II. 1795. January. the Catholics wish, will not only be exceedingly CHAP. impolitic, but perhaps dangerous. The disaffection among the lower orders is universal. Though the violences now committing are not from political causes, but the outrages of banditti, they are fostered by that cause. The higher orders are firmly to be relied on; the wealthy of the second class hardly less so, because they are fearful for their property; yet the latter at least have shown no forwardness to check these outrages, and this can only arise from there being something left which rankles in their bosoms. Don't delay to speak with Pitt on the subject. If I receive no peremptory directions to the contrary, I shall acquiesce with a good grace, to avoid the appearance of hesitation. Even the appearance will produce incalculable mischief-the loss of confidence of the Catholics, and the giving rise to a Protestant cabal... We know it must come sooner or later. Delay will only make the Catholics useless in the interval, if not dangerous.'1 Fitzwilliam had landed on the 4th of January. Ten days had sufficed to work so strong a conviction, that even the Cabinet was not to be allowed time for reflection. The Catholics were to be admitted into an Irish Parliament under conditions which must almost immediately give them an enormous preponderance, because they would no longer be loyal subjects of the Crown under other conditions. To such an attitude had concession brought the three million loyal hearts and hands who in the American war, when the penal laws were at their height, had laid themselves at the feet of the best of kings. 1 Fitzwilliam to Portland, January 8 and 15.' Abridged. BOOK 1795. January. Parliament opened on the 22nd. Fitzwilliam did not venture to fly so directly in the face of his orders as to recommend the Catholic claims from the throne. The speech was long, pompous, and flatulent, but was silent on the great subject. Grattan, however, in the quasi position of a minister of the Crown, loaded the table with petitions industriously procured by his agents, and announced that on an early occasion he would himself introduce a bill for the complete abolition of all religious distinctions. Fitzwilliam informed the Chancellor that 'now that the question was in agitation, he should give Grattan his full support.' Fitzgibbon replied 'fully and earnestly, stating his alarms and the grounds of them;' but he concluded that the Viceroy must be acting by instructions, and that Pitt had decided finally in carrying out the policy which he knew to have been for several years in contemplation; he said that if England chose to have it so, the Irish Parliament could, no doubt, be forced into acquiescence. Fitzwilliam implied as little uncertainty in his report to the Cabinet that he would meet with the fullest approbation of Pitt. He informed Portland on the 28th that everything would run smoothly. We 'Ireland,' he said-writing, of course, what Grattan told him-' will go even beyond my wishes. propose to have forty thousand men in arms, raising the militia to twenty thousand, and the regulars to as many. We will send men to England; you must send others here, and I earnestly beg that we may have them... Besides these I look to a yeomanry cavalry; but it must not, as I said, precede the Roman Catholic business. It will be prudent not to hurry the yeomanry question; for should the Catholic question fail we must think twice before we put arms into the hands CHAP. men newly irritated.'1 of The misgiving implied in the last words referred evidently to the Irish Parliament, and not to any anticipated difficulty on the part of England. Meanwhile the Cabinet remained silent. One significant indication Pitt did give that he was not satisfied. He intimated his disapproval of the changes at the Castle. Beresford, who had gone to England to see him, returned to resume his place at the Revenue Board. He brought back with him an intimation that the resignations of Wolfe and Toler would not be accepted. But on the Catholic question the Viceroy received no directions at all. He had concealed nothing. He had spoken as plainly as possible of his own intention to support Grattan, yet week passed after week, and he heard nothing. Without fuller knowledge of what had passed privately between himself and Pitt before he left England, he cannot be acquitted of culpable precipitancy. As little is it possible to acquit the Cabinet of extraordinary negligence in allowing Fitzwilliam to commit himself so deeply if they were themselves still undecided; still less can they be acquitted for having kept in complete ignorance of the contents of Fitzwilliam's despatches a person whose consent was indispensable to any intended change. Grattan's motion was fixed for the 12th of February. Perplexed rather than alarmed at finding his letters unanswered, Fitzwilliam begged him to postpone it, and again appealed to Portland. I trust,' he said, 'you and your colleagues will recom 1 Fitzwilliam to Portland, January 28, 1795.' S. P. O. VOL. III. K II. 1795. January. BOOK 1795. February. mend his majesty to permit the matter to be brought to a The worship of a formula by modern politicians is the exact equivalent of ancient idolatry, and is equally proof against the plainest evidence of sense. A Reform Bill would be the necessary consequence of emancipation. The peasantry already enfranchised would then be in possession of the entire power of the State, and their inveterate insubordination and disaffection was alleged as the reason for bestowing it upon them. Unfortunately, it was not only the alleged reason—it 1 Fitzwilliam to the Duke of Portland, February 10. Secret and confidential.' S. P. O. Abridged. เ II. 1795. was the real reason. The Viceroy, and to a large CHAP. extent at least the Cabinet behind him, was possessed with the Irish idea' that fire could be extinguished February. by pouring oil upon it; and Grattan, who understood the situation, took care that the agitation should not slacken. Instead of emancipation, he moved on the 11th of February, as a means of restoring order, for the repeal of Fitzgibbon's Police Bill. On the 12th, unexpectedly, since it was understood that he was to apply for a postponement, he brought in his Catholic Bill, and Fitzwilliam on the 14th wrote once more with the most earnest emphasis to Pitt to tell him that the country was on the edge of rebellion, and that nothing but the Relief Bill could save it. There are times in the highest affairs of State, as well as in matters of ordinary personal conduct, when the weak things of this world are chosen to confound the wise when instinct is blind, and simplicity and honesty have their eyes open. If political ability consists in pursuing honourable aims, and in choosing means by which those aims can be effectually obtained, the ablest directions for the conduct of Ireland had been those which were drawn by George the Third in the year after his accession. Now at this critical moment, when the advisers of the Crown were walking in a dream, and would if left to themselves have doubtless gone where Grattan pleased to lead them, the King, whose advice had been neglected before, chose this time to be obeyed. Up to the 5th of February, when the Cabinet had been themselves for three weeks at least aware of what Fitzwilliam was doing, the King had been kept in ignorance that any immediate step in favour of the Catholics was in contemplation. On that day he |