greatest popularity, it reached the uproar, if not the dignity, of a hurricane. But it was far from the intention of those who had excited the commotion, to brave the perils of independence: they had raised a popular clamour, that they might be employed to put it down; and that the minister, alarmed for his own or the public safety, might acquiesce in that local despotism, which they were labouring to establish. The device succeeded. It required,' as we are told by respectable authority,

the superior good sense of Sir Robert Walpole, his conciliating wisdom, and the result of that wisdom, his pacific system, to affect what he did; and it is a plain proof that he well knew, and duly estimated, the understanding and temper of those, on whose regards, Ireland, at that time, rested.' These were the Whig aristocracy; whose character is described, by the same writer, as compounded of ' a love of liberty, a thirst of dominion, the spirit of Cromwell's agitators, and a jealous anxiety to secure their new possessions.' Walpole's pacific system was, in fact, a capitulation with the heads of the party, by which he surrendered to them the internal administration of Irish affairs, with those emoluments of place and patronage which limit the ambition of sordid minds. They were styled the undertakers of the king's business; an ominous title, but most justly applied, as, from education

should have joined in the outcry, of which Wood's patent was the ostensible cause.

and from habit,' said the late lord Charlemont,

they were well fitted to preside at the funeral of the common-weal.' The floors of parliament were strewed with golden favours, which the chiefs distributed, in due gradation, among the other lords and principal proprietors. Bounties were voted, for the encouragement of agriculture and other local improvements, which, by a process well known to Irish nobles and their agents, returned in the shape of rent into the pockets of the bountiful: magistrates were raised above the laws: grand juries were invested with an indefinite and irresponsible power of taxation : places were multiplied, in all the public offices, until the establishments of Ireland grew to a gorgeous magnificence, which mocked the poverty of the state, and the wretchedness of the people. In the mean time, the Roman Catholics, left to writhe under the atrocious code of the aristocracy, had leisure for reflection on their own folly, and the duplicity of those whom they had helped to aggrandize.

Nearly thirty years passed away, during which the dominion of this oligarchy was unmolested. At length, in 1753, the English ministry repented their inglorious abdication of the government of Ireland. They resolved to introduce a more liberal system; but, aware of their own weakness, or perhaps averse to precipitate changes, they at first spoke of no more than a rotation of offices among the Irish gentry. The undertakers, on the other hand, had, by this time, consolidated a very formidable power; and were determined to defend the

bulwarks of their profitable monopoly. They presented to the minister a firm parliamentary array, which called itself the Fixed National Interest of Ireland; comprizing in fact a majority of the great proprietors; which had been taught, by long possession, and by the cravings of prodigality, to consider the gains of office as a species of private right; and every member of which, being himself the centre of a minor sphere of corruption, was supported, in his turn, by a host of retainers. A contest ensued, which, with the exception of a few intervals of exhaustion on both sides, was maintained, for nearly half a century. In its later stages, discipline improved both the taste and the tactics of the advocates of colonial tyranny; flashes of genius gave occasional brilliancy to the dispute; popular topics were adroitly pressed into the service of corruption; and some unexpected incidents arose from time to time, which, even now that their importance is gone for ever, quicken the throbbings in the breast of every Irishman: but the first struggle of the aristocracy was one revolting exhibition of insolent venality. It ended without any decisive result. Many of the minor placemen were

*The pamphlets of the time and the party, are preserved in two volumes, under the title of The Patriot Miscellany;' which had reached a fourth edition so early as 1756. Ireland had nothing, in those days, which could be called a public; and the local despots had succeeded, in shutting out all communion with the mind of England. Accordingly, there is a frankness of avowal in these pieces, which more recent patriotism has found it prudent to disguise. A complete scheme

dismissed from office; but the phalanx was too extensive, as well as too firm, to be broken at one effort; nor could persons be readily found in Ireland, to complete the projected rotation. The

of public profligacy may be constructed out of a few sentences.

Thus :

1. Rights of the Commons.

The recommendation to appointment, is, apparently, the unalterable due of the majority of the representative body of

the nation.'

Second Letter from a Gentleman in the Country. Those who have ever seen Lord Clare's magnificent sarcasm upon 'the gentlemen who call themselves the Irish nation,' will easily understand this language. To others, it may be expedient to observe, that the counties, cities, and respectable towns of Ireland, are very fairly represented at present by one hundred members; that the Irish Commons consisted of three hundred; that of the two hundred borough members discarded at the Union, more than half were the creatures of a few grandees. 2. Conduct out of place.

Will the high-born, and not less high-spirited, Protestant gentry of Ireland, always ready to draw their swords for, and devote their lives and fortunes to, the service of his majesty, (i.e. in modern phrase, his majesty's opposition,) tamely look on while all employments, places, and preferments, are distributed among a set of minions and — ? ›

3. Conduct in place.

Dedication on Dedication.

Until the new plan (the rotation of offices) was discovered, the gentlemen of the house of commons were even over-complaisant, and too cautious to give the least rub to the measures of the court.'

Answer to Candid Inquiry.

• Such incidents in business as had the least tendency to interrupt the quiet of the session, were connived at, and passed sub silentio.

Dedication on Dedication.

English cabinet,' says Mr. Hardy, acted a wise and moderate part, in checking themselves in mid career: they saw the difficulties with which they were surrounded; and, though perfectly convinced of the obliquity of many who opposed them, they dreaded the too great success of those who combated on their side.' Upon the whole, the advantage, as well as the eclat, of victory, inclined to the domestic government: an earldom, with a pension of three thousand a year for thirty-one years, appeased the seditious zeal of the leader; and his principal associates were continued in their places. • Thus,' continues the writer above quoted, blaze which had been excited in 1753, was seen no more for a time. The chiefs, who had fanned that flame, were completely gratified by the court, and had not the least inclination to indulge the public with such spectacles, longer than suited their own sinister ambition.' *

the

The English cabinet prepared for its next campaign, upon a more extensive scale of operations. It was resolved, that Ireland should have a resident

4. A receipt for forming a government.

You know that in your country (Ireland), public matters. take their complexion entirely from the ruling interest in the house of commons; that this interest must always have a few leaders at its head; and that to support it, so as to carry on smoothly and peaceably the public business, the leaders must be invested with a power of gratifying and rewarding.'

Letter from a Right Honourable in England.

* Mr. Hardy, as before.