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allowed the interval of a week for the consideration of the resolutions he had submitted to the house, on the 7th of February he proposed a full discussion of the subject in a committee of the whole house, but before it was formed, he consented to dispose of Mr. Sheridan's motions respecting the fair and free consent of both parliaments.

Mr. Sheridan then renewed his opposition to the scheme. Since the last meeting, he said, many gentlemen had been induced to alter their opinions, and to agree with him on the impropriety and the danger of persisting in a measure, which was highly obnoxious to the people of Ireland; and as the house had. not pledged itself to the support of it, it was not too late to check the rashness of its zealous advocates. The minister might wish to pursue it against the sense of a nation; but the house ought to be so far guided by prudence and judgment as to disregard all his persuasions, and rescue the empire from the peril, in which he would involve it. It was curious to observe the coincidence of the minister's views and declarations, in several instances, with those of a party, to which he was not generally suspected of being attached. He agreed with the United Irishmen, in wishing to destroy the obnoxious constitution of Ireland. They alleged, that the parliament of that kingdom had occasioned all the evils, which afflicted the country: he adduced a similar charge against that body. They represented the Irish legislators as being the dupes of British faction: he imputed all the errors of the government, all the distractions and misfortunes of Ireland to the same source, to the sway of a party, at the head of which was his friend the Duke of Portland, and to which another of his present associates (Mr. Wyndham) belonged. Both were ready to exclaim, Delenda est Carthago, though they differed in the mode of destruction; as the United Irishmen wished to depose their parliament, and establish a republic with foreign aid, while the premier wished to merge the delinquent legislature in that of Great Britain. In the pursuit of their aims, those mal-contents had recourse to menace and intimidation; he did not scruple to adopt means equally improper. He recommended. the adoption of a plan of honest incorrupt administration, as a remedy which had not yet been tried; and the present conjuncture was particularly favourable for the experiment.

Mr. Pitt protested against the resolutions. One, which was self-evident, it was not necessary for the house to record, and there was still less reason to entertain it, as it appeared to contain practical falsehood under the form of literal truth; for it implied, that the measure was to be carried into effect without the fair and free consent of parliament. The second proposition tended to stigmatize every minister, whose persuasions should procure the dismissal of officers of the crown on account of a

difference of sentiment upon any great political question. That practice arose out of the very nature of regular government, and was necessary for the public service.

Mr. Grey contended for the propriety of recording the propositions of his friend on the Journals of the house; they would serve as pledges, he said, for the honourable intentions of the British government, and allay the jealousy of the Irish

nation.

On a division upon the previous question, the numbers were 25 against and 141 for it.

The committee was on the point of being formed for the discussion of Mr. Pitt's propositions, when

The honourable Mr. Saint John conjured the house to dismiss the question for the present, as the agitation of it might be productive of mischievous consequences.

Mr. Grey considered the question as the most_momentous that had ever been submitted to the deliberation of parliament, either in point of constitutional right or of public policy; but as one of the parties whose consent was necessary had declared against it, he recommended a suspension of the scheme. He was earnestly desirous of the prevalence of the most cordial harmony, of the establishment of an effective Union, not an Union of parliaments, but of hearts, of affections, and interests; of vigour, of ardour, of zeal for the general welfare. The scheme then offered seemed to be of a very different tendency. It threatened discontent, jealousy, and distrust.

The evils in question might be imputed to the misconduct of government rather than to the separation of the parliaments; and for these the prime minister was responsible, unless he should be able to prove, that obnoxious measure had been forced upon him by the sturdy dispositions of the Irish members. Who had fostered the religious dissensions and political feuds, which distracted the nation? Who had raised hopes, and disappointed those hopes? Who had excited alarms, and created discontent? The prospect of additional favours to the Catholics had given pleasure to liberal men of all denominations; but a party, not distinguished by talents or by real dignity, fomented animosity and intolerance, and procured by intrigue a dereliction of the system of concession. From that moment affairs wore a gloomy aspect; and the consequences were violent and disastrous.

Mr. Secretary Dundas (now Lord Melville) observed, that the measure, far from operating injuriously on Ireland, would in. crease the political and commercial advantages of that country in the same proportion as those of Scotland had been improved by the Union. That a spirit of clamour and dissension, of treachery and treason,' menacing the overthrow of the govern ment existed in Ireland, no one, he thought, would have the

boldness to deny; and, as the influence of widely-extended conspiracies endangered the connection between the countries, an immediate interference was necessary to rescue the western realm from the intrigues of the common enemy. For a due regulation of the affairs of any community, a mutual confidence ought to subsist between the governors and the governed; but that was not the case in Ireland, where the great body of the people did not repose in the parliament that confidence, which was essential to its utility. The reasons of that defect grew out of the frame and constitution of that parliament. The whole power of that country being vested in a fourth part of the nation, and that fourth being separated from the rest by religious distinctions, heightened and envenomed by ancient and hereditary animosities; it was impossible that a proper confidence could exist between them. For the establishment of such a confidence, the grant of a free participation of all the privileges of Britons by the superintending care of an imperial parliament, would be the the most efficacious measure. The Protestants would then lay aside their jealousies and distrust, being certain that against any attempt to endanger their establishment the whole strength of the united legislature would be exerted; and, on the other hand, the Catholics would expect that their cause would be candidly and impartially considered by a general parliament, the great body of which would be relieved from the apprehensions and animosities interwoven with the constitution of the existing legislature.

Mr. Dundas spoke largely of the Scottish Union, and referred to a letter of Queen Anne to the northern parliament, predicting the various blessings, with respect to religion, liberty, and property, which would result from the scheme of incorporation, and he said, that not one syllable of her predictions had failed.

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Two estates of the Irish parliament, the king and the peers, had pointedly expressed their desire, that the subject should be entertained and considered;' while only a verry narrow majority' in the House of Commons had embraced the contrary opinion. It could not therefore be said, that the affair was so far decided as to render it unnecessary or improper to submit it again to the notice of the Irish nation. He could not help auguring well to the final success of the measure, as essential to the happiness of Ireland, when he contemplated the clamour and violence, by which the consideration of it had been resisted. These are not the weapons, by which truth and solid reasoning maintain their empire over the hearts and understandings of men. Cool consideration and sober reasoning were the arms by which the cause of truth was supported; and he had no doubt that these weapons, properly used, would ultimately succeed

against clamour and prejudice. Thus the system of excise, once highly unpopular, was at length relished and approved of; and the union with Scotland, odious at first, became at last a popular measure.

Mr. Dundas expressed his wish that the Irish would dispassionately re-consider the proposal; and he was confident, that they would find it the best remedy for the disorders of their country, their strongest bulwark and their greatest blessing. He concluded a very long and not altogether uninstructive harangue with a strong hint, of the probability of future indulgence being granted by an Imperial Parliament to the Catholics of both countries, and a sketch of the bitter effects of French fraternity, which, he hoped, no Irishman would prefer to British liberty.

Mr. Sheridan replied to some of the arguments of Mr. Dundas with a mixture of reasoning and raillery, and still urged the impolicy of persisting in a measure, to which the Irish did not give a free assent.

Mr. Windham observed, that it had been insinuated that the Union was a measure calculated for the exclusive advantage of Great Britain at the expence of Ireland; but the reverse seemed to him to be the case. The disorders of that kingdom might be ascribed to various causes; they chiefly grew out of the nature of its constitution. That like a body distorted and misshapen, gave rise to various diseases, some chronical, and some acute, which, as they were inherent in its frame, no medicine could eradicate. The deformity of that constitution was its coercive form; it was like a garrison in the midst of a conquered town: it was a mere provisional government, deriving its existence, form, and power, from another state. Much of the misery of Ireland also arose from the barbarous ignorance of its people, who had been rendered ferocious by the animosities which existed among them. That ferocity had given occasion to new restraints on the part of the government, which redoubled the fury of the people. The constitution, therefore, and the gross ignorance which it encouraged, were the remote causes of the distractions of Ireland; but the proximate cause was undoubtedly the inoculation of French principles, which could never enter into the blood without producing death. Unfortu nately the contamination had reached Ireland, and to its baneful influence might be attributed the late horrible disorders of that kingdom.

Mr. Tierney was surprised that ministers should have proposed an Union to this parliament without having been previously assured of the consent of the Irish legislature; but he was still more astonished and even alarmed at their present perseverance, after the strong disapprobation of the measure in Ireland. The Catholics perhaps might profit by the measure; but

their expectations had not a very firm basis. Industry might be more prevalent, wealth might increase, and good morals might become more general; but these points might be gained without an Union. He was among those who doubted the competency of the Hibernian parliament on this occasion: as a delegated body could not be justified in surrendering the trust reposed in it by the people.

Mr. Grant spoke to three points. The first had reference to the assent of the Irish parliament, which Mr. Sheridan had hinted might be enforced by military terrors: he denied that there was any ground for supposing that the deliberations of the Irish legislature were or would be influenced or governed by force. If the army should overawe the members, he allowed that a free assent could not be given; but it did not appear that the presence of the troops in the country had any effect on the freedom of deliberation. The Irish did not seem to be under the least restraint in the delivery or propagation of their opinions. The second topic was the competence of parliament. This body, he said, was morally incompetent to do any thing improper or unjust; but it was legally competent to do any thing whatever. The third point was, whether it were proper to discuss the measure after the late proceedings in Ireland. He contended that the refusal of taking the subject into consideration in the House of Commons of that realm ought to operate as an additional reason for stating the terms, that the offer might not be finally rejected before the true nature of the scheme should be known to the public.

Mr. William Smith spoke shortly against the prosecution of the plan. The question for the Speaker's leaving the chair was carried by 149 against 24, who opposed it. A committee of the whole house was immediately formed, and the resolutions were moved and carried.

On the 11th of February, the minister having moved the order of the day for the house going into a committee for the further consideration of his majesty's message,

Mr. Sheridan recommended a substitute for legislative union. He was of opinion, that the abolition of all disabilities, which had been incurred in civil affairs by religious distinctions, would tend more to the improvement of the connection between Great Britain and Ireland than the measure brought forward. He had the authority of the premier himself for the expediency of emancipating the Catholics of Ireland from the incapacities, to which they were subjected. Such was the opinion of the leaders of the cabinet in the year 1795; and, though Earl Fitzwilliam were not then desired or permitted to propose the emancipation,

* Now Sir William Grant, master of the rolls.

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