Surely, this was not the man to lead the Irish nation onwards in their struggle for self-emancipation. The event proved that he was not; but as yet all failure and disaster lay hid in the dark womb of futurity.

The appointment of the Earl of Charlemont to the office of Commander-in-Chief of the Volunteers, was followed by grand reviews, especially in the North. That held at Belfast was on a splendid scale, and got up at a great expense. The regiments appeared in the field fully accoutred with knapsacks, tents, and camp equipage. The review lasted for three successive days, and it was computed that upwards of 60,000 spectators were assembled on the occasion.

Lord Camden was present at the review of the Northern Army at Belfast; and after extolling its discipline and appearance, he turned round to one of its leaders and said-" Keep it up; keep it up; for depend upon it England will never forgive you." The melancholy issue proved the truth of the venerable nobleman's prophecy.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Opening of Parliament in October 1791-The Earl of Carlisle appointed Viceroy — Flood joins the Opposition-Defeat of the Opposition at all points-Renewed exertions of the Volunteers-Delegate Meeting held-The Convention of Dungannon-Imposing sight of their meeting-Their bold Resolutions-They are adopted throughout Ireland-Proposed means of resistance-Strength of the Volunteers-Bold policy of the Bishop of Derry (Earl of Bristol)-A cautious policy preferred by Lord Charlemont-An independent spirit again appears in Parliament-Change of Ministry in England-The Duke of Portland sent over as Lord Lieutenant-Meeting of Parliament-Great excitement throughout Dublin-The Government proposes to yield-The Royal Message-Mr. Hutchinson -Mr. Ponsonby's Amendment-Mr. Grattan's splendid oration-His Amendment adopted by acclamation-Insincerity of the Government-Flood's scepticism as to their good intentions-Enthusiasm of the Irish Nation.-Deep Policy of the Government-The Duke of Portland's Letter to Mr. Fox-Renewed efforts of the Volunteers-They prepare for action-Summary of demands of the Irish Parliament-The British Ministry consent to yield-Meeting of the Irish Legislature Conciliatory Policy of the Lord Lieutenant-His Speech on opening Parliament-Enthusiastic Gratitude of the Members-Mr. Grattan's Speech on moving the Address-Objections of Sir Samuel Bradstreet, Mr. Flood, and Mr. Walsh-Overruled by the House, and the Address is carried by acclamation -Grant of £50,000 to Mr. Grattan-Mr. Bagenal's Speech-Gratitude of the Irish Nation-Bills to Repeal the Act 6 George I., &c., carried-The Incompleteness of the Revolution-Position of the Catholics-The Nature and Extent of the Political Changes of 1782.

PARLIAMENT again opened on the 9th of October, 1791, with a new Viceroy and a new Secretary,-the Earl of Carlisle and Mr. Eden. As Lord Buckingham had been recalled for his lenity to

the Irish patriots, a more vigorous resistance was of course to be expected from the minister appointed in his stead. Accordingly, the session commenced with the most vigorous resistance to all popular measures. The ministerial majority negatived every resolution for a declaration of rights, and every motion for giving Ireland the full benefit of the British Constitution. The violence and corruption of the government again bore down all opposition; the press was bribed to write against the public liberties; and parliament was bought, coerced, and intimidated into the support of the government measures.

Mr. Flood had by this time abandoned the government, and resigned his situation as Vice-Treasurer. He was now on the side of the patriots, fighting up the great popular questions of the day, with very small minorities. So soon as Flood left the ministry, they dismissed him from his seat at the council board, at which he was justly indignant,-declaring in parliament, that "he was dismissed from his office for his parliamentary conduct,—not by his sovereign, but by men who had disgraced his councils."

All the measures proposed by Mr. Grattan and Mr. Flood, during this session, were defeated. Their resolutions in reference to the Mutiny Bill, to Poyning's law, and the dependence of Ireland on the English parliament, to the trade of Ireland with Portugal, (where the linen manufactures of Irish merchants had been seized, it was supposed by the connivance of the English government),— their resolutions on these subjects were all rejected. The only measures of public benefit, which were allowed to pass the house during the session, were the Habeas Corpus Bill, and the Roman Catholic Bill introduced by Mr. Gardiner, for restoring to the Catholics the enjoyment of property, the free exercise of their religion, education, marriage, and self-defence. The latter bill, however, did not pass into a law until after the dissolution of the Carlisle ministry, and the recovery of the independence of the Irish con

stitution.

Meanwhile, the Volunteers were not idle out of doors. They held meetings, discussed their grievances, and resolved, having the power in their hands, to redress them. Parliament had refused to grant a Declaration of Rights; the Volunteers were determined to supply the defect. They perceived that so long as Ireland lay at the mercy of the English government, so long as the judges were dependant on the crown, the army in Ireland independent of the Irish Parliament, and the Irish Parliament irresponsible to the mass of the people, there was no security whatever for their rights and privileges.

For the purpose of collecting the opinions of the armed Volunteers on the subject of a Declaration of Rights for Ireland, delegates from all the corps were elected, and met, embodying their views in resolutions, which were afterwards published. These delegate meetings, first confined to districts, next extended them

selves to counties, thence to provinces, until at length they embraced the entire nation.

The celebrated Convention held at Dungannon in the beginning of the year 1782, exercised a great influence upon the affairs of Ireland, and gave the tone to public opinion for some time to come. It was originated by the first Ulster regiment, commanded by Lord Charlemont the officers and delegates had met and passed resolutions declaring that they beheld with the utmost concern the little attention paid to the constitutional rights of Ireland, by the majority of those whose duty it was to establish and preserve them, and inviting every Volunteer Association in Ulster to send delegates to a central body to deliberate on the alarming state of public affairs. Dungannon was fixed as the place of meeting, which was held on the 15th of February, 1782.

The meeting of the Delegates was an imposing sight. Two hundred and forty-two men, many of whom were as remarkable for their splendid talents as for their ardent attachment to the liberties of Ireland, met on that day in the Church of Dungannon, the representatives of twenty-five thousand of their armed fellowcountrymen. They marched to the solemn place of meeting, two and two, clothed in the uniform and armed with the arms of their respective regiments. The momentous interests about which they had met, the consequences involved in the steps which they were taking, and the measures they were about to originate, invested the meeting with a character of unwonted awe and solemnity. The utmost stillness for a time pervaded the meeting, and it is said that many of those men who were ready in a moment to shed the last drop of their blood in the cause of their country, as soldiers, were softened into tears, while contemplatingly they surveyed that assembly, in which they were about to pledge themselves to measures irrevocably committing Ireland with her sister nation,the result of which must determine the future fate of themselves, their children, and their country."*

The meeting deliberated from twelve o'clock till eight in the evening; and the tenor of their deliberations will be best understood from the following series of resolutions which were unanimously passed: they had been previously prepared by Mr. Grattan, Mr. Flood, and Lord Charlemont :

"Whereas it has been asserted that Volunteers, as such, cannot with propriety debate or give their opinion on political subjects, or the conduct of parliaments or public men ;

"Resolved unanimously,―That a citizen by learning the use of arms, does not abandon any of his civil rights.

"That a claim of any body of men, other than the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland, to make laws to bind this kingdom, is unconstitutional, illegal, and a grievance.

SIR JONAH BARRINGTON.

"That the power exercised by the Privy Council of both kingdoms, under pretence of the law of Poyning, is unconstitutional, and a grievance.

"That the ports of this country are by right open to all foreign countries not at war with the king, and that any burthens thereupon, or obstruction thereto, save only by the parliament of Ireland, are unconstitutional, illegal, and grievances.

"That a military bill, not limited in point of duration from session to session, is unconstitutional, and a grievance.

"That the independence of judges is equally essential to the impartial administration of justice in Ireland, as in England, and that the refusal or delay of this right to Ireland, makes a distinction where there should be no distinction, may excite jealousy where perfect union should prevail, and is in itself unconstitutional, and a grievance.

"That it is our decided and unalterable determination to seek a redress of these grievances, and we pledge ourselves to each other, and to our country, as freeholders, fellow-citizens, and men of honour, that we will at every ensuing election support those only. who have supported us therein, and that we will use every constitutional means to make such our pursuit of redress speedy and effectual.

"That as men and Irishmen, as Christians, and as Protestants, we rejoice in the relaxation of the penal laws against our Roman. Catholic fellow-subjects, and that we conceive the measure to be fraught with the happiest consequences, to the union and prosperity of the inhabitants of Ireland.

"That four members from each county of the province of, Ulster (eleven to be a quorum) be, and hereby are appointed a committee till next general meeting, to act for the volunteer corps here represented, and as occasion shall require, to call general meetings of the province. That the said committee do appoint nine of their number to be a committee in Dublin, in order to communicate with such other Volunteer Associations, in the other, provinces, as may think proper to come to similar resolutions, and to deliberate with them on the most constitutional means of carrying them into effect."

Having passed these bold resolutions, and transacted other business connected with their meeting, the Delegates separated, leaving the country to pronounce judgment on their decisions. And the public approbation, expressed in the most emphatic manner, soon followed. The resolutions were everywhere read with avidity, and the spirit in which they were couched spread like wildfire over all Ireland. They were adopted by meetings of Volunteers, by meetings of freeholders, and by grand juries of counties. They were also adopted by delegate meetings of the Volunteers of Leinster, Munster, and Connaught. At these meetings, the usurped supremacy of the English crown over

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Ireland was boldly canvassed. "Poyning's Law," the parent of all Irish legislative grievances, and the statute of George I., declaratory of the legislative supremacy of the British Parliament over Ireland,-were unanimously denounced everywhere; and resolutions were passed by the Volunteers, explicitly declaring "that no earthly authority, save the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland, had power to make laws for their country-and that they would resist, with their lives and fortunes, the execution of all British statutes, affecting to bind the independent Kingdom of Ireland."

The entire kingdom was now unanimous in the assertion of its independence; and the only question was, as to the manner of resisting the judicial and legislative authority of England. The Volunteers were not slow to perceive that the time was auspicious; for Great Britain was now in a state of unprecedented embarrassment; her army, under Cornwallis, had been made prisoners by the Americans; the enemy's fleets hovered around the British shores, and armed convoys were now deemed necessary for vessels trading between England and Ireland. There was no force in the latter country to resist the will of the Volunteers; who now comprehended the entire physical strength of Ireland.* Even the English fleets and armies were crowded with Irishmen, who, in a period of great national fervour, could scarcely be expected to act against their own countrymen. At such a time, even bayonets are governed by principles; and physical force succumbs to the moral will and intelligence of a people.

The Volunteers were also urged to promptitude by the consideration that if advantage were not now taken of the embarrassed condition of England, they might lose all the ground they had already gained, so soon as she recovered her power and deemed herself strong enough to re-assert her dominion over Ireland. Thus stimulated, a large portion of the Volunteers prepared for at once throwing off the authority of England, and resisting it by arms if sought to be further enforced upon them. At the head of this party was the Bishop of Derry, one of the most zealous and determined champions of Irish independence. Strange to say, this champion was an Englishman, and an English Peer, of large property and fortune. He sat in the House of Lords under the title of Earl of Bristol. He was bold, enterprising, and probably ambitious; and his spirit had been fired by the ardent patriotism which everywhere existed around him. He was opposed to all temporising measures, and urged that the Volunteers should strike while the iron was hot. There was no power to resist them; and

* The number of enrolled and armed Volunteers at the time was not less than ONE HUNDRED

THOUSAND. They had, in addition, 200 pieces of cannon, which were served by an effective and disciplined corps. Had there been arms in the country for all who were anxious to bear them, above 400,000 effective men would have come forward. To oppose the Volunteers (in event of a collision) the government had only 6,000 regular troops. The armed physical force of Ireland may therefore with perfect truth be said to have been on the side of the popular party.