advantages resulting to Ireland from the proposed system, or to make the benefits which she was to confer to appear greater than those which she was to receive, were efforts requiring only the exertions of a common mind, and of vulgar intellects; but, to turn benefits into injuries, and blessings into curses, to convert a boon which Great Britain might either grant or retain, into a right which Ireland could peremptorily demand,-to give, in short, a different shape, colour, and complexion to a plan, from those which it derived from the hands of its parent, and which it presented to every person of common sense, by whom it was viewed and contemplated, called for the display of superior powers, and was worthy the genius of the sublimest patriotism.

The Bill was defended against the unfounded attacks of these vehement orators, chiefly by Messrs. Fitzgibbon, Hutchinson, and Foster, who contended, that there was no more reason to charge it with an invasion of the legislative freedom of Ireland, than there had been to fix a similar stigma on the acts of 1779, and 1784, wherein Ireland had stipulated to trade with the British colonies and settlements, in such manner as Great Britain herself traded, to impose the like duties, and to adopt the same restrictions and regulations; that in the present bill the

same principle of trading was proposed to them, and it was left to them, either to accept or to reject it at their pleasure. Nay, were they even to pass the bill now, the Irish Parliament were left as much at liberty, either to observe the conditions, or to renounce the agreement, in toto, whenever those conditions should become obnoxious and dissatisfactory, as they were by the acts alluded to. The only difference was, that by the former acts, Ireland had subscribed to the commercial laws, which had been adopted by Great Britain for two hundred and ninety years; (and to which, it might have been added, she was principally indebted for her existing commercial and maritime superiority) by the present, to such as that country should bind itself in future; but that it would be still in the power of the Irish Parliament to renounce these laws, and the whole agreement together, whenever they thought proper.-On the other hand, the commercial advantages offered to Ireland, by the present bill, were maintained to be highly important; the linen trade, (her staple manufactory) was secured to her for ever, against all competition; the colonial trade through Ireland to Great Britain was opened to her; the Irish manufactures had free admission to the British markets; and, as these manufactures

were allowed to be re-exported from Great Bri tain, with a drawback of all duties, the Irish would, in effect, export on the foundation of British capital, at the same time that they were left to employ their own capital in the extension of their home manufactures.ut of to pollibroɔ

The violent declamations of Messrs. Flood and Grattan, however, were more in unison with the feelings of the public, than the sober and dispassionate statements of their opponents. The motion, indeed, was carried, after a debate which lasted till nine in the morning, for leave to bring in the bill, by a majority of nineteen ; but the opposition which it experienced induced the Irish secretary, Mr. Orde, to declare, that after it had been printed, he should not press any further proceedings upon it, until the nation should be led to entertain a better, and more equitable opinion of the measure, which he was confident, upon a further and more temperate re-consideration of its principles, would be the case. Thus the bill was virtually lost; and not only were those propositions which had engaged so much of the time and attention of Mr. Pitt, and which, in his estimation, were calculated to promote the general interests of the British empire, and the welfare and prosperity of the people of both countries, rejected; but their re

jection was received with acclamations of joy, and with public illuminations.*

66

In a speech, in the Irish House of Commons, on the 15th of August, when the bill in question was presented, and ordered to be printed, Mr. Curran, (the present master of the rolls in Ireland) pronounced a pompous eulogy on the opponents of the measure, in which he described, with rather more zeal than piety, Mr. Grattan's eloquence as more than human;" imputed the victory which had been obtained to “ the principles of liberty-which had stained the fields of Marathon, stood in the pass to Thermopyle, and gave to America independence;" and rejoiced, that it was "not a victory bathed in the tears of a mother, or sister, or a wife,-not a victory hanging over the grave of a Warren or a Montgomery, and uncertain ` whether to triumph in what she had gained, or to mourn over what she had lost." In the flights of oratory, it would be too much to expect the preservation of those moral distinctions, of which patriots and legislators should never lose sight; it might therefore be improper to comment too severely on the attempt to confound the gallant exertions of a band of patriotic heroes, who nobly sacrificed their lives in defence of the freedom of their country, with the treasonable efforts of rebels to shake off the allegiance which they owed to their lawful Sovereign. The demon of rebellion may hang in tears over the grave of a Warren or a Montgomery, but the genius of royalty will reserve her sorrows for the fate of a Wolf, or an Andree.

CHAP. VII.

State of the Continent-Projected exchange of Bavaria for the Austrian Netherlands-Treaty of Berlin-Insurrection in Hungary-Treaty of Fontainbleau between Austria and Holland-Treaty of Alliance and Commerce between France and Holland-Dissentions in Holland fomented by France-Meeting of the British parliament-Mr. Fox condemns the conduct of the government respecting the Treaty of Berlin-His opinion of the policy of continental alliances-Declares his jealousy of French power and ambition-Answered by Mr. Pitt, who disclaims all right of interference, on the part of the British government, in the concerns of Hanover-Reflections on the duty of a minister in that respect-Motion for fortifying the dock-yards-Mr. Pitt's speech in support of it— Different opinions on the subject-Mr. Sheridan's speech -Remarks on his sentiments-State of the revenue-Mr. Pitt's proposal for the establishment of a permanent Sinking Fund-Combated by Mr. Fox and Mr. SheridanMr. Sheridan's counter-resolutions rejected by the House -Objections to an unalienable fund-Mr. Pitt's bill for giving effect to his plan passes into a law-Bill for subject