and the remaining slave, whom reform shall not have raised to the rank of citizen, will remember the argument of the catholic, and ask himself, "Am I not bound by the laws; and do I not, in my humble sphere, contribute to the expences of the state? Why am I not represented? Is it not my right; and shall I not insist upon my right?"

Sooner or later the measure must come. The eternal prin. ciple of justice will be repeated in louder and louder tones, until at length it must be heard and observed. Why not now? Why leave behind a source of new reforms, perhaps, of convulsions? If reform only communicate power to a greater number, and do not give liberty to all, it will only strengthen the ruling and weaken the oppressed body; so that when the slave shall have acquired sufficient courage to speak, the obstinacy of the citizen will compel him to act. We cannot forget the language made use of to intimidate the catholic from prosecuting his claims, and that those very claims, shortly after having been rejected with scorn, were admitted with respect. The same line of prudence and wisdom will, we are persuaded, be pursued in the case of reform, whenever convincing proof of the public sentiment shall be rea ceived on that subject, and the kingdom, by the restoration of universal suffrage, be delivered over to uninterrupted peace and happiness.

Contemplating this grateful prospect, we smile, with much internal satisfaction, on heating those intemperate and abusive expressions, which the members of opposition make use of against this society. We smile at their inability to conceal the vexation and disappointment they have felt on finding themselves forsaken by the people; that people, whole majesty they insult, but whose forbearance they at the same time solicit, on finding themselves fallen, like the ostentatious balloon, from that height, to which they had risen by a sort of inflammable levity, and there sustained solely by the breath of popular favour.

We smile at the curious coalition of political parties against our society; to see them all club their wisdom and their wit, to manifest to the whole country that we are really formidable; but we are rather inclined to pity that forced fraternity, that monstrous conjunction, which, in spite of the horror of instinct, and the antipathy of nature, can join, in 3 U

VOL. IV.

one common effort, the highest genius with the lowest ribaldry. How great must be the panic that can unite such extremes! We can bear, as we have borne, the common-place invective against this society; but we feel some indignation, when they, who should look on themselves as the purchased property of the people; to whose fortune every man, even the beggar on the bridge" has contributed; whom the "shouts of the mob" have raised to the height of their fame; when such men inveigh against armed beggary and shabby sedition, we cannot but remember a time when the usual adjunct to their own names was, "Shabby and seditious incendiaries." It is not manly, it is not decorous to deal out this contumelious language against the great mass of mankind. The use of contemptuous terms disposes to contemptuous treatment, and those, whom we vilify as mob, we soon learn to slight as men. It is the unequal partition of rights, and what results from this, the arrogance of power, and the abasement of poverty, which make mob, instigate to tumult, and goad to insurrection.

If the people were respected, they would revenge the coustituted authorities; but to gain this respect, they must pos sess those rights, which are the prerogative of their nature, and the worth of manhood.

This defence of the objects of the United Irishmen, was their last effort. Equally dreaded and execrated by each division and subdivision of the aristocracy, government determined to extinguish the only body, that persevered in the pursuit of reform, and presumed to brave its power. This the sheriff, Mr. Giffard, accomplished; seizing the books of the society, and dispersing the members, on their usual day of meeting, in the Tailor'shall, Back-lane, Dublin.

"This society," says Dr. Mac Neven, " from its first formation had been a mark for the abuse of government and its adherents. To the perseverance and exertions, however, of the

United Irishmen of Dublin, may be attributed much of the change which took place in the public mind in favour of the catholic claims. Just before the existence of their society, the followers of that religion would not be permitted, in an address of loyalty to the viceroy, to express a hope of relief: and not a member of parliament could be found even to present a petition to the legislature, praying that their case might be taken into consideration: yet the institution had not been eighteen months established, when, in spite of denunciations of war from the protestant ascendancy, and with only the ungracious and constrained assent of the Irish government, the popery laws, the disgrace and scourge of a century, were reduced to a few comparatively insignificant restraints. A reform in parliament seemed at one time too on the point of being conceded to that spirit, which the same society had been very instrumental in exciting, and was always among the foremost to evince. Whether that spirit be characterised as patriotism and firmness, or as faction or sedition, if all the friends of reform had concurred in displaying as much of it as was shown by the United Irishmen, and had marched pari passu with them, there can be no reasonable doubt, but that their efforts would have been crowned with complete success.'

At the close of the session on the 25th of March, the speech from the throne expressed his Majesty's satisfaction in the zeal and unanimity

* Pieces of Irish History,

which governed the proceedings of parliament; and the chearfulness with which liberal supplies were provided for the extraordinary emergencies of the state. It also stated, that his Majesty felt with the most cordial pleasure, the loyalty of the people of Ireland, and the affectionate determipation they have always shown to stand or fall with Great Britain.

Shortly after the Rev. William Jackson was arrested on the novel charge of high-treason, and Mr. Rowan escaped out of Newgate. It appears that the French, soon after war commenced between the republic and his Majesty's dominions, sent an emissary to Ireland, to endeavour to induce the people to attempt the dissolution of the connexion with Great Britain, by offers of assistance. This agent communicated the proposal to the leading members of the United Irishmen, but those persons, though then eminently obnoxious to government, rejected the offer. Aware, however, of the importance of creating a diversion in their favour, in the heart of the dominions of their most formidable enemy, France renewed the attempt the following year, and the application was favourably received. For this purpose they employed the Rev. William Jackson, a dissenting clergyman, whose mission included England and Ireland. In London, by means of a merchant, Mr. Stone, he was enabled to ascertain, that all parties would unite to repel invasion; consequently, that the invasion of England was hopeless. He then determined to proceed to Ireland; but first made

Mr. Cockayne, an attorney, who had been his acquaintance many years, privy to his mission. Mr. Cockayne directly communicated the intelligence to the English ministry, and was directed to accompany Mr. Jackson, that he might report his proceedings. On their arrival in Dublin, in the April of 1794, a gentleman, who had known Cockayne in London, accidentally met and invited them to dinner. Mr. Jackson there formed an acquaintance with Mr. Lewines, by whom he was introduced to Mr. Rowan, then in Newgate, and by him to Mr. Tone and Dr. Reynolds. To them he communicated the motives of his journey, and showed the paper he had procured in England. These gentlemen now readily entered into his views, and Mr. Tone drew up, for the purpose of being sent to France, the following statement of what he conceived to be the actual state of the people of Ireland.

"The situation of Ireland and England is fundamentally different in this-the government of England is national, that of Ireland provincial. The interest of the first is the same with that of the people-of the last directly opposite. The people of Ireland are divided into three sccts; the Established Church, the Dissenters, and the Catholics; the first, infinitely the smallest portion, have engrossed, besides the whole church patronage, all the profits and honours of the country exclusively, and a very great share of the landed property. They are of course aristocrats, adverse to any change, and decided enemies of the French revolution. The Dissenters, which are much more numerous, are the most enlightened body of the nation; they are steady republicans, devoted to liberty, and through all the stages of the French revolution have been enthusiastically attached to it. The