once, but our posterity will see them, and will have cause to bless the enlarged policy of two legislatures, which, rising superior to petty jealousies, which sacrificing partial interests on the altar of general safety, have coalesced into one, for the benefit of both. deprecate all opposition to it, originating in local prejudices, partial consideration, individual interest, or in what is least deserving the attention of a wise man a desire of popular applause: all I wish, is that the subject may be fully and intelle gently examined, deliberately discussed, and decided freely. Great Britain may not, perhaps, be able to approve the wis to respect the independence of the sister kingdom, and will acquiesce in the deci sion, be it what it may. Such, my lords, I humbly think, is the language; such the conduct which Great Britain should use, and which, if we may judge from what has been said in this House concerning free consent, she is disposed to use to wards Ireland; it is a conduct conform able to the eternal rules of immutable justice, it is suited to the magnanimity of this great nation, it is calculated to con ciliate the affections, and to rivet the re gard of the high spirited, indeed; but, at the same time, of the warm-hearted peo. ple of Ireland. But though I am, on the most dispassionate grounds, a sincere friend to a union, I am no friend to its being accom-dom of the decision, but she knows how plished except by the most just and honourable means. A union participates of the nature of a contract, or to speak more properly, it is a contract of the highest kind. Now it is of the essence of every contract, that there should be the free consent of the contracting parties, founded on a cool and comprehensive view of the subject, and on a persuasion of the utility to be derived therefrom. Ireland does not yet seem to be persuaded of the utility which she will derive from this union; nor has Ireland (if I may be allowed to say so without giving offence, and I certainly do not mean to give any) yet, I think, taken a cool and comprehensive view of the subject; at all events, she does not yet seem disposed to become a party to the contract. Under such circumstances, the contract cannot, in my opinion, be fairly entered into. What, then, is to be done?-Precisely that which Great Britain is doing, and is, I trust, prepared to do. Great Britain is giving time to Ireland to consider this subject in all its bearings; and Great Britain is, I trust, prepared to say, if not by words, to say by actions, to her sister kingdom-be persuaded, that, in proposing this measure, I have not been actuated by any selfish, insidious, or oppressive views; be assured, that in prosecuting what has been proposed, I have no point to carry but what will be full as useful to Ireland as to Great Britain; conscious of the integrity of my intention, and convinced of the utility of the measure, had I the means of influencing the Parliament of Ireland to a corrupt approbation of it, I would, on this occasion, disdain to use them. I will not tamper with the conscience, I will not attempt to undermine the public probity, or to assail the personal independence of any individual in Ireland; I do not wish any man, on either side of the water, to support this measure from a principle of gratitude for favours received, much less from a principle of expectation of favours to be conferred; but, on the other hand, I must I have detained your lordships too long, and in doing so, I have probably done as much violence to my own feelings as to your patience; for I do feel a daily increasing reluctance to the mingling in public political debate. But this great subject has compelled me to come forward. I perceive that every thing which is dear to us as individuals, as fathers of fa milies, as members of civil society, is at stake. The wild ambition of France supported on the right hand by the annihi lating doctrines of Epicurus, supported on the left by the wicked hopes of the idle and the profligate to rise to distinction by public confusion, and every where assisted, except in this happy country, by forms of government more or less arbitrary and oppressive, to which the mass of the people can feel little attachment; this ambition, thus supported, thus assisted, is stalking like a desolating fiend throughout the earth, and wherever it puts its iron foot, it crushes, with undistinguished ruin, all orders of men, and levels with the ground every civil, every ecclesiastical constitution. When I view this monster at a distance, I contemplate it with abhorrence'; its nearer approach, if it must approach nearer, I shall view not without anxiety, but without despondency. The good providence of God may, and I trust it will, and unless the sins of the nation obstruct its influence, we may be certain relative to a Union with Ireland. 2 745] sion on my own judgment, and have had the greatest share in determining the opinion I profess, in favour of the proposed measure. In deliberating on this question, the itself on every mind, is the convenience, first proposition which seems to impress amounting indeed to a necessity, not merely for the advantage and benefit, but for the preservation and security of both countries, that there should subsist between Great Britain and Ireland, a close and intimate connexion of one description or other. The most disadvantageous situation in which either country can be placed, is that of total disconnection, In, deed when I say disadvantageous, cer tainly speak too feebly. I mean that this condition would expose both countries to the greatest quantity and variety of evil, and oppose the most insurmountable bar riers to national improvement and prospe rity of any that can be imagined. Fundamental as this proposition will be found in the argument, it is nevertheless one on which it is unnecessary to dwell long, I find it, in the first place, conceded on all Lord Minto said: My lords; In yielding to the desire which it is natural for every public man to feel, of delivering his sentiments on this great question, it could not be my intention, at any period of the discussion, to exhaust, or even to touch on ail the many and various points of this comprehensive subject, and I must be yet less disposed to such an attempt in circumstances so little favourable as the present, I mean, after the talents, the learning, and the eloquence of two countries have preceded me, and have, indeed, left little for such as me to glean, even in this vast and fertile field. I shall, therefore, confine myself within bounds better suited to my own capacity, as well as to the measure of indulgence which I can have any pretensions to expect from your lordships; and shall content myself with stating as clearly, but as shortly as I am able, a few thoughts on the principal and lead-hands, and I think myself intitled to ing topics of this argument, especially such as have made the strongest impres *When I had sat down, the bishop of Ro. chester (Horsley) complimented me with say ing, that he had never heard such a speech in the House of Lords, and should never hear such another. I could not but be pleased with having extracted, as it were, this praise from a man who did not like me; but the satisfaction which I received from the bishop's commendation was far inferior to that which the following Note from Dr. Joseph Wharton gave me, to whom I was very little known: Nerot's Hotel, April 13, 1799. My lord; Though I feel very strongly the impertinence and impropriety I am guilty of, yet I cannot restrain myself from expressing the great satisfaction and pleasure I have received from reading your lordship's most eloquent, nervous, convincing, and unanswerable speech on the Union with Ireland. Happy it would be for us if your lordship's counsels and opinions were always followed and put in execution. With, &c. Jos. WARTON.'«. "Though the colouring of this compliment is, I am sensible, overcharged, yet I should belie my feelings if I did not own that it gave me great pleasure; for Dr. Joseph Warton was a scholar, and not only a scholar but a man of taste, but what, at that time, was a rare character indeed, a genuine Whig."Anecdotes of the Life of Bishop Warton, by Himself, Vol. 2, p. 88.21 men... claim on this point a general or rather universal assent, For I presume it will hardly be required of me, that I should condescend to treat as an exception, wor thy of notice, the opinions of those who those other wretched men, call themselves united Irishmen, or of vigilance of government and of parlia whom the ment, has lately exposed to the scorn and execration of a country which they disgrace, under the title of United EnglishThese men may call themselves by what names they please, United Irish, or United English. In my language they can be known only by the appellation of French Irish, French English. They are merely partizans of the ancient and inveterate enemy of their country. They are wedded to the interests of that enemy, and enlisted under his standard. They are confederates in every desperate and wicked project of a foreign state, for the subjuga tion and ruin of their native land, and same degree of deference that we should their opinions are entitled precisely to the pay to the sentiments or wishes of the French Directory itself, on a question of British interest. I am, indeed, sorry to learn, that these extremes either of delu- · instance within the limits of this island: sion or corruption, should exist in a single but since such men are, I cannot but ob scrve with satisfaction their hostility to every species of connexion between Great Britain and Ireland, and most of all to that best and most perfect connexion which is now in contemplation. For when I learn from France, and her worthy Irish and English associates, that the present union between England and Scotland stands in the way of their fraternal views towards Great Britain, and that the union with Ireland is a death's blow to their hopes of annihilating the British empire, I cannot but accept this testimony of the enemy, as the strongest and best confirmation of the favour which I profess towards the measure which they oppose. But I shall not be expected to argue with this kind of adversary. We are engaged with them in a different sort of controversy, and it is the ultima ratio alone that can settle the debate between us. With this exception, however, the necessity of connexion is not only admitted, but warmly asserted by all those who have taken a part in the debate on this question of union, whether their judgments have been favourable or adverse to the measure; and your lordships know, that there is no description of persons who have been more ernest to disclaim and abjure the character of what is called separatist, than those who have opposed the union in Ireland, or in this country. merely contiguous, but lying as it here in the very bosom and embraces of ach other-we shall observe, not only their mutual vicinity, but their insulation, and their insulation together, from the rest of Europe; we shall see their relative position with regard to each other, and to every other part of the world, and espe cially their reciprocal dependence, for a secure and undisturbed navigation, in a great part of the circumference of both. These and a thousand other obvious particulars, which I do not enumerate merely to avoid abusing your indulgence with considerations familiar to us all, must convince us, that in a state of total political separation, there could hardly be a single transaction, or an instant of their existence, in which these two countries would not be rivals, and if rivals, enemies. It is easy to conceive the enhanced and aggravated state of warfare waged in this manner between countries possessing each, in a greater degree, the means of offence, and in a less degree, those of defence, than in any other possible situation. We shall also recollect, that if one of these countries should be engaged in war with a third, as Great Britain with France, the other would present advantages to the enemy which it could not otherwise possess; and it will not be difficult to foresee, that in a state of separation, the mutual But if it were not admitted, this propo- jealousy and habitual animosity likely to sition is too obvious to require much argu- prevail between the neighbours, aided by ment to prove it. A glance on the map, the intrigues and importunity of the and a moment's reflexion, will satisfy us, enemy, will, in all probability, draw the that the affairs and interests of these two neutral island into a direct or indirect par sister islands are too much the same, in ticipation in these hostilities. Thus will too many points of domestic and foreign these two countries, instead of contriconcern, not to associate them necessa-buting to each other's comfort, security, rily in the dangers and business of war, and in the occupations and pursuits of peace. Let us suppose any one brought from another hemisphere, totally unac quainted, not only with the history and concerns, but even with the shape and form of this quarter of the globe, before whom a map of Europe should be laid for the first time; and let such a man be required to conjecture the distribution of the different countries under his eye, into their respective states and governments. Whatever his opinion might be concerning other portions of Europe, I am persuaded we should all anticipate his confident judgment, that the British isles, at least, formed one state. Let us, in effect, cast our own eye, for an instant, on this map-we shall see these two islands not and greatness, as they might do under a wiser and happier system, only harass, enfeeble, and endanger cach other, just in proportion to their respective means and resources, exhausting their mutual attention and energy, rather in watching and repressing each other, than in repelling common danger, promoting common interests, or exalting their common greatness and glory. Such a condition, in a word, disturbs the tranquillity of peace, and shortens its duration, while it multiplies, a thousand-fold, the perils and evils. of war. It is manifest that, the smaller and weaker country of the two, must experience these disadvantages yet more sensibly than its powerful neighbour. In its differences with the other, if the aid and alliance of a third power be sought, and most eligible mode, or form of that connexion. On this point also I have a settled opinion, which I consider as a main and principal hinge of this argument. I wish, indeed, to state and to argue it, in the first instance, as a general proposition; but if it be proved, and made out satisfactorily in that form, it seems decisive on the particular question, and will establish, on principle and reason, the same conclusion, to which our judgment may have been led on more practical grounds. The proposition then is this, that when two countries are so circumstanced as mutually to require connexion, the only mode of connexion which can perfectly remove the evils of separation, and fully confer the benefit of union, is a perfect identity and incorporation of their governments. All other relations, of a more partial and imperfect nature, are subject to many incon veniences while they subsist, and are besides of a limited duration. By limited, I do not mean merely precarious. I consider their expiration not merely as possible or probable, but as certain; and besides the perpetual and restless struggles, which are for ever vexing these contentious relations while they last, they appear to me to possess this fundamental and characteristic vice-I mean that of tending gradually, and though perhaps not always rapidly, yet certainly and inevitably, by the very law of their constitution and nature, to a total extinction and dissolution. Nations, then, connected in this manner, will necessarily arrive, at one period or other, at the alternative of separation, towards which they naturally tend, involving probably mutual and perpetual hostility, or that perfect incorporation and unity which is productive, not only of all the blessings of internal tranquillity, but of all the advantages, both in strength and prosperity, which flow from the union of their joint resources, and which are increased, by combination, far beyond the simple addition to their amount. that service must be purchased by some consideration or other; and we are taught, by reason as well as history, the sort of price that is paid by an inferior, for the proud and politic protection of a powerful state. As the comparatively feeble and poor cannot discharge such a debt in positive force or wealth, it must give what it has, and pay its quota in general subserviency, that is to say, in a base and habitual dependence, little short, either in degradation or ruin, of positive subjection. It appears, in fine, to me, that a smaller country, situated between two great rivals, as Ireland is, can hardly hope for an interval of tranquillity, security, or dignity. Dignity may at once be put out of the question, for having no real and positive force to support it, such a country must live, from day to day, by intrigue, the most degrading species of policy, and that which it seems the most impossible to reconcile with any sense of national pride or honour. It can as little look for tranquillity or security; for besides its own quarrels, the causes of which are infinitely multiplied, in a separate state, by that very vicinity which might otherwise extinguish them; besides, I say, its own quarrels, it will be dragged perpetually into those of both its neighbours, and will indeed generally find itself the bone of contention, to be worried by both, and to endure therefore that double Scourge, that complicated desolation and ruin, which fall on those unhappy countries that are themselves the theatre of wars, in which perhaps they have no interest, or none other than that of being themselves the prize to be fought for, and destined to reward the conqueror, or purchase the peace of the vanquished. We shall perceive, on the other hand, with the same facility and with greater satisfac tion, the inducements and advantages of connexion, by which the resources of the one, instead of being to be subtracted from those of the other, flow rather into a general stock, out of which, as from a comnon heart, strength and prosperity may circulate to the remotest extremities of both, and the right arm of the empire be nourished and fortified, without impoverishing or withering the left. But I will not insist on this conceded point, and shall assume it as a thing proved or granted, that connexion is necessary for the mutual security and happiness of Great Britain and Ireland. The question then arises, on the best That such are the properties and defects of these imperfect connexions, we shall easily satisfy ourselves, by a very short and cursory view of one or two of the principal relations of that description, and I shall begin with that which I conceive to stand first also in chronological order— I mean conquest. For I believe it will generally be found, when two countries are situated in such a manner as to invite, by their local positions, a connexion between their governments, the stronger of the two, or that which is first enabled, by | be found, that a strong sense of the evils an earlier civilization and superior popula- attending separation, stimulated perhaps tion, to aim at foreign enterprise, will by that passion, I mean ambition, which attempt the conquest of the other, and if seems to actuate all governments, or those the attempt succeeds, that mode of rela- who administer them, will induce the tion is established between them, which I stronger power to seek connexion by am now treating of. Conquest may, in- that course, unless precluded by the esta deed, in one sense, be understood to ex-blishment of some better or less objec press only the means employed for uniting tionable mode of relation. them under one government, or bringing Amongst these I shall next speak of them together, and in that acceptation, federal connexion, and I am the more conquest may, no doubt, lead to any inclined to say a few words on that submode of connexion, and, amongst the rest,ject, as I have understood that, in the va may tend at once to that which is the most perfect and the best. Of this, indeed, history will furnish examples, though I believe not frequent; for war is but a rough courtship, and violence cannot be expected, in all cases, to procure so happy a union as that, which at once incorporated the Roman and the Sabine people. At present, however, I use the word conquest to express, not the means or instrument of union, but the relation which is the consequence of victory, and which subsists after it. In other words, I mean that dominion which is exercised by the conqueror on the title of conquest, while the countries continue distinct; or that sovereignty, which being founded by the sword, is measured by the power of enforcing it, on one hand, and the inability to resist, on the other. In comparing, as we are now doing, the advantages and disadvantages of the different kinds of connexion between nations, we may, no doubt, dismiss at once from the argument the consideration of conquest; for I presume we shall agree that this is the worst of all. It is indeed the most wretched condition of human slavery. The relation of master and servant, or even of master and slave, amongst individuals, or of sovereign and subject among the members of one commonwealth, even under the most despotic forms of government, may be conceived to produce, at least in some instances, or in some degree, a mutual benefit and convenience. But it is not so amongst nations. A master nation will, I think, generally be found a tyrant, and a subject nation is generally a slave. The submission and obedience of the one, does not purchase protection or kindness and the authority of the other yields little profit. The dominion of mere conquest, in a word, confers on the sovereign but a barren sceptre, and a crown of thorns; and very fit it should be so. Yet under all these discouragements it will generally riety of opinions entertained on this question of union with Ireland, some have been supposed to lean towards a connexion of that nature. I confess, however, that I can find nothing in that mode of relation to recommend it; and every thing we know of such confederacies seems to prove them, in the first place, inadequate to the purposes of union, and, in the next place, of very precarious duration. The fundamental vice of these federal constitutions seems to be, that professing to provide only for some common interests, they not only leave, but it is, in some sort, their spirit to establish, a distinctness, and even an opposition of interests, on all or many other points. Speaking of national interests, I believe it will be safe to consider distinctness as in general but a convertible term for opposition; and the different parts of federal union are, I think, generally to be accounted rivals in respect of all in which they are distinct. Their opposition is indeed not limited even by that principle, but extends often to the very casus fœderis; I mean to those concerns which are common, and the ge neral interests in which is meant to be provided for by the conditions and obli gations of the union. It must be observed, by every one who reads the history of such governments, that in the interpretation and performance of their federal engage ments, the parties generally act in a spirit of rival and adverse contention. The passions of the multitude seem to flow naturally in that course; and the narrow genius of those who will often have the lead in the discordant councils of such states, seems prone enough to fall in with this popular humour. We shall frequently observe them more occupied in the internal jealousies and competitions of the confederate states, than in promoting the common cause; and especially in moments of common danger and exertion, they will often discover a greater apprehension of |