to implore his Majesty to take the fame into his ferious confideration, and to direct fuch measures to be adopted, as in his wifdom may seem beft calculated to tranquillize that part of his dominions, and to ftrengthen its connection with Great-Britain. The great object he had in coming forward, was to draw the attention of Minifters and that Houfe to the ftate of Ireland. It had been alledged against him, that he propofed his motion without fufficient notice, and that he neglected to come forward until the last day but one of the Seffion this confideration, however, did not lie with him, he infifted he had given timely notice of his intention; fo long as a fortnight fince, even the very day after the acts paffed. He had faid, if Minifters did, not speedily turn their fetious attention to the affairs of Ireland, he thould deem it his duty to bring forward the fubject. Farther, he had no hefitation in faying, that if Minifters had in their places the preceding night, or even then, told him they had no time,under the immediate circumftances, to pay due attention to the fubje&, and, felf-moved, have pledged themselves to keep it in their contemplation; fuch a declaration would do more towards tranquillizing Ireland, than the adoption of any motion he could bring forward; more efpecially one, which, from its peculiar nature, could not, evidently, be carried into immediate effect. In acting as he had done, his view was to enforce upon the conviction of Minifters the neceffity of their taking up the fubject with all that attentive confideration, which belonged to one of its importance, and with as little delay as poffible. In making this obfervation, he muft exprefs his regret at having occafion to remark, that this great national question was treated of by fome Gentlemen, as if Ireland was in another hemifphere, or even as if that country had no exiftence. At the fame time he would repeat, that he did not expect the remedy to be immediately applied; he only was anxious for an avowal of the determination of Minifters upon the point. With refpect to the infinuations that his wifh was to unhinge the public mind, he regarded them with the contempt they deferved; however, he muft deprecate a great deal of what fell from a noble Lord, and exprefs his decided difapprobation of the principles on which he feemed to confider the fubject in queftion. These confiderations were the more ferious, when the fituation in the Government filled by that noble Lord was recollected, and the correfpondent degree of the royal confidence he must be fuppofed VOL. IV. 1802-3. 5 S to enjoy. His conduct on this occafion almost reminded him of the words of the poet : Proud Man! Dr.fs'd in a little brief authority; * His glaffy effence, like an angry ape, Plays fuch fantastic tricks before high Heav'n He agreed, however, to a certain extent, with the noble Lord, as far as he panegyrifed the conduct and administration of a noble Marquis in Ireland; but with refpect to the Adminiftration of another noble Lord, he could not fay as much; and he must pronounce the noble Lord, fo far as that part of his fpeech went, to be a most unfortunate apologift: he hoped, however, his Lordship would manage his prefent fituation better than he did the affairs of his own Country: a part of the world which the noble Lord feemed completely to have forgotten fo far, that any fubject appeared to be the object of his care and folicitude, in preference to the concerns of Ireland. The noble Lord, however callous he may seem to be to the fituation of his country, thould recollect the important hare he had in the arrangements under which it was now governed; he well knew the wants of his country, and it was peculiarly incumbent upon one, so circumstanced as the noble Lord, feriously to attend to them. Adverting to the confideration of the Catholic queftion, he was glad to hear, he faid, that its merits were not thought to be implicated in the prefent fubject of difcuffion; and after fome allufions to the fituation of the Catholics in Ireland under the exifting system, he observed that the last rebellion in Ireland, fo far from being a Catholic one, all its leaders were either Proteftants or Prefbyterians; the great majority of those who bure arms during the rebellion, numerically fpeaking, were undoubtedly profelfors of the Catholic religion, but that was of neceffity the cafe, because it was well known the great mass of the lower orders of the people in Ireland were of that perfuafion; they were, therefore, ufed as the inftruments of those who projected the rebellion, and by whom it was conducted; however, religion formed no part of the confideration. The first fymptoms of fedition appeared in the north of Ireland, a part part of the country where, comparatively speaking, very few Catholics refide, and thefe fymptoms of difaffection were, he thought, attributable to the conduct of Orange-Men in that quarter. (No! No! refounded from different paris of the Houfe.) With refpect to the proper line of conduct for Irish Members in that Houfe, he hoped the time was come when old prejudices no longer exifted; he hoped the Irish part of the reprefentation were as well difpofed to fupport the general caufe of the empire, as any other within those walls; yet he could not avoid putting it to them, tha', under the prefent circumftances, the affairs of their own country. fhould, in the first instance, be the objects of their anxious attention: though he advanced this propofition, he did not mean to fay that they fhould in any degree neglect to ftrengthen the hands of Government in the prefent crifis, with a view to the safety and honour of the empire at large. He must repeat his conviction, that, under the exifting circumftances, Minifters could not immediately come forward with an adequate remedy for what he complained of on the part of Ireland; they could not at once produce a fyftem capable of reftoring it to that degree of tranquil fecurity which he fo anxiously defired. Recurring again to the confideration of the Irish Catholics, he obferved, that the difpo fition of the body might fo far be judged by the circumstance, that ever fince they enjoyed the liberty of purchasing lands, they purchafed as often under the forfeited claims as under the old Catholic act. He then proceeded to animadvert upon various points in the fpeech of a right honourable Gentleman oppofite, (the Chancellor of the Exchequer), who, he observed, had taken occafion to panegyrise the con duct of Minifters, on the pretext of defending the dignity of the Houfe; and he had particularly to congratulate the right honourable Gentleman on his novel meafure of having a Heet ready for fea, without a single man on board! a circumftance, which, however, his modefty induced him to pafs over, while enumerating the fervices of Minifters to the country. In concluding, he begged pardon of the Houfe, for de aining them fo long at that late hour; he had, however, been misconceived in almost every thing he faid refpecting Ireland, the fituation of which country he implored the Houfe to take into their speedy and ferious confideration; fhould they not redrefs the grievances of Ireland, and conciliate its inhabitants, it were humanity to annihilate it! 582 The The queftion was then put, and the motion was negatived without a divifion. At three o'clock his Majeftv appeared in the Houfe of Lords, where the Peers were affembled. His Majesty being feated on the Throne, a meffage was fent to defire the attendance of the Houfe of Commons. The Speaker, accompanied by feveral Members, approached the Bar of the Houfe cf Lords, and addreffed his Majefty in thefe terms; "MOST GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN, "Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal fubjects, the knights, citizens, and burgeffes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament affembled, have at length completed the fupplies granted to your Majesty for the férvice of the prefent year-a period memorable for the events which it has produced, and awful for those which may be yet to come. "In granting thofe fupplies, your Majefty's faithful Commons have confidered, that a crifis without example demanded unexampled efforts: and, by refolving to raise annually a large proportion of the fupplies for the current year, fo long as the war endures, they have given to all the world a folemn pledge of their inflexible determination to render public credit unaffailable. "They have alfo proceeded to revife the fyftem of your Majefty's permanent revenue. By confolidating the duties in each of its principal branches, they have fimplified its opeations, and at the fame time they have endeavoured to render its preffure lefs burthenfome, by regulating its mode of collection. "The commercial interefts of this country, to which our attention was called by your Majefty's gracious commands at the commencement of the prefent Seffion, have been maturely confidered; and mealures have been taken for afford. ding material accommodations and facilities to mercantile tranfactions, by rendering our principal ports free for all nations to import, depofit, and re-export their merchandize, without toll or tax, unlefs voluntarily brought into our own market for home-confumption. Nor have we forgotten to beftow our carneft and ferious thoughts thoughts upon the fafety and efficacy of our church establishment in every part of the United Kingdom. Upon this fubject, as comprehending all that confecrates our rational hopes, morals, and policy, we have deliberated with peculiar care and anxiety; and we prefume to believe, that the important laws which have been paffed in aid of our church eftablishment will materially ftrengthen and gradually extend its influence through fucceeding ages. "But, Sire, these were cares and objects belonging to times of peace. Wife, politic, and defirable as they might be, nevertheless, called upon now by your Majesty's commands, we have without hesitation turned all our thoughts and efforts to meet the renewal of war, perfuaded that your Majefty's paternal care preferved to us the bleffings of peace, fo long as they could be retained with fafety and honour, and confident that fince they have been openly attacked, and the juftice of our caufe has been made manifeft to the world, our appeal to arms will not be in vain. "This war we fee and know to be a war of no ordinary character. We feel that our religion, laws, and liberties, and existence as a nation are put to the iffue, and we have prepared for the contest accordingly. Befides the supplies of money, we have augmented beyond all former example every fpecies of military force known in this country-we have met rebellion with prompt and neceffary laws-and for the defence of a Sovereign endeared to us by long experience. of his royal virtues, and commanding not our allegiance alone, but our hearts and affections, the whole nation has risen up in arms. "May then the God of our Fathers go forth with us to battle, and blefs our caufe, and stablish with victory that Throne which we revere as the bulwark of our liberties; and fo fhall other nations at length learn, that a free, valiant, and united people is unconquerable, and able to fet lasting bounds to an empire of violence, perfidy, and unrelenting ambition. "To the bills which I have now humbly to present to your Majesty, your Commons, with all humility, entreat your Majefty's royal affent." His Majefty returned the following moft gracious anfwer: "MY LORDS, AND GENTLEMEN, "I am at length enabled, by the state of public business, to |