182

ARTICLES OF UNION.

CH. XXXVIII.

passed by the Commons; and, on that occasion, several members who had hitherto opposed the measure, declared, that when it should become law, they should think it their duty, not only to obey it themselves, but to use their influence in rendering it efficient. On the 2nd of August, the Lord Lieutenant announced the royal assent to the Act of Union; and, on the same day, the Irish Parliament sat for the last time. The principal Articles of the Union were the representation of Ireland in the Imperial Parliament by four spiritual peers, sitting by rotation, and by twenty-eight peers elected for life by their own body; and by one hundred commoners, returned according to the existing mode of election, to the Lower House. Freedom of trade with some modifications was to be established between the two kingdoms. The contribution of Ireland to the Imperial revenue was to be in the proportion of two to fifteen for a period of twenty years; after which, a new arrangement was to be made; and, in the meantime, the respective debt and charge of each kingdom was to constitute a distinct consolidated fund. And, lastly, the laws of Ireland, so far as they were compatible with the Act of Union, were to continue in. force until altered or repealed by the Imperial Parliament.

Early in April the Articles of Union were proposed in the English Parliament.

Pitt's speech on

tion.

In opening the resolution which referred to the proposed representation of Ireland in the the representa united House of Commons, Mr. Pitt took occasion to renounce the opinions which he had formerly professed on the subject of Parliamentary Reform. Hitherto he had resisted motions for the amendment of the representation, on the ground that the season was inopportune. But he now declared, that if anything could have thrown a doubt on the advantage to be derived from the legis

1800. PETITIONS OF WOOLLEN MANUFACTURERS.

183

lative union of the two kingdoms, it would have been the necessity of disturbing the representation of England. This, he said, might not be consistent with opinions he had at one time expressed. But he thought, that a man who boasted of his consistency, without regard to time and circumstances, was a slave to the most idle vanity. Seeing the little chance of that species of reform to which he alone had looked, and which was as different from modern schemes as modern schemes were different from the Constitution; seeing also the dreadful consequences which had ensued whenever such false reform had taken place, he should feel ashamed of himself, if any former opinions induced him to think that the form of representation, which, in times like the present, had been found amply sufficient for protecting the interest and securing the happiness of the people, should be idly and wantonly disturbed, from any love of experiment, or predilection for theory.

The English manufacturers of woollen, alarmed at the prospect of Irish competition, peti- Sixth Article tioned, and were heard by counsel and of Union. witnesses, against the Sixth Article of the Union, which provided for the removal of all prohibitions and bounties on the export of articles, the growth, produce, or manufacture of either country. But this was considered in Ireland the most important part of the measure; * and Pitt, whose authority in matters of trade and commerce was supreme, would hear of no modification. The manufacturers, therefore, found little support in the House of Commons, and the resolution was passed. The opposition to the principle of the measure was faintly renewed by the

* 'We are most impatiently looking to the decision of the British Parliament on the woollen business; in the event of which I think the success of our great

measure entirely depends.' Marquis Cornwallis to General Ross. Cornwallis Correspondence, vol. iii. p. 231.

184 CONDUCT OF THE WHIG OPPOSITION. CH. XXXVIII.

English Whigs. Sheridan, in the absence of Fox, who had not been drawn from his retirement to express an opinion on this great question, had led the attack in the preceding session. And now Sheridan relinquished the forlorn hope to Grey. The point taken last year was, that the measure ought not to be entertained, until the consent of the Irish Parliament had been given. Now that the Irish Parliament had consented, it was urged that there should be an appeal to the people. But an appeal to such a constituency as that which returned the Irish House of Commons would have been a mere mockery. The Union was a measure of imperial policy rather than of local interest; and the formal assent of the provincial legislature having been obtained, it was far more fitting that the British Government should propose it on their own responsibility, than on the pretended suffrage of the people of Ireland. Grey's motion, for the reference of the question to the sense of the Irish people, received but little support; nor was he more successful in a crude attempt to couple a branch of the question of the reform of the English representation with the adjustment of the Irish representation in the United House of Commons. The resolutions were agreed to by the Lords after some discussion, and a few divisions, in which the minority varied from three to twelve. A bill, embodying the Articles of Union was then introduced, being the counterpart to the bill which was simultaneously making its progress through the Irish Houses. Both bills received the royal assent about the same time.

It now only remained that the Government should fulfil their part of the bargain, by paying the price at which they had agreed to purchase the Irish Parliament. One million two hundred and sixty thousand pounds were distributed among the proprietors of eighty-four disfranchised boroughs, returning one

1800.

COMPENSATION TO OWNERS OF SEATS.

185

hundred and sixty-eight members; seven thousand five hundred pounds being the sum awarded for each seat. The claims were adjusted by commissioners appointed by the Crown. This compensation, though promised for the purpose of gaining support to the Union, enured to the benefit of some who had opposed the measure. Such was the case with the Marquis of Downshire, who received a larger amount of compensation than any proprietor, having established his claim to seven seats. But, in a Parliament, hardly any member of which was returned by open election, there was a great mass of floating parliamentary influence, which could not be estimated by its value in money. Much of this influence the Government had found it necessary to engage on such terms as the parties chose to exact. The ordinary patronage of the Crown was quite inadequate to meet these special demands. The pension list was largely augmented under the pretext of compensation. Some found it convenient to sell their votes for cash in hand. Others, who did not want money, stipulated for peerages. No sooner had the bill passed the Irish House of Commons, than Lord Cornwallis transmitted to the English Government the names of sixteen persons for elevation to the Irish peerage, on account of their services in the matter of the Union. The Duke of Portland demurred; but both Cornwallis and Castlereagh insisted on the list, as the result of express bargains made in pursuance of the unlimited authority which they had received from the Cabinet. Ultimately, twenty-two peerages were created; five Irish peers received English peerages, and twenty peers were advanced to higher titles. It is a curious fact that one lord, a warm supporter of the Union, refused an earldom twice offered to him, on the ground that he did not consider that he was entitled to a reward for

186

CREATION OF IRISH PEERS.

CH. XXXVIII,

a vote in Parliament.* No other peer or commoner who supported the measure seems to have felt any such jealous scruple.

There was no difficulty in the fufilment of bargains which were to be transacted in titles, place, and money. It would have been well if engagements of a more honourable character, and which conduced greatly, if not mainly, to the easy progress of the question in Ireland, could have been performed with equal punctuality. But the difficulties which impeded, and, for nearly thirty years, frustrated the attempt to satisfy the just expectations of the Catholic body, belong to a subsequent period of this narrative.

*Cornwallis Correspondence, vol. iii. p. 319. The nobleman so honourably distinguished was Lord Gosford. His lordship, in 1806, was advanced to an earldom, but without any disparagement of his former refusal of the dignity.

Some of these promises, it appears, were not fulfilled. Lord Cornwallis, in February, 1804, when his retirement was in immediate contemplation, sent in a list of fifty, from unsatisfied claims for peerage, pensions, and offices. Thirty-five of the persons mentioned in this list were members of

Parliament, and had voted for the Union, and three of the pensions, though granted nominally to persons not in Parliament, were actually to be received by members.

Lord Hardwicke, when he assumed the government, recognised the engagements made by Lord Cornwallis, and, as far as he was able, fulfilled them; but he also resigned before all the claimants had been satisfied; and the Duke of Bedford, who succeeded him, did not consider himself bound by the antecedent promises.'- Cornwallis Correspondence, vol. iii. p. 340.