passage to and from the house, who had voted in favour of it. Nor was this spirit confined to the metropolis, for throughout the greater part of the country the same dislike prevailed. The freeholders of Fermanagh, King's County, Limerick, Monaghan, Clare, Cavan, Tyrone and other shires, made strong resolutions against the measure, and thanked their members for opposing it. In the county of Galway, the archbishop of Tuara had interest enough to procure a warm declaration in favour of union, and in the commercial city of Cork many of the traders and other inhabitants were zealous for the ministerial scheme.

The month which had been fixed by the British house of peers having elasped, on the 19th of March, Lord Grenville, in a very able speech *, brought the question before them. An interesting debate ensued, and the address being voted, a conference was holden with the commons on the ensuing day, when it was proposed that it should be offered to the throne as the joint address of both houses. Meanwhile it was resolved not to press the measure in the Irish parliament while the public mind was so decidedly hostile, and the legislature itself so nearly balanced, but to postpone the further consideration till the ensuing. session. Parliament was accordingly prorogued on the 1st of June, 1799. It assembled again in

* See Appendix, No. VIII.

January 1800. Mr. Grattan, on the 15th of that month had been elected a member for the borough' of Wicklow. He accepted a seat once more in the Irish parliament, willing to hope that he might be able, by the influence of his talents to save his country from what he, among others, considered as her ruin. It is to be lamented, however, that a question like that of a legislative union, should have been embarrassed by party and local prejudices, which it undeniably was.

The recess had been diligently employed by the viceroy in smoothing the difficulties which opposed themselves to the measure. He was successful in conciliating many who had hitherto been neutral, if not hostile. On the 15th of Feb. the house met after an adjournment, when petitions against the union were received from the counties of Dublin, Limerick, Wexford, Cavan, Longford, Tipperary, Galway, Meath and Fermanagh; also from the city of Limerick, the town of Belfast, and several others: a message from the lord lieutenant was presented by Lord Castlereagh, which he read, and then proceeded to lay open the plan of the union, which he now seemed to consider as certain. He congratulated the house upon the happy change of sentiment, with respect to that measure which had taken place, though he did not inform them by what means it had been ac complished. He concluded an elaborate speech nearly in the following words: "Having gone

through the outline of the plan with as much conciseness as possible, I trust I have proved to every man, who hears me, that the proposal is such a one as it is at once honourable for Great Britain to offer, and Ireland to accept. It is one which will entirely remove from the executive power those anomalies which are the perpetual sources of jealousy and discontent. It is one which will relieve the apprehensions of those who feared that Ireland was, in eonsequence of a union, to be burthened with the debt of Britain. It is one which by establishing a fair principle of contribution tends to release Ireland from an expence of one million, in time of war, and of 500,000 in time of peace. It is one which increases the resources of our commerce, protects our manufactures, secures to us the British market, and encourages all, the produce of our soil. It is one that by uniting all the ecclesiastical establishments, and consolidating the legislatures of the empire, puts an end to religious jealousy and removes the possibility of a separation. It is one that places the great question, that has so long agitated; the .country upon the broad principles of imperial policy, and divests it of all its local difficulties. It is one that establishes such a representation for the country as must lay asleep for ever, the question of parliamentary reform which, combined with our religious divisions, has produced all our distractions and calamities." At a very late hour the house divided, when there were 158 for,

I

1

and 115 against the union* In the house of lords, the Earl of Clare led on the unionists, on the 10th of Feb. and at the conclusion of a long and important speech he declared that if he lived to see that measure completed, to his latest hour he should feel an honourable prize in reflecting on the share he might have had in: contributing to effect it." He succeeded; and yet it is said he felt so sensibly the loss of his power and influence after the union, that the consciousness : greatly accelerated his death, a short while before which he is represented, as saying that he repented of his share in bringing about that measure. The division in the lords was 75 for, and 26 against; shewing that the British cabinet had more strength there, than in the commonssoq b

+

On the 17th of March, it came on again in the commons, being introduced by Mr Corry. In the course of his speech the interspersed much personal acrimony and abuse, directed particularly against Mr. Grattan, who vindicated himself so strongly and in such bitter terms that a duel immediately ensued, in which Mr. Corry was wounded. After a long debate a motion was made for ad-journment, which being rejected, the first day of the following January, was fixed for the commencement of the union of the kingdoms. The to docións cili nived mort bra og

How this majority was obtained has been satinised. Twenty seven new titles were added to the peerage; promotions, grants, concessions, and promises were abundantly lavished,

articles of union*, underwent much discussion, in detail, in both the Irish and British legislatures ; and both proceeded to carry them into effect by a bill. The anti-unionists contested every inch of ground: but they were of course defeated. The motion for bringing in the bill was carried by 160 against 100. It was carried up to the house of peers, where it was read a third time on the 13th of June: and a protest was entered by the Duke Leinster and the other dissenting peers.

The only thing that now remained to be brought -forward was the scheme of compensation; and this was plausibly ushered in by Lord Castlereagh upon a principal of justice. He proposed a grant of 1,260,000l. for those who should suffer a loss of patronage, and be deprived of a source of wealth by the disfranchisement of 84 boroughs, at the rate of 15,0001. for each. It was contended by some of the members, however, and among others by Mr. Saurin, Mr. J. C. Beresford, and Mr. Dawson, that to grant a compensation for a species of a property, in itself illegal and unconstitutional, would be a gross insult to the country; but they who had rather a deeper interest in the arrangement, strenuously defended it; maintaining that however vicious such possessions might have been in their origin, yet, from prescriptive usage, and from having been the subjects of ntacts and family settlements, they could

* See Appendix, No. IX.