Chapter II: Part 2

“Britain,” he says, “imports annually from us Two Million Five Hundred Thousand Pounds of our products, all, or very nearly all, duty free, and covenants never to lay a duty on them. We import about a Million of her’s, and raise a Revenue on almost every article of it, and reserve the power of continuing that Revenue. She exports to us Salt for our Fisheries and Provisions; Hops, which we cannot grow; Coals, which we cannot raise; Tin, which we have not; and Bark, which we cannot get elsewhere: and all these without reserving any duty.”

I will not tire the patience of the House, by reading farther extracts; but the Right Honourable Gentleman’s whole Speech, in like manner, points out the advantages of the Commercial Propositions (at that time under consideration) as a ground-work of a Compact between the two Countries, in 1785, on Commercial subjects.—But how stands the case now? The trade is at this time infinitely more advantageous to Ireland. It will be proved, from the documents which I hold in my hand, as far as relates to the mere interchange of manufactures, that the manufactures, exported to Ireland from Great Britain, in 1797, very little exceeded a Million sterling (the articles of produce amount to nearly the same sum) while Great Britain, on the other hand, imported from Ireland to the amount of near Three Millions in the manufactured articles of Linen and Linen Yarn, and between Two and Three Millions in Provisions and Cattle, besides Corn and other articles of produce.

In addition to these Articles, there are other circumstances of advantage to Ireland. Articles which are essential to her trade and to her subsistence, or serve as raw materials for her manufactures, are sent from hence free of duty. It is expressly stated on the same authority, that all that we take back from Ireland was liable to a Duty in that Country on their exports: The increasing produce of the chief article of their manufacture, and four-fifths of her whole export trade, are to be ascribed, not to that _Independent Legislature_, but, to the liberality of the British Parliament. It is by the free admission of Linens for our market, and the Bounties granted by the British Parliament on its re-export, that the Linen-Trade has been brought to the height at which we now see it. To the Parliament of this Country, then, it is now owing, that a Market has been opened for her Linen to the amount of three millions. By the Bounty we give to Ireland, we afford her a double market for that article, and (what is still more striking and important) we have prevented a competition against her, arising from the superior cheapness of the Linen-Manufactures of the Continent, by subjecting their importation to a Duty of thirty per cent. Nothing would more clearly shew what would be the danger to Ireland from the Competition in all its principal branches of the Linen-Trade, than the simple fact, that we even now import foreign Linens, under this heavy duty, to an amount equal to a seventh part of all that Ireland is able to send us, with the preference that has been stated. By this arrangement alone, we must therefore be considered, either as foregoing between seven and eight hundred thousand pounds per annum in revenue, which we should collect if we chose to levy the same duty on all Linens, Irish as well as Foreign, or on the other hand, as sacrificing perhaps at least a million sterling in the price paid for those articles, by the subjects of this Country, which might be saved, if we allowed the importation of all Linen, Foreign as well as Irish, equally free from Duty.

The present measure is, however, in its effects calculated not merely for a confirmation of the advantages on which the person to whom I have alluded has insisted. It is obvious that a fuller and more perfect Connection of the two Countries, from whatever cause it may arise, must produce a greater facility and freedom of commercial intercourse, and ultimately tend to the advantage of both. The benefits to be derived to either Country from such an arrangement must indeed, in a great measure, be gradual; but they are not on that account the less certain, and they cannot be stated in more forcible language than in that used in the Speech to which I have referred.—

“Gentlemen undervalue the reduction of British Duties on our Manufactures. I agree with them it may not operate soon, but we are to look forward to a final settlement, and it is impossible but that in time, with as good climate, equal natural powers, cheaper food, and fewer taxes, we must be able to sell to them. When commercial jealousy shall be banished by final settlement, and Trade take its natural and steady course, the Kingdoms will cease to look to rivalship, each will make that fabrick which it can do cheapest, and buy from the other what it cannot make so advantageously. Labour will be then truly employed to profit, not diverted by Bounties, Jealousies, or Legislative Interference, from its natural and beneficial course. This system will attain its real object, consolidating the strength of the remaining parts of the Empire, by encouraging the communications of their market among themselves, with preference to every part against all strangers!”

I am at least, therefore, secure from the design of appearing to deliver any partial or chimerical opinion of my own, when I thus state, on the authority of a person the best informed, and who then judged dispassionately, both the infinite importance to Ireland of securing permanently the great commercial advantages which she now holds at the discretion of Great Britain, and the additional benefit which she would derive from any settlement which opened to her gradually a still more free and compleat commercial intercourse with this Country. And while I state thus strongly the commercial advantages to the sister Kingdom, I have no alarm left I should excite any sentiment of jealousy here. I know that the inhabitants of Great Britain wish well to the prosperity of Ireland;—that, if the Kingdoms are really and solidly united, they feel that to increase the commercial wealth of one Country is not to diminish that of the other, but to increase the strength and power of both. But to justify that sentiment, we must be satisfied that the wealth we are pouring into the lap of Ireland is not every day liable to be snatched from us, and thrown into the scale of the enemy. If therefore Ireland is to continue, as I trust it will for ever, an essential part of the integral strength of the British Empire; if her strength is to be permanently ours, and our strength to be hers, neither I, nor any English minister, can ever be deterred by the fear of creating jealousy in the hearts of Englishmen, from stating the advantages of a closer Connection, or from giving any assistance to the Commercial Prosperity of that Kingdom.

If ever indeed I should have the misfortune to witness the melancholy moment when such principles must be abandoned, when all hope of seeing Ireland permanently and securely connected with this country shall be at an end, I shall at least have the consolation of knowing, that it will not be the want of temper or forbearance, of conciliation, of kindness, or of full explanation on our part, which will have produced an event so fatal to Ireland, and so dangerous to Great Britain. If ever the over-bearing power of prejudice and passion shall produce that fatal consequence, it will too late be perceived and acknowledged, that all the great commercial advantages which Ireland at present enjoys, and which are continually increasing, are to be ascribed to the liberal conduct, the fostering care, of the British Empire, extended to the Sister Kingdom as to a part of ourselves, and not (as has been fallaciously and vainly pretended) to any thing which has been done or can be done by the independent power of her own separate Legislature.

I have thus, Sir, endeavoured to state to you the reasons, why I think this Measure advisable; why I wish it to be proposed to the Parliament of Ireland, with temper and fairness; and why it appears to me, entitled at least to a calm and dispassionate discussion in that Kingdom. I am aware, however, that objections have been urged against the Measure, some of which are undoubtedly plausible, and have been but too successful in their influence on the Irish Parliament. Of these objections I shall now proceed, as concisely as possible, to take some notice.

The first is, what I heard alluded to by the Honourable Gentleman opposite to me, when his Majesty’s Message was brought down; namely—That the Parliament of Ireland is incompetent to entertain and discuss the question, or rather, to act upon the Measure proposed, without having previously obtained the consent of the People of Ireland, their Constituents. But, Sir, I am led to suppose from what the Honourable Gentleman afterwards stated, that he made this objection, rather by way of deprecating the discussion of the question, than as entertaining the smallest doubt upon it himself.—If, however, the Honourable Gentleman, or any other Gentleman on the other side of the House, should seriously entertain a doubt on the subject, I shall be ready to discuss it with him distinctly, either this night or at any future opportunity. For the present I will assume, that no man can deny the competency of the Parliament of Ireland (representing as it does, in the language of our Constitution, “_lawfully, fully, and freely, all the estates of the people of the realm_”) to make Laws to bind that People, unless he is disposed to distinguish that Parliament from the Parliament of Great Britain; and, while he maintains the Independence of the Irish Legislature, yet denies to it the lawful and essential powers of Parliament.—No man, who maintains the Parliament of Ireland to be co-equal with our own, can deny its competency on this question, unless he means to go the length of denying, at the same moment, the whole of the authority of the Parliament of Great Britain—to shake every principle of legislation—and to maintain, that all the Acts passed, and every thing done by Parliament, or sanctioned by its authority, however sacred, however beneficial, is neither more nor less than an act of usurpation. He must not only deny the validity of the Union between Scotland and England, but he must deny the authority of every one of the proceedings of the united Legislature since the Union; nay, Sir, he must go still farther, and deny the authority under which we now sit and deliberate here, as a House of Parliament. Of course, he must deny the validity of the adjustment of 1782, and call in question every measure which he has himself been the most forward to have enforced. This point, Sir, is of so much importance, that I think I ought not to suffer the opportunity to pass, without illustrating more fully what I mean. If this principle of the incompetency of Parliament to the decision of the Measure be admitted, or if it be contended, that Parliament has no legitimate authority to discuss and decide upon it, you will be driven to the necessity of recognizing a principle, the most dangerous that ever was adopted in any civilized State. I mean the principle, that Parliament cannot adopt any measure new in its nature, and of great importance, without appealing to the constituent and delegating authority for directions. If that doctrine be true, look to what an extent it will carry you. If such an argument could be set up and maintained, you acted without any legitimate authority when you created the representation of the Principality of Wales, or of either of the Counties Palatine of England. Every Law that Parliament ever made, without that appeal, either as to its own Frame and Constitution, as to the qualification of the electors or the elected, as to the great and fundamental point of the succession to the Crown, was a breach of Treaty, and an Act of Usurpation.

If we turn to Ireland itself, what do Gentlemen think of the power of that Parliament, which, without any fresh delegation from its Protestant constituents, associates to itself all the Catholic electors, and thus destroys a fundamental distinction on which it was formed? God forbid, that I should object to or blame any of these Measures! I am only stating the extent to which the principle (that Parliament has no authority to decide upon the present Measure) will lead; and, if it be admitted in one case, it must be admitted in all. Will any man say, that (although a Protestant Parliament in Ireland, chosen exclusively by Protestant Constituents, has by its own inherent power, and without consulting those constituents, admitted and comprehended the Catholics who were till then, in fact, a separate community) that Parliament cannot associate itself with another Protestant community, represented by a Protestant Parliament, having one interest with itself, and similar in its Laws, its Constitution, and its Established Religion? What must be said by those who have at any time been friends to any plan of Parliamentary Reform, and particularly to such as have been most recently brought forward, either in Great Britain or Ireland? Whatever may have been thought of the propriety of the Measure, I never heard any doubt of the competency of Parliament to consider and discuss it. Yet I defy any man to maintain the principle of those plans, without contending that, as a Member of Parliament, he possesses a right to concur in disfranchising those who sent him to Parliament, and to select others, by whom he was not elected, in their stead. I am sure that no sufficient distinction, in point of principle, can be successfully maintained for a single moment; nor should I deem it necessary to dwell on this point, in the manner I do, were I not convinced that it is connected in part with all those false and dangerous notions on the subject of Government which have lately become too prevalent in the world. It may, in fact, be traced to that gross perversion of the principles of all political society, which rests on the supposition that there exists continually in every Government a Sovereignty _in abeyance_ (as it were) on the part of the People, ready to be called forth on every occasion, or rather, on every pretence, when it may suit the purposes of the party or faction who are the advocates of this doctrine to suppose an occasion for its exertion. It is in these false principles that are contained the seeds of all the misery, desolation, and ruin, which in the present day have spread themselves over so large a portion of the habitable Globe.

These principles, Sir, are, at length, so well known and understood in their practical effects, that they can no longer hope for one enlightened or intelligent advocate, when they appear in their true colours. Yet, with all the horror we all feel, in common with the rest of the World, at the effect of them, with all the confirmed and increasing love and veneration which we feel towards the Constitution of our Country, founded as it is, both in Theory and Experience, on principles directly the reverse; yet, there are too many among us, who, while they abhor and reject such opinions, when presented to them in their naked deformity, suffer them in a more disguised shape to be gradually infused into their minds, and insensibly to influence and bias their sentiments and arguments on the greatest and most important discussions. This concealed poison is now more to be dreaded than any open attempt to support such principles by argument or to enforce them by arms. No society, whatever be its particular form, can long subsist, if this principle is once admitted. In every Government, there must reside somewhere a supreme, absolute, and unlimited authority. This is equally true of every lawful Monarchy—of every Aristocracy—of every pure Democracy (if indeed such a form of Government ever has existed, or ever can exist)—and of those mixed Constitutions formed and compounded from the others, which we are justly inclined to prefer to any of them. In all these Governments, indeed alike, that power may by possibility be abused, but whether the abuse is such as to justify and call for the interference of the people collectively, or, more properly speaking, of any portion of it, must always be an extreme case and a question of the greatest and most perilous responsibility, not in Law only, but in Conscience and in Duty, to all those who either act upon it themselves, or persuade others to do so. But no provision for such a case ever has been or can be made before-hand; it forms no chapter in any known code of laws, it can find no place in any system of human jurisprudence. But, above all, if such a principle can make no part of any established Constitution, not even of those where the Government is so framed as to be most liable to the abuse of its powers, it will be preposterous indeed to suppose that it can be admitted in one where those powers are so distributed and balanced as to furnish the best security against the probability of such an abuse. Shall that principle be sanctioned as a necessary part of the best Government, which cannot be admitted to exist as an established check even upon the worst! Pregnant as it is with danger and confusion, shall it be received and authorized in proportion as every reason which can ever make it necessary to recur to it is not likely to exist? Yet, Sir, I know not how it is, that, in proportion as we are less likely to have occasion for so desperate a remedy, in proportion as a Government is so framed as to provide within itself the best guard and control on the exercise of every branch of authority, to furnish the means of preventing or correcting every abuse of power, and to secure, by its own natural operation, a due attention to the interest and feelings of every part of the community, in that very proportion persons have been found perverse enough to imagine, that such a Constitution admits and recognizes, as a part of it, that which is inconsistent with the nature of any Government, and, above all, inapplicable to our own.

I have said more, Sir, upon this subject than I should have thought necessary, if I had not felt that this false and dangerous mockery of the _Sovereignty of the People_ is in truth one of the chief elements of Jacobinism, one of the favourite impostures to mislead the understanding, and to flatter and inflame the passions of the mass of mankind, who have not the opportunity of examining and exposing it, and that as such on every occasion, and in every shape in which it appears, it ought to be combated and resisted by every friend to civil order, and to the peace and happiness of mankind.

Sir, the next and not the least prevalent objection, is one which is contained in words which are an appeal to a natural and laudable, but what I must call an erroneous and mistaken, sense of national pride. It is an appeal to the generous and noble passions of a nation easily inflamed under any supposed attack upon its honour. I mean the attempt to represent the question of a Union by compact between the Parliaments of the two Kingdoms as a question involving the Independance of Ireland.—It has been said, that no compensation could be made to any country for the surrender of its National Independance. Sir, on this, as well as on every part of the question, I am desirous Gentlemen should come closely to the point, that they should sift it to the bottom, and ascertain upon what grounds and principles their opinion really rests. Do they mean to maintain that in any humiliating, in any degrading sense of the word which can be acted upon practically as a rule, and which can lead to any useful conclusion, that at any time when the Government of any two separate Countries unite in forming one more extensive empire, that the individuals who composed either of the former narrow societies are afterwards less members of an independant country, or to any valuable and useful purpose less possessed of political freedom or civil happiness than they were before? It must be obvious to every Gentleman who will look at the subject, in tracing the history of all the countries, the most proud of their present existing independance, of all the nations in Europe, there is not one that could exist in the state in which it now stands, if that principle had been acted upon by our forefathers; and Europe must have remained to this hour in a state of ignorance and barbarism, from the perpetual warfare of independent and petty states. In the instance of our own Country, it would be a superfluous waste of time to enumerate the steps by which all its parts were formed into one Kingdom; but will any man in general assert, that in all the different Unions which have formed the principal states of Europe, their inhabitants have become less free, that they have had less of which to be proud, less scope for their own exertions, than they had in their former situation. If this doctrine is to be generally maintained, what becomes of the situation at this hour of any one county of England, or of any one county of Ireland, now united under the independant Parliament of that Kingdom? If it be pushed to its full extent, it is obviously incompatible with all civil society. As the former principle of the sovereignty of the people strikes at the foundation of all governments, so this is equally hostile to all political confederacy, and mankind must be driven back to what is called the state of nature.

But while I combat this general and abstract principle, which would operate as an objection to every union between separate states, on the ground of the sacrifice of independance, do I mean to contend that there is in no case just ground for such a sentiment? Far from it: it may become, on many occasions, the first duty of a free and generous people. If there exists a country which contains within itself the means of military protection, the naval force necessary for its defence, which furnishes objects of industry sufficient for the subsistence of its inhabitants, and pecuniary resources adequate to maintaining, with dignity, the rank which it has attained among the nations of the world; if, above all, it enjoys the blessings of internal content and tranquillity, and possesses a distinct constitution of its own, the defects of which, if any, it is within itself capable of correcting, and if that constitution be equal, if not superior, to that of any other in the world, or (which is nearly the same thing) if those who live under it believe it to be so, and fondly cherish that opinion, I can indeed well understand that such a country must be jealous of any measure, which, even by its own consent, under the authority of its own lawful government, is to associate it as a part of a larger and more extensive empire.

But, Sir, if, on the other hand, it should happen that there be a country which, against the greatest of all dangers that threaten its peace and security, has not adequate means of protecting itself without the aid of another nation; if that other be a neighbouring and kindred nation, speaking the same language, whose laws, whose customs, and habits are the same in principle, but carried to a greater degree of perfection, with a more extensive commerce, and more abundant means of acquiring and diffusing national wealth; the stability of whose government—the excellence of whose constitution—is more than ever the admiration and envy of Europe, and of which the very Country of which we are speaking can only boast an inadequate and imperfect resemblance;—under such circumstances, I would ask, what conduct would be prescribed by every rational principle of dignity, of honour, or of interest? I would ask, whether this is not a faithful description of the circumstances which ought to dispose Ireland to a Union? Whether Great Britain is not precisely the nation with which, on these principles, a Country, situated as Ireland is, would desire to unite? Does a Union, under such circumstances, by free consent, and on just and equal terms, deserve to be branded as a proposal for subjecting Ireland to a foreign yoke? Is it not rather the free and voluntary association of two great Countries, which join, for their common benefit, in one Empire, where each will retain its proportional weight and importance, under the security of equal laws, reciprocal affection, and inseparable interests, and which want nothing but that indissoluble Connection to render both invincible.

Non ego nec Teucris Italos parere jubebo
Nec nova regna peto; paribus se legibus ambæ
Invictæ gentes æterna in fædera mittant.

Sir, I have nearly stated all that is necessary for me to trouble the House with; there are, however, one or two other objections which I wish not entirely to pass over: One of them is, a general notion that a Union with Great Britain must necessarily increase one of the great evils of Ireland, by producing depopulation in many parts of the Country, and by increasing greatly the number of absentees. I do not mean to deny that this effect would, to a limited extent, take place during a part of the year; but I think it will not be difficult for me to prove, that this circumstance will be more than counterbalanced by the operation of the system in other respects.

If it be true that this measure has an inevitable tendency to admit the introduction of that British Capital which is most likely to give life to all the operations of Commerce, and to all the improvements of Agriculture; if it be that which above all other considerations is most likely to give security, quiet, and internal repose to Ireland; if it is likely to remove the chief bar to the internal advancement of wealth and of civilization, by a more intimate intercourse with England; if it is more likely to communicate from hence those habits which distinguish this Country, and which, by a continued gradation, unite the highest and the lowest orders of the community without a chasm in any part of the system; if it is not only likely to invite (as I have already said) English Capital to set Commerce in motion, but to offer it the use of new markets, to open fresh resources of wealth and industry; can wealth, can industry, can civilization increase among the whole bulk of the people without much more than counterbalancing the partial effect of the removal of the few individuals who, for a small part of the year, would follow the seat of Legislation? If, notwithstanding the absence of Parliament from Dublin, it would still remain the centre of Education and of the internal commerce of a country increasing in improvement; if it would still remain the seat of legal discussion, which must always increase with an increase of property and occupation, will it be supposed, with a view even to the interests of those whose partial interests have been most successfully appealed to; with a view either to the respectable Body of the Bar, to the Merchant, or Shopkeeper, of Dublin (if it were possible to suppose that a transaction of this sort ought to be referred to that single criterion) that they would not find their proportionate share of advantage in the general advantage of the State? Let it be remembered, also, that if the transfer of the Seat of Legislature may call from Ireland to England the Members of the United Parliament, yet, after the Union, property, influence and consideration in Ireland will lead, as much as in Great Britain, to all the objects of imperial ambition; and there must, consequently, exist a new incitement to persons to acquire property in that Country, and to those who possess it, to reside there and to cultivate the good opinion of those with whom they live, and to extend and improve their influence and connections.

But, Sir, I need not dwell longer on argument, however it may satisfy my own mind, because we can on this question refer to experience. I see every Gentleman anticipates that I allude to Scotland. What has been the result of the Union there? A Union, give me leave to say, as much opposed, and by much the same arguments, prejudices, and misconceptions, as are urged, at this moment, creating too the same alarms, and provoking the same outrages, as have lately taken place in Dublin. Look at the metropolis of Scotland: the population of Edinburgh has been more than doubled since the Union, and a new city added to the old. But we may be told, that Edinburgh has engrossed all the commerce of that country, and has those advantages which Dublin cannot expect. Yet while Edinburgh, deprived of its Parliament, but retaining, as Dublin would retain, its Courts of Justice; continuing, as Dublin would continue, the resort of those whose circumstances would not permit them to visit a distant metropolis; continuing, as Dublin would continue, the seat of national education, while Edinburgh has baffled all the predictions of that period, what has been the situation of Glasgow? The population of Glasgow, since the Union, has increased in the proportion of between five and six to one: look at its progress in manufactures; look at its general advantages, and tell me what ground there is, judging by experience in aid of theory, for those gloomy apprehensions which have been so industriously excited.

There remains, Sir, another general line of argument, which I have already anticipated, and I hope answered, that the commercial privileges now enjoyed by Ireland, and to which it owes so much of its prosperity, would be less secure than at present. I have given an answer to that already, by stating that they are falsely imputed to the independence of the Irish Parliament, for that they are in fact owing to the exercise of the voluntary discretion of the British Parliament, unbound by compact, prompted only by its natural disposition to consider the interests of Ireland the same as its own; and if that has been done while Ireland is only united to us in the imperfect and precarious manner in which it is, while it has a separate Parliament, notwithstanding the commercial jealousies of our own manufactures; if under these circumstances we have done so, if we have done so with no other connection than that which now subsists, and while Ireland has no share in our representation; what fresh ground can there be for apprehension, when she will have her proportionate weight in the Legislature, and will be united with us as closely as Lancashire or Yorkshire, or any other county in Great Britain.

Sir, I have seen it under the same authority to which I am sorry so often to advert, that the Linen Trade would be injured, and that there will be no security for its retaining its present advantages. I have already stated to you (and with that very authority in my favour) that those advantages are at present precarious, and that their security can only arise from Compact with Great Britain. Such a Compact, this Measure would establish in the most solemn manner; but besides this, Sir, the natural policy of this Country, not merely its experienced liberality, but the identity of Interests after a Union, would offer a security worth a thousand Compacts.

Sir, the only other general topic of objection is that upon which great pains have been taken to raise an alarm in Ireland—the idea that the main principle of the Measure was to subject Ireland to a load of Debt and an increase of Taxes, and to expose her to the consequences of all our alleged difficulties and supposed necessities.

Sir, I hope the zeal, the spirit, and the liberal and enlarged policy, of this Country, has given ample proof that it is not from a pecuniary motive that we seek an Union. If it is not desirable on the grounds I have stated, it cannot be recommended for the mere purpose of Taxation; but to quiet any jealousy on this subject, here again let us look to Scotland: is there any instance where, with 45 Members on her part and 513 on ours, that part of the United Kingdom has paid more than its proportion to the general burdens?—Is it then, Sir, any ground of apprehension, that we are likely to tax Ireland more heavily when she becomes associated with ourselves?—To tax in its due proportion the whole of the Empire, to the utter exclusion of the idea of the predominance of one part of society over another, is the great characteristic of British Finance, as Equality of Laws is of the British Constitution.

But, Sir, in addition to this, if we come to the details of this proposition, it is in our power to fix, for any number of years which shall be thought fit, the proportion by which the Contribution of Ireland, to the expences of the State, shall be regulated; that these proportions shall not be such as would make a contribution greater than the necessary amount of its own present necessary expences as a separate Kingdom; and, even after that limited period, the proportion of the whole contribution, from time to time, might be made to depend on the comparative produce, in each Kingdom, of such general taxes as might be thought to afford the best criterion of their respective wealth. Or, what I should hope would be found practicable, the system of internal taxation in each country might gradually be so equalized and assimilated, on the leading articles, as to make all rules of specific proportion unnecessary, and to secure, that Ireland shall never be taxed but in proportion as we tax ourselves.

The application of these principles, however, will form matter of future discussion; I mention them only as strongly shewing, from the misrepresentation which has taken place on this part of the subject, how incumbent it is upon the House to receive these propositions, and to adopt, after due deliberation, such resolutions as may record to Ireland the terms upon which we are ready to meet her. And, in the mean time, let us wait, not without impatience, but without dissatisfaction, for that moment, when the effect of reason and discussion may reconcile the minds of men, in that Kingdom, to a Measure which I am sure will be found as necessary for their peace and happiness, as it will be conducive to the general security and advantage of the British Empire.

Sir, it remains for me only to lay these Resolutions before the House, wishing that the more detailed discussion of them may be reserved to a future day.

RESOLUTIONS.

FIRST.

That in order to promote and secure the essential Interests of Great Britain and Ireland, and to consolidate the Strength, Power, and Resources of the British Empire, it will be advisable to concur in such measures as may best tend to unite the two Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland into one Kingdom, in such manner, and on such Terms and Conditions as may be established by Acts of the respective Parliaments of His Majesty’s said Kingdoms.

SECOND.

That it appears to this Committee that it would be fit to propose as the first Article to serve as a Basis of the said Union, that the said Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland shall, upon a day to be agreed upon, be united into one Kingdom, by the name of the UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

THIRD.

That for the same purpose it appears also to this Committee, that it would be fit to propose that the Succession to the Monarchy and the Imperial Crown of the said United Kingdoms, shall continue limited and settled, in the same manner as the Imperial Crown of the said Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland now stands limited and settled, according to the existing Laws, and to the Terms of the Union between England and Scotland.

FOURTH.

That for the same purpose it appears also to this Committee, that it would be fit to propose that the said United Kingdom be represented in one and the same Parliament, to be stiled the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and that such a number of Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and such a number of Members of the House of Commons as shall be hereafter agreed upon by Acts of the respective Parliaments as aforesaid, shall sit and vote in the said Parliament on the part of Ireland, and shall be summoned, chosen and returned, in such manner as shall be fixed by an Act of the Parliament of Ireland previous to the said Union; and that every Member hereafter to sit and vote in the said Parliament of the United Kingdom shall, until the said Parliament shall otherwise provide, take and subscribe the same Oaths, and make the same Declarations as are by Law required to be taken, subscribed and made by the Members of the Parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland.

FIFTH.

That for the same purpose it appears also to this Committee, that it would be fit to propose that the Churches of England and Ireland, and the Doctrine, Worship, Discipline, and Government thereof, shall be preserved as now by Law Established.

SIXTH.

That for the same purpose it appears also to this Committee, that it would be fit to propose that His Majesty’s Subjects in Ireland shall at all times hereafter be entitled to the same privileges, and be on the same footing in respect of Trade and Navigation, in all Ports and Places belonging to Great Britain, and in all cases with respect to which Treaties shall be made by His Majesty, his Heirs or Successors, with any Foreign Power, as His Majesty’s Subjects in Great Britain; that no Duty shall be imposed on the Import or Export between Great Britain and Ireland of any Articles now Duty free; and that on other Articles there shall be established, for a time to be limited, such a moderate rate of equal Duties as shall, previous to the Union, be agreed upon and approved by the respective Parliaments, subject, after the expiration of such limited time, to be diminished equally with respect to both Kingdoms, but in no case to be encreased; that all Articles which may at any time hereafter be imported into Great Britain from Foreign Parts, shall be importable through either Kingdom into the other, subject to the like Duties and Regulations as if the same were imported directly from Foreign Parts; that where any Articles, the growth, produce, or manufacture of either Kingdom, are subject to any internal Duty in one Kingdom, such countervailing Duties (over and above any Duties on import to be fixed as aforesaid) shall be imposed as shall be necessary to prevent any inequality in that respect: and that all other matters of Trade and Commerce other than the foregoing, and than such others as may before the Union be specially agreed upon for the due encouragement of the Agriculture and Manufactures of the respective Kingdoms, shall remain to be regulated from time to time by the United Parliament.

SEVENTH.

That for the like purpose it would be fit to propose, that the charge arising from the payment of the Interest or Sinking Fund for the reduction of the Principal of the Debt incurred in either Kingdom before the Union, shall continue to be separately defrayed by Great Britain and Ireland respectively. That for a number of Years to be limited, the future ordinary expences of the UNITED KINGDOM, in Peace or War, shall be defrayed by Great Britain and Ireland jointly, according to such proportions as shall be established by the respective Parliaments previous to the Union; and that after the expiration of the time to be so limited, the proportion shall not be liable to be varied, except according to such rates and principles as shall be in like manner agreed upon previous to the Union.

EIGHTH.

That for the like purpose it would be fit to propose, that all Laws in force at the time of the Union, and that all the Courts of Civil or Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction within the respective Kingdoms, shall remain as now by Law established within the same, subject only to such alterations or regulations from time to time as circumstances may appear to the Parliament of the UNITED KINGDOM to require.

That the foregoing RESOLUTIONS be laid before His Majesty with an humble ADDRESS, assuring His Majesty that we have proceeded with the utmost attention to the consideration of the important objects recommended to us in His Majesty’s Gracious MESSAGE.

That we entertain a firm persuasion that a COMPLETE AND INTIRE UNION between Great Britain and Ireland, founded on equal and liberal Principles, on the similarity of Laws, Constitution and Government, and on a sense of mutual Interests and Affections, by promoting the Security, Wealth, and Commerce of the respective Kingdoms, and by allaying the distractions which have unhappily prevailed in Ireland, must afford fresh means of opposing at all times an effectual resistance to the destructive Projects of our Foreign and Domestic Enemies, and must tend to confirm and augment the Stability, Power, and Resources of the Empire.

Impressed with these considerations, we feel it our duty humbly to lay before His Majesty such Propositions as appear to us best calculated to form the Basis of such a settlement, leaving it to His Majesty’s wisdom, at such time and in such manner as His Majesty, in his Parental Solicitude for the happiness of his People, shall judge fit, to communicate these Propositions to His Parliament of Ireland, with whom we shall be at all times ready to concur in all such Measures as may be found most conducive to the accomplishment of this great and salutary Work. And we trust that, after full and mature consideration, such a Settlement may be framed and established, by the deliberate Consent of the Parliaments of both Kingdoms, as may be conformable to the Sentiments, Wishes, and real Interests of His Majesty’s faithful Subjects of Great Britain and Ireland, and may unite them inseparably in the full enjoyment of the blessings of our free and invaluable Constitution, in the support of the Honour and Dignity of His Majesty’s Crown, and in the preservation and advancement of the Welfare and Prosperity of the whole British Empire.

APPENDIX.

_The following Message was presented in the House of Commons by Mr. Fox, Secretary of State, on the 9th of April, 1782._

GEORGE R.

His Majesty being concerned to find that discontents and
jealousies are prevailing among his loyal Subjects in Ireland,
upon matters of great weight and importance, earnestly
recommends to this House, to take the same into their most
serious consideration, in order to such a Final Adjustment as
may give mutual satisfaction to both Kingdoms.

G. R.

_1st May, 1782._

Mr. Secretary Fox presented to the House, by His Majesty’s command,

Copy of the Message to the Houses of Lords and Commons in Ireland, from His Grace the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, delivered the 16th April, 1782: And also,

Copy of a Resolution of the House of Lords in Ireland, Mercurii, 17ᵒ die Aprilis, 1782: And also,

Copy of a Resolution of the House of Commons in Ireland, Martis, 16ᵒ die Aprilis, 1782.

And the Titles of the said Copies were read.

The said Copies are as followeth; _viz._

_Copy of the Message to the Houses of Lords and Commons in
Ireland, from His Grace the Lord Lieutenant, delivered the 16th
April, 1782._

PORTLAND,

I have it in command from His Majesty, to inform this House,
that His Majesty being concerned to find that discontents and
jealousies are prevailing among his loyal Subjects of this
Country, upon matters of great weight and importance, His
Majesty recommends to this House to take the same into their
most serious consideration, in order to such a Final Adjustment
as may give mutual satisfaction to his Kingdoms of Great
Britain and Ireland.

P.

_Copy of a Resolution of the House of Lords in Ireland,
Mercurii, 17ᵒ die Aprilis, 1782._

RESOLVED, By the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament
assembled _Nemine dissentiente_, That an humble Address be
presented to His Majesty, to return him our thanks for the most
gracious Message sent to this House by His Majesty’s command,
through the medium of His Grace the Lord Lieutenant, and to
assure him of our most unshaken loyalty and attachment to
His Majesty’s person and government, and of the lively sense
we entertain of his paternal care of his people of Ireland,
in thus inquiring into the discontents and jealousies that
subsist amongst them, in order to such Final Adjustment as may
give mutual satisfaction to his Kingdoms of Great Britain and
Ireland.

That, thus encouraged by His Royal Interposition, we shall beg
leave, with all duty and affection, to lay before His Majesty
the cause of such discontents and jealousies.

To represent to His Majesty, That his subjects of Ireland are
entitled to a free constitution; that the Imperial Crown of
Ireland is inseparably annexed to the Crown of Great Britain,
on which Connection the happiness of both nations essentially
depends; but that the Kingdom of Ireland is a distinct
dominion, having a Parliament of her own, the sole Legislature
thereof.

That there is no power whatsoever competent to make laws to
bind this nation, except the King, Lords, and Commons, of
Ireland; upon which exclusive Right of Legislation we consider
the very essence of our liberties to depend, a Right which we
claim as the Birth-right of the People of Ireland, and which
we are determined, in every situation of life, to assert and
maintain.

To represent to His Majesty, That we have seen with concern
certain claims, both of legislature and judicature, asserted
by the Parliament of Great Britain, in an Act passed in Great
Britain in the sixth year of George the First, intituled “An
Act for the better securing the Dependency of Ireland upon the
Crown of Great Britain:”

That we conceive the said Act, and the powers thereby claimed,
to be the great and principal causes of the discontents and
jealousies that subsist in this Kingdom:

To assure His Majesty, That this House considers it as a matter
of constitutional right and protection, that all Bills which
become Law should receive the approbation of His Majesty, under
the Seal of Great Britain; but we consider the practice of
suppressing our Bills in the Council of Ireland, or altering
them any where, to be a matter which calls for redress:

To represent to His Majesty, That an Act intituled “An Act
for the better Accommodation of His Majesty’s Forces,”
being unlimited in duration, but which, from the particular
circumstances of the times, passed into a law, has been the
cause of much jealousy and discontent in this Kingdom;

That we have thought it our duty to lay before His Majesty
these, the principal causes of the discontents and jealousies
subsisting in this Kingdom:

That we have the greatest reliance on His Majesty’s wisdom,
the most sanguine expectations from his virtuous choice of a
Chief Governor, and the greatest confidence in the wise and
constitutional Council His Majesty has adopted:

That we have, moreover, a high sense and veneration for
the British Character, and do therefore conceive, that the
proceedings of this country, founded as they are in right, and
supported by constitutional liberty, must have excited the
approbation and esteem of the British nation: That we are the
more confirmed in this hope, inasmuch as the people of this
Kingdom have never expressed a desire to share the freedom
of Great Britain, without at the same time declaring their
determination to share her fate, standing or falling with the
British nation.

Wm. Watts Gayer } Cler. Parliament.
Edw. Gayer }

_Copy of a Resolution of the House of Commons in Ireland,
Martis, 16ᵒ die Aprilis, 1782._

RESOLVED, That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty,
to return His Majesty the thanks of this House for his most
gracious message to this House, signified by his Grace the Lord
Lieutenant. To assure His Majesty of our unshaken attachment to
His Majesty’s Person and Government, and of our lively sense
of his Paternal Care, in thus taking the lead to administer
content to His Majesty’s subjects of Ireland; that thus
encouraged by his royal interposition, we shall beg leave, with
all duty and affection, to lay before His Majesty the causes
of our discontents and jealousies: To assure His Majesty,
that his subjects of Ireland are a free People; that the Crown
of Ireland is an Imperial Crown, inseparably annexed to the
Crown of Great Britain, on which Connection the interests and
happiness of both Nations essentially depend; but that the
kingdom of Ireland is a distinct Kingdom, with a Parliament of
her own, the sole Legislature thereof; that there is no body
of men competent to make Laws to bind this nation, except the
King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland, nor any other Parliament
which hath any authority or power of any sort whatsoever in
this country, save only the Parliament of Ireland: To assure
His Majesty, that we humbly conceive, that in this Right
the very Essence of our Liberties exist; a Right which we,
on the part of all the People of Ireland, do claim as their
birth-right, and which we cannot yield but with our lives: To
assure His Majesty, that we have seen with concern certain
Claims advanced by the Parliament of Great Britain, in an act,
intituled, “An Act for the better securing the Dependency of
Ireland;” an act containing matter entirely irreconcileable to
the fundamental Rights of this Nation; that we consider this
act, and the claims it advances, to be the great and principle
cause of the discontents and jealousies in this Kingdom: To
assure His Majesty, that His Majesty’s Commons of Ireland do
most sincerely wish, that all Bills which become Law in Ireland
should receive the approbation of His Majesty, under the Seal
of Great Britain; but that yet we do consider the Practice of
suppressing our Bills in the Council of Ireland, or altering
the same any where, to be another just cause of discontent and
jealousy: To assure His Majesty, that an Act, intituled, “An
Act for the better Accommodation of His Majesty’s Forces,”
being unlimited in duration, and defective in other instances
(but passed in that shape from the particular circumstances of
the times) is another just cause of discontent and jealousy
in this Kingdom: That we have submitted these, the principal
causes of the present discontent and jealousy in Ireland, and
remain in humble expectation of redress; that we have the
greatest reliance on His Majesty’s wisdom, the most sanguine
expectations from his virtuous choice of a Chief Governor, and
great confidence in the wise, auspicious, and constitutional
councils which we see with satisfaction His Majesty has
adopted; that we have moreover a high sense and veneration for
the British character, and do therefore conceive, that the
proceedings of this country, founded as they are in right, and
tempered by duty, must have excited the approbation and esteem,
instead of wounding the pride, of the British Nation; and we
beg leave to assure His Majesty, that we are the more confirmed
in this hope, in as much as the people of this Kingdom have
never expressed a desire to share the freedom of England,
without declaring a determination to share her fate likewise,
standing and falling with the British nation.

THO. ELLIS, _Cler. Parl. Dom. Com._

ORDERED, That the said Copies do lie upon the Table, to be perused by the Members of the House.

_17th May, 1782._

RESOLVED, That this House will, immediately, resolve itself into a Committee of the whole House, to take into consideration His Majesty’s most gracious Message, of the 9th Day of April last, relative to the State of Ireland.

ORDERED, That the several Papers which were presented to the House, by Mr. Secretary Fox, upon the 1st Day of this instant May, be referred to the said Committee.

Then the House resolved itself into the said Committee.

Mr. Speaker left the Chair.

Mr. Powys took the Chair of the Committee.

Mr. Speaker resumed the Chair.

Mr. Powys reported from the Committee, That they had come to several Resolutions; which they had directed him to report, when the House will please to receive the same.

ORDERED, That the Report be now received.

Mr. Powys accordingly reported, from the said Committee, the Resolutions which the Committee had directed him to report to the House, which he read in his place, and afterwards delivered in at the Clerk’s table; where the same were read; and are as follows: _viz._