ments, and confidently congratulated each other at the wonderful progress of liberality and freedom, in defiance of a determined system of coercion and oppression. The height of the political fever of that period gave rise to a most unjustifiable distinction of the nation into two separate classes only. One party that considered every difference from them as tending and intended to bury the constitution under the ravages of a wild democracy: the other, that represented their opponents as a junto of monopolizers, sworn to rivet eternally the chain of bondage and oppres sion upon their degraded country.

On the 13th of April, 1795, lord Cole, after a short preface, moved a congratulatory address to his excellency the lord lieutenant on his arrival to take on him the government of the kingdom.

The hon. Mr. Stewart seconded the address, professing, that throughout the whole of the session his conduct had been directed by two motives; the one to support his majesty in a war the most just and necessary, in which that country was ever engaged, and the other to give to the executive government of the country the firmest and best support. The appointment of his excellency, he thought likely to promote both those ends, and on that account, as well as from a knowledge of his lordship's private character, he was induced to second the address.

Mr. Grattan said, he would not then enter into a debate on that question, because the gentleman in his excellency's confidence had not yet a seat in the house, but for the present, he should content himself with giving a single negative to the motion, not from any disinclination for his excellency's person, having rather a respect for him, in consequence of the exalted character of his father, but because he felt himself much more strongly inclined to condole with the country on the recal of lord Fitzwilliam, than to congratulate it on the appointment of lord Camden.

The question to the address was put and carried; after which, the house adjourned to the 21st; on which day, the attorney general informed the house, that their address to his excellency had been presented, for which he thanked them, and "trusted, that "by a constant attention to the interests of Ireland, and by a "determination that his conduct should invariably be directed to promote its welfare and happiness, he should not disappoint "the favourable expectations entertained of his administration "by the House of Commons."

On the same day Mr. Forbes presented the treasury bill: and a petition was presented from all the freeholders of the county of Tipperary, in favour of their Roman Catholic brethren's pretensions to complete emancipation. Lord Boyle moved an address

of congratulation to his royal highness the prince of Wales on his late marriage.

* Mr. Grattan, previous to the motion he was about to make, observed, that it had been asserted, that in the conduct of the ministers of the crown towards that country, no blame could attach to the minister of Great Britain, or to any of his colleagues. He did not pretend to ascertain the real causes of the recal of the late chief governor, but was informed, that two causes were alleged; as to the removal of certain great officers, he observed that such removal was matter of stipulation on one side, and engagement on the other. He spoke of nothing of what he was confidentially informed, but asserted what he knew was generally known, and repeatedly communicated; he said, that the leading member of the coalition declared,' he accepted office principally ⚫ with a view to reform the abuses in the government of Ireland; 'that the system of that government was execrable, so execrable ' as to threaten not only Ireland with the greatest misfortune, but ' ultimately the empire; that his grace would have gone in person "if he had not found a second self in lord Fitzwilliam, his nearest and dearest friend, whom he persuaded to accept the Irish ❝ government, and to whom he committed the important office of ' reforming the manifold abuses in that government.' That he had obtained, with regard to that country, extraordinary power; the information of that extraordinary power, he communicated to his Irish friend; he consulted members of the Irish opposition touching his arrangements of men and measures, and ardently espoused, as an essential arrangement, those principal removals, which were supposed to have occasioned the recal of the deputy; an explanation and limitation of his powers did indeed afterwards take place, but no such limitation or explanation as to defeat either the stipulated measures or the stipulated removals, one only excepted, which never took place. Another question now arose, whether that quarter of the cabinet could without blame recal the viceroy for carrying into execution those specific engagements; whether they could without blame recal their minister of reform, for removing according to stipulation, some of the supposed ministers of abuse; and to continue the ministers of abuse in the place of the ministers of reformation. He therefore concluded, that if the Irish removals were a ground for the viceroy's recal, blame did attach at least to one quarter of the British cabinet.

The second alleged cause was, the Catholic bill. Upon this the principles and declarations of that quarter were decided; the Catholic emancipation was not only the concession of that quarter

15 Par. Deb. p. 165.

of the cabinet, but its precise engagement. His friends repeatedly declared they never would support any government, that should resist that bill, and it was agreed by that quarter with concurrence; and he was informed from persons in whom he could not but confide, of another; that the instruction was, if the Catholics insisted to carry forward their bill, that the government should give it a handsome support. Before he concluded his speech, he thus summed up the acts of earl Fitzwilliam's administration: it had paid attention to the poverty of the people, by plans for relieving the poor from hearth-money, and paid attention to their morals, by a plan increasing the duty on spirits: had paid attention to their health, by proposing to take off the duties on beer and ale: that a plan for education had been intended; that a more equal trade between the two countries had not escaped their attention; that an odious and expensive institution, that obtained under colour of protecting the city by a bad police, was abandoned by that government, and a bill prepared for correcting the same; that a responsibility bill had been introduced, and a bill to account for the public money by new checks, and in a constitutional manner, had been introduced by the persons connected with that government; that it was in contemplation to submit for consideration some further regulation for the better accounting for the public money, and for the better collection of the revenue; that those occupations were accompanied by great exertions for the empire: so that administration established the compatibility of the services, domestic and imperial, and made a good system of domestic government the foundation of unanimity in support of the empire; that in consequence of such a conduct, a war not very fortunate, had ceased to be unpopular, and levies of an extraordinary proportion were not a ground of complaint. In the midst of all this, the British cabinet dissolved the government, and professed to dissolve it for the preservation of the empire. They converted a nation of support into a nation of remonstrance, and unanimity in favour of government to unanimity against her.

He then moved for a committee to inquire into the state of the nation.

Mr. Cuffe, colonel Stewart, and several other ministerial members, strongly opposed the motion, without pretending to disclose the arcana imperii; they peremptorily insisted, that earl Fitzwilliam had contravened or neglected his instructions; in evidence of which they remarked, that neither the duke of Portland, nor any other member of the coalition, not even his friends, his dearest friends, lord Spencer or Mr. Wyndham, had resented his recal or abandoned their connexion with Mr. Pitt. In the debate it was observed by Mr. Ponsonby, that whilst lord Fitz

william was at the head of affairs, several gentlemen on the other side of the house were blind to all those imperfections and defects in the late chief governor, which then stared them in the face with such gigantic magnitude: they were then as forward to express their confidence in his deserts, as they were now to declare him undeserving of any thanks or confidence. An avowal was made in observation by Mr. Pelham, which was sharply animadverted upon by Mr. Grattan. It was not in fact very flattering to the dignity or consequence of the Irish parliament. Mr. secretary believed all the sober part of the world, and all men conversant in public matters, would think he best discharged his duty, by not being betrayed into any indiscretion either by the attack of his adversaries, or by the zeal of his friends. A right honourable gentleman (sir J. Blacquiere) had rightly stated, that the lord lieutenant and his secretary acted under written instructions from the cabinet; and that such instructions alone were the proper authority of their conduct: it was not, however, necessary at any time to discover those instructions; they were to be judged of by the goodness of the measures which were produced to that house and the public.

Mr. Grattan replied, that certain doctrines had been advanced on the subject of the British cabinet, to which he could not accede; that it had been argued, that the British cabinet was to govern the executive power of Ireland, that the viceroy's function was only to obey orders, and to be the English agent in the kingdom of Ireland; that such a doctrine was fatal to monarchy in that country; that in its place it established the monarchy of clerks, a government to be carried on by post and under the dominion of spies, who were less than gentlemen, and more than ministers. It was such a base and dishonourable system, that had excited the indignation of some of the Whigs in England, the duke of Portland in particular. It was that system of national degradation and vice-regal extinction, that system in which the clerks dominated and their betters obeyed, that had sunk a former administration, and had excited the scorn and indignation of the country. To the returning prevalence of such a system he attributed in a great degree the recal of the late chief governor. The cabinet were misinformed; they heard appeals against him from the persons removed, and tried unsummoned on the testimony of partial witnesses, the representative of the king. They did this contrary to the confidence which essentially belonged to his office, and contrary to a principle indispensable to government. It was a matter of melancholy reflection to consider how little that cabinet knew any thing relating to Ireland. Ireland was a subject it considered with a lazy contumely, and picked up here and there, by accident or design, interested and

-erroneous intelligence. He was well aware how much on a late occasion the friends of the last administration were grossly misrepresented to that cabinet, and how the disposition and temper of the people in general were mis-stated and traduced, and how deaf the ears of that cabinet were to the representation of the viceroy, while open to the tales of the interested and discontented. They had been alluded to as persons to whom blame attached; they desired to be questioned, and they defied their adversaries; they desired it might be remembered, that they were ready to encounter the charge, and that those who made the charge declined the combat. It had been said, that the reform of abuses in Ireland formed no part of the ground of the coalition; he did not pretend to say what had formed that ground, but he did say, that one quarter of the cabinet did assert, that a principal inducement to their acceptance of office, was a reform in the abuses of the Irish government; that it conceived the system to have been pernicious to Ireland, and highly prejudicial to the empire. He said only that one great motive to the acceptance of office was stated to be very extensive powers in Ireland; that the arrangement for which the late lord lieutenant was said to be dismissed, was by that quarter engaged in, and that the Catholic question received decided approbation, and if pressed on by the Catholics, the instruction was to give it decided support. He therefore persisted to respect, but marvelled much at that quarter; he acknowledged he was astonished. The house would see how very natural that proceeding was; a party connected with certain men in Ireland came into power; they wished to advance the persons of their friends, which could not be done without adopting their principles; from the habits of communication those principles and ideas regarding Ireland were common to both; the Irish connexion had their English friends as averse from the abuses of government as themselves, and ready of course to adopt arrangement of measures; they possessed or imagined they possessed great powers regarding Ireland, and stipulated to exercise those powers in favour of the measure of their connexion, who were pledged to a specific catalogue of measures. On the division, the numbers were for the motion 48, against it 158.

Whilst the Catholic college bill was pending before the house, Mr. Grattan presented a petition from the Roman Catholics of Ire land against two provisions contained in that bill: the first was that by which seven of the trustees were enabled to appoint a president, masters, fellows, professors, and scholars, who they prayed might be elected after public examination and under oath in the manner practised in Trinity college, Dublin: the other was that by which no Protestant or child of a Protestant father should be permitted to receive education in the college. This exclusion