4th. The exclusion of the English House of Peers, and of the English King's Bench, from any judicial authority in this realm.

5th. The restoration of the Irish Peers to their final judicature. The independence of the Irish Parliament in its sole and exclusive legislature.

His concluding words were, "These are my terms; I will take nothing from the Crown," [App. 5.]

The two addresses, as resolved by the Lords and Commons, were presented by Mr. Secretary Fox to the British House of Commons, on May 1st, 1782. It is worthy of remark that in Mr. Grattan's elaborate resolution no mention is made of the Catholic question as being either a "grievance" or "a just cause of discontent or jealousy."

On the 14th of May the House adjourned for three weeks, in order to give the British Parliament time to take into consideration the claims made by Ireland. On the 17th of the same month, the Earl of Shelburne in the Peers, and Mr. Fox in the Commons, brought forward the subject of the Irish addresses. Mr. Fox moved "that it is the opinion of this Committee (a Committee of the whole House) that the Act of the 6th Geo. I. ought to be repealed;" he declared, "it was downright tyranny to make laws for the internal Government of a country who were not represented amongst those by whom such laws were made." "If," said Fox, "I make a proposition hurtful to the pride of Englishmen, the fault is not mine. It is the fault of those who left it in the power of the Volunteers to make the demands, who left it in their power, not by leaving arms in their hands, but by leaving them injuries and oppressions." The proposal was unanimously adopted, and Mr. Powis reported two resolutions:

1. That the Act of Geo. I. ought to be repealed.

2. That it is indispensable to the interest and happiness of both Kingdoms that the connexion between them should be established by mutual consent, upon a solid and permanent basis." A Bill to repeal the obnoxious Act was ordered, and an address to the Crown in the terms of the second resolution.

The terms in which the Duke of Portland conveyed the Royal

assent to the Irish claim were flattering. On the 27th of May, in his speech, he said, "It gives me the utmost satisfaction that the first time I have occasion to address you, I find myself enabled by the magnanimity of the King and the wisdom of the Parliament of Great Britain, to assure you that immediate attention has been paid to your representations, and that the British legislature have concurred in a resolution to remove the causes of your discontents and jealousies, and are united in a desire to gratify every wish expressed in your late addresses to the throne."

"These benevolent intentions of His Majesty, and the willingness of his Parliament of Great Britain to second his gracious purposes, are unaccompanied by any stipulation or condition whatever. The good faith, the generosity, the honour of this nation, afford them the surest pledge of a corresponding disposition on your part, to promote and perpetuate the harmony, the stability and the glory of the Empire."

The day following His Majesty's answer to the address was itself laid on the table, and on the same day a reply was agreed on. Its material parts were as follow:

"To assure His Majesty that we conceive the resolution of an unqualified, unconditional repeal of the 6th of George the First to be a measure of consummate wisdom and justice, suitable to the dignity and eminence of both nations, exalting the character of both, and furnishing a perpetual pledge of mutual amity.

"That gratified in these particulars, we do assure His Majesty that no constitutional question between the two nations will any longer exist, which can interrupt their harmony; and that Great Britain, as she has approved of our firmness, so may she rely on our affection.

"That we remember, and do repeat our determination to stand and fall with the British nation."

On the 29th of May, there was appointed a day of General Thanksgiving, "To return thanks for the many blessings bestowed on the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and particularly for that union, harmony, and cordial affection which has been happily brought about between these two Kingdoms, whose interests are inseparably the same, by the wisdom and justice of

His Majesty and his Councils in forming and re-establishing their mutual rights, by which the strength, honour, happiness and glory of the whole Empire are greatly augmented; and for the great success of His Majesty's arms against our natural enemies, which we trust will bring about a happy, stable, and lasting general peace to these Kingdoms."* On the 30th the House resolved itself into a Committee of the whole House to take into consideration "what sum of money it may be proper to grant for the purpose of purchasing an estate and building a mansion to be settled on Henry Grattan, in testimony of our gratitude for the unequalled services he has done this Kingdom." A sum of £100,000 was proposed, which at Mr. Grattan's own request was reduced to £50,000. Mr. Conolly then stated,† "He was happy to inform the House, that the Lord Lieutenant did most perfectly coincide in their generous intentions, so congenial to his own feelings; and that the memory of such great events might be perpetuated, he wished to relinquish to the object of the nation's esteem that house in the Park which Parliament had lately purchased for the country residence of His Majesty's representative. This House, properly furnished, with an annuity of £2,500 a year, would be a handsome thing and less burdensome to the nation than the £50,000 proposed," -a mark of appreciation which contrasts strangely with the fact, that Mr. Flood, who in 1781 resigned the most lucrative post in the gift of the Crown because he disapproved of the policy then followed, and co-operated with Mr. Grattan, had been removed from the list of the Privy Council by Lord North, and was not restored to honour on this day of General Thanksgiving.

An address to the Duke of Portland followed, in which he was assured that "these are not the trite expressions of mere formal duty, but the pure effusions of genuine gratitude from a free people to a chief Governor, who has announced from the throne the ratification of their freedom, descended from a line of constitutional ancestors, inheriting their principles with their blood." They added, that we cannot but rejoice that the name of Bentinck, so intimately connected with the great era of British liberty, will be handed

66

* Com. Jour. 29th May, 1782.

† P. Deb. vol. 1, 379.

down to the latest posterity, inseparably blended with the full and perfect establishment of the Constitution of Ireland."

Having thus exhausted congratulations and, in the intoxication of success, discovered in each other the most splendid virtues, and vowed eternal friendship with Great Britain, the Irish Parliament put its hand into the Exchequer and voted £100,000 for raising men for the fleet. Mr. Yelverton the same day brought in a Bill to repeal Poyning's Law, whilst in the British House of Commons the 6th of George I. was repealed. [App. 6.] Mr. Flood contended that the mere repeal of a declaratory act fell short of the requirements of the occasion. There were but two modes of dealing with the difficulty; the one, by a renunciation of what England held to be right, but which it was ready to give up, and which, however, it was foreseen might give offence to the people of Ireland, who contended that England never had such right; the other by declaring that England, though she had exercised, had never been legally possessed of such right. To this latter mode it was justly apprehended that the Parliament of Great Britain would not be brought to consent, and Mr. Fox therefore adopted simple repeal as most consistent with the spirit of the people of Ireland, and the dignity of the English Parliament.*

Mr. Flood brought his opinions before the House on the 19th of July, contending that the mere repeal of a declaratory law did not affect the principle, and moved "That leave be given to bring in heads of a Bill for declaring the sole and exclusive right of the Irish Parliament to make laws in all cases whatever, internal and external, for the Kingdom of Ireland;" a motion which was negatived without a division. Mr. Grattan thereupon protested "That leave was refused to bring in said heads of a Bill because the sole and exclusive right of legislation in the Irish Parliament, in all cases, whether internally or externally, hath been already asserted by Ireland, and fully, finally, and irrevocably acknowledged by the British Parliament," which was adopted without division.

* "Memoirs of Right Hon. Henry Flood." Dublin, 1838, p. 160.

While these public expressions of mutual confidence were being exchanged, we are permitted to refer to a correspondence which throws much light on the matter, and which twenty years later was printed by order of the English Parliament. It is the official correspondence between the Duke of Portland, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and Lord Shelburne and others. [App. 7.]

The importance of this correspondence cannot be over-estimated; it places beyond question the fact that efforts were even then being made to arrange the terms of a Union between the two countries, and that every influence within Parliament and outside of it was being suborned for that purpose. It appears to afford an explanation of the hopes and intentions of English Statesmen in their subsequent dealing with Irish Parliamentary votes. To carry through the proposed Union, Ministerial ascendency in Irish Councils was indispensable, and throughout the whole period of so-called Independence it was steadily maintained. How far it exercised an influence on debates and determined divisions will be apparent when the proper time for such considerations arises.

With this correspondence fresh in memory the Duke of Portland terminated the proceedings by a speech of congratulation and advice; he observed, "You have provided for the impartial and unbiassed administration of justice by the Act for securing the independency of the judges; you have adopted one of the most effectual securities of British freedom by limiting the Mutiny Act in point of duration; you have secured the most invaluable of all human blessings, the personal liberty of the subject, by passing the Habeas Corpus Act; you have cherished and enlarged the wise principles of toleration, and made considerable advances in abolishing those distinctions which have too long impeded the progress of industry, and divided the nation.

Many and great national objects must present themselves to your consideration during the recess from Parliamentary business; but what I would most earnestly press upon you, as that upon which your domestic peace and happiness, and the prosperity of the Empire at this moment most immediately depends, is to cultivate and diffuse those sentiments of affection and confidence, which are now happily restored between the two kingdoms. Convince the