СНАР.
LXII.

a distinguished nobleman, already familiar to my readers, James Caulfield, Earl of Charlemont. He was the recruiting officer for the Whigs, and ever sought out rising men of talent, marking their progress while at College, and their career at the Bar, to see whether they would prove acquisitions or not. When satisfied of the former, he had a pocket borough, from whence he derived his title, Charlemont, and this was the portal through which the youth of talent entered Parliament. As member of Charlemont, in the year 1775, Henry Grattan gained imperishable renown. He was the chief instrument in gaining Irish independence in 1782, and now Lord Charlemont beheld in Plunket a worthy successor of that great man. Plunket was perhaps in some respects his superior. He was of calm temperament; Grattan was fiery, rapid, and impetuous, true as steel and uncorruptible, but with a nature too confiding, and a temper often irritable. He was constantly getting into angry collision with his best friends, and advantage was taken of this weakness by Lord Castlereagh.

Castlereagh was a man peculiarly suited by nature and trained by education for the work he had to do. The strides which Ireland made in commercial prosperity when legal restrictions were removed, alarmed the English capitalists. Her free trade made her a powerful competitor with them, and, if she was allowed to continue unrestrained, might become a powerful rival; so the fiat went forth, she must be absorbed by a union, and then the British interests, as well as the Irish, would be regulated by the British Cabinet. So said Pitt, and Castlereagh was instructed accordingly. Ireland's political independence likewise was a humiliation to England. Why, it is hard to conceive, except that when differences sprung up, as in the case of the Regency, it tended to some discrepancy.' Her judicial independence was, of course, a loss to the English Bar. As long as Irish appeals were heard, argued, and determined by the British House of Lords, the Bar of Vide Lord Loughborough's Letter, Grattan's Life, vol. iv.

CHAP.

LXII.

Castle

England were sure to derive those fees which otherwise
would enrich the Bar of Ireland; but I will not do my
brethren of the English Bar the injustice to state this
motive weighed with them. The Union, however, was to
be carried, and every means by which it could be carried
were to be resorted to. The conduct of this was entrusted
to Lord Castlereagh. He was a man of consummate Lord
cleverness. He had great talents, was a powerful speaker,
a ready debater; he was master of cold cutting satire,
keen-pointed irony, and unflinching courage. In those
days, when duelling was so common a practice, this was
indispensable, and no man was readier to encounter his
foe in the debate on the floor of the Irish House of Com-
mons, or on the green sod of the Fifteen Acres, than
Viscount Castlereagh.

reagh.

considered the best

man to

encounter

It was specially to encounter so formidable an antago Plunket nist that Lord Charlemont sought the aid of Plunket in the House. His logical, argumentative powers were fully a match for those of the Minister, and his oratorical dis- Lord plays made Lord Charlemont believe that he was also Castlereagh. equal to him in invective, confined within Parliamentary bounds; that he could return scorn for scorn, and that the sneering tone in which the cold-hearted Minister replied to the arguments of the chief Members of the Opposition would be repaid by Plunket with liberal interest. Lord Charlemont accordingly requested an interview with him, and they met at Charlemont House.

As I daily pass and repass that fairly-proportioned mansion, occupying the centre of the north side of Rutland Square, Dublin, my mind recurs to the scenes which took place within those historic walls. It was in the Overtures spring of 1798 these two held their parley, and Plunket from Lord continued closeted with the Earl for several hours. Their mont.

views were in unison on all points but one-that one so

important in Mr. Plunket's eyes that he expressed his regret that while holding the same political opinions as his Lordship on almost every topic, on one subject they were not of one mind, and he therefore declined to be a

Charle

CHAP.
LXII.

tion

between

ket and

Lord Charlemont.

nominee of his Lordship's, lest he should be obliged to act against his wishes.'

Lord Charlemont intimated this difficulty might be got over,' and begged another visit. Mr. Plunket has himself stated the result of this visit, which resulted in Lord Charlemont's changing his views with respect to admitting Catholics to the privileges of the Constitution. He Conversa confessed to his son that Plunket prevailed over his old prejudice.' Mr. Plunket mentions having, in 1798 or 1799, Mr. Plun had a conversation with his Lordship on the subject of the Catholic claims, and Parliamentary reform. "The Earl said that to these two questions he had made two sacrifices-to the latter a borough, and to the former (which he said he considered the more meritorious effort) a prejudice.' His Lordship then went on to state some of the grounds on which originally he had been adverse to the immediate admission of Roman Catholics to the privileges of the Constitution, and also some of the reasonings which had latterly induced a change of his sentiments on the subject. Of these I have not such a precise recollection as would warrant me in an attempt to detail them; but the preliminary observation was so marked and epigrammatic that I can pledge myself for its authenticity.' Plunket was then offered and accepted the representation of Charlemont in the Irish Parliament.

1 Hardy's Life of Lord Charlemont, vol. ii. p. 429.

CHAPTER LXIII.

LIFE OF LORD PLUNKET, LORD CHANCELLOR, CONTINUED.

FROM HIS

TAKING HIS SEAT IN PARLIAMENT TILL HIS FIRST SPEECH AGAINST
THE UNION.

CHAP.

LXIII.

Takes his
Irish

seat in the

House of

ON February 6, 1798, Plunket took his seat as Member for the borough of Charlemont in the Irish House of Commons. The estimate in which he was regarded by the independent press of Ireland, represented by the Dublin Evening Post,' was thus expressed :-- Much hope is en- Commons. tertained of the Parliamentary exertions of Counsellor 1798. Plunket; his character at the Bar, for talents as well as legal knowledge, is high; and his political principles are known to be strictly Constitutional. It is, however, to be lamented that he comes into Parliament at a time when the secession of that party which stood in the breach so long, and combated with so much energy, though unhappily with so little success against the innovators of the Constitution, leaves little hope that his unsupported efforts can be productive of much effect.'

Truly it might be regarded as a forlorn hope to stem State of the wave of Imperial absorption steadily engulphing the the House, independence of Ireland. The Treasury benches were filled with Members dependent upon the will of the Minister to whom the measure of Union had been entrusted by Mr. Pitt. The questions of Reform or concession to the claims of the Catholic millions had either been abandoned altogether, or postponed until some change might come, bringing a prospect of relief. The Spartan band, who, headed by Grattan, had stood so long in the gap, wearied by the length of the contest and inutility of their efforts, had retired in sullen despair, moaning over the fate they saw was inevitable. The Opposition scarcely mustered thirty, while the Ministerial whip could readily 1 Dublin Evening Post, February 8, 1798.

CHAP.
LXIII.

Bill to amend 23 & 24

Geo. III.

Enquiry into the cause of present discontent.

Opposed by Lord Castlereagh.

collect one hundred supporters to the division. But of the thirty, Plunket found many were made of sterling stuff. George Ponsonby was a tried and trusty leader, whose skill in debate and distinguished reputation was above the assaults of an unscrupulous Minister. Charles Kendal Bushe, who spoke with the lips of an angel, bore a high place in the ranks of that gallant little band. Knox, member for the College, was a man of talent and character; Sir Lawrence Parsons, a vehement patriot.

Not long after Mr. Plunket became a Member of the House of Commons, a Bill was proposed by the Government, to amend the Act 23 & 24 George III., for securing the Liberty of the Press by Preventing Abuses from the Publication of Traitorous, Seditious, False, and Scandalous Libels, by persons unknown.' This measure was notoriously aimed at a newspaper called the 'Press,' the organ of the United Irishmen. It was powerfully written -the articles full of energy and enthusiasm, and it was in this paper that Thomas Moore, the poet, made his first essay in prose composition.

Although Plunket most strongly reprobated the principles advocated by the 'Press' newspaper, as he conceived the Bill was adapted to restrict the liberty of the press generally, he opposed it.2 The Government consented to reduce the amount of security required from the publisher of a newspaper from 1,000l. to 500l. Plunket also spoke on Sir Lawrence Parsons' motion for an enquiry' whence the present discontents of this country arose, and what are the most effectual means of allaying the same.' This motion was seconded by Lord Caulfield in a maiden speech, and stoutly opposed by Lord Castlereagh, who contended the United Irishmen were not to be conciliated; that their object was to establish an Irish Republic upon French principles and by means of French assistance; that the excesses of the soldiery were usual in all cases of rebellion, and that the existing laws were amply sufficient to

1 Afterwards Lord Chancellor, vide Life.

2 For portions of this speech, see Life by his grandson, vol. i. p. 81.