cupied the treasury benches and their several dependents were all of accord; the bulk of the minority found no other fault with the Catholic bill, than that it did not go far enough. They wished to leave nothing to ranckle in the hearts of three millions of the people. But upon other points, the changes in the conduct of the ministerial party of the house were singularly marked. At the opening of the session many things concurred to abate the confidence of the ministers, which tended proportionably to raise that of the opposition. They felt a humiliation in yielding more to the Catholics under the influence of royal recommendation,

"XIV. Provided always, That no Papist or Roman Catholic, or person pro"fessing the Roman Catholic or Popish religion, shall take any benefit by or "under this act, unless he shall have first taken and subscribed the oath and "declaration in this act contained and set forth, and also the said oath appoint"ed by the said act passed in the thirteenth and fourteenth years of his majes"ty's reign, entitled, An act to enable his majesty's subjects, of whatever "persuasion to testify their allegiance to him, in some one of his majesty's "four courts in Dublin, or at the general sessions of the peace, or at any "adjournment thereof to be holden for the county, city, or borough wherein "such Papist or Roman Catholics, or person professing the Roman Catholic or Popish religion, doth inhabit or dwell, or before the going judge or "judges of assize in the county wherein such Papist or Roman Catholic, or "person professing the Roman Catholic or Popish religion, doth inhabit and "dwell in open court.

"XV. Provided always, and be it enacted, That the names of such persons "as shall so take and subscribe the said oath and declaration, with their titles "and additions, shall be entered upon the rolls, for that purpose to be appoint"ed by said respective courts; and that the said rolls once in every year shall "be transmitted to, and deposited in the Rolls office in this kingdom, to re"main amongst the records thereof, and the masters or keepers of the rolls "in this kingdom, or their lawful deputy or deputies, are hereby empowered "and required to give and deliver to such person or persons so taking and "subscribing the said oaths and declaration, a certificate or certificates of "such person or persons having taken and subscribed the said oaths and de"claration, for each of which certificates the sum of one shilling and no more "shall be paid.

"XVI. And be it further provided and enacted, That from and after the "first day of April, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three, no freehold"er, burgess, freeman, or inhabitant of this kingdom, being a Papist or Ro"man Catholic, or person professing the Roman Catholic or Popish religion, shall at any time be capable of giving his vote for the electing of any knight "or knights of any shire or county within this kingdom, or citizen or burgess "to serve in any parliament, until he shall have first produced and shewn to "the high sheriff of the said county, or his deputy or deputies, at any election "of a knight or knights of the said shire, and to the respective chief officer or "officers of any city, borough, or town-corporate, to whom the return of any "citizen or burgess to serve in parliament doth or shall respectively belong, at "the election of any citizen or burgess to serve in parliament, such certificate "of his having taken and subscribed the said oath and declaration, either from "the Rolls office, or from the proper officer of the court in which the said " oaths and declaration shall be taken and subscribed; and such person being "a freeholder, freeman, burgess, or inhabitant so producing and shewing such "certificate, shall be then permitted to vote, as amply and fully as any Pro"testant freeholder, freeman, burgess, or inhabitant of such county, city, borough, or town-corporate, but not otherwise."

than they had indignantly rejected from their own will and judg ment; they were sensible of the weight of the power and influence which the opinions of the great landholders of the kingdom, who were at the head of the opposition, carried with them, and they dreaded the unanimous support, which, it was expected, would have been given from without to the efforts of the opposition within their walls. Hence arose that spirit of reconciliation and concession which so strongly marked the conduct of the ministers for the first week of the session. The undertaking of government to bring forward several of the popular measures, and which were actually brought forward, probably blunted the edge of the opposition, which would otherwise have been offered against the passing of some of the strong measures of government. The first of these was the gunpowder bill;* the next was the convention bill.

The gunpowder bill was designed to defeat a conspiracy, which was supposed and reported to have been then on foot; though the truth of it were never proved, nor credited by many. It is indeed doubtful (as must generally be the effects of every preventative measure) whether the conspiracy must not have failed, had it existed, unless the French had at that time succeeded in Holland; their failure rendered this cautionary measure actually inoperative; though if any understanding between the united Irishmen or other societies in the north, and the French government and their forces in the Netherlands, did exist, or were

33 Geo. III. c. 2. "An act to prevent the importation of arms, gunpow"der and ammunition into this kingdom, and the removing and keeping of "gunpowder, arms, and ammunition without license." This bill was not at all opposed in parliament; it was a temporary act to be in force only until the 1st of January 1794, and the end of the next session of parliament. Although many gentlemen of no mean reputation in Ireland have strenuously, and some of them sincerely opposed the opinions of Mr. Grattan, they have on all hands been allowed to be consistent: nor has his political character been ever represented as temporising. It is fair then to conclude, that he thought and felt upon that measure in 1793, as he expressed himself in 1798, in a petition of the Whig Club, which was transmitted to be presented by the earl of Moira and Mr. Fox to his majesty; this petition was drawn up by Mr. Grattan, and received the sanction of most of the leaders of opposition who were members of it. (p. 5.) "On the same plan of unconstitutional and scandalous influence "did they sell the peerage to procure seats in the commons for the dependency " and the dishonour of both houses of parliament: and having from this con"duct, aggravated by a most unseemly and unbecoming intemperance of man"ner, and incontinence of language, lost the confidence of the country, and "greatly agitated the same, they then proceeded to a system of coercion, to "support their plans of corruption, and to dragoon the people, as they had "bought the parliament. They began that system by an act, which tended, "in a qualified manner, to disarm his majesty's subjects, under certain regu"lations, named a gunpowder bill, and had principally in view, to put down "the Irish volunteers; and to check the discontent which grew from this "measure, as well as from their other measures, further measures of violence " and new causes of discontent were resorted to."

likely to exist, it was indispensible on the part of government to take every cautionary step to defeat their rebellious projects. The general and real motive, with which the minister proposed the convention bill was to prevent the prevalence of the successful example of the Catholic convention. Mr. Grattan spoke against the bill, and moved for the second reading at a distant day. His grand objection was, that it was a false declaration of law, and deprived the subject of his constitutional right of petitioning against grievances, by rendering the previous measure of consultation and deliberation criminal. The debate on this motion lasted till four o'clock in the morning; several of the opposition spoke for the bill and against the motion; which was negatived by a majority of 128 against 27.* This act (33 Geo. III. c. 29.) to prevent the election or appointment of unlawful assemblies, under pretence of preparing or presenting public petitions or other addresses to his majesty or the parliament, recites, that the election or appointment of assemblies, purporting to represent the people, or any description of the people, under pretence of preparing or presenting petitions, complaints, remonstrances, and declarations, and other addresses to the king, or to both or either houses of parliament, for alteration of matters established by law, or redress of alleged grievances in church and state may be made use of to serve the ends of factious and seditious persons, to the violation of the public peace, and the great and manifest encouragement of riot, tumult, and disorder: and it enacts, that all such assemblies, committees, or other bodies of persons elected, or otherwise constituted or appointed are unlawful assemblies, and that all persons giving or publishing notice of the election to be made of such persons or delegates, or attending, or voting or acting therein by any means are guilty of an high misdemeanour. The act concludes with a declaration, "that nothing in it shall impede the undoubted right of

On this occasion Mr. Hobart declared, nothing gave him more pain, than that the debate on this bill should have extended to such length, or that it should, on the close of the session, create any thing like a disunion of sentiment. He declared that nothing but the very alarming state to which the country had been reduced by a spirit of popular commotion, excited by con. ventions, usurping the privileges of representation, and assuming to control parliament, could have induced him to consent to the introduction of this bill; and even the nobleman, who had brought it into the other house, before he had done so, had considered it over and over again, and did not bring it forward until absolute necessity called for some effectual measure to stem the torrent of sedition, at a time when writs had been issued by the society, called United Irishmen, for the purpose of assembling the convention at Athlone, and under a conviction, that if parliament should break up without adopting the bill, which in his idea never did, nor never was intended to meddle with the constitutional rights of the people, the constitution itself might be subverted before parliament could be assembled.

"his majesty's subjects, to petition the king or parliament for "redress of any public or private grievance."

The convention bill was not combated by Mr. Grattan, and those who agreed with him so much, because the legislative interference was not wanted to prevent the intended convention of Athlone, or other such meetings: but because the words and tendency of the bill went directly to declare, that every convention and delegation that had existed in that kingdom, were illegal: they objected against the declaratory quality of the act, whereby it bore retrospectively upon past transactions, not upon the enacting part, which, had it been properly framed, would have operated prospectively by way of inhibition against future conventions and delegations.* Confident reports were afloat, about the beginning of the session, that there would be a change in the Irish ministry: but to effect it without a change in the British ministry, was found impracticable, unless by a reform in

* When this bill was in committee, Mr. Grattan amongst many strong things, said, (13 Par. Debates, p. 546) “ This bill is said to be an expedient "to restore peace; why, then, is it a reflection! Why do the preamble and "the declaration pronounce every man who has been a delegate, all the volun"teers, the delegates at Dungannon, the delegates of the convention, the "committee of the lawyers' corps, and the corps that appointed that commit"tee; the committee of the Catholics, their late conventions, and all the "Catholics who appointed that convention; that is, the whole Catholic body, "offenders; men guilty of an unlawful assembly, and this moment liable to "be prosecuted! For so much has the bill in object, not the peace of the country, but reflection on great bodies, and the gratification of spleen at "the expense of the constitution, by voting false doctrine into law, and the "brightest passages of your history into unlawful assemblies.

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"Gentlemen have conceived this bill an expedient to quell the insurgents; "let them read the bill. It is not a riot act; the riot act seemed forgotten, "until a friend of mine put it into his temporary statute bill; it does not go "against riots that are, but conventions that are not. The title of the bill as "first brought in, was to prevent riots and tumults arising from conventions: "but as the bill had nothing to say to riots, and no riots appeared to have "arisen from conventions, such title was in decency dropped, and the real "object of the bill professed an act against conventions.

"The bill neither is, nor professes to be a bill against riots; it is only an "expedient against conventions, and only an expedient for peace, as far as "conventions now disturb it, there were none.

"But gentlemen said, a national convention at Athlone was intended. He "did believe that such a one had been intended some time ago, and that then "it was not so; or if then intended, that it would be trifling and contempti "ble. His objection to the bill was, that it was a trick, making a supposed "national convention at Athlone in 1793, a pretext for preventing delegation "for ever.

"Such a meeting as was invited to assemble at Athlone, should be under"stood; for such a meeting would not be an assembly to promote the reform "of parliament, but to put itself in the place of parliament.

"The real object of that bill was, to prevent in future all popular effect "whatsoever, particularly at that time when reform had been proposed by the "house; a measure offensive to all men, who disliked the people; offensive "to most of those, who disliked the Catholics; and detestable to those men "who hated both."

parliament. The additional motive therefore of keeping their places, operated powerfully upon ministers in resisting reform with all their powers both within and without the walls of parliament. It was not inaptly imagined, that by government's patronizing the cause of Catholic emancipation, by bringing forward some, and by acceding to other popular questions, their resistance to the cause of reform might be the more imperceptible, and therefore the more sure. Artful means were also used to irritate the United Irishmen against the gentlemen of the opposition, for not supporting the cause of the French: every attack made by them upon the opposition, was an accumulation of strength to the ministry.

The several great objects which had been urged by the opposition ever since the last parliament with great perseverance and ability, were the responsibility bill, the place and the pension bill. There were also other measures of great consequence, but of less general importance; such as the disqualifying of revenue officers from sitting in parliament, and the repeal of the police act. By the responsibility bill, no money could be disposed of by the sole order from the king, as was before the case; for Irish officers were to sign all warrants; and every warrant and officer came before parliament. The necessary consequence of such a bill was, that the hereditary revenue was given up, and like the additional supply, voted annually. The great effect and consequence of such a measure, any man who understood government, must see at a glance.

By the pension bill all pensioners for years or during pleasure were excluded; and the sum, which then was near 120,000l. ayear, was reduced to 80,000/.

By the place bill, all new places from the date of the bill were disqualified. Officers of revenue, whose duty required their absence from Dublin, were excluded: and the principle of excluding them all was carried. The question of reform certainly was not supported by the people out of doors with spirit and perseverance equal to its importance: for after Mr. Ponsonby's promise to bring in a bill of reform, and after Mr. Grattan's carrying the principle of its necessity, by his motion for a committee, which were almost at the opening of the session, except some of the northern counties and the city of Dublin, no instruction, address, or petition, came from any of the counties, cities, or great towns; and what would hardly be credited, the people, who had been crying out for the reform of parliament against the aristocracy and the government, would not ask for it when both gave it up; and did just with regard to reform, what they did before with regard to the absentee tax. "A mis*tress, (said Mr. Flood) which the people of Ireland sought