AN IMPARTIAL 
 
 SKETCH of the DEBATE 
 
 IN THE 
 
 HOUSE of COMMONS of IRELAND, 
 
 ON A MOTION MADE ON FRIDAY, AUGUST jz, 1785, 
 
 BY THE 
 
 Rt. Hon. THOMAS ORDE, 
 
 SECRETARY TO 
 
 His Grace, CHARLES MANNERS, 
 
 DUKE OF RUTLAND , 
 
 LORD LIEU TENANT* 
 
 FOR LEAVE TO BRING IN 
 
 A BILL 
 
 FOR 
 
 Effectuating the Intercourse and Commerce between Great Britain and 
 Ireland , on permanent and equitable Principles, for the mutual Benefi 
 of both Countries. 
 
 1 j * ... 
 
 Together with an impartial Sketch of the principal Speeches 
 on the Subjett of the Bill that were delivered in the Houfe on 
 Monday , Augujl 1 5, 1 785. 
 
 x 
 
 With a Copy of the BILL prefented to the Houfe of Commons 
 of Ireland, the Eleven IRISH PROPOSITIONS, of the 
 TWENTY RESOLUTIONS of the Britifh Parliament, the 
 ADDRESS to the KING, and his MAJESTY’S ANSWER. 
 
 By WILLIAM WOODFALL, 
 
 D U B L I Ns 
 
 Printed for LUKE WHITE, No. 86,. Dame-dreec. 
 
O’NEILL LIBRARY 
 
 BOSTON COLLEGE 
 
 :JJL t 9 19W 
 
T Of THE PUBLIC. 
 
 THE magnitude and importance of 
 the fubjedt in negociation between the Par¬ 
 liaments of Gi;eat Britain and Ireland, and 
 the extreme defireablenefs that the two king¬ 
 doms fhould clearly underftand each other^ 
 were the confiderations that fi rft fuggefled to 
 the Reporter the idea of paying a vifit to 
 Dublin, with a view to endeavour, as far as 
 his abilities and judgment would enable him, 
 to colledt and to fcate the fentiments of the 
 Reprefentatives of the People of Ireland, in¬ 
 dividually delivered in Parliament upon fo 
 interefting an occafion. He flattered himfelf, 
 that if he fhould have the good fortune to 
 prove, in any degree, equal to the tafk, he 
 fhould perform an acceptable piece of fervice 
 to both countries; and he was the rather in¬ 
 duced to undertake it, from the acknowledg¬ 
 ed want of a publication, that either profef- 
 fed or attempted impartially to report the ge¬ 
 neral turn of the arguments upon each fide 
 of any queftion^ that came under difeufiion in 
 the Ploufe of Commons of Ireland. Under 
 thefe impreffions he attended the debates, of 
 which he has aimed at giving a fketch in the 
 following pages ; and he trufts, that, how¬ 
 ever deficient in point of execution the pub¬ 
 lication may appear, there will not be found 
 in it the fmalleft portion of prejudice or party 
 colouring. In order to render his fketch as 
 authentic as poffible, he has fpared no pains 
 to procure every affiflance within his reach ; 
 
 and 
 
( ii ) 
 
 f , | ) . 
 
 and, he is proud to acknowledge, he has 
 
 been honoured with a very confiderable fhare. 
 It is neceflary, however, that he fhould fig- 
 nifv, that he has rather fought to colled the 
 fentiments of the Speakers, than faftidioufly 
 endeavoured to aired a fuperior degree of 
 accuracy, by fcating minutely the trifling oc¬ 
 currences incident to all, and infeperable from 
 moft debates, that run into any length.— 
 Hence he has purpofely omitted to enume¬ 
 rate every Angles and fpecific interruption 
 given to Gentlemen while on their legs, and 
 has merely noticed fuch as contributed to elu¬ 
 cidate the argument, and to explain the par¬ 
 ticular fad, to which they alluded. He has, 
 alfo, contented himfelf with Rating on which 
 fide of the qucftion feveral Gentlemen fpoke, 
 whom he either heard indiftindly, or who 
 did not accompany the delivery of their opi¬ 
 nion with any arguments or obfervations that 
 were new, or more pointedly applied than 
 they had been before by other Speakers. If 
 it fhall be found, that he has neither marred 
 the meaning, nor weakened the reafoning of 
 thofe Gentlemen who principally diftinguifh- 
 ed themfelves on each fide of the queftion, 
 arid that the fenfe of the debate, in general, 
 is fairly and fubftantially conveyed by this 
 publication, his objed and his defign will 
 have been fully accomplifhed. 
 
 %* In order to give the Reader a complete idea of the 
 Parliamentary Proceeding refpefting Ireland , a 
 copy of the Bill, introduced by Mr. ORDE , a 
 copy of the Eleven Propositions as they were 
 fent from Ireland to Great Britain , and a copy of 
 the Twenty R e so l u t i on s are annexed. 
 
S K 
 
 E 
 
 T C 
 
 H 
 
 OF THE 
 
 DEBATE, 
 
 On FRIDAY AUGUST 12, 1785. 
 
 R. Orde began with obferving that the talk he had 
 to perform was extremely important and extremely de¬ 
 licate ; he faid, he was glad however that the time was 
 come to put an end to doubts and mifreprefentations, 
 and to prove the confiftency of his condudl in not offer¬ 
 ing to the Houfe any thing difagreeing with the declara¬ 
 tion that he had fo often made; That he never would 
 bring forward any thing that was an infringement of the 
 conflitution of Ireland. He had on all occafions, he 
 would readily acknowledge, received a peculiar degree df 
 indulgence from the Houfe, but he that day flood in need 
 of a more than ordinary fhare of that indulgence, as he 
 really felt great pain in rifing ; not that he had any 
 doubts of the merit of the Proportion he had to offer, 
 but his embarraffment arofe from a confcioufnefs of his 
 own inability to do it juflice. In confidering it, every man 
 ought, he faid, to divert: himfelf of what he had already 
 heard, to throw alide all prejudice and to come to the dif- 
 cuflion with his mind open and free from bias of every 
 kind. For his part he would not attempt a parade of 
 words ; plaufibility was neceffary where there was a doubt 
 of truth, but on the prefent bufmefs there was not any 
 occafion for it—he intreated therefore an impartial hear¬ 
 ing. A Requifition he was induced to make, from the 
 great degree of mifconftrudlion that had gone abroad, 
 as well as manifefled itfelf in that Houfe on various re¬ 
 cent occafions. He apologized for Handing forward, de¬ 
 claring, that the charges of contradidlion that had been 
 advanced againfl him made it neceffary; he therefore 
 avowed his real refponfibility for the meafure he fhould 
 propofe. He faid this to avoid mifreprefentation ; he fpoke 
 to Ireland, and he wifhed to be heard in Great Britain, 
 becaufe there was nothing that he dared not honeflly a- 
 vow, nor would he propofe any thing, that he was not con¬ 
 vinced would conduce to the benefit of Ireland. He flood 
 there the affertor of the juflice and fairnefs of the 
 
 B proportion 
 
( 2 ) 
 
 proportion he fhould have the honour to offer, and he 
 begged to be underftood, as not a£Hng merely officially, 
 but that his heart went with it. If it did not, he would 
 not have endeavoured to bring it forward, as it was im- 
 poffible for him to have any other obje<SI in his perfeve- 
 rance, but credit and the fatisfa&ion of doing what was 
 right ; indeed upon no other ground could he expert the 
 fupport of his friends. In order to ftate the queftion fair¬ 
 ly, it became neceffary for him to take a review of what 
 had been done ; but before he did fo, he thought it right 
 to fay a few words on the fubje6f of the Proportions ; as 
 to the Houfe being pledged to the Proportions as origi¬ 
 nally voted, no Gentleman could affert that they were 
 to be confidered in that point of view ; it was impoffible 
 but that fome {hades of difference fhould appear in the Re- 
 folutions upon the table, but the fubftance of the Propo¬ 
 rtions the Houfe yet had it in its power to maintain. He 
 would not, he faid, move that the Addrefs of the laft feffion 
 fhould be read ; the Houfe need not be reminded of it, 
 nor of any of their own paft proceedings on the fubjeft. 
 The Houfe was not in confequence pledged to particular 
 points, though it was to preferve the fubftance of the 
 Eleven Proportions, becaufe that would have been to have 
 precluded all difeuffion in England. With regard to go¬ 
 vernment’s being pledged to any thing, he begged leave to 
 remind the Houfe, that the bufinefs had been undertaken at 
 their defire by the government on both fides of the water. 
 The Eleven Proportions of the Parliament of Ireland 
 were indeed a ground-work on which Government wiffied 
 to lay a fair foundation for an edifice to be ere&ed for the 
 purpofe of containing an inexhauftible ffore of benefit* 
 and happinefs for both countries, and he ftill hoped to fee 
 it brought to perfe<Stion. Other materials had however 
 hnce been added, but they were congenial to the firft, and 
 if properly arranged, the only bufinefs that would remain to 
 be performed would be, for the wifdom of the legiflatures to 
 form a pile from the general mafs, and cement it together, fo 
 that it might defy the injuries of time and laft for ever. 
 The Bill that had been brought into the Britifh Parliament 
 by the Minifter gave them an idea how the bufinefs ftood 
 in Great Britain, and the Bill that he fhould move to bring 
 in, would give the Houfe a full idea of the bufinefs as it 
 ftood there. One complaint that had been made, had not, 
 he faid, been well founded, namely, that they had net 
 
 heard 
 
1 
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
 heard evidence upon their refolving -the Proportions at 
 firft. In order to examine and afcertain the validity or in¬ 
 validity of this complaint, it was indifpenfibly neceffary to 
 confider the effential difference between the two countries. 
 What came from that Houfe, inthe firft inftance, was to be a 
 Proportion to England as the foundation of a treaty, and in 
 the nature of things, conceffionswereto bemadeon thepart of 
 England, and their queftion was, what they could concede ? 
 Hence the Proportion of Ireland was before the Parliament 
 of Great Britain for explanation on certain points, and for 
 arrangement on others, to which England was to anfwer, 
 that all might be drawn into form ; thence it be¬ 
 came indifpenhbly neceffary for Great Britain to go into 
 evidence, though it had not been neceffary for Ireland to 
 do fo. Their Proportions had arifen from an Addrefs of 
 that Houfe at the clofe of the laft feflion, and Gentlemen 
 Would recollect, that the circumftances which led to that 
 Addrefs, and in which the prefent government upon its 
 arrival found the kingdom were fuch, that it was impoffi- 
 ble to proceed without fome fyftem to refcue the country 
 from fo much uncertainty and diftrefs. Government there¬ 
 fore, at the dehre of that Houfe, had taken up the prefent 
 meafure; for one he had approved of it, and given it his 
 confent, but Gentlemen would recoiled it was a proportion 
 of expe&ation from the other hde ; almoft every part of it 
 led to conceflion—it was all beneHcial to Ireland, and 
 therefore they were almoft unanimous. 
 
 On this account it became neceffary on the other hde the 
 water to inveftigate it with more attention, and to conftder 
 what they ftiould concede in a fyftem, which at leaft the force 
 of picjudice taught them to look upon with apprehenfton. 
 Much confequent difcuflion enfued, and Twenty Refoluti- 
 ons, containing the whole purport and fpirit of the Eleven 
 Proportions of Ireland, together with the conditions on 
 which England was ready to affent to them, had been paffed, 
 and had been brought into the Englifti Parliament in the 
 form of a bill. Such modiftcations as had been made in 
 the Britifti Parliament muft neceffarily have arifen out of 
 the Proportions. The queftion had been different there 
 from what it was in Ireland. The queftion in Great Bri¬ 
 tain had,been, how far they could go towards agreeing with 
 the Eleven Proportions. The refult, however, after all 
 the modiftcations and conditions, the Britifti Parliament had 
 thought neceffary had been a Bill, the foundation of which 
 
 B 2 was 
 
{ 4 ) 
 
 was acknowledged to be the Irifh Proportions. Hav¬ 
 ing fucceeded fo far as to bring in a Bill, Minifters had flop¬ 
 ped in order to fubmit thefyftem to the confiderahon of this 
 country, and had waited its decifion, that they might not 
 feem to carry the fyftem without its confent, but to pro¬ 
 ceed according to its opinion, hoping to bring the 
 whole to an unanimous conclufion. He would therefore 
 advife that their proceedings fhould be brought into a fi- 
 milar fliape ; and as fome explanations were certainly ne- 
 ceffary on their part, that they fhould put the whole toge¬ 
 ther for comparifon ; for which reafon a Bill was neceffary. 
 After bringing in a Bill, and printing it, it was his intention 
 to paufe, in order to know the fentiments of the country re- 
 fpe< 5 Hng it. Thus they would bring their proceedings to 
 a point in like manner as the Britifh Parliament had done, 
 and fee what remained between the two countries that pre¬ 
 vented an agreement. To this mode of proceeding he 
 faw no real objection, but had heard many fuggefled. It 
 had been faid that it would preclude examination and was 
 hurrying the bufinefs; an affertion, that he begged leave to 
 deny, becaufe, fo far from hurrying the bufinefs, he wifhed 
 for more deliberation. He would move for leave to bring 
 in a Bill, under the title of, <c a Bill for effc&uating the 
 ce intercourfe and commerce between Great Britain and 
 
 L , .• • ’ < 
 
 cc Ireland on permanent and equitable principles, for the 
 ** mutual benefit of both countries.” This would put the 
 matter in train for general information and invefligation, 
 and would leave it open for the colle£fcion of general opini¬ 
 on ; a bill fo introduced could not pafs in cither country, 
 but that the general opinion might be known. As to the 
 Bill’s pledging Ireland, as it had been faid, and that Great 
 Britain would flill remain free while they bound themlelves, 
 and likewife that it precluded examination, that was not 
 the cafe. He fhould be forry, indeed, to hurry it after de¬ 
 liberation on the other fide the water. He wifhed to follow 
 the example of the Englifii Parliament, and that the Houfc 
 might decide on the beft information to be had, let them 
 jhear every perfon who wifhed to be heard,— let them re¬ 
 ceive every petition that could be brought, and let them 
 liflen to all the evidence that could be offered. For all 
 thefe reafons he propofed proceeding by Bill, and when the 
 Bill was before them, they fhould be no longer harraffed 
 with ill-founded apprehenfions. 
 
 ' " ** - ‘ - *• ' The 
 
( 5 ) 
 
 The Refolutions they had voted were, he (aid, looie in their 
 nature, and would be ufelefs after a Bill was brought in. 
 
 It was alfo to be remembered, that they were not of record, 
 and that they had been ufed here merely to colle£I the ge¬ 
 neral fenfe of the country. It mud: further be owned that 
 a Bill was necedary in order to avoid mifreprefentation and 
 to bring the matter to a precife point. He fpoke of the 
 allowance for intention between two lider and not two rival 
 kingdoms, that ought to be entertained, and faid he trufted 
 that the Houfe was determined at all events to judge from 
 reafon and not from prejudice. On his part, he promifed 
 them that he ivould propofe nothing againd the condirution ; 
 he had no authority to introduce any thing that would bear 
 an interpretation of that fort; fo far from it, he diould a<d 
 againd authority if he attempted it. But it really was not 
 in his contemplation, and he was extremely anxious to prove 
 it, by explaining the features of the Bill, to which he 
 begged leave to invite examination, and to defire a full, a 
 minute, and an impartial ferutiny into all its parts. 
 
 Asto theobjedfion that a Bill would pledge the country, he 
 mud obferve, the palling a Bill on either fide, amounted to 
 nothing more than a proposition drawing nearer to a point 
 upon which each might form a more accurate decifion. 
 What he diould propofe was, a conditional Bill which mud 
 be again confirmed before it could pafs into a law : To this 
 he could conceive no objection, as any change to be made 
 on the other fide of the water mud neceflarily be in fa¬ 
 vour of Ireland. The Bill was to be formed on the prin¬ 
 ciples of their own Refolutions, and whatever modifica¬ 
 tions, alterations, and additions had been already made to 
 thofe Refolutions, would, he doubted not, appear to be for 
 the mutual benefit of both countries. He truded that 
 a Bill fo formed, could not fail to preferve the commercial 
 intereds and conditutional and legillative rights of Ireland. 
 
 Having endeavoured to prefs this idea very forcibly 
 on the Houfe, Mr. Orde defired to remind gentle¬ 
 men of the necelfity which appeared to form fome liberal 
 fydem, in order to ascertain and regulate the future commer¬ 
 cial connexion between the two countries. He reminded 
 the Houfe of the Refclution of the Britifh parliament 
 on the 17th of May 1782, which was unanimoudy agreed 
 to, and was conceived in the following words: 
 
 That It is the opinion of this Houfe, “ that it is indifpenfible to the in- 
 
 “ tcreft 
 
( 6 ) 
 
 ei tcreft and happinefs of both kingdoms, that the connexion bctweon 
 (( them fhould be eftablifhed by mutual confent upon a folid and perma- 
 “ nent footing j and that an humble Addrefs fhall be prefented to his Ma* 
 “ jefty, that his Majefty will be gracioufly pleafed to take fuch meafures a* 
 his Majefty in his royal wifdom fhall think mod conducive to that im- 
 “ portant end,” 
 
 nor was he faid, the neceflity of the eftablifhment of fome 
 liberal fyftem more manifeft than the good confequences that 
 mull: neceffarily refult from it. He mentioned the uncer¬ 
 tainty on points of trade that at prefent exifted, and its bad 
 effeTs. It cramped, confined and kept back the induftry of 
 the people of Ireland, and materially affe&ed and injured 
 the interefts of the empire. He ftated the nature of the 
 connexion between Great Britain and Ireland in commer¬ 
 cial affairs, defcribing it to be a ftate of rivalfhip, at which 
 Foreigners only could rejoice, and fliewed how indifpenfibly 
 neceflary it was to draw the two kingdoms clofer in com¬ 
 mercial refpefts. The ftate of different countries and of our 
 own, made it, he faid, the mutual intereft of GreatBritainand 
 Ireland not to continue rivals. Indeed they could not re¬ 
 main as they were, and it was from its being the fenfe of 
 the Houfe that they could not, that the Addrefs of the laft 
 feffions had been voted, and in confequence of that Addrefs 
 the eleven Propofitions. The obje< 5 l of the Propofitions 
 had been to open each country to the other, and to 
 form a partnerfhip and common caufe between them ; to 
 make a free intercourfe between both, by removing 
 prohibitions and prohibitory duties, and to induce Great 
 Britain to agree to a {hare of equality on imports and 
 exports, and a due and equally favourable conftruction erf 
 the navigation a< 51 . He pointed out the advantages that Ire¬ 
 land would derive under the operation of a fyftem like that 
 which he had deferibed. She would obtain fecurity and 
 permanency to the benefits of intercourfe with Great Bri¬ 
 tain, in exports to it and fupply from it. It was fufficient 
 to mention the article of coals to illuftrate the extent of this 
 benefit. She would alfo receive the materials of manufa&ure, 
 and a conftant preference would be given to her produce, 
 though in fome refpe£ts at the expence of Great Britain- 
 This it was needlefs to add would be peculiarly advantage¬ 
 ous to her ftaple manufa&ure, the manufacture of linen. 
 It was propofed that a return fhould be made on the part of 
 this country, by a fair and equal affiftance to the ffrengtl^ 
 
( 7 ) 
 
 cm j 3 ‘ rc ’ a " d that b x an ■appropriation ot the furplus of 
 
 the Hcrcd,tar >' Revenue, ful.jett to limitations and conditi- 
 ons. 
 
 Having faid a few words upon this point, he obferved 
 that other matters had been mentioned for arranse- 
 
 "rh n Vn°T § a- that arrangement had not been compleated 
 rhe Eaft India trade, he faid, was propofed to be placed 
 upon an equal footing between the two countries. By this 
 he meant to be carried on upon the fame principle, by both’ 
 as far as the exclufive monopoly held bv the Eaft India 
 company would permit. Thefe wire, he declared, the dr! 
 cumtlances under which the Propofitions had been made 
 
 fH § !f d u° r » the , affent ° f the Britifll Parliament. He 
 
 wTh d the d r C Re,olut, ° ns , here as a Propofition only 
 wi h the concurrence of the government and the apnro- 
 
 ation of Parliament. For his part, he faid, he could 
 
 have wifhed that ftill more liberal terms of adjuftment 
 
 tereftsirboth e co CO i nf0nan p° and fu PFC*d in ' 
 
 tereits ot both countries. His ideas and his hopes had tmne 
 to open ports, and a total derehaion of duties between the 
 two kingdoms. He could have withed that every fort of 
 d.ftmaion was wiped away, and a full and free community 
 of rqjhts and commerce eftablithed between them. Bn! as 
 the different circumftances of each and the different maturity of 
 
 neceffwvVo 6 "l e l an r ad -> uftment impraaicable, it wa, 
 
 r n 7 , °° k out for Something near it, and the next 
 bell fyftem that could be adopted, undoubtedly was a Drin 
 
 Ciple ot equality eftabhfhed on a certain ftandard The 
 
 ficX s S . th but ,d t ea lnt ° r ffea W3S n0t ’ he faid ’ wklWt i^f! 
 hculties, but it was eafy to account for the alarm with which 
 
 the fyftem had been received in England. Particular intered* 
 
 were naturally alarmed, and it was necefTary to attend to them 
 
 m fome inftances, not lefs than to refill them " e ° iT 
 
 dividuals there naturally looked at their own private aim 
 
 and not at the general advantage. Numberlefs complaints 
 
 had in confequencc been made againft the fyftem and th* 
 
 minifter had been obliged to liften to thofe complaints, tho’ 
 
 wbi!b ! nCeS m Wh,Ch he refifted ’ °«numbe!ed thof in 
 which he gave way. His fituation however, had been 
 
 extremely arduous, his chief view havinv been m „I r 
 and to do juftice to both kingdoms S " [ ° P ' eafe 
 
 otwithftanding all the alterations and modifications that 
 had been made, Mr. Orde faid, the fyftem was ftill as advan 
 ageous to this country as it ever had been before. Another 
 
 difficulty. 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 difficulty, that prcfented itfelf in the way of the minifter, had 
 been the condu£t of the oppofition in both Homes of the Bn- 
 tifh Parliament. They had endeavoured toincreafe the mim- 
 ffer’s embaraffments, by adding to the alarms and apprehen- 
 fions that prevailed without doors, and by a declaration that 
 they held it to be their duty to confiderthe interefts and advan¬ 
 tages of Great Britain alone, and thence had determined ne¬ 
 ver to do any thing that might advance the intertd ot Ireland. 
 He alluded to the infidious amendments that had been ot g 
 fered by the oppofers of government, and dated what had 
 been the minifter’s conduT throughout the whole of the pro¬ 
 ceed) ng. He afl;ed, did it appear that the miniffer had, on 
 any ooint, given way unnecelTarily ? on the contrary, was it 
 not evident that, actuated by the mod liberal principles 
 he had uniformly dood up the advocate and friend o; Ire¬ 
 land, confcious that, in that charaTer, he could bed pro¬ 
 mote the mutual intereds of the two kingdoms ? After 
 all, he could venture to fay, that little or no diminution to 
 the intered of Ireland would follow, fromthe alterations that 
 had been adopted, though a gratification had been afforded 
 to England by the guards and referves that had been provided, 
 the nature of which arole from the nature of the agree¬ 
 ment endeavoured to he effected between two countries fo 
 fituated. They ought not, he faid, to enter into a detail 
 till they had fixed a point to which they could refer the 
 whole, and, therefore, a bill was the propered mode of 
 proceeding. It was their duty, at the prefent moment, to 
 take a large view of the bufinefs, and not to dwell on the 
 confederation of minute particulars. It was neceffary to 
 confider the great ohjedt, to hold in view the mutual be¬ 
 nefit on the whole, and to regard the increaled ability 
 and importance of the empire. In fhort, it was neceffary 
 to fix the general principle before they proceeded to detail, 
 as fuch an equality as was meant to he the bafis of the 
 fydem, was to he" found rather in large maffes than in 
 fractions. Hence the comparifon of fmaller articles with 
 each other was wrong, as it could afford no juff criterion 
 of entire equality. From a view of the Enghfh Bill, he 
 faid, he was encouraged to propofe fuch provifions as might 
 carry into effect almoff every effential point of their own 
 I’ropofitions. He would fpeak of the furplus of the Here¬ 
 ditary Revenue hereafter. Great alarms, he obferved, had 
 been taken at the multiplication of the Refolutions, from ele¬ 
 ven to twenty; But it was to be remembered that various a- 
 . ' mendmenti 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 mendments had been propofed, by oppofition, in England, and 
 fome of them carried, which neceffarily increafed the num¬ 
 ber of the Refolutions; becaufe the fyftem, in confequence, 
 became fo involved, that it had been the boaft of oppofition, 
 that, by their alterations and additions, they had effe&ed their 
 grand purpofe of perplexing the bufinefs, and of creating 
 difeontents in Ireland, without allaying thofe that exifted 
 in Great Britain. He trufted, however, that their aim 
 could not fucceed and that he fhould be able, in the 
 courfe of the bufinefs, to expofe their mifehief and mifre- 
 prefentations. Much, indeed moft, that had been faid in 
 objection to the prefent ftate of the bufinefs was, that there 
 were conditions annexed to the original Proportions; they 
 would, hereafter, fee what conditions oppofition would 
 have introduced, that were inadmiflible. As to the con- 
 ftitutional and commercial rights of Ireland, many addi¬ 
 tions had been propofed in the Britifh Parliament that would 
 have invaded both. He would propofe none to that Houfe 
 which might not arife fairly and juftly from the fyftem, and 
 be confidered as a necefTary confequence of it. It had been 
 made anobje&ion, that the conditions had not been mention¬ 
 ed there firft. In anfwerto that, it was to be urged that the 
 Propofitions from thence had been agreed to upon certain 
 conditions which did not diminifh their advantages : and 
 this, he trufled, would be admitted, if he could prove that 
 we fhould have a full participation of the trade and com¬ 
 merce of Great Britain on fimilar conditions with herfelf; 
 and, that could furely never be conrdered as a queftion of 
 Conftitution or Legiflation. In order to explain and elu¬ 
 cidate this argument, he went into a ftatement of the con¬ 
 ditions in queftion, and proceeded to juftify and defend 
 them. They differed not, he faid, from the conditions of 
 the former colonial fettlement in 1780, as to principle, but 
 only in extent ; there was nothing new in them, except as 
 circumftances had improved for Ireland. The fyftem of 
 arrangement would give that country a larger right to co¬ 
 lony trade, and, confequently, it was necefTary to accom¬ 
 pany it with more extenfive conditions. He afked how it 
 was poflible for conditions to be avoided under any new 
 arrangement whatever. Would the Houfe have wifhed to 
 have avoided all conditions ? Suppofe that the ten relip* 
 lotions, originally voted, had paffed folely, muft there jhave 
 been no effential conditions? Was not that the fpirit of 
 the whole, as binding on both, as fuppofed to bind to per- 
 
 C manenev 
 
( 10 ) 
 
 tnancncy by mutual intereft ? Were not they to exa& an 
 engagement of conditions from Great Britain ? Was (he 
 not to make it a condition to admit Irifh goods at their 
 own duties, to reduce her duties in divers inftances, and to 
 conform to a variety of ftipulations ? Was not this to be 
 a mutual legiflation ? Did not Ireland legiflate for Great 
 Britain in the Proportions? Was it their meaning to 
 make no condition, and only to take away all power of 
 legiflation from Great Britain, to forbid her to lay duties 
 on the export of coals, on the import of linens, &c. &c. ? 
 The thing could not exift without Conditions ; their trade 
 was now under conditions by the agreement of the year 
 1780 : conditions, exadlly fimilar in nature as far as they 
 went, and therefore there was no queftion at all in the pre- 
 fent inftance of legiflation or conftitutibn. The queftion 
 was merely of the goodnefs of the bargain—a queftion 
 which Could be afeertained only by an examination of the 
 bill, as there was no occafton for pedantic reference to 
 treaties of compadts, nor no neceffity, in their cafe, for 
 example. He advifed them to confider what the conditions 
 enabled them to do : fo far from binding their pofterity, 
 they did not even bind themfelves irrevocably. The con¬ 
 ditions were optional; Ireland had a eonftant annual op¬ 
 tion of renewing laws for duties. He wiflied the country 
 always to have the liberty of parting with the arrangement 
 lather than fubmit to what (he thought inconveniences. 
 He was, neverthelefs, not afraid that this would deftroy 
 the permanency of the agreement, becaufe the nature of 
 the permanency was mutual benefit. That was the founda¬ 
 tion ; that muft be the caufe of continuance ; that muft 
 perpetuate the compact. He faid he was glad to fee it fo, 
 and that there would be a concurrent power in both coun¬ 
 tries to judge of the whole and any parts. The additions 
 were, certainly, tor the advantage of Ireland, as they 
 gave her a greater power of determining for herfelf than 
 before ; therefore, he declared he had no dread of thefc 
 conditions, nor could he be at all afraid of any refolution 
 like that offered to be moved the preceding day, aflerting 
 the public independence of the Iegiflative rights of the 
 Parliament of Ireland. But, when he had ftated the Bill, 
 and especially that part of it, he trufted it would be found 
 £hat fuch a refcluticn would be either nugatory or perfectly 
 uVmeCcffary.' 
 
 Mr. 
 
C II ) 
 
 Mr. Orde next proceeded to an inveftigation of the eleven 
 Propofitions of Ireland, and twenty of Great Britain, in 
 -qrder to fliew that they differed more in form than in fub- 
 Jlance. He began by confidering the nature of the naviga¬ 
 tion a&s, as adopted by Mr. Yelverton’s Bill, and to prove 
 that England was now proceeding confonant to the fpirit of 
 that Bill, but upon an enlarged fcale, and much more to the 
 advantage of Ireland, he read an extra£t from the intended 
 Bill to the following purport: 
 
 “ And whereas by an aft palled in this kingdom, in the 21ft and 22d years 
 of his Majefty’s reign, intitled. An aft for extending certain of the provifion* 
 contained in an Aft, intitled an Aft for confirming ail the Statutes made in 
 England, reciting “ that it is the earneft and affeftionate defire, as well as 
 “ the true intereft of his Majefty’s fubjefts of this kingdom, to promote, as 
 <( faras in them lies, theNavigation,Trade,and Commercial Interellsof Great 
 “ Britain, as well as Ireland, and that a fimilarity of laws, manners, and 
 <c cuftomsmuft naturally conduce to ftrengthen and perpetuate that affeftion 
 <( and harmony which does, and ought at all times to fublift between the 
 “ people of Great-Britain and Ireland j” it is enafted that all fuch ciaufes 
 and provifions contained in any ftatutes theretofore made in England or 
 Great-Britain, concerning commerce, as import to impofe equal reftraints 
 on the fubjefts of England and Ireland, and to entitle them to equal bene¬ 
 fits ; and alio all fuch ciaufes and provifions contained in any ftatute made 
 as afprefaid, as equallyconcern the feamen of England and Ireland, or of 
 Great-Britain and Ireland, fave fo far as the fame have been altered or re¬ 
 pealed, ihould have been accepted, ufed, and executed in this kingdom 
 according to the prefent tenor thereof refpeftively. 
 
 “ In order therefore to carry into further effeft the earneft and affefti¬ 
 onate defire of his Majefty’s fubjefts in'this kingdom to promote the navi¬ 
 gation, trade and commercial interefts of both kingdoms $ and in order to 
 provide for fecuring to the fubjefts of both a full and equal enjoyment in 
 all times to come of theexclufive privileges of the trade and navigation of 
 the empire,” 
 
 “ Be it declared by, &c. That that it fhall be held and adjudged to be a 
 fundamental and effential condition of the prefent fettlement, that all 
 privileges, advantages and immunities, which are now, or may hereaftc r 
 be enjoyed, by {hips built in Great-Britain, or by ./hips belonging to his 
 Majefty’s fubjefts refiding in Great-Britain, or by ftiips manned by Britilh 
 feamen, or by {hips manned by certain proportions of Britifh feamen, {hall 
 to all intents and purpofes whatever, be enjoyed in the fame manner, and 
 under the fame regulations and reftriftions refpeftively, by fhips built in 
 Ireland, or by Ihips belonging to any of his Majefty’s fubjefts refiding in 
 Ireland, or by fhips manned by Irifh feamen, or by {hips manned, by 
 certain proportions of Irifh feamen j and that all laws which ftiltjji 
 
 hereafter^ 
 
 / 
 
( 12 ) 
 
 hereafter be enafted by the Parliament of Great-Britain for fecuring ex- 
 clufive privileges, advantages and immunities to the (hips and mariners of 
 Great-Britain, and of the Britifh Colonies, Settlements and Plantations, 
 (hall fecure the fame privileges, advantages and immunities, in all refpefts, 
 and in as full and ample manner to the (hips and mariners of Ireland, as 
 to the (hips and mariners of Great-Britain, and of the Briti(h Colonies, 
 Settlements and Plantations; and that the like exclufive privileges ftiall 
 from time to time be confirmed and fecured in the fame manner, and un¬ 
 der the fame reftraints and regulations, in this kingdom, as in Great Britain, 
 to the (hips and mariners of Great Britain, Ireland, and the Briti(h Colo¬ 
 nies, Settlements and Plantations. 
 
 “ And be it declared, that it fnall beheld and adjudged to be a funda¬ 
 mental and efiential condition of the prefent fettlement, that Irifh fail- 
 cloth (hall he deemed Britilh, within the meaning of every aft, refpefting 
 the furnifhing of (hips therewith, and be entitled to equal preference or ad¬ 
 vantages as Britifh, for the ufe of the Britifh navy.” 
 
 Having read thefe claufes from the manufeript, Mr. Orde pro" 
 ceeded to (late his Bill as applying to the eleven Proportions: 
 he began with reading the tirft, which was a general idea 
 comprifed in the title of his Bill ; he next fpoke of the 
 fecond, which had been adopted and put into effect by the 
 Bill, except with refpect to Eaft-India goods, which was pro¬ 
 vided for in a fubfequent part of it, as he would ftate in due 
 order. When he came to the fourth, he read the Englifh 
 Refolution of May, 1782, reflecting the connexion between 
 the two countries. By the feventh, prohibitions, meeting 
 prohibitions were expunged. This was in favour of Eng¬ 
 land, with regard to woollens and wool ; hut he mud ob- 
 ferve that no new Prohibitions were henceforth to be laid, 
 and thence the refult would be in favour of Ireland. The 
 linen was to be fecured, duty free, for ever, into England, 
 and, therefore, they gave her the wool; they fecured, alfo, 
 the fupply of coals, hops, fait, and bark to this country. 
 The ninth, under which an effectual preference was to 
 he given to articles of the growth, produce and manu¬ 
 facture of each country, afforded a fecurity to the linen 
 manufacture of Ireland. He confidered the tenth Refo¬ 
 lution as connected with this fyffem ; and that the ele¬ 
 venth was a pledge for the performance of it. That refo¬ 
 lution he fhould propofe under the limitation and condition 
 under which it had been confirmed in that Houfe. He 
 laid, the amount of the furplus of the annual revenue 
 was to be taken, not from the actual receipts and expen¬ 
 ses, but from an annual eftimate, backed by the opinion 
 
( '3 ) 
 
 of that Houfe in an annual fupply; he explained this hy 
 {fating that the furplus of the Hereditary Revenue, h ' g 
 to be made an objedt to be appropriated to the ft re u g h. 
 of the empire, by its being applied towards the annu. l 
 expence of the navy, he ffiould propofe that it ihould 
 depend upon the eftimate of expence agreeing with the 
 report of expence; and if there were any cxcefs, it ffiould 
 be dedudfed out of the furplus of the Hereditary Reve¬ 
 nue. This he {hould propofe the more readily, became 
 if there ffiould be any excefs, it mull: be the fault of 
 government. Having faid this, he took notice of fome 
 opinions that had been explained and fuggefted in the houfe 
 on a preceding day, on the fubjeH of the conduH of the 
 Parliament of Great Britain touching the tenth Refolution, 
 and allured the houfe, that thofe opinions had been erro¬ 
 neous and ill-founded. There had, he admitted, been a 
 difficulty in wording the Refolution, and an offer had been 
 made of an alteration in refpeH to its conftruHive and 
 phrafeological arrangement, but that had been abandoned 
 on the idea, that it was molt advifeable to refer to the Par¬ 
 liament of Ireland for an explanation of its own Refolution. 
 He defired to add, that it was his wiffi that nothing ffiould 
 be conlidered as complete on either fide, till a mutual de¬ 
 claration of perfect fatisfaHion with the conditions and every 
 part of them ffiould have paffed in the Parliaments of both 
 countries refpe&ively. By this means there would be to the 
 Iaft moment a fair and full opportunity for explaining 
 doubts and removing difficulties, if any ffiould arife, or be 
 ftarted in the courfe of the difeuffion, that the introduction 
 of a Bill would neceffarily introduce. It only remained for 
 him, he faid, to mention the particulars added to the Bill, 
 which tended to nothing but neceffary fecurities to 
 Great Britain. Ireland, he was perfuaded, was not fo un¬ 
 reasonable as to defire a participation of benefits on ether 
 terms. Moft of thefe fecurities were obvioufly proper, and 
 had only in view the prevention of fmuggling ; hut he 
 would not take up the time of the Houfe, by going into a 
 detail of thofe additions to his bill that related to fmug- 
 gling. It was, a common caufe between the two coun¬ 
 tries. The Minifter, he obferved, had not interfered with 
 the foreign trade of this country, except as far as was ab- 
 fclutely neceffary in prote&ion of the produce of the Colo¬ 
 nies of Great Britain, and as that trade was given as an 
 indulgence to Ireland, the condition of preference was 
 
 founded 
 
( M ) 
 
 founded on a principle of fairnefs and equality, but in 
 point of trading with America as a foreign country, the 
 Bill would in no refpe& interfere with the rights of Ireland. 
 The condition of 1780 was, he faid, the fame as the con¬ 
 ditions of the prefent adjuftment, by the arrangement then 
 the duty was referved to Great Britain; but by the pre¬ 
 fent arrangement the two countries would be further put 
 upon an equal footing with refpeft to imports. They would 
 alfo, as he had Hated, have a fecurity of that Colony 
 trade, which was not, by the agreement of J780, per¬ 
 manently fecured to Ireland, and the fecurity of their 
 linen trade into Great Britain, would likewife be effe£fcu- 
 ated. In his Bill, he faid, it was intended that there 
 fhould be an exception refpe&ing the duty on rum, which 
 Ihould continue to Hand as it did before, and as it did at 
 that inftant. He fpoke of the mode of enforcing this and 
 other covenants, and read the following claufes of his Bill : 
 
 CJaufe 17. And be it further declared and enabled, that it (hall be held 
 and adjudged to be a fundamental and eflential condition of the prefent 
 fettlement, that the people of this kingdom now and at all times to come, 
 fhall have the benefit of trading to and from the Britifh Colonies and Plan¬ 
 tations in the Weft Indies and America, and to and from the Britifii fet" 
 tlements on the coaft of Africa, and in all articles of their growth, pro¬ 
 duce, or manufacture, in as full and ample manner as the people of Great- 
 Britain j and fhall likewife have the benefit of trading in the like ample 
 manner to and from all fuch Colonies, Settlements, and Plantations, which 
 Great-Britain may hereafter acquire or eftablifh ; and alio to and from 
 fuch Britifh fettlements as may exift in the countries beyond the Cape of 
 Good Hope, to the Streights. of Magellan, whenever the commerce to the 
 faid countries fhall ceafe to be carried on by an exclufive company, having 
 liberty to import into the port of London only, and therefore that the com¬ 
 merce to and from the faid Colonies, Settlements, and Plantations, fhall at all 
 times be carried on between Ireland ana the faid Colonies, Plantations, and 
 Settlements, under the like regulations, reflriftions, and prohibitions, as 
 between Great-Britain and the faid Colonics, Plantations and Settlements, 
 and fo that all articles imported from the faid Colonies, Plantations, and 
 Settlements, into Ireland, fhall be made fubjefl to the fame duties as the 
 like articles are, or from time to time fhall be fubjeft to on importation 
 into Great-Britain ; and that all articles exported from Ireland to any of 
 the faid Colonies, Plantations and Settlements, may be made liable to fuch 
 duties, and entitled to fuch drawbacks only, and put under fuch regulati¬ 
 ons as may beneceffary, in order that the fame may not be exported with 
 iefs duties or impofitions than the like articles fhall be burthened with 
 when exported from Great-Britain, and that the importation of the articles 
 $f the growth, produce or manufacture of the faid Colonus, Plantations 
 
( <5 ) 
 
 and Settlements In America^ the Weft-Indies, and the coaft of Africa, fhall 
 be favoured by this kingdom in as full and ample manner as by Great- 
 Britain, againft the inteference of fimilar articles from foreign colonies j 
 and that the importation of fuch articles of the growth, produce or manu¬ 
 facture of any Britifh colonies or fettlements beyond the Cape of Good 
 Hope, to the Streights of Magellan, fhall be fovoured in like manner as 
 by Great-Britain, againft the interference of fimilar articles from any coun¬ 
 tries beyond the faid Cape to the faid Streights.—And be it therefore enact¬ 
 ed, that fuch perfons to be appointed as aforefaid, fhall prepare a like 
 fchedule or fchedules of fuch duties, prohibitions and regulations, as may 
 now be neceftary for the faid purpofe, refpetting the Britifh colonies and 
 plantations, the Weft-Indies and America, and the Britifh fettlements on 
 the coaft of Africa, to be laid before the Houfe of Commons of this king¬ 
 dom in the next fellion of Parliament, or as foon after as conveniently 
 may be. 
 
 Claufe 18. Provided always, and it is hereby declared and enaCted, that 
 it is not eflential to, nor is it intended by the prefent fettlement that any 
 duty fhould at any time be impofed on the exportation of linens or provi¬ 
 sions from this kingdom to any Britifh Colony, Plantation or Settlement, 
 or any additional duty on the importation into this kingdom of rum from 
 any fuch Colony, Plantation, or Settlement, or of any material of manu¬ 
 facture which is now or may hereafter be allowed to be imported duty free, 
 into either kingdom. 
 
 Claufe 19. And be it declared, that it fhall be held and adjudged to be 
 a fundamental condition of the prefent fettlement, that all rum, peltry, 
 Vvhale-fins, or oil imported from the countries belonging to the United 
 States of America, or as the produce of fisheries carried on by the fubje&s 
 of the faid States, fhall befubjeCf to the fame duties on importation into 
 this kingdom, as the fame are or may be fubjeft to on importation in like 
 manner into Great-Britain. And be it therefore enaCled, that the perfons 
 to be appointed as aforefaid, (hall prepare a fchedule or fchedules of fuch 
 duties as may be now neceftary to be impofed for that purpofe, and lay the 
 fame before the Houfe of Commons of this kingdom on the firft day of the 
 next feflion of Parliament, or as foon after as conveniently may be. 
 
 While America remained a Colony, trade with her, Mr. 
 Orde obferved, had been granted to Ireland. Now, that 
 America was independent, it muft be confidered as a fo¬ 
 reign ftate, and the trade was free, only a protection was 
 afforded by this arrangement to certain enumerated ar¬ 
 ticles, fuch as Oil, Peltry, Whale Fins, and New-Eng- 
 land Rum, of which a compleat fupply could be had. 
 He begged however to be fully underftood, that the quef- 
 tion of the conflitution had never been wifhed to be dif- 
 turbed or interfered with ; and, if the houfe would refer to 
 the Britifh Bill, they would fee that it was propofed to make 
 
 it 
 
( i6 ) 
 
 it a fundamental and eiTential condition of the fettlement, 
 that the full right ot the participation of trade with the co¬ 
 lonies of Great Britain, as well the prefent as the future, 
 fhould be made its great obje< 5 t. The houfe therefore would 
 confider, that fo long as that ftiould be enjoyed in Great 
 Britain, in whom mod: indifputably and of neceffity ex¬ 
 ited the regulation, Ireland would enjoy the fame benefit. 
 He would here repeat, and he faid he could not too often re¬ 
 peat, that the conditions of the fyftem were purely optional, 
 yet they certainly would be expe£ted to be complied with, till 
 Ireland fhould refufe to continue to enafit in conformity to 
 them, lVhen lhe fhould be of opinion that they became detri¬ 
 mental to her interefts; notwithftanding which option he de¬ 
 clared, he never would defert this rooted perfuafion, that the 
 fy fteih would be lading between both countries, bccaufe it 
 was founded on mutual benefit. There were fome few par¬ 
 ticulars, he faid, that dill remained to be mentioned, which 
 were among the advantages that would refult from the 
 fyftem to Ireland. He alluded to the export of Irifti 
 fail-cloth, (the claufe of the Bill that referred to which, 
 he had already repeated) and faid, what would be propo- 
 fed would remove a. diftin&ion, and enable Ireland to 
 furnifh Britilh fhips with Irifh fail-cloth, as it was in future 
 to be confidered as Britifti fail-cloth ; he alfo again alluded to 
 the export of linen and provifions, duty free, and the trade 
 to the Colonies, both at prefent and in future, given in full 
 poftefiion, thfc equal right of fifhing upon the Coafts of 
 Great Britain, &c. &c. He obferved, likewife, that 
 what the Kngliih had done with regard to copy-rights 
 and patents might lK)fiibly be thought proper to be imi¬ 
 tated by the Parliament of Ireland; but that would 
 remain for their future confideration. With regard 
 to the Eaft Indies, he faid, it had been the wifh of 
 Government to have put that trade upon a footing of 
 mutual participation, but, for obvious reafons, fuch an 
 idea w'as found to have' been impra&icable. The Houfe, 
 lie had no doubt, therefore, would agree with him, that 
 refpecl muft be paid to the charter of the Eaft-India Com¬ 
 pany. Hence by the Bill Ireland was to trade with the 
 Eaft Indies in like manner as Great-Britain did, but when 
 there fhould be no chartered Company lhe would trade 
 with the Eaft-Indies exa&ly as lhe traded to the other 
 Britifh Colonies. But there was one mod effential advan 
 tage which the Bill gave Ireland in this refpe6f, and that 
 : V E was, 
 
( i7 ) 
 
 was, the Bill allowed the export of Iridi produce and ma¬ 
 nufacture to the Eail-Indies, as freely and as fully as Bri- 
 tidi produce and manufacture. He dated this advantage 
 alone to be of more value than all Ireland gave up, fince 
 die could not enjoy it if die did not give it up : nay, fo 
 beneficial to her did it appear to him, that he thought it 
 more fo, than if Ireland took the trade to the Indies wholly 
 upon herfelf on the fame terms as Great Britain now held it. 
 
 Mr. Food afked the Right Hon. gentleman, if his Bill 
 was a copy of the Bill that had been introdced in the Bri- 
 tidi Houfe of Commons by the Minider ? 
 
 Mr. Orde replied, nearly. 
 
 Mr. Flood wifhed to know what the differences were, and 
 to have them pointed out. 
 
 Mr. Orde then faid, it differed in fome points, but it 
 agreed in eflentials, and in making it a condition that 
 Great Britain diould extend all the advantages of her trade, 
 commerce, and navigation laws to Ireland. If any thing 
 of doubt now remained on the mind of any gentleman, he 
 had only to lament that he had in vain endeavoured to put 
 every thing in the cleared point of view, and he mud fay 
 again and again that it never was, never had been, noi* 
 never could be intended, that Ireland diould abandon 
 in any fort whatfoever her conditutional right of le- 
 gidating exclufively for herfelf, both externally and in¬ 
 ternally. But to put it out of difpute, he would end 
 with reading the concluding claufe or two of the Bill which 
 mud, in his opinion, remove all apprehenfions with 
 regard to the Conditution: for, though he thought 
 thole apprehenfions unneceflary, he could have no hefita- 
 tion to fatisfy fcruples that were fo extremely honourable *, 
 they deferved attention, and called for explanation. Thole 
 claufes would diew, upon record, that Parliament neither 
 intended, nor had it in their power to relinquifh the final led 
 portion of the nation’s legidative independence; they 
 would alfo fhew in what manner it diould be known when 
 Ireland diould confider the fettlement to be infringed ; and, 
 as fome partiality towards England might be fuppofed to 
 red with the Miniders of the Crown, that quedion was left 
 to the decifion of the two Houfes of the Irifh Parliament. 
 He repeated it, that Ireland was not called upon to bind 
 herfelf to follow the laws of another country except as they 
 were to their advantage, and that die would have the power 
 of relieving herfelf annually. 
 
 D 
 
 Here 
 
( >8 ) 
 
 Here Mr. Orde read the following concluding claufes of 
 
 the Bill. 
 
 “ AND whereas no law made by the prefent Parliament can, or ought to 
 limit or reftrain the free and unqueftioned exercife of the difcretion of any 
 lucceeding Parliaments, who muft be competent equally, as is the prefent, to 
 every adt of legiflation whatever, and to deliberate upon, enadl, or decline 
 to enadl, any of the regulations or provilions to be confidered as efiential 
 and fundamental conditions of this fettlement.” 
 
 “ And whereas the continuance of the prefent- fettlement muft depend 
 on the due obfervance, in both kingdoms, of the feveral matters herein 
 declared to be fundamental and efiential conditoins thereof, according to 
 their true intent, fpirit and meaning.” 
 
 “ Be it declared, that the continuance of the prefent fettlement, and the 
 duration of this adt, and of every thing herein contained, fhall depend upon 
 the due obfervance in the kingdom of Great Britain of the feveral matters 
 herein declared to be fundamental and efiential conditions of the faid 
 fettlement, according to the true intent, meaning and fpirit of thereof. 
 
 “ Provided neverthelefs, that all the faid fundamental and efiential 
 conditions, fhall in all times be held and deemed to be, and to have been 
 duly obferved in the kingdom of Great-Britain, unlefs it fhall have been 
 exprefsly declared by a joint addrefs of both Houfes of Parliament of this 
 kingdom to his Majefty, that the fame have not been duly obferved.” 
 
 Having read thefe diftin&ly, Mr. Orde apologized to 
 the Houfe for having fo long occupied their attention 
 by a fpeech that he feared had proved extremely dull, tedious, 
 and heavy, qualities of which he was confcious it muft 
 unavoidably partake. He had, however, thought it his 
 duty to defy the imputation of dullnefs, fo long as he left 
 nothing unfaid, that appeared to him to convey informa¬ 
 tion or explanation to his hearers : he concluded with thank¬ 
 ing the Houfe for their indulgence, and faying that with 
 their permiffion he would move, that leave be given to bring 
 in “ a BILL for effeminating the intercourfe and commerce 
 between GREAT BRITAIN and IRELAND, on per - 
 manent and equitable principles , for the mutual benefit of both 
 kingdomsE 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer feconded the motion. 
 
 Mr. Orde rofe again to declare, that he had it in com¬ 
 mand from his Grace the Lord Lieutenant, to prefent a 
 copy of the minutes of the evidence adduced at the bars 
 of the two Houfes of the Britiih Parliament, and of all the 
 papers printed by their orders ; a fchedule of which he pro- 
 mifed to deliver the next day. 
 
 The papers were bid on the table accordingly. 
 
 Mr; 
 
( i9 ) 
 
 Mr. Connolly faid, he had before declared the bufinefs to 
 be intricate and myflerious ; he now found it to be extremely 
 delicate. Inftead of conciliating, and as he had faid, dove¬ 
 tailing the two countries, it would in his opinion, have a con¬ 
 trary effe£t; it would take away their conflitution and leave 
 them no commerce at all. He had the day before faid, he 
 would move a long adjournment, and propofe an addrefs to 
 his Majefly to explain the reafons of it, but his idea was 
 now totally changed : Having heard the Bill, he would ob- 
 je6t to the motion for leave to bring it in. The Bill barter¬ 
 ed away the conflitution of Ireland. It was well known 
 he had been no advocate for the attainment of that confli¬ 
 tution ; but that Houfe having afTerted the conflitution, 
 and the conflitution having been recognized, he had no right 
 to give his confent to alter or relinquifh it, nor had any mem¬ 
 ber of that Houfe any luch right, and the kingdom he was 
 perfuaded, would never fubmit to fuch a facrifice. The Bill 
 propofed to be brought in by the right honorable Gentleman, 
 notwithllanding the mazes and the labyrinth into which he 
 had endeavoured to lead the Houfe, with a view to difguife 
 and glofs over its real purport, it was evident, was in fub- 
 flance and effeft, the fame with the Bill upon the table s 
 the bill brought into the Britifh Parliament, by the mini- 
 fter. It ought, therefore, to beoppofed in the firfl inflance. 
 They had better not fuffer the Hydra that threatned ruin to 
 both kingdoms to grow up ; let them meet the mifchief in 
 its infancy and flrangle it in the cradle. t(e had voted 
 for the original Proportions, becaufe he thought a per¬ 
 manent fyflem lor the benefit of the two countries ; but the 
 Bill, now opened to the Houfe by the right honourable 
 Gentleman, inftead of dovetailing and uniting them, could 
 tend only to their mutual difcontent and feperation. Mr. 
 Conolly talked of the bad policy of Great Britain in confi- 
 dering Ireland as her rival in commerce, and by her con- 
 du6t keeping three millions of people in that kingdom, 
 many of them in a flarving and miferable condition, ra¬ 
 ther than having five millions of ufeful and induflrious fub- 
 je6ts, for fo many, he faid, he was perfuaded the country 
 was capable of maintaining, and maintaining well, if pro¬ 
 per encouragement were given. He faid, he would again 
 refer to the allufion, he had made on a preceding day; 
 the whole bufinefs of the Propofitions was one continued 
 drama produced by the pen of the fame author, the Mini- 
 fler of Great Britain ; whether it was to be tragick or comick 
 remained to be proved. The writer of the dramatis per- 
 
 D 2 fonae 
 
( 20 ) 
 
 fonschad fird made Mr. Ireland {peak, and then Mr- England 
 fpoke in his Refolutions ; he had fpcken a fecond time* in 
 the Bill upon the table, and now the felf-fame author made 
 Mr. Ireland fpeak again to agree to the Bill, and fay, “ I 
 don’t think either conditution or trade worth troubling my 
 head about; if I keep them, you’ll only torment me df die in 
 diem, fo that it is better to give up both at once.” Mr. Ire¬ 
 land however, now fpoke, he hoped for the laft time, and that 
 they fhould fee the curtain drop and hear no more of the 
 drama. He would not wifh to injure Great Britain. He 
 believed no man there would. But as an Irifhman, an 
 honed; man, and a friend to his country, he defpifed, 
 he rejedted the right honourable Gentleman’s Bill ; he 
 would meet it in its teeth, and give the motion for bring¬ 
 ing it in a dire6t negative; as an Englilhman, alfo, he 
 would do the fame, for he was perfuaded the intereds of the 
 empire would be injured by it, and, in fo doing, he a&ed 
 upon no principle of party. He had been two and twenty 
 years a member of that Houfe, and he had voted with go¬ 
 vernment whenever he could, becaufe he always thought it 
 right to fupport the government of the country. It was 
 well.known, that he had done the fame, when he was a mem¬ 
 ber of the Engliih Parliament, excepting in regard to one 
 ineafure only, the American war, which he had uniformly 
 oppofed : he defied any man, therefore, to aferibe his vote 
 of that day or of any day to a party motive. The right hon. 
 Gentleman, he obferved, had made it a matter ot exulta¬ 
 tion to {fate the oppofition of England, as having thrown 
 difficulties in the way of the minider, and had imputed the 
 ohje&ionablenefs of the plan to them. The triumph was 
 as illtimed, as the imputation was illfounded. The oppofition 
 in the parliament of Great Britain had indeedobjedfed to the 
 plan, on the ground that he fhould himfelf vote againft the 
 bringing in the Bill upon, viz. bccaufe it would lay the foun¬ 
 dation of lading jealoufies and perpetual difeontent between 
 the two countries. He was aware it had beenfaid that the 
 Duke of Portland had declared, in the Englifn Ploufe of 
 Lords, that it had never been the intention cf the Cabinet, 
 over which he prefided, to make any further commercial 
 conceflions to Ireland. He had the beft authority to deny 
 that the noble Duke, for whofe many publick and private 
 virtues he entertained the mod: profound refpeft, had ever 
 made fuch an affertion, and he defied any man to prove that 
 he had. It was impoflible that the noble Duke could have 
 done lo, and he would tell the Houfe why : During Lord 
 
 Northington’s 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 Northmgt.on-s adminiffration, three Bills had been brought 
 into that* Houfe for the proteaion of Iriih manufadures; 
 one impofing a duty on beer, the ether a duty upon iron, 
 wire, and. the third on refined fugar imported from Great 
 Britain. In thofe three inflates further benefits were grant¬ 
 ed to Ireland, which was an unanswerable proof that the 
 noble Duke could not have faid what had been imputed to 
 him in the newfpapers. Mr. Conolly concluded with re¬ 
 peating his,intention of giving the motion a direCt negative. 
 
 Mr. Orde rofe as foon as Mr. Conolly fat down, and de¬ 
 clared, that he had not made it matter of exultation, that 
 the oppofition in the two Houfes of the Britifh Parliament, 
 had thrown difficulties in the way of the minifter. The 
 fa <51 undoubtedly was fo, but he confidered it as a matter 
 to be lamented, rather than a matter of triumph. 
 
 Mr. O’Neil r (John) declared, that the prefent moment 
 was of the mod important concern to the country ; the 
 conftitution was at flake. The whole of the Resolutions 
 upon the table were obnoxious, but the fourth was peculiar¬ 
 ly difgraceful. He wiffied therefore fome gentleman before 
 the Houfe rofe, would make a motion expreffive of the 
 abhorrence the Houfe entertained of that Refolution. 
 They ought not to Suffer the Settlement of the conftitution. 
 in 1782 to be disturbed, much lefs to be overthrown. Un¬ 
 der that impreffion, he faid, he would give his negative to 
 the motion of the Right Hon. gentleman. 
 
 Sir E. Newenham reprobated the entire principle of the 
 intended Bill, as being the groffeft inlult that could 
 be offered to an independent nation ; and faid, that even 
 the introduction of it would be a difgrace to Parliament. 
 As a friend to both countries, he wifhed neither the Propo¬ 
 sitions or Refolutions had ever been moved for ; that Great 
 Britain Suffered already by obftinately perfeve.ring in taxing 
 without representation. 
 
 Mr. Grattan, Sir, I can excufe the Right Hon. member 
 who moves you for leave to bring in the Bill, he is an 
 Engliffiman, and contends for the power of his own coun¬ 
 try while I am contending for the liberty of mine; he 
 might have Spared himfelf the trouble of Hating his own 
 Bill. I read it before, I read it in the twenty Refolutions, 
 I read it in the Englifh Bill, which is to all intents and 
 purpofes the fame : and which he might read without the 
 trouble of reforting to his own. His comment is of little 
 moment, a Lord Lieutenant's Secretary is an unfafe com¬ 
 mentator 
 
( 22 ) 
 
 mentator on an Irifh conflitution ; the former merit of the 
 Right Hon. gentleman in preffing for the original Propor¬ 
 tions and contending againft the prefent, which he now 
 fupports, may have been very great, and I am willing to 
 thank him for his paji fervices ; they may be a private con- 
 
 folation to himfelh No more- - 1 differ from him in his 
 
 account of this tranfa&ion. He was pledged to his eleven 
 propofitions; his offer was the Proportions, our’s the taxes ; 
 he took the latter, but forgets the former. I leave both, 
 and come to his fyflem. Here it becomes neceffary to go 
 back a little—I begin with your free trade obtained in 
 1779 ; by that you recovered your right to trade with every 
 part of the world, whofe ports were open to you, fubjeCt to 
 your own unflipulated duties, the Britifh plantations only 
 excepted ; by that, you obtained the benefit of your infular 
 fituation, the benefit of your weflern fituation, and the 
 benefit of your exemption from intolerable taxes. What 
 thefe advantages might be, no man could fay, but any man 
 who had feen the ftruggle you had made during a century 
 of depreflion, could forefee, that a fpirit of induflry operat¬ 
 ing upon a flate of liberty in a young nation, muff in the 
 courfe of time produce fignal advantages—the fea is like the 
 earth, to nonexertion a wajle , to induflry a mine ; this trade 
 was accompanied with another, a plantation trade; in this, 
 you retained your right to trade direCtly with the Britifh 
 plantations in a variety of articles, without a reference to 
 Britifh duties; by this, you obtained a right to trade with 
 the Britifh plantations direCtly in each and every other ar¬ 
 ticle, fubjeCt to the rate of Britifh duty; by this, you ob¬ 
 tained a right to felect the article, fo that the general trade 
 lhould not hang on the fpecial conformity ; and by this, 
 you did not covenant to affeCt, exclude, or poflpone the 
 produce of foreign plantations—the reafon was obvious, 
 you demanded two things, a tree trade and a plantation 
 trade ; had the then minifler infilled on a covenant to ex¬ 
 clude the produce of foreign plantations, he had given you 
 a plantation trade inflead of a free trade, (whereas your 
 demand was both) and his grant had been inadequate , unfa- 
 tisfafiory and inadmijfible ,—thefe points of trade being fet¬ 
 tled, a third in the opinion of fome remained; namely, the 
 intercourfe with England or the channel trade—A fuccefs- 
 ful political campaign, an unfuccefsful harvefl, the pover¬ 
 ty of not a few, together with the example of England 
 brought forward in the year 83, a number of famifhing 
 
 manufacturers 
 
( 23 ) 
 
 manufacturers with a demand of protecting duties ; the ex¬ 
 tent of their demand was idle, the manner of conveying 
 that demand tumultuary, but not being wholly refitted nor 
 yet adequately affitted, they laid the foundation of another 
 plan, which made its appearance in 1785, oppofite indeed 
 to their wifhes and fatal to their expectation ; this was the 
 fyttem of reciprocity, a fyftem fair in its principle and in 
 procefs of time likely to be beneficial but not likely to be 
 of any great prefent advantage, other than by flopping the 
 growth of demand, allaying a commercial fever and pro¬ 
 ducing fettlement and incorporation, with the people of Eng¬ 
 land ; this fyftem was founded, on the only principle which 
 could obtain between two independent nations -equality, and 
 the equality confifted in fimilarity of duty ; now as the 
 total abatement of duties on both fides, had driven the 
 Irifhman but of his own market, as the railing our duties 
 to the Britifti ftandard had driven the Englifhman out of 
 the Irifh market, a third method was reforted to, the abate¬ 
 ment of Britifh duty to the Irifh ftandard: but then this 
 equality of duty was inequality of trade, for as the Englifh¬ 
 man with that duty againft him had beaten you in the Irifh 
 market, with that duty in his favour he mutt keep you out 
 of the Englifh : fo that under this arrangement the Eng- 
 lifh manufacturer continued protected, and the Irifh manu¬ 
 facturer continued expofed, and the abatement of duty was 
 no more than difarming the argument of retaliation. Had 
 the arrangement flopped here, it had been unjuft indeed, 
 but as Ireland was to covenant that fhe would not raife 
 her duties on Britifh manufactures, England on her part 
 was to covenant, that fhe would not diminifh her prefer¬ 
 ence in favour of Irifh linen, and the adjuftment amount¬ 
 ed to a covenant, that neither country in their refpeCtive 
 markets would affeCt the manufacture of the other by any 
 operative alteration of duty ; however, the adjuftment did 
 not flop at the home manufacture, it went to plantation 
 produce, and here you flood on two grounds, law and 
 juftice; law, becaufe you only defired that the fame words 
 of the fame aCt of navigation fhould have the fame ccn- 
 ftruCtion on one fide the Channel as they have on the 
 other ; how they had ever borne a different one, I can¬ 
 not conceive, otherwife than by fuppofing that in your an- 
 cient flate of dependency you were not intitled to the com¬ 
 mon benefit of the mother tongue ; the anfwer to this ar¬ 
 gument was unfatisfaClory “ that England had altered the 
 
 law,” 
 
( 2 + ) 
 
 law,” but if England had fo altered the law, it ceafed to 
 impofe the lame reflri&ions and confer the fame advan¬ 
 tages, and then a doubt might arife whether the a& of na¬ 
 vigation was the law of Ireland, fo that you feemed en¬ 
 titled to the conflru&ion or free from the a& ; now it is 
 of more confequence to England that you fhould be bound 
 by the a& of navigation, than to Ireland to have the be¬ 
 nefit of the fair conflru&ion of it. But you flood on flill 
 better ground, jujlice ; was it ju ft that you fhould receive 
 plantation goods from England, and that England fhould 
 not receive them from you ? here if you don’t find the law 
 equal, you may make it fo : for as yet you are a free Par¬ 
 liament. 
 
 I leave this part of the fubje& ; equality of duty but no» 
 prefent equality of trade. I come to that part of the ad- 
 juflment which is inequality of both ;—and firfl, the part 
 which relates to the primum of your manufa&ures. When 
 the original Propofitions were argued. Gentlemen exclaim¬ 
 ed, “ England referves her Wool, and Ireland does not re¬ 
 serve her Woollen Yarn,” it was anfwered, “ Ireland may 
 iffhepleafes,” what will thofe Gentlemen now fay, when Eng¬ 
 land referves both ;—the primum of her manufa&ures, and 
 of yours ; and not only woollen yarn but linen yarn, hides, 
 &c? To tell me that this exportation is beneficial to Ire¬ 
 land is to tell me nothing, the queflion is not about flop¬ 
 ping the export, but giving up the regulation, in inflanccs 
 where England retains the power of regulation, and the a& 
 of prohibition. To tell me, that this exportation is necef- 
 fary for England is to tell me nothing, but that you are ma¬ 
 terial to England and therefore fhould have obtained at lealt 
 equal terms. I own, to affiffc the manufa&ures of Great 
 Britain as far as is not abfolutely inconfillent with thofe of 
 Ireland is to ^ an object’, but flill the difference recurs, fhe is 
 not content with voluntary accommodation on your part, but 
 exaBs perpetual export from you in the very article, in which 
 fhe retains abfolute prohibition —“ no new prohibition”—e- 
 Vcry prohibition beneficial to England was laid before—none 
 in favour of Ireland. Ireland till 1779 was a province, and every 
 province is a vi&im, your provincial flatc ceafed, but before 
 the provincial regulations are done away, this arrangement 
 eflablifhes a principle of uti pojfidetis, that is. Great Bri¬ 
 tain fhall retain all her advantages, and Ireland fhall retain 
 all her difadvantages. But I leave this part of the adjufl- 
 ment where reciprocity is difclaimed in the outlet of 
 
 treaty 
 
( 25 ) 
 
 treaty and the rudiment of manufa&ure ; I come to inftan- 
 ces of more ftriking inequality, and firft your fituation in 
 the Eaft. You are to give a monopoly to the prefent or any 
 future Eaft India Company during its exiftence, and to the 
 Britifti nation for ever after ; it has been faid that the Irifti- 
 man in this is in the fame fituation as the Englifhman, but 
 there is this difference, the difference between having, and 
 not having the trade ; the Britifti Parliament has judged it 
 moft expedient for Great Britain to carry on her trade to J 
 the Eaft, by an exclufive Company ; the Irifti Parliament 
 is now to determine it moft expedient for Ireland to have 
 no trade at all in thefe parts. This is not a furrender of the 
 political rights of the conftitution, but of the natural rights 
 of man ; not of the privileges of Parliament, but Ci of the 
 rights of nations ,”—- <e not to fail beyond the Gape of Good 
 Hope and the Straits of Magellan” an aweful interdict! Not 
 only European Settlements, but neutral countries ex¬ 
 cluded, and God’s providence ftlut out in the moft opulent 
 boundaries of creation ; other interdicts go to particular 
 places for local reafons, becaufe they belong to certain Eu¬ 
 ropean States, but here are neutral regions forbidden and 
 a path prescribed to the Iriftiman on open fea. Other inter¬ 
 dicts go to a determinate period of time, but here is an 
 eternity of reftraint, you are to have no trade at all during 
 the exiftence of any Company, and no free trade to thofe 
 countries after its expiration ; this refembles rather a judg¬ 
 ment of God than an a£t of the legiftature, whether you 
 meafure it by immenfity of fpace or infinity of duration, and 
 has nothing human about it except its prefumption. 
 
 What you lofe by this furrender, what you forfeit by giv¬ 
 ing up the poflibility of intercourse with fo great a propor¬ 
 tion of the inhabited Globe, 1 cannot prefwne to fay ; but this 
 I can fay, that Gentlemen have no right to argue from pre¬ 
 fent want of capital againft future trade, nor to give up 
 their capacity to trade becaufe they have not yet brought 
 thatcapacity into aCfion, ft ill lefs have they a right to do 
 fo without the Shadow of compenfation, and leaft of all on the 
 affe&ed compensation which, trifling with your underftand- 
 ing as well as intereft, Suffers a veffel to go to the Weft, in 
 its way to the Eaft. I leave this uncornpenfated Surrender—- 
 I leave your fituation in the Eaft which is blank —I leave 
 your fituation in the Eaft which is the Surrender of 
 trade itfelf; and I come to your fituation in the Weft which 
 is a furrender of its freedom. You are to give a monopoly 
 
 E to 
 
( 26 ) 
 
 to the Britifh plantations at their own taxes ; before, yoB 
 did fo only in certain articles, with a power of fele&ion, 
 and then only as long as you pleafed to conform to the con¬ 
 dition, and without any ftipulatien to exclude foreign pro¬ 
 duce. It may be very proper to exclude foreign produce 
 by your own temporary laws, and at your own free will 
 and option, but now you are to covenant to do fo for ever, 
 and thereby you put the trade out of your own power for 
 ever, and you give to the Englifh, Weft as well as Eaft, 
 an eternal monopoly for their plantation produce in the 
 taxing and regulating of which you have no fort of delibe¬ 
 ration or interference, and over which Great Britain has a 
 complcat fupremacy. Here you will confider the advan- 
 tage you receive from that monopoly, and judge, how far 
 it may be expedient to fet up againft yourfelves that mono¬ 
 poly for ever ; there is fcarcely an article of the Britifti plan¬ 
 tations that is not out of all proportion dearer than the fame 
 article is in any other part of the Globe, nor any one arti¬ 
 cle that is not produced elfewhere, for fome of which arti¬ 
 cles you might eftablifh a mart for your manufactures- 
 Portugal, for inftance, capable of being a better market 
 for our drapery than Great Britain ; this enormity of price 
 is aggravated by an eno'imity of tax, what then is this co¬ 
 venant ? to take thefe articles from the Britifti plantations, 
 and from none other, at the prefent high rates and taxes, 
 and to take them at all times to come, fubjeCb to whatever 
 further rates and taxes the Parliament of Great Britain ftialt 
 enaCI. Let me afk you, why-did you refufe Protecting Duties 
 to your own people? became they looked like a monopoly ; 
 and will you give to the Eaft India merchant, and the Weft 
 India planter fomething more ? a monopoly where the mo- 
 nopolift is in fome degree the law'-giver. The principle of 
 equal duty or the fame reftriCtion is not the fhaaow of fe- 
 curity ; to make fuch a principle applicable the objeCts 
 muft he equal, but here the objeCts are not only diflimilar 
 but oppofite ; the condition of England is great debt and 
 greater capital, great incumbrances, but ftill greater abili¬ 
 ties ; the condition of Ireland, little capital but a fmall 
 debt, poverty but exemption from intolerable taxes. Equal 
 burthens will have oppofite effe&s, they will fund the debt 
 of one country and deftrey the trade of the other ; high du¬ 
 ties will take away your refource, which is exemption from 
 thorn, bat will be a f d for Great Britain : thus the co¬ 
 lony principle in its extent is dangerous to a very great de¬ 
 gree- 
 
( 27 ) 
 
 gree. Suppofe Great Britain fhould raife her colony duties 
 to a dill greater degree, to aniwer the exigency of forne 
 future war, or to fund her prefent debt, you mud follow, 
 for by this bill you would have no option in foreign 
 trade ; you mud follow, not becaufe you wanted the tax, but 
 jed your exemption from taxes diouldgive your manufactures 
 any comparative advantage. Iridi taxes are to be precautions 
 againd the profperity of Iridi manufactures ! You mud fol¬ 
 low becaufe your taxes here would be no longer meafured 
 by the wants of the country or the intered of her commerce, 
 becaufe we diould have inltituted a falfe meafure of taxation j 
 the wants and the riches of another country, which exceeds 
 you much in wants, but infinitely more in riches. I fear 
 we fhould have done more, we fhould have made Englifh 
 jealoufy the barometer of Irifh taxes. Suppofe this country 
 fhould in any degree edablifh a direCt trade with the Britidi 
 plantations, fuppofethe apprehenfions of the Britidi manufac¬ 
 turers in any degree realized, they may dictate your duties, they 
 may petition the Britifh Parliament to raife certain duties, 
 which lha.ll not affeCt the articles of their intercourfe, but 
 may dop yours ; or, which fhall affeCt the articles of their 
 intercourfe a little and annihilate yours ; thus they may by 
 one and the fame duty raife a revenue in England, and de- 
 droy a rival in Ireland. Camblets are an indance of the 
 former, and every valuable plantation import an indance of 
 the latter ; your option in foreign trade had been a redraint 
 on England, or a refource to Ireland, but under this adjuft- 
 ment you give up your foreign trade, and confine yourfelf to 
 that which you mud not prefume to regulate. The exclu- 
 hon of foreign plantation produce would feem fuOlcient, for 
 every purpofe of power and domination, but to aggravate, 
 and it would feem, to injult , the Independent States of 
 North America are mod ungracioudy brought into this ar¬ 
 rangement, as it Ireland was a Britifh colony, or North 
 America continued a part of the Britifh dominion , by the 
 refolutions ahnod all the produce of North America was to 
 be imported to Ireland, fubjea to Britifh duties '; the bill is 
 more moderate, and only enumerates certain articles, but 
 what right has Great Britain to interf re m our foreign 
 trade, what right has die to dilate to us on the (uhjclfof 
 North American traded How far this country may be further 
 alfe&ed by clogging her plantation trade and furren- 
 dering her free trade, I fhall not for the prefent dop more 
 minutely to inquire, but I mud dop to proted againd one 
 
 E 2 circumdance 
 
( 28 ) 
 
 circumdance in this arrangement, which ftiould not ac¬ 
 company any arrangement, which would be fatal to fettle- 
 ment itfelf, and tear afunder the bands of faith and affec- 
 tion ; the circumdance I mean, is the opening of the fettle- 
 ments of the Colony trade, and free trade of 1779 : this ad- 
 judment takes from you the power of choofing the article, 
 fo that the whole covenant hangs on the fpecial circum¬ 
 dance, and takes from you your option in the produce of 
 foreign plantations, and even of America. It is a revifion 
 in peace of the fettlements of war, it is a revocation in 
 peace of the acquifition of war. I here afk by what autho¬ 
 rity ? By what authority is Ireland obliged now to enter into 
 a general account for part acquidtions ? Did the petition of 
 the Manufacturers defire it ? Did the addrefTes of the laft 
 feflion defire it ? Did the Minider in this feflion fugged: it ? 
 No ; I call for authority , whereby we can be judified in 
 waving the benefit of pad treaties, and bringing the whole 
 relative fituation of this country into quedion in an ar¬ 
 rangement, which only profedes to fettle her channel trade ? 
 I conceive the fettlements of the lad war are facred; you 
 may make other fettlements with the Britidi nation, but 
 you will never make any fo beneficial as thefe are ; they were 
 the refult of a conjuncture miraculoudy formed, and fortu¬ 
 nately feized. The American war was the Irifh harved. From 
 that period, as from the lucky moment of your fate, your 
 commerce, conditution, and mind took form and vigour; 
 and to that period, and to a fird and falient principle mud 
 they recur for life and renovation. Tis therefore I confider 
 thofe fettlements as facred, and from them I am naturally 
 led to that part of the fubjeft which relates to compenfa- 
 tion, the payment which we are to make for the lodes which 
 we are to fudain ; certainly compenfation cannot apply to 
 the free trade fuppofing it uninvaded, fird, becaufe that 
 trade was your right; to pay forthereco.very of what you fhould 
 never have lod, had been to a great degree unjud and de¬ 
 rogatory; fecondly, becaufe that free trade was edablifhed 
 in 1779, and the fettlement then clofedand cannot be opened 
 now ; to do fo were to dedroy the faith of treaties, to make 
 it idle to enter into the prefent fettlement, and to render it 
 vain to enter into any fettlement with a Britidi Minider. 
 The fame may be faid of the Colony trade ; that too was 
 fettled in 1779 on terms then fpecified, not now to be 
 opened, clogged, conditioned or circumfcribed ; dill lefs 
 does compenfation apply to the free conditution of 1782. 
 
( 29 ) 
 
 His Majefty then informed you from the throne ** thcfe 
 things come unaccompanied with any ftipulatlon,”——be- 
 fides, the free conftitution like the free trade was your right. 
 Freemen wont pay for the recovery of right; payment had 
 derogated from the claim of right; fo we then ftated to mi- 
 niftry. It was then thought that to have annexed fubfidy 
 to conftitution had been a barren experiment on public 
 poverty,, and had marred an illuftrious experiment on the 
 feelings of the nation, and had been neither fatisfadhon to 
 Ireland, nor revenue to Great Britain. This bolder po¬ 
 licy, this happy art, which law how much may be got by 
 tax, and ho w much mu ft be left to honour, which made a 
 bold puih for the heart of the nation, and leaving her free 
 to acquire, took a chance for her difpofttion to give, had its 
 efFedl,^ for fince that time until the prefent mo ft unfortunate 
 attempt , a great bulk of the community were on the fide ox 
 government, and the parliamentary conftitution was a 
 guarantee for public peace. 
 
 See then what you obtained without compenfation,—a 
 Colony trade, a free trade, the independency of your Judges, 
 the government of your army, the extenlion of the un- 
 conftitutional powers of your council, the reftoration of the 
 judicature of your lords, and the independency of your 
 legiftature ! 
 
 See now what you obtain by compenfation—a covenant 
 not to trade beyond the Cape of Good Hope and the Straits 
 of Magellan ; a covenant not to take foreign plantation pro¬ 
 duce, but as the Parliament of Great Britain fhall permit; 
 a covenant not to take certain produce of the United States 
 of North America, but as Great Britain fhall permit ; a co¬ 
 venant not to take Britifti plantation produce, but as Great 
 Britain fhall preferibe ; a covenant to make fuch a£ts of na¬ 
 vigation as Great Britain fhall preferibe ; a covenant never 
 to proteT your own manufactures, never to guard the pri- 
 mum of thofe manufactures!—Thefe things are accompa¬ 
 nied, I do acknowledge with a covenant on the part of 
 England to difarm your argument for protecting duties, to 
 give the Englifh language in the aCt of navigation the fame 
 conftruCtion in Ireland, and to leave our linen markets 
 without moleftation or diminution. One fhould think fome 
 God prefided over the liberties of this country who made it 
 frugality in the Irifh nation to continue free, but has an¬ 
 nexed the penalties of fine as well as infamy to the furren 
 der of the conftitution ! From this confideration of com- 
 
 ■ meree, 
 
( 3 ° ) 
 
 merce, a quedion much more high, much mere deep, 
 the invaluable quedion of conditution arifes, in which 
 the idea of protecting duties, the idea of reciprocal du¬ 
 ties, countervailing duties, and all that detail vanifli, and 
 the energies of every heart, and the prudence of every 
 head, are called upon to fhield this nation, that long 
 deprefled, and at length by domedic virtue and foreign 
 misfortune emancipated, has now, to defend her newly- 
 acquired rights and her judly-acquired reputation ; the 
 quedion is no lefs than that, which three years ago 
 agitated, fired and exalted the Irifh nation —the indepen¬ 
 dency of the Iridi Parliament! By this Bill we are to cove¬ 
 nant that the Parliament of Ireland jfhall fubfcribe what¬ 
 ever laws the Parliament of England fhall prefcribe, re- 
 fpeCting your trade with the Britifh Plantations, your trade in 
 the produce of Foreign Plantations, and part of your trade 
 from the United States of North America. There is alfo a 
 fweeping Covenant or Condition, whereby we are to agree to 
 fubfcribe whatever laws the Parliament of England fhall pre¬ 
 fcribe refpe&ing Navigation ; the adjudment fubjects alfo 
 your reverfiona'-y trade to the Ead to the fame terms—over 
 all thefe objects you are to have no propounding, no deli¬ 
 berative, no negative, no legislative power whatfoever. 
 Here then is an end ot your Free Trade and your Free 
 Conditution; I acquit the people of England ; an ill-ground¬ 
 ed jealoufy for their trade ieems aggravated by a well-found¬ 
 ed alarm for your liberty ; unwilling to rclinquilh, but when 
 relinquifhed, too magnanimous and too wife to refume ab¬ 
 dicated tyranny ; they feel in thefe Propofitions an ho¬ 
 nourable follicitude for the freedom of Ireland and the good 
 faith of Great Britain, and fee the darling principles and 
 paflions of both countries wounded in an arrangement 
 which was to compofe them for ever : To a propcfal there¬ 
 fore fo little warranted by the great body of the people of 
 England, fo little expected by the people of Ireland, fo lit¬ 
 tle fuggeded by the Minider, anu fo involving to whatever 
 is dear to your intered, honour and freedom, I anfwer, no. 
 I plead pad iettlements, I infid on the faith ot nations, the 
 objection Ihould have been made when thefe iettlements 
 was making ; but now the logic of Empire comes 
 too late ; no accommodation, no deprecation on this 
 fubieCt : Adertion, national adertion, national reafprti- 
 sn ! It three years after the recovery of your freedom, 
 you bend —your children, corrupted by your example, will 
 furrcnder ;—but if you dand firm and innexorable, you 
 
 make 
 
( 3i ) 
 
 make a feafonable imprefiion on the people of England, 
 you give a wholefome example to your children, you af¬ 
 ford an awful inftruCtion to his Majefty's Minifters, and 
 make (as the Old Englifh did in the cafe of their Charter) 
 the attempt on Irifh liberty its confirmation and eftablifti- 
 ment! 
 
 However, left certain gloftes fhould feem to go un- 
 anfwered, I fhall, for the lake of argument, wave paft fet- 
 tlements and combat the reafoning ot the Englifti Refoluti- 
 ons, the Addrefs, his Majefty’s anfwer, and the reafoning 
 of this day. It is here faid, that the laws refpeCting Com¬ 
 merce and Navigation fhould be fimilar, and inferred , that 
 Ireland fhould fubfcribe the laws of England on thofe fub- 
 je&s : that is the fame law, the fame legillature, but this 
 argument goes a great deal too far—it goes to the Army, for 
 the Mutiny Bill lhould be the fame ; it was endeavoured to 
 be extended to the collection of your Revenue, and is in 
 train to be extended to your taxes ; it goes to the extincti¬ 
 on of the moft invaluable part of your Parliamentary ca¬ 
 pacity; it is an union, an incipient and a creeping union; 
 a virtual union, eftabliftiing one will in the general con¬ 
 cerns of Commerce and Navigation, and repofing that 
 will in the Parliament of Great Britain ; an union where 
 our Parliament preferves its exiftence after it has loft its au¬ 
 thority, and our people are to pay for a Parliamentary Efta- 
 bliftiment, without any proportion of Parliamentary Re- 
 pre'entation. In oppofing the Right Hon. Gentleman’s 
 Bill, I confider myfelf as oppofing an union in limine , 
 and that argument fof union which makes fimilarity of law 
 and community of intereft (reafon ftrong for the freedom 
 of Ireland 1 ) a pretence for a condition which would be difli- 
 milarity of law, becaufe extinction of conftitution, and 
 therefore hoftility, not community of intereft ; I afk on 
 what experience is this argument founded ?—Plave you ever 
 fince your redemption refufed to preferve a fimilarity of 
 law in Trade and Navigation ? Have you not followed 
 Great Britain in all her changes of the ACt of Navigati¬ 
 on, during the whole of that unpalatable bufinefs, the 
 American War ? Have you not excluded the cheap produce 
 of other Plantations, in order that Irifh poverty might 
 give a monopoly to the dear produce of Britifti Colonies ? 
 Have you not made a better ufe of your liberty than Great 
 Britain did of her power ? But I have an objedion to this 
 argument, ftronger even than its want of foundation, in 
 reafon and experiment; I hold it to be nothing lefs than 
 
 an 
 
I 
 
 ( 3 2 ) 
 
 an intolerance of the Parliamentary Conftitutiort of Ire- 
 land, a declaration that the full and free external legiflation 
 of the Irifh Parliament is incompatible with the Britifh Em¬ 
 pire. I do acknowledge that by your external power, you 
 might difcompofe the harmony of Empire, and I add, that 
 by your power over the Purfe, you might difTolve the State, 
 but to the latter you owe your exigence in the Condituti- 
 on, and to the former, your authority and dation in the 
 Empire ; this argument, therefore, reds the conne&ion 
 upon a tiew and a falfe principle — goes directly againd the 
 root of Parliament—and is not a difficulty to be accommo¬ 
 dated, but an error to be eradicated ; and if any body of men 
 can dill think that the Irifh Confutation is incompatible 
 with the Britifh Empire, dodtrine which I abjure as fediti- 
 on againd the Conditution- but if any body of men are 
 iudified in thinking; that the Irifh Conditution is incom- 
 patible with the Britifh Empire,—perifh the Empire !—live 
 the Conditution ! Reduced by this falfe dilemma to take a 
 part, my fecond wifh is the Britifh Empire, my firffc wifh 
 and bounden dutv is the liberty of Ireland—but we are told 
 this imperial ,power is not only neceffary for England but 
 fafe for Ireland. What is the prefent quedion ? what but 
 the abufe of this very power of regulating the trade of Ire¬ 
 land by the Britifli Parliament excluding you, and includ¬ 
 ing herfelf by virtue of the fame words of the fame A6t of 
 Navigation ? And what was the promovent caufe of this 
 arrangement ? what but the power you are going to fur- 
 render, the didindl and independant external authority of 
 the Irifh Parliament, competent to quedion that mifcon- 
 druction ? What is the remedy now propofed ? the evil, —go 
 hack to the Parliament of England -1 afk again, what were 
 the difficulties in the way of your Eleven Propofitions ? what 
 put the jealoufy of the Britifh Manufadturers on the fubject 
 of trade ? And will you make them your Parliament, and 
 that too for ever, and that too on the fuhjedl ot their jea¬ 
 loufy, and in the moment they difplayed it—fafe ! I will 
 fuppofe that jealoufy realized, that you rival them in fome 
 market abroad, and that they petition their Parliament to 
 impofe a Regulation which fhall affeef a tonnage which 
 you have and Great Britain has not ; how would you 
 then feel your fituation, when you fhould be obliged to re- 
 gider all. this ? And how would you feel your degradation, 
 when you fhould fee your own Manufa6turers pais you by 
 as a cypher in the Conditution, and deprecate their ruin 
 
 at 
 
( 33 ) 
 
 at the bar of a Foreign Parliament—fafe! Whence the 
 American war ? Whence the Irifh re ft ri t ions ? Whence 
 the mifeonftrution of the At of Navigation ? Whence 
 but from the evil of fuffering one country to regulate the 
 Trade and Navigation of another, and of infiituting, un¬ 
 der the idea of general Protetorefs* a proud domination, 
 which facrifices the intereft of the whole to the ambition of 
 a part, and arms the little paffions of the Monopolift with 
 the fovercign potency of an imperial Parliament; for great 
 nations when curfed with unnatural fway follow but their 
 nature when they invade ; and human wifdom has not bet¬ 
 ter provided for human fafety than by limiting the principles 
 of human power. The furrender of Legi flature has been 
 likened to cafes that not infrequently take place between 
 two equal nations covenanting to fufpend in particular 
 cafes their refpetive legiflative powers for mutual benefit ; 
 thus Great Britain and Portugal agree to fufpend their le¬ 
 giflative power in favour of the Wine of the one and the 
 Woollen of the other, but if Portugal had gone farther, 
 and agreed to fubferibe the laws of England, this cove¬ 
 nant had not been treaty but conqueft ; fo Great Britain 
 and Ireland may covenant, not to raife high duties on each 
 others manufatures, but if Ireland goes farther, and cove¬ 
 nants to fubferibe Britifh law, this is not a mutual fufpenfion 
 of the exercife of legiflative power, but a transfer of the 
 power itfelf from one country to another, to be ex- 
 ercifed by another hand ; fuch covenant is not reci¬ 
 procity of trade, it is a furrender of the government of 
 your trade, inequality of trade and inequality of conftitu- 
 tion. I fpeak however as if fuch transfer could take place, 
 but in fat it could not, any arrangement fo covenanting 
 is a mere nullity, it could not bind you, ftill lefs could 
 it bind your fucceflors, for man is not omnipotent 
 over himfelf, neither are Parliaments omnipotent over 
 themfelves to accomplifii their own deftru&ion and propa¬ 
 gate death to their fucceffors ; there is in thefe cafes a 
 fuperiour relationfhip to our refpetive Creators—God—the 
 Community, which in the infiance of the individual, ar- 
 refis the hand of filicide, and in that of the political body, 
 ftops the at of furrender ; and makes man, the means of 
 propagation, and Parliament the organ to continue liberty, 
 not the engine to deftroy it. However, though the furren- 
 der is void, there are two ways of attempting it, one by a 
 furrender in form, the other by a furrender in fubfiance ; 
 
 F appointing 
 
( 3 + >• 
 
 appointing another Parliament your fubditute, and cort- 
 fenting to be its regider or damp, by virtue of which to in¬ 
 troduce the law and edidt of another land ; to cloath with- 
 the forms of your law, foreign deliberations, and to preiidc 
 over the difgraceful ceremony of your own abdicated autho¬ 
 rity ; both methods are equally furrenders and both are 
 wholly void. I fpeakon principle,, the principle on which 
 you hand— your creation. We, the limited Trudees of de¬ 
 legated power, born for a particular purpofe, limitted to a 
 particular time, and bearing an inviolable reiationfhip to 
 the people who fent us to Parliament, cannot break that 
 reiationfhip, counteradf that purpofe, furrender, diminifh, 
 or derogate from thofe privileges we breathe but to pre- 
 ferve. Could the Parliament of England covenant to fub- 
 feribe your laws ? Could die covenant that Young Ireland 
 fhould command and Old England fhould obey? If fuch a 
 urepofal to England were mockery ; to Ireland it cannot be 
 conditution. I red on authority as well as principle, the 
 authority on which the revolution reds ; Mr. Locke, who 
 .in his chapter on the abolition of Government, fays, that 
 the transfer of legiflative power is the abolition of the date, 
 not a transfer. Thus I may congratulate this Ploufe and 
 myfelf, that it is one of the bleffingsof the Britifh Conditu- 
 tion, that it can not perifh of a rapid mortality nor die in- 
 day, like the men who fhould protedf her; any a<d that a 
 would dedroy the liberty of the people is dead-born from 
 the womb ; men may put down the public caufe for a fca- 
 fon, but another year would fee Old Conditution advance 
 the honours of his head, and the good inditution of Par¬ 
 liament fhaking o(F the tomb to reafeend in all its pomp* 
 and pride, and plenitude and privilege ! 
 
 Sir, I have dated thele Propofitions and the Bill as a mere 
 transfer of external legiflative authority to the Parliament of 
 Great Britain, but I have underdated their mifehief, they 
 go to taxation, taxes on the trade with the Britifh planta¬ 
 tions, taxes on the produce of foreign plantations, taxes on 
 feme ot the produce of the United States of North America; 
 they go to port duties, fuch as Great Britain laid on 
 America; the mode is varied, but the principle is the fame. 
 —Here Great Britain takes the damp of the Irifh Parliament, 
 Great Britain is to preferibe, and Ireland is to obey ! Wc 
 anticipate the rape by previous furrender, and throw into 
 the ica;e onr honor, as well as our liberty. Do not ima¬ 
 gine that all thefe Resolutions are mere aids of regulation ; 
 
( 35 ) 
 
 they are folid fubftantial revenue, great part of your addi¬ 
 tional duty. I allow the Bill excepts rum and tobacco ; but 
 the principle is retained, and the operation of it only 
 kept back. I have ftated that Great Britain may by thefe 
 Propofitions crulh your commerce, but {hall be told that the 
 commercial jealoufy of Great Britain is at an end But are 
 her wants at an end ? are her wilh.es for Irilh fublidy at an 
 end ? No—and may be gratified by laying colony duties on 
 herfelf, and fo railing on Ireland an imperial revenue to be 
 fubfcribed by our Parliament, without the confent of our 
 Parliament, and in defpite of our people. Or if a minifter 
 fhould pleafe to turn himfeif to a general excife, if wifhing 
 to relieve from the weight of further additional duties the 
 hereditary revenue now alienated, if wilhing to relieve the 
 alarms of the Englifh manufacturers, who complain of our 
 exemption from excifes, particularly on foap, candles, and 
 leather : he fhould proceed on thofe already regiftered arti¬ 
 cles of taxation, he might tax you by threats , fuggefting 
 that if you refufe to raife an excife on yourfelf, England 
 would raife colony duties on both. See what a mighty 
 inftrument of coercion this Bill and thefe Refolutions—ftir 
 and Great Britain can erulh you—ftir and the minifter can 
 crulh you in the name of Great Britain—he can crufh your 
 imports—he can crufh your exports,—he can do -his in a 
 manner peculiarly mortifying, by virtue of a claufe in a 
 Britilh a6t of Parliament that would feem to impofe the 
 fame reftri 61 ions on Great Britain -he can do this in a 
 manner ftill more -oftenlive by the immediate means of your 
 own Parliament, who would be then an adlive cypher, 
 and notorious ftamp in the hands of Great Britain, to forge 
 and fallify the name and authority of the people of Ireland. 
 I have conlidered your fituation under thefe Propofitions 
 with refpecf to Great Britain : fee what would be your 
 fituation with refpedl to the Crown ? You would have 
 granted to the King a perpetual Money Bill, or a Money 
 Bill to continue as long as the Parliament of Great 
 Britain ftiall pleafe, with a covenant to increafe it as often 
 as the Britifli Parliament Ilia'll pleafe. By the Refolutions 
 a great part of the additional duty woiild have been lo 
 granted—the trade of the country is made dependant on 
 the Parliament of Great Britain, and the Crown is made 
 lefs dependant of the Parliament of Ireland, and a code of 
 prerogative added to a code of empire. If the merchant 
 after this fhould petition you to lower your duties on the 
 
 F 2 articles 
 
( 36 ) 
 
 articles of trade, your anfwer <( trade is in covenant.” 
 If your conftituents ftiould inftruCt you to limit the Bill of 
 Supply, or pafs a ftiort Money Bill, your anfwer, 4< the 
 purfe of the nation like her trade is in covenant.”—No 
 more of fix months Money Bills no more of inftruCtions 
 from conftituents—that connexion is broken by this Bill, 
 —pafs this, you have no con/iituent —you are not the reprefen- 
 tive of the people of Ireland, but the regifter of the Britifh 
 Parliament, and the equalizer of Britifh duties! 
 
 In order to complete this chain of power, one link (I do 
 acknowledge) was wanting—a perpetual Revenue Bill, or 
 a covenant from time to time to renew the Bill for the 
 collection thereof. The twentieth Refoiution and this Bill 
 founded upon it attain that object. Sir, this Houfe refts 
 on three pillars—your power over the annual Mutiny Bill 
 —your power over the annual Additional Duties—your 
 power over the Collection of the Revenue. The latter 
 power is of great confequence, becaufe a great part of our 
 revenues are granted for ever. Your anceftors were flaves; 
 and for their eftates, that is, for the aCt of fettlement grant¬ 
 ed the hereditary revenue, and from that moment ceafed 
 to be a parliament; nor was it till many years after that 
 Parliament revived ; but it revived as you under this Bill 
 would continue ; without parliamentary power ; every evil 
 meafure derived argument, energy and offence from this 
 conftitutional fund. If a country gentleman complained 
 of the expences of the crown, he was told a frugal govern¬ 
 ment could go on without a Parliament, and that we held 
 pur exiftence, by withholding the difcharge of our duty. 
 However, though the funds were granted for ever, the 
 provilion for the collection was inadequate—the fmuggler 
 learned to evade the penalties, and Parliament, though not 
 neceffary for granting the Hereditary Revenue, became ne- 
 
 ceffary for its collection.-Here then we reft on three 
 
 pillars—the annual Mutiny Bill—the annual Additional 
 Supply—and the annual Collection of the Revenue. If you 
 remove all thefe, this fabric falls ; remove any one of them, 
 and it totters ; for it is not the mace, nor the chair, nor 
 this dome, but the deliberative voice refident therein that 
 conftitutes the effence of Parliament. Clog your delibera¬ 
 tions, and you are no longer a Parliament, with a thoufand 
 gawdy furviving circumftances of (hew and authority. 
 
 Contemplate for a moment the powers which this Bill 
 prefumes to perpetuate—a perpetual repeal of trial by jury— 
 / * * ' * * . a perpetual 
 
( 37 ) 
 
 a perpetual repeal of the great charter—a perpetual writ of 
 affiftance—a perpetual felony to ftrike an excifeman ! 
 
 The late Chief Baron Burgh fpeaking on the revenue 
 bill, exclaimed, <c you give to the dipping rule what you 
 fhould deny to the fceptre.” 
 
 All the unconftitutional powers of the excife we are to 
 perpetuate, the conftitutional powers of Parliament we are 
 to abdicate. Can we do all this ? can we make thefe 
 bulky furrenders, in diminution of the power, in derogation of 
 the pride of Parliament, and in violation of thofe eternal 
 relationfhips, which the body that reprefents fhould bear to 
 the community which conftitutes ? 
 
 The pretence given for this unconftitutional idea is weak 
 indeed ; that as the benefits are permanent, fo fhould be 
 the compenfation. But trade laws are to follow their na¬ 
 ture—revenue laws to follow their’s. On the permanent 
 ^nature of commercial advantages depends the faith of trade, 
 on the limitted nature of revenue laws depends the exigence 
 of Parliament. But the error of the argument arifes from 
 the vice of dealing. It is a market for a conftitution, and 
 a logic applicable to barter only, is applied to freedom— 
 To qualify this dereliction of every principle and power, the 
 furrender is made conflitutional; that, is, the Britifh market 
 for the Irifh conftitution, the fhadow of a market for the 
 lubftance of a conftitution I You are to referve an option— 
 trade or liberty ,—if you mean to come to the Britifh market 
 you muft pafs under the Britifh yoke. I object to this 
 principle in every fhape, whether you are, as the Refolution 
 was firft worded, direCtly to transfer legiflative power to the 
 Britifh Parliament ; whether, as it was afterwards altered, 
 you are to covenant to fubferibe her aCts ; or whether, as 
 it is now foftened, you are to take the chance of the Britifh 
 market, fo long as you wave the bleftings of the Britifh con¬ 
 ftitution-—terms difhonourable, derogatory, incapable of 
 forming the foundation of any fair and friendly fettlement, 
 injurious to the political morality of the nation ; I would 
 not harbour a flavifh principle, nor give it the hofpitality 
 of a night’s lodging in a land of liberty ! Slavery is like 
 any other vice, tolerate and you embrace ; you fnould 
 guard your conftitution by fettled maxims of honour, as 
 well as wholefome rules of law ; and one maxim fhould be, 
 never to tolerate a condition which trenches on the privi¬ 
 lege of Parliament, or derogates from the pride of the ifland. 
 -—Liberal in matters of revenue, practicable in matters of 
 
 commerce $ 
 
( 3 » ) 
 
 commerce; on thefe fubje&s I would be inexorable ; if the 
 genius of Old England came to that bar, with the Britifh 
 conftitution in one hand, and in the other an offer of all 
 that England retains, or all that {he has loft of commerce, 
 I fhould turn my back on the latter, and pay my obeifance 
 to the bleffings of her conftitution, for that conftitution will 
 give you commerce, and it was lofs of that conftitution that 
 deprived you of commerce. Why are you not now a wool¬ 
 len country ? becaufe another country regulated your trade. 
 —Why are you not now a country of re-export ? becaufc 
 another country regulated your navigation. I oppofe the 
 original terms as flavifti, and I oppofe the conditional 
 claufe as an artful way of introducing flavery, of Toothing 
 an high fpirited nation into fubmiffion by the ignominious 
 delufion that fhe may (hake off the yoke when fhe pleafes, 
 and once more become a free people. The dire£t uncon¬ 
 stitutional Propofition could not have been liftened to, and 
 therefore refort is had to the only poffible chance of de¬ 
 stroying the liberty of the people, by holding up the bright 
 reverfion of the Britifh conftitution, and the fpeculation of 
 future liberty, as a confolation for prefent fubmiffion. 
 But, would any gentleman here wear a livery to-night, 
 becaufe he might lay it afide in the morning ? or would 
 this Houfe fubftitute another, becaufe next year it might 
 refume its authority, and once more become the Parliament 
 of Ireland ? I do not believe we fhall get the Britifh—but 
 I do not want to make an experiment on the Britifh market, 
 by making an experiment likewife on the conftitution and 
 fpirit of the people of Ireland. But do not imagine if you 
 fhall yield for a year, you will get fo eafily clear of this 
 inglorious experiment ; if this is not the Britilh market, 
 why accept the adjuftment ? and if it is, the benefit thereof 
 may take away your deliberative voice. You will be bribed 
 out of your conftitution by your commerce—there are two 
 ways of taking away free-will, the one by dire <51 compulfion, 
 the other by eftablifhing a prnepollent motive. Thus a 
 fervant of the Crown may Iofe his free-will, when he is to 
 give his vote at the hazard of his office, and thus a Parlia¬ 
 ment would Iofe its free will, if it a&ed under a convi£fion 
 that it exercifed its deliberative fun&ion at the rifk of its 
 commerce. No one queftion would ftand upon its own 
 legs, but each queftion would involve every confideration 
 pi trade, and indeed the whole relative fituation of the 
 two countries. And I befeech you to confider that fituation, 
 
 and 
 
( 39 ) 
 
 A 
 
 and contemplate the powers of your own country, before 
 you agree to furrender them. Recolledt that you have now a 
 right to trade with the Britifh plantations, in certain arti¬ 
 cles, without reference to Britifh duties—that you have a 
 right to trade with the Britifh plantations in every other 
 article, fubjedt to the rate of Britifh duties—that you have 
 a right to get clear of each and of every part of that bargain 
 —that you have a right to take the produce of foreign 
 plantations, fubjedt to your own undipulated duties—that 
 you have a right to carry on a free and unqualified trade 
 with the United States of North America—that you have 
 a right to carry on an experimental trade in countries con¬ 
 tiguous to which Great Britain has edablidied her mono¬ 
 polies—the power of trade this, and an indrument of 
 power and dation and authority in the Britilh empiret 
 Confider that you have likewife a right to the exclulive 
 fupply of your own market, and to the exclufive referve 
 of the rudiment of your manufadtures. That you have an 
 abfolute dominion over the public purfe, and over the 
 colledfion of the revenue—if you afk me how you 
 fhould ufe thefe powers, I fay for Ireland, with due regard 
 to the Britifh nation ; let them be governed by the fpirit 
 of concord, and with fidelity to the connexion ; but 
 when the mover of the Bill afks me to furrender thofe 
 powers, I am aflonifhed at him. I have neither ears, 
 nor eyes, nor fundtions to make fuch a facrifice. What! 
 that free trade, for which we exerted every nerve in 1779, 
 that free conflitution for which we pledged life and fortune in 
 1782 ! Our lives are at the fervice of the empire—but—our 
 liberties f No—we received them from our Father, which 
 is in Heaven, and we will hand them down to our children. 
 But if gentlemen can entertain a doubt of the mifehief of 
 thefe proportions, are they convinced of their fafety ? the 
 fafety of giving up the government of your trade ? no ! the 
 mifehief is prominent, but the advantage is of a moft 
 enigmatical nature. Have gentlemen confidered the fub- 
 jedf, have they traced even the map of the countries, the 
 power or freedom of trading with whom they are to fur¬ 
 render forever ? Have they traced the map of Alia, Africa, 
 and America ? Do they know the French, Dutch, PortuguGfe, 
 and Spanifh fettlements ? Do they know the neutral powers of 
 thofe countries, their produce, aptitudes and difpofitions ? 
 Have they confidered the date of North America ? its pre- 
 fent date, future growth, and every opportunity in the 
 
 endlefs 
 
( 4 ° ) 
 
 endlefs fucccffion of time attending that nurfe of com¬ 
 merce and afylum of mankind ? Are they now competent 
 to declare on the part of themfelves and all their pofterity 
 that a free trade to thofe regions will never in the efflux of 
 time be of any fervice to the kingdom of Ireland ? If 
 they have information on this fubjeCt it muft be by a com¬ 
 munication with God, for they have none with man ; it 
 mud be inspiration for it cannot be knowledge. In fuch cir- 
 cumftances to fubferibe this agreement ; without knowledge, 
 without even the affeCtation of knowledge, when Great 
 Britain with all her experience and every means of infor¬ 
 mation from Eaft Indies, Weft Indies, America, and with 
 the official knowledge of Ireland at her feet, has taken fix 
 months to deliberate, and has now produced twenty Refo- 
 lutions with an hiftory to each, amounting to a code of em¬ 
 pire, not a fyftem of commerce : I fay in fuch circumftances 
 for Ireland to fubferibe this agreement would be in¬ 
 fatuation, an infatuation to which the nation could 
 not be a party, but would appear to be concluded 
 or indeed huddled with all her pofterity into a fallaci¬ 
 ous arrangement, by the influence of the Crown with¬ 
 out the deliberation of Parliament, or the confent of the 
 people ! This would appear the more inexcufable becaufe we 
 are not driven to it, adjuftment is not indifpenfible ; the 
 great points have been carried ; an inferior queftion about 
 the home market has been ftarted and a commercial fever 
 artificially raifed, but while the great points remain undif- 
 turbed the nations cannot be committed; the manufac¬ 
 turers applied for prote&ing duties and have failed ; the 
 minifter offered a fyftem of reciprocity and fucceeded in 
 Ireland, but has failed in England ; he makes you another 
 offer inconfiftent with the former, wffiich offer the Englifti 
 do not fupport and the Irifh deprecate. 
 
 We can go on, we have a growing profperity and as 
 yet an exemption from intolerable taxes ; we can from time 
 to time regulate our own commerce, cherifli our manu¬ 
 factures, keep down our taxes, and bring on our people, and 
 brood over the growing profperity of Young Ireland. In the 
 mean time we will guard our Free Trade and Free Con¬ 
 futation as our only real rejources ; they were the ftruggles 
 of great virtue, the refult of much perfeverance, and our 
 broad bafe of public aCtion ! We fhould recolleCt that this 
 Houfe may now w r ith peculiar propriety interpofe, becaufe 
 you did with great zeal and fuccefs, on this very fubjeCt of 
 trade, bring on the people, and you did with great pru¬ 
 dence 
 
( 4 « ) 
 
 dence and moderation on another occafion, cheek a cer¬ 
 tain defcription of the people, and you are now called upon 
 by conddency to defend the people. Thus mediating between 
 extremes, you will preferve this idand long, and preferve 
 her with a certain degree of renown. Thus faithful to the 
 conditution cf the country you will command and inlure 
 her tranquillity, for our bed authority with the people is, 
 protedlion afforded againd the minideys of the crown. 
 It is not public clamour but public injury that lhould alarm 
 you ; your high ground of expodulation with your fellow 
 iubjedfs has been your fervices ; the free trade you have 
 given the merchant, and the free conditution you have given 
 the idand! Make your third great effort, preferve them, 
 and with them preferve unaltered, your own calm fenfe of 
 public right, the dignity of the Parliament, the majedy 
 of the people, and the powers of the idand ! Keep them un- 
 fullied, uncovenanted, uncircumicribed, and undipendiary \ 
 Thefe paths are the paths of glory, and let me add, thefe 
 ways are the ways of peace ; fo lhall the profperity of your 
 Country, though without a tongue to thank you, yet laden 
 with the bledings of conditution and of commerce, bear 
 attedation to your fervices, and wait on your progrefs with 
 involuntary praife ! 
 
 Mr. Mafon , (in anfwer to Mr. Grattan) faid, he was not 
 furprizcd that the right hon. Gentleman fhould be exceed- 
 ingly jealous of any meafure that appeared to him to infringe, 
 even in the dighted degree, that conditutional independence 
 which he himfelf had redored to his Country ; but that jea- 
 loufy was a pardon which applies itfelf more powerfully to the 
 imagination, than it does to the underdanding of the per- 
 fons podeffed with it, and is apt, as Shakefpeare tells us, to 
 make the food it feeds on. This, faid he, was precifely 
 the cafe of the right honourable Gentleman on that occafion^ 
 as he would venture to affert, that this attack on the con¬ 
 ditution of Ireland, which the right honourable Gentleman 
 had repelled with fo much ability and zeal, had no real ex- 
 idence, hut was merely the creature of his own imagination. 
 
 He faid, he fhould not be furprized if the commercial 
 regulations of the Bill then moved for fhould occafion a 
 great diverfity of opinion, or that fome of them, when 
 confidered fingly, and not as compofing part of a fydem, 
 fhould appear exceptionable ; for if, in a treaty of that na¬ 
 ture, every article was in favour of one of the parties, there 
 would be an end of that equality which mud ncceffarily be 
 
 G the 
 
( 42 ) 
 
 the bafts of any permanent agreement between the two na^ 
 tions;—but that the objections that had been urged againft 
 thofe regulations on conftitutional grounds appeared to him 
 entirely void of foundation; to be fraught with abfurdity 
 and mifchief, and calculated to anfwer the worft of pur¬ 
 poses ; to Spread a falfe alarm through all parts of the king¬ 
 dom, to irritate the public without juft caufe againft the 
 Britifh Parliament, and to perfuade the people, that the 
 conftitutional independence of their country was in danger 
 at the very moment that it was moft Secure ;—at the very 
 moment that all the branches of the legislature in both 
 kingdoms were vying with each other, which of them Should 
 aflert the independence of Ireland in the ftrongeft terms; 
 at the very time when the Minifter of Ireland had moved 
 for a Bill, intended to contain a claufe for that purpofe ; 
 when the Minifter of Great Britain had actually prefented 
 a Bill declaring that the Parliament of Ireland alone was com¬ 
 petent to make laws to bind that kingdom, in any cafe what¬ 
 ever ; and when both the Houfes of Parliament in Great 
 Britain had concurred in prefenting an Addrefs to the 
 Throne, containing the like explicit declaration ; nay, even 
 the ftipulation required by Great Britain, that Ireland ftiould 
 adopt her future commercial regulations, was the ftrongeft ac¬ 
 knowledgement of their independence ; for why had ftie de¬ 
 parted on that occafion from her eftablifhed practice of re¬ 
 gulating the commerce of every part of the empire by her 
 own Parliament only ? Why had She then relinquiftied that 
 power which ftie had exercifed without controul for 120 
 years? Becaufe ftie acknowledged the independence of Ire¬ 
 land ; becaufe ftie well knew that no a 6 f of her Parliament 
 would be confidered as valid by the people of Ireland, it 
 it were not confirmed by the Irifh legislature. 
 
 He Said, that he had liftened with attention to the Se¬ 
 veral claufes of the intended Bill, and Should not hefitate 
 to aSTert, that if there was any one claufe more absolutely 
 neceflary than the reft, any one with which it was impof- 
 Sible to difpenfe, it was that very claufe which the right 
 honourable Gentleman had reprobated ; for what was the ob- 
 je£t of the pending negociation between Great Britain and 
 Ireland ? It w’as to form upon principles of juftice and equa¬ 
 lity a final and permanent adjuftment of commercial in¬ 
 tercourse between the two countries. Now if they took into 
 consideration only the commercial regulations at prefent ex- 
 ifting, they might form a Syftem that would be juft and equal ; 
 
( 43 ) 
 
 but in order to render it permanent alfo, they mud: go fome- 
 what farther—they mud: look forward to futurity, and take 
 care not only that the commercial regulations of both king-* 
 doms were the fame at that day, but that they fhould ever be 
 the fame at all times hereafter. If they did not that, their 
 fyftem could neither be final or permanent, and their etefnai 
 adjuftment would lad but for a feffion. A perpetual confor¬ 
 mity of commercial regulations was neceffary to render the 
 fydem permanent, which could never be preferved unlefs the 
 parliament of one country fhould agree to adopt the commer¬ 
 cial regulations that fhould, from time to time, be edablifhed 
 in the other ; the quedion therefore was reduced to the fingle 
 point, in which of the two kingdoms the future commercial 
 regulations of the empire ought properly to originate? Should 
 they originate in Ireland, a country that as yet had but lit¬ 
 tle experience in matters of commerce, in the infancy of its 
 trade, manufactures and indudry ? or fhould they originate 
 in Great Britain, the greated commercial nation upon earth, 
 the feat of empire, and of courfe the kingdom on which 
 mud depend their treaties of commerce with foreign na¬ 
 tions ? She was midrefs of the Colonies to which the prin¬ 
 cipal part of their trade would be directed, and midrefs of 
 the navy that mud protect that trade. There was furely no 
 man fo blindly prejudiced in favour of his country as not 
 to acknowledge that the future commercial regulations of 
 the empire ought rather to originate in Great Britain than 
 in Ireland. 
 
 When Mr. Yelverton propofed his bill for adopting in 
 Ireland all fuch commercial laws of Great Britain as con¬ 
 ferred equal benefits, and impofed equal burdens on the 
 fubjects of both kingdoms, the motion was received with 
 general applaufe ; now the only purport of the claufe in 
 quedion was, to extend to futurity the provifions of that Bill, 
 which they all approved of, and to recommend it to fuc-r 
 ceeding Parliaments to adopt fuch future commercial re¬ 
 gulations as fhould be founded on the fame principles of 
 judice and equality. 
 
 He next begged leave to remind the Houfe of the terms 
 on which they then enjoyed the privilege of trading with the 
 Britifh plantations ; the terms, he faid, were, that they 
 fhould conform from time to time to fuch rules and re- 
 dricHons as Great Britain fhould ena£t for regulating the 
 Wed India trade, and alfo that they fhould adopt fuch duties 
 on all commodities exported from Ireland to the plantations., 
 
 G 2 an<^ 
 
( 44 ) 
 
 and imported from them, as Great Britain impofed upon 
 the fame articles—not only the duties exifting at that day, 
 but alfo thofe that Great Britain fhould think proper to lay 
 on at any future time; and accordingly, though they puffed 
 one equalizing Bill in 1780, they were forced to pafs ano¬ 
 ther in the following feffion, in order that their duties might 
 correfpond with thofe which Great Britain had impolcd 
 Within that interval. Thofe, faid he, were the terms didati 
 ed by Great Britain, and accepted by Ireland on that oc- 
 cafion. Did the right honourable Gentleman’s pride revolt 
 againft that ftipulation ? Did he rejeft with fcorn thole 
 humiliating conditions, as infringing on the legiilative in¬ 
 dependence of Ireland? No, he received this concemon 
 like the retd of his fellow citizens, with fatisfa&ion and 
 gratitude ; — yet that ftipulation was barely more offenftve 
 than that which was the iubjeT of the prefent debate; for m 
 order to avail themfelves of the treaty which they were then 
 about to conclude, nothing was required but that Ireland 
 Ihall adopt fuch commercial regulations of the Britifh Par¬ 
 liament as fhould confer equal benefits, and impofe equal 
 burdens on the fubjefts of both kingdoms, and fhould tend at 
 the fame time to increafe the {hipping and mariners of the 
 empire. - But in order to enjoy the commerce of the plan- 
 tions, they bound themfelves not only to adopt her regulations, 
 but alfo to impofe fuch duties as Great Britain fhould pre- 
 feribe on all commodities, whether native' or foreign, ex¬ 
 ported to the Weld Indies, and on every article imported 
 from thence, rum only excepted. He therefore contended 
 for it, that that was the more ofrenfive ftipulation of the 
 two, as if ever a country was to be jealous of the intericr- 
 ence of a foreign legillature, fhe ought fureiy to be mold 
 fo in matters that related to the impofition of taxes. 
 
 He fuppofed it would be faid, that by accepting of the 
 trade to the plantations, on the terms he had hated, Ire¬ 
 land bound herfelf to nothing;—that ihe had it always in 
 her power to refufe to‘impofe the fame duties with Great 
 Britain, and that the only confequence of that retufal would 
 be a fufpenfion of their trade to'the Wefd Indies, with re- 
 fpedt to that article, the duty on which they refilled to equa¬ 
 lize ; but he‘faid, that in the prefent cafe they ftood pre- 
 cifely on the fame ground, for that it would be always in 
 the power of the Parliament of Ireland to rejeft the com¬ 
 mercial regulations of Great Britain, and that the only 
 confequence of that rejection would be, a diflblution of 
 the prefent treaty. - .* ' ' ‘ ’ 
 
C 45 ) 
 
 No man, he faid, could be fo ignorant as to imagine 
 that Great Britain required by this ftipulation that they 
 ftiould pafs any law, rendering it compulfory on future Par¬ 
 liaments to regifter the commercial edicts of Great Britain ; 
 every man of common fenfe muft know that this was irnpof- 
 fible ;—that it was not in the power of a Parliament by any 
 act of theirs to bind fucceeding Parliaments, or even to 
 bind themfelves in a fubfequent feiffon. All they bound our- 
 felves to by accepting of thole conditions, was to adopt fuch 
 laws as had been puffed by Great Britain fince Mr. Yel- 
 verton’s Bill, impofing equal burdens, and conferring equal 
 benefits on the fubje&s of both kingdoms, and then to re¬ 
 commend it to fucceeding Parliaments to follow their ex¬ 
 ample, and to adopt from time to time fuch further regu¬ 
 lations asfhould be founded on the fame principles of juftice 
 and equality.—But notwithftanding their recommendation 
 and example, every future Parliament would have its option, 
 either to adopt or rejeH thofe regulations. How then, faid 
 he, in the name of God, can this ftipulation affeH the 
 fupremacy of the Irifh Legillature ? 
 
 He expreffed his hope that the treaty if concluded, would 
 be final and permanent, but defired the Houfe would re¬ 
 coiled! that they were not about to form an indiffoluble 
 contradl, like the treaty of union between England and 
 Scotland ; for the moment the a< 5 t of union paffed, the Par¬ 
 liament of Scotland was annihilated, or rather merged in 
 that of Great Britain ; and if the articles of union had prov¬ 
 ed highly oppreilive to the people of Scotland, they were 
 left without refource, except what they fhould find in the 
 moderation of the Britifh Parliament, or the hazards of a 
 civil war ; the body of men to whom they w 7 ould otherwife 
 have applied for redrefs no longer exifted—their Parliament 
 was no more ; but the Parliament of Ireland, notwithftand¬ 
 ing that treaty, would remain in full vigour, and would al¬ 
 ways be able to reject, if they pleafed, the regulations of 
 Great Britain. -' 
 
 r 
 
 ' He faid, that he was confident it would ever be their in- 
 tereft to adopt thofe regulations; for though they could not 
 be too jealous of the monopolizing fpirit of that kingdom, 
 whilft fhe affumed the right of making laws to bind them, 
 and of promoting her own commerce by the deftruHion of 
 theirs; from the time that, in confequence of the prefent 
 treaty, the commerce of both countries would become the 
 fame, and their interefts fo united, it would be impof- 
 
 fible 
 
( 46 ) 
 
 fible for Great Britain to make any laws injurious to the 
 trade of Ireland, which would not be equally fatal to her 
 own ; they fhould run no hazard by adopting the policy ot 
 the wiled; commercial people in Europe. But if, contrary 
 to every reafonable expectation. Great Britain fhould happen 
 to pafs any laws injurious to the commerce of the empire— 
 if Old England fhould fall into a flate of dotage, and grow 
 too toolifh to underftand or to purfue her real interefts, it 
 would then be in the power, and become the duty of the 
 Parliament of Ireland to declare off from any commercial con¬ 
 nection with that devoted people ; and the worfl that could 
 happen to them was, that after having enjoyed for centuries 
 together a full participation of the Britifh commerce, and 
 increafed both the wealth and confequence of the nation by 
 that participation, they might be forced in the end to break- 
 pff the connexion, and (land precifely in the fame fituation, 
 with refpeCt to Great Britain, that they did at that day. 
 
 Mr, JV, B. Ponfonby faid, as this queftion was merely a 
 motion for introducing a bill, he would not hefitate to vote 
 for it. He thought deliberating upon the fubjeCt but a 
 proper degree of refpeCt to the manner and perfon who 
 introduced it, and when the Bill was before the Houfe, 
 they would be bell able to judge whether it affeCted their 
 conflitutional rights Qr not. He profefTed himfelf as warm 
 a friend to thofe rights as any man, and declared, he would 
 ever fupport the Conftitution ; but he faid, he would referve 
 himfelf till he faw the Bill, and if it fhould then appear, that 
 it militated againft the conftitution, he fhould refill: it. 
 
 Sir Nicholas Lavulefs —Sir, fince this kingdom has hap¬ 
 pily recovered her conflitutional and commercial rights, it 
 has ever appeared to me that a fyftem fomewhat of the nature 
 of the Propofitions, agreed unto by both Houles of our Par¬ 
 liament, was neceflary to the fupport of a political ancf friend¬ 
 ly union between this country and Great Britain. From 
 a conviClion, Sir, of fuch neceflity, I fupported the origi¬ 
 nal Refolutions, and fhould have been happy to have feen 
 them returned agreeable to this country. The Right Ho¬ 
 nourable Gentleman has now given us the outline of the 
 Bill he means to introduce, and I confefs, I cannot fee it in 
 the alarming light in which it appears to l'ome gentlemen > 
 and indeed from the highly honourable charaCler of our 
 Chief Governor, and the opinion which I entertain of the 
 candour and integrity of the Minifter in this Houfe, I can¬ 
 not think that they could be induced to forward a Bill fo very 
 oppolite in its nature and tendency to the repeated declara¬ 
 tions 
 
( 47 ) 
 
 tions of regard to our rights which we have heard him make, 
 ror thefe realons. Sir, I wifh that leave may be given to 
 bring in the Bill, and that after its introduction lufficienc 
 time-may be given to all whom it may more immediately 
 concern, and indeed to the country in general, to confider 
 it in every point of view ; and if upon confideration it fhalt 
 be found to trench upon our conflitutional or commercial 
 rights, I give my word that I lhall be one of the laft men in 
 this Houfe to give it my alTent; but as I hope that its ten¬ 
 dency will be found diredly contrary, and that I wilh to 
 Itrenghthen as much as poffible the chain of connedion be¬ 
 tween both countries, and perhaps it may at this time be 
 more particularly defirable to fhew the world that we are in 
 perfect harmony with the filler country, and wilh fo to con- 
 
 ,Tp~£ r u efc r f!°r> ^ r ’ 1 re P £at if > 1 for giving 
 the Right Honorable Gentleman leave to bring in his Bill 
 
 Mr. Gardiner rofe and declared that he meant not to en¬ 
 ter into the fubjeft at large, as he thought the Right Hon. 
 Gentleman had faid as much as it was poffible to fay upon it. 
 The only queftion before them was, as to the admifiion of 
 the Bill, and whether it was derogatory to that Houfe to 
 admit it. He did not think it was s but, if he had been 
 of opinion that the Bill was likely to infringe the rights of 
 the conftitution, no inan would have been more ready to 
 haveoppofed its introdudion than himfelf. His notion was, 
 and indeed he was convinced, that it would never be poffi¬ 
 ble for Ireland to participate in the commerce of Great 
 Britain, unlefs ffie confented to regulate that commerce by 
 a fimilanty of laws Occafions mull occur, in procefs of 
 time, which would excite jealoufies and rivallhips equally 
 deftruftive to both countries, unlefs their commerce was 
 carried on under the fame laws. Nor was the pradice new : 
 it had already obtained ; they were at that time obliged 
 to follow Englilh laws. He begged to know, whether Gen- 
 tlemen thought it poffible to arrange and eftabliffi a fyftem 
 of mutual commerce with Great Britain on any other terms. 
 He believed no man would anfwer that the idea was pradi- 
 cable. If the cafe were fo, and Gentlemen neverthelefs re- 
 fufed to admit the Bill, merely becaufe it called upon Ireland 
 henceforward to pafsfuch laws, in refpedof trade and na¬ 
 vigation as the Parliament of Great Britain ffiould think 
 neceflary to pafs, he would beg leave to afk the Houfe, whv 
 
 had they entered at all upon the fubjea, or addreffed the 
 Crown refpeaing.t ? It ftruck him, that no reafonable ob- 
 jection could be uiged againll the modepropofed for the re- 
 
 gulation 
 
( 48 ) 
 
 gtilation of the commerce of the country in future, becaufei 
 in point of faCt, Ireland had been aCting under fimilar laws 
 with Great Britain ever fince her attainment of her Free 
 Trade. The capital objection to the Twenty Refolutions, 
 he obferved, neverthelefs was, that they were to be bound 
 by Britifh laws ; a ftrange objection trucly, when it was 
 confidered that their Plantation Trade had hitherto been, 
 and was to continue to be fubjeCt to a fimilar obligation. 
 That Refolution therefore could not put_ them into a worfe 
 iituation than they were in at prefent; thefe, he faid, were 
 his plain ideas. Another matter that he would juft obferve 
 upon, was, who were to be the judges of the infraction of 
 the compadt between the two countries ? By the Bill, it 
 was declared that the three eftates of Great Britain, the 
 King, the Lords and the Commons, muff pronounce by 
 a pofitive ftatute,, that Ireland had broken the Treaty be¬ 
 fore any breach of it could be charged upon her ; whereas, 
 on the contrary, if Ireland thought Great Britain had vio¬ 
 lated it, an addrefs of the two Houfes of the Irifh Parliament* 
 was deemed to be a fufficient authority for charging the 
 breach upon her. This was a guard and fecurity to Ireland 
 againfl: the influence that Miniftcrs who guided the Crown 
 might be fuppofed to have over it, and confequently an ad¬ 
 vantage on the part of Ireland. There was, however, he 
 faid, one objection againfl: the fyflem, and that was, while 
 it guarded the raw materials of England, it left thofe of 
 Ireland open and unguarded ; but that was rather a matter 
 to be difcuflTed when the Bill was in a Committee than at 
 prefent, and was no reafon for refufing to fuflfer the Bill to 
 be introduced in order to be difcuflTed and examined he 
 therefore fhould give his confent to the motion, having fo 
 much confidence in the Houfe, on all occafions, and in its 
 integrity and vigilance, moffc efpecially when matters of 
 confequence to the interefts of their country came under 
 confideration, that he had no doubt that they would deal 
 with the meafure as it fhould, upon examination, be found 
 to deferve. For which reafon, he trufled, that even at this 
 latefeafbn, they would meet it manfully, and not flifle it in 
 its birth, in compliance with the advice of thofe Gentle¬ 
 men who had declared they fhould vote againfl: the intro¬ 
 duction of i he Bill. 
 
 Sir Henry Cavendifc. Sir, I have attended with great anx¬ 
 iety to the opening of this bufinefs, and I confefs, I have at¬ 
 tended with a great deal of partiality to what fell from the 
 
 Right 
 
( 4 $ ) 
 
 Right Hon. Gentleman over the way, and my earned: wifft 
 was to coincide with him if I poffibly could. I am well 
 aware of, and indeed I lament the unpleafant fituation into 
 which this bulinefs has plunged the Adm ini ft rat ion—an 
 Adminiftration I have always fupported, becaufei believed 
 they had abilities equal to their fttuation, and honefty equal 
 to anything. The motion for leave to bring in a Bill is 
 reckoned very ftrong ground, and it is an excellent motion 
 for quieting the Parliamentary confcie ices of Gentlemen,- 
 but it is to be conftdered, whether the Bill to be brought in 
 is to contain any thing derogatory to the legiflative rights of 
 Ireland. Sir, the Right Hon. Gentleman has been pecu¬ 
 liarly candid in ftating what is to be the fubjedt: matter of it; 
 and though I know he thinks that part refpedting the legifla¬ 
 tive rights of the Parliament of Ireland, does not militate 
 againft thofe rights. Tho’ he thinks the enadting the Fourth 
 of the Twenty Propofitions palled in England is nothing 
 more than a neceffary condition, yet as I am of a very 
 different opinion from him in that particular, it is for that 
 reafon I fhall vote againft giwing the Right Hon. Gentleman 
 leave to bring in the Bill, which I think is the moft fair, 
 manly, and honeft way of aTing, rather than paying him 
 the empty compliment of giving him leave to have the Bill 
 brought in, and then vote againft the paffing it through the 
 Houl'e. Therefore, Sir, I fhall give a negative at once to 
 the prefent queftion. I am forry I cannot indulge that 
 partiality I have for the prefent Adminiftration, but my in- 
 tereft as a man, as an Irifhman, the intereft, and honour 
 of the nation call aloud upon me to reject a meafure fo 
 deftrudfive in my opinion to the legiflative rights of Ire¬ 
 land. I cannot readily fuppofe that this Iloufe will pafs 
 the Bill. This I will fay, if they ftiali, they will have be¬ 
 trayed the truft repofed in them by their country ; they will 
 have rendered themfelves odious to every honeft man in 
 the kingdom, but I truft, and believe they will not fo far 
 difgrace themfelves. But if this Bill ftiould pafs into a law, 
 then I fay every legal conftitutional ftep ought to be taken 
 to get it repealed as foon as poffible, The people of this 
 kingdom have too much fpirit and honefty to fit down quiet 
 under fuch a law. Sir, it requires no fkill, no abilities to 
 roufe the people of this kingdom againft this meafure : they 
 are already roufed; the difficulty will be to appeafe them. 
 If any thing I ever faid in this Houfe could be remembered. 
 Gentlemen will recolle6t, that I have always been an ene- 
 
 H my 
 
( 5 ° ) 
 
 my to improper applications from the people, and ha^e 
 ftocd forward in oppofition to indecent expreffions in this 
 Houfe upon that fubjed tending to roufe the people to an 
 illegal refiftance of the authority of this Houfe. If I could 
 fpeak to the people of Ireland, if I could extend my voice 
 from one end of the Kingdom to the utmoft verge of the 
 other, I would recommend patience and peace. If this 
 Bill fhould pafs, I would recommend conftitutional petitions 
 to both Houfes of Parliament, conftitutional petitions to 
 the King for the repeal of it. I would repeat thofe petitions 
 decently, and fervently, if the firft application did not 
 fucceed. If Parliament fhould not liften to fuch a confti- 
 tutional method of applying for the repeal of the Bill, a 
 queftion would then come before the Publick of a ferious na¬ 
 ture indeed. A quellion fo ferious, and fo very much affed- 
 ingthe exiftenceof this kingdom as an independent nation, 
 that I fhall not now go into the confideration of it. I 
 fhould lament the neceflity of going into the confideration 
 of the origin of Government, of the compact upon which 
 focieties are formed by which the people give up a part of 
 their liberty for the protection of the remainder. May 
 there never be occafion to agitate that queftion ! May it 
 ileep for ever ! It leads me however to make an applicati¬ 
 on to the Placemen and Penfioners of this Houfe, and 
 give me leave to fay, I fpeak of fome of them with re- 
 fpect— forne there are who ad from principle, and would 
 difdain to barter the rights of their country for the emolu¬ 
 ments of office—fome Penfioners too there are who have 
 done fervice to their country, fome who are penfioned in 
 confequence of Addreftes of this Houfe ; but fhould this 
 Bill pafs, their occupation vmuld be gone, there would be 
 no neceffity for Government to apply to Members for their 
 votes upon any queftion ; we fhould be an Houfe of Re- 
 giftry, only—a record of the Edids of Great Britain. 
 Votes would not be wanted, falaries would not be given, 
 pen (ions would ceafe, and the few neceffary offices for 
 tranfading the public bufmels would alone remain, and 
 they too in all probability, in the courfe of a few years, 
 would be in the hands of Britons. Therefore I would recom¬ 
 mend it to Gentlemen to oppole Admimftration on this 
 occafion one and all, and not a man of you will be turned 
 out. 'Phis, Sir, is no queftion of party. Look at the 
 condud of Gentlemen on both fides of the water, Gen¬ 
 tlemen of the lame party fupport, and oppofe the meafure ; 
 
 oppofe 
 
( s« ) 
 
 -oppofe it in England, fupport it in Ireland. It is no quef- 
 -tion of family ; one brother with an Irifti voice pleads for 
 the independence of this kingdom, and rejefits the Bill;— 
 another brother, for whom I entertain a very great efteern, 
 and who always afits like an honed; man, is of a different 
 opinion, and thinks he is fupporting the rights of Ireland. 
 It is not a queftion of the Adminiftration of this country or 
 of Great Britain, it is an Irifti queffion, it is a queftion of 
 national independence, it is a queftion of the legiflative 
 exiftence of this kingdom, it is a queftion Irifhraen will 
 not give up but with their lives. I fay nothing of the com¬ 
 mercial part of the Bill; I don’t pretend to underhand it. 
 Many regulations, however, of the commercial part of it 
 do appear to me to be beneficial to Ireland, and very po£ 
 fibly we may never have a better offer as to commerce ; but 
 what is commerce without liberty to enjoy it ? What is 
 property without liberty ? The queftion lies in the narrow- 
 eft compafs ; feveral Propofitions were offered to your con- 
 fideration, we agreed to them: We gave 140,000 1 - a year 
 taxes for the offer ; the Propofitions went to England, 
 they were altered ; additions, regulations, modifications 
 were added to them, and they were rendered inadmiffable 
 in this country by the conditions annexed. We were duped 
 into the grant of 140,000 1 . Government here were duped, 
 for they thought the Eleven .Propofitions would be agreed 
 to ; here then is the compact with the conditions, will you 
 have them, or will you rejefil them ? I anfwer, rejefif them. 
 For one. Sir, under all thefe circumftances, coupled as 
 they are together, I will not accept the Compact, and I 
 fpurn at the Conditions. 
 
 Mr. Burgh , (of Oldtown) rofe and declared, that to 
 give leave to bring in fuch a Bill, as Mr. Orde had ftated, 
 would be to admit that the Houfe could for a moment en¬ 
 tertain the principles contained in it, that they would con- 
 fent to barter Conftitution for Commerce, and at the lofs 
 of both. It would be to admit, that they had confidence in 
 thofe who had negociated, and who were to negociatc. 
 Fie hefitated not to fay, that he had no confidence in the 
 Right Hon. Gentleman, and that, becaufe the Right Hon. 
 Gentleman had firft propofed to them Eleven Propofitions, 
 and now propofed a Bill founded on Twenty Resolutions, 
 allowed, by the addrefs of both Iloufes of the Britifh Parlia¬ 
 ment to his Majefty, to be effentially different. Fie could 
 have no confidence in the Right Hon. Gentleman, becaufe 
 
 H 2 he 
 
( 52 ) 
 
 he had not, at the outfet of the bufinefs, confulted the 
 merchants of Ireland, though their interefts were neceffari- 
 ly fo deeply involved in a commercial treaty ; and becaufe 
 he had likewife refufed the Houfe time to enter into any 
 fuch enquiry and confultation. He could have no confi¬ 
 dence in the Right Hon. Gentleman, becaufe he had not 
 ventured to ftiew himfelf in the Britifh Houfe of Commons, 
 when in London, though the fubjedt was, at that time, de¬ 
 pending and under agitation, though his charadder was dai¬ 
 ly canvaffed, and was refted on the difference between a 
 Mart and an Emporium. Mr. Burgh faid, he had been 
 confounded and mortified at his deficiency of underftand- 
 ing in not being able to perceive any diftindlion where the 
 great man and the high-minded virtuous Prime Minifter of 
 Great Britain could find one broad enough to reft and de¬ 
 fend the charadfer of the Prime Minifter of Ireland, (his 
 friend, his confident and his affociate, in principle arid 
 politics.) He had, he faid, in all humility, taken pains 
 to trace out the distinction. He had even turned to Dodlor 
 Johnfon’s Didiionary for that purpofe, and it had been fome 
 confolation to him to find that the difference had baffled the 
 discriminating fagacity ot the Dodtor, who fairly conftrued 
 one word by the other. He apprehended that, if Mr. Orde 
 had gone to the Houfe, inftead of fculking and hiding his 
 head in fome corner of the Treafury, he would not, pro¬ 
 bably, have differed with Mr. Pitt on the Conftitutionaf 
 Propositions there , although he did fo about Reform here. 
 He owned he never had heard any reafon why the Right 
 Plon. Gentleman could pretend to the confidence of that 
 country, [Ireland] except one, affigned by a noble Mar- 
 quifs, in the Houfe of Lords in Great Britain, that he had 
 indeed ! the profpedi of a reverfion of an Eftate in another. 
 
 Toadmitthe Bill (he faid) would be to admit confidence 
 in Mr. Pitt, who firft fent over Eleven Propofitions to Ire- 
 * land, and afterwards brought in Twenty in Great Britain, 
 totally different, containing every alteration in refpedi to 
 Constitution and Commerce, and even Geography, who 
 had himfelf introduced the Fourth Propofition, legislating 
 for Ireland, without even the words, “ To be paffed by 
 the Parliament of Ireland,” inlerted in amendment, that 
 certainly did not take its rife among the friends of Mr. Pitt, 
 who had, as Prime Minifter, coming out of the Cabinet, 
 moved the Addrefs, declaring thefe alterations to be made 
 after the matureft deliberation, and to be effential and in- 
 difpenfible. 
 
 To 
 
{ 53 ) 
 
 To accede to the motion of the Right Hon. Gen¬ 
 tleman, and to differ the Bill to be brought in, would 
 be to admit confidence in the Parliament of Great Britain, 
 as to the Confiitution and Commerce of Ireland, at 
 the very mfiant that the two Houfes of the Bntifh Par¬ 
 liament were their rivals in both, as they had been for 
 near a century. The fourth Proportion, as to external, 
 and the fifth as to internal legiflation, were relied on by 
 both Houfes of the Parliament of Great Britain ; they had 
 been acknowledged to be the motive, the fine qua non. of the 
 whole negotiation, and all the alterations made in the 
 Eleven Propofitions had paffed the Commons, the Eords 
 and the Cabinet, (that was to advife the King in the final 
 difpofal of the bufinefs,) and had been followed up by 
 an Addrefs, declaring thofe alterations to be efiential 
 and indifpenfible, fo as to preclude every hope and 
 thought on the part of Ireland, 'to negociate further. 
 Could they conceive, therefore, that Mr. _ Orde would 
 bring in any Bill founded on any other principles than 
 thofe fo declared to be efiential and indifpenfible, or that it 
 would be admitted in England if he did ? What was the 
 plain undeniable conftrmStion of the Addrefs that had 
 been carried up to the Throne ? Did it not propofe that 
 they Ihould barter Confiitution for Commerce? What 
 other meaning could be put upon thofe wortis of it, dating, 
 in fub fiance, °that they fhould continue to enjoy the Co¬ 
 lony Trade (theirs already, by the aft of 1780,) by palling 
 the fame laws and regulations as the Britifh Parliament 
 ihould do? Suppofing that trade, to the exclufion of others, 
 to be ever fo advantageous, was not that to admit it to be 
 bartered, and to fay they had no objeaion to give up their 
 Confiitution, if they could get an advantageous price for it ? 
 But, it was faid, this was no more than they did in 1780, 
 Let it be remembered, however, that then they had no free 
 Confiitution. Then, when they differed their Commerce 
 to be reffrained by Britifh laws, it would have been abfurd 
 indeed not to have differed it to have been extended. By 
 their independence obtained in 1782, they had a right to 
 the choice of cheaper markets and to trade with all the 
 world. To enter, therefore, into fuch a Compadf at pre- 
 fent, would be to barter, and to barter bafely, to except of 
 a limited Commerce and Foreign Legiflature, and to give 
 up, in exchange, free Commerce and free Confiitution, 
 which, by the way, was the only fecurity they could have 
 
( S4 ) 
 
 for retaining any Commerce at all, even the dole they 
 were now called upon to bargain for. This Bill, Mr. 
 Burgh faid, would put them in a worfe fituation than even 
 the 6th of George I. That left them, at lead, internal 
 Regulation; but this was to fubmit their mod; internal 
 ceconomy to regulations made by the Britifh Parliament. 
 They were not only to have Britifh Laws, but Britifh Offi¬ 
 cers to enforce them, (e their Officers were not to be trufl- 
 ed.” It had been well faid on the other fide of the water, 
 that as Great Britain was to have the profits of our Com¬ 
 merce, it would be patriotic in an Irifh Revenue Officer to 
 connive at abufes. It was very true, it would be the only 
 refoufee, now, as before, that the country could have 
 againft Britifh Reftridtions. Let but the Bill pafs, it 
 would not be the Member of Parliament who could any 
 longer make, nor the Magiflrate who could any longer 
 enforce, laws that could ferve their country. They 
 would neceflarily become the accomplices of the deflruction 
 of her Commerce, and, if attempting the only means to 
 preferve that Commerce from deftrudtion was patriotic, 
 the fmuggler was the only patriot they would admit of. 
 This country, it was irkfome to him to be obliged to fay, 
 had been hitherto enabled to exifi by fmuggling only. At 
 a medium of eleven years previous to 1779, her remit¬ 
 tances to Great Britain to Abfentees, and for Penfions, 
 Salaries, &c. amounting to upwards of eleven hundred 
 thoufand pounds, while the balance in favour of all the 
 trade which Great Britain allowed her with the whole world 
 was barely fix hundred thoufand pounds. How was the 
 deficiency made up, and from whence was the drain flip- 
 plied ? Muff it not have been by clandefline trade ? Ire¬ 
 land, relieved from the open reflri&ions of her liberal and 
 affe6lionate filler, Great Britain, and enabled only to exifi 
 by fmuggling with France, (the rival and enemy of Great 
 Britain !) Why fhould Great Britain wifh to continue and 
 renew a fituation, fo irkfome, fo deflrudlive to Ireland, fo 
 prejudicial to her own interefl, fo advantageous to her ene¬ 
 mies, fo fubverfive of thofe refources fhe ought to reflore 
 and cherifli ? It was, he declared, irkfome tohim, in the 
 highefl degree, to be obliged to fay, he could not trufl the 
 Parliament of Great Britain, but truth and duty compelled 
 him to it. “ But it was afked, did not that Parliament de¬ 
 clare, that they never would infringe the Conflitution of 
 Ireland, that they meant to extend its Commerce ?’ ; Be¬ 
 fore 
 
( 55 ) 
 
 fore they truded them with their Conditution, let them fee' 
 how far the Parliament of Great Britain had been hitherto 
 to be relied on with regard to their commerce. Without 
 obferving that, in the very fame Addrefs, the two Houfes of 
 the Britifh Parliament dated, that the alarming alterations, 
 were eflential and indifpenfibly neceflary. Let them confider 
 what had been the confequence of former Addrefles and Pro- 
 feffions. In the year 1698, the balance in favour of Ireland, 
 on account of the flouridling date of her Woollen Manufac¬ 
 ture, was four hundred and twenty thoufand pounds. The 
 Parliament of England, defirous to deprive her of this trade, 
 and to fubditute the Linen Manufadture in its room, ad- 
 drefled the King to declare to all his fubjedfcs of Ireland they 
 fliould receive “ all countenance , favour and protection from 
 his Royal influence, for the encouragement and promotion 
 of the faid Linen Manufadture to all the advantage and pro¬ 
 fit that kingdom could be capable of.” His Majedy an- 
 fwered that he would take care to do what their Lordfhips 
 defired. At the fame time the Commons addrefled his Ma¬ 
 jedy, defiring him to encourage the Linen Manufacture of 
 Ireland, to which they declared they fliould always be ready 
 to give that Manufacture their utmojl ajfiflance . The 
 Lords Judices of Ireland alfo, by command from England, 
 declared, at the fame time, to the Irifli Parliament, that 
 the Linen and Hempen Manufacture would be encouraged, 
 &c. That the condition was complied with, by the giving 
 up of the Woollen Manufacture in Ireland, was pretty 
 evident, fince, in confequence of the Englifli Minider 
 having found a majority in the Irifli Houfe of Commons 
 of that day, of 74 to 34, (on which, no doubt, he pri¬ 
 ded himfelf), for receiving a Bill for laying additional 
 duties on Woollen Exports from that Kingdom, Ireland, 
 indead of a balance of four hundred and twenty thou¬ 
 fand pound in its favour, was, in the courfe of four years, 
 fo reduced that it could not pay its edablifliments civil or 
 military, and was in as bad a fituation as it had fince been 
 (with its boaded Linen Manufacture) in the year 1779, 
 and the Commons were, in the very next Seflion, 1703, 
 obliged to lay “ its deplorable date” before the Queen ; 
 notwithdanding which, in that very reign, and in every 
 reign fince, * difcouragement, rivalfhip and redridtion 
 
 * From the 9th and 12th of Anne—7th of Geo, I.—26th of 
 Geo. II. to 1 oth and 18th Geo. Ill, 
 
 have 
 
( 56 ) 
 
 had been experienced by them in their Sail-cloth, Printed 
 Linen and Linen Manufa6ture of different fpecies. Not- 
 withflanding thefe aflurances and this compadt ratified by 
 the three Eftates of the Britifh Parliament, had not Mr. 
 Orde that day come forward and propofed the reflituion 
 of part of that ceded Manufactory, the Sail-cloth Manu¬ 
 factory as an inducement for Ireland to treat with Great 
 Britain? Was not this fird to rob them, and then to at¬ 
 tempt to bribe them with their own ? Now, if in a tranf- 
 ation, in which it would have been difhonourable between 
 two private Merchants to have thus adted, the fuccefdve 
 Parliaments of Great Britain had fo obvioufly broken her 
 former parliamentary engagements, what fhould they fay 
 of a propofal to confide to her prefent declarations, not only 
 their Commerce but their Conflitution ? 
 
 It had been faid, that they might now enter into a 
 declaration of their legiflative rights and fo give them an 
 effectual fecurity. Had not that been done in 171 8 ? Did 
 that fecure them ? What had been their “ imperial and 
 independent legiflature from that time” for above half a 
 century, till the American and Volunteer Refolutions in 
 1782? Could then too great a jealoufy and apprehenfion 
 for the Conflitution and Commerce be entertained by the 
 Houfe fo recently (within three years) after their emancipa¬ 
 tion ? 
 
 He owned, he could not fubferibe to the jnffice of the 
 great principle on which the whole negociation had been 
 founded—the giving at prefent the overplus of their here¬ 
 ditary revenue to Great Britain. Why would Great Britain 
 counteradl them in the affectionate wifh of confidering all 
 their refources and exertions as for her advantage ? Why 
 did fhe lay a clog upon that profperity which mult be her 
 own ? Why did (he not leek to reflorethem to that fituation, 
 that wealth, and flrength pointed out to them by their natural 
 refources,from which herredridtions alone had debarredthem? 
 If they had been impeded by thofe reftri <51 ions, if with advan¬ 
 tages of climate, fituation, &c. they were fo far behind 
 her in every improvement, ought fne not to feel that fhe 
 alone was the caufe of their being fo ? What would have 
 been their fituation at that dav, if their Commerce had been 
 open fince the latter end of the lafl century, and had 
 been fuffered to go on pari paff u with her own ? What 
 refources had the not loft in them ? Having impeded their 
 natural exertions, and reduced them to a date of poverty, 
 
 weaknefs 
 
( 57 ) 
 
 weakitefs and mifery unparalleled in any other country* 
 ought {he not in natural judice to have remunerated 
 indead of ena£fing? Ought fhe not at lead to have 
 waited, and have left them to their full refources until 
 they fhould have recovered the fituation from which 
 fhe had deprefled them. Entitled by their birth right, 
 pofTefled in virtue of Magna Charta of the freedom of 
 their ports, were they now to pay for the reditution of 
 their natural advantages and rights, indead of receiving 
 a recompence for their having been fo long witheld from 
 them ? And yet what were the arguments in Great Bri- 
 tain ? ce They were not to be allowed commerce on ac¬ 
 count of the cheapnefs of their labour !” What was that 
 cheapnefs of labour owing to ? To the want of employ¬ 
 ment, and to the confequent mifery of the people. What 
 was the caufe of that mifery? The redri&ions laid on 
 their manufa&ures and commerce by Great Britain. Ought 
 fhe fird to do them the injury, and then make ufe of it as 
 an argument againd them? What was the other objec¬ 
 tion? “ The goodnefs and fituation of their ports for 
 commerce fo that, it feems, they were to be redrained 
 in commerce on account of the difadvantages they had de¬ 
 rived from Great Britain, and they were to be redrained 
 from commerce on account of the bleffings they had derived 
 from Heaven ! Was this the affe&ion ! Was this the 
 judice 1 Was this the liberality 1 Was this the magna¬ 
 nimity promifed and expatiated on by the right honourable 
 Gentleman ! Had it not been (he afked) the principle of 
 the Britifh Bill to deny them the power of extricating them- 
 felves by the application of bounties to their weakened ma- 
 nufa&ures ? the means by which their own had been 
 brought to perfe£tion ! Mr. Burgh compared the conduct 
 of Great Britain to Ireland to a decayed farmer, who, hav¬ 
 ing an affe&ionate and active fon or brother, defiring 
 nothing more than to live with him to cultivate the farm 
 and to increafe the profits for their mutual benefit, fhould 
 fay to him ; No you diant work in this field, becaufe I 
 fowed it when 1 was young ; and you mud not work in that 
 part of the farm, becaufe I enclofed it fome years ago ; and 
 you mud not plow with any improved machines, becaufe 
 they are mine. And though your being well fed, and 
 cloathed and comfortable would make you dronger, and en¬ 
 able you to turn out more work in the year; yet you fhall 
 continue to live in the infide of a dunghill, and go naked 
 
 I and 
 
and feed on water and potatoes, (when you can get them) 
 to Ihew you I will be confident with my former condufit to¬ 
 wards you. In this way did Great Britain reafon with regard to 
 her greated, her mod natural, her lad refource! W hy would 
 die not make up to herfelf the lofs of America in that coun¬ 
 try ? Why would die, in a great imperial theme, proceed 
 on the confined notions, on the local prejudices and on the 
 narrownefs of mind of the manufa&urers of this or that 
 town ? Had die not had enough of redri£tions on trade ? 
 Was it by taxation that fhe lod the trade of America ? No: 
 it was by perverting her military, and even her naval fy- 
 dem to the redri&ion of trade ; fo much was that per¬ 
 nicious fydem deep rooted in her councils ! She lod the 
 trade of America, by adhering to the principles of an ex- 
 cifeman; and die was preparing to lofe and dedroy that of 
 Ireland, by adopting the principles of a pedlar. What was 
 the reafon, he afked, of a didin&ion introduced between 
 the two kingdoms ? Was it becaufe a fea ran between 
 them? What could have been wanting to the profperity 
 of the two countries united by nearnefs of fituation, fimi- 
 larity of conditution, of language, of habits, and of laws? 
 What the bed means for the attainment of riches, of 
 drength and fecurity ? The extenfion of naval power ! 
 How has Heaven provided that blefiing for both by throw¬ 
 ing a fea between them, by giving to both all the advan 
 tages and all the refources of their infular fituation, 
 and multiplying thofe advantages and refources ? What 
 then diould they think of that country which, indead of re¬ 
 joicing in this double bulwark of her conditution, com¬ 
 merce and drength, diould bear to it an eye of jealoufy and 
 an hand of oppreflion, and countera6t by the adoption of 
 the mod narrow prejudices, the wifeft and mod favourable > 
 difpofition ot Providence ! 
 
 Mr. Burgh concluded by obferving, that he could not 
 poflibly be a&uated by any ill-will to the right honourable 
 Gentleman as a private man ; but, as he looked upon his 
 application to them of that day as a propolal to furrender 
 and betray the conditution and commerce of the country, 
 as he thought that to propofe treafon was to impute it, and 
 that the Bill was an infult on the underdanding and the 
 integrity of the Houfe, rather than vote that it fhould be 
 brought into the Houfe, he had much rather confent to 
 vote the right honourable Gentleman out of it for having 
 propofed it. 
 
 The 
 
( 59 ) 
 
 The Attorney Gtneral began by calling for the Refolu- 
 tion agreed to unanimoufly on the 20th of December, 
 1779, which was read, and was in thefe words : 
 
 t( Refolved, Nem, Con, that a liberty to trade with the Britifli Colonies 
 in America and the Weft-Indies, and the Britilh Settlements on the Coaft 
 of Africa, in like manner as the trade is carried on between Great Britain 
 and the faid Colonies and Settlements, will be productive of very great 
 commercial benefits, will be a moft affectionate mark of the regard and 
 attention of Great Britain to our diftreffes, and will give new vigour to the 
 zeal of his Majelty’s brave and loyal people of Ireland, to ftand forward 
 in fupport of his Majelty’s perfon and government, and the intereft, the 
 honour, and the dignity of the Britilh empire,” 
 
 The Attorney General proceeded to refer to the events of 
 1779, and had faid only a few words, when he was inter¬ 
 rupted by 
 
 Mr. Conolly, who faid, I think it necefTary to flop the 
 Right Hon. Gentleman to inform him, that in 1779 we 
 had not a free conflitution. 
 
 Attorney General. —I will allure the Right Hon. Gentle¬ 
 man that I did not in any fort, allude to any thing which 
 had fallen from him ; but fince he has done me the honour 
 to interrupt me, I fhall probably be induced to allude to 
 him before I fit down; and the Right Hon. gentleman 
 having called my attention to him, has a claim upon me 
 for precedence, I fhall therefore in the firfl inflance difmifs 
 him. The Right Hon. gentleman has flated that this is a 
 fubjeCt of fo much delicacy and intricacy, fo much enve¬ 
 lope in difficulty and myftery, that it is nearly incompre- 
 henfible. And in the fame breath he announces the whole 
 fyflem to be injurious to the trade and commerce of this 
 country, and fubverfive of the legiflative independence. 
 The Right Hon. gentleman calls out for time to enable the 
 people to underfland the fubjeCt, and will not confent to 
 the'introdu&ion of a bill which is to point out to them what 
 they are to underfland. The Right Hon. gentleman will 
 not confent to the introduction of a bill which he has never 
 read, and which he profeffes his inability to underfland, 
 becaufe it is a bill which he afferts to be ruinous to the trade, 
 and fubverfive of the conflitution of Ireland. 
 
 Mr. Conolly .—The Right Hon. gentleman miflates my 
 argument. 
 
 I 2 Attorney 
 
( 6o ) 
 
 Attorney General. —Pofiibly I may have miftated thfc ar¬ 
 gument. I do not think however, that I have miftated it ( 
 however, if my Right Hon. friend feels any thing like un- 
 eafinefs at the repetition of his arguments, or at any obser¬ 
 vation which I have made upon them, he knows my refpe& 
 and regard for him to be fo great, that I never can proceed 
 in any thing which may give him one moment’s pain- I 
 am Satisfied he a&s upon every occafion to the beft of his 
 judgment for the advantage of this country. I (hall thercr 
 fore proceed as I had intended when I firft rofe. 
 
 As my Right Hon. friend, Mr. Grattan, alluded to the 
 memorable aera of 1779* I thought It neceffary to remind 
 him of the unanimous fenfe of the Houfe and the Na¬ 
 tion upon the fubje6t at that time, and to remind him, 
 that the grant of the Colbny trade was at that time deemed 
 ah a<St of liberality, which otight to attach us warmly to 
 Great Britain. I thought it neceffary to remind him of 
 Jfis language and condu6t at that time, that the emulation 
 of that day was, who ftibuld Stand forward to exprefs his 
 gratitude to Great Britain, and his admiration of the un¬ 
 exampled ability and addrefs with which Lord North had 
 condil< 5 ted the caufe of Ireland, flow it has happened that 
 the extenfibn and permanent eftablifhrinent of the principle, 
 which at that time was the Subject of overftrained applaufe 
 and gratitude, has now become a topic of popular clamour 
 and difcontent. How it has happened that a voluntary and 
 precarious grant of the Colony trade, in 1779, was confi¬ 
 dered an affectionate mark of Britifh liberality, and that 
 an extended and irrevocable grant of the fame trade, in 
 1785, is confidered as an infult and an injury. How my 
 Right Hon. Friend will reconcile his conduct and his lan¬ 
 guage in 1779, to his condu£t and his language on this day, 
 by what twift of argument he will be able to reconcile to 
 the nation, opinions fo violently contrafted and inconfift- 
 ent, I am free to acknowledge I want Sagacity to difeover. 
 
 That I may not incur the hazard of contradi&ion, when 
 I State what was in 1779 confidered perfect freedom of 
 trade, I will recur to the words of a Gentleman now in my 
 eye, (Mf. Flood) delivered in this affembly on the 20th of 
 December, J779 : “ What is a Free Trade ? I was one of 
 the firft and moft decided in ufing the term. It is a trade 
 to the whole world, fubjefl to the reftraints of your own 
 legislature, and that of the country with which you trade ; 
 consequently in Britain, and the Britifti Colonies, Subject 
 
 to 
 
( 61 ) 
 
 to the reflections of the Britifh legiflaturc. This, fays he, 
 is a principle as clear as the fun, which fhines upon our 
 reviving empire, and wide as the univerfe, if the univerfe 
 were wider than it is.” This, Sir, is the honourable gen¬ 
 tleman’s definition of a Free Trade ; and upon his own 
 principles, clear as the fun, and wide as the univerfe, I 
 rrieet him upon the prefent queftion. From 1779 to 1784, 
 we relied fatisfied upon the fubject of trade ; but in 1 784, 
 it was difeovered that the commercial intercourfe between 
 Great Britain and Ireland was unequal ; that Ihe poured 
 her manufactures in upon us, and Ihut our manufactures 
 out from her markets. But above all, it was complained 
 that by the conllruction which Ihe put upon her navigation 
 jaws, we were prohibited from importing into England the 
 produce of her colonies, whilll Ihe claimed a right, and we 
 acquiefped in the claim, to import into this country, 
 from England, the produce of the whole world. The 
 remedy propofed was, to commence a war of Prohibi¬ 
 tory Duties, but the good fenfe of the Houfe faw how de- 
 ftructive fuch a meafure mull be, and rejected it by as re- 
 fpedlable a majority as ever appeared within thefe walls. 
 An Honourable Member then thought it neceflary to move 
 an addrefs to the throne, that the fervants of the crown 
 might be dire&ed to employ the interval between that time 
 and the prefent feffion in digefting a plan of commercial 
 intercourfe between Great Britain and Ireland, upon equi¬ 
 table and liberal principles. I have heard Gentlemen fay, 
 they confidered that addrefs as alluding to Prote&ing Du¬ 
 ties, but I will not pay their memories a compliment at the 
 cfcpence of their underftandings ; it is impoffible they could 
 have underftood that this addrefs alluded to Protecting Du¬ 
 ties, the words of the addrefs fpeak the fenfe of it very plain¬ 
 ly, and Protecting Duties had been juft rejected, as a wild 
 and nonfenfical project. 
 
 A fyftem of commercial intercourfe therefore was called 
 for, by the Parliament of Ireland, and I truft I fhall not 
 hear it again afTerted, that this has been a fubje£l obtruded 
 upon the nation. The unanimous addrefs of the Commons 
 gives the lie direct to that affertion ; accordingly the outline 
 of the fyftem which had been called for, was fubmitted 
 to the Houfe in eleven Propofitions, early in this feffion. 
 The leading features of it were, That the markets of 
 both countries fhould be open to the manufactures of each 
 
 other 
 
( 62 ) 
 
 other upon equal terms; that therefore no new prohibition 
 or additional duties fhould be impofecf in either country 
 upon the manufactures of the other; that Great Britain 
 fhould fecure and make permanent to us, the grant of the 
 Colony trade, which by the fettlement of 1770, as my Right 
 Hon. Friend has termed it, was precarious and revocable, 
 and that {he fhould relax her Navigation laws in our favour.” 
 For the prefent I fhall not go into the detail of this fyftem, 
 but I mud remind Gentlemen, that England by this agree¬ 
 ment binds herfelf to fecure to this country the monopoly 
 of her market in the article of linens. And I muft remind 
 them alfo, that a Gentleman of the firffc abilities, a leader 
 of Englifh oppofition, did ftate emphatically in the Britifti 
 Senate, that Britain, by fo doing, gave up her beft pro¬ 
 tection againft the future caprices of this country. 
 
 As to the liberty of fending our manufactures to the 
 Britifh markets, I freely own I have not very fanguine ex¬ 
 pectations of advantage from it. But, Sir, I prize the ad¬ 
 vantages of a relaxation in her navigation laws very highly. 
 I think that without fuch a relaxation we have little profpect 
 indeed of any foreign trade. Becaufe, if the Irifh merchant 
 has not the certain iflue of the Englifh market for foreign 
 commodities, he has no fpur to enterprize and fpeculation. 
 But if England relaxes her navigation laws in our favour, 
 fhe has a right to expeCI that we fhall protect and cherifh 
 the {hips and mariners of the empire, as {he has protected 
 them. She has a right to expect that we will follow her in 
 a code of laws, which have been the fource of her commer¬ 
 cial opulence, the prime origin of her maritime ftrength, 
 and therefore it is folly to fuppofe that England will ever 
 conclude any treaty of commerce with any nation on 
 the earth, without ample fecurity for the protection and en¬ 
 couragement of Britifh {hips and mariners, and for the pro¬ 
 tection and encouragement of her own plantations. This 
 fecurity fhe has a right to expeCt from us, and without it, it 
 is vain to hope that fhe will ever conclude any treaty with 
 11s, and I muft remind gentlemen, that our trade with Eng¬ 
 land is of greater value than our trade with the reft of the 
 world. If we were to lofe it, in fix months, you would not 
 have gold in circulation for the common occafions of life. 
 
 This is the outline of the fyftem propofed and approved of 
 almoft univerfally, early.in the leftion, and I call upon any 
 man to fhew me where the principle or fpirit of this fyftem 
 
 has 
 
 J. 
 
C 63 ) 
 
 has been departed from in the Englilh propofition-s, or in 
 the Bill introduced by the Englilh Minifter. 
 
 But it was neceftary to combat the prejudices of the 
 Britifh manufa&urers, and the oppofition of a party, many 
 of whom do, I am fatisfied, oppofe any extenfion of the 
 trade and commerce of Ireland upon principle, and there¬ 
 fore it is, that the Britifh Minifter, and the men who iup- 
 ported him, were forced into the detail of this fubje< 5 t in 
 their refolutions.—A detail which muft neceffarily have 
 followed, even if the Britifh Parliament had kept clear of it 
 in this firft ftage of the bufinefs. 
 
 God forbid that I ftiould impute wrong motives to any 
 man ; I am fatisfied that it is the principle of fome of the 
 leading men of the prefent oppofition in England, not to 
 extend the trade and commerce of this country. And if I 
 did not chufe to keep this fubje6f clear of any thing which 
 might look like a queftion of Englilh party, I would prove 
 to the convi&ion of every man who hears me, that the weight 
 of Ireland in the fcale of the empire muft for ever prove an 
 obftacle to the great obje& of their political career. 
 
 With refpefit to the Eaft India trade, I muft inform the 
 Right Hon. gentleman, that it is a queftion, in my mind, 
 of no doubt or difficulty, that we have by a law of Ireland 
 confirmed the monopoly of the Eaft India Company ; and 
 therefore, fo long as their charter lafts, we are bound by it. 
 And were this charter expired, I believe our profpe6t of a 
 trade to India, even if it were the intereft of this country to 
 interfere with Great Britain, is very remote indeed. 
 
 The Right Hon. gentleman has faid, that we gain but a 
 fpeck of advantage in the permiffion granted to Eaft India 
 fhips to touch at Irifti ports in their paflage out ; and yet 
 this was one very great caufe ot the clamour raifed in Eng¬ 
 land againft the fyftem ; for Mr. Wedgwood, and two other 
 men, who were examined upon the fubjeft. at the bar of 
 the Houfe of Lords, did not hefitate to declare, that glafs, 
 and fome other articles, were likely to be exported from 
 Ireland to the Eaft Indies, and in fuch quantities as would 
 prove extremely injurious to the manufactures of England. 
 
 As to the Eaft India trade, the gentleman is much mif- 
 taken. Whenever the charter of the company fhall expire, 
 Ireland will, upon the fame terms as the fubjeCts of Great 
 Britain, be enabled to trade with all the Britifh pofteffions 
 in the Eaft as to Britifh colonies, and to all the independent 
 ftates without reftri£Uon. 
 
 Mr. 
 
( 6 + ) 
 
 Mr. Grattan rofe to explain. He faid that we were to be 
 prevented for ever from trading with the Eaft Indies. 
 
 Attorney General .—The Right Hon. gentleman is totally 
 and radically miftaken, and there cannot be a ftronger ar¬ 
 gument for the introduction of the Bill than he has furnifti- 
 ed; for it now appears that he is altogether miftaken in his 
 idea ofthefundamentals of it. He has objected to this {yftem, 
 that we ftipulate not to trade with the colonies of foreign 
 dates. Now I requeft of gentlemen to attend to this objec¬ 
 tion. It is modeftly defired on the part of this country, 
 that Great Britain fhould grant irrevocably to us a right to 
 trade with her colonies and plantations, and leave it in 
 our diferetion, at any time, to trade with foreign colonies 
 and plantations, to the prejudice of Britain and Britifh 
 plantations; nay more, it is defired that England fhould 
 open her ports to receive the product of the Weft Indies 
 through the medium of Ireland, and truft to the fcrupulous 
 honour of Irifh merchants not to deceive her, by impofing 
 the produce of foreign colonies upon Great Britain in her 
 own markets, to the utter ruin of the Britifh plantations. 
 But can any thing be more juft, if we are to fhare with 
 England her colony trade, than that we fhould give to her 
 colonies a monopoly of our market ? It has been infinuated, 
 that we could trade to more advantage with the colonies of 
 foreign ftates ; but what foreign ftates will allow us to trade 
 with their colonies ? Who is to prote£I us if foreign ftates 
 fhall refufe to do us juftice ? or who is to aflert our rights 
 if they fhall be violated ? But admit for a moment, that 
 we could trade with the colonies of foreign ftates, in ex- 
 clufion to the colonies of Britain, would not this be an 
 act of open hoftility, and call for retaliation ? 
 
 The right honourable Gentleman is miftaken as to the 
 fettlement of 1779—it was a voluntary grant, revocable at 
 pleafure ; and one great argument in favour of the prefent 
 fettlement is, that by it that grant is rendered irrevocable. 
 
 I now come to the great argument of thofe who oppofe 
 this fyftem—the argument, if it deferves the name, which 
 has been trumpeted forth by the enemies of Ireland in both 
 countries, to inflame her pride, and to prejudice her againft 
 this fettlement. It is aflerted again and again, that this 
 treaty is an infult to Ireland—that it ftrikes dire&ly at the 
 independence of her legiflature. This is the firft inftance in 
 which Ireland has ever treated, and it is a new idea to me, 
 that England, by opening and carrying on a treaty with her 
 
 as 
 
( 6 S 3 
 
 as with an independent (late infults her pride, and (trikes at 
 her independence. But what is defired of her on the part of 
 England ? So long as you continue to trade with us, as 
 you have propofed, we defire of you, by laws of your enadf- 
 ing, to cherifh, and protect, and encourage the fnips and 
 mariners of the empire, as we have done. We only defire 
 of you, by laws of your own , to adopt a code of laws, 
 the policy of which ffcands admitted by all the nations of 
 Europe—a code of laws which is the great fource of the 
 ftrength and wealth of the empire. So long as you conti¬ 
 nue to trade with our colonies, we defire that you will re¬ 
 gulate that trade, as we do. But if you do not chufe to a- 
 dopt our navigation code—if you do not chufe to protedf 
 the fiiips and mariners of the empire by your laws, as we 
 protedf them by ours—if you do not chufe to regulate your 
 trade with our plantations, as we regulate ours, why then 
 there is an end of the agreement—you then make your op¬ 
 tion, not to trade with us, and with our plantations, upon 
 the terms which are necefiary for the general fecurity of the 
 empire. 
 
 Here give me leave to recur to that principle, clear as 
 the fun and wide as the univerfe, which I have taken the 
 liberty to borrow from an honourable Member—freedom of 
 trade, is liberty to trade with foreign nations, fubjedt to 
 the refiridtions of your own legiflature, and the legiflature 
 of the country with which you trade. Here I meet that 
 honourable Member with his own principle, clothed in his 
 own words .* And if the principle is queftioned, it is im- 
 poffible to form a commercial treaty with any nation on 
 earth. But I will fhew you the principle recorded again 
 and again in your own Statute Book, from 1779 to 1785— 
 feffion after felfion you have recorded it. What was the 
 principle admitted in «779—admitted and proclaimed by 
 the whole nation in peals of applaufe and gratitude ? We 
 will import the produce of the Britiih Colonies and Planta¬ 
 tions upon the terms of enadting from time to time, by our 
 laws, fpeeific taxes impofed by Great Britain upon Britiih 
 fubjedts; and accordingly, feffion after feffion, this agree¬ 
 ment has been recited in your Money Bill. The Britiih 
 tax is recited, and the Britiih tax is enadted. What is your 
 option here ? Have you an option as to the quantum cf 
 tax ? No ; you enadf the Britiih tax, or you give up the 
 trade. I defy the ingenuity of man to diftinguilh the two 
 cafes in point of conflitution. What does England defire 
 
 K now ; 
 
( 66 ) 
 
 now ?—You have propofed to trade with me in a more 
 extended way, than you have done—I agree to it, provided 
 you agree on your part to make the fame regulations from 
 time to time, to protedt and encourage the mariners and 
 fhips of the empire, as I do here.—Where is the infult here, 
 or where is the attack upon your independence ? I fay again, 
 where is the departure from the honourable Member’s prin¬ 
 ciple, clear as the fun, and wide as the univerfe ?—where 
 is the departure from the principle, fandtified and recorded 
 again and again in your own Statute Book ? An honourable 
 Member has alluded to the Methuen Treaty. What is t^at 
 treaty ? It confifts of two articles only—Portugal agrees to 
 receive Englifh woollens, and England agrees, from time 
 to time, to enadt fpecific taxes upon the wines of Portugal. 
 Is not this the fame principle again ? Why the honourable 
 Member may as well fay, that England is infulted, and 
 that England furrendered her independence, becaufe fhe 
 agreed not to raife more than a ftated revenue upon the im¬ 
 portation of Portugal wines. Becaufe fhe binds herfelf to 
 give a preference to the wines of Portugal in the Britifh 
 market; at all times over the wines of France. In fhort, 
 if the Irifh nation will never condefcend to promife a compli¬ 
 ance with any condition of a treaty, the Irifh nation mufl 
 determine never to make any commercial treaty, or any 
 treaty whatever.' 
 
 It has been faid, we cannot confide in the prefent Mi- 
 nifler; but if we cannot confide in him, I do not know 
 in what part of the Britifh dominions we can find the man 
 in whom we can confide. As to the leading men who 
 oppofe him, I am fatisfied it is a firft principle with 
 them not to make any eonceflion to this country which 
 is to add to her weight in the fcale of the empire. 
 —In 1779* when Lord North propofed his Refolution* 
 in favour of Ireland, they would not affent, nor would 
 they difient—they would referve themfelves. In 1785, 
 w'hen Mr. Pitt, with the liberality of a great and 
 firm mind, flood forth to combat the prejudices of the 
 manufadturers of Great Britain, for the general advantage 
 of the empire, they echoed the clamours and the prejudices 
 of thefe men, and having tailed in their profpedt of damn¬ 
 ing the meafure in England, they inllantly changed their 
 ground, and applied themfelves to the pride and the preju¬ 
 dices of this country ; and, as I have been informed, they 
 have fomewhat prematurely indulged their merriment at 
 our expence—they have fomewhat prematurely indulged 
 
 their 
 
( «7 ) 
 
 their merriment at the expence of a few individuals, whom 
 they fuppofe to have fwallowed the bait. And this country 
 will be the laughing-ftock of every nation in Europe, if 
 fhe becomes the dupe of fo palpable and ftiallow an artifice. 
 Here, Sir, I defire to be underftood, not to {fate this as a 
 conduCt in any degree reprehenfible—I am fatisfied thefe 
 gentlemen aCt upon fyftem, but no man ftiall perfuade me 
 that they are friends of Ireland. Let gentlemen recoiled 
 the language held by the leader of Englifli oppofition, and 
 by a gentleman foremoft in his confidence on the fame day ; 
 one gentleman ftated, that Captain Brooke was an inte- 
 refted witnefs, and therefore not to be credited, becaufe 
 this was an agreement wholly and exclufively beneficial to 
 Ireland. And in the next half hour his friend ftated, that 
 he had written to all his friends in Ireland to be upon their 
 guard, for that it was an agreement ruinous to the com¬ 
 merce and the conftitution of this country—I liften to the 
 one and the other with perfeCt indifference. I do not 
 pretend to fay, that a few individuals in Great Britain may 
 not perhaps feel a temporary inconvenience from this fet- 
 tlement ; but I am perfectly allured, that it will be highly 
 advantageous to the empire. There is no folid advantage 
 which this country can acquire that will not ultimately 
 tend to the ftrength and wealth of the Britifli empire, and 
 therefore he is a narrow and flimfy politician, who will 
 facrifice the ftrength of the empire to the narrow prejudices 
 of interefted individuals. A fpirit of monopoly is the firft 
 principle of a merchant or a manufacturer. Whilft man 
 continues to be a creature of paflion and intereft, felf- 
 intereft will be his firft confideratron ; and therefore in a 
 great national fyftem of commerce, a merchant or a ma¬ 
 nufacturer is perhaps the laft man from whom you may 
 expeCt information. The great objeCt of his life is to accu¬ 
 mulate wealth for himfelf; but in what manner national 
 wealth is accumulated, his education or his purfuits do not 
 enable him to fee; and therefore, upon a great national 
 fyftem, a merchant or a manufacturer is perhaps the laft 
 man to whom I would apply for information. Let me 
 remind gentlemen of the evidence delivered at the bar of 
 this Houfe in the courfe of the laft feffion. How many of 
 your merchants and manufacturers informed you, that this 
 would never be a nation of trade, foreign or domeftic, until 
 you impofed prohibitory duties on the importation of Britifii 
 woollens. In a country whofe imports from England do not 
 exceed one million, and whofe exports to England 
 
 K 2 exceed 
 
( 68 ) 
 
 exceed two millions and an half. The merchants and 
 manufacturers came forward to prefs you to commence a 
 war of prohibitory duties. An Hon. Gentleman fays, 
 he has no confidence in the Irifh Adminiftration, and he 
 affigns one reafon for his want of confidence, that my 
 Right Hon. friend when he was at London never appeared 
 in the Houfe of Commons to clear up a doubt whether he 
 had uled the word mart , or the word ejnporium when he 
 firfl dated his eleven Proportions to this Houfe. 1 here is 
 another reafon, and I will fay it is the true reafon why 
 that gentleman has no confidence in the Irifh adminiftra- 
 tion—he has no connexion with them ;—but being clofely 
 conneTed with them, it fhall always be my pride, as a 
 gentleman of this country, to acknowledge my obligations 
 to the Duke of Rutland, and to my Right Hon. friend. 
 This country owes more to them than to any men who have 
 ever filled their ftations. In the courfe of this very inte- 
 refting bufinefs, they have difplayed the mod unwea¬ 
 ried affiduity, and unfhaken firmnefs and integrity. 
 
 Before I fit down I mud remind the Houfe, that my Right 
 Hon. friend (Mr. Conolly) has, by authority from a noble 
 Duke, difavowed the declaration which was imputed to him, 
 becaufe it refeues a nobleman for whom I entertain a very af¬ 
 fectionate refpeCt, from fome imputations which I have 
 heard thrown upon him, and which from my know¬ 
 ledge of his driCt honour and integrity, I have always 
 aflerted to be falfe and groundlefs. We all recoiled when 
 a motion was made in this Houfe, with refpeCt to the Eaft 
 Indi es, that my predecedor in office declared, that it was 
 improper to fritter away piece-meal a great fydem of trade, 
 which Adminidration meant to bring forward. And I 
 know Lord Northington’s honour, integrity and firmnefs 
 to be fuch, that he never would have differed fuch a decla¬ 
 ration of a gentleman in his confidence to have remained 
 uncontradiCfed, if the Britifh Cabinet had determined not 
 in any fort to concede any extenfion of commerce to 
 this country ; and therefore I am happy, for the fake of a 
 nobleman whofe principles I admire, and whofe worth and 
 honour will ever remain unfullied, that my Right Hon. 
 friend has publicly dilavowed the declaration imputed to 
 the noble Duke. 
 
 The Attorney-general concluded with faying, that what¬ 
 ever might have been intimated at different times con¬ 
 cerning the poffibility of Ireland Handing alone, and dif- 
 tinCt from England, he was free to declare, that fituate as 
 
 fhe 
 
( 6g ) 
 
 Ike was, in the neighbourhood of powerful Popifh countries, 
 with a great majority of her people, of the Popiih religion, 
 fhe could not exid one hour as a Protedant date, if the 
 protection of England was withdrawn. 
 
 Mr. Forbes.-~\ condole with this Koufe on the convinc¬ 
 ing proof the conduct of the odenfible Mmider has this 
 night afforded, that the national character is funk in the 
 opinion of the people of England; for I am certain that 
 every gentleman, who hears me, will agree in the truth of 
 this obfervation, that three years ago no Englifh Mmifter 
 would have prefumed to have propofed fuch a meafure to 
 an Irifh Houfe of Commons, as that fubmitted this night 
 to our conhderation by the Right Hon. Secretary. I dial! 
 give my negative to this motion, hecaufe I cannot fubfcribe 
 to the truth of the alfertion of the Right Hon. and learned 
 gentleman who fpoke lad, that there was no material de¬ 
 parture in the fyflem now propofed from the principles of 
 the eleven Proportions, the Minifter has departed from 
 them mod; materially, by introducing into his fydern the 
 principles of the 4th Englifh Refolution, which are fubver- 
 five of our legiflative independence, and which, by depriv¬ 
 ing us of the power of regulating our trade, as well as the 
 means of preferving it, render any commercial acquifitions 
 precarious and uncertain. I fliall give my negative to this 
 motion, as I do not wifh to commit the two countries, 
 which mud be the cafe if the Right Hon. Secretary’s Bill 
 js paffed into a law : I have no refentment againd the 
 people of Great Britain for their conduCt on this fubjeCt ; 
 if they were wrong, we were the caufe of their falling into 
 error ; we fent them over the eleven Propofitions without 
 any circumdance attending them, which could command 
 refpeCt from the people of England ; not one manufacturer 
 or merchant in Ireland was confulted on the fubjeCt; we 
 did not fend to England any reafons or evidence to prove, 
 either that the eleven Propofitions would be advantageous, or 
 that they could not be injurious to the common intered of 
 both countries. Great Britain faw, that they were not a 
 meafure of the people of Ireland; of courfe Englifh prejudi¬ 
 ces operated againd them, as we had not fent over any thing 
 to counteract the influence of thofe prejudices. I 'fha-11 give 
 my negative to this motion, as I do not wifn tQ adminider 
 to the fupport of a fydem of policy, which bears too drong 
 a relemblance to that purfued refpeCting America. When 
 the damp a£t was repealed, America was re-united to Great 
 Britain ; bat the defpotic principles of a certain defperate 
 
 fhCtion, 
 
 
( 7 ° ) 
 
 fadlion, which, I fear, now prevails in England, could 
 not be reconciled to a re-union founded on the bafis of 
 Britifh liberty ; they revived their fyftem, impofed the tea 
 duty, perfevered in their principles, and loft America. 
 The power of legiflating for Ireland was relinquiftied in 
 1782, but the fame defperate fadtion, mortified by the 
 profpedt of renovation of the Britifh empire, in confequence 
 of the wife and liberal policy adopted refpedling Ireland 
 wifh to refume that power; but taught by fatal experience 
 in America the folly of a diredt invafion : they now only 
 afk us to lend them our power of legiflating for Ireland, and 
 tell us, that if we do not like the ufe which they make of 
 it, they will reftore it to us, or we may refume it. Should 
 a requeft be made to any individual among us by another, 
 to lend him the fafeguard of his honor, his liberty, pro¬ 
 perty, and independence, and that his requeft fhould be 
 accompanied with an aflurance, that if he did -not approve 
 of the ufe made of it, he might re-poflefs himfelf of it, 
 whenever he thought proper. Is there a man among us, 
 who could be fo abfurd as to place the leaft confidence in 
 fuch a claufe of re-aflumption ? Much reliance has been 
 placed by the Iaft fpeaker on the condition contained in the 
 Englifh ad! of 1780, known here by the title of the ad! of 
 Free Trade ; but allowing, merely for argument fake, that 
 the principle ** that we fhould participate in the colony 
 trade, only on condition that we implicitly adopt Englifh 
 regulations and Englifh laws is there admitted, fhall we 
 becaufe we adopt Englifti laws in one branch of our com¬ 
 merce, and refpedling only a part of the colony trade, in¬ 
 troduce them univerfally and implicitly into our commer¬ 
 cial fyftem ?—Shall we extend this policy fo far as to make 
 it the conftitution of our country ?—But the fact was, as 
 gentlemen muft recoiled!, that the Minifter in 1780 did not 
 dare even to lay on our table any Englifh Refolutions, or 
 Englifh Bill, containing fuch a condition, much lefs to 
 propofe to our Parliament to enter into any covenant of 
 that nature ; the Refolution introduced at that time by 
 Miniftry in this Houfe, was framed in a manner very dif¬ 
 ferent from the Englifh Refolution at that period on the 
 fubjed! of the Colony trade. But it is urged, that all 
 objedlions to the 4th Refolution are obviated, as whenever 
 we think proper to decline palling the fame laws as Eng¬ 
 land, refpedling trade and navigation, we have only to 
 refufe to comply with this condition of the treaty, and then 
 we are releafed from our covenant. But are we not now 
 
 pofTefled 
 
( 7i ) 
 
 pOifefTed of independence abfolutely ? Why then put it in 
 condition ? The title to our independence is clear; why then 
 fhall we embarrafs it with this condition ? Why make ex¬ 
 periments on our conftitution ? But it ftiould be recollect¬ 
 ed, that we cannot releafe ourfelves from this covenant, 
 without palling an a< 5 t for that purpofe ; Ihould the Parlia¬ 
 ment of England be dilinclined to fuch a meafure, the 
 Minifter of England dare not advife the King of Ireland 
 to give his alTent to fuch an at of our Parliament. But I 
 fhall be anfwered, that we have the remedy in our own 
 hands in this Houfe, by refuling to pafs Bills annually for 
 adopting taxes and the regulations of trade fimilar to thofe 
 in England. I anfwer—if an honeft and incorrupt Parlia¬ 
 ment, like the prefent, Jhall pafs this Bill, contrary to the 
 fenfe of the people, it is not unreafonable to fuppofe, that 
 a future Parliament, lefs honeft, and lefs incorrupt, may 
 be prevailed on to adhere to this fyftem, contrary alfo to the 
 fenfe of the people. But from the circumftances attending 
 this option, which it is urged we are to have by this Bill, 
 I contend, that when the meafure propofed is adopted, we 
 fhall, in effeEl , have abfolutely and irrevocably furrendered 
 our power of legiflating on the great fubje6ts of trade and 
 navigation. For what is the alternative offered to us ? 
 —either to fubmit to the regiftry of whatever Englifti a£ls 
 may from time to time be paffed relating to trade and 
 navigation, or to diffolve all commercial intercourfe with 
 Great Britain, to be in effe< 5 t profcribed by her, for not 
 only any commercial advantage we might by poflibility 
 obtain by this treaty, but all thofe which we have for a 
 century paft received from England are to be now put in 
 condition ; all the a6ts for years paft by which we had 
 admiflion into the different ports of the Britifti dominions 
 will now be repealed, and every commercial treaty invaded 
 and ripped up ; if then at any future period we fail in 
 adopting one claufe of an Englifti a6t, we forfeit our title 
 to all our commerce with every part of 4 he Britifti domi¬ 
 nions in all quarters of the world : all the ports of the 
 Britifti dominions will be ftiut againft our ftiips. When 
 in a future Parliament an attempt fhall be made to legiftate 
 on the fubjeft of trade and navigation differently from 
 England, an Englifti Secretary will rife, and afk you, if 
 you had confidered the confequences of not adopting the 
 Englifti a£ts on thofe fubje&s in toto ? If you were prepared 
 to have every port in the Britifti dominions ftiut againft 
 you ? If it was not better to regifter this a 61 , though in¬ 
 jurious 
 
jurious in fome indances to your rights or liberties, than 
 fubmit to this dreadful alternative—Britilh profcription ;— 
 and, ufing the language of the lad: fpeaker (refpeding the 
 objections proceeding from this fide of the Houfe to the 
 fyftem in point ot conftitution) he will fay, do not make 
 fuch a facrifice to punctilious pride. The corrupt would 
 avail themfelves of thofe arguments for a pretext, and many 
 honed, but timid men, might acquiefce ; precedent would 
 be heaped on preeedent, till a fuperdruCture was raifed on 
 the foundation of this Bill, which would terminate in 
 defpotifm on one part, and dependance on the other. 
 Therefore the dread ot this forfeiture or penalty, will 
 prevent Ireland’s difengaging herfelf from this fettlement, 
 and induce her to fubmit to hard conditions in the fame 
 manner as a fevere penalty operates as a powerful fanCtion 
 of any law. When this Bill is paded into a law, we fhall 
 have transferred our power of legidating to the Englidi 
 Parliament. I will admit, that literally fpeaking, the fet- 
 tlement contained in it may not be irrevocable, or perpe¬ 
 tually binding on Ireland ; the reaffumption of our legilla- 
 tive independence may not be made by this Bill phydcally 
 impoffible, but circumdances in future, as I have dated, 
 may render it politically impracticable. To enable gentle¬ 
 men to form an idea ot the contemptible lituation to which 
 cur Parliament may be reduced by adopting this fyftem, 
 let us only conceive for a moment that the Bill now propof* 
 ed had been paded lad fedion ; we all recoiled the claufe 
 in the Revenue Bill introduced this fedion, which w r as 
 copied from an Englidi aCt of Parliament, for the preven¬ 
 tion of fmuggling ; it was known in our Houfe by the re¬ 
 probating appellation of the banging claufe ; upon its firft 
 reading, it made the feelings of every conftitutional cha¬ 
 racter recoil, an amendment to do away its malignity was 
 propofed and adopted ; but if the Bill moved for this night 
 bad been law at that period, the Secretary would have 
 rifen, and have threatened us, if we voted that amend¬ 
 ment, with the forfeiture of the participation of all the 
 Britidi commerce ; to what a dreadful alternative Ihould 
 we have been reduced ! If we adopt this fydem, we 
 dmi! exhibit a phenomenon in politics ; for after hav¬ 
 ing hazarded in 1782 every thing that was dear to us, 
 to recover the independence ot our Parliament, the 
 fird ufe we fhall have made of that independence, is to 
 pafs an ad for its furrender. We fliould recoiled the in¬ 
 famy 
 
(. 73 ) 
 
 famy and contempt, in which the Scotch Parliament, who 
 Voted the union, were involved ; we cannot wifh to emu¬ 
 late their conduct or to be fucceffors to their con¬ 
 tempt. Wefliould remember, that the terms now propofed 
 by the 4th and 5th Refolutions were contained in point of 
 principle in the conciliatory Proportions offered to America 
 in t77',, ar ‘d rejected with fcorn and indignation ; indeed 
 they were more favourable than the prefent, for though the 
 Englifh Parliament was to afcertain the quantum of fupply, 
 or the amount of the taxes, as is to be done in the propofed 
 fyftem refpe&ing the amount of each Englifh tax or duty, 
 which we are to adopt, yet privileges were feferved to 
 America, which are not referved to ils; {he was to decide 
 on the mode and fubjeT of taxation, and of courfe the pow¬ 
 er of originating her Bills was to refide in her own legifla- 
 lure. We fhould be cautious of treating with the Mi- 
 nifter of England, having already difcovered his infin- 
 Cerity in this tranfaTion. On the 7th of February, the 
 Agent or Reprefentative of Mr. Pitt required this Houfe 
 to pledge themfelves to the eleven Propofitionsi as a 
 fyftem, refpe&ing every part and pririciple of which the 
 Britifli Minifter had made up his mind ; but at this 
 Very period, and for long after, the friend of the Britifli 
 Minifter, Mr. Jenkinfon, and the Committee of the Eng¬ 
 lifh council were enquiring into and examining as to the 
 expediency of adopting the leading principles of thefe 
 eleven Propofitions, concerning which he had taught us 
 to believe (through the mouth of his Secretary) that he^ 
 Mr. Pitt, was clearly decided and abfolutely determined. 
 The fourth Refolution originated with Mr. Pitt, and not in 
 the fuggeftion or urgency of the Englifh oppofition ; when 
 he introduced this refolution it had not even the palliating 
 words, “ by laws to be paffed by the Irifh Parliament 
 thefe were inferted by the fuggeftion of oppofition, who 
 moved an amendment to expunge the exceptional parts of 
 t J e fourth Refolution, which Mr. Pitt refilled, and with 
 fuccefs. This circumftance is a full refutation of the im¬ 
 putation attempted to be call on many refpe£lab!e members 
 of the Englifh oppofition, that in this tranfaction they had 
 facrificed every thing to party ; if that had been their only 
 obje£t they would not have moved this amendment, and 
 thereby have endeavoured to render the fyftem more pala¬ 
 table to Ireland; they would on the contrary have fuffered 
 this Refolution to be fent over to Ireland in its native defor- 
 
 L T#r. mity. 
 
( 74 ) 
 
 mity, with all its imperfe&ions on its head, which would 
 have infured its reje6tion here and the Minifter’s de¬ 
 feat ; but with this Minifter at the head of the Bri- 
 tifh Cabinet, in which fit the author of the Perpetual 
 Mutiny Bill, and another Nobleman, who encouraged Con¬ 
 ventions and Congrefles, and exhorted our Volunteers not 
 to lay down their arms till a Reform had been obtained, 
 yet acquiefced under all the minifterial perfecutions lafl 
 winter of the friends of Reform in Ireland, we are told 
 from the Treafury Bench >that the members of the prefent 
 Britifh Cabinet are the only friends of Ireland. I need 
 only have appealed to the meafure now before us for a con¬ 
 futation of this aflertion. Rather an invidious comparifon 
 has been drawn between the prefent Lord Lieutenant and 
 the Duke of Portland ; in the addrefs of 1782, that Noble¬ 
 man ufed no minifterial influence to carry any favourite 
 fyftem; he left the Parliament and the people to them- 
 felves to declare their wifhes without referve ; he faid, if 
 he did not approve of them, he would refign, but approv¬ 
 ing of them he tranfmitted them to England, declaring, 
 at the fame time, that he would not hold the government 
 of this country unlefs they were in every inftance complied 
 with ; his conduft was more meritorious than that of our 
 prefent Viceroy, at the fame time I refpe6I the private cha- 
 ra£ter of the Duke of Rutland. The imputation that the 
 oppofition in this houfe to the propofed fyftem originates 
 in party, recoils on its authors on the Treafury Bench ; if 
 their prefent meafure is not a matter of party, why prefs it 
 contrary to the wifties of both countries } I difclaim all 
 party, the legiflative independence of Ireland is not to be 
 degraded by being made a matter of party; *tis the com¬ 
 mon caufe of the people of Ireland, *tis a caufe in which 
 they have the alliance of God and Nature, with fuch fup- 
 port they cannot fail of fuccefs, let them only be true to 
 themfelves. The memorable words of Lord Chatham re- 
 fpe£ting America are in this inftance applicable to hisfon; 
 
 if the Minifters perfevere in mifadviflng and mifleading 
 the King, I will not fay that they can alienate the aflPe&ions 
 of his fubje< 5 ls of Ireland from his crown, but I will affirm, 
 that they will make the crown of Ireland not worth his 
 wearing.” 
 
 Mr. Hardy began his fpeech with declaring, that he could 
 not give his affent to the motion made by the Right Hon. 
 Secretary for leave to bring in a Bill, nor could he confent 
 
 to 
 
( 75 ) 
 
 to Ireland’s entering into any commercial negotiation 
 whatever with Great Britain as long as the Fourth Refolu- 
 tion remained on the Journals of the Britifh Houfe ot Com¬ 
 mons. It was idle in his opinion to enter into any difcuffion 
 of the commercial arrangement till that was completely and 
 utterly abandoned. He confidered it as totally inadmiffible 
 on the part of Ireland, and if it were poffible that fhe could 
 accede to it, from that moment fhe mufl relinquifh her 
 claim to the only character in which (he was faid to treat 
 with Great Britain, namely, that of an independent king¬ 
 dom, for the acceptance of the proportion would put an 
 end to her independency. Having faid this, he combated 
 the idea of the Secretary that it was not to be confidered in 
 that hoflile point of view, nor to be regarded in any other 
 light than a general condition incident to all treaties between 
 two countries totally independent of each other. He de¬ 
 nied the force of this reafoning, and contended, that no 
 perfon, however converfant in diplomatic knowledge, could 
 fairly, or with any propriety of argument, compare this 
 negotiation to any treaty of that defcription ; or could pro¬ 
 duce an inflance where this fuppofed fimilarity could be 
 faid to exift. Great Britain and Ireland entering on a final 
 and irrevocable arrangement of all commercial matters be¬ 
 tween them, could never be affimilated to two feparate and 
 diftinct kingdoms under different Monarchs who might be 
 difpofed to form a treaty of commerce, or any treaty what¬ 
 ever with each other. Great Britain and Ireland were two 
 diflinct nations under one common head, with an unifor¬ 
 mity of laws, with an uniformity of interefls between them ; 
 the fubjets of each participated of all the rights of com¬ 
 mon citizenlhip ; it was evident therefore, at the firfl blufh 
 of the argument, that two fuch countries could never be 
 faid to (land on the fame footing in the formation of the com¬ 
 mercial arrangement now propofed, or any adjuflment of 
 their refpective interefls, that two feparate and unconnected 
 kingdoms would fland. A treaty between them would be 
 totally different, and the confequences incident to any pof¬ 
 fible infraction of the treaty, completely fo. He then con¬ 
 fidered the federal language which is generally held be¬ 
 tween two unconnected States treating with each other. 
 That all the lofty and high founding words of union and 
 final arrangement between two unconnected kingdoms are 
 very often only words of courfe, and fignify nothing; but 
 in a treaty of this nature between Great Britain and Ireland, 
 
 L 2 there 
 
( 7 6 ) 
 
 there is no fuch infignificancy annexed to them, they pane 
 not be departed from with that facility fuggefted by the Kignt 
 Hon. Secretary, who feemed to think that the relpective 
 Parliaments of both countries might annihdate this ar¬ 
 rangement whenever it became difagreeable to them, wit 
 out any violent inconvenience to either ; on the contrary, 
 thofe words form the almoft entire effence and ipirit ot the 
 negociation, they are of the molt ferious nature that can be 
 well imagined, and Gentlemen in giving their votes this 
 might ought not to lofe fight of them for an inftant. * 
 long was a treaty between two nations fometimes m ai ™ t X 
 with, and fometimes adverfe to each other, to lad ? Exa&Iy 
 as long as fuited their own convenience. How long was a 
 treaty between Great Britain and Ireland to la ft y or up 
 pofing that one nation violated the treaty, what would be 
 the confequence ? Would they be juft as they were before, 
 and all to begin again ? No, the nation which happened to 
 fie the ftrongeft, and reaped the greateft advantages from 
 the treaty, would take care that that fhould not happen. 
 If by anv revolution in human affairs, Ireland happened to 
 gain more ftrength and power than Great Britain, what 
 would the complaints of Great Britain avail, if Ireland did 
 mot adhere to the treaty, and what would the murmurs ot 
 this country avail if Great Britain gradually, and in in- 
 fiances 'not immediately perceptible, thought proper to 
 adopt regulations in commerce, exclufively beneficial to 
 herfelf? Who would be the Umpire between the two na¬ 
 tions.—There could be no Umpire— Great Britain would 
 
 infill that all her regulations were for our benefit, and that 
 of the Empire, and there never would be wanting a party, 
 and a ftrong party too, in that houle, who would fuppert 
 her in her explanations of her condudt, Parliamen- 
 tary Grotiufes, who would labour moft abundantly to prove 
 that the moft outrageous, unbluftiing deviations from t e 
 treatv, were perfedtly confonant to the good faith ot t e 
 treaty, and the jus publicum imperii. He then touched on 
 the deception that was pradtifed, and the delufory arts that 
 were reforted to, in complimenting Ireland with the name 
 of an Independent Kingdom, at the very time that fhe was 
 called upon to adopt, and implicitly adopt every commer¬ 
 cial ftatute and regulation of another, and her being to 
 that in yielding to fuch adoption, fhe was required to 
 do no more than what had been acceded to, in a variety o 
 
 in fiances between two foreign States treating with each 
 
 1 • * . . ' * * other. 
 
( 77 ) 
 
 other. He never heard of fuch a compact, nor did he con¬ 
 ceive how it could weil be made, for it was more perhaps, 
 than any government in the utmofl plenitude of its power, 
 would think itielf authorized to eftablifh- It had been at¬ 
 tempted alfo, to compare this negotiation to a common 
 treaty of commerce, entered into between two States, 
 without any previous hpflility on either fide, but merely to 
 prevent diffenfion, and a colltfion of interefts in future. 
 Could fuch an argument exiffc a moment, when it was con- 
 fidercd that fuch treaties are not final, or fcarcely ever ex- 
 prefTed to be fo ? On the contrary, they are made for a cer¬ 
 tain number of years, and either expire, or are renewed, 
 juft as it fuits the interefls of the contracting parties. He 
 quoted the treaty with Ruffia of 1766, and lome others* 
 as proofs of this afTertion, and repeated that he had never 
 read or heard of any treaty between two countries which 
 went like the prefent, to the entire, unqualified adoption 
 of every commercial regulation which one State thought 
 proper to impofe on the other. If fuch a treaty had ex- 
 ifted, and been grofly violated, war would have been the 
 confequence. Were Ireland and Great Britain to go to 
 war on any infraction of this, luppofing it to be carried 
 into execution ? He hoped and trufted that no fuch day 
 would ever arrive ; but if Ireland was fo fimple as now to 
 fubmit to be governed by Great Britain in every commer¬ 
 cial regulation, he would venture to augur that the good 
 faith of the treaty would not be adhered to. The very im¬ 
 becility of fuch a furrender would provoke and almoft 
 apologize for the contemptuous invafion of the compad that 
 would follow in confequence of it. War, there might 
 not be perhaps between the two kingdoms, but there would 
 be fomething equally painful to every generous mindj 
 eternal murmurs, and eternal fullen acquiefcence on the 
 part of Ireland. He meant nothing difrefpe&ful to Great 
 Britain in faying this, nor could he be fuppofed to infinuate 
 that Great Britain would naturally be more prone to fuch a 
 violation than Ireland. Were Ireland the fuperior country, 
 Ireland would a£t exadfly as Great Britain. An impatience 
 to extend itfelf is the charaderiftic of power in all fituations, 
 and it would be found equally lo in this, as in every other 
 infiance. He then took notice of Mr. Orders afTertion, 
 that the original fyftcm contained in the Eleven Proportions 
 was not in the flighteftdegree departed from, it was hill the 
 fame, though many of the Proportions had been totally 
 
 altered. 
 
( 78 ) 
 
 altered, and their number increafed from eleven to twenty. 
 This he faid was fuch an extraordinary aflertion, that he 
 did not know what to make of it, efpecially when one con- 
 fidered that the fourth Refolution, which edablifhes for 
 ever a controling power in Great Britain in all commer¬ 
 cial matters, was not to be found in the original fydem ; 
 that the monopoly of the Ead India Company was not Jto 
 be found in that fydem, nor in the mod didant manner 
 alluded to ; that the dipulation to lay on fuch duties as 
 would extremely fetter our intercourfe with America, was 
 not to be found in that fydem ; and yet the Right Hon. 
 Secretary indded on it, that it was dill the fame fydem. 
 This he faid, was fuch a mode of reafoning, as he had ne¬ 
 ver read or heard of, except in one indance, and that was 
 to be found in Martinus Scriblerus, where a very ingenious 
 fet of Philofophers undertook to fhew how a man could be 
 confcious to himfelf that he was the fame individual at 
 forty years of age, that he had been at twenty, though the 
 particles which compofed his body had undergone a 
 total change within that time. This they proved by a very 
 humble and familiar illudration, viz. The cafe of Sir John 
 Cutler’s black worded Stockings, which had been fo often 
 darned with filk, that they at length became a pair of filk 
 Stockings. Thofe Stockings, faid they, were certainly 
 the fame individual Stockings, both before and after the 
 darning, though perhaps, at the lad darning, there was 
 not a {ingle thread left of the original pair. The Secre¬ 
 tary’s mode of reafoning was exa< 5 Uy in that manner. The 
 original Proportions as they left Ireland, were generally 
 coniidered as Irifli Propofitions, but fince they had been in 
 England, they had undergone fo many amendments or 
 darnings, that they had become Englidi Proportions; and 
 though at the lad amendment or darning, the whole fub- 
 dance of the original lydem was totally altered, yet fays 
 the Right Hon. Secretary, “ take my word for it Gentlemen, 
 they are to all intents and purpofes the fame original Pro¬ 
 portions, jud as they left this houfe in February lad.” 
 
 Having dwelt on this idea, and touched on other matters 
 not very material, Mr. Hardy faid that he would, with the 
 indulgence of the houfe, fav a word or two, not only to the 
 Bill lately introduced by Mr. Pitt, in the Britifh Houfe of 
 Commons, and circulated with fuch indudry through 
 Dublin, but alto to the joint addredes of both houfes of the 
 Britifh Parliament; the Bill which wa$ moved for by the 
 .. ' Secretary 
 
( 79 ) 
 
 Secretary being, as far as he could judge from the general 
 outline given in that Gentleman’s fpeech, extremely con¬ 
 nected with both thefe fubjeCts. As to the Bill introduced 
 by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in England, he was 
 not difpofed at that time to pay it the {lighted attention ; 
 for even fuppofing that it was infinitely more favourable to 
 Ireland than the Twenty Propofitions, how could any one 
 fay that it might not be totally or at lead materially altered 
 before it received the Royal afient. If he was to argue from 
 ■what had pad, he could draw no other conclufion, for if 
 ever a Minider was celebrated for abandoning his fird ideas 
 on any particular fubjeCt, the prefent fird Lord of the 
 Treafury certainly was. That Gentleman’s talents he 
 highly refpected, but uncommon and brilliant as thofe ta¬ 
 lents were, what had his adminidration been but an ad- 
 minidration of experiments ? What fecurity therefore 
 could that Houfe have in a Bill which was but in its in¬ 
 fancy, and which as to any fubdantial benefits held out to 
 Ireland in it, might be as compleatly abandoned as the 
 fydem propofed by the Right Hon. Secretary. It was, in 
 his opinion, confidering the purpofes for which it had 
 been fent to Ireland, a Bill of deception and calcula¬ 
 ted merely to convoy in company with the addrefies 
 of the two houfes, the twenty amended Propofitions 
 through the Parliament of Ireland ; as to thofe ad¬ 
 drefies he wifhed to pay them, and the Parliament from 
 whence they came, every refpeCf in his power, but if it was 
 meant under fhelter of thofe addrefies to pafs the Propo¬ 
 fitions into a law, he would fay in dired and unqualified 
 terms, that it was an infidious manoeuvre, a poor pitiful 
 fraud ! What occafion for this extraordinary profufion of 
 compliments to the Irifh nation, or why this extraordina¬ 
 ry, and as it fhould feem with fome Gentlemen, this irre- 
 fifiible fondnefs for our independent legiflature, and the re¬ 
 cognition of its rights ? Had they not been folemnly recog¬ 
 nized, repeatedly acknowledged already ? Did they require 
 the fupport of fuch a joint addrefs ? An addrefs made on the 
 fpur of the moment, and for no other purpofe, he believed, 
 than to furnifh fome Gentlemen with a pretext, a paltry 
 apology for not adhering to their original declaration in 
 favour of the original fyftem. Such was the manner in 
 which the Minifter thought proper to accommodate himfelf 
 to the confiitutional delicacy, and fading patriotifm of thef? 
 gentlemen. But was this the mode which they took to 
 
 coni pole 
 
( 8d j 
 
 cbmpofe their minds on this occafiori ? Were this addrefs, 
 and this bill which had been read but once, and might end 
 5 io man could tell how, to be regarded as the panacea of 
 the Minider, the great auxiliaries by whofe aid he was 
 to carry this bufinefs through the hbufe ? If the com¬ 
 merce and conditution of Ireland had fallen in the way 
 of thieves, was this the oil which this good Samaritan, this 
 benevolent Secretary was to pour into their wounds ? He had 
 complained much of mifreprefentatiori both here and on 
 the other fide of the water, and that Words were given to 
 him in the Britifh Houfe of Commons which he had never 
 made tife of here* Now* after every allowance in his favour, 
 and paying every compliment to his magnanimity in not 
 paying much attention to what was merely perfonal to him¬ 
 felf, where was his boafted friendfhip to Ireland at the time 
 when he himfelf was in London, and beheld his own com¬ 
 mercial fydem* that fydem: which was adorned with every 
 colour that his eloquence and the prompt adulatory eloquence 
 of his friends could beltow on it* that fydem on the 
 ftrength and permanency of which 140,000b Was in one of 
 our old paroxyfms of unthinking gratitude voted away al- 
 mod without debate, when he beheld that fydem daily and 
 hourly invaded, and yet he never went to the Houfe of 
 Commons to tell the people of Great Britain What had 
 been done in Ireland with regard to that fydem, to acquaint 
 them with the temper and difpofition in which he had left 
 this Houfe, what we would infill on, and the probable dif- 
 contents and jealoufies'that would arife in confequence of 
 any dereliction of that fyftem ? Mr. Hardy dwelt for fome 
 time on this point, and faid, that though the Right Hon. 
 Gentleman’s reprefentations might have failed of fuccefs, 
 yet he would have been juftified to himfelf, to both coun¬ 
 tries, to all poderity, if he had taken fuch a part ; hut 
 he declined aCting in that manner, and Teemed fatisfied 
 now with telling the Houfe, that Mr. Pitt had great dif¬ 
 ficulties to encounter, not only on the part of the manu¬ 
 facturing and commercial intereds of Great Britain, but on 
 the part of the Oppofition in England, which he fays en¬ 
 deavoured to counteract all his efforts in behalf of Ireland. 
 Mr. Hardy took up this idea, and faid, that he acknow¬ 
 ledged that many an oppofition in England had taken ad¬ 
 vantage of popular clamour which had been raifed againd 
 the Minider. The Right Hon. Gentleman might, if he 
 pieafed, bear tedimony and ample tediinony to the truth ol 
 
 that 
 
( 8i ) 
 
 that obfervation, for if ever a party took advantage of 
 national delufion the very party with which the Right Hon. 
 Gentleman flood conne&ed certainly did. And yet, not- 
 withflanding the recency of this tranfaHion, notwithfland- 
 ing fuch unequivocal and damning proof of the mifcondudt 
 of the Gentleman’s own connexions, he now accufed and 
 mofl improperly accufed the oppofition in England of doing 
 that which on a 'former occafion he knew his own friends 
 aHually did. But giving every latitude to his argument, 
 and allowing the poffible interference and machinations 
 of party in their utmofl extent, was any man in his fenfes 
 to be told that the commercial and manufacturing bodies in 
 England required the aid of oppofition to point out/0 them 
 in what refpeXs this fyflem militated againfl their interefls. 
 The abilities of the Gentleman, who is defervedly confider- 
 ed as the head of that oppofition, were perhaps unparalleled 
 in all parliamentary hiflory, but did it require thofe abili¬ 
 ties or the warning voice of that Gentleman to cry, (t woe 
 to the commercial interefls of Great Britain !” Was it the 
 nature of commerce to fleep, to lie in dull oblivion of its 
 own interefls, and fee with any eyes but its own ? Did it, 
 like the Phdofophers in the ifland of Laputa, require 
 perpetual flappers to warn it againfl precipices and fur¬ 
 rounding dangers ? In the year 1778, when the fir ft ex- 
 tenfion of trade was given to Ireland, the commercial fpirit 
 of England even then took the alarm, and unaided mofl 
 certainly by the oppofition of that day. It had always been 
 the cafe, and ever would be the cafe as long as com¬ 
 merce exifled in Great Britain, and it was idle to lay that 
 to the charge of any accidental floating party in the flate, 
 or to mere cafual parliamentary hoflility which had its 
 foundation in the nature of things, in the recedes of the 
 human heart, in the difpofition and habits of mankind, 
 fince the firfl fail waved over the ocean. Mr. Hardy ob- 
 ferved, that a noble Lord in one houfe of the Britifh Par¬ 
 liament faid, the bufinefs was too big for party. An ob¬ 
 fervation equally pointed and pertinent, for the fa6t 
 was undoubtedly fo. He then touched on the re- 
 flriftions which were laid on the commerce of Ire¬ 
 land in King William’s time, and quoted a declaration of 
 Lord Godolphin, that fuch reflridtions were laid purely in 
 compliance with the prejudices of the commercial interefl, 
 and totally againfl the inclinations of the King and of the 
 Miniflry. He faid, that he did not indeed confider Mr. 
 Pitt as great a flatefman as Lord Godolphin, but in an 
 
 M arrangement 
 
C 82 ) 
 
 arrangement of this nature he believed him to pofTefs as 
 large and liberal a mind; and even granting that the origi¬ 
 nal plan of commercial adjuftment had his entire concur¬ 
 rence, what inference or what confolation could Ireland 
 draw from that, or Lord Godolphin’s declaration, but this : 
 That in commercial matters Ireland muft not altogether 
 depend on any minifterial interference or any Minifter’s 
 promifes or exertions, fhe mull: reft on hcrfelf, her own 
 fpirit and induftry; fhe muft watch circumflances and fea- 
 fons 1110ft opportune for the advancement of her interefts, 
 for fhe could never flatter herfelf that when thofe interefts 
 and the commercial interefts of Great Britain came, or 
 were even fuppofed to come into any thing like competition, 
 the Minifter would not frem his fuperior and natural regards 
 foj that country, or perhaps from mere perfonal confiderations 
 give way to the latter What was the cafe then, or why did 
 the Right Hon. Secretary move for leave to bring in a Bill 
 not founded on the original fyftem ? \v hy, but becaufe 
 Mr. Pitt abandoned that fyftem, and had he not abandon¬ 
 ed it, he could not in all probability have remained at the 
 head of the Treafury. But the Treafury was a facrificetoo 
 great to be made to the kingdom of Ireland; the Right 
 Hon. Secretary therefore who propofed the fyftem to the 
 Houfe was given up, the amiable Chief Governor, under 
 whofe aufpices he brought forward that fyftem was given 
 up ; why were they ? the queftion was eaflly anfwered—Be¬ 
 caufe, if they had not Mr. Pitt could not have kept his 
 ground, he muft have gone out. Every man of candour 
 would acknowledge that to be the cafe, notwithftanding 
 all the Right Hon. Gentleman’s honeyed words, and the 
 circuitous manner in which he had opened the bufinefs of 
 that day. Was then the kingdom of Ireland to hang its 
 fate like a folitary zealot of a party on the minifterial ex- 
 iftencc of any man ? Was it before the laft echo of its vic¬ 
 tory had died away, and in the fight of thofe who led her on 
 to that victory, to fit down like the unfortunate Carthagi¬ 
 nian general after all his conquefts, a wretched mendicant 
 at the threftiold of any man ? What had party to do in the 
 bufinefs at all ? What had any perfonal confiderations of Mr. 
 Pitt or Mr. Fox, or the Duke of Portland, to fay to fuch a 
 momentous awful bufinefs as the commercial arrangement be¬ 
 tween the two countries ? Men of fuperior talents might 
 occafionally divide the Parliament and the people of Great 
 Britain between them, but to involve kingdoms in the 
 warfare of perfonal ambition, was an idea from which 
 
 every 
 
( «3 ) 
 
 every well-regulated mind would (brink with horror. This 
 was no Oppofition queftion, and he befeeched that part of 
 Houfe, which he fhould ever look up to with reverence 
 and regard, the independent country gentlemen, not to 
 be deluded by the affertions which had been artfully circu¬ 
 lated, that it was a party queftion, or connected with a 
 party in England it ftood on far more folid foundations—— 
 it did not look to the prefent hour, or the prefent Minifter 
 of the day, nor did it follicit the humiliation or difgrace of 
 any man, or court any momentary triumph.- Having 
 purfued this idea for fome time, he compared the circum- 
 ftances under which the union had been brought forward 
 with thofe of the commercial adjuftment, and entered into 
 a fort of detailed hiftory of the manner in which Lord 
 Somers, when actually out of place, had undertaken and con- 
 du£ted that bufinefs. He faid, he wilhed that fome portion 
 of the wifdom and moderation of Lord Somers had operated 
 in that adjuftment, as it did in the union. He contrafted 
 his condua with that of the Secretary. The Parliament of 
 Scotland fat feveral months to adjuft the union, the Parlia¬ 
 ment of Ireland took three or four days to regulate their 
 plan of commercial arrangement; fuch was the portion of 
 time allowed by adminiftration here for the Reprefentatives 
 of a people who had almoft forgot what commerce was, to 
 form a commercial treaty, which was declared to be as 
 permanent as any treaty could poffibly be. 
 
 He faid this whole bufinefs had been conduced in fuch a 
 manner, and had in its progrefs given rife to fuch con¬ 
 tradictory fentiments and opinions, even amongft thofe 
 who co-operated in it, fuch a variety of conftru<5tions had 
 been put on different parts of it here and elfewhere, there 
 was fo much incongruity and fo much uncertainty, that the 
 only method left in his opinion for the Parliament of Ireland 
 to take was, to put a flop at once to a Bill founded on fuch 
 lll-digefted and difeordant materials. It was evident to 
 every perfon, that the Minifter, when he firft entered on 
 the bufinels, did not know the extent to which he was 
 going; nor could any one have imagined, that in an 
 adjuftment which involved the deareft interefts of both 
 countries, and particularly thofe points on which Great 
 Bri ain was tremblingly alive and irritable, that he could 
 have proceeded in the hazardous manner in which he had. 
 Without concert, without communication, without any 
 fort of previous knowledge of the difpofition or habits of 
 
( ) 
 
 N 
 
 any one commercial or manufa&uring body in Great 
 Britain he propofed a plan of commercial arrangement to 
 Ireland without being able at the fame time in the flighted: 
 degree to pronounce whether fuch a plan, or any part of 
 fuch a plan would be acceptable to Great Britain or not. 
 With a fliew of compliment to Ireland he differed her to 
 take the lead in the bufinefs, and why ? Only eventually 
 to make her feel her complete inferiority, for the Parlia¬ 
 ment of Great Britain had now taken the bufmefs entirely 
 out of their hands, and it was on their plan, their adjuft 
 ment, not their own original fyftem, that the Parlia¬ 
 ment of Ireland was called upon to proceed. So that, 
 in fa£f, it had been much better, if this Bill was to go for¬ 
 ward, if the Irifh Parliament had never entered into, or 
 adopted any commercial fyftem whatever ; in that cafe, 
 they had only to accept or reje£t the twenty Propofitions, 
 as fent from Great Britain, whereas if this Bill paffed in¬ 
 to a law, they would not only have accepted thofe twenty 
 Propofitions, but they would have the mortification to 
 reflefif, that they had been obliged to relinquifti the plan 
 of their own adoption, and that plan univerfally allowed 
 to be, in every refpeH more beneficial to their commercial, 
 and not in the leaft degree interfering with their conftitu- 
 tional interefts. 
 
 Mr. Hardy then apologized to the Houfe, for having 
 trefpaffed fo long on their patience. He faid, he would 
 not, in that ftage of the Bill, go into the commercial de¬ 
 tail, though he had given that part of the fubjeH as full 
 and as undivided attention, as he ever gave to any fubjeH 
 whatever. But he objected to the principle of the Bill ; 
 he thought it inadmiflible on the part of Ireland, and 
 therefore he voted againft the Right Hon. Secretary’s mo¬ 
 tion. 
 
 Mr. Flood faid in fubftance as follows. I do not at all 
 wonder that this fyftem fhould end in an open attack upon 
 the rights of Ireland in commerce and in Conftiturion, 
 becaufe in its origin it appeared to me to be a covered attack 
 upon both. On this principle, I oppofed it in its com¬ 
 mencement. I have been reproached with being in a mi¬ 
 nority of one upon this fubjeft > I fhall be no longer re¬ 
 proached on that ground. 
 
 The King’s fpeech, under tlie faneftion of which the fyf¬ 
 tem was introduced, declared, that it was only to adjuft 
 matters which had not been before adjufled. Yet the very 
 
 fecond 
 
( 8s ) 
 
 fecond of the original ten Proportions, in contradiction 
 to this, went only to objects that had been before adjufted 
 in 1780 and in 1782*—namely, foreign trade and Britifh 
 Colonial trade. 
 
 As to foreign trade, one word difpatches that, viz. the 
 word, Independence. Independent Ireland, has every 
 right of foreign trade, which Britain herfelf poiTefles. For 
 this, therefore, (lie had no compact to make with Britain. 
 This had been adjufted in 1782. Britifh Colony trade 
 was adjufted in 1780. The Britifh Parliament, in j780, 
 declared, by refolution, that the unlhaken loyalty of Ire¬ 
 land, entitled her, to participate in every advantage of Britifh 
 Colony trade. The Britifh a& of Parliament, in purfuance 
 of this refolve, authorized Ireland to trade to the Britifh 
 Colonies with like advantages with Britain herfelf. In equi¬ 
 ty and good faith, what can we have to afk that this did not 
 give ? Or can Britain now fay that fhe withheld any 
 thing without impeaching her own candour ? Britain 
 boalted the liberality of that tranfa£lion. Ireland illumina¬ 
 ted. 
 
 Now I afk did not moft of you imagine, that in 1780, 
 Ireland was put in a better fituation, than ever fhe had pof- 
 fefted before, as to Britifh Colony trade ? And, of this I 
 am fure, that there is not a man among you who will 
 not admit, that it would be abfurd to hold, that you were 
 not at lead: reftored, to every advantage of Britifh Colony 
 trade, that Ireland had ever pofTefTed. Now I fay that till 
 the 15th of Charles the lid, you could export any thing to, 
 and import any thing from, the Britifh Colonies, as 
 freely as England herfelf: and, that, after landing it in 
 Ireland, you could refhip it for any other country ; and 
 for England, as well, as for any other. In 1780 therefore, 
 you were either reftored to that liberty, or it muft fol¬ 
 low, that, that boafted tranfa&ion was a deception ; and 
 that inftead of giving you immunities you never had before; 
 it did not even reftore you, to what you had formerly pof- 
 fefied. This liberty therefore of refhipping Britifh Colony 
 produce (the only boon which this fyftem boafts) did in eve¬ 
 ry confideration of reafon and good faith accompany the 
 tranfa&ion of 1780, and was therefore, not, now to be 
 adjufted. Nay it is abfurd to fuppofe, that, in 1780, that 
 was withheld from Ireland, which Ireland had poftefted, 
 till the 1 5th year of Charles the I Id ; which every one of the 
 thirteen States of America did polTefs to the hour of their 
 
 fepa- 
 
( 86 ) 
 
 feparation ? and which New Brunfwick pofiefles now ? and 
 would it not be more abfurd to fuppofe fo if in fa£t, it is as 
 much the intereft of Britain, as it can be of Ireland, that 
 Ireland (hould be allowed that liberty ? Now it is even 
 more fo, and I prove it thus. This liberty can be of no 
 advantage to Ireland except in this contingency : Except 
 Ireland has a furplus of Colony produce over and above her 
 own confumption—That is one rieceflary fa£t—Another is, 
 that, at the fame article of time, that (hould happen, 
 which rarely can happen, namely, that Britifh Colony pro¬ 
 duce (hould be dearer in Britain than in Ireland, or in 
 any other neighbouring country—For if that were not the 
 cafe, Ireland would lo(e by fending it to Britain. Now it 
 is abfurd to fuppofe that Ireland would do that. What fol¬ 
 lows ? That at the moment when the liberty of fending 
 Colony produce to England would be ufeful to Ireland, it 
 would be doubly the intereft of Britain, to receive it from 
 Ireland. For lft, Britain as a confumer would be relieved 
 by it, and 2d, the Britilh merchant, in his commiflion, 
 would be a gainer. In another capacity Britain would be a 
 gainer alfo—that is to fay, as head of the empire, (he 
 would profit by the encreafe of trade, confequent on this in- 
 tercourfe, between her Colonies and Ireland; a member 
 of the empire. Who after this will fay, that this liberty 
 was not included in the tranfadtion of 1780; or, if it was 
 not, that Ireland ought to purchafe it now, with the furplus 
 of her hereditary revenue, with the degradation of her 
 condition, and with the lacrifice of her commercial legif- 
 lation ? 
 
 As to Ireland’s not having paid for the tranfa&ion of 
 1780, I fay the argument would be a fordid one, if it were 
 founded infadt, which it is not. Tlve fentiment of the Bri¬ 
 tilh parliament in 1780 was a wifer and more ftatefman-like 
 conception. It was, that the- unlhaken loyalty of Ireland 
 entitled her, to thofe advantages; and, furely, that is a 
 price above all prices. But Ireland paid for it in two ways 
 befides, and in each of them more than the value of the 
 cbjedt. 1 ft, Ireland gave to the Britifli Colonies (that is 
 to Britain) a monopoly of her confumption in thnfe articles , 
 in which (he then obtained , that free trade. Now I fay, 
 univerfally, that any nation pays too dear for any one mar¬ 
 ket, when (he gives up all other markets for one. And 
 particularly that the nation pays too dearly for the fugar 
 market of the Britilh Colonies, who gives up all other fugar 
 
 markets 
 
( »7 ) 
 
 markets for the Britifh ; which is neither the bed nor 
 the cheaped. 2dly, I add, that Ireland paid in taxes for the 
 direct trade more than it was worth, and 1 prove it thus : io/. 
 per cent, is a good profit in general on trade, and no trade 
 can afford to pay the whole nor the greater part of its 
 clear profit in tax. To apply this. We paid for that di- 
 re£i trade an edimated fum of tax to the amount of 
 above 100,000/. a year. Now this would be the whole 
 clear profit, at 10 1 , per cent of 2,000,000/. worth of trade. 
 Could the whole clear profit be afforded in tax—or can 
 the whole encreafe of traffic, by the direct trade, amount, 
 in any feries of years, to any thing like the enormous 
 fum of two millions ? Mod certainly not. 
 
 Thus the fird of the original ten Propofitions was a mere 
 preamble; and the fecond, which began the bufinefs, 
 began it in a dire<dion, unfair to Ireland; and inconfident 
 with the King's fpeech. Ireland was drawn, unaware, to 
 treat for the things already fettled ; and thereby impliedly 
 to relinquifh the two fettlements of 1780 and of 1782—. 
 This was not enough. Ireland had ufed nonimportation 
 and non-confumption agreements, towards the attain¬ 
 ment of thofe fettlements j and when her parliament was 
 acknowledged to be independent, (he applied to her Parlia¬ 
 ment, for duties of prote£tion or preference, fimilar to 
 thofe which Britain had long enjoyed, in favour of her 
 home manufa&ure, in her home market. To cut all this 
 up, by the root, was the object of the 3d and 4th of the 
 original ten Propofitions. The third therefore makes Ire¬ 
 land propofe not only that there fhould be no prohibitory 
 ftatutes, but that there fhould never be any popular or pri¬ 
 vate affociations, againd importation, ufe or fale. Such 
 affociations had been made, and had been found beneficial 
 by Ireland; they had not been made, and they had been 
 complained of as injurious, by Britain. Yet Ireland is 
 drawn in thefe Propofitions, to make it one of her prelimi¬ 
 naries, that there never fhould be fuch adociations again. 
 But, at the faqne time, Ireland is made to forger, that fhe 
 had never prohibited the export of raw materials to Britain, 
 whereas Britain had prohibited the export to Ireland of 
 the raw materials fhe mod valued. And, therefore, though 
 Ireland in her fuppofed 3d Propofition is indudrious, to 
 preclude all prohibitions againd import (by which kind of 
 prohibitions Ireland had profitted) fhe forgets to preclude, 
 prohibitions againd export, of which Ireland complained. 
 
 Can 
 
( 88 ) 
 
 Can any thing be more clear than that thefe Propofitions ne¬ 
 ver originated in Ireland ? But the boldeft (troke of all 
 was, in the very moment that Ireland was foliciting higher 
 duties on import, in order to give protection and pref.rence 
 to her manufactures; to make this kingdom propofe, in 
 the 4-th of the original ten Refolves, that, (he not only 
 fhould not now, but that (lie never (hould hereafter have 
 fucb duties of protection. Yet the 4th Propofition does 
 this—for it requires that the lowed exifting duties, viz. 
 the lri(h, (hould hereafter be the port duties for both king¬ 
 doms. Now experience had proved that they were too low 
 to protect Ireland, and therefore Ireland had prayed, that 
 they might be railed. This 4th Propofition therefore, 
 makes Ireland propofe a perpetual negative on her own ap¬ 
 plication. So far was well—but a fear began to be entertain¬ 
 ed that asthefe low duties would certainly leave the Iriih 
 market open to Britifh imports (perhaps to the ruin of Irifh 
 manufacture, and therefore finally to the damage of Bri¬ 
 tain) fo, by pofiibiiity, thefe low duties might now and 
 then differ fome Irifh manufacture to efcape into the Britifh 
 market. Before the 4th Propofition (hould be efiablhhed 
 therefore, it was thought advifeable, in the latter end of the 
 third Propofition, to find an expedient, by which Britain 
 (hould have higher Protecting Duties than Ireland, without 
 appearing to mean it. Now what was that expedient ? 
 The principle of countervailing duties—That is to fay, 
 that the port duties, though too low for the protection of 
 Ireland, (hould be equal ; but that the country, that had 
 the higheft: internal duties on confumption, might add to 
 the port duty, a countervailing duty in proportion to its 
 internal imports ; whereby the before equal duties would 
 become unequal. Now to folve this problem, we have 
 only to a(k, which of thefe kingdoms, now has, and which 
 of them, as richer, rnurt always be able to have, the 
 higheft internal duties on confumption ? Undoubtedly Bri¬ 
 tain. What follows ? That Ireland was made, in the 
 countervailing principle, to propofe, that Britain fhould 
 have higher duties againft Irifh imports, then Ireland (hould 
 have againft Britifh imports j which was, firft, contrary to 
 what Ireland had defired ; and, fecondly, was in itfclf 
 unreafonable ; becaule certainly the weaker manufacturing 
 country required more protection than the ftronger ; though 
 fhe was content with a protection equal to what Britain 
 had long enjoyed, and by the long enjoyment of which. 
 
( ) 
 
 fhe had gained fuch advantage ground, as Ireland could ne¬ 
 ver recover, nor Britain ever Jofe. 
 
 Thus Ireland was made to propofe in the 2d, 3d and 4th 
 of the original ten Proportions, either implicitly or exprefsly, 
 a total renunciation of every principle fhe had held, and of 
 every fettlement and advantage fhe had obtained in that sera 
 of about five years, in which Ireland gloried more, than in 
 any other period perhaps of her existence. Yet a bolder 
 ftroke remained behind—and that was, by the tenth of 
 the original Refolves, to make Ireland propofe, to pay 
 tribute, for this negative on all her defires, and for 
 this renunciation of all her principles and attainments— 1 
 and to pay tribute in a manner peculiarly revolting, and re¬ 
 pugnant, to thofe principles and attainments. In the firfl 
 place, fhe was made to propofe, that Ireland fhould make 
 a perpetual grant to the Britifh navy, which Britain had 
 never made to her own navy ; and, which, no free country, 
 ought to make to armaments, that muft be under the 
 command of the crown. Ireland too, had, in this cafe pecu¬ 
 liar reafon to decline any fuch idea. Above an hundred 
 years ago, in the fever of the reftoration, and in the infa¬ 
 tuation of this kingdom, Ireland had made a perpetual 
 grant, for the fupport of an Irifh marine. This England 
 never permitted to be applied. Why? Becaufe fhe wifhed 
 that Ireland fhould have no marine—Becaufe fhe wifhed 
 to have a monopoly of Navy to herfelf—for what purpofe, 
 let her fubfequent conduct to Ireland explain. What fol¬ 
 lowed ? Englifh miniftersj in fpight of law, difappro- 
 priated this fund, and applied it to an overgrown land army, 
 rather than to a marine. The defence of this land ar¬ 
 my Britain had, and Ireland had the burden. With what 
 grace could Britain, after this, come to Ireland and fay, you 
 do not fupport a marine; when Britain herfelf prevented 
 Ireland from doing fo ? When a monopoly of navy was 
 the choice of Britain, what right had fhe to fay, that Ire¬ 
 land ought to pay Britain, for her having her own choice ? 
 When Britifh miniflers, contrary to legal appropriation, 
 had applied the marine fund of Ireland to a land army for 
 the convenience of Britain, what right had they to come 
 to Ireland to demand a new marine fund ; and that, not 
 for an Irifh marine, but for the Britifh navy ? which was 
 in effe£l to demand, that Ireland fhould for ever abdicate 
 any marine, and make a formal recognition, that fhe never 
 ought to have a fea-guard of her own ? As to the fa£t 
 
 N of 
 
( 9 ° ) 
 
 of protection, does Britain keep a frigate for the protection- 
 of Ireland ? Or when the Stag Frigate was in our bay, 
 was it for the protection of our trade ? But admitting that 
 Britain ever fo much and at ever fo great charge did protect 
 Ireland by her Navy, I alk, has (lie not reafon and is it 
 not well worth her while to do fo without any fuch tribute 
 and humiliation as this ? Ireland is willing to oblige Bri¬ 
 tain in every way die can ; but yet with confcious dignity. 
 What nation would not protect Ireland without tribute, to 
 whom Ircl nd were to give what fhe does give to Britain ? 
 She gives her the nomination of her monarch, and therein 
 of her whole adminiftration, throughout every department; 
 a third eftate in her legiflature ; the creation of her peerage ; 
 fhe influence over placemen and penfioners in the Houfe 
 of Commons ; ihe gives her a mighty army; the ufe 
 of near a million and an half of yearly revenue; five mil¬ 
 lion a year in imports and in exports above a million a 
 year in abfentee expenditure, which, at the grievous iflue 
 of one million a year from Ireland, carries above 200,000/. 
 a year in taxes into the Britifh exchequer ; fhe gives her 
 the ufe of three millions of people in peace and war, and 
 of feventeen millions of Englifh acres in an happy climate and 
 of an happy foil, and fo fituated as to be the bell friend or the 
 word enemy in the world to Britain. In giving her the 
 nomination of her monarch, Ireland gives to Britain, in ef¬ 
 fect, the power of treating for her, with all the world ; 
 and of declaring peace and war for her with all mankind. 
 What follows ? That Ireland can have no enemies but 
 thofe who are made fo by Britain. And what follows from 
 that ? That Britain is bound by every principle of honour, 
 as well as of interefl, to protect Ireland, againit thofe ene¬ 
 mies, which Britain creates to her. What aflonifhment 
 then mud thinking men have felt, at Ireland’s being brought 
 for a moment to entertain fuch an idea ? and this too, at 
 what time t in three years after the alTerrion of her nation¬ 
 al independence. For I afk, what country has ever been 
 tree, that could not protect itfelf? What country can be 
 independent, that relies for ever, on the protection of ano¬ 
 ther nation ? Is not a confeflion that you cannot protect 
 yourfclf a virtual cancelment of all pretenfions to indepen¬ 
 dence ? That fuch a tribute therefore Ihould have been 
 the virgin fancy of Independent Ireland, mud have been 
 ailotiifhing. And that it fhould have originated within 
 three years of the laft war, mud encreafe one’s aftonith- 
 
 ment: 
 
( 9 * ) 
 
 ment: for in laft war you had the ftrongeft experience 
 that the fa# was falfe, on which the principle was ground¬ 
 ed. Did the Britifh navy protect Ireland laft war ? No—* 
 it did but proteft Great Britain. Did the Britifh army pro¬ 
 tect Ireland ? No—it was gone to America. Did the 
 
 Irifti army protect Ireland ? No—it was gone to protect 
 Great Britain. What then did proteT Ireland ? Ireland 
 herfelf—in other words, her Volunteers. They defended 
 Ireland—and by defending Ireland they enabled Ireland to . 
 fend her army to defend Great Britain—that is, they in ef¬ 
 fect protected both kingdoms—yet the fathion has of late 
 been with fome men in both kingdoms to revile that illus¬ 
 trious body. The curfe of ingratitude has fallen On the 
 nation, and the Independence of Ireland having thrown 
 away its ftaff has begun to totter. 
 
 I have fpoken of the ioth Refolve, as it ftood numbered, 
 in the original Propolitions. It became the nth, as the Pro- 
 pofitions went from the Irifti Parliament to Britain. This 
 change, in the number and arrangement, arofe, from the 
 addition of one Propofition, and one only in Ireland ; which 
 was but prefatory to the tenth, and therefore was inferted 
 before it. As it has been aflerted, I cannot doubt, the in¬ 
 tention of it to have been oeconomy and limitation. Yet it 
 was fo exprefted, that I thought it, as likely, to lead to fur¬ 
 ther new taxes at Ieaft, as to prevent the further accumulation 
 of debt. At all events, the fa£t is, that the Right Hon. the 
 Secretary, juft took advantage of that added Refolve, fo far, 
 as to make it a ground on which to alk 140,000!. a year of 
 new taxes, and to get them—Why ? That our income might 
 be equal to our expence. And to what end ? That we 
 might, in confequence, give away the fpecified furplus of 
 hereditary revenue. That is, he faid thus in efFedf, “ Your 
 eftabliftiments which are formed by Britifh Minifters, are 
 too great for your revenue ; we have refufed to retrench $ 
 and yet we expert a part of your inadequate revenue to be 
 fent to Britain.—Neither will we quarrel with you, for fay¬ 
 ing, that the income ought to be equal to the expence of 
 Government, provided the equality is not to arife from re¬ 
 trenchment but from new taxes. On the contrary, we 
 will join you heartily in raifing 140,000!. a year of new 
 taxes, to enable you to part with the fpecified furplus of your 
 old duties.” But no fooner had the Right Hon. Secretary 
 got the new taxes, under the cover of this Refolution, than 
 the Refolution as to all other Purpofes was laid alide ; nor 
 
 N 2 did 
 
( 92 ) 
 
 did he condefcend to have a queftion put upon that added 
 Refolve in the Britifh Parliament. Thus funk into contume¬ 
 lious annihilation, the only Refolve that originated in Ire¬ 
 land. It was received in fraud, and it was dropped in in- 
 fuit. , . ,' 
 
 Such, and fo inadmiffible were thefe Propofitions, before 
 they entered the Britifh Parliament. Hence it was, that they 
 were hurried thro’ the Irifh Parliament, that no man might 
 have time to fee to the bottom of them, or to explain them 
 to the public. Short as the moment was, I faw a glimpfe 
 of their tendency, and endeavoured to obtain time, that a 
 preoccupied public, might have leifure to underhand them ; 
 all was fever for a (hort time—but they had fcarce got to 
 Britain, before the public began to recover from it’s error. 
 The contrary was leported to Miniders, and believed in Bri¬ 
 tain. What was the confequence ? Ireland was thought to 
 have fallen into fuch a (late of infatuation and dejection, that 
 any thing might be attempted with fuccefs. Hence, in the 
 20 Proportions, a bolder hand appears every where. The 
 Right Hon. Secretary, when he firlt mentioned the idea of 
 tribute, did it*wifh a trembling diffidence ; and mentioned 
 it, not as a condition on the part of Britain ; but as his pre- 
 fentiment, of fpontaneous generofity on the part of Ireland. 
 Then delicately and timoroufly was it uffiered in, at the end 
 of the Propofitions in the firft (lage—but in the lad exhibi¬ 
 tion, it (lands immediately after the preamble, and in ths 
 van of that hod of Propofitions to which the original ten 
 have encreafed. Here too it (lands in a different form ; as 
 a peremptory demand and abfolute condition, to be fulfilled 
 in all it’s parts (implying diftrull) before a ftep is to taken 
 by Britain. In the confideration of this tribute, the 20th 
 Propofition muff be combined with this fecond Refolve, in 
 order to fee the whole alteration. Now what are the altera¬ 
 tions that have been made in the Irifh grant by the 20th Pro¬ 
 pofition ? id. The grant was conditional, and the 20th 
 makes it abfolute. In war, at all events, the fpecified fur- 
 plus was to be given to the Britifh navy as the Refolves left 
 Ireland; but in peace, nothing might be given. Thus Ire¬ 
 land Teemed to be at a certainty not to give more, with a 
 poffibility of not giving fo much.—But by the 20th Propofi¬ 
 tion, this certainty is taken away, and the reverfe is efta- 
 blilhed. 1 hat is to fay, it is made certain that Ireland (hall 
 never give lefs, but that in war, (he (liould lie open to an 
 unlimitted demand. In other words, it is made certain that 
 
 on 
 
( 93 ) 
 
 on the firft war there (hould be a rupture between the nati¬ 
 ons, which, confidering the diftrud that this fyftem would 
 infpire, might probably be fatal. Thus the nature and quan¬ 
 tum of the Irilh grant was altered. The application too, 
 by the Irifh Parliament, was conceived to be referved as a 
 right to be exercifed from time to time, and to be adapted 
 to circumftances that no man can forefee. The 20th Propo¬ 
 rtion cuts off this free exercife of Parliamentary authority in 
 the application of it's grant, and requires the application to 
 be made, now and for ever, by one adt. Laftly, a perpetual 
 revenue bill in effe& is demanded—perpetual duties are un¬ 
 conditional enough in themfelves, and derogatory enough 
 from Parliament.—A perpetual bill for collecting perpetual 
 duties would make the matter much worfe. Were the 
 whole hereditary revenue to go as ufual to Irifh fervices, what 
 man would fuffer a perpetual re venue bill for it’s collection ? 
 Any queftion, approaching to fuch an idea, has been always 
 received with peculiar alarm. How mondrous then was the 
 idea contained in this proportion ? And what does it de¬ 
 mand ? No lefs, than that Ireland flhould make a perpetual 
 revenue bill for the whole hereditary revenue, becaufe (he 
 was about to give away a part of that revenue to Bri¬ 
 tain. It is difficult to date any thing more extravagant than 
 this. 
 
 The 2d, of the 20 Proportions, declared, th^t, on the full 
 performance of the condition of tribute, a full participation 
 of commerce fhould be given to Ireland. This is doubly 
 faffified by what follows: This makes the tribute the foie con¬ 
 dition, and yet, afterwards, condition is added to condition, 
 infomuch, that in the Britilh Bill, founded on the Propor¬ 
 tions, there are twenty three indifpenfible and fundamental 
 conditions. It is faffified again by the very next, as well as 
 by fubfequent claufes of redriCtion, that prove that the’par- 
 ticipation is not to be full. To fpeak at prefent of the third* 
 what does that except ? Not lefs than all the countries be¬ 
 tween the Cape of Good Hope and the Streights of Magel¬ 
 lan, containing in the lead exaggerated eftimate a fourth 
 part of the terraqueous globe, over and above what Britain 
 has any title of property to in that region. We read with 
 furprife of a Reman Pontiff granting one hemifphere to one 
 prince, and another hemifphere to another prince, and here 
 We fee half an hemifphere cut off from Ireland in a paren- 
 thefis ; and that, in a refolution purporting to extend the 
 commerce of Ireland. This parenthefis in the 3d, is detail¬ 
 ed 
 
 v # 
 
;( 94;) 
 
 cd in the 9th Proportion. As to both, I (hall only fay this, 
 that if Ireland is now under no reftridion as to her Eaft- 
 Indian commerce, fuch a reftraint is not fit to be a part of a 
 fyftem of comercial extenfion, for which Ireland fhould be 
 expeded to pay; and if Ireland be under any reftridion as 
 to her Eaft Indian commerce, it is only by a law of her own, 
 and by a voluntary and unftipulated ad of her Parliament 
 in favour of the Britilh Eaft India company, merely becaufe 
 it is Britifh. Such a conduit on the part of Ireland, fhews 
 how little fuch hard conditions are either neceflary or deferv- 
 t'd. It is foolifh in any nation to bind itfelf, for ever, to 
 the exifting monopoly of any other nation j but to bind it¬ 
 felf to the future and pofhble, but unexifting monopolies 
 of any other nation, would be a folly much more than com¬ 
 mon. Many people think, that it would not be right for 
 Britain to perpetuate this monopoly, as to herfelf.—Now 
 fuch a contract, on the part of Ireland, would have a ten¬ 
 dency to perpetuate that monopoly, whilft the freedom of 
 Ireland, from fuch a compad, might, according to fome 
 able opinions, be a means of diiTolving that monopoly by 
 degrees, if fuch a meafure were deemed to be beneficial. 
 At all events, it cannot be the interefl of Ireland to be for 
 ever bound during the exigence of fuch monopolies—nor 
 after they fhall ceafe, to give up her legiflation as to fo large 
 a portion of foreign trade, by fubjeding herfelf to the du¬ 
 ties, regulations and prohibitions that may from time to 
 time, be laid by the Britilh Parliament, on the produce of 
 that immenfe region which lies between the Cape of Good 
 Hope and the Straits of Magellan. 
 
 If the trade of Ireland could be extended by exclufion, 
 the 3d and 9th Propofitions would deferve our thanks, as 
 far as the Afiatic world and it’s circumjacencies are con¬ 
 cerned. But this third Propofition takes in another objed. 
 It ftrikes at our trade in all foreign fpirits, and coniequently 
 mud injure our whole trade and intercourfe with France, 
 Spain, Portugal and America. Add to this, as to America, 
 the 16th Propofition which has for it’s objed foreign trade 
 onlv ; and, as a branch of that, fubjeds our imports from 
 the independent ftates of America to fuch duties, regula¬ 
 tions and prohibitions as the Britilh Parliament (hall from 
 time to time think fit to impofe on Britain ; as to all articles 
 limilar to thofe that are produced in the Britilh Colonies or 
 Settlements. Now, what articles can America fend to us, 
 to which, fmiiiar articles are not, or, may not be produced 
 
 in 
 
( 95 ) 
 
 in fame of the Colonies or Settlements of Britain ? A great 
 revolution took place, as to the relative (ituation of America 
 and Ireland, about the year 1782. In a commercial conli- 
 deration in 1785, the chief object that Ireland could polfibiy 
 have was America. The reft of the world, comparatively 
 fpeaking, was mortgaged and pre-occupied. i lie new 
 ftates were unengaged. Much Irifh blood circulates in 
 America, and there is no fmall partiality towards Ireland in 
 thofe ftates. Was this a thing for Ireland to throw away ? 
 Or was it the found and permanent intereft of Britain, that 
 Ireland ftiould fo throw it away ? If there be a ftring, by 
 which Britain can recover the affections of America, it is a 
 ftring which Ireland holds out to her. The 5th Proportion, 
 of the 20, extends to all our imports from Colonies foreign 
 as well as Britifh, and fubjeCts them to the lame duties, re¬ 
 gulations and prohibitions which the Britilh Parliament 
 fhall think proper to adopt in Britain. This neither con- 
 fifts with Free Trade, nor with independent legiftation. 
 The 8th extends to all thole exports of Ireland that in 1780 
 were exempted, and fubjeCts them, in going to the Britilh 
 Colonies or Settlements, to fuch duties, drawbacks and 
 regulations, as that they may not be exported with lefs in¬ 
 cumbrance of duty or impolition than the like goods going 
 from Great Britain. This fubjeCts our export trade to the 
 Colonies to disadvantages from which it is atprefent free.— 
 Is this extenfion and grace ? Is this a thing to be paid for ? 
 We have juft attained the trade of candles to the Weft- 
 Indies—This would deftroy it. Capital is a greater advan¬ 
 tage than poverty—The only advantage of the latter, is 
 freedom from incumbrance—And this Propofition deprives 
 Ireland of that. Is this for the intereft of the empire ? 
 Certainly not ; unlefs the intereft of the empire be the ruin 
 of Ireland ; and if fo, the profperity of the empire would 
 not be the intereft of Ireland. Now thefe, in my mind, 
 are noxious doctrines, and a fyftem that fuggefts them can¬ 
 not meet with my fupport. 
 
 The 10th of the 20 Propofitions, retains all qualified pro¬ 
 hibitions now exifting in Britifh or Irifh ftatutes. In Bri- 
 tifh ftatutes there are many—And the a£ts ought to have 
 been fpecilically referred to, that their extent might be con- 
 fidered. In Irifh ftatutes, where are there any prohibitions, 
 qualified or unqualified, as to any thing, that is Britifh ? 
 The reciprocity in this inftance, is like the reciprocity in the 
 reft j a one-handed reciprocity 3 and, in a fyftem, profeffing 
 
 enmity 
 
( •96 ) 
 
 Enmity to prohibition (and even to Protecting Duties, 83 
 bearing a fhadow of prohibition) the confiftency of this re- 
 ferve, in favour of qualified prohibitions, is not inftantly 
 perceptible. But the ioth Propofition does not flop here. 
 It proceeds to an eminent extenfion of the countervailing 
 principle. It requires not only that the internal duties of 
 the importing country, but alfo the bounties of the export¬ 
 ing country, fhould be brought to account, and that the 
 countervailing duty fhould be encreafed by both.—I have 
 ftated the firft part of this fyftem, and it’s effect as to Ire¬ 
 land. I will now ftate the fecond part, that is founded on 
 bounty : The infancy of our manufactures, and the poverty 
 of our people has forced us into a variety of bounties, and 
 encouragements, in order to give fome fpring to the languor 
 of the Nation. The Linen Board, the Dublin Society, Par¬ 
 liamentary Donations, direCtlyand indireCtly, are made ufe 
 of for this purpofe—Our linen, woollen, filk, cotton, glafs 
 manufactures ; in a word, almoft every thing refpeCting 
 manufacture or hufbandry, receives fome encouragement. 
 What follows ? Every encouragement of this fort, will, by 
 the ioth Propofition, be carried to account againft our trade, 
 and will raife the amount of that countervailing duty which 
 is meant to proteCt the market of Britain againft the ad- 
 miftion of Irifh manufacture : Thus, all our bounties, fo 
 neceffary to our weaknefs, muft be relinquifhed, or will be¬ 
 come a burden on our export, and a barrier againft the egrefs 
 of our manufactures, to that market of Britain; which is 
 the only thing that is offered to Ireland, in exchange for the 
 market of the world. Is this juft or wife ? But if this 
 countervailing principle were lefs exceptionable, on thefe 
 grounds, than it is, it would be fufficiently exceptionable, 
 from the impracticability of it’s execution. Even where an 
 internal duty on manufaElure is to be countervailed, there 
 would be a difficulty, becaufe there would often be a great 
 difference in the value and excellence of the manufactures of 
 the refpeCtive countries. In one of the fimpleft inftances that 
 can be; fuppofe, a duty of a (hilling on a barrel of Britifh malt, 
 to be countervailed as to Irifh malt—a (hilling on both would 
 be nominally equal, but really unequal ; becaufe the Irifh 
 malt is vaftly inferior in value. In manufactures of a mors 
 complicated nature, the difparity would perpetually increafe, 
 and always againft Ireland \ the trade of which muft un¬ 
 doubtedly confift, for the moft part, in lower and lefs ex¬ 
 cellent fabrics. Inftances might be mentioned, that would 
 
 over- 
 
( 97 ) 
 
 Overthrow every fhadow of equality. But the matter Would 
 be ftill worfe where the duty on a raw materials to be coun¬ 
 tervailed, on the import of the manufacture of fuch mate¬ 
 rial—for this would not be a fimple confideration of faCI as 
 it were, like the other,- but a matter of nice and intricate 
 fpeculation, concerning the operation of the duty on the 
 material, with refpeCl to the manufacture throughout all it’s 
 ftages. How this could be brought to any fatisfaCtory folu- 
 tion, between the two countries, I cannot difcern. In one 
 inffance, it is faid, in the examination before the com¬ 
 mittee of the Britifh Privy Council, that a duty of three 
 per cent, on the material, tho’ drawn back on the export of 
 the manufacture, yet leaves a burden on the manufacture of 
 eight per cent.—The manufacturers of candles, in that ex¬ 
 amination, enumerate a number of minute circumftances, 
 to fhew what an high Protecting Duty they ought to have 
 againft the import of Irifh candles ; which, at the fame 
 time, will (hew the grounds on which they would calculate 
 a countervailing duty on that fubjeCt, and how impoffible it 
 would be to fatisfy the two countries, in the execution of 
 that principle. The extreme difference in the rates and va¬ 
 luations of the two kingdoms, in many inflances, would be 
 a ground of endlefs altercation.—As to the equalization of 
 duties, we have had fome experiment that fhould teach us 
 the difficulty of it* As to fugars, in the firft feffion of 
 equalization, three different duties, at different periods of 
 it, were propofed, and carried as equal: All of them might 
 have been wrong, and only one of them could poffibly have 
 been right- Since that, the proportion of duty has been 
 altered again, and therefore, it is fair to fay, that they were 
 all wrong—and of this, there is no doubt, that, tho’ the 
 Right Hon. Member, who was one of the negociators of 
 this fyftem, has been five years engaged in the fubjeCI, the 
 fugar duties remain yet unequalized. WithTegard to iron, 
 what has happened ? A duty has been laid here on our iron 
 export, to make amends for the difparity of duty on the 
 imported material. Ireland, fays, that (he has been de¬ 
 frauded in this calculation, on this principle. Our duty 
 was laid, as if Britain made ufe only of imported iron 
 which pays high duty—whereas, it is certain, that, (lie 
 makes ufe of a great quantity of Britifh iron not paying the 
 duty—it is faid, a third part of her confumption is domeftic 
 iron. If fo, it is evident, that the Irifh duty was taken at 
 a third too high, or at 33 per cent, difadvantage to our iron 
 export. Yet, what does Mr. Wedgewood fay ? That I 3 ri- 
 
 O tain 
 
( 9 » ) 
 
 tain is defrauded in the bufinefs, and that Ireland has evaded 
 the equalization. What hope can there be that the two 
 kingdoms fhould ever be agreed, on fuch a principle as this ? 
 Toothing that is fubtle and intricate, can ever be the founda¬ 
 tion of fettlement and concord. As to the fingle inftance, 
 laft mentioned, that of iron, how is the difference of duty 
 on the raw material to be countervailed, throughout all the 
 ftages of that manufacture, from an hob nail, to the fpring 
 of a watch ? If there is to be a different countervailing duty, 
 for each ftage, what end of it ? If an average is to be 
 ft/uck, on what principle is the medium to be taken ? If 
 a fttisfa&ory duty to all ,fides could be found (which is hope¬ 
 less) how long might it continue fatisfadfory or equal ? It is 
 faid that a difeovery has been juft made, by which, old and 
 eaft iron can be rendered as fit for ufe as ever ; fo th«t Bri¬ 
 tain may have little or no occafion for imported iron. This 
 would at once make the equalizing duty abfurd. If Ireland 
 ftyould find plenty of iron at home, that would alter the 
 ftate of the queftion another way. Every new material that 
 may be dilcovered throughout the whole extent of the globe j 
 every new quality of an old material j great changes in the 
 political, as well, as difeoveries in the phyfical world, may 
 laugh to fcorn the vanity of man, when he attempts to 
 give a fixed and unchangeable form to things that God and 
 nature have ordained to be fluctuating. An incident has 
 happened, during the pendency of this fyflem, which 
 proves its infufiiciency. Both nations have been obliged to 
 pafs, with precipitation* a Bill to prevent the exportation of 
 hay ; which, had this fyflem been adopted, they neither of 
 them could have done. Here then, is one cafe occurring in 
 a fhort period (how many more may occur hereafter) which 
 was never foremen either in the io, the i », the j6 , 
 the i 8, nor finally in the 2 ^ Propofitions—for, at different 
 times, I think, thefe Propofitions, in their various ftages, 
 have afl'umed thefe feveral numbers. As to the fourth Pro- 
 pofition, there is fuch an extravagant abfurdity, in laying, 
 that it does not interfere with your legiflative authority, that 
 if a majority in both houfes of the Britilh Parliament could 
 hold fuch a doctrine, it would be a demonftration, to all the 
 reft of the world, that we ought io reject the Propofition. 
 And why ? Becaule, it would prove that in a cafe where the 
 rights of Ireland, and the power of Britain were in quef¬ 
 tion, the Britilh Parliament could not judge as they would 
 judge in any other cafe, in fuch a caie, it would prove, 
 that all ideas of equality, and all the common meafurcs of 
 
 reafon 
 
( i9 0 
 
 reafon ceafed to operate. What would follow ? That, in 
 making laws, impofing the fame reftraints, and conferring 
 the fame benefits, their original error would purfue their 
 proceedings. Indeed,, a priori, it is fufficiently evident, 
 that the (late of the two kingdoms is fo different, that the 
 fame reftraints, and the fame benefits would not be equals 
 but, in many inftances, extremely unequal ; and, if in ail 
 cafes, the inequality, as to Ireland, were to be as great, as 
 the impairment of our legifiature by the 4th Propofition, 
 is manifeft, a code of greater inequality would not be eafily 
 to be found. The point is too clear to be proved, except by 
 an appeal to the confeious, and common underftandings of 
 men, in felf-evident interrogatories. If the condition con¬ 
 tained in the 4th Propofition, is of no efficacy, why, is it 
 declared to be fundamental and indifpenlible ? If it leaves the 
 Irifh Parliament as much at liberty as it has at prefent, is 
 it of any efficacy ? And if it does not, is it not an impair¬ 
 ment of its legiflation ? Has the crown the fame legiflativc 
 authority with the houfes of Parliament ? Certainly not. 
 What is the difference ? The crown has not the originating 
 and deliberative power of legiflation.—It has only a final 
 negative: To this, the fourth Propofition would reduce the 
 Irifh Parliament as to external legiflation. Would this 
 make no difference ? The Commons have an ampler 
 legiflation, as to money, than the Lords. Why ? Becaufe 
 the Lords can neither originate nor alter. But the ne¬ 
 gative that would be left by the fourth Propofition to the 
 Irifh Parliament, would not be the free negative of the 
 crown. The negative of the Irifh Parliament would be 
 fhackled by compaft ; and could not be exercifed but un¬ 
 der the impeachment and danger of a violation of treaty. 
 A violation of treaty is allowed to be a juft caufe of war. 
 If the Britifh Parliament declared that Ireland had beea 
 guilty of a flagrant breach of treaty, the King of Britain 
 at their defire muft declare war with Ireland, and the King 
 of Ireland muft join him—If the two houfes of the Irifh 
 Parliament declared that Britain had been guilty of a flagrant 
 breach of treaty and defired the King of Ireland to declare 
 war with Britain, could he do fo . J or would the King of 
 Britain join him ? certa.nly not. No ; nor the army cf 
 Ireland neither ; nor that part of the Biitifh Navy that was 
 paid by Ireland. What Jegiflative authority has Ireland, 
 here ; or what reciprocity ? 
 
 Neither is external legiilation only invaded. Internal le¬ 
 giflation as to duties and regulations on import and on 
 
 O 2 export; 
 
( 100 ) 
 
 export ; and on articles foreign as well as colonial, is tren¬ 
 ched upon and mortgaged. As to the liberty of trade, 
 the commerce of Africa, Alia, America, the Eaft and 
 the Weft Indies, is laid under reftraint, or monopoly. I 
 will not follow the fyftem through its minor inequalities. 
 Thus far it was necefiary to go, and ftridlly argumentative. 
 The twenty Britifh Proportions are on your table, fo alfo 
 is the Britifh Bill founded on thofe Proportions. It is evi¬ 
 dent, if the Irifti Bill does not correfpond as to thofe points 
 that the Britifh Parliament have declared to be indifpenfible, 
 that it is abfurd to proceed upon it. The Right Hon. Se¬ 
 cretary fays, that the Irifh Bill is founded on the eleven Pro¬ 
 portions that left this Houfe. Were if fp, who is not 
 now fatisfied, that we ought to reject it ? But the claufe 
 he has recited (after many times coming to it, and many 
 times retiring from it) that claufe, I fay, embodying the 
 fourth Proportion (as well as evident references, tp others 
 of the twenty Proportions) (hews, that it is not fo. At 
 leaft it proves that it is not fo, unlefs in the fatpe fenfe and 
 latitude, in which it has been faid, in the Britilh Par¬ 
 liament, that the Britilh Bill is founded, on thofe pretended 
 and mifcalled Irifh Proportions. The art, thatLhas been 
 ufed, in changing perpetually, the number and arrange¬ 
 ment of the Proportions; and again in fome variation of 
 arrangement and matter in the Britifh Bill ; and a ft ill 
 greater variation, in both, in the Bill now offered, is evident. 
 Jt is meant to puzzle; but its confequence muft be, tQ 
 revolt and to repell. Were you lulled by this variation into 
 the reception of the Bill, the dodtrine in its paffage 
 would be; that it was abfurd to receive, if you did not 
 mean to proceed in it; and that it was abfurd to proceed, 
 without acceding to the indifpenfible conditions. In a 
 word what follows ? That we ought to put an end to the 
 buftnefs, and the fooner that we do it the better. The pub- 
 lick has been too long agitated already—The only good 
 that has refulted, is, that both nations, may fee, that 
 there is nothing in commerce about which they ought to 
 quarrel. Temper has been ftiewn on both fides, and I hope 
 it will remain. The importance of the fubjedl demanded 
 free difeuffion, and that neither kingdom Ihould feel refent- 
 ment, or chagrin, at the deliberation of the other. In pri¬ 
 vate and in publick, I have always faid fo, from the com¬ 
 mence 
 
( IOI ) 
 
 jfiicaeement of this queft ion ; and, the event, has confirm¬ 
 ed me in that fentiment.f 
 
 Mr. Marcus Beresford .—At this late hour of the dehate, 
 and after the able manner in which the whole fyftem has 
 been (fated by my two Right Hon. Friends, it would be 
 idle in me, and trefpafllng on your patience, were I to 
 enter into a (latement of the fyftem in general, but I truft 
 J fhall obtain an indulgent hearing when I confine myfell: 
 wholly to reply to the principal argument, which has fallen 
 from the oppofers of this fyftem. The Right Hon. Gentleman 
 on the fecond bench (Mr. Grattan), certainly challenges 
 my attention^ firft, as his fpeech was the mod able, and 
 conveyed in the mod brilliant language. The Right Hon. 
 Gentleman fet out with (fating the hiftory of the Free Trade 
 in 1779 ; he (fated that in 1779* we obtained a Free Trade 
 jto all the world, the Colpnies of Great Britain excepted ; 
 to that I mud beg leave to add another exception, the 
 monopoly of the India trade was never furrendered.—- 
 Taking the trade then, as (fated by the Right Hon. Mem¬ 
 ber, that if we give up the trade of the Britifii Colonies, 
 we are at liberty to trade with all the reft of the world ; I 
 will a(k the honourable Gentleman, will he (fate with what 
 part of the world we are likely to trade with equal advan¬ 
 tage as with the Britifti Colonies ? or will he date that we 
 (hall trade with any foreign Colonies at all ?—Does not the 
 Right Hon. Gentleman, and almoft every individual in this 
 houfe know, that the French, and almoft every other na¬ 
 tion of Europe who poflefted Colonies, retain their Colo-' 
 nial trade for themfelves, and even fuppofing they (hould 
 admit us to the trade with their Colonies, will the Right 
 Hon. Member enfure us, that their terms will be better 
 than thofe offered by Great Britain. The Right Hon. 
 Gentleman (fated, that when we received the Colony 
 trade in 1780, we did not give up the right we had to 
 trade with foreign Colonies; I will admit we did not ex - 
 prefsly, but it certainly was an implied part of the bar- 
 
 f [Mr. Flood, ijn the epurfepf his fpeech, took notice of a declaration 
 made on a former occafion by the Attorney General, who had faid, he ne¬ 
 ver would fupport any meafure detrimental to the interests of Ireland. 
 Which declaration the Attorney General rofe and repeated. Mr, Flood 
 alfo faid, a Right Hon. Gentleman oppofite to him [the Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer] had voted againft a declaration of Rights ; and before he fat 
 down, he took notice of what Mr. Orde had faid relalive to Patents, 
 Copy-rights and other minute particulars.] 
 
 gain. 
 
( 102 ) 
 
 gain, for it is impoffible Great Britain can admit you 
 to the trade of her Well Indian iflands, unlefs you confine 
 your trade to her Colonies alone ; if then, we cannot have 
 both, which is it moll advantageous to pofTefs ? Will the 
 Right Hon. Gentleman (late how we are to carry on trade 
 with foreign Colonies in time of war ; does he imagirve 
 Great Britain will afford us the prote&ion of her navy, to 
 carry on a trade fo prejudicial to her inlerefts. The Right 
 Hon. Gentleman has dated, that we are at liberty to fele& 
 what articles we chufe to trade in with the Britifh Colonies, 
 and equalize the duties on fuch articles only, as it is our 
 intereft to trade in. Now if that fa& be true, that we can 
 make exceptions in one article, and equally true that we 
 can do it in many, fuppofe then, we equalize the duties on 
 one article only, what is the confequence; you might ex¬ 
 port the macufa&ures of Ireland to the Britifh Weft Indies, 
 without taking any of the produce of the iflands in return. 
 Is it probable that Great Britain could ever intend to com¬ 
 municate the trade of the Britifh Colonies to this country, 
 on terms fo difadvantageous to the Britifh merchant—fo much 
 for what has fallen from the Right Hon. Gentleman, with 
 regard to the trade with Britifh and foreign Colonies. 
 
 But before I take leave of that bench, I muft advert to what 
 has fallen from another Right Hon. Gentleman ; he ftated 
 with an air of triumph, that a noble Duke on the other fide 
 of the water, had not made ufe of exprellions attributed to 
 him in the publie prints; and how did he endeavour to 
 p>roveit? by fhewing, that leading men in Lord Northing- 
 ton’s adminiftration, had ftated in this, that a general 
 4 fyftcm of commerce was to be fettled between Great Britain 
 and Ireland, and that it was impoffible for his Grace to ftate 
 in the Britifh Houfe of Lords, that no further conceffions 
 were to he granted to Ireland, when his Minifters in this 
 Houfe ftated, that a great fyftem was in agitation But as 
 I was prefent at the debate alluded to, I muft beg leave to 
 ftate that the noble Duke did fay, “ that whatever might be 
 floating in the minds of individuals of that cabinet , he knew of 
 no determination of the cabinet to make any further conceffions to 
 Ireland , and that if any had been determined on, he would 
 have implored to have himfelf laid at his Majefty’s feet, 
 to refign his office, that he might not be made the inftru- 
 ment of fuch capital dif^race and capital ruin' 9 . The decla¬ 
 ration then of Lord Northimrton’s adminiftration, if not 
 authorized by the Cabinet of Great Britain, was calculated 
 only to deceive this country, and I among others, was fcoi 
 
 enough 
 
( I0 3 ) 
 
 enough to credit their affertions. An Honourable and 
 learned Member has faid, that the attempt of my Right 
 Hon. and learned Friend to defend this fyftem, has con¬ 
 vinced him that it is indefenffble ; if the attempt of my 
 Right Hon. Friend has convinced him that the fyftem is 
 indefenffble, his attempt to anfwer him has proved his ar¬ 
 guments unanfwerable he has drawn a paralel between 
 this country and America, and has afferted that the d,f- 
 memberment of America arofe from the palling of laws 
 fimilar to thofe which are now under conhderation in the 
 Britifti Parliament, and has ftated the Tea A6t as an ex¬ 
 ample. Sorry am I to hear this country compared to Ame¬ 
 rica in this houfe, but the cafe is certainly different; the 
 Parliament of Great Britain attempted to tax America with¬ 
 out her confent ; here Great Britain only fubmits to the 
 confideration of Ireland, it ftie will covenant to ena6t by her 
 own Parliament laws, ffmilar to tho e enadted in Great 
 Britain, with regard to' the Plantation trade and Naviga¬ 
 tion, if you will take the trade of Great Britain on the fame 
 terms which fhe enjoys it herfeif. Another Honourable 
 Member began with dating, that the fettlement of 1779, 
 was as permanent as any could be made between nation 
 and nation; and he at the fame time dates, that the King’s 
 Speech at the opening of the feffion declares, that thofe 
 matters are now to be fettled, which were before fettled, 
 that is to fay, thofe things are now to he finally fettled, 
 which were fo fettled before; he dates that we can at pre- 
 fent trade with the Colonies, but if that trade is not per¬ 
 manent, what fecurity have we in the enjoyment of it.— 
 He has ftated in a humorous ftile of punning that we paid 
 England, to abolifh the circulating trade thro’ Great Bri¬ 
 tain into Ireland ; and that we are now again going to pay, 
 in order to eftabtifh a circuitous trade thro’ Ireland into 
 Great Britain, endeavouring to confound the difference 
 between a circuitous trade thro’ Ireland to Great Britain, 
 and vice verfa , as if we were ignorant that the former is as 
 advantageous, as the latter is difadvantageous; hut I truft 
 I know what recepti3n this ftyle of fpeaking may meet in 
 this houfe. He has faid that as the appointment of the re¬ 
 venue officers throughout the Colonies is vefted in the 
 government of Great Britain, the Irifti merchant cannot 
 trade on equal terms with the Englifh ; to that I r^ply, that 
 it is not in the power of any revenue officers to injure the 
 fair trade, and that a revenue officer is as liable to an a6lion 
 for any illegal a& under, colour of his office, from an Irifti, as 
 
 an 
 
( i°4 ) 
 
 an Englifli merchant. He talked much of the ftipulafion tc> 
 pay for the navy of Great Britain, and he has faid the country 
 was prote£fed during the war by the Volunteers; I admit it 
 was, and I can boaft the honour of having been inrolled 
 among Volunteers, at a time that others might come to theif 
 meetings with haughty triumph and infolent contempt to 
 afk ivas the country arrayed ? But I muff beg leave to dif- 
 tinguifti between thofe Volunteers who defend the country 
 in time of war, and thofe who aflume the name, and meet 
 in Congrefs and Conventions ; and here let . me have fome 
 degree of title to be heard in anfwer to his argument about 
 the origination of Bills, for I have never been an advocate 
 for the originating of Bills out of this houfe, I have never 
 brought Bills from Conventions to this houfe, but have 
 ever {food up for its privileges, and I truft ever fhall — 
 He has talked much of your voting a perpetual Money Bill, 
 is he then ignorant that the Hereditary Revenue is already 
 perpetual ? He has afked if you were to propofe to England 
 to adopt laws of your making ; would fhe acquiefce ?—No, 
 fhe would not ;—what ihadow of pretence have you to make 
 laws for her Colonies ?—And here let me obferve, the Ho¬ 
 nourable Member has fometimes {fated, that the 4th Pro¬ 
 portion referred to your foreign trade, whereas it refers 
 only to your trade with the Britifh Colonies and the navy 
 of Great Britain. The boon granted by Great Britafp, is 
 the trade to the Weft Indies, which {he only requires you 
 (houfd take on the fame terms on which the Britifh merchant 
 enjoys it. How does Great Britain maintain thefe Colonies 
 and that trade ftie imparts to you by her navy ? And what is 
 the bulwark of that navy but the navigation a£fs ? thefe fhe 
 requires you to adopt for the ftrength of the navy of the Em¬ 
 pire. It has been faid that we give up our difcretionary 
 power when we adopt this Proportion j to that I reply, that 
 in all treaties between independent nations, you give up 
 part of your difcretion, and England furnifhes in this very 
 treaty, a mod ftriking example, when fhe binds herfelf ter 
 give a continual preference to your linen manufacture. Tho* 
 Ruftia or Germany fhould hold out ever fuch advantageous 
 offers to induce her to admit their linens on equal terms ; 
 /fill ftie gives up her difcretion of acceding to thefe terms. 
 Every cafe in which Great Britain calls on you to adopt laws 
 Fmilarto thofe which ftie ena£fs, is in favour of Ireland. 
 'Fhe Honourable Gentleman fays, that England is to be 
 the foie judge, if thefe laws confer equal benefits. If thefe 
 Proportions are adopted,let me fee who will dare to put that 
 
 con- 
 
( 105 ) 
 
 conftru&ion on them ? If any one ftiould, to ufe the phrafe of 
 the Hon. Member, I will not ceafe to hunt the Slave. I meant 
 to have followed the Hon. Gentleman thro’ other parts of 
 his Speech, but I mud take the liberty of obferving, he has 
 beenio extremely prolix, I cannot follow him or his example. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer faid, he could not 
 fit filent when he heard a meafure in which he was 
 proud to have had a confiderable part, reprefented by 
 fo many gentlemen as injurious to the independence of the 
 Irifii legislature, and a barter of the conftitution for com¬ 
 merce. He Should think himfelf, indeed, unworthy of a 
 Seat in that Houfe, or of the name of Irifhman, if he could 
 confent to barter an atom of the conftitution of his country 
 for all the commerce in the world; but he was fo fully Sa¬ 
 tisfied the prefent meafure did not violate it, in the fmalleft 
 degree, that he could not reprefs his furprife at its being 
 fuppofed to do fo. When gentlemen Said, that it violated 
 the conftitution, they forgot that they had recorded a Simi¬ 
 lar violation of it in every fefiion, fince the freedom of their 
 legislation had been eftabliftied. His Right Hon. friend (the 
 Attorney General) had quoted the refolution of that Houfe 
 in 1779. He would now read a part of the Statute of 1781, 
 made in confequence of that refolution : 
 
 “ And whereas fuch part of the trade between this kingdom and the Eri- 
 tifh Colonies in America, the Weft Indies, and Britifh Settlements on the 
 coaft of Africa, as was not enjoyed by this kingdom, previous to the laft 
 feftion of Parliament, can he enjoyed and have continuance fo long, and 
 3n fuch cafe only, as goods to be imported from the faid Colonies, Plan¬ 
 tations, or Settlements into this kingdom, or to be exported from this 
 kingdom to the faid Colonies, Plantations or Settlements ftiall be liable 
 to equal duties and drawbacks, and be fubjeft to the fame fecurities, re¬ 
 gulations and reftridlions as the like goods are liable and fubjett to, up¬ 
 on being imported from the faid Colonies, Plantations or Settlements into 
 Great Eritain, or exported from thence to fuch Colonies, Plantations or 
 Settlements refpeffively ; be it enadfed by the authority aforefaid, for the 
 advancement of the faid trade, that duties, drawbacks, prohibitions, &c. 
 be granted, &c.” 
 
 This ftatute palled at a time when the fpirit of the nation 
 was as high as ever it had been, and her jealoufy of the con¬ 
 ftitution as great, and has been repeated every feftion fince. 
 Now, Sir, the condition as to regulating trade is as exprefs 
 in this ftatute as in the prefent bill. \Mr Grattan inter¬ 
 ruptings defired to know what trade ?]—7 he Chancellor proceed¬ 
 ed, the Plantation trade—the very trade now in agitation; 
 and if accepting trade on conditions would deftroy the 
 conftitution, our conftitution has been long fince deftroy- 
 
( »o6 ) 
 
 ed, even in the very year of its emancipation. But the 
 Ri^ht Hon. Gentleman acknowledges the condition which 
 he inveighs againd as being mod: dangerous now, to be fi- 
 milar to that one which he then and ever fince has deemed 
 fo innocent. He only dwells on its extending to foreign 
 trade, that is, to foreign colonies, as if the greater or lefs 
 extent could change its conditutional or unconditional 
 nature; but will Gentlemen confider the matter, dripped 
 of all oratory and declamation ? Great Britain has co¬ 
 lonies, die offers full communication of her trade to 
 Ireland, on condition of Ireland trading on the fame terms 
 as die does herfelf; one of thofe terms is equal duties and 
 regulations, which the gentlemen admit to be fair and harm- 
 lefs, for we have complied with it in part thefetwo feflions ; 
 another of the terms is the giving a like protection, as 
 Great Britain gives to their produce againd the produce 
 of foreign colonies. This too is fair, but it dedroys our 
 conditution—what pitiful reafoning ! It does not dedroy 
 us to receive a monopoly of their confumption ; but to 
 give them a monopoly of our confumption, annihilates 
 our independence. No man of common fenfe can hefitate 
 that it is fair we diould receive the trade on the fame 
 terms as Britain. The Colonies are hers—die has a right 
 to annex thofe terms. The trade with them is a gift from 
 her, and the gift is conditional ; die offers to take us into 
 partnerdiip in their trade ; die, an old edablidied country, 
 raifed by commerce alone to an height above any other Eu¬ 
 ropean power, invites us to partake of the means that 
 raifed her to wealth and greatnefs, to a full and equal Ihare 
 in that trade which cod her millions to obtain and will 
 cod her millions to preferve ; and this die does without de- 
 firing any thing towards that cod, or for their maintenance, 
 or any return, fave a fmall diare of what may arife from 
 our profits in that new partnerdiip. But when gentlemen 
 argue on bad ground, even their own arguments often make 
 againd them, and an Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Flood) at 
 the fame time that he exerts all his eloquence to perfuade us 
 that the confining ourfelves to the Britifh Colonies or ac¬ 
 cepting the trade on fuch conditions is injurious to the 
 conditution, not only admits hut contends* that we have 
 done it already, and that we have done it on the folemn 
 faith of compa6f. Hear his reafoning ; he fays, that the 
 tranfadion of 1780 was a compad, and not a gift, and 
 he lays it was a compad, becaufe we gave a confideration ; 
 
 three 
 
( i°7 ) 
 
 three confederations, each of more value than the gift; we 
 gave monopoly for monopoly, that is, in other words, we 
 agreed to prohibit the goods of other colonies, the very thing 
 that is now held up as a furrender of legiflature, and the 
 fa& is, we did, and ftill do prohibit, by heavy duties, the 
 fame as Britain pays, all foreign colony produce. In theo¬ 
 ry, therefore, we have agreed to what he now fays cannot 
 be agreed to without ruin, and in practice we have actually 
 done the very thing without injury, if not with benefit to 
 our trade. His other confiderations are curious; we gave 
 revenue, that is, we received liberty to import an article, 
 fugars, that would bear a confiderable revenue, which we 
 mufl have otherwife impofed, elfewhere, and thus he ftrange- 
 ly conftrues the accepting the means of a revenue into giv¬ 
 ing one. His third confideration is flill more wonderfull ; 
 we gave loyalty. Good Heavens ! in an Irifh Houfe of 
 Commons does he fay that we gave our duty to our Prince 
 as a partner for a grant of trade ? 
 
 Mr. Flood interrupted to fay, that he had quoted the Re- 
 folution of the Britifh Parliament, when he ftated, that the 
 loyalty of Ireland was deemed a confideration. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer refumed. To fuch 
 wretched fhifts are gentlemen driven, who attempt to 
 fupport what is not fupportable, and would vainly en¬ 
 deavour to perfuade you that this meafure trenches on the 
 independence of our legiflature; you need not adopt any 
 laws that Great Britain may pafs for the regulation of com¬ 
 merce ; if you do not approve them, you may reje6t them 
 whenever you think proper; you do but reje6t the benefit of 
 the condition, and return to the fituation in which you now 
 are; but the fame Member has proved mofl: flrongly the ne- 
 ceflityof introducing the Bill, forwhenfuch abilities ashiscan 
 totally mifconceive its tendency, it ought to be introduced, 
 in order to be fully underftood. He has obferved largely on 
 each Propofition, and nothing was ever fo miftated, mifre- 
 prefented and mifunderftood, as every part of them has 
 been by him. It would be ablurd to follow him through alj 
 his errors, many of them the mofl: ignorant child would be 
 afliamed to advance ; but I will point out a few, not per¬ 
 haps fo obvious without examination. 
 
 Let me firfl take notice of his having alluded to me, and 
 faid, that I voted againft a declaration of Rights. I deny 
 it ; I declared my opinion of the independence of our le¬ 
 giflature from this very feat, early in the debate on that day * 
 but did he vote for it ? He did not> and I repeat the Hon. 
 
 P 2 Gen 
 
( io8 
 
 Gentleman did not vote lor it, but lamented that the fub- 
 je<Sb had been brought in that day. 
 
 Mr . Flood —I appeal to the Houfe, whether I did not en¬ 
 ter into a long declarationon the fubjedt.—Here the Speaker- 
 interfered to order. 
 
 The Chancellor —I fhall leave this fubjedt as a leffon to 
 the Hon. Gentleman, never for the future to charge fadts 
 that are unfounded. I fhall now proceed to the Hon Gen¬ 
 tleman’s obfervations. He fays “ mark the cunning with 
 <f which the refolutions are drawn, to the injury of Ireland; 
 U there is no new prohibition to be allowed on the import 
 <s from one country to another.” This is certainly a great 
 evil, efpecially if we confider that the Exportation of Irifh 
 products to England amounts to two millions and an 
 half annually—and the Exportation of Britifh produdts to 
 Ireland amount but to one million, fo it is injurious to 
 a country which may by prohibitions lofe two millions and 
 an half, to ffipulate againff prohibitions, and the country 
 that fends more than die takes, is not wife in guarding a- 
 gainft mutual prohibition ! 
 
 Another difcovery the Hon. Gentleman has made is that 
 countervailing duties are unfair—why? Becaufethe Brewery 
 of Ireland will thereby be effectually protedted. The Hon. 
 Gentlemancoiriplainsof the report of theEnglifn Privy Coun¬ 
 cil, who fay that to put Ireland and England on a footing of ex- 
 adt reciprocity as to linen, Ireland ought to give a bounty 
 on the exportation of Englifh Linens, becaufe England gives 
 a bounty on the exportation of Irifh Linens. Can any 
 thing be more juff ? Yet England makes no fuch a demand, 
 but is ready by this adjuffment to give additional fecurity to 
 our Linen trade for ever. If indeed the adjuffment were to 
 take away the benefit from Ireland, it would be a good 
 caufe for rejedling it ; but as it tor ever confirms all the 
 advantages we derive from our Linen trade, and binds Eng¬ 
 land from making any law that can be injurious to it ; fure- 
 ly Gentlemen who regard that trade, and whofe fortunes 
 and rent depend on its prolperity, will not entertain a mo¬ 
 ment’s doubt about embracing the offer. 
 
 Another of his curious objedlions is, that as we have not 
 a navy of our own, and if we afliff the navy of the empire, 
 England will turn that navy to her own ambitious purpofes. 
 To what ambitious purpofes ? To the protection of that 
 commerce and of thefe colonies which are now to become 
 ours.—In the moment that fhe gives up her monopoly of 
 colonies, fhe is accufed of ambitious purpofes, tor her fe- 
 parate aggrandizement. • * The 
 
( »° 9 ' 
 
 The Hon. Gentleman complains, that the Bill now be-* 
 fore the Englilh Parliament makes it neceffiary that every 
 proper and authentic document to prevent fmuggling fhould 
 be fent by the revenue officers of this country with any fo¬ 
 reign or plantation goods fent from hence to England, but 
 that the fame precaution is not taken with regard to the 
 fame kind of goods fent from England to Ireland. This is 
 the flrongefl: argument for waiting the introduction of the 
 Irifh Bill ; it fpeaks the confcioufnefs of the Englifh Par¬ 
 liament, that they could not prefcribe to our revenue offi¬ 
 cers what documents fhould be fatisfa&ory to them on re¬ 
 ceiving goods from England, but th t the Irifh Parliament 
 alone in their own Bill could determine that matter. It 
 (hews the Hon. Gentleman to be totally ignorant of what ei¬ 
 ther is or ought to be the fubftance of the Bill. 
 
 The Hon. Gentleman talks of bounties, and fays, by a- 
 boliffiing bounties we fhall no longer be able to bring corn 
 to this city; our inland corn bounties, he fays, are to be 
 turned into Protecting Duties for England. A llrange con¬ 
 ception ! But why has he fixed on corn and flour ? If he 
 had read the Refolution on which he is arguing, he would 
 have feen that corn and flour are every where exempted. 
 
 Another argument of the Hon. Gentleman is, that the 
 declaring that neither country hereafter can lay, any new 
 prohibition on native productions, implies cunningly that 
 it may on foreign. What an argument! when the very 
 firfl principles of the fyflem is, that a mutual interchange 
 of foreign commodities is for ever to take place between the 
 two kingdoms, and one even of the Twenty Propofitions 
 declares it in precife terms—But, the Hon. Gentleman talks 
 of prohibitions on exports, &c. ; Would the Hon Gen¬ 
 tleman wiffi to leave it in the power of either nation to pro¬ 
 hibit their native commodities from being exported to the 
 other ? would he wifli to leave it in the power of England 
 to prohibit the exportation of coals, fait, iron, bark, hops, 
 and many other articles, or to raife a revenue on thefe 
 articles when exported hither. 
 
 The Hon. Gentleman talks particularly of wool. I ad¬ 
 mit if you balance wool againfl wool, that his argument is 
 right ; but the juff way is to balance the whole of the ex¬ 
 ports }- England engages never to prohibit the export of ar¬ 
 ticles which are neceffiary almofl to our exigence, and we 
 engage not to prohibit the export of articles which bring us 
 in 5oo,cool. a year. Wc are to engage not to prohibit the 
 
 export 
 
( >10 ) 
 
 export of Woollen and Linen Yarn, which we have ex¬ 
 ported for a whole century, and without keeping a mark#t 
 for the redundancy of which by export, we could not enfure 
 plenty for our own manufa&urers. 
 
 The Gentleman too totally midates the cafe of patents 
 and copy-rights. Britifh patents and copy-rights are pro- 
 te£ted in Britain by prohibition againft import. The Re- 
 folutions fay to us, “protect your’s in like manner” ; a mea- 
 fure never yet adopted here, which mull promote genius, 
 printing, and invention in Ireland. 
 
 I am afhamed, Sir, of taking up fo much of your time 
 on a fubje£t which might be fo eafily underdood by the 
 lowed: capacity; I fhall therefore quit the Hon. Gentleman 
 ' and come to the quedion of conditution, which I do not 
 at all think involved in this fubje6t. If Great Britain grants 
 us a full partnerfliip in all her trade in all her colonies, if 
 die admits us to a full participation in the benefits of her 
 Navigation laws, by which die has raifed herfelf to be the 
 greated commercial power in the world ; if fhe does not 
 call upon us to contribute to the expence of the partnerlhip, 
 but merely to receive our diare of the profits, and fays, we 
 may continue in that partnerdiip only io long as we chufe, 
 can any man fay, the conditions of it amount to a furrender 
 of our legidature ? furely not, it is idle fpeculation. Let us 
 then look at the fubje£t, free from all imaginary dread for 
 the conditution. 
 
 Britain imports annually from us 2,500,0001. of our pro- 
 du6ts, all, or very nearly all, duty free, and covenants ne¬ 
 ver to lay a duty on them. We import about 1,000,00 1 . 
 of hers, and raife a revenue on almod every article of it, 
 and referve the power of continuing that revenue. She ex¬ 
 ports to us fait for our fidieries and provifions ; hops which 
 we cannot grow ; coals which we cannot raife ; tin which 
 we have not, and bark which we cannot get elfewhere, and 
 all thefe without referving any duty, or a power to impofe 
 anv on them ; tho’ her own fubje&s pay 2, 3, or 4 s. a 
 chaldron for her own coals, lent coadways, and in London 
 7s. We on the contrary charge a duty for our own ufe here 
 on almod every article we fend to her. So much for exports; 
 now as to bounties, fhe almod ruined our manufacture of 
 fail-cloth, by bounties on export of her own to Ireland. In 
 1750, or thereabouts, when her bounty commenced, we 
 exported more than we imported, and in 1784 we exported 
 none and imported 180,oco yards ; fhe now withdraws that 
 
 bounty. 
 
( m ) 
 
 bounty. And let me digrefs here a little on fail-cloth* 
 which although gentlemen affeCI to defpife when mentioned, 
 will I truft be an immediate fource of wealth by this adjuft- 
 ment. Fori. This bounty is to be removed. 2. The export 
 of Sail-cloth to the Indies is to be allowed, and Great Britain 
 exported there, in 1782, about 200,000 ells. 3. There is a 
 Britifh law, obliging every Britifh and colony fhip to have 
 its firft fuits of Britifh fail-cloth. Irifh now is to be deemed 
 Britifh. 4. There is a preference of 2d. an ell given by 
 Britifh law to Britifh fail-cloth, over foreign, for the Britifh 
 navy. Irifh is now to have the fame preference. 5. The 
 furplus of the hereditary revenue is to be applied in the firfl 
 place to the purchafe of Irifh fail-cloth. All thefe give a 
 glorious profpeCl for that valuable manufacture—But to re¬ 
 turn, were a man to look for the country mofl advantageous 
 to fettle manufacture in, what would be his choice ? One 
 where labour and provifions are cheap, that is Ireland ; and 
 what would he next look for ?—why to have a rich, extend¬ 
 ed and fteady market near him, which England., ffretched 
 along-fide affords, and to eftabfifh that maiket for this 
 country, is one great objeCt of this fyftem. Gentlemen 
 undervalue the reduction of Britifh duties on our manufac¬ 
 tures ; I agree with them it may not operate foon, but we 
 are to look forward in a final fettlement, and it is impoffible 
 but that in time, with as good climate, equal natural pow¬ 
 ers, cheaper food, and fewer taxes, we muft be able to fell 
 to them. When commercial jealoufy fhall be banifhed by 
 final fettlement, and trade take its natural and fteady courfe, 
 the kingdoms will ceafe to look to rivalfhip, each will make 
 that fabric which it can do cheapefl, and buy from the 
 other what it cannot make fo advantageoufly. Labour will 
 be then truly employed to profit, not diverted by duties, 
 bounties, jealoufies or legiflative interference from its natu¬ 
 ral and beneficial courfe, this fyftem will attain its real ob- 
 jeCt, confolidating the flrength of the remaining parts of the 
 empire, by encouraging the commun ications of their market 
 among themfelves, with preference to every part againft all 
 ftrangers. 
 
 I need not mention the Navigation-aCt, .the proper bene¬ 
 fits of which we have fo long looked for ; I will only obferve, 
 that Great Britain could never agree to receive the Britifh 
 Colonies’ goods from us, unlefs we prohibited the goods of 
 foreign Colonies as fhe does, which is a powerful argument 
 for that part of the fyflem againft the conflitutional phrenzy 
 
 that 
 
( H2 ) 
 
 that threatens it. Let us alfo obferve, that now, forthefirft 
 time. Great Britain offers us a right for ever in all prefent 
 and future Colonies, without any refervation of power, to 
 call on us either to procure, fupport, or preferve them; Jhe 
 maintains them, we fhare all the profits ; and, not only 
 their goods, but all goods of Irifh produce, are to pafs 
 through Britain duty free. Can foreign nations, after this 
 is fettled, make diflin&ion between Britifh and Irifh goods ? 
 Our manufa&ures will be united as our interefls, and we 
 fnall laugh at Portugal folly. 
 
 I could run out for hours into the many benefits of this 
 fyffcem ; but I have tired the Houfe too long, let me only 
 implore you not to reject this meafure, for ill-founded, vi- 
 fionary objections, or to facrifice realities to fhadows. If 
 this infatuated country gives up the prefent offer, fhe may 
 look for it again in vain ; things cannot remain as they 
 are; commercial jealoufy is rouzed, it will increafe with 
 two independent legislatures, if they don't mutually declare 
 the principles whereby their powers fnall be feparately em¬ 
 ployed, in directing the common concerns of trade ; and 
 without an united inferefl of commerce, in a commercial 
 empire, political un'ion will receive many fhocks, and fe- 
 paration of interefls mufl threaten feparation of connexion, 
 which every honefl Irifhman mufl fhudder ever to look at as 
 a poffible event. 
 
 I will only add, that if this meafure he refufed, Ireland 
 will receive more folid injury than from any other evil that 
 ever betel her; it is in vain for Gentlemen to think we can 
 go on as we have done for fome years—or to expe£t to cope 
 with England in a deflru&ive war of bounties—our fituation 
 muff every day become more difficult, and it is impoffible 
 to forefee all the ruinous confequences that may enfue. 
 
 Mr. Pole profeffed himfelf anxious for an opportunity of 
 declaring his fentiments, in delivering which, whatever good 
 opinion he might entertain of Government, he faid, he would 
 not fuffer it to bias him, hecaufe the queftion before them 
 was a queftion in which all their deareft interefls were in¬ 
 volved, and no recoinpence government could make, could 
 compenfate for his vote, if his heart did not confent to it. 
 The fpeeches they had heard from the gentlemen who were 
 the great leaders of Oppofition, convinced him, that they 
 oppofed the motion upon principle, and thought it impoffi- 
 ble that Great Britain and Ireland fhould agree upon the 
 propofed terms of fettlementt they even feemed to 
 
( 'i3 ) 
 
 wifh that they fiiould not. He had not the vanity to think 
 he pofleffed the abilities of the Right Hon. gentleman on the 
 bench near him [Mr. Grattan ;] but to his plain underftand- 
 ing, what had fallen from him in argument, appeared to 
 go in dire6f feparation of that country from Great Britain. 
 
 Mr. Grattan here interrupted Mr. Pole, to declare, that 
 the honourable gentleman was not warranted to draw any 
 fuch inference. He had great confidence in the honoura¬ 
 ble gentleman’s integrity of heart, and he had no doubt 
 but he thought what he faid ; the Houfe, however, would 
 judge whether he had made a fair deduction from his argu¬ 
 ment. What he had faid was, that if it came to the quef- 
 tion, whether the Empire or the Conftitution was to be 
 facrificed ? he, as an Iriihman, mufi: anfwer, “ Perifh the 
 Empire, live the Conftitution !”—he would fay more : the 
 principle of the Bill held out impoffible conditions, whence 
 it became neceftary to alk, would they go back to their 
 former fituation, or would they maintain their indepen¬ 
 dence ? 
 
 Mr. Pole returned his thanks to the Right Hon. gentleman 
 for having interrupted him, as it gave him an opportunity 
 of fetting him right, as to the part of his fpeech to 
 which he had meant to allude ; the pafTage he had in- 
 tended to refer to, was that in which the Right Hon. 
 gentleman had faid, what Ireland had gained from Great 
 Britain was the acquifition of war, and had intimated, that 
 the country might have recourfe to foreign Colonies. 
 
 Mr. Grattan rofe again to fay, that he was fo accuftofn- 
 ed to hear in that Houfe what was not ftfi&ly regular, that 
 he had no objection to the honourable gentleman’s making 
 what ufe or advantage he thought fit of any expreffion that 
 had fallen from him. He had certainly faid, that “ by the 
 propofed Bill, Ireland was called upon to confent to a re¬ 
 vocation in the time of peace of the acquifition of war.” 
 Thofe were his words, and he claimed them. 
 
 Mr. Pole caught at Mr- Grattan’s laft expreffion, and 
 faid, as the Right Hon. gentleman claims his words, it mufi: 
 be admitted that he had been right. Had not that been the 
 cafe, he would have appealed to the Chair, whether the free¬ 
 dom oi debate did not allow every gentleman to ftate, what 
 ftruck him as the conftru6Hon of words that had fallen in 
 the courfe of difcuffion. He would maintain it, therefore, 
 that the honourable gentleman’s fpeech tended to fepara¬ 
 tion ; and he begged leave to obferve, that, he was not 
 
 O one 
 
( H4 ) 
 
 one of thofe who was apt to fay in that Houfc what he 
 would not fay out of it, as it was his conftant rule, never 
 to advance in public, what he was not equally ready to 
 advance and maintain in private. The fpeeches of the 
 two great leaders of Oppofition appeared to him to breathe 
 a wiffi for a feparation between the two countries. Fof 
 his part, as to the Bill, he was neither afraid nor afhamed 
 to fay, he heartily approved of it. He did fo upon princi¬ 
 ple, being perfuaded that it was a good Bill for Ireland ; 
 and, if any thing could help to convince him that it was fo, 
 the very able reply made by his Right Hon. friend [the 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer] to one of the wildeft, moft 
 inconfiftent, and, if he might be permitted to fay fo, mod 
 ignorant fpeeches ever uttered by a man of abilities, would 
 have had that effedt. Mr. Foie repeated, that he would 
 not fupport the Bill, could he not do fo confidently with 
 his good wifhes for Ireland. He believed, there were many 
 gentlemen who would vote fof it from the fame motives,- 
 as he was not only perfuaded they were men who a£ted upon 
 principle, but men who had fo much character to lofe, 
 and fo donfiderable a flake in the country, that nothing in 
 the power of government could compenfate to them for 
 their vofe, were the Bill deferving. of the imputations cad 
 upon it by the gentlemen who oppofed the motion. He 
 hoped, therefore, and had little doubt that he fhould have 
 the fatisfadfion of feeing it carried by a very confiderable 
 majority. 
 
 Mr. Kearney faid, that nothing would have induced him, 
 at fo very unfeafonahfe an hour, to have troubled the Houfe, 
 but the dread he was under that he fhould never again have 
 an opportunity of fubmitting his thoughts to a free indepen¬ 
 dent Parliament, if the Bill which was moved to be brought 
 in fhould pafs; for the quedioq is clearly this, whether the 
 Houfe will this night give leave to bring in a Bill for trans¬ 
 ferring, as far as Parliament can do it, the conditutional 
 and commercial rights ot this independent kingdom, (which 
 have been recently recovered by the virtue and the fpirit of 
 the people ot Ireland) to the legiflature of another country, 
 which, until! very lately, laid the trade of Ireland under 
 the moft opprcifive reftridtions. It was thefe reftridtions 
 which caufed what has been fo much infilled on by the fup- 
 porters of the Bill, the fuperior advantages which the trade of 
 Great Britain was to us, above that of all other countries. 
 In ether words, we were not fuffered to fend any of our 
 
 manufactures. 
 
< Ji5 ) 
 
 manufactures, except linen, to any other country, and 
 therefore we benefited more by that trade which we were 
 permitted to carry on, than by thofe which we were not. 
 I cannot think that there is the lead danger of this king¬ 
 dom’s ever forming a clofe connection with any other, ex¬ 
 cept her lifter kingdom, for it can mod aduredly never be 
 her intered. Let us, laid he, for a moment confider the 
 advantage which we are this night told we are to derive unr 
 der this Bill:—the admiffion of our linens duty free into 
 ' Great Britain, and rock-falt, and coal from thence duty free- 
 I will acknowledge that the fird has been of very great ad¬ 
 vantage to Ireland, but I mud obferve that the Englifli have 
 likewile greatly benefited by this trade, for what has ena¬ 
 bled us to pay for the immenfe quantities of their various 
 manufactures, which we conflantiy take, but the produce 
 of linens. We are told that we ought to be much obliged 
 to Great Britain for taking off our hands the redundancy of 
 the raw material of our principle manufacture. I cannot 
 look upon it in this light, for I am convinced that there 
 cannot be produced any indance in the hidory of the com¬ 
 mercial world of any country giving a preference of trade 
 to another country, from any other motive than a regard 
 to her own fuppoled intered. The idea of her aCting un¬ 
 der the influence of any other caufe, is to the lad degree 
 abfurd. Notwithdandingall the advantages we derived from 
 our trade with Great Britain, were we not fix years ago 
 very nearly a bankrupt nation ? He then made fome remarks 
 On the prefent policy of the different commercial nations 
 of\Europe, who are now wifely endeavouring to fupply 
 themfelves with the different manufactures which they have 
 hitherto got from Great Britain, and for that purpofe have 
 prohibited Britidi manufactures, or laid heavy duties on 
 them. What, faid he, mud the confequence of that be£ 
 That thofe Britifh manufactures who have been employed 
 in working for foreign markets, will turn their hands to 
 that manufacture for which they have a' demand at home, 
 and which we have hitherto in fome degree fupplied them 
 with. As to coals, faid he, our getting them duty free 
 from Great Britain has produced two confequences not very 
 beneficial to this kingdom.—It has prevented our working 
 our own collieries, and it has caufed us to carry on all our 
 manufactures, except the linen, in the large fea-port towns, 
 the mod improper places for them, indead of edablifliing 
 them near the coal mines, as they have done in England: 
 
 Q_ 2 befides, 
 
( n6 ) 
 
 befides, faid he. Great Britain fuffers her coal to be export¬ 
 ed to Holland, fubjedt to fome fmall duty. With refpedt 
 to rock-falt, without which it was faid that our fifheries 
 could not flourilh, that was a miftake, for we might get 
 French, Spanifh, or Portugal fait. He concluded with 
 making fome pertinent obfervations on the folly of pre¬ 
 tending to make permanent regulations for the commerce 
 of two nations, whofe commerce muft, from the nature of 
 trade, change fo much, that what may be thought a wife 
 and prudent regulation at prefent, may be the very con- 
 trary in the courfe of a few years. 
 
 Mr. Cctiyngham lamented the manner in which the quef- 
 tion had been difcufted ; he thought that every man who had 
 the intereft of Ireland at heart fhould have endeavoured to 
 promote harmony and cordiality between the two nations, 
 inftead of which it had been treated as if the Proportions had 
 been made by a country inimical to Ireland. He was pe¬ 
 culiarly concerned that his right honourable friend, who he 
 was convinced had the good of this country fincerely at 
 heart, fhould have been led on to found the alarm, as if 
 an attempt was made to invade the conftitutional rights of 
 this kingdom, and that at a time when the lifter kingdom 
 took every opportunity of declaring her determination to re- 
 fpeef, equally with her own, the independence of Ireland. 
 Old caufes of complaint were brought forward, inftead of 
 adverting to the repeated a&s and declarations of Great 
 Britain fince the year 1780. He declared he could not fee 
 any reafon why a conftitutional queftion ftiould be involv¬ 
 ed in this commercial treaty. God forbid that he fhould 
 join in any a£I to violate that conftitution which we had 
 obtained by the fpirit, firmnefs, and wifdom of the Parlia¬ 
 ment and people, roufed by the exertions and abilities of 
 the man who had exhibited the latter with fuch fplendour 
 in the prefent debate. But after preferving the conftitution, 
 the greateft hlefting that could happen to this country would 
 be a final fettlement of commerce with Great Britain, upon 
 permanent and equitable principles. How was this to be 
 effected if ft milar laws were not adopted; and now, at a 
 time when Great Britain is negotiating commercial treaties 
 with all the reft of the world, you create an impoflibility of 
 forming any treaty with this kingdoip, from an ill-founded 
 jealouiy. If laws are fnnilar, muft not the wording be the 
 fame ? And muft not they be propounded in one Parlia¬ 
 ment before they are adopted by the other, as you have no 
 
 Ambaftadors, 
 
( n; ) 
 
 Ambaffadors, like other nations ? But there is nothing 
 propoied to be done in the prefent Bill different from what 
 you have done in all the Bills fince 1780, declaring that a 
 fimilarity of laws, manners and cuftoms mud flrengthen 
 the affection that ought to fubfifl between the two nations? 
 It appears to me, that you require from the Englifh Parlia¬ 
 ment, that which you are fo jealous of being thought to 
 fubmit to yourfelves the regiflering the Eleven Propofitions 
 fent from hence. Surely Great Britain has a right to ob¬ 
 ject, to add, and to make her own Propofitions. But I 
 do not fee but that the bill is grounded upon the Irifh Pro¬ 
 pofitions, with explanations on the part of Great Britain, 
 only that the exception to the feventh claufe, relative to 
 Prohibitions not reciprocal, is omitted, which in my opi¬ 
 nion is very favourable for Ireland. For it is a matter much 
 contefled in Great Britain, whether it is wife to prohibit 
 entirely the exportation of wool.—Now, though wool and 
 woollen yarn would by the prefent Bill be always allowed to 
 be exported, yet the Irifh manufacturer would always have 
 the Irifh yarn upon better terms than the Englifh manu¬ 
 facturer. The latter however has other markets to procure 
 that material, whereas the articles that you fecure for 
 ever to yourfelves, free from future prohibitions, are ef- 
 fential to your manufactures—coals, rock-falt, bark, tin, 
 hops, &c. many of them not to be obtained but in Great 
 Britain. 
 
 As to the objection about the Eaft India trade, there is 
 little likelihood that this country can fucceed better in that 
 fpeculation than fo many other nations that have made the 
 attempt; the Irifh have the power of enjoying it equally 
 with Britifh fubje&s, and our pride need not be hurt at 
 furrendering this right by treaty to a company, if we get 
 other advantages in return, when the fame furrender was 
 made by the Emperor, who by the treaty of Vienna en¬ 
 gaged to abolifh the Oflend company. Let us not then by 
 an ill-grounded jealoufy lofe the opportunity of making an 
 indiffoluble union with our filler kingdom, of flrengthen- 
 ing by a folid cement the remains of the empire, and re- 
 floring it to its former fplendour, wealth and dignity. 
 
 Mr. Molyneux made a fhort fpeech in favour of the Bill, 
 declaring himfelf as independent as anv man in that Houfe, 
 and that he approved of the fyflem bccaufe he thought it 
 would be beneficial to Ireland. 
 
 Mr, 
 
( n8 ) 
 
 Mr. Ogilvie faid, that as all the arguments brought to 
 juftify the claufes in the Bill, founded on the 4th, 5th, 
 &c. Refoiutions of the Britifti Parliament, were drawn 
 from the famous act of t 780, paffed in confequence of the 
 Britifti A6t, of the 20th George III. c. 10. known by the title 
 of the a 6t of free trade: He begged the Houfe would honour 
 him with their attention, while he ftioulS endeavour to 
 (hew them, that the above a6t had been miftated, for he 
 could not fuppofe intentionally mifreprefented, by a right 
 honourable and learned gentlemen, (the Attorney General) 
 whofe authority, he imagined, had milled all thofe who 
 had repeated his argument.—He fuppofed, that the Right 
 Hon. gentleman was aware, that the Bill introduced by 
 the Mmifter in England for a final fettlement, clafhed 
 with the a£f of 1780, and could not be palfed into a law, 
 while the other continued in force, and that he had of 
 confequence feen the neceffity of reprefenting this a£I, as 
 a favour granted by Great Britain, held at her difcretion , and 
 recallable at her pleafure .—He moll readily admitted, that 
 the a6t had been a conceffion from Great Britain ; but 
 he pofitively denied, that it was revokeable at her pleafure : 
 And the Right Hon. gentleman could not know the a£I, 
 if he really thought foj for it was therein exprefsly ena&ed, 
 f ( That the importation and exportation, allowed by this 
 “ a6f, (hall commence, and Jhall have continuance Jo long, 
 fC and in fuch refpeSlive cafes only, as the goods or any of 
 them, &c. (hall be liable by fome a< 5 t or a6!s of Parlia- 
 c< ment, to be made in the kingdom of Ireland, to equal 
 “ duties and drawbacks, and fhall be made fubjeft to the 
 “ fame fecurities, regulations, and reftridtions, as the like 
 ** goods, &c. exported from, or imported into Great 
 “ Britain, from the Britifh Colonies in the Weft Indies, 
 * c America and Africa.” Thefe, he faid, were the words 
 of the adt, which he then held in his hand, by which the 
 duration of the a6f was put for ever out of the power of 
 Great Britain, and made to depend entirely on the future 
 adts of Ireland. Great Britain could not, at any time, nor 
 under any circumftances, recall or annuli the a6f ; but 
 Ireland might forego the advantages granted by the a< 51 , 
 by not performing the conditions annexed to the grant ; al¬ 
 though even here care had been taken, that fhe might relin- 
 quifh the advantage in any one particular inftance, with¬ 
 out forfeiting the general right. The Right Hon. gentle¬ 
 man’s argument, therefore, to induce the Houfe to accept 
 
 the 
 
( i [ 9 ) 
 
 the prefent Bill, as giving them a permanent Right to a 
 favour which was held now by an act voidable at the plea- 
 fure of Great Britain, not only tell entirely to the ground, 
 as being utterly unfounded ; but unfortunately it contra¬ 
 dicted what had been argued .fyy the Right Hon. gentle¬ 
 man near him, [Mr. Orde ( ]. who had recommended the 
 prefent Bill as a ‘matter of experiment, that might be done 
 away at any time by Great Britain, or Ireland. He was 
 ready however to agree with another Right Hon. gentleman, 
 [Mr. Fofler] who had argued that the principle of the prefenl 
 Bill, was the fame as the principle of the 20th Geo. III. c. 
 10. This he admitted, but that Right Hon. gentleman when 
 he urged this fimilarity as an argument for the prefent Bill, 
 mufl have forgot, that it was exprefsly provided by that a<t, 
 that the principle ihould not be extended to any part of the 
 trade carried on or enjoyed by Ireland previous to that act; 
 and that the conditions therein flipulated, were exprefsly li- 
 mitted to the importation and exportation granted under 
 that act. Whether this provifo was infilled on by Ireland, 
 or was matter of conceflion as the other parts of the act ; 
 it did the higheft honour to the liberality and juflice of 
 Great Britain, who gave freely, without taking advantage 
 of the gratitude of Ireland, to impofe any reftraint on the 
 trade (he enjoyed exclufive of that grant. This provifo 
 now flood the Magna Charta of Irifh trade, and formed an 
 infuperable obflacle to any attempt to reflrain it beyond 
 the limits prefcribed by that a6t ; but the Britifh Bill now 
 on their table, that had been introduced by the Minifler in 
 England, declared it, “ in contradiction to this provifo,” 
 effential and indifpenfibly necefTary to the prefent fettlement, 
 that Ireland fhould not only impofe the fame duties, regula¬ 
 tions and reflections as Great Britain, on the exportation 
 and importation, granted by the a£t of 1780* but fhould 
 fubmit to the fame terms on the exportation and importa¬ 
 tion, which had been exprefsly exempted from thefe condi¬ 
 tions by the provilo of the act; nay, the prefent Bill 
 went flill further, and demanded, that Ireland fhould 
 fubje6l to the conditions of the act of 1780, her trade with 
 foreign Colonies generally and univerfally, which every 
 man mufl allow was a demand perfectly new. (Here 
 fomebody on the Treafury Bench calling out no , no, that 
 rum was excepted.] Mr. Ogilvie faid, he thanked the 
 gentleman for anticipating what he was going to fay, for 
 that the exception flrengthened his argument, as it was a 
 
 partial 
 
( 120 } 
 
 partial exception of rum imported from the Weft Indies ; 
 but American rum was fubjefted to the Rritifh duty, m 
 direct contradiction to the provifo of the aft of 1780. 
 Nor was this all, for by the Minifter’s Bill Ireland was to 
 bind herfelf, not only to lay the fame duties as Great 
 Britain, on rum, peltry, train oil, and whale fins, import¬ 
 ed from the States of /imerica but alfo to prohibit the impor¬ 
 tation of thofe articles whenever Great Britain ftiould prohi¬ 
 bit them ; which power of prohibition was by the Bill ge¬ 
 nerally extended over every part of the Colony trade, Bri- 
 tifh and foreign : A requilition fo entirely new, that Great 
 Britain had not made it even at the moment of granting 
 the free trade with the Colonies ; for the only power of 
 prohibition afked at that time had been of the trade with 
 the Britilh Colonies or Plantations in America , then in 
 aftual rebellion. He thought, however, that the Parliament 
 of Great Britain could not be fairly accufed of a breach of 
 faith in what they had hitherto done, as the Bill had not 
 come to that ftage when its principle could be difeufled; but 
 he was extremely furprifed that the Minifter fhould have in¬ 
 troduced to that Parliament a Bill that is indireft contra¬ 
 diction to an exifting law; which law it was not in the power 
 of Great Britain to repeal without a breach of faith with Ire¬ 
 land ; for the continuance of the a£t depends on the will of 
 Ireland ; and he challenged any man in the Houle to fhew 
 that Ireland had re.linquiftied or forfeited the right file en¬ 
 joyed under that aft. The Britifh Parliament therefore 
 could not have pafled the Minifter’s Bill into a law, without 
 committing an aft of violence, which ought never to be ad¬ 
 mitted as a poffible cafe within thofe wails. Another de¬ 
 viation from this famous aft, he obferved, was the refiraint 
 to be impofed on Ireland, to prohibit her from trading with 
 foreign colonies, as no fuch refiraint exified under that 
 aft; and every thing not exprefsly fiipulated was by the 
 provifo exempted from the conditions of the aft. A right 
 honourable Gentleman (Mr. Fofter) had at firfi attempted 
 to jufiify this prohibition by the aft of eighty; but he af¬ 
 terwards feemed to abandon this ground and to reft it on the 
 equal conftruftion of the navigation laws of Great Britain ; 
 there, indeed, he was ready to agree with the right hon. 
 Gentleman, for upon an equal and fair conftruftion of the 
 navigation laws, as adopted by Mr. Yelverton’s aft, he was 
 ready to admit that Ireland was reftrained from an inter- 
 coyrfe with foreign colonies; but then the gentleman mull 
 1 ' admit 
 
( ‘ 2 < ) 
 
 admit that this conftruQion put Ireland on an equal toot- 
 ing with Great Britain, and opened the ports ot Great 
 Britain to Irifh fhips, in the fame manner as it did the ports 
 of Ireland to the fhips of Great Britain. If this was denied 
 the Irifh nation was not retrained lrom trading with fo¬ 
 reign colonies ; if it was admitted, lhe had a right to the 
 intercourfe which was made the pretence tor the present fet- 
 tlement, and was confidered as one branch of the price that 
 fhe was to receive for the numerous disadvantages file was 
 to fubmit to in return. 
 
 He begged leave to obferve further, that the right lion. 
 Gentleman, [the Attorney General] had been miftaken in 
 the conditions annexed to the trade with the Eaft-Indies, if 
 ever that trade fhould be opened to Ireland, of which there 
 was very little probability indeed ; for that Ireland was now 
 to engage to carry on that trade, under fuch duties, re- 
 flraints, and reftriCtions, as fhould be from time to time 
 impofed by Great Britain . The Attorney General calling 
 out no, no, Mr. Ogilvie read from the Bill the exprefs 
 Claufe with -the words he had ufed, and further added, 
 that Great Britain had in this Cafe alfo referved a 
 power of prohibiting the Importation into Ireland, when¬ 
 ever fhe fhould find it her Interefl to prohibit the Importa¬ 
 tion into Great Britain. Having flated this very fully, he 
 begged that Gentlemen would attend particularly to a dan-* 
 ger that threatened Ireland with refpeCt to the EafI India 
 Trade, if the prefent Settlement fhould take place. Ele 
 faid, they all knew that a Tax on Windows had laft feffion 
 been impofed in Geart Britain as a commutation for the high 
 duties formerly paid on tea ; this tax had excited much dilFatis- 
 faction in England, where it had been confidered as an addi¬ 
 tional land-tax ; if the Minifter to regain his-loft popularity, 
 or any other Minifler to eafe the internal burdens of the peo¬ 
 ple, fhould be inclined to repeal this Act, and to impofe 
 the high duties formerly paid on tea, he would have this 
 additional encouragement to do it, that he would tax Ire¬ 
 land at the fame time, and that a fhare of the burden would 
 be borne by this kingdom. The duties paid on tea were, 
 as well as he recollected, ftatedfrom 1900,000!. to a million* 
 If only one-fourth of the above quantity was confumed in 
 Ireland, it would raife upwards of 200,000!. a year on 
 Ireland, a burden which lie was perfuaded every man 
 muft fee would prove ruinous to this kingdom ; and which 
 would be a fufficient reafon for rejecting the prefent fyflem, 
 if there were no other. 
 
 Mr. 
 
 R 
 
( 122 ) 
 
 Mr. Ogiivie laid, he fhould not now detain the Houfe 
 by going into detail to fhew the ruinous confequences that 
 muft arife from this fettlement, if ever it took place,, 
 to the infant manufa&ures of Ireland, but fhould referve 
 his arguments on this part of the fubjeft to the proper 
 ftage of the bufinefs, if ever for the misfortune of this 
 country, the Bill fhould pafs to a committee, which he 
 firmly believed it never would. 
 
 Major Doyle.—- At fo early an hour, Sir, it would feem 
 unnecefTary to apologize for foliciting the indulgence of the 
 Houfe. I have, however, too much confideration for the 
 exhaufted (fate of other Gentlemen, as well as myfelf, to 
 detain the Houfe long, and in truth it is not neceffary. 
 But the importance of the queftion calls upon every man 
 who has ever opened his lips within thofe walls to fpeak 
 boldly his fentiments upon a fyftem which is to decide for 
 ever the fate of Ireland, I fhould therefore hold myfelf guil¬ 
 ty of the moft inexpreffible crime againft my country, were 
 I to prefen/e a timid neutrality, or afford even a filent fup- 
 port, when its deareff interefts are upon the point of being 
 loft for ever. Sir, the refpe6tabfe attendance at your bar, 
 your crouded and anxious galleries, and the uncommon bril¬ 
 liancy of your audience, mark ftrongfy the agitation of the 
 public mind upon the event of this night’s debate. But it 
 is not only within this Houfe that it is difcernible, you fee 
 it in the dejected air of all your citizens, and in the def- 
 ponding countenance of every manufa£turer you meet ; 
 but I would tell them that their apprehenfions are ground- 
 Iefs; that the firm virtue of their Parliament will convince 
 any Minifter who fhould dare to wreftle with the Indepen¬ 
 dence of Ireland, that the Parliament of Ireland is too ftrong 
 for him—I would tell them, that the Members of this Houfe 
 will pare with the liberty of Ireland only with their lives. 
 I hope in this I fhould not fay too much ; but if am unhap 
 pily miftaken, and that by a political fuicide , the conftitu- 
 tion fhall this day be deftroyed, I fhall at leaft have the fa- 
 tisfa&ion to think, that I have done my duty by thus pub¬ 
 licly pretefting againft this difgraceful rneafure, and that 
 when pefterity fhall with indignation revile the proceedings 
 of this day, my name fhall not be found among thofe who 
 have ignominioufly negle&ed to defend, or who have bafely 
 dared to betray the rights of cur country. I have another 
 fa r isfa< 5 iion in the confcioufnefs that the idea of committing 
 the two countries, and driving the one to violence, and the 
 
 other 
 
( 
 
 «23 
 
 ) 
 
 other to retaliation, cannot be imputed to us who oppofe, 
 but to thofe who would force this iyftem ; for the people of 
 England agree with thofe of Ireland in the moft decided de- 
 teftation of the meafure. It is not a conteft between Eng¬ 
 land and Ireland, but a conteft on which the rafh Minifter 
 of one country is leagued with the artful Miniftry of the 
 other, in combination againft the people of both. When I 
 fay Miniftry, let none fuppofe I can have the moft diftant 
 allufion to the amiable Nobleman who reprefents Majefty; 
 were I to fpeak of him, it ftiould be with that refpeft which 
 I really have for his charafter: but, Sir, I feel for his fitu- 
 ation ;—candid himfelf, he fufpefts not the duplicity of 
 others, and furrounded by thofe whofe intereft it is to de¬ 
 ceive him, his name can be abufed only by their ufe of it. 
 Sir, I objeft to the admiflion of this bill ; firft, becaufe I 
 will not enter into treaty with thofe who, in the very outlet 
 of the bufinefs, mark the defign to over-reach—witnefs the 
 flight introduction of a conftitutional ufurpation into a com¬ 
 mercial regulation.—Is there any of you who, in the pri¬ 
 vate occurrence of domeftic life, would conclude a bargain 
 with a perfon whom you detected in the aft of cheating 
 you ? And fhall we be lefs tenacious of the nation’s rights 
 than an individual of his private intereft ? I objeft to it 
 again, becaufe it fets out upon a falfe principle. It affefts 
 to be founded upon the wiflies of our people, when the pe¬ 
 titions on your table prove it to be, in direft contradiftion 
 to them. The addrefs moved by an Hon. and refpefted 
 Friend of mine (Mr. Griffith) at the clofe of the feffion, is 
 adduced as a proof of the nation’s wifti, and is faid to be the 
 foundation of this bill. Sir, the generous motives which 
 induced him to bring forward this addrefs did honour to the 
 goodnefs of his heart, and were the effufions of genuine 
 patriotifm ; but it by no means fpoke the wiflies of the peo¬ 
 ple ; on the contrary, he did not move it until after he had 
 failed in effefting their wifti for Protecting Duties ; and 
 little did the unfufpicious honefty of his nature conceive, 
 that his laudable defire of accommodating both countries 
 could be diftorted into a fyftem injurious to the commerce, 
 and deftruftive to the conftitution ot Ireland. Again, I ob¬ 
 jeft to treating with the Right Hon. Gentleman, unlefs he 
 fhall produce credentials of his being fully impowered to 
 treat.—In this I am juftified by the humiliating failure of 
 his late treaty, though opened with fo much folemnity, and 
 apparent certainty of ratification. 1 objeft again to the 
 
 R 2 mode 
 
( 124 ) 
 
 inode of treaty, if even a treaty were neceffary ; for it is 
 impoflible that any fyftem can be formed in the firft in- 
 ftance in the Parliaments of both kingdoms ; if any fnch 
 arrangement is eligible, it fhould be effeded by the meeting 
 of Com miffi oners from each country, chofen from thofe 
 fnoft converfant in trade, (for the bufmefs has nothing to 
 do with conftittition) who after higgling and bargaining as 
 is cuftomary in commerce, fhall form the outlines of a plan 
 to be fubmitted to their refpeCIive Parliaments for ratifica¬ 
 tion. This, Gentlemen, well may recoiled, I fuggefted 
 on the original Propofition, and I find 1 am confirmed by 
 perfons of the firft abilities in another kingdom. I again 
 object to the duration of the treaty. It is the nature of 
 commerce to fiu&uate and be diverted into new and unex¬ 
 pected channels, and is it not therefore abfurd to hind, by 
 fixed and eternal regulations, what is in a conftant Pate of 
 fluctuation; and moreover, I deny, that we have power to 
 bind irrevocably fucceeding generations, (till lefs to impofe 
 upon them an eternal tribute. I confefs I did not fee the 
 advantages of the original refolutions fo rapidly run through 
 the Houfe; but if I had approved them, yet I never could 
 be a dupe to the falfe logic of a fchool-hov, who would per- 
 fuade you, that in agreeing to the Eleven Propofitions 
 which did not jmuch injure your trade, and did net at all af- 
 ECt your conftitution, you were neceftarilv hound to adopt 
 Twenty Propofitions, which throughout are at war with 
 the one, and decidedly victorious over the other. I fhall 
 defer faying any thing of the commercial impofitions con¬ 
 tained in the plan until another ftage of the bill, if unhap¬ 
 pily for the nation that opportunity fhonld occur, and I 
 ftiall content myfelf at prefent with giving a negative to the 
 introduction of the Bill—being refolved to ftand by our 
 conftitution while it can ftand, and fhould it fall, content 
 te fall with it 
 
 Colonel Moore faid, he rofe to great disadvantage, but, 
 as he feldom fpoke long, he trufted for the indulgence of 
 the Houfe. He then ufed a few arguments in a favour of 
 the motion. 
 
 Mr. Trench fpoke as fhortly againft it, declaring that he 
 thought it his duty, not lefs as the friend of Great Britain 
 than of Ireland, to eppofe the introdudion of a Bill, 
 which, without holding out any certain profpeCt of effen- 
 tial advantage to either country, feemed likely to injure the 
 interefts of both, by creating endlefs jealcufies, alarms, and 
 apprehenfions on each fide cf the water. 
 
 Mr- 
 
( «'5 ) 
 
 Mr. Nevill .—The greatnefs of the fubjeCI precludes 
 any neceftity for an apology, and a greater never was de¬ 
 bated in this Houle. On Thurfday I oppofed the propo¬ 
 rtion of the Right Hon. gentleman, [Mr. Flood*] the 
 Secretary having fo ftrenuoufty follicited for an adjourn¬ 
 ment of one day, and fo folemnly pledged himfelf to bring 
 forward what would tend to univerfal fatisfaHion.—I have 
 paid the utmoft attention to his fpeech and ftatement of the 
 Bill—which ftatement has determined me to vote againft 
 a Bill that breathes the fpirit of the Englifh Bill, and is 
 evidently founded on Refolutions, many of which are de¬ 
 finitive to the liberty, honour, and commerce of Ireland. 
 —I believe the intentions of the prefent Adminiftration arc 
 fair and honourable towards this country, and alfo, that 
 had Mr. Pitt had it in his power, he would have returned 
 the Refolutions as they were fent to England, and that he 
 was beaten out of them by the manufacturers of Great 
 Britain, and by the inveteracy of Party—but thank God, 
 Party has not arifen to fuch a height in this country, and 
 that the Minority of this night will fhew itfelf diverted of 
 Party—a Bill of fuch confequence fhould be carried unani- 
 moufly, or not at all. I hope Ireland, who has fo lately 
 diftinguiftied herfelf amongft the nations of the world, will, 
 on this occafton, fupport the charater ftie has gained. I 
 have. Sir, in general fupported Government through 
 the feiiion, but, on this occafton fhall quit them, and re¬ 
 commend the Secretary in his Clofet to conftder well the 
 chara&er, independence and property of the Minority ; 
 and alfo, to take into remembrance, that many of his ableft, 
 and moft powerful fupporters are abfent, who would, in 
 the courfe of the Bill, ftep forward and aftert the liberty of 
 the land. We have therefore gained great honour, and 
 let us perfevere. 
 
 * A preliminary debate bad taken place the preceding day upon Mr. 
 Orde’s intreating the Houfe to indulge him for one day longer, before he 
 (fated to them the Proportion he had to offer relative to the adjuflment of 
 a Commercial Intercourse between Great Britain and Ireland. In the 
 courfe of that debate Mr. Flood had dehred to move a Refolution to the 
 following purport: “ That this Houfe will retain undiminifhed the full 
 and free exercife, at all times, of the foie and exclufive authority of the 
 Itifh Parliament t*> legidate for Ireland, commercially and externally, as 
 well as internally.” 
 
 Mr. 
 
( 126 ) 
 
 Mr. Orde role to explain. It having been alluded to as 
 if he had faid that the Minifter could have gotten better 
 terms but did not, it became neceflary for him to repeat 
 that, the Minifter, befides combating the prejudices of the 
 manufacturers of Great Britain, had refilled the amend¬ 
 ments propofed by oppofition, l'ome of which, had they been 
 given way to and received, would have rendered the Refo- 
 lutions inadmiffible indeed. But he had never faid, that 
 the Bill, he propofed to bring in, either arofe from or was 
 founded on the twenty Refolutions of the Britifh Parlia¬ 
 ment. What he had faid, and what he mull ftill fay, 
 was that his Bill arofe from their own Propofition§ and was 
 confonant to the principles of thofe Proportions.# 
 
 Mr. Curran faid he was too much exhaufted to fay much 
 at that hour (fix o’clock) on the fubjeCl. His zeal had 
 furvived his ftrength. He wifhed his prefent ftate of mind 
 and body might not be ominous of the condition to which 
 Ireland would be reduced, it this Bill fhould become a law. 
 He could not therefore yield even to his weaknefs : It was 
 a fubjeCl might animate the dead. He then took a view of 
 the progrefs of the arrangement, and arraigned the infi- 
 dious conduCt of admini ft ration. In Ireland, it was pro- 
 pofed by the Minifter ; in England, it was reprobated by 
 the fame Minifter. Pie had known children learn to play 
 cards, by playing the right handagainlt the left,—he had 
 never before heard of negociation being learned in that way. 
 He faid a 3.11 was not a inode of negociating ; our law fpokc 
 only to ourielves—bound only ourfelves. It was abfurd 
 therefore to let a Bill proceed. But the commercial part 
 was out of the queftion ; for this Bill imported a furrender 
 of the conftitu ion and liberty of Ireland. If, faid he, we 
 fhould attempt fo bafe an aCt, it would be void, as to the 
 people. We may abdicate our reprefentation, but the 
 right remains with the people, and can be furrendered only 
 by them ;—we may ratify our own infamy, we can’t ratify 
 their flavery. He feared the Britifh Minifter was iniftaken 
 in the temper of Ireland, and judged of it by former times. 
 Formerly the bufinefs here was carried on by purchafed 
 majorities ; there was a time when the moll infamous 
 meafure was fure of being fupported by as infamous a ma¬ 
 jority. But things were changed ; the people were en¬ 
 lightened and ftrong ; they would not hear a furrender of 
 their rights, which, he faid, would be the confequence if 
 they fubmitted to this Bill. It contained a covenant to 
 
 pna& 
 
( >27 ) 
 
 enaft fuch laws as England fhould think proper ; that 
 would annihilate the Parliament of Ireland. The people 
 here mud: go to the Bar of the Englifh Houfe of Commons 
 for relief, and for a circuitous trade to England, we were 
 accepting, he faid, a circuitous conflitution. 
 
 He faid it was different totally from the cafes to which 
 it had been compared, the fettlement of or the 
 
 Methuen treaty : There all was fpecific and defined, here 
 all was fuftian and uncertain. A power to bind externally 
 would involve a power alfo of binding internally. This 
 law gave the power to Great Britain of judging what 
 fhould be a breach of the compaff, of conffruing it, in 
 fa6I of taxing us as fhe pleafed, and gave her new drength 
 to enforce our obedience. In fuch an event, he faid, we 
 mud either fink into utter davery, or the people mud 
 wade to a re-affumption of their rights through civil blood, 
 or be obliged to take refuge in an union, which, he faid, 
 would be the annihilation of Ireland, and what he fufpecfced 
 the Miuider was driving at. 
 
 Even the Irifh Minider, he faid, no longer pretended to ufe 
 his former language on this fubjedl; formerly they had been 
 lod in a foolifh admiration at the long impedimented mark 
 of oratoric pomp, with which the Secretary difplayed the 
 magnanimity of Great Britain. That kind of eloquence,- 
 he fuppofed, was formed upon fome model; but he fufpe<5l- 
 ed that the light of political wifdom was more eafily re¬ 
 peated, than the heat of eloquence ; yet they had been in rap¬ 
 tures even with the oratory of the honourable gentleman. 
 
 However, he now had defeended to an humble dyle, he 
 talked no more of reciprocity, no more of emporium. Mr. 
 Curran then went into general obfervations, to fhew that this 
 treaty would give no folid advantages to Ireland, but was 
 a revocation of the grant of 1779. 
 
 He faid, he loved the liberty of Ireland, he would, 
 therefore, vote againft the Bill, as fubverfive of that liberty; 
 he would alfo vote againft it, as leading to a fchifm be¬ 
 tween the two nations, that muft terminate in a civil war, 
 or in an union at bed. He was forry, he faid, he had 
 troubled them fo long ; but he feared it might be the laft 
 time he fhould ever have an opportunity of addreffing a 
 free Parliament, and if the period was approaching when 
 the boafted Conflitution of Ireland fhould be no more, he 
 owned he felt a melancholy ambition in deferving that 
 his name might be inrolled with thofe who endeavoured to 
 
 fave 
 
( 128 ) 
 
 fave it in its laff moment. Fofferity would be grateful for 
 the effort, though it fhould have failed of fuccefs. 
 
 Mr. Browne, (member for the univerfityj : Mr. Speaker, 
 As 1 am one of thofe unfortunate gentlemen, who have 
 been dragged up by the Miniffer, 14.0 miles, from the bu- 
 finefs of my profeffon, and driven about, as if I was one 
 of his own hacks, I hope to be indulged by his friends in 
 faying a few words. Surely, Sir, exclufive of every other 
 confideration, that Miniffer is inexcufable, w r ho without 
 inevitable neceiffty brings up the landed gentleman from 
 
 his harveft ; the profeffional man from his vacation,- 
 
 forces the fuitor to drop his claim, and even (as I am in¬ 
 formed) calls the judge from his bench. Does the fuccefs 
 of this Bill depend upon haffe; would it melt away before 
 the heat of a fummer, or its permanency be in the in- 
 verfe proportion of the time taken to confider it. Would 
 not one imagine that the Miniffer had called us together to 
 announce fome glad tidings, and not to afk an abjecf fur- 
 render of our conff itution and of our commerce ? W hat have 
 we really come forth to fee—in truth a “ reed fhaken w r ith 
 the wind,’' a trembling Miniffer, who feels himfelf tottering, 
 and would perfuade us, that on his exiffence depends the 
 cxiftence of the country. This fchemer, this fy ftem-monger 
 lias blown a new bubble to amufe us. This plaything of 
 the Miniffer, which has been dandled about during the 
 whole feafon, till it was repeatedly broke, is patched up 
 once more. He has produced fyilem after fyftem, and like 
 Candide has told us, of every one, that it was the beff of all 
 pollible fyftems. The moment we had revolved it, with 
 much labour and ffudy, a new one was propofed, and the 
 former vanifhed. Our affent was obtained by him to eleven 
 proportions, merely to be told, that we could not have 
 them. So that we might fay, with the merry knight, he is 
 neither fifh nor ilefli, and a man does not know where to 
 find him. Every fytfem was to be permanent, and then 
 the chief defence of it was, that we might break it when 
 we pleafed. Every plan was to lie final ; the laff words of 
 the Miniffer, and then followed another ultimatum, like 
 the man, who finding a good fale for “ the lalf words of Mr. 
 Baxter,” pubhfned “ more laff words of Johnny Baxter.” 
 Iriffi could bear a blunder, and the two ultimatums made 
 but one ultimatum. 1 beg pardon for jefting; but the 
 fubjedf ffrikes me in fuch various lights, fometimes me¬ 
 lancholy, at others ludicrous, that 1 feel my mind divid¬ 
 ed 
 
( m ) 
 
 td like the figure of Rofcius, between the comic and tra- 
 gick mule. But Sir, to be ferious; I do not believe, (with¬ 
 out knowing individuals, but arguing merely from confe- 
 quences,) that the prefent adminiftration is capable of form¬ 
 ing that wife arid durable plan of commercial intercourfe, 
 which is likely to keep thefe countries in peace and har¬ 
 mony. Inllead of premeditation, they appear to have com¬ 
 menced ralhly without knowing the intereds, or tempers 
 of the two kingdoms. Inllead of long confideration, all 
 has been hurry and precipitation. Inllead of concord, the 
 Englilh Minifler has been perpetually at variance with his 
 Irifh agent. The one promifed us immenfe advantages, 
 the other foothed England with arguments, to prove thofe 
 promifes fallacious, fo that when both in London, they 
 were afraid to meet in the Houfe of Commons. Inllead 
 of wife moderation, the feelings of this country have been 
 outraged by the Fourth Propofition. While that infult 
 Hands recorded on the Journals of Great Britain; while it tes¬ 
 tifies fuch a difpofition to invade our rights, in that haughty 
 nation, it is impoffible to negotiate. A dill greater infult 
 has been offered in their bringing in a Bill, before they 
 knew our fentiments. The natural courfe was to fend us 
 their Refolutions, and alk whether we could agree to thofe 
 conditions. But in bringing in a Billy what did they fay, 
 but that they expedled fubmiffion, and were carelefs as 
 to our alfent, or rather were fure of gaining it by artifice 
 or force. And how did they glofs over this infamous Pro- 
 polition ? By acknowledging our independence. Words 
 againfl fa£ls. They alferted it, and invade it in the lame 
 breath. They acknowledge it, and only defire us to give 
 it up. From the whole, I draw two confluences : The 
 one, that England acceded to the ellablilhment of ouf 
 rights, only through the emergencies of war; and has ever 
 fince been Hudying to undermine the fabriek. The 
 other that fhe views us with ineffable contempt; file 
 thinks our fpirit temporary; our determined voice a mere 
 boall ot language, and that the genius of Ireland unufed to 
 exertion, after one great effort, will never wake again. 
 May we not alk, with all the indignation of virtue, what 
 has Ihe feen in our condu6fc, to encourage fuch attempts ? 
 
 With refpefl to trade ; we have at prefent a commerce 
 free as the winds that blow. Cheared with our fhips for 
 many a league, old ocean frniles; his vail demefne is every 
 where open to us. And now we are modellly defired to 
 
 S confine? 
 
( i3° ) 
 
 • <?orifine ourfelves to the Atlantic ; to give a monopoly to 
 the Britifh colonies, and to {hackle our American trade, our 
 great expedted- fource of wealth, and all this for what ? 
 for an intercourfe with the Englifh- fettlements, which was 
 much more an objedf to them than to us, and for the ri¬ 
 diculous hopes of rivalling them in their home market. 
 
 Thefe are the bleffed effects of negotiation, and confirnv 
 this pofttion. The weaker country that negotiates is loft. 
 What had we to do with treaty, when every thing was in 
 our own power. I fee no harm in that declaration of an 
 illuftrious Duke, which the Minifter, with a party voice fo 
 induftrioufly dwelt upon this night, that the Portland ad- 
 miniftration meant to grant us no more. Why? becaufe they' 
 had granted us enough; and it was in our own power to- 
 do the reft. They faid they would not grant us any thing* 
 but did they fay, like the prefent, that they would take any 
 thing from us. Who oppofed the violent attack on our 
 conftitution contained in the fourth Proportion ? Not the 
 Minifter of England ; for by means of that Propofition* 
 principally did he hope to make the whole fyftem palatable 
 to the Britifh nation. Not the people of England; all their 
 objections related to the commercial part, but never in any 
 * of their addreftes or petitions did they objedfc to this re- 
 ftraint upon our legiilature. No ; the men who compofed 
 the whig miniftry of 1782, from whom we obtained a free 
 recognition of our rights, and who faw in an attack upon 
 them, the prelude to an invafion of their own. That bold 
 and decided fpirit, which diftinguifties the man who has 
 moil uniformly and powerfully oppofed increaftng in¬ 
 fluence, was never more alive, than in oppoftng this exe¬ 
 crable Propofition. Let each nation protedf its own trader 
 I apprehend lefs difunion from a war of duties, than from 
 the prefent infidious policy, I would go any length to pre¬ 
 vent difunion. I think it would be ruinous to both coun¬ 
 tries. It would probably terminate in flavery ; the pre¬ 
 fent Bill certainly would ; and in fome fituations, an ho- 
 neft man would be obliged to prefer the chance of liberty, 
 to the certainty of fubjedtion. 
 
 Mr. Brooke (Member for Donegal) faid, he hoped the 
 Houfe would indulge him in faying a very few words, par¬ 
 ticularly as he thought himfelf called on, as he had con- 
 ftantly fupported the Minifter, to give time to bring in 
 his Bill, as from the good opinion he entertained of the 
 prefent Government, he did conceive they would introduce 
 
 nothing 
 
( i3 T ) 
 
 nothing that could be injurious to Ireland ; he there¬ 
 fore concluded, that they would have introduced a Bill, 
 founded on the Proportions which had palled that Houfe ; 
 if they had done fo, Government fhould have had his fup- 
 port, and he did imagine, the fupport of a great majority ; ^ 
 
 but as a lhadow of thofe Propositions did not remain, and 
 as the Bill introduced by the Right Hon. gentleman 
 was founded on the twenty Proportions which had paffed 
 the Britifh Parliament, it was in his mind totally inad- 
 miflible. Mr. Brooke Said, he did not abound in words, 
 that his conduct mull be demonftrated by his aftions, that 
 during the time he had the honour of a feat in that Houfe, 
 he had uniformly given his fupport for the attainment of 
 the Conftitution, as now enjoyed ; and that, by the blef- 
 fing of God, hie never would give a vote that would fully 
 that Constitution. He concluded, by faying, he would not 
 barter Conftitution for Commerce. 
 
 Mr. Ogle .—Mr. Speaker. From the commencement of 
 •this very important bufinefs to the prefent moment, I have 
 ‘kept an awful filence, not from any want of attention 
 which I could poffibly pay to the Subject, nor from 
 want of a decided mind, what part I would take when¬ 
 ever it Ihould come before this Houfe in a proper 
 manner. But really, it has changed its form and lhape 
 fo often, that it was impoffible to know by what opinion 
 to bind it; and has fo often fhifted his pofition, that it was 
 equally impoffible to know on what ground to Hand; from 
 whence to take a fair, a full, and comprehenfive view ot it. 
 
 I do not hefitate to declare myfelf the friend of a commer¬ 
 cial arrangement between the filler kingdoms, founded on 
 the firm and broad balls of mutual honour, and of mutual 
 interell. Any fyflem founded on other principles, can 
 never be permanent—fo far from uniting, it mull Separate 
 —fo far from consolidating, it mull dilTolve. And I am 
 the friend of Such an arrangement as I wilh to have formed, 
 becaufe I am convinced it will have the bell confequences 
 to both kingdoms—becaufe it will prevent a commercial 
 war—which can only end in a commercial feparation— 
 the natural confequence of which will be, (and which of 
 all others ought to be avoided by every man who wilhes 
 well to the genuine interells of the Empire,) a national 
 feparation. But however defirable that obje£l may be, I 
 would not for the attainment of it, Sacrifice the Constitu¬ 
 tion of Ireland to the imperial pride of Great Britain—nor 
 
 S 2 will 
 
( >3 2 ) 
 
 will I ever furrender the natural rights and properties of 
 this country to the monopolizing fpirit of the traders and 
 manufacturers of England. I do not wifh to impoverifh 
 Great Britain by an unfair and partial aggrandifement of 
 Ireland, nor would I, nor will I make the Empire poor 
 indeed, by a facrifice of the Irifh Conflitution. I wifh to 
 {land between the two Countries, and to deal equal ho¬ 
 nour, and equal juftice to each. 
 
 I fhall vote for the admiffion of the Bill. Some gentle¬ 
 men have faid, there is fallacy in it—if I had not any 
 other reafon, that would be a fufficient one for me. I 
 jknow of no mode more effectual to deteCt the fallacy, than 
 by having it fairly and fully inveftigated. The Englifh na¬ 
 tion has been confulted upon their Bill—their l'enfe has been 
 taken upon it—fo ought the Irifh nation to be confulted 
 upon our’s, and fo ought their fenfe to to be taken. I 
 muff here beg leave to obferve, that I think there is fome 
 inconfiftency in gentlemen, who declare themfelves fomuch 
 the friends of the Irifh nation, not to allow that nation 
 an opportunity of confidering at this time for themfelves, 
 and of giving a decided opinion on a fubjeCt of fuch in¬ 
 finite and eternal moment. It is a fubjed of too great 
 magnitude to be fo lightly handled, or to be caft afide in 
 fo hafty a manner—every man in the kingdom interefted 
 and concerned in it, ought to be confulted—every indivi¬ 
 dual ought to give his opinion, and the fenfe of the com¬ 
 munity at large ought to be taken.—The fenfe of the na¬ 
 tion ought to appear at your bar, and by that Jenfe fhall 
 my conduct be regulated. ' *>*.•-*• 
 
 Mr. Brownlow faid, the gentlemen who fupported the mo¬ 
 tion had a great deal to anfwer for to their country, as well 
 as to thofe, who had much rather fome hours fince have 
 retired to their beds, than have been detained fo late un- 
 rreceffarily. For his part, it was fufficient to have heard 
 the Bill read, to know that it was founded on the ^th 
 Refolution of the two Houfes of the Britifh Parliament. 
 That was fo obvious and indilputable, that, if it would 
 not have been improper and irregular, he would have called 
 upon the Right Hon. gentleman to have read no more, 
 and defired the Houfe immediately to have come to the 
 queftion, again!! which he held himfeff bound to give his 
 vote, as a friend to the conffitutional rights of his country. 
 
 Mr. Smith . Believe me, Sir, I do not rife to follicit your 
 attention, or that of the Houfe, wantunly , or for the pur- 
 l •»* '■ ■ ’ pofc 
 
I 
 
 ( 133 ) 
 
 pofe of declamation. I widled to have offered my feeble 
 fentiments on the prefent important fubjeCt feveral hours 
 fince ; but competitors of more weight, and much more 
 capable of doing juftice to that fubjeCI, from time to time 
 foreftalled me ; and a juft confcioumefs of my inferiority 
 made me moft willingly acquiefce under their claims of 
 pre-audience. I am but too fenfible that at prefent, with an 
 exhaufted frame, a flumbering recollection, and every fa¬ 
 culty clouded, I can but little merit the attention ot the 
 Houfe to any thing, that I may offer on a queftion which 
 has already been difcuffed with a fplendor of eloquence, 
 that, for a while involved us all in a blaze, and with a 
 degree of ftrength, which, in my judgment, muft have 
 brought conviction to every mind not deaf to reafon, and 
 unpenetrable to argument. 
 
 Sir, I fhall vote againft the admiffion of the propofed Bill 
 upon three grounds. Firft, becaufe I think its probable ef¬ 
 fect would counteract the very principle which it profeffes ; 
 Secondly, becaufe I think it would counteract and injure 
 that commerce which it propofes to extend ; and laftly, 
 and above all, becaufe I feel the moft full and firm convicti¬ 
 on that it would, if paffed into a law, be everfive of the li¬ 
 berties and conftitution of this country. And, Sir, in vin¬ 
 dicating this my opinion, though I confider myfelf as war¬ 
 ranted to refort to, and avail myfelf of the Twenty Refolu- 
 tions which paffed the Britifh Houfes of Parliament, yet I 
 fhall not feek to do fo; I will found myfelf merely upon 
 thofe claufes which the Right Hon. mover has ftated, as 
 compofing part of the Bill, and which alqne, ought, in my 
 opinion, to damn that Bill, and caufe its exclufion from 
 this Houfe for ever :—I mean thofe claufes which purport to 
 adopt the 4th, 5th, and qth Relblutions which paffed the 
 Britifti Houfes ol Legiflation. 
 
 I have faid. Sir, that I confider the propofed Bill as mi¬ 
 litating againft its own avowed principle. What is that 
 principle ?—to effect the mutual profperity and happinefs 
 of the fifter kingdoms, and eftablifti everlafting harmo¬ 
 ny between both,—an objeCt devoutly to be wiftied for ! 
 And how is this to be effected?—Why, Sir, by a fyftem 
 odious to the one country, and deteflable to the other.—By a 
 fyftem folemnly abjured by the people of Great Britain, and 
 univerfally execrated by the people of Ireland. Sir, to con¬ 
 ceive that fucha fyftem could ever become the bafis of mu¬ 
 tual happinefs, or mutual harmony, is in my opinion, the 
 
 wildeft 
 
( i3+ ) 
 
 wiidefl idea that ever entered the minds of men. No, Sir, 
 harmony or happinefs can never refult from it,—’tis a fyfi- 
 tem which if adopted, muft be ruinous to both coun¬ 
 tries —“ ’tis fown in jealoufy, and will be raifed in de- 
 ** ffru&ion,—’tis fown in difcord, (and heaven grant that) 
 
 it (may) not be raifed in blood.” 
 
 Sir, I alfo confider the propofed Bill as injurious to the 
 commerce of this country, which however it profelTes to 
 encourage and extend : but as this point has been already 
 diffufively difcufTed, and as I think it premature at prefent 
 to argue upon any of the commercial provifions of the pre¬ 
 fent Bill, I (hall decline doing fo ; and will prefs on to the 
 third, and decifive ground upon which I fhall vote againft 
 its introdu6Hon. I have already reminded the Houfe that 
 the Right Hon. mover of this Bill has dated a claufe from 
 it adopting the 4th Refolution, which I before alluded to, 
 almoft, if not entirely, in its very words:—and. Sir, Ido 
 contend for it, that if that claufe fhall ever become a law, 
 or any part of a law, in this country, it will, fo far as it 
 can operate, be a transfer to the Britifh Parliament, of the 
 power of legiflating for this country, and an abfolute fur- 
 render of the conftitution of the land. What, Sir, does it 
 import?—Why this: that all Britifh laws of regulation 
 with refpeft to the trade wherein we are to participate, are 
 <e to be of force ” in Ireland ; and if it flopped here, the trans¬ 
 fer of legiflative power would be clear and incontrovertible : 
 but a qualifying claufe enfues, on which much reli¬ 
 ance is had : namely, << That thefe laws are to be of 
 force by a6fs, to be for that purpofe paffed by the 
 Irifh Parliament.” Now, Sir, what is the natural, the 
 fair, and I would almoft fay, the obvious conftru&ion of this 
 claufe ? Why this, that the Britifh Parliament fhall by 
 their laws bind the people of Ireland, not indeed immediately, 
 but through the intervention of their legiflature ; that is, 
 they fhall make laws, not for the people , but for the Parlia¬ 
 ment of Ireland; and thus the reprefentatives of the people 
 of this country—the truftees of their rights—and the guar¬ 
 dians of their liberties, arc to become the betrayers of both, 
 and the inftruments of opprefhon tothofe whom it was their 
 lounden duty to prote£I and defend. 
 
 This, Sir, is my conftru&ion of this claufe, and of the 
 relolution which it adopts. 
 
 A Right Hon. Friend of mine, whofe judgment I highly 
 fcfpecf, underflands it differently. But, if its conilruc- 
 
 tion 
 
( *35 7 
 
 tion be even doubtful , it ought to damn the propofed Biff* 
 Would you at that glorious sera, when the redemption of your 
 conftitution was wrought ?—would you then be fatisfied 
 with doubtful language, or equivocal renunciation ?—Oh* 
 no—nothing would then be Suffered to remain in doubt—nor 
 would the fhadow of uncertainty be endured—and why not 
 be equally cautious, and equally jealous now ? If a doubt 
 can by pojfibility be entertained, as to whether this claufe 
 would, or would not amount to a furrender, (fo far as in: 
 you lay) of your legislative authority—will you receive a 
 Bill pregnant with fuch an horrid claufe } But poflibly it 
 may be faid, that the conftrudtion of the 4th Resolution* 
 is in no wife problematical—and that it cannot be fo con¬ 
 strued, as to import a transfer of legiilative authority. If it 
 fhall be fo faid, I anfwer, that one of the brighteft lumina¬ 
 ries of the law, in Great Britain, (I mean Lord Camden) 
 has at leajl intimated a very different opinion. When foli- 
 cited to declare, whether that Refolution gave the Britilh 
 Parliament a right to legiflate for Ireland, he was blent—- 
 when preffed further, he declared that he would not, after 
 feven years conbderation, think himfelf competent to an¬ 
 fwer fuch a queftion- 
 
 Is it then poffible to doubt, that the conftrudtion of this 
 claufe is dangeroufly equivocal ; and that at a future day* 
 and after the blent lapfe of years, Englifhmen of brilbant 
 genius and legal information, may give it a conftrudtion. 
 everbve of the rights and conftitution of Ireland ? And 
 fhall fuch a claufe be endured ? or fhall a Bill ftigmatized 
 by it, be received within thefe walls ? Never, I truft, ne¬ 
 ver ; in cafes fuch as the prefent, doubt is always danger* 
 and fufpicion littlelefs than certainty. 
 
 Sir, Gentlemcnhave attempted to defend this claufe bythe 
 FreeTrade adt, as it is called, of 1779, as being a precedent 
 in point; but that was an adt of our own legislature, proceed¬ 
 ing by the energy of their own immediate power, adting as 
 free agents, uncontrouled by any paramount authority, or 
 difgraceful compadt. Were the Parliament of Ireland vo¬ 
 luntarily to adopt a Britifh law, who in his fenfes would af- 
 fure that fuch adoption was a grievance ?—but if they were 
 obliged to adopt that law, who would be hardy enough to 
 deny that fuch obligation was unequivocal flavery } 
 
 It was faid, that the treaty between Great Britain and 
 Ireland Should be conbdered as a treaty between two inde¬ 
 pendent kingdoms ; and, in fuch a cafe, why Should it 
 
 alarm 
 
( 136 ) 
 
 alarm, if one kingdom llipulated for the other’s fubmitting 
 to its laws of commercial regulation ? And if no caufe of 
 alarm there, why any here ? Shall, faid Gentlemen, mofe 
 jealoufy prevail between two lifter kingdoms, bound to' 
 each other by every tie of intereft and afleCtion, than be¬ 
 tween two flranger nations ? I anfwer to both thofe quefti- 
 ons, there fhould be more alarm, there fhould be more jea¬ 
 loufy, if one of thofe lifter kingdoms had ever before ufurp- 
 ed a power of legillating for the other ; and if the depend¬ 
 ing treaty imported any thing that could, by poflibility, 
 furnilh a ground, at a future day, for any renewal of the 
 old claim, or any repetition of the old ufurpation. Power 
 is an obje6t fo attractive, that no nation, and fcarcely any 
 individual* has virtue enough to relilt its influence : For 
 thefe reafons, Sir, I lhall vote againll the admiltion of the 
 propofed Bill. 
 
 Mr. Beresford faid, at that late hour he did riot rife td 
 go into any argument upon the fubjedt of the motion, 
 which he fhould fupport, but merely to fet the Hon. Gen¬ 
 tleman right as to a matter of fa£t. The Hon. Gentleman 
 was miftaken in regard to the condudt aferibed by him to a 
 noble and learned Lord high in office. That noble and 
 learned Lord had not ufed a phrafe limilar to that imputed 
 to him by the Hon. Gentleman. He was, Mr. Beresford 
 faid, prefent himfelf in the Houfe of Lords in London 
 when the tranfaclion in quellion occurred, and he could 
 fpeak to it with confidence. The fa£l was this, fome of 
 the Oppolition Lords attacked the noble and learned Lord 
 with a repetition of quellions as to his conllruclion of the 
 Fourth Refolution, upon which the noble and learned Lord 
 complained of their putting fuch interrogatories to him with 
 a view to have his name fent abroad with an anfwer, and at 
 length, after he had been teized for fome time, faid, if the 
 noble Lords were to peril If in interrogating him for feven 
 years, he would deliver no opinion nor give any anfwer to 
 quellions fo improperly put to him. 
 
 Mr. Rowley faid, he Ihould vote againll the motion, be- 
 caufe his conllituents had declared themfelves adverle to 
 any fyftem that had the Twenty Refolutions of the Britifh 
 Parliament for its foundation. His own fentiments perfect¬ 
 ly coincided with theirs, and as it was evident, from the 
 fpeech of the Right Hon. Gentleman, that the Bill he in¬ 
 tended to bring in adopted the efifential principles of the 
 Britifh Refolutions, he held it his duty to oppofe the at¬ 
 tempt to introduce a Bill, that mull, necelfarily, in its 
 
 operation 
 
c m ) 
 
 peration and effe&, prove disadvantageous to the intereds 
 of Ireland. 
 
 Mr. Hartley faid, he did not think it by any means ne- 
 ceflary to enter into a particular difcuffion of the propofed 
 Bill, in order to judge of the nature of it; it was fufficient 
 for him to have read the Twenty Refolutions of the Bri- 
 tifh Parliament, and the Bill that had been brought into 
 the Englifli Houfe of Commons, and to have heard the 
 explanation given by the Right Honourable Gentleman 
 with regard to the Bill that he intended to introduce. Thofe 
 Sufficiently explained to him the nature of the Bill that was 
 to be offered for their adoption ; and, therefore, he would 
 vote againd the motion. He faid, he would make no ob- 
 fervations on the conditional part of the queftion ; he 
 rejoiced, and he congratulated his countrymen, that the 
 ableft men in the kingdom had taken it up; they had ar¬ 
 gued fo drongly, and had placed it in fo clear a point of 
 view, that it was impoffible to midake its tendency. With 
 cefped to trade, the conceffions held out by Great Britain 
 to Ireland in this commercial adjuftment, the only new 
 conceffions, and upon which the Right Honourable Gen¬ 
 tleman had laid fo great a drefs, confided of two things : 
 the opening of the Britifh market to the manufactures of 
 Ireland upon the fame terms on which Britilh manufactures 
 are admiffible there, and the giving a fair conftruCtion to the 
 navigation aCts. With regard to the firft of thefe, the open¬ 
 ing of the Britifh market to Ireland, it did not appear to 
 him to be fo eflential an advantage as fome Gentlemen 
 feemed to imagine; at lead, he would fooner confent to 
 forego any poffible benefits that might arife from it, than 
 receive it under circumdances fo difadvantageous as thofe 
 with which it was to be accompanied. It was idle to fup- 
 pofe, that they could underfell Great Britain in her own 
 market, when experience proved, that Great Britain could 
 underfell them in the market of Ireland ; a circumftance 
 which had occafioned the demand of Protecting Duties. 
 This part of the new fydem, therefore, was delufive and 
 tantalizing; it held out a profpeCl of future advantage, 
 which they were incapable of availing themfelves of. With 
 regard to the other conceffion, the giving a fair conftru&ion 
 to the navigation aCts, that was certainly an objeCt of fome 
 importance, though by no means fo great as it had been 
 dated to be; it opened indeed a market for any accidental 
 redundancy Ireland might have of the produce of the Bri- 
 
 T tiffi 
 
( i3« ) 
 
 tifh Weft India Illands, but it was vain to expe& (he 
 fhould ever become rhe carrier of that produce to Great 
 Britain. A variety of obvious reafons would naturally 
 fusgeft themfelves to the minds of Gentlemen in fupport 
 of the propriety and juftice of this obfervation. With re- 
 fpedt to the Colonies abroad, Ireland had already made a 
 compact with Great Britain for a Colonial trade, and had 
 paid a high price for the bargain, by confining her con- 
 fumption to the produce of the Britifh Iflands, to a very 
 great amount, not lefs, he believed, in the article of fugar, 
 than five hundred thoufand pounds yearly, with which Ihe 
 might fupply herfelf from foreign Colonies 25 to 30 per 
 cent, cheaper. Mr. Hartley faid, he could not help tak¬ 
 ing notice of the threat that had been held out, with regard 
 to the linen manufadfure of Ireland. It had been faid, that 
 Great Britain might forbear any longer to encourage the 
 itapie of Ireland, and to take her linens. This he confi- 
 dered as an empty menace. Exclufive of the advantage 
 Great Britain derived from her trade in Irilh linens, which 
 made it her intereft to continue if, he could not entertain 
 fo bafe an opinion of that country, as to imagine that fhe 
 would totally difregard the folemn compadt file had entered 
 into, when (he ftript Ireland of her woollen trade and ma¬ 
 nufacture, and be guilty of fo grofs a breach of national 
 faith. Admitting, therefore, that Great Britain meant to 
 continue a friend to the linen manufacture of Ireland, he 
 did not think fhe gave them, even in that particular, the 
 abfolute fecurity (lie had a right to expect ; becaufe, the 
 only engagement fhe held out to their linen manufadture by 
 the propofed lyitem was, an afturance that no duty fhould 
 be impofed on Irifh linens ; fhe did not, at the fame time, 
 fay, fhe would not reduce the duty on foreign linens ; and 
 the one alTurance without the other, Gentlemen mull ac¬ 
 knowledge, did not afford that fpecies of fecurity fufticient 
 to guard the linen manufadiure of Ireland againft the poffi- 
 bility of future rivalfhip in the Britifh market. 
 
 Mr. Corry rofe and faid, I mu ft neceftarily he fhort at 
 this hour ; and as I have before this night exprefled my 
 opinion of the Englifh Resolutions, andfhall, if the bufi- 
 nefs fhould go on, frequently afk the indulgence of the houfe, 
 it was my intention not to have taken any part in this de¬ 
 bate, but the frequent mention which has been made of 
 what paffed in England has induced me to rife, fince I 
 think \vfiat paftes there, refpecting the conftitutjon of Ire¬ 
 land, 
 
( >39 ) 
 
 land, not an unfit objeft of the attention of its Parlia- 1 
 ment. A right honourable Gentleman (Mr. Beresford) 
 has ftated the words of a noble peer there (lord Camden) ; 
 I was not, I own, as the right honourable Gentleman, was 
 on the fpot, to hear them ; but by the mod authentic ac¬ 
 counts, both by letters and from thole who were prefent, 
 who have informed me, that noble perfon did fay, that 
 (( were he to be prelTed for feven years, he would not give 
 an anfwer to the queftion, when afked his opinion whe¬ 
 ther the 4th Refolution invaded the independence of Ireland 
 or not/’ (a cry of hear from the Treafury Bench) Then faid 
 Mr. Corry, if they are content with that ftatement, I am 
 content to let them make their advantage of it, it cannot 
 be mifconftrued. Since I am up I will fay one word upon 
 the motion for leave to bring in the bill propofed ; and 
 on that queftion I hold it orderly to avoid all detail, fince 
 objections to the introduction of a bill ought to go to prin¬ 
 ciple alone. The principle which I objeCt to, is that com 
 tained in the 4th and in fome other Refolutions of the En- 
 glifh Parliament. The Houfe has heard the right horn 
 mover adopt that principle, and has had the forbearance 
 not to give way to any exprefiions of indignation. To 
 the courtefy of the country he is indebted for that paf- 
 fing unnoticed, which deferves the name certainly of 
 temerity, if not of audacity,—the attack upon your conftitu- 
 tion; or perhaps rather to the infignificance of the offender 
 merging in the magnitude of the offence. The fame cour¬ 
 tefy, and that delicacy towards men not prefent to anlwer 
 for thernfelves, has not been very rigidly obferved by the 
 right honorable Gentleman, who in his fpeech twice men¬ 
 tioned the conduCt toward^ t Ireland of the oppofition in 
 England (here the Attorney General rofe, but Mr. Corry 
 laid it was not to his fpeech he had alluded.) In the open¬ 
 ing fpeech motives had been imputed to the oppofition of 
 England for their conduCt, which was a thing no one 
 gentleman he believed had ufually taken the liberty of do¬ 
 ing to another, and was ftill lefs likely to be well received in 
 the abfence of the perfons fpoken of; he faid the motives 
 or the conduCt of oppofition in England was no objeCt in 
 that Houfe, but as they affeCted the interefts of Ireland, 
 and they deferved to be noticed with cenfure or applaufe 
 there in that refpeCt alone— 
 
 Mr. Orde interrupted Mr. Corry, and declared that fo 
 much had been faid in the courfe of the debate, and fuch 
 
 T 2 frequent 
 
( *40 ) 
 
 frequent allufion made to what he had fuggefled relative 
 to the condud of the Oppofition in the Britifh Parliament, 
 that it became highly neceffary for him to remind gentle¬ 
 men, that the amount of what he had faid upon that fubje£t, 
 was, that oppofition in England had generally objected to 
 the fyflem, and offered fome amendments that were refill, 
 ed, and would have been deemed wholly inadmiflible in 
 Ireland. He never had wifhed, and was far from intend¬ 
 ing to impute any unworthy motives to the gentlemen 
 who formed that oppofition, and who had given the Mi- 
 nifler fo much trouble. 
 
 Mr. Corry faid, that if imputation of motives for their 
 conduct had been difavowed, yet that the defcription given 
 of their meafures went to infinuate, that the oppofition 
 were to be looked upon as a party inimical to the interefls 
 of Ireland— 
 
 Mr. Orde again interrupted Mr. Corry, and faid, he 
 had never fpoken of Oppofition as a party, but as a body 
 of Gentlemen who had oppofed the Minifler ; and he 
 believed the Gentlemen themfelves would not wifh to be 
 flared otherwife. 
 
 Mr. Corry faid, he was happy then to underfland that 
 they were totally and in all refpe£ls exculpated by the Right 
 Hon. gentleman, but as any body of men in Great Bri¬ 
 tain, being favourable or inimical to the conflitutional 
 rights of Ireland, could not altogether be a matter of in¬ 
 difference in that Houfe, he could not in juflice refrain 
 from recalling to the Houfe, the exprefiions which had fal¬ 
 len from a very able and diflinguifhed member of that par¬ 
 ity. Who could forget the beautiful figure the hon. Gentle¬ 
 man ufed, to exprefs his fenfe of the fourth Refolution, the 
 prefent fubjeft of debate, when he flated, the fieve of pro- 
 vender offered to the feed in one handy with a bridle in the 
 other ? Who could forget the beautiful figure the fame gen¬ 
 tleman ufed, to exprefs his fenfe on the Eaft India trade ; 
 a matter which had never been touched on that Houfe, but 
 had been thrown in as mere paper and packthread, when 
 he fpoke of the eternal boom placed againjl Ireland from the 
 Cape of Good Hope to the Streights of Magellan ? Party had 
 been mentioned ; that the Right Hon. gentleman was a 
 party-man in the difputes of England, it was impoffible he. 
 fnould deny ; and his obfervations upon the parties there 
 would be received, he doubted not, accordingly. But what 
 had that Iioufe, or any other Member of it to do with their 
 
 party ? 
 
( Hi ) 
 
 party ? As tor himfelf, he noticedthefe things injuftice to 
 thole who fpoke there as the iriends of Ireland :'-~he owed 
 them no obligation as a party, and he lcorned to be a mean 
 dependant upon any party. 
 
 Much pa;ns, he laid, had been taken in (bating the 
 fyftem of the Mini tier, to place the fourth Resolution on a 
 footing with the condition annexed to the grant of the 
 Colony trade in 1780 ; but there was, indeed, a material 
 difference; that in 1780 was a liberty propofed to Ireland, 
 to trade direfitly with the Colonies upon certain conditions, 
 to which Ireland anlwered by addrefs only, that fhe was 
 thankful for the favour it conveyed, but bound herfelf to 
 no acceptance of it. In confequence fhe thought fit, in¬ 
 deed, to make ufe of it at pleafure ; but, in the prefent 
 cafe they are invited to a compaft, in which they are to bind 
 themfelves to that trade upon certain conditions , and which 
 conditions they, by the compaft itfelf, ftipulated to perform ; 
 and at the moment they were invited to enter into this com - 
 paft, they were told that the conditions , (which were a part of 
 it,) depended upon themfelves; whenever therefore they 
 chofe to get rid of it, they might ceafe to perform the 
 conditions , and fo get rid of the comp aft. And are two na¬ 
 tions faid he, to enter into a compaft, and that as permanent 
 and final, in contemplation of fuch mean and pitiful fub- 
 terfuge by which to creep out to promife to perform, what 
 they intend to break, to falfify their word, and facrifice 
 their honour ; from fuch council the honeft mind turns 
 with contempt, while it defpifes the advifer. Such pitiful 
 evafions to cover the real nature of this bufinefs, which 
 can never appear to be any other than an infidious inva- 
 fion in effeft of that conftitution, which Great Britain 
 has folemnly acknowledged, however dignified the attempt 
 may be by terms, are poor equivocations that but “ palter 
 with us in a double fenfe, keeping the word of promife to 
 our ears, but breaking it to our hope.” No, let each na¬ 
 tion, as they have laudably been in England, as far as 
 related to the interefts of the commerce of that kingdom 
 which they were acquainted with, be jealous of their own 
 concerns; but let them meet in fentiments of honourable 
 and noble feeling towards each other. At the fame time, 
 as they take care of theirs, fo let us take care of our rights 
 and interefts. He faid the principle of this meafure was as 
 abfurd as inadmifiible ; two nations, unequal in all things, 
 could never be equally affefted by one and the fame law. 
 He would be a wretched quack who would adminifter to all 
 
 patients. 
 
( '42 ) 
 
 patients, in all complaints, the fame noftrum. Who had 
 not laughed at Foote’s dodtor ordering his man to phyfic 
 the entire eaftward, and bleed the weft of his hofpital. 
 No univerfal policy could be bed in all places —the two 
 nations muft, in their wifdom, meet emergencies, and 
 enact in con!equence fuch laws and regulations as beft 
 fuited each, if they would equally protedl all, fince to 
 two countries, unequal in all things, one and the fame 
 law, equally applied, would be the very criterion of ine¬ 
 quality in effect. But, fuppofe this matter as to conftitution 
 to ffand as it had been dated, and that they had, as it was 
 faid, dill a deliberative voice in palling the laws of Eng¬ 
 land. I will admit it, faid he, in its greateft extent; you will, 
 
 I admit for a moment, have a deliberation upon your affent 
 or diffent: But is that the deliberative power, that conffi- 
 tutionally belongs to this Houfe; that is the deliberative . 
 power of thej crown, it is true, and that only ; but what 
 is the difference between the legillative power of the crown, 
 and of the two Houfes of Parliament; have you not the 
 power of originating your laws, the power of altering laws; 
 and befides the power of affent or diffent; and when you 
 reduce yourfelf barely to the latter, are you any longer the 
 fame Parliament, or the fame in conftitution ?—It needs no 
 refutation—confider too the penalty in this cafe, to affeft 
 your affent and diffent under this fettlement, and then 
 fay, whether even as to that, you do not deliberate under 
 the preffure of a penalty, that muft: in a great degree in¬ 
 deed deftroy the power of deliberation ; the penalty of the 
 flop of every article of the trade of the country, fhould you 
 refufe your implicit afl'ent—And thus trifling injuries may 
 in detail be heaped upon you, while in defence of each 
 feperate encroachment, you will be truly told, that any thing 
 but unconditional fubmiffion to them is to be fure deftruc- 
 tion, not only to your own univerfal trade, but havoc and 
 ruin, to the interefts and power of the Empire at large; 
 and thus will you be induced, by repeated fubmiffion to 
 heap up ruin on yourfelves;—as a legillative body at home 
 you will be defpiled, or you, Sir, perhaps fent Irom the empty 
 and abfurd ftate of the foreman of a national Grand Jury, 
 with that bauble on your table, to plead the caule ol the 
 trade ol Ireland, at the bar of thofe now your equals, then 
 your fuperiors; a fpedfacle to gratify their ambition, and 
 a facrifice to their interefts ; difgraced abroad, and difpif- 
 ed at home—and that which fhould accompany you “ as 
 
 love. 
 
( *13 ) 
 
 love, obedience, honour, troops of friends” you muff: not 
 look to have, but in their head curfes—no longer will you 
 have power to protect with premiums your manuhdtures, or 
 with bounties your trade : you may ilill injure it by your 
 power, it is true, and thus you will be looked up to, as cerr 
 rain lavages adore the DeVil, not becaufe he is the fource 
 of goad, but as they would avert evil. At this late hour I 
 dare not take up your time, to go into the fubjedt in a 
 manner full as it would demand, and therefore I fhall 
 only fay, that I am a decided enemy to the principle of 
 the Bill Hated, and confequently an enemy to the mo¬ 
 tion. 
 
 Sir Henry Hartjlonge faid a few words againfl the mo¬ 
 tion. 
 
 Mr. 'John Wolfe, (County of Kildare) declared, he had in¬ 
 tended to have faid a few words on the lubjedt in the courfeof 
 the evening, but the Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Grattan) 
 on the fecond bench on the other fide of the Houfe had ur¬ 
 ged every thing that could be faid on- the fubjedf with fo 
 much force and eloquence, that it was unneceffary to add any 
 thing further ; and he fhould not have troubled the Houfe 
 at all, but from what fell from fome Gentlemen near 
 him. He faid, he would vote againfl: the admifiion of this 
 Bill becaufe he difapproved the principle ; he confidered it 
 as an attack on the Conffitution, and were it to pafs into a 
 law, it would be a diffolution of the government, and 
 ought to be oppofed by the force of the country. Much 
 had been faid about the condudf of the two parties in 
 England—much blame had been bellowed upon the Gen¬ 
 tlemen in oppofition, and much praife upon Mr. Pitt. 
 For his part he thought Mr. Pitt unworthy of the confi¬ 
 dence of England, becaufe he had endeavoured to injure its 
 interefls, and unworthy the confidence of Ireland, be¬ 
 caufe he had attacked its conffitution. Where was now, 
 he faid, his boafled firmnefs ? He had taught that country 
 to look up to the benefits held out in the original Propo¬ 
 rtions and then deferred them ? He feemed to have made 
 Propofitions only to recede from them, and had expofed 
 his friends to the obloquy and ridicule of both countries. 
 
 The condudt of tne Gentlemen in oppohtion in England 
 he confidered as highly praile worthy, and that they bad 
 given the Gentlemen of this country an example that ought 
 to be followed, when they thought the interefls of their 
 country in danger; they exerted themfelves in its de¬ 
 fence^ 
 
( *44 ) 
 
 fence, and when the conftitution of Ireland was attack¬ 
 ed, they endeavoured to avert the intended injury, well 
 knowing, that if the Irifh conftitution was deftroyed, their 
 own would be in danger ; and well knowing that there was a 
 fecret influence, as he had mentioned on a former occafion, 
 which had been many years exerted againft the liberties of 
 both. 
 
 Mr. Rowley , jun. in a fliort fpeech obje&ed to the mo¬ 
 tion. 
 
 Sir Lucius O'Brien faid—Mr. Speaker.—Though it was 
 my intention not to have troubled the Houfe in this flage of 
 the bufinefs, yet fomething that has been alluded to by other 
 Gentlemen, and more exprefsly flated by my friend who 
 fpoke lately, (Mr. Corry) oblige me to depart from that 
 intention. It has been aflerted that every man who gives 
 his aflent to the introdu£Uon of this Bill for effe&uating the 
 intercourfe and commerce between Great Britain and Ire¬ 
 land on permanent and equitable principles, for the mutual 
 benefit oF both countries, gives his fupport to the do£trines 
 of the fourth Propofition of the Englilh Parliament, which 
 are flated to militate againft the Conftitution of Ireland. 
 
 Now, as I mean to allow the Right Hon. Gentleman to 
 bring in his Bill, and afterwards to aflift this Houfe in ma¬ 
 king that Bill as perfeft as may be, and as I have on former 
 occafions exprefled my readinefs to fecond the motion of an 
 Hon. Friend on the other fide, that this Houfe will retain 
 undiminiftied the free and full exercife of the foie and ex- 
 olufive authority at all times to legiflate for Ireland, com¬ 
 mercially and externally as well as internally ; and as I am 
 ftill ready to give him the fame fupport, I feel myfelf bound 
 to lhew that thefe fentiments are not inconfiftent. 
 
 I truft. Sir, I have been found as little difpofed as any 
 man to barter a free Conftitution for Trade, ift, becaufe I 
 hold the great rights of the people to be unalienable by Par¬ 
 liament, and that fuch an attempt would be ipfofafto void ; 
 arid fecondly, becaufe Free Trade (however cherifhed) can 
 only thrive in the foil of a FreeConftitution. And I am ready 
 to lay, that when I firft faw the Englilh Propofitions as they 
 were fent down to our Reprefentatives, I thought the fourth 
 Propofition exceedingly exceptionable. The Propofitions 
 however had been formed amid contrarient fentiments, in 
 the heat of debate and with amendments, firft fuggefted on 
 the moment of their adoption, (circumftances not always 
 the moft happy to produce precifion in our expreflions); and 
 
 therefore 
 
( >45 ) 
 
 therefore I was willing to give the Parliament of our filler 
 kingdom the fame liberty, I could not deny to any indivi¬ 
 dual, the liberty of expreffing the fenfe they wiffied to have 
 affixed to their own expreffions. That meaning feemed to 
 me to have been diffidently defined in the addrefs of both 
 Houfes, after deliberation and without a negative, and to 
 which the third branch of the Legiflature had added the 
 fan&ion of its approbation. This addrefs had afferted the 
 legiflative Rights of Ireland, and that the Britifh Parlia¬ 
 ment would ever hold thofe as facred as their own. The 
 Bill brought in in confequeuce of thisaddrefs had expreficd 
 the fame fentiments, if poffible fiill dronger ; and I con- 
 fefs, with thefe declarations and with the power which I 
 felt were inherent in the Irifii Parliament—as an indi¬ 
 vidual I was fatisfied. The people, however, had confi- 
 dered the Propofitions only, and had very generally ad- 
 dreiTed this Houfe to prote£i the rights of the confiitution ; 
 I thought their lad petitions were intitled not only to 
 refpe<5t but to an anfwer, and that my Hon. Friend’s Re- 
 folution was that proper parliamentary anfwer. When that 
 was given* I thought the Houfe might, in the mod perfect 
 manner, give this effed, by an indru&ion to the Com¬ 
 mittee who were to prepare the Bill, to infert a claufe, 
 which ffiould declare it to be a fundamental and eflential 
 condition of the fettlement, and upon which the duration 
 thereof mud depend. That the laws for regulating trade 
 and manufa&ure, fo far as relates to the fecuring exclufive 
 privileges to the fhips and mariners of the two kingdoms, 
 and fo far as they conferred the fame benefits and impofed 
 equal redraints, fhould be the fame in both kingdoms. 
 And therefore ena&ing, that all fuch laws, (fo far as they 
 related to fuch exclufive privileges, and confined fuch be¬ 
 nefits and impofed fuch redraints) which now exified in Great 
 Britain, ffiould alfo be in force and full effed in Ireland. 
 
 And this the Houfe mud do, either by inverting all fuch 
 claufes of the Britifh laws, paragraph by paragraph, in the 
 Iriffi Bill, or by general terms, (including the whole) as in 
 Mr. Yelverton’s Bill. I wiffi alfo that a fimilar redri6dion 
 diould be given with refpect to the duties on Colony pro¬ 
 duce. And I am confident this, with the claufe at prefent 
 in the Bill, alferting the lole right of the Parliament of 
 Ireland to make laws to bind this country, will be fatisfac- 
 tory to every difpaffionatc man in Ireland, and I think mud: 
 be fatisfa&ory to Great Britain alfo, for it admits their prin- 
 
 XJ ciple 
 
( 146 ) 
 
 ciple of perfeCl and continued equality. It carries that prin¬ 
 ciple into effeCt, as far as we think by the Cenftitution we 
 have any power to go, and if ever new regulations may be 
 fequired, there can be no doubt of the affent of Ireland to 
 what is iieCeflary for the empire, and muff confer equal be¬ 
 nefit on both kingdoms. 
 
 When this diall be done, I fhall not fear even to meet 
 the refpeCIable Member for the City of Dublin upon the 
 commercial part of the bufinefs, and I pledge myfelf to dc- 
 mondrate that Ireland by this Bill will receive very great 
 and permanent commercial advantages ; that we muff lhort- 
 ly become a manufacturing, trading and opulent nation* 
 The manufacturers of Britain are univerfally of this opini¬ 
 on ; I know one Houfe here in the Cotton manufacture 
 that has already got two partners from England with 6o,ocol. 
 upon a fuppofition that this fyftem will take place. In the 
 evidence before the Britifh Parliament, one Gentleman of 
 Mancheder, who dates, that he pays 27,000!. a year iri 
 duties, declares his intention of forming a connection in 
 Ireland to a very confiderable amount. I have in my pock¬ 
 et a letter from that very Mr. Smith, who fo very illiberal¬ 
 ly and fo very unjudly has fcattered about his abufe on all 
 his brethren who came here before him, and have his letter 
 to the Linen Board,' offering to come himfelf here and fo- 
 licit encouragement. I know there are Gentlemen of Man- 
 cheder this moment in this Houfe for the fame purpofe and 
 watching this event. 
 
 Colonel Gere (who had retired to take fome little refrefh- 
 ment),- as the queftion was going to be pur, requefted the 
 
 Houfe to hear hitn for a minute or two and no more._. 
 
 He laid* he did not with to delay the decilion on this im¬ 
 portant queftion ;—after the fatigue of a fitting of feventeen 
 hours, which bore hard on the cor.ditutions of the mod 
 robud, but too feverely on the fair (who honoured them 
 with their attention). He faid, he had never predecided 
 on any matter to be agitated in that Houfe, nor did he ever 
 pledge himfelf before 2 debate to thole he reprefented (which 
 at this indant he deemed to be the whole people of Ireland) 
 further than to take the part that became an honed man 
 and a friend to his country.—He faid, that to the bed of 
 his unprejudiced judgment, headed up to thofe characters, 
 in voting for the admifiion of the Bill ; and for thofe rea- 
 fons, founded on the excellent arguments of that night, or 
 day, or both, (call it as (hey would,) fird, that it ratified, 
 
 in 
 
( 147 ) 
 
 m the ftrongeft and mod folemn manner, their Conftitu- 
 tion, and fecured their Independency.—Secondly, that it 
 put it into their power to become a rich and refpedtable 
 people.—Thirdly, that it rendered the two countries one, 
 as to operation and effect—leaving that antient kingdom in 
 diftindt, full, and feperate poftelfion of every circumftance 
 of honour, refpedf, and confequence. 
 
 The queftion being then loudly called for, the Houfe di¬ 
 vided. 
 
 Ayes 127 
 
 Noes 108 
 
 Tellers for the Ayes, Mr. Gardener and Mr. Moore. 
 
 Tellers for the Noes, Mr. O'Neil and Mr. Conolly. 
 
 As foon as the Houfe was refumed, Sir Hercules Langr 
 rijhe moved the queftion of adjournment. 
 
 Mr. Flood rofe, and fpoke to order. He afked the chair, 
 whether the Bill was not a Money Bill ? in which cafe, he 
 conceived it could not be brought in till the fubjedf matter 
 of it had been fubmitted to the confideration of a Commit¬ 
 tee of Supply, and they had ordered in a Bill. Mr. Flood 
 faid, he meant, on Monday, to move a Refolution ground¬ 
 ed on the fourth of the Britilh Propofitions, which he con- 
 lidered as a deriledlion of the independence of the Parlia¬ 
 ment of Ireland. Previous, therefore, to their agreeing to 
 difcufs any Bill founded on the Britifh Refolutions, he 
 thought it highly neceflary for that Houfe to refolve, that 
 it would retain its conftitutional legiflative rights undimi- 
 nilhed. There being a cry of move l move ! Mr. Flood 
 faid, if the Honourable Baronet would confent to withdraw 
 the queftion of adjournment, he would move his Refo- 
 Jution. 
 
 Sir Henry Cavendljh rofe to hint to Gentlemen on the 
 other fide, to think no more of the Bill. Sir Henry con¬ 
 gratulated his countrymen on the Minority they had juft 
 feen ; that Minority, if the Bill were perfifted in, he had 
 no doubt, would prove a Majority. 
 
 Mr. Conolly faid, when a Minority had gone fo very near 
 to crufh a meafure of Government, that meafure could not 
 be perfifted in. Notwithftanding his refpedt, therefore, 
 to the Right Honourable Gentleman, he mull declare, that 
 he had never given a vote with greater fatisfadtion, than 
 his vote of that day, from his convidlion that it tended to 
 promote the peace of the Empire, and to prevent the dan- 
 
 ]U 2 gerous 
 
( 148 ) 
 
 gerous confequences that he forefaw to both kingdoms, if 
 the bufinefs was permitted to go on. He wifhed, he faid, 
 ao get rid of the Bill in the civileft manner poflible; and, 
 perhaps, to move to put off the further confideration of it 
 till a long day, was as good a method of difpofing of it as 
 could be adopted. 
 
 Mr. Flood faid a few words more, in order to imprefs the 
 Houfe with an idea, that it was abfolutely neceflary to come 
 to a Refolution of the fort he had ftated. 
 
 Sir Edward Newenham advifed Government for the fake 
 
 \ * 
 
 of peace and their own honour, to drop all further proceed¬ 
 ings in this bufinefs, as the divifion was a vidfory on the 
 fide of the people, he wilhed that they would let his Hon, 
 Friend’s motion take place, that the whole kingdom might, 
 by that night’s poft, be relieved from its anxiety for its le- 
 giflative rights—This was, indeed, a proud day for Ire¬ 
 land, to fee fo numerous a band of patriots, clofely attend¬ 
 ing their duty for 18 hours.—Men of rank and property— 
 men in whom the people did and would confide—Did Mi- 
 niftry wifii for a further amputation of the Britifh empire !— 
 
 The queftion being then called for, the Houfe divided at 
 nine in the morning.—Ayes for the adjournment, 120— 
 
 Noes 104, 
 
 r - ' r 
 
 SKETCH 
 
( 149 ) 
 
 SKETCH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 DEBATE, 
 
 On MONDAY, Auguft 15, 1785. 
 
 M R. Orde , upon prefenting the Bill, begged leave to 
 be indulged with a few words. He would not then, he 
 faid, remind the Houfe of the proceedings that had taken 
 place with regard to themeafure, after having had fo many 
 opportunities of expatiating upon it : He would do no more 
 than juft obferve, that the meafure had been undertaken, 
 in obedience to the commands of that Hcufe, by the go¬ 
 vernment of both countries, fo far as to project and bring 
 forward a Propofition for their mutual benefit. With that 
 view he had the honour of having moved for leave to bring 
 in the Bill then in his hand, and he hoped the contents of 
 it would efFeHually anfwer the purpofe : He had declared 
 that on no ground whatever could thofe who had engaged 
 in it have any view or fatisfaHion in propofing the 
 Bill, than as it might tend to attain that objeH. It was 
 but juftice to thofe who had-done government the honour 
 of their fupport, to fay thus much, as he was convinced that 
 thofe who enjoyed moft of its confidence, never would have 
 advifed or recommended a meafure that had not that ftamp. 
 Under this idea, he had taken the liberty of applying for 
 leave to bring in a Bill ; and, having done fo, he wifhed to 
 have it underftood, that it was his defire that full time Ihould 
 be given for the confideration of it. In reality, he had efi- 
 fe£ted his duty, when he had brought it to the period 
 of it’s being laid before the publick. From that moment he 
 fhould coniider it to be in their pofleflion, to do with it as 
 they pleafed. He ihould, therefore, wiih to colleH opinions 
 upon it; and, with that view, after bringing up the Bill, 
 he ihould move to have it printed, that the people might ex¬ 
 amine and underftand it, and that Gentlemen might have 
 an opportunity of confulting their Conftituents, and col- 
 leding the fenfe of the country upon it. From what had 
 
 pailed 
 
( > 5 ° ) 
 
 pafTed in that Houfe on the lath day that they had aflcmbled, 
 he was induced to fuppofe that a confiderable time would be 
 neceffary for that purpofe. This opinion, it was true, arofe 
 from a minority of the Houfe, yet that minority was of fuch 
 a nature, and fo compofed, that the Gentlemen who form¬ 
 ed it, might be well fuppofed to know the fenfe of the 
 country, for which reafon he fhould be forry not to 
 pay fufficient refpeCt to them. Notwithftanding there¬ 
 fore, that he was flill decidedly of the fame opinion 
 with regard to the meafure that he ever had entertained, 
 yet as one great object was to enforce the juft ifi cat ion 
 of government, and the friends of government, it was 
 highly neceffary that the Bill fhould be feen and confi- 
 dered. He would, with this view move that it be printed, 
 and having done fo, he did not intend making any further 
 motion refpecting it during the prefent feffion. His reafon 
 was, he thought the publick much miflaken in the opinion 
 they had formed of it, and therefore he was anxious that 
 they fhould fee it, as the Minifter wifhed only to proceed in 
 concurrence with the fentiments of the people, having no 
 view but the benefit and advantage of the country, nor would 
 he defire to do any thing with the meafure, unlefs it fhould 
 appear to have that ftamp upon it. He thought he had per¬ 
 fected his duty when he had brought it before the publick. 
 It’s further progrefs muff be by a motion from them ; and 
 as it had been the general opinion that it would be defirable 
 that the feffion fhould elaple without further confederation of 
 it, in order to give the country time to refleCf upon it, he 
 fhould proceed in that way. When the next feffion com¬ 
 menced, the country would have had fufficient time to con- 
 fider it, and might take fuch further fleps refpeCting it, 
 as they thought proper. 
 
 Mr. Flood faid, the Right Hon. Gentleman had antici¬ 
 pated him in a manner that very well became him. He 
 faid he would not objeCf to reading the Bill, as he might do, 
 on the precedent of that very feffion, afforded in the cafe of 
 the Judges Bill. As to the motion for printing, he might 
 object to that a fortiori. But he would forbear.—Mr. Flood 
 talked of the Bill being a deceit on the publick; and that it 
 was eventually founded upon the twenty Proportions of the 
 Britifli Parliament $ by one of which, it was declared to be 
 a fundamental and effential condition, that the Parliament 
 of Ireland fnould nafs the fame laws as the Parliament of 
 Great Britain. It hecamc, therefore, highly neceffary for that 
 Houfe to make a declaration, that it was determined to re¬ 
 tain 
 
( >5i ) 
 
 tain its legiflative rights undiminifhed. This he faid, would 
 prevent the folly of reviving a meafure which the Right Hon* 
 Gentleman had declared his intention of abandoning. 
 
 Mr. Orde faid he only wilhed to make himfelf underftood. 
 By what he had before faid, he meant that the Bill would 
 be before the country. The country would fee it, and it 
 would not fignify on what it was founded. Let the coun¬ 
 try fee, if in every refpefil, it was not luch a iettlement as 
 would be advantageous for Ireland. He wifhed to have the 
 Bill printed only with that view, and to ftiew that he had 
 done his duty. With regard to another fefiion, it would 
 depend upon the Country what fhould then be done with 
 the Bill. As to his taking it up or not, he begged to be 
 underftood as not having faid one fyllabie. 
 
 Mr* Rowley , fenior, in a fhort fpeech faid, he thought 
 government had behaved exceedingly handfome in adling 
 in the manner they had done with the Bill. 
 
 Mr. Connolly rejoiced that the great queftion was brought 
 to a conclufion. He profefled himfelf a friend to Great 
 Britain and Ireland, and that he had been extremely de- 
 firous of agreeing to a permanent fyftem that was likely to 
 unite and dovetail the two kingdoms; but faid, he was con¬ 
 vinced the fyftem that had been propofed was likely to have 
 a very oppofite efifeT. He was perhaps, no great politician, 
 but he wifhed well to his country and would do his duty. 
 The Houfe would remember that he had flood in the. 
 gap againfl a free conftitution, and the reafon he did fo, 
 was, he thought the fituation of Ireland, in refpetl to cir¬ 
 culation and capital, by no means equal to ‘the filler king¬ 
 dom, or fufficient to work upon a free confutation when they 
 had it. He wifhed the two countries to go on hand in 
 hand, and he thought there were but two means of doing 
 fo. The conftitution they had acquired, no man could give 
 up. It was a queftion with the people without doors, and they 
 were not entitled to abandon it. Let Ireland therefore, en¬ 
 joy bona fide , a free trade, as far as could be made computable 
 with her free conftitution, and let her preferve that confti¬ 
 tution. He never could wifh to injure Great Britain or her 
 interefts, nor did he believe any man entertained fuch a 
 fentiment. Mr. Conolly proceeded to fport on the word 
 dove-tail , and to boaft of the vigour of the Irifti Conftitution, 
 and kept the Houfe on a roar for feme time with his 
 pleafantry. 
 
 Mr. 
 
( 152 ) 
 
 Mr. Flood rofc to declare, that he rejoiced at having heard 
 that no evil was to happen to the Constitution for the pre^> 
 fent feflion. He agreed with the Right Hon. gentleman 
 who had juft fat down, in many things which had fallen 
 from him, though he differed from him in fome. He role, 
 however, principally with a view to remove the fufpicions 
 that had been induftrioufly fpread, that he wiftied to 
 bring forward fome violent Proportion inimical to Great 
 Britain. He had no fuch intention, nor fuch an 
 idea. He always thought a commercial fyftem was a Sub¬ 
 ject on which the two kingdoms neither ought, nor had 
 any occafion to quarred. He had oppofed the treaty, be¬ 
 cause it comprehended an article that affeCted their Confti* 
 tution. The Constitution was not a matter for negocia- 
 tion—it was not a commodity for barter—it wasnotan article 
 of commerce. Though adverfe to negociate upon fuch 
 grounds as had been taken, he was, nevertheless, willing to 
 let England off fairly. Pie had oppofed without any indifpo- 
 fition to wards her; and he could not blame the part She had 
 acted. She had offered a condition as a fundamental andeffen- 
 tial principle of the treaty, which condition he reje6ted, and 
 would not treat on any fuch terms. Great Britain had a 
 right to propofe ; they had a right to reject. He confider- 
 ed the Proportion that tended to bind down the Parliament 
 of Ireland to pafs the fame laws as the Parliament of Great 
 Britain, without power of deliberation, as a Propofition 
 that took away their right of legislation. Such a Proportion 
 was inadmiffible then, it would be inadmiffible to-morrow, 
 it would be inadmiffible for ever! What had paffed, had, 
 he observed, had a good effect, inafmuch as it had proved, 
 that the arrangement of a commercial fyftem was not a 
 fubjeft worthy of altercation between the two countries. 
 They had already every right to trade that they wanted, 
 or that was likely to promote their prefent intereft ; and 
 any particle of commerce that they had not, was Scarce 
 worth having, at leaf}; not worth a difpute. They had a 
 right of trading w r ith any part ot the world that chofe to 
 trade with them. What could they defire more ? Everv 
 thing neceffary to he done, muft he left to regulation, to 
 he lettled, from time to time, between the Parliaments of 
 the two countries, as the preffure of the occafion fhould 
 require. It was, he Said, abfurd to attempt to bind up the 
 legislature to any fixed and permanent fyftem. Such an 
 idea was ridiculous and impracticable from the very nature 
 
 td 
 
[ >53 ] 
 
 of the fubjeX, it being the characlerihic of commerce to be 
 variable and fluXuating. What, therefore, at one period 
 might be a wife and falutary regulation, might prove di- 
 reXly the reverfe at another. That Great Britain could 
 have nothing to fear from leaving matters in their prefent 
 fituation, he contended, was manifeh, from the paid con- 
 duX of Ireland. They had never fhewn the leah indifpo- 
 fition to the filler kingdom fince they had obtained their 
 free Conhitution. In no one inhance had they refufed or 
 negleXed to follow the example of England in adopting 
 any meafure that fhe took with a view to promote and 
 preferve the commerce and navigation of the Empire. A 
 fyhem, therefore, like that propofed in the Bill, was alto¬ 
 gether unnecefiary. Great Britain had fairly confcnted to 
 their freedom of trade : they mull not, could not, there¬ 
 fore, give up a particle of their free Conhitution, nor 
 ought Great Britain to delire it. But, after what had hap¬ 
 pened, it became neceffary that they fhould declare their 
 determinations to retain their legillative rights. With that 
 view, and with that view only, did he wifh to move the Re- 
 folution which he held in his hand. He wifhed not to fhew 
 the fmallell degree of chagrin at what had palled, which 
 he was ready to conlider as a negociation that England had 
 a right to commence, though it contained a fundamental 
 and elfential condition, that Ireland could neither accept 
 nor confent to treat upon.—Mr. Flood, after a few gene¬ 
 ral obfervations, read his Rcfolution, the fubhance of 
 which was as follows : 
 
 “ RESOLVED, That we hold outfelves indifpenfibly bound not to 
 enter into any engagement to give up the foie and exclufive right of the 
 Irifli Parliament to legifiate for Ireland • and that we are determined 
 to retain inviolate its right and authority to legiflate in all cafes whatever, 
 as well externally as internally .” 
 
 Mr. Holmes .—I had little intention, and hill lefs incli¬ 
 nation, to take any part in this debate, but the turn it 
 took upon the lah night, and the reflexions fome gentle¬ 
 men thought proper to throw out, makes me think it ne- 
 cehary to avow the motives and principles of my vote, and 
 to difclaim tnofe that have been falfely imputed to the 
 Gentlemen who joined in that vote. 
 
 It has been confidently faid, that to vote for the introduc¬ 
 tion of this Bill, was corruptly and bafely to furrrender 
 the iegifiative rights of Ireland. The aflertion, Sir, is as 
 replete with malice, as it is dehitutc of truth. What is 
 the plain hate of the quehion ? Several gentlemen, high 
 
 X in 
 
( 154 ) 
 
 in flation, refponfible from office, and of the mod unble- 
 miffied reputations, defire leave to bring in a Bill—for 
 what ? — To fettle a commercial arrangement between the 
 two countries, on the broad bafis of mutual interejl and equal 
 jujlice. Was there ever any Bill that had a more plaufible 
 title ? Was there ever any Bill had a more defirable object ? 
 And yet gentlemen refufe permiffion to introduce fuch a 
 Bill, and to vot^for it is to betray the dearefl: interefts of 
 your country ! Is there any man to wickedly and perverfely 
 ignorant of every principle of parliamentary rule, and 
 indeed of common fenfe, as to maintain, that in voting 
 for the introdu&ion of the Bill, that you bind yourfelf to 
 adopt either its principle or its regulations. It is mod 
 notorioufly known to the mod ignorant Member of the 
 Houfe, that in all its different ilages every man is at his 
 liberty to combat the principle or to alter the regulations it 
 contains. They are averfe to fuffer the Bill to be brought in, 
 becaufe it would then appear from the mod irrefragable evi¬ 
 dence, that the Bill does not contain thofe pernicious 
 claufes, which they, without knowing what it is, affert 
 that it does—Sir, the intereffs ot Great Britain and Ireland 
 are fo intimately blended, that there is not a rational man 
 in either country, that is not convinced, that’they muff 
 ffand or fall together.—Is then an attempt to fettle the 
 jarring and difcordant interells of rival merchants and, 
 manufacturers a crime of fo henious a nature ? and if this 
 Bill is not calculated to effeCtuate fo defirable a purpofe, 
 why refufe to take it into confideration ? How will you 
 frame a proper Bill for that purpofe, if you refufe to enter 
 into the difeuffion of it ? Surely, Sir, it would be a defira¬ 
 ble purpofe to guard againft an acrimonious rivalfhip in 
 trade or manufacture, a competition of this kind leads to a 
 commercial feparation, if not hoftility ; a commercial fe- 
 paration leads to a national one, and a national feparation, 
 
 I will boldly affirm, is the lure and certain road to ruin. 
 Sir, it would be vain and idle in me to enter into any dif¬ 
 euffion of the detail of the meafure, which I underftand 
 is now to be given up, and I only rofe to refeue myfelt, and 
 thofe gentlemen w r ho voted on the fame fide, from that 
 obloquy and calumny which was fo unjuflly levelled at them. 
 
 Mr. Ogle rofe to complain of his fpeech of Friday having 
 been mifreprefented in one of the morning papers. Mr. 
 Ogle repeated the general tenor of his arguments in the 
 former debate, declaring that he had then voted to give 
 leave for the admiffion of the Bill, that the people of Ire- 
 
 * * .. : . land 
 
( '55 ) 
 
 land mi^ht know what had been propofed, and that the 
 fenfe of the Irifh nation might be collected upon it ; faying 
 at the fame time, that their opinion fhould regulate his 
 conduCt, 
 
 Mr. Conolly bore teftimony to the explanation of Mr. 
 Ogle, and faid he was fure the honourable Gentleman was 
 incapable of any other conduCt. 
 
 The queftion was then put, iC that the Bill be read a firft: 
 time,” which was agreed to. 
 
 The Clerk began to read the Bill. 
 
 Mr. Flood defired it might be read Ihort. 
 
 The Attorney General thought, the longer it was read and 
 the more underlfood, the better, and thofe Gentlemen that 
 were fo extremely averfe to the Bdl would, he faid, do well 
 to liften to it, that they might fee if any of their objections 
 were founded. 
 
 Mr. Flood contented to hear it at length, in order to fliew 
 how unfortunate thofe Gentlemen were, who had miffed it. 
 
 The Clerk had proceeded a page or two, the Houfe all 
 the time {hewing little or no attention, when. 
 
 General Cunningham rafe and remonftrated againft the 
 abfurdity of thus wafting the time of the Houfe and giv¬ 
 ing the Clerk the trouble to read what no Gentleman Iif- 
 tened to. The Bill, he oblerved, was meant to be print¬ 
 ed ; it would then come fairly before the public, and then 
 let the world judge, let every man who read it, form his 
 own opinion of the contents. 
 
 The Bill was read ftlort, ordered to be printed ; and, 
 
 Mr. Orde role; and moved <4 that the Houfe adjourn till 
 that day three weeks.” 
 
 Mr. Hartley faid, he depended on the right honourable 
 Gentleman’s promife that nothing further fhould be moved 
 relpeCting the Bill that feffion, but he had, he faid, in his 
 hand, a petition from a very full and refpeCtahle meeting 
 of the citizens of Dublin, held that day, at the Royal 
 Exchange, at which their chief Magiftrate had preftdcd. 
 In that Petition, the citizens expreffed their humble and 
 refpeCtful confidence in the virtue of Parliament, and pray¬ 
 ed the Houfe to reject moft ftrongly that fyftem which the 
 right honourable Gentleman had propofed on Friday, af- 
 furing the Houfe that in maintaining their legillative and 
 conftitutional rights, they would give them every fup- 
 port in their power. Mr. Hartley obferved that, the reafon 
 affigned for printing the Bill, namely, that it might be 
 
 X 2, generally 
 
( 156 ) 
 
 generally underftood, and that the fenfe of the people 
 ought to be coLle&ed upon it, was, in his mind, an idle 
 and ill-founded pretence, becaufe the fentiments of the 
 people upon the fubje£f were already well known. The peti¬ 
 tion that he held in his hand was one proof that they were fo. 
 
 The queftion of adjournment having being moved and fe- 
 conded, the petition could not be received. 
 
 After fome little conteft, one fide of the Houfe calling for 
 the queftion of adjournment, and the other for Mr. Flood’s 
 motion. 
 
 Sir Henry Cavendijh faid a few words, and at the fame 
 time begged to remind the Houfe that the queftion of ad¬ 
 journment was to be confidercd as a previous queftion. 
 
 Mr. O'Hara faid, the Refolution propofed by the Hon. 
 Member (Mr. Flood,) was no more than a declaration of 
 their rights of independence ; and that the legiflature was 
 determined to fupport its independence r this was a right 
 they had to declare whenever they thought proper, and no 
 other body of men, whatever, had a right to take offence, 
 becaufe they did fo. Fie feverely cenfured the queftion of 
 adjournment, and faid, it was preffed to prevent them 
 from coming to the refolution propofed by the Hon. Member 
 on the floor ; it partook of the fpirit and principle of, and 
 was derived from the fame fource with the 4th Propofition, 
 which no man in the Houfe or in the nation, dare to defend. 
 The public mind was defervedly alarmed by the nefarious 
 attempt made on their conftitution and commerce, and it 
 was proper this, or fome other refolution of the fame na¬ 
 ture, fhould be entered into to quiet it; it was proper fome 
 aflurance fhould be given them by Parliament, that their 
 liberty was fecure in the virtues of the legiflature : this refo¬ 
 lution was neceflary, whether they went on with the Bill 
 or not. If they went on with the Bill, it was right to cut 
 away all hope from the Minifterof England, of fucceeding 
 in his laudable project of robbing them of their legiflative 
 power ; if they did not go on with the Bill, it was right to 
 tell the people fo. 
 
 From the great pains he had feen Adminiftration put it- 
 felf to, to encreafe, by the creation of new places and the 
 diftribution of new pmfions, its already too great influ¬ 
 ence, he fufpe£fced they had fome very dangerous obje£l in 
 contemplation, that required extraordinary exertion and 
 extraordinary corruption through that Houfe. He did not 
 indeed imagine the danger was fo great or imminent 
 as the prefent Bill proved to be. He warned Gen¬ 
 tlemen of the danger, and of the too great influence of Mi- 
 
 nifters. 
 
( i57 ) 
 
 nifters, by which neither conftitution or commerce could 
 be fafe. 
 
 To a variety of remarks on the eleven Irifh and the twen¬ 
 ty Englilh Proportions he added a comparifon of them one 
 with the other, and after explaining the nature and extent 
 of the irreciprocities introduced by Mr. Pitt and his friends 
 in England, he {hewed that thefe difadvantages to Ireland 
 were not confined to her intercourfe with Great Britain, but 
 that, if (he adopted the RightHon. Secretary’s Bill, {he would 
 extend by her own a£t to render nugatory whatever foreign 
 trade England would fuffer the appearance ol to remain a- 
 mong them. The refolution would, he faid, be neceflary as 
 a criterion of the Bill. Minifters had aflertedthey were dri-* 
 ven to the prefent fettlement by difcontents in Ireland—But 
 if Ireland was difcontented, fuch a remedy furely was a very 
 unlikelv mode to content her—It was a curious way to con¬ 
 tent a people, that complained of being deprived unjuftly of 
 a portion of their trade, to take away the remainder. He 
 faw greater oppofition riling from the fyftem than ever was 
 experienced in that country, as the Right Hon. Gentle¬ 
 man’s Bill inftead of being calculated to give contentment 
 feemed intended for no’ other purpofe than the promotion, 
 ofkeeneft difcord. If it were not, he faid, for Adminiftration 
 themfelves, oppofition would not in Ireland Ihew its 
 face. 
 
 What would be the confequence ? An union of Iegifla- 
 ture, would in a great meafure refult from the adoption of 
 the Bill, the tendency of which would be to reduce Ireland 
 to the ftate of a province.—To treat her as America was 
 treated before her own virtue, and the favour of Providence 
 fet her loofe from her chains—to opprefs her commerce 
 whenever it fuited the intereft or pleafed the fancy of any 
 petty town in England — to ftop up her ports whenever the 
 Englifh merchant thought it convenient to call into adtion 
 his thirft of monopoly. From external, the tranfition 
 would be found eafy to internal taxation, as it would be no 
 dilficult matter to fiart a queftion whether this or that was a 
 port duty or an inland excife. As to the option, that, in¬ 
 ftead of being a remedy, made the Bill if poffible {fill more 
 pernicious. He had heard and read of many Minifters of 
 wonderful talents in the art of deftroying their enemies. 
 But they mull yield to the author of this fair and reci¬ 
 procal fyftem : No Minifter was ever more plaufible in 
 deftroying his enemy than this young man had proved 
 himfelf to be in ruining the only friend remaining to his 
 country. 
 
 Sir 
 
( j 58 ) 
 
 Mr. Conolly obferved, that it was the fenfe of the Houfe 
 that the meafure fhould be put an end to, and the right hon- 
 Secretary had done fo, that day. The right honourable 
 Gentleman had, he faid, taken a great deal of pains to ferve 
 them, but it had not been in his power. The fyftem he 
 had brought in had been founded upon principles that 
 could not fucceed : but that was now at an end, if he un- 
 derftood him rightly. 
 
 Mr. Orde faid, he thought he had performed his part in 
 bringing the Bill to that period. He had introduced it in 
 obedience to the commands of the Houfe; it was now be¬ 
 fore the Public; and whenever it was taken up again, it 
 muff be taken up by the Public. 
 
 Mr. Conolly then faid, he thought the matter fettled, and, in 
 that cafe, the queftion of adjournment was to be confidered 
 as a previous queftion upon the Refolution propofed to be 
 moved by the Right Hon. Gentleman near him ; and there¬ 
 fore every Gentleman who voted for the queftion of adjourn¬ 
 ment, would vote intrinfically againft the Refolution. Mr. 
 Conolly took that occafion to declare, that he had no doubt of 
 the honour of the Right Hon. Gentleman’s intention : what 
 he had juft faid had confirmed him i i: it. As the Refolution, 
 however, clearly afeertained the fentiments of that Houfe 
 with regard to the Conftitutional and Legillative Rights of 
 Ireland, and as that was a point on which a doubt ought not 
 to hang, he mud unavoidably vote for the Refolution, if it 
 was put. But if the Right Hon. Gentleman would fay that 
 he never meant any thing injurious to the Con ft i tut ion, he 
 would endeavour to perfuade the Right Hon. Gentleman 
 off his intention of urging the Refolution. 
 
 Sir Edward Ncwenham . Can you think of adjourning 
 before you calm the minds of the people ? Will you add op- 
 preftion to infult ? There are Bills of national confequence 
 ready for the Royal Afient; you pafleu the Hay Bill con¬ 
 trary to* th e rules of Parliament ; in one day it was moved 
 for, read, engrofied, and pafTed both Houfes. Will you 
 adjourn before that Bill receives the Royal Afient ? The fpi- 
 rit of the people will not fubmit to the daftardly expedient of 
 a previous queftion ; the peace, the future profperity of this 
 nation depends on the decifion of this night. And I will 
 add the fame of Great Britain ; I love the Britifh nation, 
 and I wifh to ferve them, when it does not militate againft: 
 the Legiflative or Commercial Rights of Ireland. 
 
( 1 59 ) 
 
 > 
 
 Mr. George Ponfonby f ai d, the queftion before the Houfe 
 was a queftion ot adjournment, and the only reafon why 
 hey were defired to vote againrt it was, in order to vote a 
 Refolution affertive of the Conftitution of Ireland. Now he 
 was againft any fuch motion, and would vote for the q B rf! 
 tion of adjournment— ' - ^ 
 
 Mr. .interrupted Mr. Ponfonby, to ftate that his 
 
 tmt R^hts 2 Vh hey W °H U ' d “ Conftitu- 
 
 tional Rights. The words went not to offer t, but to retain 
 
 as the fenfe of the motion was: ‘‘We hold ourfelves bound 
 &c 3nd n0t t0 entCr mt ° 3117 en S a S ernen l s to give up 
 
 Mr. G. Ponfonby faid, that was what he fupnofed the 
 motion to be, and would therefore vote ao-ainfl- if t 
 
 what purpofe fttould they vote, that they would retain their 
 Conftitutional Rights ? Who imagined that theft, m 
 g.ve them up ? Was not that night a proof that X W ° U ' d 
 determined to preferve their Conftitution ? The fulleft 
 that could be defired ! Why then vnfe f . . P ro °^ 
 
 implied, that there ever had J exifted Z imem Jonth^ 
 part to abandon their Legiflative Rights > R lr% h j^ 
 
 more: The Refolut,on committed Sniff withAe Paf 
 liament of England. Suppoie they were to p a f s the Ref 
 lution, would not they imply to all mankind by it tha^ tte 
 Parliament of England had attempted to refume the cf, ft 
 tut,on of Ireland ? Were they prepared for waM WonW they 
 venture peace for a word, a form, a nothing ? Were hev 
 ready for war ? The words of the Refolution 1 ,7 
 
 to the Addreffes of the two Houfes of the BritilhPaidia C 
 and were therefore highly objeHionable He a&ed td? 1 ’ 
 man made an attack upon their Conftitution ? If’not the 
 Refolution was unneceffary. He afhed no-oi > he 
 
 prepared to quarrel with Great BritaH if'"? T?V 7 a 
 fuppofe it rail, to hazard a quarrel bv an he lhonU 
 
 unwife Refolution neither called for ^bv the" emp " ate and 
 
 juftified by the preffure of any neceflit/ - ° CCafi ° n > "° r 
 
 Mr. Dennis Daly(a\d, he would trouble the Houfe with a 
 few words only. _ He would vote for the adjournment and 
 his reafon was, becaufe he thought the Refolution . , 
 
 been offered by the Hon. Gemleman on he ft had 
 
 wholly unneceffary. The Right Hon. Secretary haTt’alLd 
 
 to 
 
( i6o ) 
 
 to the Houfe in a ftyle that muft have been highly fatisfac- 
 tory to all of them. He had fairly fubmitted the Bill to the 
 confideration of the country, and left it for them to decide 
 whether it fhould be proceeded upon any further. He de- 
 fired to know what more could be wifhed for ? And was 
 clearly of opinion that no Refolution humiliating to the 
 Parliament of Great Britain was either necefTary or proper. 
 — He put the cafe, that the Refolution then propofed 
 had been moved and agreed to, and the Addrefs of the two 
 Houfes of the Britifh Parliament had followed ; would not 
 that Addrefs have fatisfied them completely ? If fo, and 
 he believed no Gentleman would queftion it, the Addrefs 
 having preceded the Refolution, the Refolution was ren¬ 
 dered wholly unneceflary. Mr. Daly faid, he had been ac¬ 
 cidentally abfent from the Houfe, on Friday; but, as he 
 did not wifh to fhelter himfelf under the plea of accidental 
 abfence, thinking it highly unbecoming for any man to take 
 refuge under fuch an excufe, when a great Conftitutional 
 queftion called ^for his opinion, he would date what would 
 have been his condudt, had he been prefent. If there, he 
 certainly fhould have voted for giving leave to bring in the 
 Bill, in order that the country might have it before them ; 
 but when he had done fo, he had very little hope of being 
 able to fupport it farther. 
 
 Mr. Griffith urged, that the Parliament of England had 
 afTerted the rights of Ireland. He afked therefore whether 
 the Parliament of Ireland was willing to affert its own rights 
 or not ? 
 
 "Mr.Curranrofe to oppofe the motion for adjourning, un¬ 
 til the refolution which had been juft read fhould be difpo- 
 fed of. He faid, he knew too well the manlinefs of the 
 Pvight Hon. Gentleman’s mind, (Mr. Daly) who had fpoken 
 laft, not to rely on his fupport if he could only convince his 
 judgment. And that, he hoped might be done even by the 
 arguments adduced by the Gentleman who had preceded 
 him (Mr. Ponfonby) in fupport of a contrary opinion. 
 That Gentleman had objected to the intended refolution as 
 unneceflary, as calling a dircT reflexion on the conduft 
 of Great Britain, and as tending to commit the Parliaments 
 of the two nations. As to the laft obfervation he would 
 not defeend to examine it ; whether it was an argument ad- 
 drefTed to their fuppofed timidity or their wifdom, he would 
 leave to the magnaminity of the Houfe to determine. 
 
 As 
 
( i6i ) 
 
 As to the two former obje&ions, he did not think them 
 founded in fa£t. The refolution cad no refledtion on the 
 Minider of a Parliament of Great Britain. They had both 
 exprefly acknowledged the independence of Ireland : It could 
 not therefore be difrefpeftful in them to adopt a refolution 
 exprefling the fentiments, nay almoft repealing the words 
 of his Majedy and the two Houfes of the Britifh Parliament. 
 He would therefore fupport the refolution, becaufe it was 
 not either hoftile or difrcfpe&ful to Great Britain, but be¬ 
 caufe it was indifpenfibly neceflary to Ireland, as a refolu¬ 
 tion intimating to Great Britain in the mod: moderate man¬ 
 ner her unalterable purpofe never to furrender her condi- 
 tution for any confideration whatfoever ; he would alfo 
 fupport it as a refolution reconciling the people of Ireland 
 to their reprefentatives, and the reprefentatives to each 
 other. 
 
 As to the motion for adjourning, it was no more or lefs" 
 than a previous quedion ; a previous quedion was the piti¬ 
 ful expedient of a temporiiing, a timid or a divided Parlia¬ 
 ment : but it never could be the expedient of a firm or u- 
 nited one. He faid the exigence of Britifh liberty was due 
 to that unremitting vigilance with which it had been al¬ 
 ways guarded from encroachment. Every invafion with 
 which it was threatened, by the folly of Minitfers or the ufur- 
 pation of Kings, had been conftantly checked by a conditU' 
 tional aflertion of liberty—fuch was Magna Charta, fuch 
 upwards of thirty datutes fo early as the fourth Henry, fuch 
 the petition of Right, the Bill of Rights, the A6t of Settle¬ 
 ment, fuch the recent repeal of the 6th of George I. For no 
 man, faid he, can think that the Britifh liberty derived any 
 authority from thofe datutes, orthat a&s of Parliament could 
 enacl conditional rights ; on the contrary, we are not 
 free becaufe Magna Charta was enadled, but that great 
 charter was enaTed becaufe we were free. Thefe rights are 
 therefore uniformly aderted as the birth-right of Englidi- 
 men, as derived only from God, who has ordained that as 
 the fervice of himfelf is perfedt freedom, fo all jud obedi¬ 
 ence to human government is perfe6I liberty. Neither 
 could they think that the friends of power did not on every 
 one of thofe great occadons refort to fome defpicable refuge 
 like the previous quedion. Thefe datutes then, faid he, 
 are fo many monuments on the page of hidory, that mark 
 the defeat and the folly of fuch previous quedions. They 
 were then fignals of unanimity and confidence to the de- 
 
 'Y . fenders 
 
( I $2 ) 
 
 Fenders of liberty ; of alarm and intimidation to its inva¬ 
 ders, and they Should be now regarded as records exhibiting 
 the wifdom and virtue of pad: ages, as examples to future,, 
 and teaching pofterity this great lefTon : That to be virtu¬ 
 ous is to be vigilant, and to be early is to be fuccefsful. 
 
 On this principle, he faid, he contended for the resoluti¬ 
 on. The Minister of England had offered them a commer¬ 
 cial fyftem, which involved the direCt Surrender of our 
 Constitution. They were called on for Some anfwer, and this 
 refolution Says no more than this. “ You offer us a Syftem of 
 trade, and with it, you offer us chains; we will not wear 
 them. The liberty of Ireland is not ours, we will not there¬ 
 fore give it away, but ’tis our duty to maintain it, and we 
 will do So. We will not barter the realities of Constitution 
 and Liberty for the poffibilities of Commercial benefit.” 
 
 But, Said he. Gentlemen Say “ no, you do not give up 
 the Conflitution, tor you may put an end to this Syftem 
 when you chufe.” But if the Bill had paffed, Ireland he 
 contended, would be in Slavery until it Should be put an end 
 to. What madnefs therefore would it be to enter into a 
 contract that would leave them no means of redeeming 
 their freedom but by violating their engagements. 
 
 But Some Gentlemen had denied that the fourth Propo¬ 
 sition would have had any Such tendency or effect. He 
 Said it was an exprefs obligation on Ireland to adopt a par¬ 
 ticular code of laws to be paffed in Great Britain, which 
 Ireland Should regifter, but which She could not propound, 
 or alter, or repeal. It was plainly underftood So in Eng¬ 
 land ; the English merchant and manufacturer was alarm¬ 
 ed, and with very little caufe, and Mr. Pitt found himfelf 
 obliged to do Something to allay his apprehensions. And 
 effectually would he have done it ; for his 4th Proposition 
 would have laid the commerce as well as the constitution of 
 Ireland at the feet of Great Britain. If Mr. Pitt had been 
 difpofed to Speak plainly to the Britifh merchant, he would 
 have Said, “ dp not be alarmed at any competition oS Ire¬ 
 land in your own or in foreign markets, for the 4th Pro- 
 pofition Shall chain down her competition. If She Shall 
 grow formidable to you in Europe, I will prefs her with 
 navigation laws, and frustrate her efforts. The Weftern 
 Iilands Shall ceaSe to be the Scene of torture only to the un¬ 
 happy Sons of Africa ; they Shall be houfes of correction to 
 the Spirit of Irifti commerced 
 
 Such 
 
( 163 ) 
 
 Such language might Mr. Pi:t have held if it had not 
 been unwife to alarm Ireland with fo lull an avowal of his 
 plan. 
 
 Neither was it underflood that Mr. Fox did not prefs this 
 argument in a commercial view. As an Englifhman he 
 might have had fears of the confequences of the fyftem pro- 
 pofed, and it would have been inconfiflent with thofe fears 
 to have held out that fyflem to the Britifh Monopolift in a 
 point of view that might have recommended it to his love 
 of power. But however he might think Mr. Fox an Eng¬ 
 lilhman on fubjedts of commerce, he thought him a mem¬ 
 ber of the Britifh empire on points of conflitufion. 
 
 On fo facreda fubjedl as the latter, he could not fuppofc 
 fo able a man capable of yielding to any little motive of 
 party or feafon by a declaration of any fentiments but thofe 
 of his heart. It needed not his talents to know, that if the 
 Conflitution was difhonoured in Ireland, it was dilhonoured 
 in England aifo, It was to this principle he attributed his in¬ 
 dignation when the rights of Juries were invaded, as well 
 as the oppofition which he gave to a Bill that mud have 
 endangered the rights of the Conflitution in England by de- 
 flroying them in Ireland. Thofe fympathies, he faid, 
 were implanted in the heart of man for the prefervation of 
 liberty. It was the general and vigorous influx and co-ope¬ 
 ration of them that achieved every thing glorious in the 
 theatre of the world ; it was that that adorned the fall at 
 Thermopyle, and the triumph at Marathon ; it was that 
 in America that combated with fleets and armies, and wa¬ 
 ded to freedom through daughter and defolation ; it was 
 that that wafted the fhouts of an emancipated hcmifphere 
 acrofs the wades of the Atlantic, and roufed Ireland from 
 her lethargy ; it was that that fent her armies into the field 
 and crowned their illudrious leader with fame and with 
 vidlory—thank heaven ! not a vidtory flained with blood— 
 not a vidlory bathed in the tears of a mother, a filler or a 
 wife—not a victory hanging over the grave of a Warren or 
 a Montgomery, and uncertain whether to triumph in what 
 die had gained, or to mourn over what die had loll ! 
 
 He then proceeded to defend the Refolution, as the only way 
 of juftif'ying the majority, who had voted for bringing in the 
 Bill, to their condiments. As to the minority who had faved 
 the country, they needed no vindication ;—hut thofe who vo¬ 
 ted for the introduction of the Bill, mull have waited for the 
 Committee, to fhew the nation that they would never aflcnt 
 -to the 4 th Propofition. That opportunity, he faid, could never 
 
 Y 2 arrive 
 
( l6 4 ) 
 
 arrive—The Bill was at an end—The cloud that had been 
 collecting To long, and threatening to break in temped and 
 ruin on their heads, had palled harmlefs away. The fiege 
 that was drawn round the Conditution was railed, and the 
 enemy was gone. Juvat ire et Porica caftra and they 
 might now go abroad without fear, and trace the dangers 
 they had efcaped ;—here was drawn the line of circumval- 
 lation, that cut them off for ever from the Eaftern world : — 
 and there the correfponding one, that inclofed them from 
 the Wed. “ Nor let us, faid he, forget in our exultation to 
 whom we are indebted for the deliverance.—Here dood 
 the trudy mariner (Mr. Conolly) on his old dation the mad 
 head, and gave the fignal of danger.—Here (Mr. Flood) 
 all the wifdom of the date was colle&ed, exploring your 
 /vveaknefs and your drength, detecting every ambufcade, and 
 pointing to the hidden battery that was brought to bear on 
 the (brine of freedom.—And there (Mr. Grattan) was ex¬ 
 erted an eloquence more than human, infpiring, forming, 
 directing, animating, to the great purpofes of your falva- 
 tion, &c. 
 
 <c But I fed, faid he, that I am leaving the quedion, and 
 the bcunds of moderation ; but there is an ebullition in 
 great exceffes of joy that ahnod borders on infanity. I own 
 I feel fortiething like it in the profufenefs with which I 
 (hare the general triumph.” It was not, however, a triumph 
 which he wi(hed to enjoy at the expence of the Honourable 
 Gentleman who had brought in the Bill, he was willing 
 to believe, with the bed intention.—Whatever he might 
 have thought before, he now felt no trace of refcntment to 
 the Honourable Gentleman. On the contrary he widled 
 that that day’s-intcrcourfe, which would probably be their 
 lad, might be marked cn his part by kindnefs and refpeCI. 
 
 Neither did he widi to have an appearance of triumph 
 over the majority of the Houle, as if he were more a friend 
 to the Conditution of Ireland than they. On the contrary 
 he was certain they loved it as well as he ; and he wiihed 
 that they would fay fo to the people, by joining in the pro- 
 pofed Refolution. He widled both fides of the Houle 
 would partake in the joy of the efcape, as they would diare 
 its advantage. And he befought them not to throw a cloud 
 on the general fedivity, by a fullen retufal to diare the 
 comforts of the land with thole who had, with leme peril 
 to themfelves, faved them from drowning, and brought 
 tlieyi to the diore. 
 
 But, he faid, fome Gentlemen might be averfe to the 
 
 Refolution, 
 
( >65 ) 
 
 Refolution, through a fear of being thought to defert the 
 Minifter at his hit moments. As to that, he faid, the 
 Right Honourable Gentleman had been let down as quietly 
 as poflible, and an ufelefs adherence to him now, would, 
 expofe thofe Gentlemen to perhaps a more humilia¬ 
 ting imputation, that of an attachment to men, and not 
 to meafures,—for the meafure was gone down, the man only 
 was floating. Gentlemen who could not help him, might take 
 fome care of themfelves. Nor could it require all their faga- 
 city to difcover, that two eager a defire of the cypreis and 
 fcarf at the funeral, might make them poifibiy rather late at 
 the coronation. 
 
 Lord Luttrel and Mr. Molyneux rofe together, but Mr. 
 Molyneux obtained the hearing. Mr. Molyneux oppoied 
 the Refolution, and defended the Bill, declaring, that it 
 contained nothing inimical to the Conftitution, and would 
 have been productive of much benefit to commerce. He, 
 therefore, would have fupported it, from a convidfion, that 
 it would have proved advantageous to Ireland. Mr. Mo¬ 
 lyneux faid, he felt for the Conftitution of his country, as 
 much as any man, and had too great a ftake in it to give his 
 vote upon a national queftion, of the magnitude and im¬ 
 portance of that which had been under difcuffion, with¬ 
 out the moft rooted convict ion of the redtitude and proprie¬ 
 ty of the decifion he was about to make. That which had 
 occupied their attention upon that day and Friday laft, 
 was undoubtedly of the fit ft importance, and no coniidcra- 
 tion on earth fhould have induced him to vote for it, cculd 
 lie not have done fo but upon principle. 
 
 Sir John Blaquiere faid, he was happy that the Bill 
 was permitted to be printed, as it would fully juftify 
 all thofe who had taken a part in a mealure, which 
 when the country recovered its lobcr fenics, would appear 
 to be highly honourable and advantageous to it.—Fie op- 
 pofed the Refolution before the Houle, becaufe it was not 
 warranted on any ground whatfoever, and if it were, it 
 would be inexpedient to take fuch a precipitate ftep. 1 he 
 Engiifh Bill was faid to afiFeCf to bind Ireland, and was 
 compared to the American Stamp A 61 , and Tea Tax, 
 which had deluged that country in blood. He took up the 
 Addrefs of the Lords of England, and the King’s Anfwer, 
 and read the lines: 
 
 Wc have thus far performed our part in this important bufinefs, and 
 we trull that, in the whole courfe of its progrefs, reciprocal intereflsand 
 mutual affection will infure that fpiritof union fo effentially neceffary to 
 the great end which the two countries have equally in view, 
 
 • let 
 
( i66 ) 
 
 let the fober fenfcs of gentlemen now determine upon its 
 merits : it would be an infult upon the underftandi ng of 
 that Houfe to fay another word upon it. 
 
 It was the blefling of God, he faid, that when that extra¬ 
 ordinary Refolution was moved the other night, he found an 
 honourable friend of his had propofed the queftion of adjourn¬ 
 ment ; or flufhed with the victory, or fomethiag very like 
 one, which gentlemen on the other fide had gained, he 
 had very ftrong doubts, whether, in the phrenzy of the 
 moment, that mad Refolution might not have obtained the 
 ian&ion of the Houfe : He begged gentlemen to confider, 
 that it was a dire6f attack upon the proceedings of the Par¬ 
 liament of England, and upon the condu£I of the King, 
 who, in his Anfwer had re-echoed what his Addrefs had 
 Hated : k was a libel upon the Britifh Parliament, and an 
 impeachment of the underftanding of the King, and the 
 integrity of his Minifter ; in a word, it was a proceeding 
 which ought to revolt every difpaflionate member of the 
 community 
 
 He faid it was impoflible to avoid faying one word with 
 refpeCf to the fituation of his Right Honourable friend the 
 Secretary, after what had fallen from an Honourable Gen¬ 
 tleman on the other fide. He had been traduced without 
 doors in the bafeft manner, mif-ftated and mifreprefented 
 within by Gentlemen on both fides of the Houfe ; betrayed 
 (he would ufe the word, if it did not apply to a character 
 that was incapable of intending to do fo) by fome of his 
 friends in England (he here alluded to what had dropped from 
 Mr. Smith , in the lajl debate concerning what Lord Camden , 
 had faid). What, faid he, fhall the man of the firft cha¬ 
 racter, rank, and confequence in that Houfe, prefiding at 
 the head of his Majefty’s Councils, diftinguilhed not more 
 tor his ability than his love of liberty, hefitate to give a 
 decifive and categorical anfwer to the fimpleft of all ques¬ 
 tions, Whether the fourth Kefolution did or did not bind 
 Ireland? it obvioufly fpoke to his underftanding, coming 
 from a man who was above any finifter view, that he had 
 no motive but a doubt on the occafion, and fuch, he con- 
 feffed, might warrant doubts in ethers ; but how did it 
 aCf upon the prefent queftion ? The doubt might warrant 
 a diffent from the Bill, but it was fair logic to infift, that 
 to warrant an affent to the Pvefolution they muft take it for 
 
 • faa, 
 
C 167 ) 
 
 that he had pofitively declared it was binding to Ire- 
 Ifnd* However, the Bill was now gone forth, it would 
 barer its bread to the world, and juftify thofe who had a 
 in framing it. The Refolution produced was a libel 
 on the Britilh Parliament, an infult to the King, and an 
 impeachment of the integrity of his Minifters ! It was tending 
 to commit the two Parliaments together, and leading ulti¬ 
 mately to a feperation between the two kingdoms^ and, 
 npon the whole, was fuch an a<51 ot delperate madnefs, as 
 
 ne trufted in his heart, no man in his fober fenfes would 
 lupport. 
 
 . Mr * Korney gave the Hon. Gentleman credit for his feel¬ 
 ings ; he would neverthelefs recommend it to him and the 
 Gentlemen who voted with him on the motion of Friday 
 nl > to fupport the Refolution. They would thereby have 
 an opportunity of convincing the people without doors that 
 they never had entertained an intention of abandoning the 
 v-onititution of their country, or of differing it to be 
 trenched upon. Mr. Kearney faid, that like Csefar’s wife, 
 it was not fufficient that Parliament Ihould be virtuous, 
 it ought to be unfufpe£ted. 
 
 Mr. Coote faid, that in confidering the quedion before the 
 Wou.e, he would not regard this, or that adminidration, 
 is or that party. That he thought every man ought to en¬ 
 deavour to preferve the Condition, and the Independent 
 i-egiflation they now pofleffed without violation, and hand 
 them down topodenty without encroachment.—So long as 
 the queftion was general, that was to fay, whether the Bill 
 Ihould be admitted, or not, he had fome doubts upon his mind, 
 but that he would never hefitate in refufing his fupport to 
 any principle that tended to Ihake the Legidative Rights of 
 Ireland. That in ceafing to legidate, they mud: ceafe to be 
 Independent. That if they were to deliver over intoother 
 hands their Jegiflation, it would not be fo eafy a matter to re- 
 cover it. That it was infinitely more eafy to prevent an 
 evil s creeping into the Conditution, than to eradicate that 
 evtl w r hen once fixed there. That he would not agree to the 
 propofed Refolution, as it appeared to him unneceffary, hof- 
 tde to the Britifh Legidature, and inconfident with that dig¬ 
 nified caution, and manly wifdora which ought to go vern their 
 condua. That the country could derive no advantage from 
 Refolunon, and that there were limits, beyond which it 
 would be imprudent to dep without direa provocation ; and 
 
 as 
 
 * 
 
( <68 ) 
 
 •is Horace fays (( Ejl modus in rebus , funt certi denique fines 
 quos ultra , citraque nequit confiflere redlum ” 
 
 Mr. Carry laid the queftion before the Houfe required 
 very little indeed to be (aid in its fupport; but the Hon. Gen¬ 
 tleman who had fpoken Iaft but one,having alluded to fomething 
 he had flatted relative to a Noble Peer, (Lord Camden), 
 he thought it neceffary again to (late what had come to his 
 information upon it. He underftood that that Noble Peer 
 had in one debate faid, that he would never confent to part 
 with an iota of the 4 th Refolution ; and in another, when 
 prelied to declare whether it w r as his opinion that it infring¬ 
 ed upon the Conftitution of Ireland, he had anfwered “that 
 were he prefTed for feven years upon that point, he would 
 not give an■ anfwcrThis, Mr. Corry faid, falling from a 
 Minilfer and from fo wife a man, feemed to him to have 
 one of thefeonly two poflible meanings—either Lord Camden 
 thought it did affeH the leg illative independency of Ireland, and 
 he- had caution and wifdom enough not to irritate that coun¬ 
 try by declaring it ; or he thought it did not affeH it, and 
 he had unwillingnefs to offend England by declaring that 
 opinion.—Which of the two motives was it defired fhould be 
 attributed to the Noble Peer for declining to fpeak out ?— 
 In the courfe of the proceedings on this bufinefs of the Right 
 Hon. Gentleman’s Bill, he obferved, that the Commercial 
 part of it had retired from public attention ; and very na¬ 
 turally fince the ft age in which it has been eppofed preclud¬ 
 ed detail, and going to principle, the great Conftitutional 
 qtidfion, a fubjeH on which the country felt with fo much 
 fen Ability, had alone been taken up : This he was to obferve 
 could by no means bear a con ft ru 6 ! ion, that the Commer¬ 
 cial part was not highly objeHionable ; much lefs could it 
 bear a cqnftruHion, as had been fomewhere infinuated, 
 that Ireland, becaufe file refufed that particular fettlement, 
 had no wifh or demand for any fettlement whatever of her 
 trade : Points there were certainly, which called for fettle¬ 
 ment ; he had at the opening of the laft feflion mentioned 
 for one, the Eaft India trade, as had been truly ftated in a 
 former debate ; as he had repeatedly done alfo in that feflion. 
 He had likewife called the attention of the Houfe to a ftate- 
 ment of the Navigation AH,' which had palled unqueftioned 
 and undecided, as to the rights of the country : To thofe 
 it was his duty to call the attention of the Houfe at prefent; 
 as to the former, he acknowledged he thought the prefent 
 time afforded no poflibility of going into k, and therefore 
 
 that 
 
( 169 ) 
 
 that it mud necelTarily fland over till next feffion of Par 
 liament ; as to the latter, it was not exactly in that fitu- 
 ation. He faid, he was extremely unwilling to (fir any 
 thing which might didurb the harmony of the country fo 
 late in the feffion, and therefore having difcharged the duty 
 he owed to the Houfe, in recalling it to their recollection, 
 he would not, unlefs called upon by the Houfe, proceed to 
 move any thing on that fubje< 5 t, willing at the fame time 
 if called upon immediately, to go into it. This however he 
 would beg leave to date to the Right Hon. Gentleman who 
 prefided fo ably at the Revenue board, and to two other 
 Members of that board, who alfo fat there in 1779. 
 year, in the adminidration of Lord Buckingham, a report 
 of that board upon the trade of Ireland had been fent to Eng¬ 
 land when the Irifh bufmefs was then under difcuflion : In 
 that report the board dated, that the Navigation Aft confeders 
 England and Ireland as one country , and affefts both alike : 
 It was dated the 26th of June, 1779. How that board had 
 a£ted fince giving that opinion, or how they might think fit 
 to a£t in future, it was not his bufinefs to explain or to con¬ 
 jecture, it was enough for him to date the matter to that 
 board and to the Houfe, willing, as he faid, to proceed on 
 it, if defired fo to do. 
 
 Very naturally indeed, all thefe things had been laid 
 afide in the late difcuflions, which were of a political, 
 not of a commercial nature :— ■ ■■ It was true they paded 
 Refolutions on a Commercial adjudment which were 
 fent from thence, but in return they had received a po¬ 
 litical treaty ; a treaty whofc preliminary Was the la- 
 Crifice of their Conditution, and whofe ratification was 
 to be the fubverfion of thaircommerce. They had received 
 a code of Imperial law, mafked under the title of an ad- 
 judment of trade.— — A jud alarm had in confluence 
 fpread itfelf over the nation : ? Twas theirs to quiet their ap- 
 prehenfions—the people Were eafily led and prone to give 
 their confidence where it was invited r Let them teach them 
 to look up to them with confidence, and they would be led 
 by their wifdom ;—Let them teach them that in their de¬ 
 liberations they fympathized in a certain degree with the opi¬ 
 nions of the nation, and the nation would ceafe to delibe¬ 
 rate for itfelf—that was the true fecurity for the tranquility 
 of the country, that the impregnable prote&ion of their 
 property, and that the infallible perfuafion to the nation 
 to retire to cultivate the bleffings of peace.—In that view, 
 with that conviction, and in the mild fpirit of true mode- 
 
 ration 
 
( > 7 ° ) 
 
 ration, he would vote for the motion to be propofed as tend - 
 ing todiminifli the apprehenfions of the people, and to efta- 
 blifli their confidence in the Parliament of Ireland. 
 
 Mr. Beresford rofe to fet the honourable Gentleman right 
 with regard to the fa£t he had mentioned, relative to a no¬ 
 ble Lord high in office in Great Britain, which the hon. 
 Gentleman feemed totally to mifapprehend. That noble 
 Lord, it was true had not given any anfwer to the quef- 
 tion that had been put to him by other Members of the 
 Britifti Houfe of Peers ; but he had not refufed to give 
 an anfwer, for the reafons fuggefted by the honourable 
 Gentleman. After having been teized for fome time the 
 noble Lord had faid, that he would give no anfwer to their 
 queftions* that they had no right to put any fuch queftions 
 to him. How that could be conftrued into a declaration 
 that the noble Lord had not formed an opinion, or that 
 he entertained any doubt as to the true conftruftion of the 
 Refolution, Mr. Beresford faid, he was at a lofs to ima¬ 
 gine. No man in his fenfes could think the noble Lord’s 
 opinion was different from that of any other Gentleman 
 who read the Refolution. As to the main queftion, could 
 any man alive fay that the legiflature was infringed ? 
 Who infringed it ? Where was it infringed ? Let thofe 
 who thought it was infringed, Ihew it ! Gentlemen feemed 
 to him, not to have full poffeffion of their fenfes, when 
 they argued that the Conftitution was infringed. They 
 did not appear to him to have greatnefs of mind enough 
 to look their fituation in its face and to know what it really 
 was. They had been fo long unufed to external legiflation 
 that they feemed to {hew a weaknefs in flaking their con- 
 flitution on a Refolution of the Englifli Houfes of Parlia¬ 
 ment. With regard to the Navigation Aft, and the opi¬ 
 nion relative to its conflruftion that the honourable Gen¬ 
 tleman had quoted, he could not anfwer for others, he had 
 never given any fuch opinion, and he was fure the ho¬ 
 nourable Gentleman would not find his name fubferibed 
 to the paper to which he had alluded. 
 
 Mr. Corry faid, he had not the paper about him, he 
 did not therefore know whether the honourable Gentle¬ 
 man’s name was fubferibed to it or not. 
 
 Mr. Ponfonby faid, he would vote for the queflion of 
 adjournment, and that he thought no juflification of the 
 conduft of the majority of Friday neceffary. 
 
 Sir 
 
( 171 ) 
 
 Sir Hercules Langrijhe faid, he ffiould not have rifen when 
 there Teemed to be To Jittle difference of opinion in the 
 Houfe, had he not been called upon by an honourable 
 friend to explain a matter in which he might officially have 
 been concerned, “ the conflruftion of the Aft of Navigation.” 
 He Taid, it was of very little confequence what opinion any 
 man entertained concerning the conftrudtion of a law that 
 was to be received and executed in two diftindf countries. 
 He would not prefume to judge what conftrudtion this law 
 might receive before a tribunal (if any fuch could exifl) 
 competent to decide between the two nations ; but the ac¬ 
 ceptation of the law was decided exprefsly in each by fubfe^ 
 quent ftatutes. In Ireland, by the a6f of cuftoms, (which 
 paffed two years after, and recognized the Navigation A6t) 
 Britiffi Plantation goods were not only importable there from 
 England, but importable upon one-half only of the cuftom 
 duty. And by the Engliffi a 61 of the 12th of George the 
 III. it was declared that Plantation goods could not be export¬ 
 able from Ireland to England. He admitted that the adf was 
 null and void. To far as it affedled to bind Ireland, but as de¬ 
 claratory of their conftrudtion of the A£T of Navigation it was 
 of force, and decifive upon England ; nothing therefore re¬ 
 mained to the difcretion of the Commiffioners of the Revenue 
 in either country. Without a new law the Iriffi Commiffion¬ 
 ers could not refufe to receive Plantation goods from England 
 —without a new law the Engliffi Commiffioners could not 
 receive them from Ireland. He obferved the Honourable 
 Member had taken leave of the great fubje£t of the com¬ 
 mercial Tettlement, by declaring that it would be deftruc- 
 tive of trade and fubverfive of conftitution. It was very eafy, 
 he Taid, for Gentlemen of quick perception and ardent feelings 
 to pronounce fentence of condemnation on any meal ure with¬ 
 out the formality of a trial. It was only to fubffitute autho¬ 
 rity for argument, and opinion for proof. That might fave 
 the people at large the trouble of judging for themfelves ; but 
 it might alfo Tometimes betray them into errors of judgment 
 not their own. Infallibility was not, he obferved, the property 
 of man, and if it were, it would not be more likely to be found 
 in the lofty range of fublime genius, that in the humble paths 
 of common fenfe. There might be an excefs of fplendour 
 which might throw a glare on a fubjeCt, tending more to 
 obfcure than elucidate ; therefore, upon moft occafions, if the 
 people were fuffered tojudge for themfelves, they would ge¬ 
 nerally in the end, he was perfuaded, judge pretty juftly. They 
 
 Z 2 were 
 
( 172 ) 
 
 were not to expe& revelations in politics—they muft havere- 
 courfe to their own common fenfe to work out their falva- 
 tion here. It was alfoeafy to fay any meafure was injurious to 
 the country, and if that pofition be once taken for. granted, 
 it followed of courfe to fay, that the fupporters of it were 
 men who had no fenfe of duty or chara&er, that they were 
 betrayers of their truft, and enemies of their country.— 
 That was very true, if the premifes were admitted ; hut if, on 
 examination, they appeared utterly deftitute of foundation, 
 the whole conclufion fell to the ground, and all the in¬ 
 ventive was but wafle of words. Now he was confident when 
 the Bill, which he had then ordered to be printed, ftyould 
 be circulated through the country—when the clpuds of pre¬ 
 judice and delpfion Ihould have paiTed away, and the people 
 /hould have time to give it (what it never had had yet) a pa¬ 
 tient and impartial examination, they would blufli at their in¬ 
 fatuation, arid deplore their 1 pfs. They would then, per¬ 
 haps, commend its fupporters as the beft friends to their 
 country, as men who returned from the temple more jufti- 
 fied than others, who (poke moie highly of themfelves.' 
 
 The Hon. Member, he faid, has fpoken with becoming 
 warmth ot their newly acquired conftitutional rights. His at¬ 
 tachments wefe always warm, a.qd. well directed. However it 
 was poftlble, that as that favourite object was purfued with all 
 the fond partiality of a lover, it might ftill be regarded with 
 all the fpnd jealoufy of a lover, which fometimcs entertained 
 fufpicion where there was no juft foundation for it ; fuch ex- 
 cefs was natural to devoted partiality, and though the refult, 
 perhaps, of the feelings, yet it was but too apt to betray" the 
 mind into groundlefs didjruft, and to take from wifdom her 
 infallibility. There was a degree of political circumfpedion 
 that was ufeful to the country ; hut there might be a fort of 
 impra&icable fufpicion that walked alone —that would neither 
 communicate nor confide. Another Gentleman had faid. 
 There was no need of any adjuftment or fettlement between 
 the two countries.” That feniiment might reconcile him to 
 the motion mentioned by the Hon. Member, for certainly 
 no man who thought a fettlement neceftary with England, 
 would fupport a motion tending fo eminently to render 
 that imprafticable, efpecially as they muft advance to 
 that fettlement through the Parliament, againft whom 
 the motion muft imply an infult. But they faid, “ they 
 would never relinquifti their legiflative rights.”-Where¬ 
 
 fore fhould they fay fo, uiftefs they had been at¬ 
 tacked ? And if they faid, or implied, that the En- 
 i... . - : ... , . ... glilh- 
 
( 173 ) 
 
 glifh Parliament had attacked them, they caff an un¬ 
 defended infult on them, and contradicted the una¬ 
 nimous declaration of the Lords and Commons of Great 
 Britain. It was not magnanimity to refent an offence that 
 never was intended, or to repel an injury that never was 
 offered. But an Hon. Member, with a tendernefs for Gen¬ 
 tlemen on that fide of the Houfe, for which they were very 
 grateful, would pafs the refolution to vindicate their cha¬ 
 racter to the people. Full of gratitude, however, they de¬ 
 clined the offer, and required not the vindication. To the 
 cool confideration of the meafurc moft willingly did they fub- 
 tnit their reputation with their countrymen, and the time 
 would come in which they would with that the one lide 
 Fad been more temperate, and the other more fuccefsful. 
 
 They talked of their conftitutional rights with ardour, their 
 feelings were juft—let them enjoy their conftitutional rights 
 unqueftioned, unimpaired 5 but let them not, in the fplen- 
 dour of their independence, lofe fight of the peculiarity of 
 their fituation, internal and external. He knew very well, 
 that in legiflation and conftitution they were as independent 
 as England, 'or any nation in the univerfe. But though 
 they were a free country, they muff be a connected'country 
 —they muff look for commerce and protection to fome 
 powerful connection, and there was not a nation in the 
 univerfe that would conned with them, except on terms of 
 mutual conceffion, of mutual contribution, and mutual be¬ 
 nefit. They muff be traofported by a phrenzy of national 
 vanity if they did not acknowledge it, and they could 
 not look into the map of the world, or confider the power 
 and politics of Europe, without querying that England 
 with that country, and that country al ( qne, which they could 
 be connected with fafety to their commerce, their con- 
 ffitution, or their religion ; and therefore a clo.fq connecti¬ 
 on with Great Britain was fuch a political axiom, it was 
 fo felf-evidently neceffary to both countries, as to become 
 the creed of every rational man, and the cant of every de- 
 ligning man amongft them. But that connedion was not to 
 be maintained by groundlefs fufpicions, by alienating doc¬ 
 trines, or offenfive refolutions. He had now only to con¬ 
 gratulate Gentlemen on an accuracy of expreffion which 
 they had inadvertently fallen into. They called that a pre¬ 
 vious queftion—it certainly was fo ; becaufe the morion 
 of adjournment was made previous to the refolution which 
 had been the fubjed of their debate. 
 
 t > 
 
 Sir 
 
( i74 ) 
 
 Sir Henry Cavendijh rofe to call the Houfe back to the 
 queilion of adjournment. Sir Henry faid, no man had 
 an idea of flying in the face of their fovereign or attacking 
 the Britifli Parliament, but as an attack had been made on 
 the Irifh Conilitution, the Refolution appeared to him to 
 be neceflary, and all who thought fo woilld vote for it. 
 
 The Secretary of State declared for the adjournment, be- 
 caufe it gave the fullefl opportunity for the confideration 
 of that important fubjecT He had, he faid, prefented 
 a petition from Cork, praying that the refolutions, if not 
 rejected, fhould be poflponed till the next feflion of Par¬ 
 liament. The adjournment was propofed for the purpofe 
 of giving the fullefl time to the public to confider the 
 Bill, which had been that day introduced, with a decla¬ 
 ration of not taking up the meafure till the next feflion of 
 Parliament, and an affurance that it would never be taken 
 up, if not called for by the public voice. That the Minifler 
 who held fuch language was intitled to the public efleem, and 
 to fhare in the triumph which a learned Gentleman ha, 
 fo eloquently exprefTed. Pie was alfo for the adjournment- 
 becaufe he was againfl the Refolution intended to be prod 
 pofed. That the Refolution implied a contradiction of the 
 declarations made by the twoHoufes of Parliament in Great 
 Britain, in their addrefs to the Throne, and to the Bill of 
 the Britifh Houfe of Commons, both of which declared, in 
 the inofl explicit terms, that the Irifh Parliament was alone 
 competent to make laws for Ireland ; and to the objection, 
 that the Houfe fhould make fuch a declaration as well as 
 the Britifh Houfes of Parliament, he anfwered, that it was 
 done by the bill now on the table, which would be print¬ 
 ed and difperfed through the kingdom. It was faid, that 
 the bill introduced a new commercial fyflem in refpect to 
 the Britifh colonies, different in principle from that of 79; 
 he denied it, and infilled that by the unanimous refolu- 
 tion of the Houfe of Commons in that year, the liberty 
 fo gratefully accepted by Ireland was a liberty of tra¬ 
 ding with thofe colonies “ in like manner as trade was 
 “ carried on between Great Britain and them.” That on 
 that principle their feveral laws were pahed from that year 
 to the prefent time, and in thofe laws the fame duties, 
 regulations, prohibitions and reflri< 5 tions were introduced 
 as in the Britifh laws, except in the inflance of rum, which 
 was excepted in the Bill, aad one or two articles of little 
 
 importance. 
 
( *75 ) 
 
 importance. It was objeaed, that by the Bill they werd 
 to have no feledion ; he thought it unjuft they ftiould have 
 any, becaufe Great Britain herfelf had none ; that they had 
 accepted the trade on the fame terms Great Britain enjoyed 
 it* and that it was abfurd to expea it on any other. That 
 whatever Great Britain and Ireland could fupply, the co¬ 
 lonies could take from no other country, and whatever the 
 Colonies could fupply, the two kingdoms ought only to 
 take from them, for that was the true principle of colo¬ 
 nial conneaion. He infilled that no change whatever was 
 made by the Bill in the independence of the Irifh legi- 
 flature , that the Englifh colonies and fettlements were the 
 property of Great Britain, and every country had as good 
 a right to grant its property on condition, as an individual. 
 The nature of a condition was, that the perfon who had 
 accepted the grant was at liberty not to perform the condi¬ 
 tion, and to relinquifh the grant on one fide, the grantor 
 is fure that his property was not to be enjoyed lon<rer 
 than the condition was performed ; and on the other fide, 
 the grantee was at liberty not to perform the condition, and 
 to determine the grant. 
 
 He obferved, that the condition *expe£led from Ireland 
 was of the moft honourable nature £ it was no more than 
 this—that ftie fliould enjoy the property of Great Britain 
 on the very fame terms on which it was enjoyed by Great 
 Britain herfelf, and whenever Ireland did not choofe to 
 enjoy it on thofe terms, that then each nation was to re¬ 
 turn precifely to the commercial fituation in which file was 
 now placed. He faid Great Britain had granted her co¬ 
 lony trade on no other terms, and that, in juftice to the 
 whole Empire, file could have granted it on no other; for 
 that otherwjfe the whole maritime and commercial fyftem 
 of Great Britain would be at the feet of Ireland. He ad¬ 
 verted to the articles of union between England and Scotland, 
 and faid, that event, fo long defired by England, had been 
 obftruaed for many ages by Scotland’s infilling upon hav¬ 
 ing the benefits of trading with the Englifh colonies, and 
 of the Englilh navigation laws. What Scotland had been 
 long refufed, and had at laft obtained by parting with the 
 Sovereignty of her legifiature, was granted to Ireland as a 
 free gift on the condition of fimilar laws, and while that 
 ftiould be performed, was then # offered to be perpetuated to 
 her, without infringing, in the fmalleft degree, on the un- 
 
 queftioned 
 
( 176 ) 
 
 qucftjoncd independence of her legiflature ; and that when 
 Scotland had confented to an incorporating union, die 
 was fo anxious for the fecurity of thofe favourite obje&s, that 
 fhe infilled on an exprefs provifion for that purpofe. Would 
 any man then have forefeen that thofe advantages could 
 ever have been granted to another kingdom, with a view 
 to no other union but that of intered and affedlion. The 
 principle of a fimilarity of laws between the two kingdoms 
 as far as related to colonies, {hips and feamen, had been 
 edablilhed by feveral Irifh datutes, from the year 1780 to 
 the prefent feffion. To fupport this, he repeated the pre¬ 
 amble of one of thofe a£ls, the 19th and 20th Geo. III. the 
 fpirit of which had been fince uniformly agreed to.— 
 
 “ Whereas fuch part of the trade between this kingdom and the Britifh 
 colonies irt America and the Weft Indies, and the Britifti fettlements on 
 the coaft of Africa, as was not enjoyed by this kingdom previous to this 
 prefent feffion, can be enjoyed and have continuance fo long, and in fuch cafes 
 only as the goods to be imported from the faid colonies, plantations, or 
 fettlements into this kingdom, or to be exported from this kingdom to the 
 faid colonies, plantations or fettlements ffiall be liable to equal duties and 
 drawbacks, and be fubjett to the fame fecurities, regulations, and re« 
 ftri&ions as the like goods are liable and fubje<ft to upon being imported 
 from the faid colonies, plantations and fettlements into Great Britain, 
 or exported thence to fuch colonies, plantations or fettlements refpeftive- 
 
 iy.” 
 
 That one of thofe flatutes, pafled in the year 1782, 
 enabled that principle with much greater extent than the 
 Bill then on their table ; for that confined it to the colony 
 fydem, and to the {hipping and feamen, but the a& of 
 1782 not only adopted the principle in thofe articles, but 
 extends it generally to a fimilarity in the laws of commerce, 
 provided thofe laws impofed equal redraints, and conferred 
 equal benefits on the fubje&s of both kingdoms ; and en- 
 a£led all fuch claufes and provifions made in England or 
 Great Britain, in any {latute made in England or Great 
 Britain, fave fo far as they have been altered or repealed, 
 to bind the fubje&s of Ireland only fo long as they bind 
 the fubje£ts of Great Britain. The whole of the prefent acl 
 {hewed, that a fimilarity of trade laws was the obje< 5 t; and 
 the duration, while they were laws in Great Britain, fhewed 
 a view to the future as well as the pad. The prefent Bill 
 annexed the fame condition'of equal redraints and bene¬ 
 fits to the laws relative to the colonies, to (hipping and 
 
 feaman; 
 
( 177 ) 
 
 Teamen ; and of that equality the Irifh legislature was to judge 
 as well as the Britifh ; and if, at any time, the adherence 
 to that redrained fimilarity fhould be found prejudicial to 
 Ireland, her two Houfes of Parliament* might determine 
 the fettlement, and bring them back to their prefent con- 
 ditioil. He then affirmed as a lawyer, that the a£t of 
 1782, did affirm the principle that he had dated ; he cal¬ 
 led upon the gentlemen of the long robe to fay, whether he 
 was midaken, and if he was not contradicted, it mud be 
 taken as granted, that the principle then objected to was 
 at that time advanced with greater latitude ; and when was 
 it acknowledged ? At a time when the independence of 
 their legislature had been recently edablifhed, and when the 
 fpirit of liberty was as high as it ever had appeared in any 
 country. With whom did that principle originate ? With 
 fome of the foremod affertors of the liberties of Ireland, 
 the late and prefent Chief Baron, the prefent Attorney Ge¬ 
 neral and Mr. Grattan ; for thofe refpeCtable men were the 
 perfons appointed to prepare the a<T The generality of 
 the expreffions in that law might poffibly have occasioned 
 expreffions of a dmilar import in fome of the Britifh pro¬ 
 ceedings, but thofe expreffions had been fufficiently re¬ 
 drained; and the objeCt had beeh placed beyond the pof- 
 fibility of doubt, by the addrefs of the two Houfes of Par¬ 
 liament in Great Britain, and by the Englifh Bill. 
 
 He faid, they were now alarmed at a principle repeatedly 
 recognized by their own a£ts, and at a condition which they 
 at fird received with gratitude, and had Since uniformly per¬ 
 formed without murmur ; nor could it ever have been 
 thought fair or equal between the two countries, that Ire¬ 
 land diould have the benefit of the Britifh Navigation fyf- 
 tem, and not Submit to it herfelf. 
 
 He faid, the Refolution propofed would be a cerifure on 
 the Britifh Minider, who deferved very different treatment 
 from them, for having encountered the midaken prejudices 
 of many of his own countrymen to promote the intereds of 
 that kingdom; and the drength and profperity of the whole 
 Britifh empire. He faid, it would be unjuft to condemn 
 the Bill before the majority of the Houfe was apprifed of 
 its contents, and before the kingdom had confidered it. 
 To their difpaffionate and unprejudiced opinion it was re¬ 
 ferred ; with that view, and becaufe he could fafely affirm 
 that the Bill contained not a Syllable injurious to their con- 
 ditutional rights, he had voted for the introduction of it. 
 
 Mr. Conolly faid, that the Right Hon. young Man, at 
 prefent the Britifh Minider had made no druggies lor Ire- 
 
 .. A a land 
 
( ! 7 8 ) 
 
 land at all, nor did he deferve to he p^negerifed. Had he 
 thought fit to have interfered with his weight in favour 
 of Ireland, it was impoflible but that his power and in¬ 
 fluence mufl: have prevailed. 
 
 The Secretary of State in reply faid, that he confidered 
 the Britifh Minifter entitled to the acknowledgments of that 
 country ; that he had reflfted the petitions of between fifty 
 and fixty of the principal trading cities and towns of Great 
 Britain, and the oppofition of many of the principal ma¬ 
 nufacturers of England, who declared their intentions of 
 removing with their capitals to that kingdom, and had re¬ 
 peated their evidence before the Houfe of Lords of Great 
 Britain, under the fanCtion of an oath. That a conduct 
 directed to the good of the whole empire, in oppofition to 
 the clamours of fuch a multitude of manufacturers, de- 
 ferved praife, but he flattered no man, had not the honour 
 of being known to the Britifh Minifter, and that his Ma- 
 j city’s favour and his own fituation rendered him indepen¬ 
 dent of all Minifters. 
 
 Mr. Comity , made a fhort reply, which called up 
 
 Mr. Pole, who faid he was in the habit of entertaining 
 great refpeCt for whatever fell from the Right Hon. Gentle¬ 
 man, but he could not help riling to notice the incon- 
 fiftency evident in the three fpeeches that had been deli¬ 
 vered by him. Mr. Pole then pointed out the different 
 manner in which Mr. Conolly had argued each time he 
 fpoke, and faid, if the honourable Gentleman and his friends 
 would undertake to reconcile the inconfiftences to which he 
 had alluded, he would go over to them and abandon the prin¬ 
 ciples he had hitherto maintained; buttill then, notwithftand- 
 ing the force of oratory with which they had contended that 
 the Bill was inimical to Ireland, he fhould ever approve 
 the principles of that Bill and maintain a contrary doc- 
 rine. With regard to the Refolution that the honourable 
 Gentleman had dated to the Houfe and propofed to move, 
 he thought it calculated to commit the Parliament of Ire¬ 
 land with the Parliament of Great Britain ; a fituation 
 into which he conceived, no true friend to his country 
 could defire to drive thofe two affemblies. While upon his 
 legs, Mr. Pole faid, that he y/ould declare it to be his opi¬ 
 nion that under the fourth Refolution of the Britifh Parlia¬ 
 ment, Ireland would enjoy every benefit of the trade of Eng¬ 
 land if fhe would fubmit to the reftri&ions to which England 
 fubmitted : That was, if they enjoyed the commerce of Bri¬ 
 tain, it fhould be on the fame condition as Britain enjoyed it; 
 a condition, that had railed that country to greatneis and to 
 
 glory ! 
 
V 
 
 ( 179 ) 
 
 glory ! Whether it was poffible to feparate the fecurity 
 from the benefit, he did not know, but he was willing; to 
 receive both on the terms on which they had been offered. 
 And notwithflanding the harangues he had heard, and the 
 clamour that had been made, he would not give up his 
 opinion, that thofe terms were advantageous for Ireland. 
 He was, therefore, extremely forry that the Right Hon. Gen¬ 
 tleman had been obliged to poflpone any further proceed¬ 
 ing of the Bill. He was forry, becaufe when the country 
 had temperately and fully confidered the fubjedf, he was 
 convinced that they would wilh that the meafure had been 
 adopted and lament the exertions which Gentlemen, with 
 very good intentions, had made to prevent it. 
 
 Mr. Conolly faid a few words in explanation. 
 
 Mr. Neville ^—From the part I took on Friday night, X 
 think it neceffary to fay a few words. Had the Refolution 
 that was mentioned on Thurfday been propofed this day, 
 previous to the Secretary’s (I may fay) giving up the Bill, 
 1 lhouM certainly have voted for it—as I fhouid againft the 
 , 1 ln evei T ft a g e - But the preieiit Refolution having been 
 interpreted two different ways, one that it is merely a decla¬ 
 ration of our rights, the other, an attack on the proceedings 
 of the Parliament of Great Britain, I fhall fubmit it to the 
 Right Hon. mover, whether it would be advifcable to fend 
 it into the world, and if he had not better withdraw it, as 
 there is an end of the Bill, and let him be affured, if he 
 does not, that he will not have the fupport of the country 
 gentlemen. [Here Mr. Flood faid, he would have their 
 iupport.] Mr. Neville infilled he would not, as he had 
 communicated with fevCfal who thought any Refolution un- 
 neceffary, and that the prefent one was very exceptionable. 
 
 Mr. Flood rofe to defend his Refolution, which he con¬ 
 tended was neither giving the lie to the Addrefs of the two 
 Homes of the Britifh Parliament, as it had been faid to be, nor 
 an affront to the Crown, nor a contradi&ion to the Bri¬ 
 tifh Parliament, but was called for by their Refolution, and 
 was abfdutely neceffary, if it were only to corroborate the 
 affertion of thofe gentlemen, who maintained, that the fourth 
 Refolution of the Englilh Parliament was not injurious to the 
 legiflative rights of Ireland. With regard to his wifhing or 
 intending to commit the Parliaments of the two kingdoms, 
 he would appeal to the recoIfeHion of the Idoufe, whether 
 he had not uniformly faid, from the beginning of the bu- 
 finefs, that there was no treaty they could enter into with 
 Great Britain, about which Great Britain and Ireland 
 ought to quarrel. In fadt, he was convinced there was no 
 
 A a 2 commercial 
 
( » 8 ° ) 
 
 commercial advantage that country could gain which was 
 worth a difpute. England had made a fair propofal; fhe 
 had faid, “ we v/ill give you fuch and fuch things, on con¬ 
 dition that you will give up the right of making laws for 
 yourfelves. It remains for you to judge according to your 
 wifdoin and difcretion of this condition.” It was fair to fay 
 in reply, “ we cannot accept your offer on fuch condition, 
 becaufe we hold ourfelves indifpenfably bound to retain our 
 legiflative rights undiminifhed, and not to enter into any 
 engagement to relinquifh them-” What was there of in- 
 fult in this conduct ? Was it not equally fair on both 
 fides ? An honourable gentleman, he obferved, had talked 
 of his independence, and had reded it on the emoluments 
 of his office. He fhould be extremely forry, if the honour¬ 
 able gentleman had not a better ground for his independ¬ 
 ence ; and if it did not arile from his own honour. The 
 man who was in his mind a Have, would not, he affierted, 
 be lefs fo, if he had forty thoufand a year; while the man of 
 honour would be tree, if his annual income were only forty 
 livres. True independence confided in an honourable mind ; 
 but were the honourable gentleman’s condituents to thank 
 him for what he had faid ? The honourable gentleman, 
 however, might well fay he was independent, fince he was 
 independent both of his Prince and his Condituents. Mr. 
 Flood took notice of the arguments that had been ufed, 
 in order to charge the Refolution with being likely to in¬ 
 volve the two countries in a war, and contended that they 
 were wholly ill-founded. He faid, the declaration which 
 he had wifhed the Houfe to come to, was neceffiary to 
 be made for many reafons, and particularly, in order to 
 take away an imputation of the refumption of the freedom 
 of the Iridi Conditution having been attempted ; but, 
 if they chole to leave the public in fufpenfe as to that 
 point, and would differ them to entertain the idea, that the 
 Britidi Parliament now lay in wait for an opportunity of ef¬ 
 fecting their purpofe—be it fo;—he was glad he had dated 
 the Refolution, that the public might fee, whether it was 
 through moderation or difappointment, that Government 
 had acted as they had done. He would leave it to gen¬ 
 tlemen to confider, why they did not fend their anfwer to 
 the Parliament of England, who expedted it. The proper 
 anfwer was contained in the Refolution, and he would afk 
 any gentleman of common fenfe, whether it would pledge 
 that Houfe with the Englifh Parliament, if they were to fay, 
 s< we will preferve thofe legiflative rights, which you de¬ 
 clare you will ever hold facred as your own.’’ He fhould 
 
 have. 
 
 . * 
 
{ 181 ) 
 
 have thought, the gentlemen of the other fide, who after 
 what had palled perhaps were obliged to hide their heads* 
 would have been glad to fupport the Refolution, as a means 
 of vindicating their conduct to their country, and of conr 
 vincing them, that, when they voted for the introdu£tion 
 of the Bill, they were as far from meaning to countenance 
 an attempt to infringe the Conftitution of Ireland, as 
 thofe gentlemen who oppofed it, avowedly, becaufe they 
 thought it a dire& invafion of the legiflative rights of their 
 country. If, however, the gentlemen on the other fide were 
 fo content with the perfeft knowledge of their own inte¬ 
 grity, that they thought no vindication of their condudt 
 neceffary, in God’s name, let them go home with all their 
 blooming honours frefh about them ;—he would not defire 
 to diflurb their fatisfa&ion by impofing the Refolution upon 
 them—in offering it to the consideration of the Houfe, he 
 had done his duty. He had no ill-will to the Right Hon. 
 Gentleman who had brought in the Bill, nor to the 
 amiable Nobleman who was their Chief Governor ; on the 
 contrary, he entertained the profoundeft refpe& for the latter. 
 But had he been his enemy, the charm that hung around 
 his neck, like an amulet, would command his love, and 
 pnake him dear tq him. 
 
 The Secretary of State rofe as foon as Mr. Flood fat down, 
 to complain of the perfonal allufions that had been made to 
 him in the courfe of that gentleman’s fpeech. Where¬ 
 upon 
 
 Mr. Flood rofe, and declared the Right Hon. Gentleman 
 mufl have mifunderftood him, fince he had faid, that the 
 Right Hon. gentleman was independent not only by office, 
 but by an honourable mind. 
 
 The Secretary of State then proceeded, and declared, he 
 was as unwillfngto give offence as to receive it; and in<ref- f 
 pe£t to the petition which he had prefented, he admitted 
 the opinion of the city which he reprefented was againft the 
 Refolutions. He had began his firft fpeech, by hating that 
 the Corke petition prayed that the Houfe either would not 
 pafs any Bill founded upon them, or at lead that they would 
 poftpone their confideration of the meafure till another fef- 
 lions. The Bill however, made fome very important altera¬ 
 tions, particularly as to the duties on rum, in which that 
 city was effentially interefted, and as to fail-cloth and other 1 
 articles; it would he had no doubt remove the apprehenfions 
 entertained there, of injury to the Conftitution of Ireland; 
 he concurred therefore in the opinion of his Conflituents, 
 and thought the meafure ftiould not be proceeded upon if not 
 
 deftred 
 
( 182 ) 
 
 deSlred by the public, of which the city of Corke mud be 
 always confidered as a very important part. 
 
 Mr. G. Ponfonby faid a few words on the merit of Admi¬ 
 nistration in that country, declaring, that as long as they 
 adted fairly and honeSHy, they (hould have his fupport. He 
 denied however that the fourth Resolution was Mr. Pitt’s, he 
 believed it was rather the work of Mr. Eden than Mr. Pitt. 
 
 The Attorney General faid—For one I difclaim any vindi¬ 
 cation which may come from the Hon. Member [Mr. Flood]. 
 If he wiShes to dilplay his talents for vindication, he never 
 can be at a lofs for a fubjedt. The Hon. Member did, on 
 Saturday morning, declare his resolution to recite a vote of 
 the Britiih Parliament, and to move a cenlure upon it. 
 
 Mr. Flood —No; I did not fay fo. I do not pretend to 
 be a very wife man, and I am not fuch a fool, fuch a con- 
 lamacious fool as to do that ; on the contrary, 1 all along 
 faid, there was nothing of commerce now remaining to 
 be fettled by England, on which we ought to differ with her. 
 
 Attorney General —I agree with the Hon. Gentleman, that 
 we ought not to be forward in differing with England, and 
 he is a contumacious fool indeed who attempts to commit 
 the two countries. The Hon. Gentleman did not, per¬ 
 haps, Slate his intention exadtlv as I have done ; but if I 
 am not much mistaken (and l fpeak in the hearing of ma¬ 
 ny Gentlemen who mufi remember) he faid, that he in¬ 
 tended to move a vote of the Commons of Ireland, that a 
 refolution of the Parliament of England was an infult on the 
 Parliament of Ireland. 
 
 Mr. Flood —I am fure the Right Hon. Gentleman mis¬ 
 takes ; I know he would not mif-Slate me intentionally. I 
 faid, that Should we admit the principle of the Twenty Re¬ 
 solutions, it would be a derelidtion of our legislative right : 
 'Jt was impoffible a refolution to that effect could be consi¬ 
 dered as an affront to the British Parliament; it would be 
 but a declaration of our opinion, and 1 hope we are at li¬ 
 berty to declare that. 
 
 The Attorney General riling to reply, was interrupted by 
 Sir H. Hartilonge, who, with the moll benevolent mind in 
 the world, is ever ready to interfere when he apprehends a 
 difpute. 
 
 Attorney General —No man poffeffes the art of interrupt¬ 
 ing Serious debate with perfebl good humour fo well as the 
 worthy little Bart, but I confider the Refolution which has 
 been read this night as a refolution precifely of the fame im¬ 
 port with that which the Hon. Member Slated on Saturday, 
 
 * The Reporter from his own knowledge can take upon him to aflert 
 that Mr. G. Ponfonby was miftaken. 
 
 Softened 
 
( } %3 ) 
 
 foftened I grant in expreffion. The Hon. Member fays, he 
 does not mean to convey a cenfure ; he means only to con¬ 
 vey an opinion. This diftindion, I confefs, is fomewhat 
 too fine tor my undemanding. I objed to adopting the 
 Hon. Gentleman s opinion upon this fubjed, becaufe it is 
 an opinion conveying a dired cenfure ; and I hope we are 
 
 not yet rn fuch a ftate of phrenzy as to infult the Parliament 
 ot England. 
 
 The Honourable Member fays, he wiffies to pafs the 
 Refolution as a vindication of Gentlemen on this fide of the 
 Hcufe, who now hide their heads.—For my part, I never 
 have hid myfelf from any public queflion, nor ever will. 
 The man who in or out of office can ftoop to hide himfelf 
 from any public queflion is, in my opinion, a moft defpi- 
 cably corrupt man ; the man who, in or out of office, can 
 fkulk from his duty in this affiembly, I confider to be guiltv 
 of the moll pitiful and nally fubterfuge that can difgrace a 
 man, and therefore I never will ffiulk from any meafure- 
 if I approve it I will fupport it like a man, if not, I will 
 oppofe it like a man. And I repeat before this Houfe, I 
 repeat it in the face of the nation, that the Bill brought’in 
 this night is highly advantageous to its commerce, and in 
 no fort incompatible with its free conffitution. Gentlemen 
 may triumph in their oppofition to this Bill, but I will de¬ 
 fend it line by line, and word by word ; I will meet their 
 whole array upon it—I fear them not; I will defend it on 
 the principle of the Britiffi Conffitution ; and as to the cla¬ 
 mour which has been raifed againfl this meafure, it is as 
 unfounded, and as little to be regarded as any that ever 
 difturbed the deliberations of a wife affiembly. Your own 
 records declaie, that you have not thought the principle of 
 the Bill unconffitutional. In every feffion fince 1770 in 
 which year you obtained the Colony trade, you recite’the 
 condition on which you poffiefs it; you recite the Britiffi 
 tax, and you enact that tax.—What then is the difference 
 here ? You are permitted to trade to every poffieffion Great 
 Britain has, provided you adopt the laws by which ffie re¬ 
 gulates her trade ; provided you trade as Britiffi fubiects 
 trade. Every advantage which Britiffi fubjects enjoy is of - 
 fered to your acceptance. I call upon any man Jiving 
 to ted me—where is there an iota of difference ? There- 
 ffiie let no man talk to me of hiding my head ; I fupport 
 the Bill as highly advantageous to this country • and Gen¬ 
 tlemen, who are fo extremely anxious to prevent us from 
 going into the merits of it, may perhaps be fufpected by il¬ 
 liberal men not to wiffi that the merits ffiouid appear to 
 the public. rr 
 
 But 
 
( in ) 
 
 But the Honourable Gentleman fays, it is neceffary t6 
 anfwer the Refolutions of England by the Refolution which 
 he has read. He fays, he does not think (he has attacked 
 our legiflative independence, and yet he fays he does think 
 an anfwer neceffary ; and what is that anfwer ? why, that 
 we will preferve our independence* 
 
 Let me tell Gentlemen, that it is not very prudent, 
 upon every occafion, to come forward in terms of indigna¬ 
 tion againft the filter kingdom, becaufe we cannot exift 
 one moment without her protection. Let us tell them, 
 that it will not be perfectly prudent to roufe Great Britain. 
 She is not eafily rouzed,—but if rouzed, (he is not very 
 eafily appeafed ; and in this, perhaps, lies the difference be¬ 
 tween the two nations.—Ireland is eafily iouzed, but then 
 fhe is eafily appeafed ; England is not eafily rouzed, nor 
 eafily appeafed.—If you rouze the Rritifh Lion, you may 
 not eafily lull him to reft. 
 
 Gentlemen fay you may go on in the way you are ; you 
 have already a Free Trade, and that is all you want. You 
 have indeed a right to trade, hut without the afliftance and 
 prote&ion of Great Britain you have not the means of tra¬ 
 ding with any nation on earth. There is not a fingle arti¬ 
 cle in which you can trade without the afliftance of Eng¬ 
 land ; and I defire by that Bill to enfure her protection and 
 afliftance, and when the people of this country are reftored 
 to their fober fenfes, they will fee it. The Bill for ever gua¬ 
 rantees your Linen Trade, to promote which England taxes 
 her own confumption 450,0001. yearly. The confumption 
 of England is ftated to be forty-eight million of yards ; ot 
 this fine at prefent takes twenty millions from Ireland, the 
 remaining twenty million from Ruflla and Germany ; on 
 the Ruffian and German Linens fhe lays a heavy duty, and 
 is content to pay an advanced price for the Irifh ; yet ftill 
 the Ruffian and German manufaaurers can in fome degree 
 meet Ireland in the Englifh market; if the duty was taken 
 off, they would beat her out of it altogether, and therefore 
 I fay file is a befotted nation if fhe feeks to quarrel with Eng¬ 
 land. 
 
 Mr. Griffith with great warmth rofe, and declared, that 
 what the Right Hon. Gentleman had laid, was the mold 
 dangerous intuit that ever had been offered to the nation. 
 He was proceeding, when Colonel Burton Cunningham 
 rofe toorder, and defired to know, if he had taken down the 
 wards of the Right Hon. Gentleman. Mr. 6 riffth laid, he 
 had interrupted him to give him a moment of reflexion, as 
 he was proceeding in ftich a fcandaleus manner that it be¬ 
 came not a representative of the Irifh nation to hear—he 
 
 reprefented 
 
( '*85 J 
 
 « 
 
 reprefented (faid Mr. Griffith) us as a light nation, eafify 
 rouzed and eafily appeafed, he called us a befotted nation; 
 I'wifh him'to vindicate himfelf, and ffiew he dare not do To. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer rofe, and called Mr. Grif¬ 
 fith to order; he informed him that he had no right to ufe fuch 
 a word as dare, it ought to be taken down ; if he (Mr. Grif¬ 
 fith) thought the words of the Right Hon. Attorney Gene¬ 
 ral exceptionable, he had a right to take them down, and 
 if he did not take them down, he allowed them to be in 
 order. 
 
 Sir Henry Cavendijh .—The Right Hon. Gentleman has no 
 right to fay, that this nation could not exih feparate from 
 England; the words were fpoken I know in the warmth of 
 debate, and it is but kindnefs to give the Right Hon. Gen¬ 
 tleman a moment for reflexion. 
 
 Right Hon. Attorney General. —I am much obliged to the 
 Gentlemen who in pure kindnefs wiffi to give me an op¬ 
 portunity for reflexion, and I hope Gentlemen who have 
 been fo very forward and fo very hot upon this occafion, will 
 iefledt alfo on the beh manner m which I can fhew my fenfe 
 of the obligation conferred upon me will be, to repeat and 
 reaffert the words at which they have Uken fo much offence. 
 I fay if Ireland feeks to quarrel with England fhe is a befotted 
 nation. I fay file has not the means of trading with any na¬ 
 tion upon earth, without the affihance and prote&ion of 
 Great Britain, and I wifli every man and every child 
 throughout Irreland to hear me when I {fate it. I fay that 
 Ireland cannot exih one hour without the fupport of Great 
 Britain ; and therefore again I fay file is a befotted nation 
 if file feeks to quarrel with her; and I fay further, when 
 the people recover their fenfes, and awaken from the delu- 
 fion and the phrenzy into which they have been milled, if 
 the benefits of that Bill are then within their reach they will 
 grafp at them ; but % I very much fear they may not always 
 be within their reach; if they are, they will be glad to ac¬ 
 cept of that very fettlement which they are now advifed to 
 rejeT with fallen indignation and with infult. 
 
 A Right Hon. Friend of mine (Mr. Conolly) when his 
 firh fymptoms of oppofition to this meafure appeared, onlv 
 defined time to the next feffion, that the people might un¬ 
 derhand it. However, when the Bill was offered to the 
 Houfe he would have prevented the introduction of it. Flow 
 this was to enlighten the people, or to enable them to un¬ 
 derhand the fabjedfi, I do not perfeHly comprehend. Agffin, 
 the Right Flon. Gentleman declared that he did not under- 
 
 B b hand 
 
( i86 ) 
 
 ftatfd commerce, nor was he ever a flickler for conftituticnv 
 and then proceeded to pronounce fentence of condemnation* 
 wholefale upon the Bill, which he had never read, and 
 which if he had read, he declared he flioutd not underftand. 
 Another Hon. Gentleman who oppbfes this meaiure with 
 equal violence, has let it out fomewhat indifcreetly in my 
 mind, that this is a queftion in which 1 certain fet ot Gen¬ 
 tlemen in England are deeply interested ; and he has in my 
 mind fomewhat indifcreetly repro iched an Hon. Member 
 who fits above me (Mr. G. Ponfonby) with having upon this 
 occafion deferted the eaufe of his Englifh connections. * How 
 this reproach confifts with the repeated declarations which 
 have been made from that fide of the Houfe, that this was a 
 queftion perfectly detached from all Englifh party, I leave 
 to the judgment of the nation. But I cannot but fay, that 
 in my mind the charge which has been made upon that 
 Gentleman reflects very high honour upon him $ bccaufe, 
 in my mind, any man who is actuated upon this occafion by 
 motives of Englifh or of Irifh party,* is a dangerous and de¬ 
 cided enemy to this country. 
 
 But it is curious to hear the charges which have been 
 brought againft Mini dry ; they are accufed of having ori¬ 
 ginated this meafure> and urged it forward with their whole 
 force. But what interefi could Administration have had in 
 obtruding it on this country j it was called for by the una¬ 
 nimous addrefs' of this Houfe, and when it was introduced, 
 there were but three men found who could oppofe it ; and 
 now I challenge any man to fhew me a fingle inftance in 
 which the Bill now upon your table departs from the prin¬ 
 ciple and fpirit of the Eleven Refolutions of this kingdom. 
 It is objected that they have been multiplied into twenty, 
 but let any man look at them, and he will find that many 
 of the additional Refolutions are mere matters of detail, 
 mere matters of commercial regulation, intended chiefly to 
 . guard againfl the frauds of fmugglers ; he will find that the 
 Refolutions are more condemned for their numbers than 
 their demerit. If, however. Gentlemen are determined to 
 rejeCl: this meafure without examination or inquiry, in my 
 mind it will not be an a& of wifdom to rejeCf it with indig¬ 
 nation, and it will be Hill more unwife to rejeCt it with in- 
 f’jlt, for if a fair and honourable and advantageous offer of 
 England is treated with indignation, we Shall not probably 
 have an opportunity of repeating the infult ; we fhall not 
 
 probably 
 
 * Such an ailufion had been made from the oppofite fide of the Houfe. 
 
■( *87 ) 
 
 fjroba'bly have a fecond offer of the Englifti market, and a 
 •partnerfhip in the Englifti capital. We ftiall not probably 
 : be courted to an adjuftment of commercial intercourfe be¬ 
 tween the two countries, and he is a bitter enemy to both 
 countries who willies to throw any impediment in the way 
 of fuch an adjuftment. It is effential to the interefts of 
 Great Britain; it is effential to the exiftence of Ireland. 
 
 A Gentleman who declared -himfelf to he in a Hate of con- 
 ftitutipnal infanity, whether political or natural I cannot 
 tell, advifes us not to be too forward in celebrating the fu¬ 
 neral of the prefent Chief Governor, left we ftiould not be 
 permitted to walk in the coronation proceffion of his fuc- 
 ceffor. 
 
 Sir, I am not the Have of party, nor the inftrument of 
 fa&ion ; for much as I defpife popular clamour, or popular 
 applaufe, I defpife party ftill more ;—and ,1 will tell that 
 Hon. Gentleman, that I eonlider myfelf to be perfe6tly be¬ 
 yond the reach of Minifterial difpleafure ; but if the Gen¬ 
 tleman fuppofes Mr. Pitt’s Adminiftration will be ftiaken by 
 an intemperate rejedfion on the part of Ireland—if his op- 
 pofition to it is founded in the hope that he will fhortly be 
 called upon to aflift at the coronation of the Duke of Rut¬ 
 land’s fucceffor, he will find that he is miferably miftaken. 
 In my mind, we have taken a miM-ftone from Mr. Pitt’s 
 neck, and hung it about our own. 
 
 I avow myfelf a friend to the whole fyftem ; there was but 
 one Gentleman (Mr. Flood) who condefcended to enter into 
 the merits of it, and my Right Hon. Friend who fits next 
 to me, (Mr. Fofter) if he did not convince him, certainly 
 did convince every other man in the Houle, that he was 
 utterly unacquainted with the fubje<!ft, and radically miftaken 
 in his idea of every part of it. It is now before the country, 
 
 1 hope the people of Ireland will ftudy it ; if they do, they 
 will call to have it carried into effe< 51 , and when they do 
 call, I fincerely hope it may be within their reach. 
 
 Mr. Griffith- —I am glad I have given the Right Hon. 
 Gentleman an opportunity of explaining himfelf, which, 
 like Touchjlone, he has done with an if*—O / your if is your 
 only peace • maker ! , 
 
 Attorney General .—As my recolle&ion ferves me, I re¬ 
 peated the words I at firft ufed. I am not in the habit of 
 writing fpeeches and getting them by heart ; but am certain 
 there was not a fyllable difference between the word at which 
 the Hon. Gentleman took offence, and the words which I re- 
 
 B b 2 ' peated. 
 
( *88 ) 
 
 peated. I love the Trifh nation too well to infult her—her 
 iolid interefts are too near my heart, and therefore I will 
 not flatter her. When fhe feems to forget her real fltuation 
 
 I will remind her of it. I never will infult her, but I will 
 fpeak to her freely of her faults ; becaufe I have no interefl: 
 in flattering her, and without any regard to the Gentleman’s 
 heat, or to his interruption, to which I cap liften with great 
 coolnefs, I fhall, upon all occafions, freely ‘deliver my opi¬ 
 nion to this afTemblv. 
 
 [A warm altercation here took place ‘between Mr. 
 Curran and the Attorney-general , but, as what was faid in 
 the courfe of it was pointedly perfonal, and did not apply 
 immediately to the principal fubjedt in debate, it could an- 
 fwer no good end to report it.] 
 
 Mr. Denis Daly called the Houfe back to the fubjedl, 
 by corroborating what the Attorney General had faid ; ob- 
 ferving, that when Gentlemen obje&ed to the truth and 
 did not liiee to hear it, it became the more neceflary that it 
 inould be enforced. His Right Hon. Friend's affertion was 
 jtme ; Ireland could not exift an hour as an independent 
 Proteftant State but for her connexion with Great Britain. 
 That Houfe knew perfedily well that it did not reprefent a 
 fourth of the people of Ireland. To that fourth the connec¬ 
 tion with Great Britain was eflential. In fadt, if it were^ 
 broken, the fame reprefentation would not be found in Par¬ 
 liament. There was nothing, therefore, except the Con- 
 flitution that he would not Sacrifice to preferving a con- 
 
 II edion with Great Britain. Let them conhder what de¬ 
 pended upon it,—their falvation as a Proteftant State ! Mr. 
 Haly faid, he ivas forry the Bill had not been debated 
 ,On its own merits, that they might have agreed to as much 
 as they could of it, fince even by th^ir difagreement, they 
 would have ilieAvn what were the exceptionable parts. He 
 took notice of an allufion that had been made in the courie 
 of the debate to Mr. Ponionby, andiaid, that v/hen a ques¬ 
 tion on which tne falvation of the country depended was 
 under difeuflion, he fhouid confider it as the highdl com¬ 
 pliment to him to hear it declared, that, he had on fuch 
 an occaflon forgot his connexions. 
 
 Mr- hr cole iaio, that he was happy the debate had taken 
 fo favourable a turn, for had it been otherwise he Avould 
 have found himielf obliged to have troubled the Houfe with 
 a tew Avords, as he was very doubtful of the propriety of the 
 Proposition that was interned to be propofed, but as it was 
 .> wx. - L afubjedh 
 
( * 8 9 ) 
 
 ‘ a fubjeft of fuch magnitude he did not with to rely on his 
 own judgment, but confulted with Gentlemen of high re- 
 fpedt, and of much better undemanding than himfelf, and 
 that they did agree with him that the country had obtained 
 a compleat vi&ory, and that the people Ihould befatisfied, as 
 they faw that their reprefentatives would never pals any 
 iaw derogatory of their Free ConFitution, and that he 
 thought Government had Fiewn handfome conduce in gi¬ 
 ven up the Bill in the manner they did; he added that as 
 the qbeFion had been relinquished, he rofe merely to Fate 
 his opinion that his conduH might be known. 
 
 Mr. Grattan acknowledged himfelf to be perfe&ly of 
 opinion with his Right Hon. Friend (Mr. Daly), that Ire¬ 
 land could not exiF as a Proteftant State but for the pro- 
 tedfion.of Great Britain, and declared, he was as ready to 
 fay, that there was nothing he would not facrifice for that 
 connexion but the ConFitution. When the queFion, 
 however, fhould be brought to fo nice a point, as to make 
 it a matter of appeal to Gentlemens decifion, which they 
 would facrifice, the ConFitution of the country, or its con- 
 nedfion with Great Britain ? melancholy as it would be for 
 him to pronounce the alternative, he muF chcofe to re¬ 
 tain the ConFitution. On that ground he had oppofed 
 the intreduaion of the Bilf. His Right Hon. Friend, he 
 obferved, he obferved, had thrown out a challenge, which 
 if any man could maintain and defend, he was ready to 
 admit, his Right Hon. Friend could, becaufe he had more 
 ability and legal knowledge than fell to the Flare of moF 
 men ; but he Fiould imagine, even his Right Hon. Friend, 
 with all his advantages, would find no fmall degree of dif¬ 
 ficulty to keep his ground on fuch a caufe of conteF.— 
 Would his Right Hon. Friend undertake, as a Lawyer, 
 to prove that the fourth Propofition did not amount to a 
 transfer of the conftit'utional right of Legifiation. Could it 
 he called Freedom to be obliged to agree to laws ena&ed by 
 another LegiFature ? Did it not take away the power of de¬ 
 liberation, and fubFitute adoption ?——Mr. Grattan was 
 proceeding to prove, in argument, that this extended to 
 the trade of Ireland in tots, when being, by geFure, con- 
 tradiHed from the Treafury Bench, hefaid, if, finding one 
 hundred and ten Members againF his Bill, as he had Fat- 
 ed it in his opening, the Right Hon. Gentleman had 
 changed any part of it, poffibly his argument might not 
 apply. 
 
 Mr. 
 
( '90 ) 
 
 Mr. Orde role to allure the Right Hon. Gentleman, th$t 
 he had not made the fmalleft alteration. The Bill flood, 
 word for word, as he had opened it to the Houfe on Friday. 
 
 Mr. Grattan rofc again, and pledged himfelf, if ever 
 juch a bill was produced as the Right Hon. Gentleman 
 had on Friday flated, to make it appear to the fatisfa&ion 
 and convi&ion of the Houfe that it could not be carried 
 into efFe< 5 b as an operative law, without laying the Con- 
 flitution of Ireland at the feet of Great Britain. Right 
 Hon. Gentlemen had faid, in argument, what was neither 
 logic nor fa< 5 h They had flated what no young man of 
 the College would have taken as fair reafoning. They 
 had argued from the particular inflance to the general 
 cafe. This no raw fludent would have attempted as logical. 
 Befides, the fa< 3 : laid down as the ground of their argu¬ 
 ment had been falfe. It was an argument for flavery, a 
 mode of argument, the mofl foolifh that had ever flained 
 the lips of a Statefman. They were to extend the prin¬ 
 ciples on which they traded to the Colonies to their fo¬ 
 reign trade. [Upon this a cry of No ! No!] from the Trea- 
 fury Bench, whereupon Mr. Grattan read a a part of one 
 of the claufes ot the Bill, to prove the truth of his argu¬ 
 ment. After which he faid, that to argue upon the fubje< 5 l 
 in the manner that the Houfe had heard, was to argue 
 from the trade properly the trade of Great Britain, to the 
 trade of all the world. It was taking it for granted, that 
 either quarter belonged equally to Great Britain. It was 
 fetting her up as one immenfe proprietor of the globe. 
 The Bill, Mr. Grattan faid, regulated their trade univer- 
 fally with Portugal, with Spain, with all the world. Why 
 fhould they bind themfelves to fuch a fweeping fyflem of 
 regulation ? They could have foreign trade without enter¬ 
 ing into the meafure. As to foreign trade, England gave 
 them no right they did not before poflefs. As to Colony 
 trade, (lie gave what they had before, on the former con¬ 
 dition, that they gave the Colony trade a preference in 
 their market. Mr. Grattan reafoned for fome time on this 
 point, renewing and illudrating parts of his argument of 
 Friday. He alfo applied fome general reafoning, in the 
 courfe of which he charged the Gentlemen with incon- 
 hdency, and declared they argued without ground of pro¬ 
 bability. Ireland, he faid, was neither in that date of ab- 
 je6t mifery and didrefs that it had been defcribed, nor 
 would it be in the power, either of the prefent, or of any 
 other fyflem, fuddenly to make it affluent and profperous. 
 
 The 
 
( 19 * ) 
 
 The fa£t was, Ireland was neither wholly dependent on 
 Great Britain, nor could fhe well do without her. Both 
 countries derived an mutual fhare of advantage from the 
 connexion, and neither could well exifl without the other. 
 But he would advife them to remain as they were, and to 
 keep the Colony trade on its prefent footing, and not bind 
 their foreign trade in the manner propofed ; for, under a 
 pretence of giving a preference to the Britifh Colonies, 
 they were called on to bind their trade to the Eaft Indies, 
 and to favour a monopoly; and> in return, to get the re- 
 verfion of the Eaft India trade, after the Company’s char¬ 
 ter expired £ after the expiration of a charter, which the 
 Minifter s exigence depended upon prelervingand rendering 
 perpetual ! Mr. Grattan enlarged upon thi c y and faid, 
 before they departed, he thought it incumbent on him to 
 
 enter his proteft againft the refurredtion of fo inaufpicious 
 a Bill. v 
 
 Right Hon. Chancellor of the Exchequer . I rife to ftate 
 the mifconception of the Right Hon. Gentleman, and if any 
 thing can fhew the neceflity of curing the people of their in¬ 
 fatuation, by publifhing and explaining the Bill to them, it 
 furely is this, that a Gentleman to whom they look up, and 
 juftly look, as one whofe wifdom and virtue will guard their 
 rights, is fo very much miftaken. 
 
 The Right Hon. Gentleman in his argument has never 
 once adverted to the Bill on your table, but draws all his 
 conclufions from arguments raifed by his own imagination, 
 on the Britifh Refolutions. He dwells now only on foreign 
 Colony trade and Navigation laws ; the accepting a full par¬ 
 ticipation of the Britifh Colony trade, upon terms of equal 
 laws, he gives up as not altering our conftitution, and he 
 even agrees in the innocence of our declaring it as a prin¬ 
 ciple of the treaty. In this he has fhewn his wifdom, for it is 
 already declared in the law of Ireland. The objedion then 
 ftands as to a foreign Colony trade, and what fays the Bill, 
 it declares it to be a condition of the treaty, to protea that 
 trade, in the fame manner as Britain does, againft the in¬ 
 terference of foreign Colony goods. It enads nothing, and 
 there is the mighty evil which we have introduced, that is 
 to give to Britain the regulation of all our foreign trade with 
 Portugal, with Spain, with all the world. If the Gentle¬ 
 man fo egregioufly miflakes the purport of what he has not 
 
 read. 
 
( 192 ) 
 
 read, I trud the good fenfe of the nation will fee his miftakes 
 and judge for themfelves ; but the objections to an agree¬ 
 ment of rating only the goods from foreign Colonies, fo far 
 only as by protecting our Colonies againd them, is not fo 
 wonderful! from him, as his objection to the Bill’s affecting 
 Navigation and Britifh feamen in general ; from him I fay, 
 for in the year 1782 the*Right Hon. Gentleman introduced, 
 in conjunction with the late Chief Baron • Burgh, and the 
 prefent Chief Baron Yelverton, a Bill, adopting in the grofs 
 all fuch claufes and provifions of the laws theretofore paffed 
 in England, as conveyed equal benefits and impofed equal 
 reftridtions in commerce, in the mod extended fen ! e, to 
 the lubjeCts of both countries, and alfo putting the feamen 
 of Ireland on the footing of Britifh feamen. I The Chancel - 
 
 O _ ^ 1 
 
 lor here read the words-] The Bill now brought in does not 
 go fo far ; he went to commerce in general, and adopted 
 laws without reference to them, or even reciting their title. 
 What does this Bill do ? it declares with him the principle, 
 ir does no more. This Bill declares for a fimilarity of laws, 
 manners and cujloms , in toto. Our Bdl declares for a fimi- 
 larity of Navigation laws, on our accepting the benefit of 
 the Britifh, not for the frrd time offered to us. It is idle to 
 believe, even his authority can have weight in fuch un¬ 
 founded objections; nay, our Bill reaches his, to adopt its 
 principles, and he fays ours is mifehievou* ; his was the glo¬ 
 ry of the nation and the joint labour of the greated friends 
 of liberty. 
 
 The Right Hon. gentleman fays, “ we might have fo¬ 
 reign trade without entering into the meafure, and that 
 England, as to foreign trade gives us no right which 
 wc already have not.” As to Colony trade, he fays, 
 die gives us what we had before, on the former condi¬ 
 tions, that we give her Colony product a preference 
 in our market, and therefore, he fays, cannot we remain 
 as we now are.” 
 
 With refpect to the Colony Trade, I anfv/er, we hold it 
 by the gift of Britain, and die may repeal her act, and re- 
 affume her monopoly. As to foreign trade, I have fhewn 
 it is no way affeCted, except by the preference to he given 
 ro Britifh Colony goods, againd thofe of foreign Colonies ; 
 hut why does the gentleman allude to Portugal ? it is the 
 droncred meafure againd him. Portugal has prefumed to 
 between the goods of Great Britain and the 
 
 floods 
 
 ec 
 
 ce 
 
 tc 
 
 <( 
 
 ( £ 
 
 (( 
 
 <C 
 
 didinguifh 
 
 O 
 
( >93 ) 
 
 goods of Ireland—{he will not receive the latter. But it 
 this fettlement is entered into, all our goods (he can have 
 may go duty free through Britain. The diftindion be¬ 
 tween Britifh and Iriih manufacture is loft as to foreign 
 nations, our goods, are made one, phylically as well as 
 politically, in refped to foreign, and our union cemented 
 by the freedom of intercourfe. 
 
 The honourable gentleman feems, with others, to un¬ 
 dervalue the' Britifh markets for our linens, and that if 
 Britain ftiall difcourage her import, they will find vent 
 elfewhere. I will not pay him fo fulfome a compliment as 
 to fay he underftands commerce, his genius foars perhaps 
 above fuch reading ; but if he did underftand it, I would 
 a{k him, where would he exped a market to favour the li¬ 
 nens of Ireland ? Where will he find a market under Heaven 
 for that manufacture, which now brings two millions an¬ 
 nually into the kingdom ? Will Portugal take them ? Will 
 Spain take them ? Will France take them ? No; we know 
 they will not. Will Ruffia, Germany, or Holland take 
 them ? They are your powerful rivals, and able to under- 
 fel you. Where then will you find a market, if England 
 fhuts her ports ? Will you go to the Weft Indies ?—you 
 cannot go to the Englifti Colonies—they will be like Bri¬ 
 tain—there you can have no admittance. The French, 
 Spanifti and Portuguefe have (hut their ports long fince— 
 —your only market then is in the bankrupt States of North 
 America, that have not money to pay their juft debts, and 
 many provinces of which, if they had the money, have 
 not perhaps the honefty to do it. • 
 
 This bankrupt country is to give you the market Britain 
 affords. No, no ; cherifti the market you have, you will 
 never get fo good, ftie ever exports with bounty for you. 
 And here let me obferve the benefits of exporting, duty 
 free, all our fabrics through her ports, which this fettle¬ 
 ment fecures. You firft found the way for your linens to 
 foreign places through her ports, by her capitals and ex¬ 
 tent of dealing do not refufe the like for your other fa¬ 
 brics— the profperity of the linen fhould teach you. 
 
 The Gentleman fays England is as dependent on Ireland 
 as Ireland is on England for her produCta—he inftances the 
 cotton yarn and other yarn of Ireland. What, call cot¬ 
 ton yarn a fabric of Ireland, and an export to Britain ! — 
 It is a miftake of his exprefiion, he cannot be fo ignorant 
 
 •C c of 
 
( 194 ') 
 
 pf our manufactures. Let us look into the wants Britain 
 fupplies—I will take coals firft. 
 
 Do you think it an objeCt of no conference to receive 
 coals from England, for ever, duty free, while the duties 
 on coals in England, brought from one of * her own ports 
 to another is very high. I remember when I propofed a 
 /billing a ton on the importation of coals into Dublin only, 
 in order to raife a fund for extending and beautifying the 
 city, it met with great oppofition. I was abufed in all the 
 news-papers, yet now England may raife four times that 
 fum upon the export of her coals, which will fall upon the 
 confumer, and raife a revenue for her advantage; nay 
 were fhe even to raife the revenue on them to you that fhe 
 does on her own coaft carriage, what would become of 
 you ? You have not Irifh coal ; if the prefent bounty of 2s. 
 a ton to Dublin, added to is. 8d. duty on Britilh, which 
 operates as 3s. 8d. in favour of irifh coal, what will you 
 do ? becaufe no carriage can be fo cheap to you as that 
 acrofs the channel. Rock fait is the nextWhere will 
 you get it ? (fome one faid from Spain) Rock-fait from 
 Spain 5 The Gentleman Ihould inform himfelf a little bet¬ 
 ter. 
 
 k *. • 
 
 As to the tanning-trade, where will you get bark? 
 From no place in the world but England. We know that 
 it would not bear the freight from any other, and if Eng¬ 
 land was to prohibit the export of it, that trade mud be at 
 an end ; and we muft not forget, that the Britifh manu¬ 
 facturers of leather have already complained, that by getting 
 bark from Wales, we are enabled to work on as good 
 terms as England. 
 
 Let him look to hops; will this country grow them ? 
 *On the other hand, what wants do we fupply for England ? 
 wool and linen yarn, to our own great advantage ; but it 
 is in vain to proceed ; the Houfe muft fee we are talking 
 of a fubje.Ct not yet underftocd ; when known, and Ire¬ 
 land unprejudiced and in her calm reafon, will never re¬ 
 ject the many bleftings it holds out to her trade ;—it gives 
 wealth and fecurity which I truft will never be refufed from 
 a wild imagination of Utopian Republics, Commonwealths, 
 Monarchies.—God knows what. 
 
 I will ftand or tall with the Bill, that not a line in it 
 touches your ConfUtution ; it is now left to the decifton of 
 the country, it is not abandoned, God iorbid it ftiould ; 
 and I truft I fhall lee the nation alk it at our hands, that 
 
 we 
 
( i?5 ) 
 
 we may be able then to obtain it fhall be my prayers——« 
 fhe Minifter cannot promife—he has done his duty—and 
 it will be my pride at a future day, when its real value 
 fhall be knowny that I bore a leading (hare in the tranfac- 
 tion—that I laboured to procure for Ireland folid and fub~ 
 ftantial benefits, which even two years ago ho man had 
 an idea of even looking to. 
 
 Mr. Grattan faid. The Right Honourable Member has 
 fpoken not like an IrHh ambafiador, but an Englifh faftor; 
 he has blazoned forth the wants arid weaknefs of his own 
 country with a triumph ; he has gone into a mod: offenfive, 
 cruel, and difgufting catalogue of the obligations of this 
 country to England, and he has concealed, with an unac¬ 
 countable partiality to a country which is not his own, the 
 many and various obligations of Great Britain to Ireland 
 -—her obligations to that kingdom for a great part of her im¬ 
 portance as a nation, in the confideration of foreign powers, 
 her more particular obligations to that country, fuch as 
 —her dependency on Ireland,- with regard to linen yarn, 
 woollen yarn, hides,- and provilions. Was money nothing \ 
 Were men nothing ? England gets both from Ireland. 
 This dependency has been dated, and admitted by almoft 
 every Englifhman who fpoke on this bufinefs in Great 
 Britain ; but they have gone further, and exprefly declared,? 
 that the Britifh monopoly in the Wed, the Company’s' 
 charter in the Eafty nay the aft of navigation, depended 
 on the Parliament of Ireland. What were the words ? 
 
 “ The guardian fhip of thefe important conbderaions is left 
 to Ireland”—thefe were the words of the Englifhman, the 
 contrary is the boad of the Irilhman. 
 
 The Right Honourable Member Iras denied that this 
 bill framed here adopts the fourth Propodtion, and the fifth, > 
 which obliges us to follow England in her laws with re- 
 fpeft to foreign plantation produce. He read his own bill, 
 and he reads the fourth Propodtion, and the fifth,—but as 
 he has had the management to change a little the words, 
 he conceives the public will not fee the meaning,— but this 
 is a vain experiment. He dates that the Bill infids, that 
 we drould give Britifh plantation produce a preference , and 
 favour, fuch as England gives.—How is that to be done ?' 
 By adopting Britidr laws, fuch as England makes ; and 
 when lie foftened this covenant to adopt Englidi afts with 
 refpeft to foreign plantations, into the phrafe of favour, he 
 thinks he may ftoutly deny the faft, becaufe he is able to • 
 give a new appellation to it: thus his Right Honourable 
 Friend, when he called Cork the medium of empire,. 
 
 G c 2 thought 
 
C >9 6 ) 
 
 thought it would have removed the objedlion to his calling 
 it an emporium. 
 
 Sir, the Right Honourable Gentleman Teems to triumph 
 in his knowledge of commerce, but unfortunately for the 
 caufe he efpoufes, this is not mere matter of detail, but of 
 principle iikewife, viz. whether you will transfer to another 
 country the power of making laws for, and of governing 
 the trade and navigation of Ireland. Suppofing fuch a 
 principle, whatever victory he conceives he obtains over me 
 in argument, he obtains over the conftitution of his coun¬ 
 try Iikewife, now put down as it were and difgraced by a 
 moft.difgufting and grounclefs recital of her weaknefs and 
 dependency. The Right h onourable Member mentions 
 Lord Chief Baron Yelverton’s adf, in the framing of which 
 I was concerned. The Bill of that great patriot and .con- 
 ftitutional lawyer neither does, nor could warrant, any ufe 
 the Member has made of it. We wifhed to pafs a declara¬ 
 tion of rights; men were alarmed about their property 
 held under Engl i Hi adds ; he framed that adt accordingly; 
 but in order to obtain the aflent of the Minifter, he was 
 obliged to adopt and pafs by reference certain Englilh adls 
 then cxifting, refpediing navigation and trade, and this 
 palTing of Englilh adts then in exigence, the Right Honour¬ 
 able Member compares to a covenant to adopt Englilh acls 
 in all times to come, or rather indeed to adopt the Englilh 
 legiflature. It is impofiible that the Right Honourable 
 Member is not aware of the fallacy and iubtlenefs of his 
 own argument on this fubjedt ; juft fo he argues, that you 
 may take the trade of the world under Britilh regulations, 
 bee a ufe you have adopted thofc regulations in the property 
 trade of Great Britain —confounding the principles of pro¬ 
 perty with the privileges of free trade, as well as the prin¬ 
 ciples of logic, by arguing from the particular to the general. 
 
 1 Ihould apologize for having troubled you, and tor the 
 Raftered and tirefeme manner in which 1 have delayed you ; 
 but before I fit down, I muft obferve on a very improper 
 and dangerous fuggeftion advanced by a Right Honourable 
 Member, that the" grant of the Plantation trade, as fettled 
 in 17-9, is revocable by the Britilh Parliament ; revocable 
 in law, I allow, but net revocable in faith ; no law can 
 bind the Britilh legiflature, but faith will. I don’t believe 
 Gentlemen have any authority from England to threaten 
 Jreland with that revocation ; will the Lord Lieutenant’s 
 Secretary fay, that he is warranted by England to hold out 
 to this country, that the repeal of the adt of 1779, grant¬ 
 ing 
 
( 1 97 ) 
 
 ing the Plantation trade to Ireland is intended ? -The lofs 
 which this nation (hall fuRain from the failure of this inju¬ 
 rious adjuftment is by the Right Honourable Member Rat¬ 
 ed as confiderabie——nay, he goes further and fays, you 
 will be a poor country lor ever, notwithstanding your pre- 
 fent privileges ; I afk him how came he to be fatisfied with 
 thefe privileges, and to preach fatisfaetion to every part of 
 the community under thefe privileges, and to defire the 
 people to cultivate the bleffings of peace, as if nothing was 
 wanting to make them rich and comfortable, except ab- 
 fence from politicks :—His creed now is altered, and nei¬ 
 ther induRry nor any thing elfe will make them fiourifh, 
 unlefs they fwallow that recipe which he prepared for them. 
 
 I a & him again, how he will reconcile his prefent argu¬ 
 ment with the declarations of his own evidence in England. 
 The government have fent to England certain perfons, and 
 one [ know to be a moil ufeful and refpediable man, (the 
 others I am not acquainted with) thefe perfons were to give 
 evidence at the bar of the Britifh Houfe of Commons, to 
 fhow that Ireland could not avail herfelf of the Britifh mar¬ 
 ket ; their evidence is publifhed—I refer to it as publifhed. 
 —Thus does the Right Honourable Member fend over evi¬ 
 dence to the Parliament of England, and then falfifies his 
 own evidence in the Parliament of Ireland. 
 
 Sir, I hope we (hall never again fee this Bill, or any 
 thing like it; if ever it has a refurre&ion, i will attend it 
 with unaltered abhorrence. The averfion entertained againft 
 it is not infatuation,—there is much public indignation ; 
 but no public infatuation. 
 
 The Houfe beginning to be clamorous for the queftion, 
 Mr. Oglivie faid, I mull beg leave to trouble the Houfe 
 with a few words that they may not go away under the 
 falfe impreflion that a Right Honourable Gentleman (Mr. 
 Fofter) has endeavoured to give them of the At 7 of Free 
 Trade, by Rating that Great Britain had a right to relume 
 that grant at her pleafure; I have already contradicted that 
 conRruCtion of the ACl, and I now repeat it, that the 
 duration of the ACt depends entirely on Ireland, as it is 
 exprefly declared by the Act, that it foall have continuance 
 Jo long as the conditions are complied with by Ireland.— 
 I deny therefore, in the fuiieft manner, that Great Britain 
 has any right to repeal the ACt of 1780, I acknowledge 
 indeed that Rie has th t power, which is the Ruffian s right, 
 the right of violence and injuRice ; the exerciie of which 
 
 never 
 
( *9 8 ) 
 
 ftever ought to be admitted as a poffible cafe in the conduit 
 of Great Britain towards Ireland. And yet without fuch a 
 fuppofition, the boafted advantages that are faid to be in- 
 fured to Ireland by this fyftem will not bear examining. 
 Great Britain exports coals to Holland and France, and the 
 tax might be fo managed as not to be fo injurious to this 
 kingdom as to the Britifh coal owners, if Ireland fhould 
 ever be treated, in this article as a foreign (late.—Hops 
 fbe could have better and cheaper from Flanders, and malt 
 /he ought to prohibit, bark /he might have from France 
 where it is cheap and plenty j and bay fait froth St. Ubes. 
 a_> ut queftions are fotnetimes beff anfwercd by ether ques¬ 
 tions . vVhere could Great Britain get linen and bay yarn, 
 hides, &c. &c. to fupply her manufailuies, provifrons to 
 feed her ihands and fleet, money to maintain the Irifh 
 absentees penfioners and annuitants that live with her 
 and to pay the army that Ireland keeps for her, and men to 
 fight her battles by lea and by land. All fuch arguments, 
 however, can never be admitted, except on the fuppofition 
 of mutual injury and holtility, and it is Angular enough 
 that fuch arguments have been advanced only by minifters 
 and fervants ot the crown, who certainly ought not to have 
 been the foremoftin ftating cafes of injuftice, holtility and 
 leparaiicn. Ireland certainly receives great benefit from 
 the encouragement given by Great Britain to her linen 
 manufacture, it would be a folly not to acknowledge it $ 
 and madnefs not to continue it, Ihe repays this encourage¬ 
 ment by fidelity and affection, exerted always beyond her 
 abilities, attached to her Sovereign and Britifh connexions, 
 attached paflionately to her conffitution that /he conceives 
 ffrengthened by thefe connexions, /lie may be rendered a 
 blefijng or a curfe. A regard for the public happinefs pre¬ 
 vents me from pulhnig the fuppofitions of miniffers into a 
 view of comequencCs, which no real friend to his King and 
 Country ought to have glanced at, both countries have 
 muen to lofe and little to gain, on the event of fuch ra/h 
 and defperate fuppofltions : and I hope the good fenfe the 
 moderation and mutual interefts of both kingdoms will de 
 feat every meafure calculated to divide them, whether plan¬ 
 ned by ho/tihty and defign, or originating in ignorance and 
 incapacity. ° 
 
 ., Th C sueftion was here again loudly called for, when 
 Mr. blood role and declared, he would not detain the Houfe 
 ajmnute, as he had but a word or two to fay. In fait, 
 
 • he 
 
( >99 ) . 
 
 he raid the debate was at an end three hours a™, for it 
 v/as fo long f,nee he had confented to relinquift his re¬ 
 in uti on, but that Gentlemen on the other fide of the Houfe 
 to what end or from what motive he was at a loft to imagine 
 had thought proper to continue the debate. He had never 
 h^ard, he laid, more mifchievious or more inflammatory 
 language than had been held that evening, nor more fancy 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer called Mr. Flood to Order 
 
 . T V H d i hat hls , wo : d3 rai s ht be taken down, declaring 
 that he did not underftand fuch an expreffion. S 
 
 he flh °p Caf ' oned fome !i “le confufion, when the Chancel¬ 
 lor of^the Exchequer , in order to reftore the harmony of the 
 
 wlL e ’ T t0 COnCI [ iate b . oth fides of it, contented to 
 Withdraw his motion for taking down Mr. Flood’s words. 
 
 rn r V . T h ° wever > cheated and encouraged by his 
 fide of the Houfe, faid, “ let the Right Hon. Gentleman 
 take down my words, if he pleafes ; I do not retraa my ex- 
 pre il 1 ° n > / ready to maintain and defend it.” 
 
 he Chancellor neverthelefs forebore to urge his motion. 
 About this time, the Speaker complained to the Houfe 
 of being very much indifpofed. The call for the queftion 
 was thereupon loudly echoed, but, 4 
 
 Mr .Flood again prefented himfeif to the Chair, which 
 gave rife to a cry from the Treafury Bench fide of the 
 Houfe of lpoke ! /poke / Ule 
 
 This occafioned a difpute about the queftion of Order 
 which was chiefly managed by the Chancellor of the Ex- 
 
 Mr q Flood Slr Henry Cavend,ft ’ Sir Lu cius O’Brien, and 
 
 ,1 C J’ a ” cel,or °f the Exchequer contended that no Gen- 
 
 unftft n he ad r r" 6 ? 1 t ? fptak I ? 0rc than 0nce to a queftion 
 nlels he rofe to fpeak in explanation. 
 
 Sir Henry Cavendijh on the other hand, declared the 
 hance lor of the Exchequer totally miftaken and ill-fourd- 
 ed in the doarme of order that he had laid down. The 
 
 fore th °^ r V S ' r Hen ? fa ' d ’ WaS ’ When the queftion be- 
 f, K i. H a U ' C WaS thC queftion of adjournment, every 
 Member had a right to rife and fpeak to it as often as he 
 thought proper. 
 
 Several Gentlemen rofe to deliver their opinions on the 
 point in difpute, but, there being a loud call for Sir Lud 
 w orien. 
 
 Sir, 
 
( 200 ) 
 
 Sir Lucius rofe and declared, he had not entertained the 
 lead; idea of riling to take part in the controverfy, but 
 hearing his name fo loudly called upon, he had been ob¬ 
 liged to rife. The matter in conteft. Sir Lucius faid, he 
 thought was eafy to be lettled. A queftion of adjournment 
 was always moved with a view to fhorten the Debate ; it 
 appeared therefore to him abfurd-in the extreme, that any 
 rule of order fhould be eftabiifhed for a Debate on fuch 
 a queftion, which, inftead of fhortening, mull inevitably 
 tend to lengthen the difeuffion. Of courfe, his opinion 
 was, that no Gentleman had a right to fpeak more than 
 once on a quedion, unlels he role to explain. 
 
 The question was put, and the Houfe adjourned till the 
 
 fifth of September. 
 
 E R R A T U M. 
 
 The following, which is the concluding part of Mr. Rowley’s Speech, 
 and Ihould have appeared p. 137, was by accident omitted. 
 
 * “ Efpecially as he confidered the fourth Refolution to diniinUh, if 
 “ not to take away, the legiflative authority of the Parliament of Ireland, 
 “ and to enforce them to adopt laws to be made by another nation, 
 “ without their deliberation $ which appeared to him only to enable 
 “ them to regifter aElt formed by another country ; which though the 
 “ commercial arrangement propofed, might bring millions of wealth, 
 « which he had not fufficiently confidered to judge of, he could never 
 “ confent to, with the lofs of conftitutional liberty.—Notwithftanding 
 “ what he had faid, he mull do the juflice to the Right Hon. Gentleman 
 « w ho introduced the Bill, to acknowledge, that, in his opinion, he 
 “ had behaved with great honefty, candour and propriety in the manner 
 “ of bringing it forward ; and that he was convinced, their prefent Chief 
 “ Governor, for whom he had the mod unfeigned, and utmoft refpea, 
 « had the beft intentions for the ir.tereft of both nations ; which he 
 a hoped might be brought about by the wifdom of the two countries, lor 
 “ the equal and mutual advautage of each. He could adduce llronger 
 “ arguments in fupport of his opinion, but at that late time of the debate, 
 «. a nd at fo late an hour, he faid, he Ihould not trouble the Houfe further.’ 
 
 F 
 
 I 
 
 N 
 
 1 
 
 S 
 
( I ) 
 
 A 
 
 B 
 
 L 
 
 L 
 
 FOR 
 
 Effectuating tke Intercourfe and Commerce between Great 
 Britain and Ireland, on permanent and equitable Prin¬ 
 ciples, for the mutual Benefit of both Kingdoms. 
 
 (Moved for in the Houfe of Commons of Ireland hy the Right Hon . 
 THOMAS ORDE, on Friday , Augujl l 2, and prefented by him 
 on Monday , Avgujl 15, 1785.^ 
 
 W HEREAS it is highly important to the generalinterefts of the 
 British Empire, that the trade between Great Britain and iteland 
 Should be encouraged and extended as much as poffible j and lor that pur- 
 pofe, that the intercourfe and commerce between the faid kingdoms lhouid 
 be now finally regulated and fettled on permanent and equitable principles, 
 for the mutual benefit of both; 
 
 THEREFORE, in order to efife&uate the faid intended fettlement. 
 
 BE it declared, by the King’s Moil Excellent ivlajefty, by and with the 
 advice and confent of the Lords fpiritual and temporal, and Commons, in 
 this prefent Parliament afifembled, that it ihail be held and adjudged to be a 
 fundamenal and effential condition of the prefent fettlement, that no pro¬ 
 hibition Hiall exift in either of the kingdoms of Great Britain or Ireland 
 againft the importation, ufeor faleof any article of the growth, produce or 
 manufacture of the other of the faid kingdoms, except iuch as aie hciciu- 
 after excepted. 
 
 AND be it therefore enaCted, by the authority aforefaid, that no prohibi- 
 bition fhail exilt in this kingdom after the commencement 01 this *<J, on 
 the importation, ufc or fale of any article of the growth, produce 01 manu¬ 
 facture of Great Britain, except fuch as now exiit or may hereafter exilt 
 againft the importation of corn, meal, malt, flour and bilcuit j and uiio 
 except fuch qualified prohibitions as do not abfolutely prevent the im¬ 
 portation of goods ornUn^^Ctures, or materials of manufaCtuie, but only 
 regulate or prefcribe the tonnage or dirnenfions, or built, or country 01 
 the lhipsor veffels in which the fame may be imported 5 or regulate or 
 prefcribe the weight, fize or quantity of the article to be therein imported, 
 or the packages in which the fame may be contained, or regulate or prc- 
 fcnbe other circumfiances relative thereto j and alfp, except prohibitions 
 
 A re- 
 
(. a ) 
 
 retraining the Importation for fale of ammunition, arms, gunpowder, and 
 other utenfils of war, unlefs by virtue of his Majefty’s licenfe $ and alfo, 
 except fuch prohibitions as may be neceflary for protecting the copyrights 
 of authors and bookfellers, the engraved property of engravers, and of the 
 venders of prints and maps, and all other exclufive rights and privileges 
 which are or may be fecured in this kingdom for the encouragement of 
 new inventions to bodies corporate or individuals, by aCts of Parliament, 
 grants from the crown, or otherwife. 
 
 AND be it declared, by the authority aforefaid, that it fhall be held and 
 adjudged to be a fundamental and effential condition of the prefent fettle- 
 ment, that in all cafes in which there is a difference between the duties on 
 articles of the growth, produce or manufacture of Great Britain when im¬ 
 ported into Ireland, and the duties on the fame articles of the growth, pro¬ 
 duce or manufacture of Ireland when imported into Great Britain, the du¬ 
 ties on fuch articles fhould be reduced in the kingdom where they are 
 higheft to an amount not exceeding the duties which were payable in the 
 other on the 17th day of May, 1782 j fo that in every cafe in which any 
 article was charged with a duty on importation into Ireland, of iol. 10s. 
 per centum or upwards, on the 17th day of May, 1782, the amount of the 
 laid duties, fo reduced, fhall not be lefs than the faid duty of iol. 10s. per 
 entum $ and that all articles which are now importable duty free into 
 either kingdom from the other, fhall hereafter be imported duty free into 
 each kingdom from the other refpeftively. 
 
 BE it therefore enaded, by the authority aforefaid, that it fhall be lawful 
 to import into this kingdom all goods of the growth, produce or manu- 
 ure of Great Britain, except as herein excepted, fubjeCt to fuch rates 
 
 and duties as aforefaid, to be fixed and afccrtained in the manner to be 
 herein-after directed. 
 
 AND be it declared, by the authority aforefaid, that it fhall be held and 
 adjudged to be a fundamental and effential condition of the prefent fet- 
 tlement, that in all cafes in which the articles of the confumption of either 
 kingdom fhall be charged with an internal duty on the manufacture, fuch 
 manufaCtuie, when imported from the other, may be charged with a fur¬ 
 ther duty on the importation adequate to countervail the duty on the ma¬ 
 nufacture j and that in all cafes in which there fhall be a duty in either 
 kingdom on the raw material of any manufacture, fuch manufacture may 
 on its importation fiom the other kingdom, be charged with fuch a coun¬ 
 tervailing duty as may be fufficient to fubjeCt the fame to burthens ade¬ 
 quate to thofe to which fuch manufacture is fubjeCt, in confequence of 
 fuch duties on fuch raw materials, in the kingdom into which fuch man- 
 nufaCture may be fo imported ; and that in all cafes in which a bounty 
 id.all be given in either kingdom on any articles manufactured therein, 
 which fhall remain on fuch articles when exported to the other, fuch articles 
 may be charged with a further duty in the kingdom into which they fhall 
 be imported, fufficient to countervail fuch bounty remaining thereon. 
 
 PROVIDED always, that the duty to be impofed on manufactured fait 
 
 im- 
 
( 3 ) 
 
 Imported Into any part of Great Britain, in order to countervail the Inter¬ 
 nal duty thereon, may be computed according to the rate of the internal, 
 duty payable thereon in England. 
 
 AND be it declared and enafted, by the authority aforefaid, that it (hall 
 beheld and adjudged to be a fundamental and effential condition of the 
 prefent fettlement, that no new or additional duty or duties fhall be here- 
 after impofed in either kingdom on the importation of any article of the 
 growth, produce or manufacture of the other, except fuch countervailing 
 duties as may from time to time be impofed, as herein before provided, 
 In confequence of any internal duty on the manufacture, or of any duty on 
 the raw material.of which fuch manufacture is compofed, or of any bounty 
 given on any goods manufactured in the other kingdom, and remaining on 
 fuch goods when exported therefrom ; and that fuch countervailing duties 
 to be impofed as aforefaid fhall continue fo long only as the internal con¬ 
 sumption fhall be charged with the duty or duties on the manufacture or 
 raw material which fuch duty fo impofed fhall have been intended to 
 countervail, or fo long as fuch article fhall retain on exportation from the 
 other kingdom the bounty which fuch duty fo impofed fhall have been in¬ 
 tended to countervail. 
 
 AND be it declared, by the Authority aforefaid, that it fhall be held 
 and adjudged to be a fundamental and effential condition of the prefent 
 fettlement, that no new prohibition or new or additional duty fhall hereaf¬ 
 ter be impofed in either kingdom on the exportation of any articles of na¬ 
 tive growth, produce or manufacture to the other, except fuch as either 
 kingdom may deem expedient from time to time, upon corn, meal, malt, 
 flour and bifcuit. 
 
 PROVIDED always, and it is hereby declared, by the authority aforefaid, 
 to be a fundamental and effential condition of the prefent fettlement, that 
 when any article of the growth, produce or manufacture of either king¬ 
 dom fhall be prohibited by the laws of fuch kingdom to be exported to 
 foreign countries, the fame article, when exported to the other kingdom 
 fhall be prohibited to be re-exported from thence to any foreign country. 
 
 AND be it declared, by the authority aforefaid, that it fhall be held and 
 adjudged to be a fundamental and effential condition of the prefent fettle¬ 
 ment, that no bounties whatever fhould be paid or payable in either king¬ 
 dom on exportation of any article to the other, except fuch as relate to 
 corn, meal, malt, flour, and bifcuit, and except alfo the bounties at pre- 
 fent given in Great Britain on beer and fpirits diftilled from corn, and ex¬ 
 cept fuch as are or fhall be in the nature of drawbacks, or compensations 
 for duties paid. 
 
 BE it therefore enafted, by the authority aforefaid, that all bounties 
 now payable in this kingdom by virtue of any aft or afts of parliament on 
 the exportation of any article to Great Britain, fhall ceafe and determine 
 and be no longer paid or payable from and after the commencement of 
 this aft, except any bounties which relate to corn, meal, malt, flour and 
 bifcuit, and except fuch as are in the nature of drawbacks, or compenfati-j 
 cps for duties paid. 
 
 AND be it declared, by the authority aforefaid, that it fhall be held and 
 
 A a, adjudged 
 
C 4 ) 
 
 adjudged to be a fundamental and effential condition of the prefent fettle- 
 ment, that all articles of the growth, produce or manufacture of Great 
 Britain or Ireland fhould be exportable from the kingdom into which they 
 fhall be imported from the other, as free from duties as fimilar commodi¬ 
 ties of the fame kingdom, and fhall be entitled to fuch drawbacks or 
 bounties on exportation from the kingdom into which they fhall have been 
 fo imported, as may leave the fame fubjeCt to no heavier burthens, in con- 
 fequence of the duties on importation, than the like articles of the growth, 
 produce or manufacture of the kingdom into which they fhall have been fo 
 Imported, 
 
 PROVIDED always, and it is hereby declared, by the authority afore- 
 faid, to be a fundamental and effential condition of the prefent fettlement, 
 that when any article of the growth, produce or manufacture of either 
 kingdom fhall be liable in fuch kingdom to any duty on being exported 
 to any foreign country or countries, the fame article, if it fhall have been 
 imported from fuch kingdom into the other, fhall, on exportation from 
 fuch other kingdom to any foreign country or countries, pay the fame du¬ 
 ties as it would have been liable to on exportation from the kingdom 
 of its growth, produce or manufacture, to fuch foreign country or coun¬ 
 tries ; and that when any article of the growth, produce or manufacture 
 of either kingdom lhall be prohibited by the laws of the faid kingdom to 
 be exported to any foreign country or countries, the fame article, if it fhall 
 have been imported from fuch kingdom into the other, fhall be prohibited 
 to be exported from fuch other kingdom to fuch foreign country or coun¬ 
 tries to which it may be prohibited to be exported from the kingdom o£ 
 its growth, produce or manufacture, 
 
 BE it therefore enaCted, by the authority aforefaid, that all articles of 
 the growth, produce or manufacture of Great Britain, imported into Ire¬ 
 land, fhall he entitled to fuch freedom or exemption from duty, and to 
 fuch drawbacks, or bounties in the nature of drawbacks, on exportation 
 from Ireland to any place or country whatever, as may render them fubjeCt, 
 on fuch exportation, to no heavier burthen than the like articles of the 
 growth, produce or manufacture of Ireland are or may be fubjeCt to on 
 exportation therefrom to the fame places or countries refpeCtively, except 
 fuch articles of the growth, produce or manufacture of Great Britain whic h 
 are or fhall be at any time hereafter fubjeCt to duty on being exported 
 from that kingdom to any foreign country or countries, which articles 
 fhall be made fubjeCtto the fame duty or duties on being exported from 
 this kingdom to fuch foreign country or countries as they are or may 
 hereafter be fubjeCt to on being exported from Great Britain to fuch fo¬ 
 reign country or countries. 
 
 AND be it enaCted, by the authority aforefaid, that all articles of the 
 growth, produce or manufacture of Great Britain, which are or may here¬ 
 after be prohibited by the laws of that kingdom to be exported to any 
 foreign country or countries, fhall, after importation into this kingdom, 
 be prohibited to be re-exported from this kingdom to fuch foreign country 
 
 or 
 
C 5 ) 
 
 or countries to which they are or may hereafter be prohibited to be ex¬ 
 ported from Great Britain. 
 
 AND whereas, in order to afcertain the duties, exemptions from duties, 
 qualified prohibitions, bounties and drawbacks which may take place, as 
 aforefaid, on the importation of the articles of the growth, produce or 
 manufacture of either kingdom into the other, or on the exportation of the 
 articles of the growth, produce or manufacture of either kingdom from 
 thence to the other, or on the exportation of the articles of the growth, 
 produce or mauufaCture of either kingdom from the other to any foreign 
 countries, it is expedient that proper perfons be appointed in each king¬ 
 dom to prepare a fchedule or fchedules thereof, to be laid before the par¬ 
 liaments of both kingdoms, for their confideration and approbation: 
 
 EE it enaCfed, by the authority aforefaid, that 
 
 fhall, and they, or any 
 or more of them, are hereby authorized and empowered 
 to meet, confer and confult, touching the formation of fuch fchedule or 
 fchedules as aforefaid, or any particulars relative thereto, with any perfon 
 or perfons who may be appointed for the like purpofe by virtue of any 
 aft of the parliament of Great Britain. 
 
 AND be itenafted, by the authority aforefaid, that the faid 
 
 or any or more of them fhall, and they are hereby required 
 
 to lay, with all convenient fpeed, fuch fchedule or fchedules, and a report 
 of their proceedings relative to the formation thereof, before the Houfe 
 of Commons of Ireland. 
 
 AND be it enafted, by the authority aforefaid, that the faid 
 
 ’ or any 
 
 or more of them fhall, and they are hereby empowered 
 to examine upon oath any perfons whatever who fhall be willing to be f® 
 examined, touching any matters relative to the formation of the faid 
 fchedules. 
 
 AND be it further enafted, that the faid 
 
 fhall, on or be¬ 
 fore the day of take and fubfcibe the follow¬ 
 
 ing oath before the Chancellor of his Majefty’s Exchequer, or before any 
 one of the Barons of the Court of Exchequer, viz. 
 
 /. A. B. do Jivear, that as a commijfioner appointed hy ’virtue of an aEl, un¬ 
 titled, 5 I w/tf, to 
 
 the bejl of my judgment and ability, faithfully avd impartially difeharge the 
 trufl thereby repo Jed im me, without favor or aJfeElion to any per Jen or perjons 
 i whatever. 
 
 So help me God* 
 
 AND be it declared, by the authority aforefaid, that it fhall be held 
 
 and adjudged to be a fundamental and eflential condition of the prefent 
 
 fettle- 
 
( 6 ) 
 
 fettlement, that all articles not the growth, produce or manufacture of 
 Great Britain or Ireland, except thofe of the growth, produce or manufac¬ 
 ture of any countries beyond the Cape of Good Hope to the Streights or Ma¬ 
 gellan, during fuch time as the trade to the faid countries fhall continue 
 to be carried on by an exclufive company having liberty to import into 
 the port of London only, fhall,be imported into each kingdom from the 
 other reciprocally, under the fame regulations, and at the fame duties, if 
 fubjeCt to duties, to which they would be liable when imported dire&ly 
 from the country or place from whence the fame may have been imported 
 Into Great Britain or Ireland refpeCHvely, as the cafe may be i 
 
 BE it the-efore enaCted, by the authority aforefaid, that it fhall and 
 may be lawful to import from Great Britain into Ireland, \n (hips navi¬ 
 gated according to law, all goods not the growth, produce or manufacture 
 of Great Britain or Ireland, under the fame regulations, and at the fame 
 duties to which fuch goods would be liable in this kingdom when import¬ 
 ed direCHy from the country or place from whence the fame may have been 
 imported into Great Britain, 
 
 AND be it declared, by the authority aforefaid, that it fhall be held and 
 adjudged to be a fundamental and effential condition of the prefent fettle- 
 ment, that all duties originally paid on the importation into either king¬ 
 dom refpeftively, of goods not the growth, produce or manufacture of 
 Great Britain or Ireland, fhall be fully drawn back within a limited time 
 on the exportation thereof from one kingdom to the other, except on the 
 exportation t& Ireland from Great Britain of arrack, foreign brandy and 
 foreign rum, and all forts of ftrong waters not imported from the Britifh 
 colonies in the Weft Indies ; and except fuch duties as may be retained to 
 be accounted for as herein-after provided, on articles exported from Great 
 Britain to Ireland, being the growth, produce or manufacture of the coun¬ 
 tries beyond the Cape of Good Hope to the Streights of Magellan, 
 
 BE it therefore enaCted, by the authority aforefaid, that all duties origi¬ 
 nally paid or fecured on the importation into this kingdom of any goods 
 or commodities not being the growth, produce or manufacture of Great 
 Britain, fhall be fully drawn back, or the fecurity for the fame difeharged, 
 on exportation thereof to Great Britain within three years after the im¬ 
 portation thereof into this kingdom. 
 
 PROVIDED always, and be it enaCted, by the authority aforefaid, that 
 no fuch drawback fhall be paid, or fecurity difeharged, until a certificate 
 from the proper officer of the revenue in Great Britain, ftating the due 
 entry and landing of fuch articles, fhall be returned and delivered to the 
 proper officer of the port from whence the fame fhall have been exported, 
 and until the feveral other particulars by law required in the cafe of draw¬ 
 backs fhall have been duly obferved. 
 
 AND WHEREAS by an aCt pafied in this kingdom in the twenty-firft 
 and twenty fecond years of his Majefty’s reign, entitled an aCt for extend¬ 
 ing certain of the provifions contained in an aCt, entitled an att confirm¬ 
 ing all the ftatutes made in England, reciting “ that it is the earned and, 
 
 “ affectionate 
 
C 1 ) 
 
 / 
 
 fr< affeftionate defire, as well as the true intereft of his Majefty’s fubjefta 
 “ of this kingdom, to promote as far as in them lies the navigation,, 
 “ trade and commercial interefts of Great Britain as well as Ireland and 
 “ that a fimilarity of laws, manners and cuftoms muft naturally conduce 
 “ to ftrengthen and perpetuate that affeftion and harmony which do, and 
 (t at all times ought to fubfift between the people of Great Britain 
 “ and Ireland,” it is enafted, that all fuch claufes and provilions con¬ 
 tained in any ftatutes theretofore made in England or Great Britain 
 concerning commerce, as import to impofe equal reftraints on thefubjefts 
 of England and Ireland, and to entitle them to equal benefits • and alfo 
 all fuch claufes and provifions contained in any ftatute made as aforefaid 
 as equally concern the feamen of England and Ireland, or of Great Britain 
 and Ireland, fave fo far as the fame have been altered or repealed, Ihould 
 be accepted, ufed and executed in this kingdom, according to the prefent 
 tenor thereof refpedively ; 
 
 IN order, therefore, to carry into further effed the earned and affedion- 
 ate defire of hisMajefty’s fubjeds in this kingdom to promote the naviga¬ 
 tion, trade and commercial interefts of both kingdoms, and 'in order to 
 provide for fecuring to the fubjeds of both a full and equal enjoyment in 
 all times to come of the exclufive privileges of the trade and navigation of 
 the empire. 
 
 BE it declared, by the authority aforefaid, that it fhall be held and ad¬ 
 judged to be a fundamental and effential condition of the prefent fettlement, 
 that all privileges, advantages and immunities which are now or may 
 hereafter be enjoyed by Ihips built in Great Britain, or by fhips belonging 
 to hisMajefty’s fubjeds refiding in Great Britain, or by fhips manned by 
 Britifh feamen, or by fhips manned by certain proportions of Britifh fea¬ 
 men, fhall to all intents and purpofes whatever be enjoyed in the fame 
 manner, and under the fame regulations and reftridions refpedively by 
 fhips built in Ireland, or by fhips belonging to hisMajefty’s fubjeds re¬ 
 fiding in Ireland, or by fhips manned by Irifh feamen, or by fhips manned 
 by certain proportions of Irifh feamen; and that all laws which fhall 
 hereafter be cnaded by the parliament of Great Britain for fecuring exclu¬ 
 five privileges, advantages and immunities to the fhips and mariners of 
 Great Britain, and of the Britifh colonies, fettlements and plantations, 
 fhall fecure the fame privileges, advantages and immunities, in all refpeds] 
 and in as full and ample manner, to the fhips and mariners of Ireland, as 
 to the fhips and mariners of Great Britain, and of the Britifh colonies, 
 fettlements and plantations ; and that the like exclufive privileges fhall 
 from time to time be confirmed and fecured in the fame manner, and un¬ 
 der the fame refiraints and regulations, in this kingdom as’in Great 
 Britain, to the fhips and mariners of Great Britain, Ireland, and the Britifh 
 colonies, fettlements and plantations. 
 
 AND be it declared, that it fhall be held and adjudged to be a funda¬ 
 mental and effential condition of the prefent fettlement, that Irifh fail 
 cloth fhall be deemed Britifh within the meaning of every aft refpefting 
 the furnifhing of fhips therewith, and be entitled to equal preference or ad¬ 
 vantage as Britifh, for the ufe of the Britifh navy. 
 
 AND be it further declared and enacted, that it fhall be held and adjudg. 
 
 ed 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 cd to be a fundamental and eflential condition of the prefent fettlement, 
 that the people of this kingdom now, and at all times to come, fhall 
 have the benefit of trading to and from the Britifh colonies and plantati¬ 
 ons in the Weft Indies and America, and to and from the Britifh fettle- 
 ments on the coaft of Africa, and in all articles of their growth, pro¬ 
 duce or manufacture, in as full and ample manner as the people of Great 
 Britain j and (hall likewife have the benefit of trading in the like ample 
 manner to and from all fuch colonies, fettlements and plantations which 
 Great Britain may hereafter acquire or eftablifh ; and alfo to and from fuch 
 Britilh fettlements as may exift in the countries beyond the Cape of Good 
 Hope to the Streights of Magellan, whenever the commerce to the faid 
 countries (hall ceafe to be carried on by an exclufive company having li¬ 
 berty to import into the port of London only; and therefore that the 
 commerce to and from the faid colonies, fettlements and plantations, 
 (hall at all times be carried on between Ireland and the faid colonies, plan¬ 
 tations and fettlements, under the like regulations, reftriCtions and prohi¬ 
 bitions as between Great Britain and the faid colonies, plantations and 
 fettlements ; and fo that all articles imported from the faid colonies, plan¬ 
 tations and fettlements into Ireland, (hall be made fubjeCt to the fame 
 duties as the like articles are, or from time to time (hall be fubjeCt to on 
 importation into Great Britain; and that all articles exported from Ire¬ 
 land to any of the faid colonies, plantations and fettlements, may be made 
 liable to fuch duties, and entitled to fuch drawbacks only, and put under 
 fuch regulations as may be neceflary, in order that the fame may not be 
 exported with lefs duties or impofitions than the like articles (hall be 
 burthened with when exported from Great Britain ; and that the importa¬ 
 tion of the articles of the growth, produce or manufacture of the faid 
 colonies, plantations and fettlements in America, the Weft Indies, and 
 the coafts of Africa, (hall be favoured by this kingdom in as full and 
 ample a manner as by Great Britain, againft the interference of fimilar 
 articles from foreign colonies; and that the importation of fuch articles 
 of the growth, produce or manufacture of any Britifh colonies or fettle¬ 
 ments beyond the Cape of Good Hope to the Streights of Magellan, (hall 
 be favoured in like manner as by Great Britain againft the interference of 
 fimilar articles from any countries beyond the faid Cape to the faid 
 Streights. 
 
 AND be it therefore enaCted, that fuch perfonsto be appointed as afore- 
 faid, (hall prepare a like fchedule or fchedules of fuch duties, prohibiti- 
 iions and regulations as may now be neceflary for the laid purpofes re- 
 fpeding the Britifli colonies and plantations, the Weft Indies and Ame¬ 
 rica, and the Britifh fettlements on the coaft of Africa, to be laid before 
 the Houfe of Commons of this Kingdom in the next felTion of Parliament, 
 or asfoonas conveniently may be. 
 
 PROVIDED always, and it is hereby declared and enaCfed, that it is 
 not eflential to, nor is intended by the prefent fettlement, that any duty 
 (hould at any time be impofcd on the exportation of linens or provifion* 
 from this kingdom to any Britilh colony, plantation or fettlement, or any 
 additional duty on the importation into this kingdom of rum licm any 
 
 fuch colony, plantation or fettlement, or of any material of manufacture 
 
 ■which 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 Much Is now or may hereafter be allowed to be Imported duty free Into 
 either kingdom. 
 
 AND be it declared, that it fhall be held and adjudged to be a funda¬ 
 mental condition of the prefent fettlement, that all rum, peltry, whale- 
 fins or oil imported from the countries belonging to the United States o* 
 America, or as the produce of fifheries carried on by the fubjefts of the 
 faid States, (hall be made fubjedt to the fame duties, on importation into 
 this kingdom, as the fame are or may be fubjedt to on importation in like 
 manner into Great Britain. 
 
 AND be it therefore enadled, that the perfons to be appointed as afore* 
 
 faid, fhall prepare a fchedule or fchedules of fuch duties as may be now 
 
 neceffary to be impofed for that purpofe, and lay the fame before the 
 Houfe of Commons of this kingdom on the firft day of the next feffion of 
 Parliament, or as loon as conveniently may be. _ # 
 
 PROVIDED always, and it is hereby declared and enadled, that it is 
 not intended by this prefent fettlement, that any duty or prohibition on 
 any article of the growth, produdt or manufacture of any foieign colony ; 
 or on any rum, oil, peltry or whale-fins of any of the States of Nert 
 America, fhould be impofed until the expiration of four months, if the 
 Parliament of Ireland fhall be then fitting, and fhall continue to fit for 
 four months next enfuing, without being prorogued or dilTolved ; 01 in 
 cafe the Parliament fhall not be then fitting, or fhall not continue to fit 
 for four months without being prorogued or difTolved, then within four 
 months after the commencement of the next enfuing feffion of Pailiament, 
 
 AND be it alfo declared, by the authority aforefaid, that it fhall be 
 held and adjudged to be a fundamental and effential condition of the pre¬ 
 fent fettlement, that no bounties fhould be payable in Ireland on the ex¬ 
 portation of any article to any of the Britifh colonies or plantations in 
 America, or in the Weft Indies, or to the Britifh fettlements on the coaft 
 of Africa, or in the Eaft Indies, or on the exportation of any artic e 
 imported from the Britifh colonies or plantations in America, or in t e 
 Weft Indies, or from the Britifh fettlements on the coaft of Africa, or in 
 the Eaft Indies, or of any manufadture made of fuch article, unlefs in 
 cafes where a fimilar bounty is payable in Great Britain on exportation 
 from thence, or where fuch bounty is merely in the nature of a dra-vbacr., 
 or compenfation of or for duties paid over and above any duties paid in 
 
 Great Britain. 4 . , , u 
 
 AND be it declared, by the authority aforefaid, that it fhall be he 
 and adjudged to be a fundamental and effential condition of the prefent 
 fettlement; that when any goods of the growth, produce or manufa&ure 
 of the Britifh Weft India Iflands, or any other of the Britifh colonies or 
 plantations, fhall be imported into this kingdom from Great Britain, 
 fuch original certificate of the revenue officer or officers of the faid colo¬ 
 nies refpedlively as fhall be required by law on importation into Great 
 Britain, fhall be delivered to the colledlor of the port where the fame 
 fhall be imported into this kingdom ; and if the whole quantity of fuch 
 goods included in one certificate fhall not be imported at one time,, then 
 fuch original certificate, properly endowed as to quantity, fhall be delivered 
 with the firft parcel : and to indentify the remainder, if exported within 
 
 B three 
 
C 10 ) 
 
 chtee years, new certificates from the proper officer of the port in Great 
 Britain, extracted from the regiftry there, of the original documents, 
 fpecifying the quantities before exported from Great Britain, by what 
 vefTels and to what ports, /hall be delivered to the colledtor of the port 
 where the fame ffiall be imported, under pain of forfeiting all fuch goods 
 fo imported without fuch certificates refpeclively. 
 
 BE it therefore enafted, by the authority aforefaid, that when any ffiip 
 or veffel ffiall arrive from any port or place in Great Britain at any port 
 in tnis kingdom laden with any goods the growth, produce or manufac¬ 
 ture of the Britifh Weft India ifiands or any other of the Britifh colonies 
 oi plantations, no fuch goods fhall be admitted to be imported into this 
 kingdom unlefs accompanied with fuch original certificates of the revenue 
 officers in the faid colonies as fhall be required by law on importation into 
 Great Britain from the faid colonies or plantations refpe&ively, under 
 fuch regulations, reftriCtions, penalties and forfeitures as the like goods 
 arefubjeCi to on importation into Great Britain from the faid colonies and 
 plantations refpeClively, or unlefs when the whole quantity included in 
 one certificate fhall not be fhipped at any one time, the original certifi¬ 
 cate, properly endorfed as to quantity, fhall have been fent with the firft: 
 parcel, and the remainder ffiall have been fhipped within three years, 
 and fhall be accompanied with new certificates granted by the proper 
 officers of the ports in Great Britain, extracted from a regiftry of the 
 original documents, fpecifying the quantities before fhipped from thence, 
 by what veffel and to what port. 
 
 AND be it declared, that it ffiall be held and adjudged to be a funda¬ 
 mental and effential condition of the prefent fettlemenr, that fo long as 
 the commerce between Great Britain and the countries beyond the Cape 
 of Good Hope to the Streights of Magellan ffiall continue to be carried on 
 folely by on exclufive company having liberty to import into the port of 
 London only, no goods of the growth, produce or manufacture of the 
 faid countries ffiall be imported into this kingdom from any other place 
 than from Great Britain, except dye fluffs, drugs, cotton or other wool 
 and fpiceries, and except fuch goods as are now or hereafter may be im- 
 portable into Great Britain from any other place than the faid countries, 
 which goods fhall be importable into this kingdom from the fame coun¬ 
 tries fiom which they may be importable into Great Britain, and under 
 the fame duties and regulations to which they ffiall be fubjeCt on fuch 
 importation into Great Britain. 
 
 BE it therefore enabled, that fo long as the commerce between Great 
 Britain and the countries beyond the Cape of Good Hope to the Streights 
 ui -vLigJJ m ffia i continue to be carried on folely by an exclufive compa¬ 
 ny having liberty-to import into the port of London only, no goods of 
 the growth, produce or manufacture of the faid countries ffiall be import¬ 
 ed into this kingdom from any other place than from Gieat Britain, ex¬ 
 cept dye fluffs, drugs, cotton or other wool and fpiceries, and except fuch 
 goods as may now or hereafter may be importable into Great Britain from 
 any other place than the laid countries, which goods ffiall be importable 
 
 into 
 
( II ) 
 
 into this kingdom from the fame countries from which they may be Im¬ 
 portable into Great Britain, and under the fame duties and regulations tc 
 which they/hall be fubjeft on fuch importation into Great Britain, under 
 penalty of forfeiting all fuch goods, and the /hip or ve/Tel in which the 
 
 fame/hall be imported, with all her guns, tackle, furniture and ammu¬ 
 nition. 
 
 PROVIDED always, and it is hereby declared, that it /hall be held and 
 adjudged to be a fundamental and effential condition of the prefent fettle, 
 ment, that no prohibition (hall exiff or be laid in Great Britain on the 
 exportation of any goods of the growth, produce or manufacture of the 
 aid countries from Great Britain to Ireland, and that all duties paid on 
 importation thereof /hall be drawn back in Great Britain on fuch exporta- 
 tj °n, or that fuch part of the faid duties as /hall be retained/hall be ac. 
 counted for and remitted to the revenue of this kingdom. 
 
 AND be it declared, that it/hall beheld and adjudged to be a funda¬ 
 mental and e/Tential condition of the prefent fettlement, that all goods of 
 growth, pioduce or manmadure of Ireland, whether exported from 
 Ireland or from Great Britain, /hall be deemed Briti/h goods within the 
 meaning of any obligation in any R^tute or charter of fuch exclufive com¬ 
 pany, to export any quantity or value of Briti/h goods annually, or other- 
 wife, fo as effectually to allow the exportation of fuch goods by the faid 
 company from this kingdom, and from Great Britain, and that "fuch ex- 
 portation /hall be for fo much a performance of fuch obligation ; and that 
 allfhips freighted by the faid company /hall be at liberty to touch at any 
 of the ports of this kingdom, and to take on board any goods, whether 
 
 native or foreign, which the faid ,company are or /hall be permitted to ex¬ 
 port from Great Britain. 
 
 AND be it declared, that it /hall be held and adjudged to be a funda¬ 
 mental and effential condition of the prefent fettlement, that fo long as 
 the faid trade /hall be carried on by fuch an exclufive company, having 
 equal liberty to carry out to the faid countries from this kingdom as from 
 any part of Great Britain all goods, whether of foreign or na ive pro- 
 uce , no /hips /hall he allowed to clear out from this kingdom for any 
 cf^the faid countries but fuch as /hall be freighted by fuch company, and 
 ia . ave failed from the port of London, and except fuch foreign /hips 
 as might by any law now or hereafter to be in force clear out for foreign 
 fettlement? in the faid countries from Great Britain, which /hips /hall be 
 allowed to clear out in the fame manner as is or ihail be allowed from 
 
 Great Britain. 
 
 BE it therefore enafted, by the authority aforefaid, that fo long as the 
 faid trade/hall be carried on by fuch an exclufive company having equal 
 liberty to carry out to the faid countries from this kingdom any goods 
 
 whether of foreign or native produce, which may be carried out to the 
 
 faid countries from Great Britain, no /hips {hall be allowed t« clear our from 
 this kingdom for any of the faid countries but fuch as /hail be freighted by 
 fuch company, and except fuch foreign /hips as might by any law now or 
 jeieafter to be in force clear out for foreign fettlements in the faid coun- 
 
 B 2 tries 
 
( 12 ) 
 
 tries from Great Britain, vvhich fhips fhall be allowed to clear out from 
 this kingdom in the fame manner as is or fhall be allowed from Great 
 Britain. 
 
 AND be it further declared, that it fhall be held and adjudged to be a 
 fundamental and effential condition of the prefent fettlement, that all 
 goods which may be exported from this kingdom to the countries beyond 
 the Cape of Good Hope to the Streights of Magellan, fo long as the com¬ 
 merce with thofe countries fnall be carried on by fuch exclufive company, 
 fhall be exported with equal exemption from or incumbrance of duties, 
 and under like regulations as the fimilar goods are or may be exportable 
 from Great Britain thither, 
 
 AND be it enabled, that the faid perfons fo to be appointed as aforefaid, 
 fhall prepare a fchedule of all fuch duties and regulations as may be now 
 neceffary for that purpofe, to be laid before theHoufe of Commons on the 
 firfi: day of the next fefiion of parliament, or as foon as conveniently may 
 be. 
 
 AND be it declared, by the authority aforefaid, that it fhall be held 
 and adjudged to be a fundamental and effential condition of the prefent 
 fettlement, that all goods or commodities whatever which fhall hereafter 
 be imported into this kingdom fiom Great Britain, or into Great Britain 
 from this kingdom, fhall be put, by laws to be paired in the parlia¬ 
 ments of the two kingdoms rel'pe&ively, under the fame regulations, with 
 refpeft to bonds, cockets and other inftruments, to which the like goods 
 are fubjeft in paffmg from on<~ port of Great Britain to the other. 
 
 AND in order to prevent deputes touching the exercife of the right of 
 the inhabitants of each kingdom to fifli on the coafts of any parts of the 
 Britifh dominions. 
 
 BE it declared, that it fhall be held and adjudged to be a fundamental 
 and effential condition of this fettlement, that the inhabitants of both 
 kingdoms fnall have equal right to carry on fifheries on every part of the 
 coafts of the Britifh dominions. 
 
 BE it therefore cnatfed, that all his Majefty’s fubjefts refiding in 
 Great Britain or the dominions belonging thereto, fhall enjoy equal privi¬ 
 leges and advantages with his Majefty’s fubjedts refiding in Ireland, in 
 carrying on fifheri&.s cn the coaftof Ireland. 
 
 AND be it declared, that it fnall be held and adjudged to be a funda¬ 
 mental and effential condition of this prefent fettlement, that the importa¬ 
 tion of articles from foreign countries fhall be regulated from time to 
 time in each kingdom cn fuch terms as may effeflually favour the impor¬ 
 tation of firnilar articles of the growth, produce or manufacture of the 
 ether, eveept in the cafe of materials cf manufacture which are or here¬ 
 after may be allowed to be imported from foreign countries duty free. 
 
 AND WHEREAS it may be expedient that the privileges of printing 
 and vending books, engraving prints, maps, charts and plans, which are 
 now or may beat any time herealter legally po fie fled under tire grant of 
 the crown or otherwife, and the copy-rights of authors and bcokiellers, 
 the engraved property of ergravers, print and map-fellers, and the rights 
 
 under 
 
( >3 ) 
 
 under patents granted by the crown, or continued by parliament, for the 
 encouragement of new inventions, fhould be proteded in each king¬ 
 dom : 
 
 BE it further enafted and declared, that it is not intended by this pre¬ 
 rent fettlement, nor fhall any thing in this adl contained extend, or be 
 conftrued to extend, to prevent the continuing or impofing of any prohi¬ 
 bition in either kingdom on the importation of any bocks, prints, maps, 
 charts or plans, the excluftve privilege of printing, engraving and vend¬ 
 ing whereof in fuch kingdom fhall be legally poffeffed by any peifon or 
 perfons under fuch grant or otherwife, or under fuch copy-right, nor on 
 the importation of any article, the exclufive right of making, ufmg or 
 vending whereof in fuch kingdom fhall l*e legally pofTeffed by any perfon 
 or perfons under fuch patent or adt of parliament. 
 
 AND WHEREAS it is juft and reafonable that as foon as the recef- 
 fary regulations fhall be agreed upon and eftablifhed by the parliament of 
 Great Britain, for carrying the prefent fettlement into execution, and 
 that an adl or adfs to be paffed by the faid parliament for that purpofe 
 fhall be declared by the parliament of this kingdom to contain provisions 
 fatisfadlory and fufficientfor the fame, a provifion equally permanent and 
 fecure fhould be made on the part of this kingdom towards defraying, 
 by fome fixed mods, in proportion to its growing profper/ty, the necef- 
 fary expencesof protedling the trade and general interefts of the empire : 
 
 BE it therefore further enadted, that whatever fum the grofs hereditary 
 revenue of this kingdom, after dedudting all drawbacks, re-payments, 
 or bounties granted in the nature of drawbacks, fhall produce in the year 
 ending on the 25th day of March which fhall next immediately follow 
 the completion and commencement of this prefent fettlement, and on 
 every fucceeding year ending the 25th of March, over and above the fum 
 of 656,000!. Irifh currency, fubjedt to the limitations and conditions 
 herein-after provided, fhall be appropriated towards the fupport of the 
 naval force of the empire, in manner herein-after diredted. 
 
 PROVIDED always, that if in any year there fhall be incurred, ex¬ 
 cept on account of war, danger of war, infurredlion, danger of infurrec- 
 tion, or fuch like unforefeen emergency, affedling or threatening to affedt 
 the public fafety, any ex pence which fhall produce an excefs beyond the 
 total of the eftimates approved, and amount of fupplies granted by par¬ 
 liament for the f'ervice of fuch year, in every fuch cafe the faid extraordi¬ 
 nary expence may be payable out of and dedudted from the furplus, if any 
 fuch there be, of the faid hereditary revenue, and the remainder of fuch 
 furplus only fhall be applicable as herein after diredted. 
 
 PROVIDED alfo, that if upon a comparison of the expences of any 
 one year v/ith the eftimates approved of, or the amount of fupplies grant¬ 
 ed by parliament for the fcrvice of fuch year, any deficiency fhall appear 
 in the produce of the aids and duties, or other ways and means granted, 
 allotted or appropriated for that fervice, fo that as the fame fhall not have 
 been equal to the amount of fupplies granted, fuch deficiency fhall not 
 intrench upon or be dedudled from, or be made good cut of fuch furplus 
 
 of 
 
( 14 ) 
 
 Af the fald hereditary revenue, but fuch furplus as aforefald (hall be ap. 
 plied towards the fupport of the naval force of the empire as herein-after 
 d-re ied; any fuch deficiency in the produce of the aids or duties or 
 other ways and means, or any thing in this or any other aft contained to 
 the contrary notwithftanding, 
 
 ^ AND be it further enabled, that fuch furplus as (hall be applicable by 
 virtue of this a ft towards the fupport of the naval force of the empire, 
 (hall be applied from time to time, in the firft place, to the purchafe of 
 fail cloth, cordage, naval (lores, gunpowder, provifions, or fuch other 
 articles the growth, produce or manufacture of this kingdom, as can be 
 conveniently and fufficiently fupplied from thence for the ufc f the royal 
 navy, in fuch manner as (hall b% direfted by his Majefty, his heirs and 
 succefTors, and afterwards to fuch heads of fervice, for the ufe of the faid 
 
 vy, as mall be directed in like manner 
 
 AS ^ cc jt cnaCted, that an account (hall be kept by the proper officer 
 or orficers of all the iffues made from time to time, purfuant to fuch di¬ 
 rections, and lor the purpofes tor which the fame (hall have been made. 
 
 AND be it enaCteci, by the authority aforefaid, that exaCt and diftinCt 
 accounts be kept by the feveral proper officers of the amount cf his Ma- 
 iefiy s faid hereditary revenue in this kingdom, and of the exaCt draw¬ 
 backs, repayments, or bounties granted in the nature of drawbacks, 
 which fnall be, and by law ought to be paid or deducted out of the fame j 
 and that an account of the whole be annually returned to the Lord Lieu¬ 
 tenant or other the v-hief Governor or Governors of Ireland, to be by 
 Lin’, or them tranfmitted to his Majefty ; and that a like account be an¬ 
 nually laid before parliament on the firft day of every feffion. 
 
 AND be it further declared and enaCted, that it is the true intent and 
 meaning of the prefent fettlement, that any removal, fufpenfion or altera¬ 
 tion of any hereditary duties which may be made at any time hereafter 
 (had not be deemed an infringement of or deviation from the prefent fet- 
 t lament. 
 
 PROVIDED always, and it is hereby enaCled, that in every fuch cafe 
 an account (hall be kept of what every fuch duty would have produced 
 in cafe it had not been altered, removed or fufpended, in order that the 
 amount thereof may be from time to time duly replaced to the faid here 
 ditary revenue. 
 
 AND be it declared, by the authority aforefaid, that it lhall be adjudged 
 to be a fundamental and eflential condition of the prefent fettlement, that 
 the due collection of the duties compofing the faid hereditary revenue 
 (hall be at all times etiectually fecured, and that for that purpefethe faid 
 duties (hall continue to be collected and enforced, as well by the poweis, 
 authorities regulations and provifions applicable to the fame by virtue of 
 tne acts by which the faid duties were granted, as tar as the fame have 
 
 net been oi lhall not be hereafter altered or repealed, as by any other 
 power:, authorities, regulations or provifions which are or may be from 
 
 time 
 
( 15 ) 
 
 time to time applicable by law to the colleftion of any additional dm- 
 
 w ^t r, be r ble on any of the aa ^ 3 
 
 N D be it declared and enacted, by the authority aforefaid that this 
 ac , and every part thereof, /hall commence and be in force fo f 
 aft or afts lhall have been paffed in the Parliament of Great Britain*/" 
 carrying mw effta, 0 „ the pa rt of that kingdom, the prefent fettiemenT 
 a matters, provifions and regulations herein declared to be f. a * 
 mental and e/fential conditions thereof j and that an adf /hall h* v 
 paffed in the Parliament of this kingdom, declaring that fuch aft "or a 7 
 the Parliament of Great Britain, contain fatisfadlory provifions f ^ 
 rymg into effect the prefent fettlement. " Car " 
 
 AND WHEREAS no law made by the prefent Parliament can P • 
 or reftrain the free and unqueftioned excrcife or difcretion of * r 
 ing Parliaments, who mu* be competent, equal L ^ 
 CVer y act of Ration whatever : And whereas the contin ' f ° 
 
 prefent fettiement mu* depend on the due obfervan in bTktVd ^ 
 
 the feveral matters herein declared to be fundamental a „dfcl 
 
 tions thereof acrordmo- t u • . • a e " entj al condi- 
 
 RF accordm S to th eir true intent, fpirit and meaning. 
 
 i eclaied, that the continuance of the prefent 
 duration of this act anrl nf , T C lettlement, and the 
 
 act, and of every thing herein contained /hall a* 
 
 upon the due obfervance in the kingdom of Great Britain of ,h * t 
 
 matters herein declared to be fundamental and effen 1 co„ d!t 
 
 PRov^Eo acco,d ? tothctrue inKnt - 
 
 PROVIDED, neverthelefs, that all the faid fundamental ,1 ° f * 
 
 conditions fhall i„ a „ times be he|d and deemed 1 ^tiai 
 
 duly obferved in the kingdom of Great Britain, uniefs’it fta , have h 
 cxprefsly declared by .join, addrefs of both Houfes of Parliament of tto 
 tngc om to is Majefty, that the fame have not been duly obferved. 
 
 The End, 
 
 The 
 
( 16 } 
 
 The Original Eleven PROPOSITIONS voted by the 
 Parliament of Ireland in February, and lent to the Bri*' 1 
 tirti Houfe of Commons. 
 
 l.T\ ESOLVED, That it is highly important to the general Intereft of the 
 Britifh Empire, that the Trade between Great Britain and b eland he 
 encouraged and extended as much as pofftble ; and, for that Purpcfe, that the 
 lntercourfe and Commerce be finally fettled and regulated, on permanent 
 
 and equitable Principles, for the mutual Benefit of both Countries, 
 
 II. Refolved, That towards carrying into fullEffeCl fo defirable a Settle¬ 
 ment, it is fit and proper that all Articles, not the Growth or Manufac¬ 
 ture of Great Britain or Ireland fhould be imported into each Kingdom 
 from the other, reciprocally, under the fame Regulation, and at the 
 fame Duties, if fubjeCt to Duties, to which they are liable when imported 
 direCfly from the Place of their Growth, ProduCt, or Manufacture ; and 
 that all Duties originally paid on Importation into either Country refpec- 
 tively, fhall be fully drawn back on Exportation to the other. 
 
 III. Refolved, That, for the fame Purpofe, it is proper, that no prohi¬ 
 bition fhould exift, in either Country, againft the Importation, Ufe or 
 Sale of any Article, the Growth, ProduCl, or Manufacture of the other ; 
 and that the Duty on the Importation of every fuch Article, if fubjeCt to 
 Duty, in either Country, fhould be precifely the fame in the one Country as in 
 the other, except where an Addition may be neceffary, in either Country, 
 in confequence of an Internal Duty on any fuch Article of its own Con- 
 fumption. 
 
 IV. Refolved, that in all Cafes where the Duties on Articles cf the 
 Growth, ProduCf, or Manufacture of either Country, are different on the 
 Importation into the other, it would be expedient that they fhould be re¬ 
 duced, in the kingdom where they are the higheft, to the Amount payable 
 in the other: and that all fuch Articles fhould be exportable, from the 
 Kingdom into which they fhall be imported, as free from Duty as the 
 fimilar Commodities or Home Manufactures of the fame Kingdom. 
 
 V. Refolved, That for the fame Purpofe, it is alfo proper, that in all 
 Cafes, where either Kingdom fhall charge Articles of its own Confumpti- 
 cn with an Internal Duty on the Manufacture, or a Duty on the Material, 
 the fame Manufacture, when imported from the other, may be charged 
 with a farther Duty on Importation, to the fame Amount as the Internal 
 Duty on the Manufacture, or to an Amount adequate to countervail the 
 Duty on the Material; and fhall be entitled to fuch Drawbacks or Boun¬ 
 ties on Exportation, as may leave the fame fubject to no heavier burden 
 than the Heme-made Manufacture ; fuch farther Duty to continue fo 
 Jong only as the Internal Confumption fhall be charged with the Duty or 
 
 Duties 
 
( 17 ) 
 
 Duties to balance which it (hall be impofed, or until the Manufacture 
 coming from the other Kingdom fhall be fubjected there to an equal Bur¬ 
 den; not drawn back, or compenfated for on Exportation, 
 
 VI. Refolved, That, in order to give Permanency to the Settlement 
 now intended to be eftablifhed, it isneceflary that no Prohibition, ©rnew 
 or additional Dudes, fliould be hereafter impoled, in either kingdom, on 
 the Importation of any Article of the Growth, Product or Manufacture 
 of the other, except fuch additional Duties, as may be requisite to balance 
 Duties on Internal Confumption, purfuant to the foregoing Refolution. 
 
 VII. Refolved, That, for the fame Purpofe, it is neceflary, farther, that 
 no Prohibition, or new or additional Duties, fliould be hereafter impofed, 
 in either Kingdom, on the Exportation of any Articles of native Growth, 
 Product, or Manufacture, from thence to the other, except fuch as either 
 Kingdom may deem expedient, from Time to Time, upon Corn, Meal, 
 Malt, Flour, and Bifcuits, and aifo except where there now exifts any 
 Prohibition which is not reciprocal, or any Duty which is not equal, in 
 both Kingdoms; in every which Cafe the Prohibition may be made reci¬ 
 procal, or the Duties raifed fo as to make them equal. 
 
 VIII. Refolved, That for the fame Purpofe, it is neceflary, that no 
 Bounties whatsoever fliould be paid or payable, in either Kingdom, on the 
 Exportation of any Article to the other, except fuch as relate to Corn, Meal, 
 Malt, Flour and Buifcuits, and fuch as are in the Nature of Drawbacks, 
 or Compenfations for Duties paid ; and that no Bounty fnall be granted 
 in this Kingdom, on the Exportation of any Article imported from the 
 Britifh Plantations, or any Manufacture made of fuch Artic 7 e, unlefs in 
 Cafes where a fimilar Bou nty is payable in Britain on Exportation from 
 thence, or where fuch Bounty is merely in the nature of a Drawback, or 
 Compenfation of or for Duties paid, over and above any Duties paid 
 thereon in Britain. 
 
 IX. Refolved, That it is expedient, for the general Benefit of the Britifli 
 Empire, that the Importation qf Articles from Foreign States fliould be 
 regulated, from Time to Time, in each Kingdom, on fuch Terms as may 
 afford an effectual Preference to the Importation of fimilar Articles of the 
 Crowth, ProduCt, or Manufacture of the other. 
 
 X. Refolved, That, it is effential to the commercial intereiffs of this 
 country to prevent, as much as poflible, an accumulation of national 
 debt, arid therefore it is highly expedient that the annual revenues of this 
 kingdom fliould be made equal to its annual expences 
 
 XI. Refolved, That for the better Protection of Trade, whatever Sum 
 the grofs hereditary Revenue of this Kingdom (after deducting all Draw¬ 
 backs, Re-payments, or Bounties, granted in the Nature of Drawbacks,) 
 fhall produce, over and above the Sum of 656,0001. in each Year of 
 Peace, wherein the annual Revenues fhall be equal to the annual Expen¬ 
 ces, and in each Year of war, without regard to fuch equality, fliould be 
 appropriated towards the Support of the Naval Force of the Empire, in 
 fuch Manner as the Parliament of this Kingdom fhall direCI, 
 
 C 
 
 
 T 
 
 Copy 
 
C 18 ) 
 
 Copy of the TWENTY RESOLUTIONS, voted 
 the Two Houfes of the Britifh Parliament. 
 
 !• ID E S 0 L VE D, That it is highly important to the general Interefts 
 of the Britifh Empire, that the Intercourfe and Commerce between 
 Great Britain and Ireland fhould be finally regulated on permanent and 
 equitable Principles, for the mutual Benefits of both Countries. 
 
 II. Refolded, That it is confiftent with the eflential Interefts of the Manu¬ 
 factures, Revenue, Commerce, and Navigation of Great Britain, that a full 
 Participation of Commercial Advantages fhould be permanently fecured to 
 Ireland, whenever a Provision, equally permanent and fecure, fhall be 
 made by the Parliament of that Kingdom towards defraying, in Propor¬ 
 tion to its growing Profperity, the neceflary Expences, in Time of Peace, 
 of protecting the Trade and general Interefts of the Empire. 
 
 III. Refolded, Th'at, towards carrying into full EflfeCt fodefirable a Set¬ 
 tlement, it is fit ante proper that all Articles, not the Growth or Manu¬ 
 facture of Great Britain or Ireland, except thofe of the Growth, Produce, 
 or Manufacture of any of the Countries beyond the Cape of Good Hope 
 to the Streights of Magellan, fhould be imported into each Kingdom from 
 the other reciprocally, under the fame Regulations, and at the fame Duties 
 (if fubjeCt to Duties) to which they would be liable when imported di¬ 
 rectly from the Country or Place from whence the fame may have been 
 imported into Great Britain or Ireland refpeCtively, as the Cafe may be j 
 and that all Duties originally paid on Importation into either Country re¬ 
 fpeCtively, except on Arrack and Foreign Brandy, and on Rum, and all 
 Sorts of ftrong Waters, not imported from the Britilh Colonies in the Weft 
 Indies, fhall be fully drawn back, within a Time to be fixed, on Ex¬ 
 portation to the other $ but aeverthelefs, that the Duties fhall continue to 
 be protected and guarded as at prefent, by withholding the Drawback 
 until a Certificate from the proper Officers of the Revenue in the King¬ 
 dom to which the Export may be made, fhall be returned, and compared 
 with the Entry Outwards. 
 
 IV. Refolved, That it is highly important to the general Interefts of the 
 Britifh Empire, that the Laws for regulating Trade and Navigation fhould 
 be the fame in Great Britain and Ireland ; and therefore that it is eflential* 
 towards carrying into Effed the prefent Settlement, that all Laws which 
 have been made, or fhall be made, in Great Britain, forfecuring exclufive 
 Privileges to the Ships and Mariners of Great Britain, Ireland, and the 
 Britifh Colonies and Plantations, and for regulating and reftraining the 
 Trade of the Britifh Colonies and Plantations (fuch Laws impofing the 
 fame Reftraints, and conferring the fame Benefits, on the Subjects of 
 both Kingdoms) ffiould be in Force in Ireland , by Laws to be patted in the 
 Parliament of that Kingdom, for the fame Time aud in the fame Manner 
 
 as in Great Britain, , . _ , * , . 
 
 V. Refolded, That it is further effentiai to this Settlement, that all 
 
 Goods and Commodities of the Growth, Produce, of Manufacture of Bri- 
 tifli or Foreign Colonies in America, or the Weft Indies, and the Britifh or 
 Foreign Settlements on th« Coaft of Africa, imported into Ireland, fliould, 
 
 on 
 
( 19 ) 
 
 •n Importation, be fubjeft to the fame Duties and Regulations as the like 
 Goods are, or from Time to Time lhall be fubjeCt to, upon Importation 
 into Great Britain j or if prohibited to be imported into Great Britain, 
 fhall be prohibited in like Manner from being imported into Ireland. 
 
 VI. Refolded, That, in order to prevent illicit Practices injurious to 
 the Revenue and Commerce of both Kingdoms, it is expedient, that ail 
 Goods, whether of the Growth, Produce, or Manufacture of Great Bri¬ 
 tain or Ireland, or of any Foreign Country, winch lhall hereafter be im¬ 
 ported into Great Britain from Ireland, or into Ireland from Great Britain, 
 Ihould be put (by Laws to be palled in the Parliaments of the Two King¬ 
 doms) under the fame Regulations with refpedt to Bonds, Cockets, and 
 other lnftruments, as the like Goods palling from One Port of Great Bri¬ 
 tain to another. * 
 
 VII. Refolded, That, for the like Purpofe, itisalfo expedient, that when 
 any Goods, the Growth, Produce, or Manufacture of the Britilh Weft 
 India Blands, or any other of the Britilh Colonies or Plantations, lhall be 
 fhipped from Ireland for Great Britain, they Ihould be accompanied with 
 fu c h original Certificates of the Revenue Officers of the faid Colonies as 
 fhall be required by Law on Importation into Great Britain $ and that, 
 when the whole Quantity included in One Certificate lhall not be Hupped’ 
 at any One Time, the Original Certificate, properly indorfed as to Quantity 
 Ihould be fent with theFirft Parcel} and, to indentify the Remainder, if 
 flapped within a Time to be limited, new Certificates Ihould be granted 
 by the principal Officers of the Ports in Ireland, extrafted from a Regifter 
 of the original Documents, fpecifying the Quantities before Ihipped from 
 thence, by what Veffels, and to what Ports. 
 
 VIII. Refolded, That it is effential, for carrying into EffeCl the prefent 
 Settlement, that all Goods exported from Ireland to the Britilh Colonies 
 *n the Weft Indies, or in America, or to the Britilh Settlements on the 
 Coaft of Africa, or to the Countries beyond the Cape of Good Hope to the 
 Streights of Magellan, Ihould from Time to Time be made liable to fuch 
 Duties and Drawbacks, and put under fuch Regulations, as may be necef- 
 fary, in order that the fame may not be exported with lefs Incumbrance of 
 Duties or Impofitions than the like Goods lhall be burthened with when 
 exported from Great Britain. 
 
 IX. Refolded, That it >3 effential to the general Commercial Interefts of 
 the Empire, that foiong as the Parliament of this Kingdom lhall think it 
 advifeable that the Commerce to the Countries beyond the Cape of Good 
 Hope to the Streights of Magellan, lhall be carried on folely by an exclu- 
 five Company, having Liberty to import into the Port of London only, 
 no Goods of the Growth, Produce, Manufacture of the faid Countries 
 Ihould be allowed to be imported into Ireland but through Great Britain } 
 except Dye Stuffs, Drugs, Cotton, or other Wool, and Spiceries, which 
 may be imported into Ireland from foreign European Countries, fo long 
 as the fame are importable from foreign European Countries into Great 
 Britain : And that it lhall be lawful to export fuch Goods of the Growth, 
 Produce, or Manufacture of any of the Countries beyond the Cape of 
 Good Hope to the Streights of Magellan, from Great Britain to Ireland, 
 with the fame Duties retained thereon as are now retained on their beinS 
 
 c 2 ex 
 
( 20 ) 
 
 exported to that Kingdom, but that an Account /hall be kept of the Du¬ 
 ties retained and not drawn back on the faid Goods exported to Ireland, 
 and that the Amount thereof (hall be remitted, by the Receiver General 
 of his Majefty’s Cuftoms in Great Britain, to the proper Officer of the 
 Revenue in Ireland, to be placed to the Account of His Majefty’s Reve¬ 
 nue there, fubjett to the Difpofal of the Parliament of that Kingdom j 
 and that the Ships going from Great Britain to any of the faid Countries 
 beyond the Cape of Good Hope to the Streights of Magellan, ffiould not 
 be reftrained from touching at any of the Ports in Ireland, and taking on 
 board there any of the Goods of the Growth, Produce, or Manufacture of 
 that Kingdom j and that no Ships he allowed to clear out from Ireland 
 for any of the faid Countries, but fuch Ships as ffiall be freighted by the 
 faid Company, and which ffiall have failed from the Port of London : And 
 that, whenever the Commerce to the faid Countries ffiall ceafp to be fo 
 carried on folely by fuch an exclufive Company, the Goods, the Growth, 
 Produce, or Manufacture of the faid Countries beyond the Cape of Good 
 IJope to the Streights of Magellan, ffiould be importable into Ireland 
 from the fame Countries from which they may be importable into Great 
 Britain, and no other. 
 
 X. Refolded , That po Prohibition ffiould exift, i n either Country, 
 againft the Importation, Ufe ; or Sale of any Article, the Growth, Pro¬ 
 duce, or IVlanufadfure of the other, except fuch as either Kingdom may 
 judge expedient, from Time to Time, upon Corn, Meal, Malt, Flour, 
 and Bifeuits j and except fuch qualified Prohibitions, at prefent contained 
 in any Adi of the Britiffi or Iriffi Parliaments, as do not abfolutely pre¬ 
 vent the Importation of Goods or Manufactures, or Materials of Manu¬ 
 factures, but only regulate the Weight, the Size, the Packages, or other 
 particular Circu mftances, or prescribe the Built or Country, and Dimenfi- 
 ons of the Ships importing the fame $ and alfo except on Ammunion, 
 Arms, Gunpowder, and other Utenfis of War, importable only by virtue 
 of His Majefty’s Licence ; and that the Duty on the Importation of every 
 fuch Article (if fubjedt to Duty in either Country) ffiould he precifely the 
 fame in the one Country as the other, except where an Addition may be 
 neceffary in either Country, in confequence of an internal Duty on any 
 fuch Article of its own Confumption, or an internal Bounty in the Coun¬ 
 try where fuch Article is grown, produced, or manufactured ; and except 
 fuch Duties as either Kingdom may judge expedient, from Time to Time, 
 upon Corn, Meal, Malt, Flour, and Bifeuits. 
 
 XL Rtfofaed, That in Cafes where the Duties cn Articles of the Growth, 
 Produce, or Manufacture of either Country, are different on the Importa¬ 
 tion into the other, it is expedient, that they ffiould be reduced, in the 
 Kingdom where they are the higheft, to an Amount not exceeding the 
 Amount which was payable in the other on the 17th of May 1782 5 fo 
 that, where any Article was charged with a Duty on Importation into 
 Ireland of Ten and a Half per Centum or upwards, on the 17th Day of 
 May 1782, the fame Amount ffiall not be ltfs than fuch Duty of Ten and 
 a Half per Centum j and that all fuch Articles ffiould be esportable, 
 from the Kingdom into which they ffiall be imported, as free from Du¬ 
 ties as the hmilar Commodities or Home Manufacture of the Ume King¬ 
 dom : 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 don}; Provided always, That \yhere any fuch Articles £ha]l be liable, Irt 
 eitliti Country, to any Duty oq being exported to any foreign Country, 
 th^ fame Artic^s, yyhpn re-exported from either of the faid Kingdoms 
 into which they fhall have been fo imported as aforefaid, fhall pay the 
 like Duties as if they had been originally exported from the fCingdoitJ of 
 their Growth, Produce, Or Manufacture, to fuch foreign Country. 
 
 XII. Refolded, That it is alfo proper, that, in alj Cafes vyhere the Articles 
 of the Confumption of either Kingdom fhall be charged with an internal 
 Duty on the Manufacture, the fame Manufacture, when imported from 
 the other, may be charged with a farther Duty on Importation, adequate 
 to countervail the internal Duty on the Manufacture, fuch farther Duty 
 to continue fo long only as tire internal Confumption fhall be charged with 
 the Duty or Duties to balance which it fhall be impofed ; fo that the 
 countervailing Duty to be paid upon manufactured Salt imported into 
 any Part of Great Britain, fhall be computed upon the internal Duty 
 payable thereon in England ; and that, where theie is a Duty on the Raw 
 Alateriai of any Manufacture in either Kingdom, fuch Manufacture may, 
 on its Importation into the faid Kingdom from the other, be charged 
 with fuch a countervailing Duty as may be fuffjcient to fgbjeCf the fame 
 to Burdens adequate to thofe which fuch MapufaCture is fubj#£l to, in 
 confequence of fuch Duties on fuch raw Material in the Kingdpm into 
 which fuch Manufacture is fo tp be imported; and that th? faid Manu¬ 
 factures, fo imported, fhall be entitled to fuch Drawbacks or Bounties on 
 Exportation, as may leave the fame fubject to no heavier Burthen than 
 the Home-made Manufacture. 
 
 XIII. Refohed, r I hat, in order to give Permanency to the Settlement 
 now intended to be eftabli/hed, it is neceflary that no new or additional 
 Duties fhould be hereafter impofed, in either Kingdom, on the Importati¬ 
 on of any Article of the Growth, Produce, or Manufacture of the other, 
 except fuch additional Duties as may be rtquiftte to balance Duties 
 on internal Confumption, purfuar.t to the foregoing Refqlution, or in 
 confequence of Bounties remaining on fuch Article when exported from 
 the other Kingdom. 
 
 XIV. Refohed, That, for the fame Purpofe, it is neceflary, farther, that 
 no new Prohibition, or new o» additional Duties, fhould be hereafter 
 impofed, in either Kingdom, on the Exportation of any Article of native 
 Growth, Produce, or Manufacture, from the one Kingdom to the other, 
 except fuch as either Kingdom may deem expedient, from Time to Time 5 
 upon Corn, Meal, Malt, Flour, and Bifcuits : Provided, that when any 
 Article of the Growth, Produce, or Manufadure of either Kingdom fhall 
 be prohibited, by the Laws of the faid Kingdom, to be exported to foreign 
 Countries, the fame Article, when exported to the other Kingdom, 
 fhall be prohibited to be re-exported from thence to any foreign 
 Countries. 
 
 XV. Refohed , That, for the fame Purpofe, it is neceflary, that no 
 Bounties whatfoever fhould be paid or payable, in either Kingdom, cn the 
 Exportation of any Article to the other, except fuch as relate to Corn 
 Meal, Malt, Flour, and Bifcuits, and except alfo the Bounties at prefent 
 given by Great Britain on Beer and Spirits diftiUcd from Cdrn, and fuch 
 
( 22 ) 
 
 as are in the Nature of Drawbacks or Compensations for Duties paid j 
 and that no Bounties fhould be payable in Ireland on the Exportation of 
 «ny Article to any Britifh Colonies or Plantations, or to the Britifh Set¬ 
 tlements on the Coaft of Africa, or on the Exportation of any Article 
 imported from the Britifh Plantations, or from the Britifh Settlements on 
 the Coaft of Africa, or Britrfh Settlements in the Eaft Indies, or any Ma¬ 
 nufacture made of fuch Article, unlefs in Cafes where a fimilar Bounty 
 is payable in Great Britain on Exportation from thence, or where fuch 
 Bounty is merely in the Nature of a Drawback or Compenfation of or for 
 Duties paid, over and above any Duties paid thereon in Great Britain ; 
 and that, where any internal Bounty (hall be given in either Kingdom on 
 any Goods manufactured therein, and fhall remain on fuch Goods when 
 exported, a countervailing Duty adequate thereto may be laid upon the 
 Importation of the faid Goods into the other Kingdom. 
 
 XVI, Refolded, That it is expedient, for the general Benefit of the 
 Britifh Empire, that the Importation of Articles from Foreign Countries 
 fhould be regulated, from Time to Time, in each Kingdom, on fuch 
 Terms as may effectually favour the Importation of fimilar Articles of the 
 Growth, Produce, or M; nufaCture of the other $ except in the Cafe of 
 Materials of Manufacture, which are or hereafter may be allowed to be 
 imported from Foreign Countries Duty-free $ and that, in all Cafes where 
 any Articles are or may be fubjeCt to higher Duties on Importation into 
 this Kingdom, from the Countries belonging to any of the States of North 
 America, than the like Goods are or may be fubjeCt to when imported as 
 the Growth, Produce, or Manufacture of the Britifh Colonies and Planta¬ 
 tions, or as the Produce of the Fifheries carried on by Britifh SubjeCIs, 
 fuch Articles fhall be fubjeCt to the fame Duties on Importation into Ire¬ 
 land, from the Countries belonging to any of the States of North America, 
 as the fame are or may be fubjeCt to on Importation from the faid Countries 
 into this Kingdom. 
 
 XVII, Refolded , That it is expedient, that fuch Privileges of printing 
 and vending Books, engraving Prints, Maps, Charts, and Plans, as are 
 or may be legally poffeffed within Great Britain, under the Grant of the 
 Crown or otherwife, and that the Copy Rights of the Authors and Book- 
 fellers, the engraved Property of Engravers, Print and Map Sellers, of 
 Great Britain, fhould continue to be protected in the Manner they are at 
 prefent by the Law’s of Great Britain ; and that it is juft that Meafures 
 fhould be taken by the Parliament of Ireland for giving the like Protection 
 to the Copy Rights of Authors and Bookfellers, and to the engraved Pro¬ 
 perty of the Engravers, Print and Map Sellers of that Kingdom. 
 
 XVIII. Refolded, That it is expedient, that fuch exclufive Rights and 
 Privileges, arifing from new Inventions, as are rvow legally poffeffed within 
 Great Britain, under Letters Patent from the Crown, lhall continue to be 
 protefted in the Manner they are at prefent by the Laws of Great Britain ; 
 and that it is juft that Meafures fhould be taken by the Parliament of 
 Ireland for giving the like Protection to fimilar Rights and Privileges in 
 that Kingdom ; and alfo, that it is expedient that Regulations fhould be 
 adopted, with refpeCt to Patents to be hereafter granted for the Encourage- 
 meat of new Inventions, fo that the Rights, Privileges, and ReftriCtions, 
 
 therein 
 
( 23 ) 
 
 therein granted and contained, lhall be of equal Force and Duration 
 throughout Great Britain and Ireland. 
 
 XIX. Refolded, That it is expedient, that Meafures fliould be taken t© 
 prevent Difputes touching the Exercife of the Right of the Inhabitants 
 
 of each Kingdom to fi/h on the Coafts of any Part of the Briti/h Domi 
 nions, 
 
 XX. Refolved, That the Appropiation of whatever Sum the Grofs He¬ 
 
 reditary Revenue of the Kingdom of Ireland (the due Colleftion thereof 
 being_fecured by permanent Provifions) /hall produce, after deducing all 
 Drawbacks, Re payments, or Bounties granted in the Nature of Draw¬ 
 backs, over and above the Sum of Six hundred and fifty-fix thoufand 
 Pounds in each Year, towards the Support of the Naval Force of the 
 Empire, to be applied in fuch Manner as the Parliament of Ireland /hall 
 diretf, by an Aft to be pa/Ted far that Purpofe, will be a faisfaftory Provi- 
 fion, proportioned to the growing Profperity of that Kingdom, towards 
 defraying, in Time of Peace, the nece/Tary Expences of proteftinst the 
 Trade and general Interefts of the Empire. S 
 
 The humble ADDRESS of the Right Honourable the 
 Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in Parlia¬ 
 ment affembled, prefented to His MAJESTY, on Friday 
 
 July 29, 1785. With His MAJESTY’S mod gracious 
 ANSWER. 
 
 YKT E Your Majefty’s mo ft dutiful and loyal Subjefts, the Lords Spiri- 
 ▼ r tual and Temporal, and Commons of Great Britain, in Parliament 
 a/Tembled, have taken into our moft ferious Confideration the important 
 Subjeft of the Commercial Intercourfe between Great Britain and Ireland 
 recommended in Your Majefty’s Speech at the Opening of the prefent 
 Se/fion, and the Refclutions of the Two Houfes of the Parliament in 
 ireiand, which were laid before Us by Your Majefty’s Command on the 
 zzd of February la ft. 
 
 After a long and careful Inveftigation of the various Queftions nece/Ta- 
 nly anting out of this comprehenfive Subjeft, we have come to the feveral 
 Refoluuons which we now humbly prefent to Your Majefty, and which 
 we truft will form the Bafis of an advantageous and permanent Commer¬ 
 cial Settlement between Your Majefty’s Kingdoms of Great Britain and 
 Inland . 
 
 We have proceeded on the Foundation of the Refolutions of the Parlia¬ 
 ment Of Ireland i but in confiderirg fo extenfive an Arrangement, w e have 
 found it nece/Tary to introduce fome Modifications a^d Exceptions • and 
 we have added fuch Regulations and Conditions as appeared to us indif 
 penfibly nece/Tary for eftabli/hing thq propofed Agreement on juft and 
 equitable Principles, and for fecuring to both Countries thofe Commer¬ 
 cial Advantages, to an equal Enjoyment of which they are in future to be 
 entitled. 
 
 \ our Majefty s Subjefts in Ireland being fecured in a full and laftin» 
 Participation of the Trade with the Britijb Colonies, muft, we are per- 
 fuaded, acknowledge the Juftice of their continuing to enjoy it on the 
 fame Terms with Your Majefty’s Subjefts in Grmt Britain. 
 
 And 
 
I 
 
 ( 24. ) 
 
 And it is We conceive equally manifeft, that as the Ships and Marift&s of 
 Ireland we to continue in all Time to coirie to dn]6y the fa'fhe Privileges 
 with thofe of Great Britain, the fame PrOvifions fhould be adopted m 
 Ireland, as may be found neceffary in this Country, for fecuring thoft 
 Advantages exclusively to the Subje&s of the Empire. This Object i$ 
 effentially connefted with the Maritime Strength of Your Majefty’s Domi¬ 
 nions, and consequently with the Safety and Profperlty both of Great Bri¬ 
 tain ahd Ireland. 
 
 We therefore deem it ihdifpehfible that thfefe Points (hould be Secured a& 
 Cohditions neceffary to the Exiftencs and Duration of the Agreement be¬ 
 tween the two Countries. They can only be carried into Effe& by Laws 
 to be paffed in the Parliament of Ireland, which is alone competent to bind 
 Vour Majefty’s Subjefts in that Kingdom, and whofe legiflafive Rights w'e 
 
 (hall ever hold as faCred as our own. 
 
 It remains for the Parliament of Ireland to judge according to their 
 Wifdom and Discretion of thefe Conditions, as well as of every other Part 
 of the Settlement propofed to be eftablifhed by mutual C onfertt. 
 
 Our Purpofe in thefe Resolutions is to promote alike the Commercial 
 Interefts of Your Majefty’s S.bjefts in both Countries; and we are per- 
 fuaded that the common Prosperity of the two Kingdoms will be thereby 
 gi-eatly advanced : the Subjects of each will in future apply themfelves to 
 thofe Branches of Commerce which they can exercife with moft Advantage, 
 and the Wealth fo diffufed through every Part, will operate as a general 
 
 Benefit to the whole. . 
 
 We have thus far performed our Part in this important Bufinefs, and 
 
 we truft that in the whole of its Progrefs, reciprocal Intereft afid mutual 
 Affeftmrt will infum that Spirit of Union lb dfentially rteceffaty to the 
 grnat End Which the two Countries have equally m View. 
 
 In this Perfuafioh we look forward with Confidence to the na o - 
 pletion of a Meafute, Which, while it tends to perpetuate Harmony an 
 Friendship between the two Kingdoms, muft, by augmenting t eir• 
 Sources, Uniting their Efforts, and cohfolidat.rtg their Strength, afford 
 Your Majefty the fureft Means of eftablilhmg on a lafting Inundation, the 
 Safety, Prosperity, and Glory of the Empire. 
 
 His Majeftv’s mod gracious Anfwer. 
 
 M? Lords and Gentlemen, . 
 
 I receive with die greeted Sitiffaftloh thefe Refolutidns, which, after 
 fo long and diligent an Inveftigation, you ccnfider a. affording the BafiS 
 of an advantageous and permanent Commercial Settlement between my 
 Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland. Nothing can more clearly ma. 
 nifell your Regard for the Intereft of both my Kingdoms, and your Zeal 
 for the general Profperlty of my Dominions, than the Attent.on you have 
 given ,0 this important 0 *je 3 . A full and equal Participation of Com. 
 mercial Advantages, and a Similarity of Laws in thole Points which are 
 neoeffary for rheir Prdbrration and Security, muft be the fureft Bond of 
 l-oion between the two Kingdoms, and the Source of reciprocal and in- 
 cr-alin- Benefits to both The fame Spirit ih which this great Work has 
 heelin'arid proceeded will, I doubt not, appear thro ughout the v\ hole of 
 if , Prorrtf.; and I concur with you in thinking that the final Completion 
 f lt H 0 f effentiai importance to the future Happineft of both Countries, 
 and to the Safety, Glory and Profperity of the Empire. 
 
DATE DUE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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