. James Verner. 138. J. 0. Vandeleur.... 139. Colonel Weniyss.... 140. Henry Westenraw., Observations. In office. A Commissioner. Commissioner of Barracks. A Commissioner ; connected with Lord Clare. Called the Prince of Orange. Commissioner of the Revenue ; liis brother a J udge. Collector of Kilkenny'. Father of Lord Rossrnore, who is of the very reverse of his father’s politics. THE END. ■» I f