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"Nootka Sound, a strip of land, a barren island, a remote " and uncultivated tract; the speculation of the produce of a "waste, or the vision of a punctilio of honour, do not now, as "once, kindle Europe to arms; it is Europe herself, and her “islands that are at stake; princes, potentates, her orders and "degrees, the creature and the Creator, man and the Godhead. "It follows from this, that the present object of the war is not, "because it cannot be, to interfere with the internal government “of France, but rather prevent her interference with every realm " and government, systematic or actual, by arms, by intrigues, or "by money. Little does the present state of the war attack the "liberty of France: I wish she had liberty: I wish there was "any thing in her internal situation that promised liberty to her"self, or security to Europe.

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"No nation understands liberty, perhaps better than you do. "Did you in your struggles ever imagine such a species of li"berty? Her liberty is death, and her state Bedlam; where the แ sceptre is broken into ten thousand scorpions in the hands of "ten thousand maniacs, scourging one another for offences, that "are only exceeded by the barbarity, with which they are punish"ed: however, that is not now the question, nor is the ques❝tion on the causes of the war, but the actual state of it.....the danger of Europe, the danger of Ireland; and as formerly you struggled for the British constitution, in opposition to the claim "of the British parliament, so now you contend, in conjunction "with Great Britain, for that constitution against France, and "for that constitution with every thing beside included, you "fight for your island. To be weak at any time, is to be mise"rable; but to be weak at this time, is to be nothing. You gave "to the cause your troops, but you must give your heart along "with them, and promote the courage of your troops by the gallant sympathy of your councils. By opposing France, you "have made a determined enemy; by leaving England, you would "secure a suspicious friend: pushed as she now is for her trident, "she will never forget your cordiality, or forgive your coldness. "On the supposition of your coldness, she will say, that in her "days of triumph you talked plausibly to her; and she will as plausibly leave you, accordingly, to all the evils that are comแ mon to the empire, without the participation of its pride or its "prosperity, she will leave you to a species of government "and connexion supported by job; when a few, affecting to monopolize the loyalty of the country, would monopolize the "powers of government, and would rule you with a rod of iron; "but on the supposition of your cordiality.....on the supposition "that the nation puts her own image on her own loyalty, and "takes a leading part in cultivating British connexion against

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"French designs.....then Britain must regard your people as 'an “invaluable ally, and their free constitution as an active and vital "principle of her empire. This cordiality is your dower....not liberty for that you would surrender; nor money, for that you do not in any considerable amount possess; not your men, "numerous and brave as they have flocked to your standard: no, "it is your disposition. What is that disposition? An absolute "unqualified anti-gallicism of sentiment! Your hands are valu"able, but that is inestimable, and in that sentiment those hard "hands bring a better dower than the riches of the East...... "No heiress Ireland, but an unadorned bride! And yet, in "that one marriageable sentiment, she will prove to the empire "the fruitful mother of invaluable blessings; the garden of the "empire is before her.....but touch not the plant of Gallic growth, "its fruit is death, though it be not the tree of knowledge.

"Accordingly you perceive his majesty thanks you for your "extraordinary efforts, for those exertions of generosity and "( courage which animated the allegiance, and now constitute "the character of your country; but above all, he thanks you "for that inestimable disposition to exercise those free and in"dependent constitutional powers so illustriously obtained, in ' support of the throne; in cultivating the connexion, and in "maintaining the high station you now possess in Europe, in "opposition to the natural enemy of these kingdoms, and to "principles incompatible with any form or system of liberty or 66 government; but to be attached to one another, external energy "must arise from internal union, and without that, your attach"ment to England, and your allegiance to the king, though ex"tremely honourable, would be entirely useless.

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"His majesty therefore, in the second part of his speech re"commends national harmony; he bids perpetual peace to all your animosities; he touches with the sceptre those troubled 66 waters, which have long shattered the weary bark of your country, under her various and false pilots, for ages of insane "persecution and impious theology; it is a pious and profound 66 recommendation, which enlightened the speech of 1793, when "the olive descended from the throne: on the experiment of "that advice, he congratulated the liberality of parliament-he "spreads his parental wings over all his children-discerning "with parental affection and a father's eye, in the variety of "their features, the fidelity of their resemblance.

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"The union of all the property of the country in support of "the laws, and all the talents in support of the property, with measures to redress and to unite, accompanied with a graciousness of manner to the subject, that he may feel not only a "privilege under the government, but a pride in the condition

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of being a subject: another pledge of his allegiance, is an ex"periment worthy of a wise government, whose primary object "is your prosperity, and whose secondary object is your love; a government, looking in its arrangement of measures for the "constitution, a solid strength, and for itself an honest power, "to administer the country according to its confidence in pur"suit of its advantages, with a spirit too high for resentment, "and alike superior to plunder or proscription.

"From the union of the present generation, the public care "of the speech proceeds to the education of the rising genera

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"On this subject it is intended, that a plan should be submit"ted for colleges for the education of Catholic clergy, who are 46 now excluded from the continent; and also two or more col"leges, where the children of the Protestant clergy shall be in a "great proportion on the foundation, and where the patronage "of the minister will be less considered than that of the Univer

"sity.

"Of the disturbances in Meath and the borders, the speech "is silent; wisely, lest it should magnify a banditti into a re"bellion, implicate the lower orders in the crime of a gang of robbers, and bespeak on the part of his majesty, any thing less "than a complete satisfaction in the loyalty of all his people.

"But though the mischief has not been stated, the thing has "not been neglected; on the contrary, means have been taken "already, and further means will be resorted to: and if the "laws, when put in full execution, are not sufficient, parliament "will be resorted to for power to extinguish a banditti, which "cannot be tolerated by any government, and must now prepare "to forfeit either their lives or their practices.

"There is a part of the speech, on which no subject and no "Irishman can speak without emotions of joy and affection"the marriage of his royal highness the prince of Wales, an ❝event the most auspicious; whether we consider the mild go"vernment of his family, the blessings this country has derived "under his father, or the qualities of the august personage him"self, a blessing to these countries; but I should think him "doubly a blessing, if he shall communicate to posterity the graciousness of his manners, or the perfections of his mind." This speech of Mr. Grattan's explicitly pledged the principles of the new lieutenant's government to the Irish nation; and it becomes essentially necessary to weigh them maturely, in order to bring within their bearing the particular measures, which were afterwards brought forward by his excellency. Mr. Duquery was the only person in the house who did not consent to wave the original cause of the war, which he reprobated with

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pointed severity: to him Mr. George Ponsonby very fully re plied; and the motion for the address was carried without a division: as was also the motion of Mr. Conolly for an address* to the lord lieutenant: and a committee was appointed to prepare them.

The unanimous sentiments of the House of Commons towards earl Fitzwilliam, who was so soon recalled, and whose recall produced such a change of measures in government and disposition in the people as will be hereafter noticed, are given for the satisfaction of the reader.

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"To his excellency WILLIAM, earl FITZWILLIAM, lord lieutenant general "and general governor of Ireland.

"The humble address of the knights, citizens, and burgesses, in parliament "assembled.

"MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY,

"WE, his majesty s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the commons of Ireland, in parliament assembled, beg leave to return your excel. . lency our sincere thanks for your most excellent speech from the throne. "We assure your excellency, that we consider his majesty's appointment of "your excellency to be our chief governor, as a signal instance of his majes "ty's attention to the interests, and condescension to the wishes of his people "of Ireland; that we are convinced, that in your excellency we shall always "find a ready concurrence with his majesty's paternal wishes, and with the "wise measures of his parliament, for the happiness of his subjects. That " on a cordial affection to the whole of Ireland, and on a conduct suitable to "that sentiment, your excellency wishes to found your own personal estima❝tion and your reputation, in the execution of the great trust committed by "the most beneficent sovereign to your care. On our part, your excellency "may depend upon a firm and affectionate support, prompted by inclination as much as by duty. We shall second, with peculiar pleasure, the measures "of a chief governor, no less remarkable for his unshaken loyalty to his soIvereign than for his invincible attachment to the rights and liberties of the "people, and whose possessions in this country, however ample, afford a "pledge much less valuable than his character for his attention to its interests. "We return your excellency our sincere acknowledgments for the kind "opinion you have expressed of our conduct; and we assure your excellency, we shall not only be desirous, but zealous to emulate the magnanimity of a "sovereign, formed to lead a nation that has ever been as firm to assert its "liberties, as affectionately devoted to a government which maintains its own "authority for the sole purpose of supporting those liberties.

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"Cordially attached as we are to that sovereign, and to that constitution "which it is his glory to protect, we warmly participate in the joy your excel. "lency feels in communicating to us the marriage of his royal highness the "prince of Wales with the princess Carolina Amelia Elizabeth, daughter of "his most illustrious highness the duke of Brunswick and Lunenburg; a prin"cess of that illustrious house to whose mild and constitutional sway these "kingdoms are highly indebted for the blessings they enjoy; and which we "trust will, by this marriage, be perpetuated under the same house.

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"The communication which your excellency has made to us by his majesty's "commands, of his majesty's having concluded a treaty of amity, commerce, "and navigation with the United States of America, we receive with the highest pleasure; and we entertain a perfect conviction, that it has been his majesty's object to remove, as far as possible, all grounds of jealousy and misunderstanding, and to improve an intercourse beneficial to both states; and your excellency may be assured, that so soon as your excellency shall "direct a copy of it to be laid before us, we will consider what provisions may " on our part be necessary for carrying into effect a treaty in which the com"merce of this kingdom is so materially and extensively interested.

In the mean time the Catholics, buoyed up with the firmest confidence of success, were preparing to back their intended application to parliament with all the weight, that time and circumstances could produce in their favour. Their sanguine unanimi

"We learn from your excellency with the truest satisfaction the confidence "of our gracious sovereign in our loyalty and zeal for his service and the good "of our country; and we assure your excellency, that we shall not delay to "make a provision for the public exigencies, adequate to the present awful "situation of affairs. It is a great consolation to us to learn from your excel"lency, that the revenue and commerce of the kingdom have not only kept " up, but even augmented, notwithstanding the war in which we are engaged; "advantages which, under the Divine Providence, we thankfully acknowledge "to be due to the care and vigilance of our sovereign, in the general protec"tion provided by him for all his subjects.

"We are sensible of your excellency's wisdom in recommending to us to "cultivate all our domestic advantages in commerce, in manufactures, and "such public works as have appeared directed to promote these important ob"jects, which your excellency justly considers as the true foundation of pub"lic revenue and of public strength; and we assure your excellency, that "while we reflect with peculiar satisfaction on the success of our efforts for the "prosperity of the linen manufacture, we do also gratefully acknowledge, that "its rapid and unexampled increase has been materially promoted by the liberal encouragement it receives in the rich and extensive market of Great Britain, a circumstance tending to cement the union, and perfect the harmony which "subsists, and we trust will ever subsist, between the two kingdoms.

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"Attached as we are to the general cause of religion, learning and civiliza"tion, we feel ourselves bound to return your excellency our warmest thanks, "for recommending to our care the state of education in this kingdom; we "feel that considerable advantage have been already derived from the Protes"tant charter schools, which shall as usual receive our attention; but as these "advantages have been but partial, and as circumstances have made other "considerations connected with this important subject highly necessary, your "excellency may be assured, that we shall endeavour to order every thing "relating to it in the manner which shall, upon the most mature deliberation, "seem most beneficial and the best adapted to the occasions of the several "descriptions of men which compose his majesty's faithful subjects of Ireland. "Engaged in a contest which calls not only for great fortitude and an un"usual share of public spirit, but for much constancy and perseverance, to oppose the arms and machinations of a power which, under the ancient forms " of its internal government, was always highly formidable to the neighbouring nations, but which at present, in a new shape, but with the same ambi"tion, with more extensive and systematic designs, and with means far more effective, threatens nothing less than the entire subversion of the liberty and "independence of every state in Europe, we thank your excellency for com"municating to us his majesty's gracious intention of calling upon the skill, courage and experience of all his subjects, wherever dispersed, and of avail*ing himself of the united strength and zeal of all his people; and your ex"cellency may rest assured of our cordial co-operation in all such measures as are calculated to carry into execution this wise and salutary purpose. "We request your excellency to represent to his majesty our unshaken loy"alty to his royal person, family and government, and our fixed and unalterable determination to support to the utmost of our power our sister country against the rancorous animosity and dangerous rivalry of her ancient enemy. "Great Britain, assailed by France, may rely with confidence on the firm and "affectionate support of Ireland; and we intreat your excellency to believe, "that we esteem it a signal happiness to this nation to be governed, in such a "crisis as the present, by a nobleman whose manners are formed to concili

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