was formed; but when he heard that talked of as " a final adjustment," he really was at a loss to comprehend what was meant by the expression. It was, as he understood it, an adjustment calculated to remove the grievances then felt, and complained of by Ireland; but how two independent countries could make any adjustment to be deemed final and conclusive, and to preclude their power of agreeing at any future period, and under other circumstances, to any farther, arrangement, he could not conceive. At the time he was persuaded that the two countries did not intend to bind posterity, and legislate for future generations. From the nature of things the power of being competent to make new arrangements, as events and circumstances might require, must remain; it therefore appeared to him to be absurd to maintain that the adjustment of 1782 was final. But noble lords said, that as one House of the Irish parliament had rejected the proposition for a union, the matter ought to have slept there. Did they think that nothing was due to this country? Did they forget that there were two parties, whose interests were implicated in the measure; Ireland on the one side, and Great Britain on the other? Had the people of this country no right to know in what manner it had been proposed to take care of their interests on the occasion? And he must be allowed to say that something was due also to the minister himself, who had brought forward the measure, as a part of that system which he had pursued for the advantage of the country for some years, and in which he had met with the cordial support of parliament. That gentleman had a fair claim to be heard in his own defence. He trusted the noble marquis would agree with him, that if the union should produce the desirable effect of ameliorating the condition of the Irish peasant, making him feel an interest in his existence, rescuing him from the sullen despair in which he at present held his miserable being, and converting him into the child of hope and expectation, so as to put him on a footing with every description of British subjects, it would be a measure the most politically useful, that human invention could have devised.

The Earl of Westmorland said, he lamented that several of his most valuable friends, on the other side the water, differed from him in opinion respecting the

measure. The decision of the House of Commons of Ireland, who refused even to hear what the terms of the proposed union were, was certainly rashly and prematurely formed, because it did not become reasonable men, legislatively assembled, to prejudge a great national measure, before they even knew upon what grounds that measure rested. He had reason to believe, that already some of the most violent against hearing a proposition that related to a union stated to them, had begun to think it was not very wise to decide so irrationally. The noble marquis had treated the parliament of Ireland with a severity, which he could not suffer to pass unnoticed. That parliament did not deserve the sort of animadversion which the noble marquis had bestowed upon it so lavishly. Parliamentary reform and Catholic emancipation were used merely as watch-words, and words of hue-and-cry, by those who meditated the subversion of the constitution of Ireland, and its disunion from Great Britain. Catholic emancipation, unaccompanied with parliamentary reform, every man who knew any thing of the subject must know, would not only be an ineffectual, but a dangerous measure; but neither the one nor the other was in the contemplation of those, who were most clamorous for both; and in this opinion he was supported by the authority of Mr. Arthur O'Connor, and the rebels and traitors now in confinement. The petitions from the Catholics were not treated in the harsh manner stated by the noble marquis, nor did the parliament of Ireland ever lend a deaf ear to what they alleged to be their grievances; on the contrary, they were always ready to listen to the language of complaint, and, if possible, to administer an adequate remedy; but in the instance respecting Catholic emancipation, the question was, whether the Protestant ascendancy should or should not be upheld? The moment it was over-balanced in the scale, the existence of the government would necessarily be endangered. With regard to the arrangement of 1782, he was astonished to hear it said that it was final. He presumed, that no noble lord who made a part of the administration of that day, would declare he considered it as final. What they did could only be considered as preliminaries to some future proceeding: they repealed the act of George 1st, and thereby repealed Poyning's law, and they restored the appellant

your majesty such propositions as appear to us best calculated to form the basis of such a settlement, leaving it to your majesty's wisdom, at such time and in such manner, as your majesty, in your parental solicitude for the happiness of your people shall judge fit, to communicate these propositions to your parliament of Ireland, with whom we shall be at all times ready to concur in all such measures as maybe found most conducive to the acccomplishment of this great and salutary work. And we trust that, after full and mature consideration, such a settlement may be framed and established by the deliberative consent of the parliaments of both kingdoms, as may be conformable to the sentiments, wishes, and real interests of your majesty's faithful subjects of Great Britain and Ireland, and may unite them inseparably in the full enjoyment of the blessings of our free and invaluable constitution, in the support of the honour and dignity of your majesty's crown, and in the preservation and advancement of the welfare and prosperity of the whole British empire."

Lord Auckland, said:-My lords; I rise with earnestness, and with pecu. liar satisfaction, to give my support to an address to the revered sovereign of the two kingdoms, for the purpose of communicating our Resolutions to the Lords and Commons of Ireland. This measure will hold out to the Irish nation a most solemn pledge of the liberality, affection, and wisdom, of the British parliament; and will explicitly record the motives and principles by which we are guided in our endeavour to consolidate the legislatures and unite the interests of Great Britain and of Ireland. I feel no regret, my lords, that I have waited in silence to the close of our proceeding. I willingly reposed myself on the superior abilities of others, for the discussion and explanation of the leading and general topics. It may still however, be possible to throw new lights upon a question which involves the future government and well-being of the greatest empire now existing. Such a subject is inexhaustible. The portion of it which I now propose to offer to your attention, is dry and of much detail. I undertake it only from a sense of duty, and it is an encouragement to me to think that our debates are contributing to the removal of many ill-founded notions and misrepresentations, which were prevalent in the sister kingdom. Few indeed are those who now deny the necessity of some great

change being made in the system of Irish government; and I do not believe that any noble lord will maintain, as an unqualified proposition, that the union of the two kingdoms, accomplished on grounds satisfactory to each, would not promote the tranquillity, civilization, and prosperity, of Ireland, and eventually the strength and security of Great Britain, and of the British empire. I assume accordingly, that a union is desirable, if it can be reconciled to the opinions and goodwill of both the contracting parties.

The time was, my lords, when the objections would have originated in this kingdom; and we cannot wonder that our ancestors seemed to wish to avoid a measure, the immediate and most obvious benefits of which were always in favour of Ireland. It is now, however, well understood, that national wealth may be shared and extended without lessening the prosperity of the country which gives the participation; and the good sense and enlightened liberality of our countrymen would at present induce them to rely cheerfully and confidently on their parliament, both for the expediency of a union, and for the adjustment of the conditions. But the consent and co-operation of Ireland are still wanting. Ireland, my lords, must

The Report made in the Irish House of Commons in 1703, by the committee on the state of the nation, concluded with a resolution, that her majesty be moved, "that through her favourable interposition her subjects of this kingdom may be relieved from the calamities they now lie under, by a full enjoyunion with England." This representation ment of their constitution, or by a more firm was voted by the House. The address of the Irish House of Lords, 1st October, 1703, concluded thus, "As we are sensible that our preservation is owing to our being united to the crown of England, so we are convinced it would tend to our further security and happiness, to have a more comprehensive and enreturned were in general terms, and not encoutire union with that kingdom." The answers raging. On the 4th March, 1704, the Speaker in presenting the bills, referred pointedly to the representation above-mentioned, as having had the unanimous voice and consent of a full House, and prayed the lord lieutenant's support to carry it into execution. On the 9th July 1707, the Irish Commons in their address to the queen, entreated her❝ to add yet more comprehensive union." The address of greater lustre and strength to the crown, by a the Irish House of Lords on the 15th of July, 1707, was expressed in terms still stronger in favour of a union.

1782; but however perfect the independence may be in principle, it must at all times and in the nature of things be mutilated, and most imperfect in practice. We cannot shut our eyes against the truths presented by the map of Europe, and by the notoriety of the relative situation, size, and population, of the two islands.

form her own decision; she must decide | for herself, through the medium of the deliberate wisdom of her parliament. I am aware, that the proposition at its first opening, has not had the apparent assent of the Irish House of Commons. A small majority of the members who were present declined the consideration of the measure, and some individuals refused even to know what it was. I will not attribute such a conduct to interested views, to false alarms to fabricated clamour, to unthinking precipitancy, or to a false punctilio and a mistaken sense of national pride. I wish to avoid, and I disclaim, every sentiment and every expression that may be harsh or invidious: but I must be permitted to say and I say it with satisfaction, that I know enough of the theatre of action, and of the principal actors upon that theatre, to do them the justice to believe, that their resistance will give way to the commanding voice of reason and of truth. Let it be shown by our dispassionate deliberations, that the union of the two countries will be attended with many benefits to Ireland; let it be recorded that we are disposed to confer those benefits to the utmost extent compatible with our own essential interests. Let this be done :-the calm hour of reflection will convince Ireland that the objections so hastily urged on her part are unsound and fallacious.

I do not think it necessary, my lords, to attempt the examination of those objections. They have been amply confuted both in this country and in Ireland. The unconstitutional doctrine which denies the competency of parliament to effect a union, and to operate what (by an inference falsely conceived and idly expressed) is called "its own extinction," was exploded even in the beginning of this century. It has been revived in the schools of modern democracy by the admirers of the sovereignty of the people, and accordingly has the strongest claims to contempt and rejection. I propose, however, before I proceed to the commercial considerations, to examine the nature of that independence, which, as some advisers of the people of Dublin assert, will be subverted and destroyed by the consolidation of the two legislatures. I think it important to ascertain the value of what Ireland is told she will lose, before I proceed to appreciate what it is that she will gain. I recognize that independence of the Irish legislature, abstractedly considered, as secured by the arrangement of

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What, then, in point of fact, is the independence of a country which has no means of defence, or security, or selfpreservation, but through the aid and protection of its more powerful neighbour? If two countries so circumstanced take adverse lines of conduct, a struggle must ensue, and either the weaker of the two must be over-ruled, or confusion, and all the evils of war must follow. If, on the other hand, there should prevail between the two a uniform system and uniform principles of conduct, in leading points of common concern, the weaker must be presumed to have thus far sacrificed, virtually and habitually, its exercise of independent power. Let us, my lords, apply this dilemma to the known and principal objects of national independence! Ireland, or can she have, the power of negociating, controlling, or even of rejecting treaties, notwithstanding that those treaties may involve the most essential interest of the British empire, of which she forms a part? Has she the means of protecting her own commerce, or of establishing colonies, or of making and holding conquests? Has she any property, or direct concern in the acquisitions made by the fleets and armies of the sovereign? Has she, or can she have, any naval force? And is not the direction of her military force necessarily conformable to the opinion of British ministers responsible only to the British parliament? Has she, in short, or can she have, any control whatever, or any interference, or even any concern, otherwise than in a visionary and abstract claim, respecting the imperial transactions of peace and war, alliances, and confederacies? Has she, even in the exercise of legislation, any access to the royal sanction, otherwise than through British ministers not amenable to her parliament, and under the great seal of the British chancellor ?

But I wave all these considerations; though they ought to be strong inducements to Ireland not merely to accede to the proposed union, but to seek and solicit it. I wave them all, and will suppose

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