BOOK of his ability, which was really considerable, he laboured for the true good of Ireland. He died in 1742. Hoadley succeeded him, but held the Primacy for five years only, and there was then appointed to the first place in the Church of Ireland a prelate of whose virtues (for some virtues it is to be supposed that he possessed) history has preserved no record. George Stone, the son of a banker, the grandson of a gaoler at Winchester, for reasons known to himself or his father, selected the Church as his profession. Made Dean of Derry almost as early as he could hold preferment, he was advanced rapidly through the sees of Ferns and Leighlin, Kildare and Derry, to the archbishopric, which he obtained while still in the vigour of his life. If the qualities which he most exhibited in his high office were those to which he owed his rise, he was lifted forward thus rapidly for his fashionable manners, the profound absence of moral scruple or conscience, and a singular dexterity in handling the political elements of a corrupt and corrupting time. This man was, for many years, the virtual dictator of Ireland. From his handsome person he was called the 'Beauty of Holiness.' Innocent of profligacy in its ordinary forms, he was credited, perhaps unjustly, with abominable vices; but, as foul smells adhere most strongly to unwholesome bodies, the odour, not of sanctity, which enveloped Stone is an evidence that he was an unhealthy representative of the successors of St. Patrick. The Duke of Dorset, who had once already governed as Viceroy, from 1731 to 1736, returned for another five years in 1751. Growing old, and being perhaps constitutionally indolent, he made his son, Lord II. George Sackville, Irish secretary; and Lord George CHAP and the Primate ruled Ireland with the help of the Pension List.1 The financial administration had been an exception to the general neglect. The debts contracted in putting the kingdom in a state of defence in 1715, had been largely reduced, and were now under half a million. The revenues now exceeded the expenditure. The House desired that the surplus should be applied to clearing off the little that remained. The Crown challenged a right to dispose of it without giving account to Parliament; and Stone and Sackville, by free use of these funds among the political leaders, were able for a time to keep the curtain drawn. In the four years of their supremacy they came many times to issue with a powerful Parliamentary minority. Suits continued to be revived by the representatives of forfeited families, whose outlawries, notwithstanding all that had passed, the English Government persisted in taking off. Sir Thomas Prendergast, after fiftythree years' possession of an estate, which had been given to his father by King William, found his right challenged by the O'Shaughnessies. The O'Shaughnessies were supported by subscriptions among the Catholics. Prendergast, threatened with ruinous legal expenses, appealed to the House of Commons; and the Commons, in the teeth of Government influences, decided by a close division, after a violent debate, that'they would proceed against all persons who assisted the O'Shaughnessies in carrying on their suit, 1 A favourite toast at patriot public dinners in Dublin was, 'May all secretary bashaws and lordly high priests be kept to their tackle, the sword and the Bible; and may BOOK as acting in defiance and contempt of Parliament.' 1 Arthur Neville, the Surveyor-General, a favourite of the Duke of Dorset, and a member of the Lower House, was censured for misappropriation of moneys, and expelled from the Legislature. An enquiry into the Pension List would have followed; but Boyle, the Speaker, who had been the chief promoter of the agitation, had gained the object for which he cared, in compelling the Government to make terms with him. Dorset was recalled as a constitutional concession, and the Primate was dismissed for a time from the Privy Council; but the essential mischiefs continued unabated. The country was plundered further to corrupt those who threatened to expose the corruptions. Boyle was made Earl of Shannon, while similar pensions rewarded and dispersed his followers. The game, however, once entered on could not be again abandoned. Honest members were indignant at being so defeated, and were the more resolute to persevere. Dishonest members found the temptation irresistible to follow so lucrative a trade as agitation was seen to be. Lord Hartington succeeded Dorset in the viceroyalty, but succeeded to an uneasy inheritance. The Commons, at the opening of the next session, expressed its regret that they should have been supposed to desire to encroach on the Royal prerogative. They trusted his majesty would believe that they were seeking only the welfare of their country, and at once the House resolved itself into a committee to consider the heads of a bill to secure the freedom of Parliament, by vacating the seat of any member of the House of 1 Commons' Journals, December 11, 1755. Commons who accepted pension or office from the The same means were again used which had before been successful. A corrupt majority was secured, and a vote obtained that the committee should suspend its proceedings. The Commons still demanded an account of the pensions granted in the year preceding, and a list was made out and laid before them, which professed to be complete, amounting to less than 10,000l. ; but either the list was falsely drawn, or the most considerable grants were concealed behind some cloak of technicalities; for in the next year a resolution was introduced, that the pensions and salaries placed on the civil establishment of Ireland since. the 23rd of March, 1755, amounted to the annual sum of 28,1037.;3 and, amidst reproaches, recriminations, dishonesty, and general discontent, Lord Hartington left Ireland to form an administration with Pitt, and the Duke of Bedford was named to succeed him. 6 1 Commons' Journals, March 17, 1756. 2 Ibid. May 5, 1756. 3 MSS. Record Office, Ireland, 1757. CHAP. II. BOOK SECTION VI. FOR a moment, and seemingly by accident, Ireland, |