move first for an address to remove Sir George Yonge from his employment.* When the house was in a committee on the bill for the modification of Poynings' law on the 6th of June, Mr. Yelverton remarked, that as the bill then stood, the privy council were obliged to certify all bills which originated in parliament, and no other, without any alteration; which Mr. Flood contended was not perfectly adequate to the idea entertained by the nation, or what seemed necessary to do justice to the constitution. They ought either to declare against all usurpation, or by an effectual repeal to annihilate those pretensions in future. It was the general opinion that this act took away the power of originating bills, and gave it to the privy council. That should certainly be repealed, for he did not see, by any effect in the present bill, but the privy council might recall this power under a corrupt ministry, and it was not to be supposed that the breed of the Straffords in political principles, was yet extinct: and an arbitrary government might at some future period take advantage of the negligence of the present hour. He understood, and the nation understood, that all they aimed at was a similar constitution with England, but the bill by implication cut them off from that benefit. He understood it to be the constitution of the land, that the whole business of legislation was to be done in public; but there was no provision made by this bill, which could prevent the smothering of bills, or explain the reasons of a silent negative. Mr. Yelverton said, that the right hon. gentleman most certainly agreed in principle with him, and they differed only in mode. Their sentiments were the same. He confessed the bill did not entirely restore what the constitution of England enjoy ed, but circumstanced as Ireland was, it was the best calculated that could be devised. The features of the two kingdoms were not exactly alike; some little difference might be discovered in the traits, but they were actually and in fact the same. To restore the constitution of Ireland as it once stood, would in a great measure be restoring tumult and disorder, and going back to the necessity of laws, when a lord lieutenant had the same power as the king, made peace and war, and exercised all the privileges of sovereignty. History furnished instances, when in the disputes To this Mr. Montgomery observed, that if the crown had been misinformed, and led to bestow an honourable employment upon an unworthy object, it would be right to undeceive it, and address the king to bestow it on one that was deserving of it. And on the 1st of June he declared that Mr. Flood knew nothing of his application, or he would not have permitted it to have been made: but, although he should defer his motion, he still persisted that it was most disgraceful in the late administration to displace, and in the present to permit a gentleman to suffer the loss of 3500l. per ann. for his attachment to the con stitution and interests of his country. of the houses of York and Lancaster, two lord lieutenants and two parliaments were in this kingdom, one arraigning and condemning the acts of the other. They should consider in how liberal and unqualified a manner they had received that constitution. The king sent a message to his parliament in Ireland, to know what was the cause and nature of their discontents: they pointed out, in answer, three things: first, they demanded a renunciation of binding that kingdom by English laws, (and probably the work was effected, while he was yet speaking;) secondly, the modifica tion of Poynings' law, by cutting off the power of the privy councils of either kingdoms to alter their heads of bills; and thirdly, an abridgment of the duration of the mutiny bill. In consequence thereof both houses of the British parliament passed a resolution consenting to the repeal of every law which comprehended them as hitherto bounden. And the question which then remained, was, whether the bill then under consideration were comprehensive enough to meet the general wish. They had overturned the power of the privy council; and it only remained to know whether bills should come back, to notify to parliament the royal dissent. The manner of giving the royal dissent in England, was a gentle denial. Bills were never expressly negatived; but the king said, he had the bill under consideration. He thought the sending such bills over was a sufficient notification of dissent. It was certainly fairer to infer that a bill was under consideration than to receive an express negative. Some few members supported Mr. Flood; but the decided majority of the house appearing to be for Mr. Yelverton's bill as it stood, the question was put and carried without a division. On the next day, when the engrossed bill for the repeal of part of Poynings' law was read, Mr. Walsh returned to the objections made on the day before, which brought on a debate, in which Mr. Flood spoke with unusual eloquence and energy, and moved* an The proposed amendment was, to insert after the word Whereas, the fol lowing words...." doubts have arisen on the construction of the law commonly "called Poynings', and of the third and fourth of Philip and Mary, explanatory "thereof: Be it enacted by the king's most excellent majesty, by and with "the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in "this present parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that the "said law of Poynings', and the said third and fourth of Philip and Mary, be "and stand repealed, save only as follows: that is to say, Be it enacted, that "no parliament shall be holden in this kingdom until a license for that purpose "be had and obtained from his majesty, his heirs and successors, under the great seal of Great Britain; And that all bills, considerations, causes, ordinances, tenours and provisions, of either, or both houses of parliament, shall "be of right certified to his majesty, his heirs and successors, unaltered, "under the great seal of Ireland, by the lord lieutenant, or other chief governor "or governors, and council of this kingdom, for the time being; and that suck " amendment to the bill, which, as the Prime Serjeant (Mr. H Burgh) observed, was in fact a new bill, in lieu of that which had received the sanction of that house on the preceding day; and it would be against all the rules of parliament to receive it. The chief contest of this debate lay between Mr. Flood and the Prime Serjeant. Mr. Yelverton declared, that when he introduced the bill, it was to take away every grievance which had been complained of. In his own apprehension that end was answered, He had no objection, however, to terms more amplified. He then moved, "that to prevent delays in the summoning of parliaments, be it further enacted, that no bill shall be certified into bills and no others, being returned unaltered, under the great seal of Great a Britain, shall be capable of receiving the royal assent or dissent in parlia. ment, according to his majesty's commission, either for giving his assent or "dissent to the same respectively." On this occasion Mr. Grattan said, he thought the bill itself an answer to all the arguments brought against it: he should, however, rather remain a silent admirer of the great talents of those two gentlemen, than take a decided part in it. In the course of this debate, Mr. Ogie threw out an opinion, that a promptness to appeal to the majesty of the people, upon every trivial occasion, weakened the efficacy of such appeal at times when it might be of real advantage: to which Mr. Flood thus replied:.... "I take notice of what my honourable friend has said, only that he may have an opportunity of doing honour to the benignity of his own feelings. But ministers, popular ministers, will always be ready to appeal to the people, when they are conscious that their measures are right. By an appeal to the "people, the present ministry were called into office. And when men of con"dition, to whom their country is dear for every reason, appeal to the people, "they cannot be supposed to appeal to turbulence or commotion, but to the "sober judgment of the public. What was the fate of all our constitutional "claims, 'till the voice of the people thundered for redress? Majorities....rank "majorities...till a voice from America exhorted you to claim your rights, "and the desires of the people prevailed. If ever there be a moment when "the opinion of the people ought to have a tenfold weight; it is now, when "they have lined the cause of argument, and encouraged you to speak a language, which I will not say you feared to speak, but which certainly you were unwilling to speak before. The bill was proposed twenty years ago, "when parliament was weak and impotent: it was then rejected with disdain. "And will you now, when you have your constitution in your hands, when you "have your constitution in your arms, will you now accept of such a humiliating "condition, and disgrace the cause of your country by such a pitiful ex "pedient." 66 And after he had made his motion, concluded his speech in the following manner:...." And now, Mr. Speaker, if I have a feeling in the utmost pulse "of my heart, it is that which tells me, that this is a great and awful day; it "is that which tells me, that if, after twenty years service, I should pass this "question by negligently, I should be a base betrayer of my country; it is that "which tells me, that the whole earth does not contain a bribe sufficient to "make me trifle with the liberties of this land. I do, therefore, wish to sub"scribe my name to what I now propose, to have them handed down together to "posterity, that posterity may know there was at least one man, who disap"proved of the temporising bill now before the house; a bill that future par"liaments, if they have power, will reform; if they have not, will with tears deplore." "Great Britain as a clause or consideration for holding a parlia "ment in this kingdom, but that parliaments may be holden in "this kingdom, although no such bill shall have been certified "previous to the meeting thereof." The question being put that the bill should pass with Mr. Yelverton's amendment, was agreed to without a division. The grand and critical opposition which Mr. Flood and his few adherents in the House of Commons made to the proceed. ings then going forward to accomplish the demands of the Irish parliament, was grounded upon a most ungracious suggestion of the insincerity and duplicity of Great Britain, in yielding under her embarrassments to the repeal of the declaratory law of Geo. I. that by seeming to yield unconditionally to Ireland, she seized on the generous credulity of her nature, and took full advantage of a change in her own administration: that Great Britain retained the full principle of her right to legislate for every part of the empire: the mover for that repeal in the British House of Com mons, held it externally, and the seconder of the motion held it both externally and internally. That a repeal, he insisted, with out an express renunciation of the right, would leave Ireland precisely where she was. That as the declaratory act made no alteration in the pre-existing law, so the repeal of that declaratory act would also make no alteration in the pre-existing law: and that without some positive renunciation of the right to legislate internally and externally on the part of Great Britain, their work would be but half done, and Ireland might again be enslaved by the first corrupt minister, who should choose to avail himself of the unsuspecting and too liberal conduct of Ireland. Mr. Flood's doctrines gained more proselytes out of doors, than in the parliament. Mr. Grattan, and by far the greater part of the house confided implicitly in the good faith of Great Britain, and contended, that the simple repeal went the whole length of their own demands, and gave full redress to the grievance they had complained of; and they opposed any further attempt at procuring concessions from Great Britain: conceiving what had already been done and was about to be done to be completely satisfactory in establishing the freedom and independence of Ireland. It must however be acknowledged, that the arguments of Mr. Flood were very pow erful, and had they been urged in their proper season would have carried much more weight in the house. As it was, both Mr. Yelverton and Mr. Grattan declared in the house, that if they could be convinced, that the simple repeal was insufficient, they would most cordially join Mr. Flood in his motion. Never was contest more fiercely fought, than this between the two rival patriots Messrs. Flood and Grattan. It ended on the division of the house upon Mr. Flood's motion on the 19th of July, 1782,* for leave to bring in the heads of a bill for declaring the sole and exclusive right of the Irish parliament to make laws in all cases whatsoever internal and external for the kingdom of Ireland. The death of the Marquis of Rockingham had occasioned dissensions in the British cabinet, which obliged Mr. Fox, Lord John Cavendish, Mr. Burke, and other of his friends to resign. He could not submit to remain in a cabinet, in which he and his friends, who had come in and acted uniformly upon an open principle, were outvoted; he had declared before the death of the Marquis, that if certain measures were carried in the cabinet, he should resign; and as they had been carried since his death, he did resign, disdaining to be responsible for measures he disapproved of, or to lend his name to a system, in which he had no share. In the new arrangement of Lord Shelburne's adminis 9 Journ Com. p. 378. The journals merely say, it passed in the negative. Mr. Dobbs says in his history, p. 121, "that the minority on that day consisted only of six." †The new arrangement was as follows: The Earl of Shelburne - To be first lord of the Treasury, vice the Marquis of Rockingham 2 Principal Secretaries of State, vice the Earl of Shelburne and Mr. Fox. Lord Grantham R. Jackson, Esq. -Chancellor of the Exchequer, vice Lord John Cavendish. Henry Dundas, Esq. lord) Sir George Yonge, Bart. Lords of the Treasury, vice Lord Althorpe and Lords of the Admiralty, vice Lord Duncannon and -Paymaster of the Forces, vice Edmund Burke, Esq. } To be treasurer of the Navy, vice Colonel Barrè. Hon. William Wyndham Secretary to ditto, vice Colonel Fitzpatrick. Grenville The following account of this change of administration, from the Annual Register for the year, is attributed to a principal member of the late administration, Mr. Burke. The short space of time that intervened between the death of the Marquis of Rockingham and the prorogation of parliament, afforded no opportunity of discovering in what manner the House of Commons stood affected towards the changes that had taken place in the administration of public affairs, in consequence of the former event. The weight of the new minister in that assembly, either from political connexion, from private friendships or public favour, was known to be very inconsiderable; and the support which he might otherwise have derived from the power of the crown, was likely to be much reduced by the operation of the bill of reform, and by the steady attachment of most of those members, who either owed their seats to the influence of government, or were led by a sort of principle to give a general support to administration, under the auspices of a noble lord, one of his predecessors in office. The recess of parliament was therefore considered as a circumstance highly favourable to the minister, and was |