ployed in quelling insurrections there, your imports and exports would be suspended: or while you are favouring, by a military aid, the export of provisions in the south, your import in the north and centre would be stopped; and so vice versa.* Lord Shelburne, after several of the ministerial party, and particularly Lord Chancellor (Thurlow,) had opposed the proposition on the ground of informality, took it off the table, and moved it regularly, when the question being put, it was negatived by a majority of 61 against 32. No further debate took place during that session in the British parliament concerning the affairs of Ireland. The ministers of that day were too fatally addicted to their pernicious system of indolence and procrastination. They had before them the example of America, now triumphant in their own successes, and supported by the whole house of Bourbon. These alarming circumstances were constantly brought before their eyes in the warmest colouring, by an opposition of the greatest weight, numbers, and talents, ever combined in the British senate. Ministers, however, remitted the great objects of Irish grievances to the next session, upon the flimsy pretexts of want of information upon the subject matter of them, and a fear of a rebellion in the trading towns of Lancashire, in case the British parliament should pass a law, that might abridge the profits of their trade with Ireland, or the colonies. They passed several unimportant laws† during the session, which had no other effect, than to create contempt or disgust for the government, which they conceived was attempting to play them off with delusive promise and delay. Whilst the British parliament was sitting, the feelings of the Irish nation were suspended by the hopes of relief; but when they found, that the British ministry had abandoned their cause, they were sorely exasperated, and their discontents became formidably alarming. Associations were entered into against the importation of British commodities, and for the encouragement of Irish manufactures. At an assembly holden at the Thobrel of the city of Dublin, the following resolutions were agreed to, viz. It is difficult to reconcile this liberal, patriotic, and politic speech of the noble lord, with his conduct towards Ireland, when the office of chief governor of that kingdom afforded the means, and imposed the duty upon him of doing that good to Ireland, which he now warmly recommended to others. † Such was the 18th of Geo. III. c. 45. For continuing the bounty on the importation of flax-seed.....Such the 18th of Geo. III. c. 55. For permitting the exportation of certain goods directly from Ireland into any British plantation in America, or any British settlement on the coast of Africa, and for further encouraging the fisheries and navigation of Ireland; by which it was also provided, that from the 24th of June, 1778, all ships built in Ireland, and owned by his majesty's European subjects, should be deemed British built. Such the 18th of George III. c. 61. For repealing so much of two acts of Queen Anne, concerning the forfeited estates in Ireland being sold or set to Protestants, as far as they prohibited, disqualified, or disabled Papists from taking or enjoying any right or interest therein, or which inflicted any penalties on persons making or accepting any interest therein. Such the 19th of George III. c. 83. For repealing several acts, that prohibited the growth and produce of tobacco in Ireland; and to permit the importation of it into Great Britain upon the like duties as from America. Such the 19th of George III. c. 37. For granting a bounty on the importation of hemp into Great Britain from Ireland for a limited time. "Resolved, That the unjust, illiberal, and impolitic opposition. "given by many self-interested people of Great Britain, to the proposed encouragement of the trade and commerce of this "kingdom, originated in avarice and ingratitude. "Resolved, That we will not directly, or indirectly, import or use any goods or wares, the produce or manufactures of Great "Britain, which can be produced or manufactured in this king"dom, till an enlightened policy, founded on principles of jus"tice, shall appear to actuate the inhabitants of certain manufac"turing towns of Great Britain, who have taken so active a part "in opposing the regulations proposed in favour of the trade of "Ireland; and till they appear to entertain sentiments of respect "and affection for their fellow subjects of this kingdom."* Shortly after the assizes at Waterford, the high sheriff, grand jury, and a number of the most respectable inhabitants, assembled for the purpose of taking into consideration the ruinous state of the trade and manufactures, and the alarming decline in the value of the staple commodities of the kingdom; and looking upon it as an indispensable duty that they owed their country and them. selves, to restrain, by every means in their power, these growing evils, they came to, and signed the following resolutions: "Resolved, That we, our families, and all, whom we can influence, shall from this day, wear and make use of the manufac "tures of this country, and this country only, until such time as "all partial restrictions on our trade, imposed by the illiberal and During this century, said the Right Honourable Hely Hutchinson, (Com. Rest. p. 215) Ireland has been, without exaggeration, a mine of wealth to England, far beyond what any calculation has yet made it. When poor and thinly inhabited, she was an expense and a burden to England; when she had acquired some proportion of riches, and grew more numerous, she was one of the principal sources of her wealth. When she becomes poor again, those advantages are greatly diminished. The exports from Great Britain to Ireland, in 1778, were less than the medium value of the four preceding years in a sum of 634,4441. 3ɛ.; and in the year 1779, Great Britain is obliged, partly at her own expense, to defend this country, and for that purpose has generously bestowed out of her own exchequer a large sum of money. Those facts demonstrate, that the poverty of Ireland ever has been a drain, and her riches an influx of wealth to England, to which the greater part of it will ever flow, and it imports not to that country through what channel: but the source must be cleared from obstructions, or the stream cannot continue to flow. Such a liberal system would increase the wealth of this kingdom, by means that would strengthen the hands of government, and promote the happiness of the people. Ireland would then be able to contribute largely to the support of the British empire, not only from the increase of her wealth, but from the more equal distribution of it into a greater number of hands among the various orders of the community. The present inability of Ireland arises principally from this circumstance, that her lower and middle classes have little or no property, and are not able, to any considerable amount, either to pay taxes, or to consume those commodities that are the usual subjects of them; and this has been the consequence of the laws which prevent trade, and discourage manufactures. "contracted policy of our sister kingdom, be removed; but if in "consequence of this our resolution, the manufacturers (whose "interest we have more immediately under consideration) should "act fraudulently, or combine to impose upon the public, we shall "hold ourselves no longer bound to countenance and support "them. 1 "Resolved, That we will not deal with any merchant or shop"keeper, who shall, at any time hereafter, be detected in impos"ing any foreign manufacture as the manufacture of this coun66 try." Resolutions of this kind became general, in consequence of which efforts, the manufactures of Ireland began to revive, and the demand for British goods in a great measure decreased; a circumstance which tended to produce a disposition in Great Britain to attend to the complaints of that country, different indeed from that which Ireland had hitherto experienced. It is more matter of calculation, than of reasoning, to ascertain the grounds which Ireland had at this period to press Great Britain to support her in her struggle for commercial freedom. The annual balance of exports and imports returned from the entries in the different custom-houses in favour of Ireland, on all her trade with the whole world, in every year from 1768 to 1778, when compared with the remittances made from Ireland to England in each of those years, was as follows: the balance in favour of Ireland on her general trade by those returns was in 1776, 606,190. 11s. Od.; in 1777, 24,2031. 3s. 10d.; in 1778, 386,384/. 5s. 7d.; and taken at a medium of eleven years from 1768 to 1778 both inclusive, amounted to the sum of 605,083l. 7s. 5d.; the sums remitted from Ireland to Great Britain for rents, interest of money, pensions, salaries, and profits of offices, amounted at the lowest computation from 1768 to 1773, to 100,000l. yearly; and from 1773, when the tontines were introduced, from which period large sums were borrowed from England, those remittances were considerably increased, and in 1777 they amounted to no less than between twelve and thirteen thousand pounds yearly. Ireland, therefore, at that period, paid to Great Britain double the sum that she collected from the whole world in all the trade which Great Britain allowed her. We find no historical document to account for the policy of not convening the parliament of Ireland in the pressure of their national distress: the ministry in Great Britain was frequently called upon by the opposition to account for this extraordinary conduct, but no answer was ever given to the summons. now appears unquestionable, that the length of the recess, coupled with the peculiar circumstances of Ireland's failing in their expected redress from the refusal of the British parliament, and It the want of an Irish parliament to apply to, gave rise to the exertions of those native energies, to which an oppressed and injured people never fails in extremity to resort. During this recess the system of associating and volunteering took its rise, and had made considerable progress* ere the parliament met on the 12th of October, 1779. On this occasion the lord lieutenant in his speech took notice of the general state of affairs in the following words: "At a time when the trade and commerce of "this kingdom are in a more particular manner the objects of "public attention, it were to be wished, that the general tran quillity, ever desirable, had been restored, so as to have left แ you entirely at leisure to deliberate on those great and impor"tant subjects; but I am persuaded you will not permit any inแ terests, however dear to you, to impede your efforts, or disturb your unanimity at this most important period; and I have it 66 46 * The progress of the volunteers during the recess of the Irish parliament in 1779 is thus described by one of the most prominent of that corps in his History of Irish Affairs from the 12th of October, 1779, to the 15th of November, 1782, by Francis Dobbs, Esq. p. 36. "An expedient free trade and "the fallacy of it was soon understood. The plain and simple doctrine, that "we could not be free, if any power on earth could make laws to bind us, "save our king, lords, and commons, quickly prevailed. This became the "sentiment of almost every man. It could not be openly, but it was insidi-, "ously attacked. These attacks raised many powerful advocates for Irish liberty. The public mind became enlightened; and it was in vain, that the "supporters of administration pressed them to attend to their free trade, and relinquish their freedom. With their information, the power of the people & was also increasing. A variety of causes all tended to add to the volun. "teers. The gentlemen who had hitherto taken the most active part, were "mostly of what is called the country party Government not able to suppress, "wished its supporters also volunteers. On this principle many new corps "were raised, differing much in political sentiment, but who were to become equally useful to their country. Another cause operated strongly : it became highly fashionable. Volunteer rank was an object of ambition, and it was "considered as the most glorious destination of a gentleman, to be at the "head of a well-appointed corps. Among the lower orders of men, the "smartness of those, who had enrolled themselves became an object of envy "and emulation. The idea of glory, which attended it, also had its weight; "and every able young man felt ashamed, that he was not amongst the guardians of his country, The fair also, materially served the volunteer cause. Countrymen from being slovenly in their dress, and aukward "in their manners, became neat in their persons, and comparatively polished "and refined. They were also to be the protectors of their mistresses, and "obtained from the softer sex in return an envied precedence. In short, these "various causes operated so powerfully, that almost every man who could, "became a volunteer. But the volunteers, though powerful, had no fixed ob"ject; no bond of union; no communication. Detached in separate com"panies, they as yet wanted that connexion, which alone could make them "truly beneficial." This gentleman (he was a barrister) about this time wrote a letter to Lord North, on the crisis of affairs in Ireland, which is to be seen in the Appendix, No. LXVI. it was written in the spur of the moment, and is a faithful index of the general spirit, which had then seized the Irish nation. 10 Journ. Com. p. 11. 66 expressly in command from his majesty to assure you, that "the cares and solicitudes inseparable from a state of hostility "have not prevented him from turning his royal mind to the in"terests and distresses of this kingdom with the most affection"ate concern, of which, the money remitted to this country for "its defence, when England had every reason to apprehend a "most formidable and immediate attack, affords a convincing "proof. Anxious for the happiness of his people, his majesty "will most cheerfully co-operate with his parliaments in such "measures as may promote the common interests of all his people. "It is with great concern I have to inform you, that on ac"count of the extraordinary decline of the revenues, the very "liberal supplies of the last session have proved inadequate to "the exigencies of government, so that, contrary to my most "sanguine expectations and most earnest endeavours, there is a "considerable arrear now to be provided for. "The united efforts and great military preparations of the "house of Bourbon seem only to have roused the courage, and "called forth the exertions of his majesty's brave and loyal sub"jects of this kingdom; and I have only to lament, that the ex"hausted state of the treasury has hitherto put it out of my power "to give those exertions the most extensive and constitutional "operation, by carrying the militia law into execution." As soon as the lord lieutenant's speech had been read in the House of Commons, Sir Robert Tilson Dean arose, and after an exordium in a high strain of panegyric on the lord lieutenant's administration, and the good dispositions of his majesty and the British ministry toward that kingdom, moved for an address to the throne, expressing in the warmest terms the grateful sense the house entertained of those dispositions, and, in the usual language of these addresses, echoing the speech. The motion was seconded by Mr. R. H. Hutchinson, who said this was a great, critical, and important period, in which the declarations of the king, the best of princes, and the British legislature, left no room to doubt but every good was designed for Ireland; that his majesty's speech in the British house, at the close of the last session, was the harbinger of good tidings and great events, which was on that day confirmed by the lord lieutenant's speech, who said he had it in command to declare his wish to co-operate in such measures, as might best promote their interests, which, in the hands of their administration, must be well managed, as their designs were pure; that under such an administration, the general benefit of the empire would be attended to, above all partial and selfish considerations; and the veil of calumny, which had so long traduced them, would disappear, and the factious calum |