warmly for the inquiry. Mr. Fox compared the dismissal of earl Fitzwilliam with the resignation and dismission of lord Carlisle, lord Temple, lord Northington, and others; and pointed out the difference between this and all of them. In the cases of all those noble persons, the dismissals and resignations arose in consequence of the change of administration, and therefore they differed entirely from the present case. Some persons might perhaps object to this motion, as the very words of it conveyed an idea that it was dangerous to suffer any inquiry whatever to take place, as it stated circumstances which went to infer that Ireland was in danger. The conduct of earl Fitzwilliam was certainly very dangerous. But to whom was it dangerous: to the people of Ireland? By no means. It was dangerous only to the few individuals whose plan it was to govern Ireland by corruption: it was dangerous to those who held the interest and the sentiments of the people of that country in contempt; and therefore the cause of the removal of the noble earl upon that principle was easily perceived. The noble earl was, he believed, the only person who had the good fortune to obtain the applauses of all the Catholics and Dissenters of Ireland; the only person who, since the acces sion of the house of Brunswick, had been able to unite all parties in that kingdom; and that circumstance, perhaps, to his majesty's present advisers, was a sufficient reason for his recal. Here Mr. Fox entered into a short history of facts with regard to the administration of earl Fitzwilliam in Ireland; as also of the applications which were made to the throne by delegates from that country on behalf of the Catholics, and maintained the right which the House of Commons of this country had to institute inquiries into public matters which related to the interests of both. He was of opinion, that what had been allowed to the Catholics in that country and in this, so far as it went, was highly proper: but that while there was any distinction made between them and the Protestants with regard to political rights, they would still continue to have claims upon the justice of the legislature. His opinion, indeed, was well known to those who had done him the honour to attend to him: it was, that at all times, in all countries, and upon all occasions, there should be no distinctions in political rights, on account of religious opinions. He thought that the prejudices of the people were, generally speaking, worthy of attention. But when prejudices bent against the general principles of toleration, he did not think them entitled to much respect. What was the case in Ireland when lord Fitzwilliam became lord lieutenant? When he arrived in Ireland, he found the Protestants so far from having any alarm at the idea of the emancipation of the Catholics, that they all wished for it: even when his recal was known to be about to take place, there was only one

place in the whole kingdom where alarm was affected to be felt, in consequence of the plan proposed in favour of the Catholics; and even there the vote upon that occasion was carried by a small majority, and therefore it was demonstrable, that the almost unanimous wish of the people of Ireland, was for the entire emancipation of the Catholics.

An end was put to the most warm and interesting debate during the session, by Mr. Pitt moving for the order of the day, which was carried by 180 against 49.

The spirit of defenderism increased and spread very widely in this year, through the kingdom; and many even in Dublin were found to have entered into this execrable band. To them were attributed the outrages committed upon some of the first officers of the state, immediately after the arrival of ord Cam

The nature of these outrages appears from the proclamation published on the occasion.

"By the Lord Lieutenant and Council of Ireland,

"CAMDEN.

"A PROCLAMATION.

"WHEREAS on the thirty-first day of March last, after "his excellency the lord lieutenant had been sworn into office, before his grace "the lord archbishop of Armagh and his excellency the lord chancellor, the "lords justices, a great number of persons assembled in and near his majesty's "castle of Dublin, did most daringly and illegally insult the said archbishop "of Armagh and the said lord chancellor, as they were returning from the "said castle, by throwing stones at their carriages, and did pursue the said lord chancellor from the said castle of Dublin, to his house in Ely-place, and "did assault him several times by throwing paving stones of a very large size "at him, by one of which the said lord chancellor was struck and wounded in "his head.

"And whereas various mobs assembled at the same time, in various parts "of the city of Dublin, and did attack several houses therein.

"Now we the lord lieutenant and council, being determined to bring to con"dign punishment, the persons guilty of offences of a tendency so dangerous "to the public peace, and to the lives and properties of the inhabitants of this "city, do by this our proclamation publish and declare, That if any person or "persons shall within the space of six calendar months from the date hereof, "discover any of the persons who committed any of the offences aforesaid, or "who advised, encouraged, instigated, moved, stimulated, or incited the persons concerned in the said offences, or any of them, to commit the same, "such person or persons so discovering shall receive as a reward the sum of "five hundred pounds, for the person or persons who made the attack on the "lord primate and lord chancellor, or either of them, and one hundred pounds "for every of the first three persons who shall be apprehended and convicted "of attacking the said houses or any of them.

"And we do likewise publish and declare, that if any of the persons con"cerned in the said offences shall discover any other of the persons who com "mitted any of the said offences, so that such person or persons so discovered, "shall be convicted thereof, such person or persons so discovering, shall, over "and above said reward, receive his majesty's most gracious pardon for the "said offences.

"And we do hereby strictly charge and command the lord mayor of the city " of Dublin, and all justices of the peace of said city of Dublin, and of the

den in the metropolis. They also assailed the house of Mr. John Claudius Beresford. The characters of the chancellor, and of the whole house of Beresford, were particularly obnoxious to the people at this time. They had given a decided opposition to parliamentary reform and Catholic emancipation: earl Fitzwilliam had wished to remove the chancellor, but was over-ruled by the British cabinet: he had actually removed Mr. Beresford from the revenue board, though he were afterwards restored by a more powerful mandate. They were prominently active in procuring the removal of lord Fitzwilliam; and on that account also they were exposed to the full resentment of the mob.

In the provinces too the outrages of the Defenders were increased and multiplied to such a degree, that in some counties gentlemen were forced to keep in their houses a constant military guard to preserve them and their families from depredation and murder. This was perhaps the most awful and critical period of modern Irish history. From this time the very tint of moderation seems to have been effaced from every transaction that affected the public weal. There certainly were at this time, many sub-divisions of the people into particular classes, who associated together for different purposes, most with laudable views, many with motives of conscious innocence, others with designs of a suspicious tendency, and some with intentions directly nefarious. But one grand division superseded all these sub-discriminations:

county of Dublin, and all sheriffs and other magistrates and officers within "their several jurisdictions, and all other his majesty's loving subjects, that "they use their utmost endeavours and diligence in suppressing all riots and "unlawful assemblies, and in apprehending, and causing to be apprehended, "all and every the persons concerned in the said audacious offences.

"And we do hereby caution his majesty's loving and peaceable subjects, carefully to avoid all unlawful assemblies, lest they should expose themselves "to the consequences, necessarily resulting from the executing the duties of "the magistrates in the preservation of the public peace. "Given at the council chamber in Dublin,

the castle and the popular party. The general marshalling of individuals into these two great bodies, was effected with so much heat and acrimonious zeal, that tyranny and treason became the only medium through which they respectively viewed the conduct and actions of each other. To this preternatural tension of principle are to be reduced all the excesses of violence, which for some years afflicted that ill-fated country, till the powerful balm of incorporate union was applied to heal and prevent the evil. It is impossible so to analyze the sincerity of individuals, as to arraign their professed views and intentions. No man can so narrowly watch the workings of his neighbour's mind, as to ascertain the instant at which justifiable conviction takes place: few can answer even for their own. Allowing therefore, what every man claims for himself, full credit for sincerity in that which he professes to do for the good of his country, and the preservation of its constitution, we proceed to the detail of what was attempted and effected by the different parties under this great pervading maxim, that different measures adopted with the same motive may and generally do produce contrary effects.

The bulk of the nation unanimously looked up with confidence to the administration of earl Fitzwilliam: all parties were united in support of it, and the civil union of different religions threatened immediate overthrow to whatever party existed in Ireland, that wished, promoted, or throve by the internal disunion of the people. For more than a century this disuniting principle had been the regular system and avowed language of the government in every speech from the throne. Protestant union of less than a million against the common enemy consisting of three millions, was encouraged and enforced: the private emoluments and advantages of that system were long felt and enjoyed, even after the public had ceased to avow it.

A power from this side of the water had replaced those persons whom the people at that time looked upon as their greatest enemies in the plenitude of dominion. Irritated at the popular wish to displace them, they resumed their former situations with redoubled disposition to strong and severe measures, which their adversaries called arbitrary rule and oppression. Henceforward the popular societies began to settle into a system of mysterious secrecy, infinitely more dangerous than their former plan of confident and open boldness. This was the fatal effect of a change of measures. The secret committee of the lords explicitly said, that "the attainment of what are called parliamentary reform "and Catholic emancipation were and continued to be held out "by them merely as a pretence for their associations, and with a

* 7 Lords' Journal, 580.

❝ view to seduce persons, who were not apprized of their traito ❝rous designs, to unite with them." The disappointment and soreness of the public mind disposed immense multitudes to associate upon these lawful, and, according to them, most laudable grounds. Some leading heads of these societies, whose real views, according to the report of the secret committee, always were to separate Ireland from Great Britain, took advantage of the critical moment, and converted this increased austerity of government into a most powerful engine for forwarding their traitorous designs. That report informs us, that "in 1795* the "test of the society underwent a striking revision, the words in "the amendment test stand, a full representation of all the peo" ple,' omitting the words in the Commons' House of Parlia"ment:' the reason for which had been admitted by threef mem

* 17 Commons Journal, Appendix DCCCXXIX.

These were Messrs. O'Connor, Emmett, and Dr. M'Nevin, who, whilst in prison wrote a detailed memoir of the origin and progress of the Irish union, and delivered it in to the Irish government. It has been since printed, together with their report of their examination before the committee, whom they accuse of having published a partial and garbled account of it. In that work, they give the following account of the progress of the union at this critical period. (page 3) "The first of these societies was, as we best recollect, in the year "1795. In order to secure co-operation and uniformity of action, they organ"ized a system of committees, baronial, county, and provincial, and even na"tional; but it was long before the skeleton of this organization was filled up. "While the formation of these societies was in agitation, the friends of liberty "were gradually, but with a timid step, advancing towards republicanism; they "began to be convinced, that it would be as easy to obtain a revolution as a re. "form, so obstinately was the latter resisted; and as the conviction impressed "itself on their minds, they were inclined not to give up the struggle, but to "extend their views; it was for this reason that in their test the words are "an equal representation of all the people of Ireland,' without inserting the "word parliament. This test embraced both the republican and the reformer, "and left to future circumstances to decide, to which point the common strength "should be directed; but still the whole body, we are convinced, would rejoice "to stop short at reform. Another consideration, however, led the minds of "reflecting united Irishmen to look towards a republic and separation from "England; this was the war with France; they clearly perceived that their "strength was not likely to become speedily equal to wresting from the Eng"lish and the borough interest in Ireland even a reform; foreign assistance "would, therefore, perhaps become necessary; but foreign assistance could "only be hoped for in proportion as the object to which it would be applied a was important to the party giving it. A reform in the Irish parliament was "no object to the French, a separation of Ireland from England was a mighty "one indeed. Thus they reasoned: shall we, between two objects, confine "ourselves to the least valuable, even though it is equally difficult to be ob "tained, if we consider the relation of Ireland with the rest of Europe.

"Whatever progress the united system had made among the Catholics "throughout the kingdom, until after the recal of lord Fitzwilliam, notwith"standing many resolutions, which had appeared from them, manifesting a "growing spirit, they were considered as entertaining an habitual spirit for "monarchy, but also as being less attached than the Presbyterians to political "liberty. There were, however, certain men among them, who rejoiced at "the rejection of their claims, because it gave them an opportunity of pointing