ber of armed men, and he himself resided in a place situate amongst bogs and fastnesses, where he had a cannon placed at his door, by the firing of which he assembled the mob of the country for many miles around. He had attempted to dispossess several persons of their lands, particularly a Mr. Bourke, of Ballydogan. In the last month he went to the lands of that gentleman, and made a formal entry, at the same time telling the hind, who had the care of the cattle, that if his master did not, before the 16th of February, send him a certain sum of money, he would carry his cattle away, where they should never be found. The solicitor general, on Mr. Ogle's statement to the committee, informed them how far government had interfered in that business of Mr. O'Connor: they had not been inattentive to the information received of that gentleman's proceedings, but had applied to him and his colleague (the attorney general), in order to know how far they were warranted in employing an armed force to suppress him. They had returned their answer, that consistent with law and constitution, government was not warranted, until after due process the magistrates of the county should have reported, that the power of the county was insufficient. The magistrates, he said, were in a state of torpor ; nothing more had been done by them, than receiving information, which information went to shew, that Mr. O'Connor had dispossessed several persons of their lands; however, the law officers could not advise the taking repossession with a military force, until after due course of law. He concluded with thanking his right honourable friend, whose honest zeal for the Protestant interest of Ireland had given government an opportunity of explaining their conduct in that business. Mr. Conolly and some other gentlemen of great landed property in the country, who had been much in the habit of supporting government, now appeared to have taken a decided part in the opposition to the Duke of Rutland's administration. On this same day the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Sir John Parnell) moved, that the debt of the nation was 3,014,167.; on which Mr. Conolly observed, that the expences of government every year increased: that the minister came regularly to that house to complain of the deficiency in the revenue, and demanded a loan, which was granted on his promise of future œconomy at last the revenue was raised by new taxes to equal the expence, and still the expence had increased: he (as also Mr. Grattan) insisted upon the necessity of making a stand against the growth of expence, or else their constitution and commerce were at an end. Accordingly, on the 9th of February, Mr. Conolly moved the following resolutions: 1°. That the house did in the last session grant certain new taxes, estimated at 140,000l. per ann. for the purpose of putting an end to the accumulation of debt. 2°. That should the said taxes be continued, it was absolutely necessary, that the expences of the nation should be confined to her annual income. After a very warm and long debate, there appeared upon a division 73 for Mr. Conolly's resolutions, and 149 against them. In the course of this debate the gentlemen of the opposition were frequently and loudly called upon for their confidence in The the government, which they indignantly disclaimed.* grand attack which the patriots made on the treasury bench this session, was upon the pension list. Mr. Forbes led the van on the attack, and on the 6th of March moved the house, after a very animated speech, that the present application and amount of pensions on the civil establishment, were a grievance to the nation, and demanded redress. The motion produced a very interesting debate; but it shared the same fate as the bill he afterwards introduced to limit the amount of pensions, which was lost by a majority of 134 against 78. This bill was most strenuously opposed by Sir Hercules Langrishe, Mr. Mason, Mr. George Ponsonby, the attorney-general, and the most leading men on the treasury bench, as a direct and indecent invasion of the royal prerogative. The attorney-general asserted, that the principle of the bill went to the most dangerous extent of any bill that had ever come be * Upon this subject Mr. Grattan exclaimed (6 Parl. Debates, p. 119) "Who "would have imagined to have seen in the course of this debate, that faded "cockade of the Castle, confidence, advanced on the side of the court, confi"dence in the Irish minister, in the uncontrolled expenditure of Irish money. "What, after all your experience, to prefer confidence to this resolution, re“quires, in my opinion, a most robust conscience, and a most infirm under"standing. Desirous as we all are to pay every respect, and with every pre"dilection in favour of our present viceroy, a young man of a very noble un"suspicious nature, exposed perhaps too much to importunity, yet who can "answer for his continuance? This confidence then must extend to all his "successors, whoever they may be, of whatever cast, party, principle, or ca"pacity. But even that won't do. This confidence must extend to all the "secretaries of all the future lords lieutenants. In the last seven years we "had seven lord lieutenants and eight secretaries. The confidence must "then be extended to the lords and commons of Great Britain, or rather to "the king's commission, on a pure and perfect persuasion that whom the king "shall appoint, the Lord illuminates; and where the purse is bestowed, there "is the virtue, and there is the economy. This will not do; it is not sufficient "that viceroys should be gods....Irishmen must be angels, and importunity "and solicitation cease; and in that event I submit to the force of the argument of confidence, as something not according to reason, but above it." In the flight of that great orator's imagination, he has left us the following "See the chart picture of the nation's expence. (6 Parl Debates, p. 153.) "of your credit, an evanescent speck just rising above the plane of the hori"zon, and then it drops; while your debt ascends like a pyramid, with an au"dacious defalcation, and almost culminates in your meridian. Midway of "this mountain of debt, you will discern a line marking your effort to put an * end to the practice of running in debt.” fore parliament; it went to rob the crown of its responsibility in the disposal of the public money, and to convey it to that house, and even to the House of Peers. He then begged leave to remind the members of what happened after the passing of their favourite vote of 1757. The members of that house caballed together, forming themselves into little parties, and voting to each other hundreds of thousands. And as no government could go on without the aid of their leaders, it cost that nation more to break through that puisn` aristocracy, which had made a property of parliament, than what it would by the pension list for many years. On the side of the patriots, all the old arguments were urged with redoubled force against the pension list. Mr. Grattan gave great offence by the strong and harsh assertion, with which he closed his speech on Mr. Forbes's motion, viz. If he should vote that pensions were not a grievance, he should vote an impudent, an insolent, and a public lie.t 6 Parl. Debates, p. 290. This is a sort of official evidence, if any were wanting, to prove the existence of the system of individual venality, which has been stated to have been established under the administration of Lord Townshend. Sir Hercules Langrish exerted his powers on this occasion in an extraordinary manner, insomuch, that Mr. George Ponsonby said of him, that he had never heard a series of better arguments, interspersed and enlivened with more brilliant strokes of wit, than the speech of the honourable baronet against that bill. Mr. George Ponsonby was so attached to the government of the Duke of Rutland, that one of his principal arguments against the pen. sion bill, was, that it would convey censure upon his Grace's administration, which he did not deserve. † Amongst the patriots, Mr. Curran shone conspicuous in support of the pension bill. (6 Parl. Debates, p. 282) This polyglot of wealth, said he, this museum of curiosities, the pension list, embraces every link in the human chain; every description of men, women, and children, from the exalted excellence of a Hawke or Rodney, to the debased situation of the lady who humbleth herself that she may be exalted. But the lessons it inculcates form its greatest perfection; it teaches that sloth and vice may eat that bread, which virtue and honesty may starve for after they had earned it. It teaches the idle and dissolute to look up for that support, which they are too proud to stoop to earn. It directs the minds of men to an entire reliance on the ruling power of the state, who feeds the ravens of the royal aviary, that cry continually for food. It teaches them to imitate those saints on the pension list, that are like the lilies of the field, they toil not, neither do they spin, and yet are arrayed like Solomon in all his glory. In fine, it teaches a lesson, which indeed they might have learned from Epictetus, that it is sometimes good not to be over-virtuous: it shews, that in proportion as our distresses increase, the munificence of the crown increases also; in proportion as our clothes are rent, the royal mantle is extended over us. On the same day Mr. Grattan exclaimed, when gentlemen say that the new charge for pensions is small, let me assure them they need not be alarmed; the charge will be much greater; for unless your interposition should deter, what else is there to check it? Will public poverty? no: new taxes? no: gratitude for those taxes? no: principle? no: profession? no: the love of fame, or sense of infamy? no. Confined to no one description of merit, or want of character, under the authority of that list, every man, woman, and The remaining subject of difference between the ministry and the patriots in that session, was upon the police bill, which had been for a considerable time a favourite object with government to carry, in order to strengthen their interest in the city of Dublin, which, from the days of Dr. Lucas, they had felt declining, in the independence, which he had laboured so strenuously and successfully to establish. It was conceived by the opposition, that if the bill were carried for the city of Dublin, it would in the next session be extended to every part of the kingdom and it was also generally considered, that the report of popular risings and popish conspiracies against the Protestant ascendancy, had been industriously exaggerated for the purpose of intimidating the parliament into the adoption of that strong measure of government. : child in Ireland, have pretensions to become a public incumbrance; so that since government went so far, I marvel that they have stopped, unless the pen fell out of their hand from fatigue, for it could not be from prínciple. No, Sir, this list will go on; it will go on till the merchant shall feel it, until the manufacturer shall feel it, until the pension list shall take into its own hand the keys of taxation; and instead of taxing licence to sell, shall tax the article and manufacture itself; until we shall lose our great commercial resource, a comparative exemption from taxes, the gift of our poverty, and get an accumulation of taxes, to be the companion of our poverty; until public indignation shall cry shame upon us, and the morality of a serious and offended community shall call out for the interposition of law. • Sir Edward Crofton, in opposing this bill, said, "I have spoken of Mr. "O'Connor in a former debate; and I am firmly persuaded that, as to that "gentleman, matters have been extremely exaggerated and misrepresented. "I know it has been mentioned as an affair, that required the interference "of government; and that camps, cannon, and fortifications, were erected. "It was also rumoured, that the Roman Catholics were in open rebellion; "this was an insidious, infamous, and false report, calculated to cast an "undeserved reflection on a body of men remarkable for their loyalty to their "sovereign, and their known attachment to the constitution; it was an illibe"ral and an infamous attack on a people distinguished for their peaceable "demeanour, and was intended but to serve the purposes of this still more "infamous bill. "However great my knowledge may have been of the loyalty of the Roman "Catholics of this country, yet I must confess, on this occasion, I was made "dupe to report; for from the gentleman, who had declared the county of "Roscommon to be in a state of rebellion, I could scarcely believe but govern"ment had authority for saying so; I confess, therefore, I felt for my property; "and it was natural I should make every possible enquiry; I did so, and "found there was no rebellion in the country; and also found the trifling “disturbances, which have been so exaggerated, were only the effects of "some whiskey, to which the country people had been treated, and which "every gentleman knows operates on the lower order of people, as oil of "rodium does on rats; and what was very extraordinary, there was not a "broken head on the occasion. "I wrote to a gentleman of veracity, and a magistrate, (a Mr. Caulfield) "who assured me, the peace of the county was not for a moment disturbed: "I offered to re-instate those gentlemen who were said to be dispossessed of "their lands, with the assistance of a troop of dragoons; the power was "denied me; I therefore was well-founded in an opinion, that when this bill "was mentioned, the affair of Roscommon would be made a handle of, and VOL. III. Mr. Conolly took a leading part in opposing the police bill, which he observed, under the specious pretence of giving police, went to take away constitution. He was still positive, that he was well-founded in his opinion; that the conduct of the administration was inimical to the constitution. The temperance of the volunteers since the noble duke's administration, deserved their grateful approbation. When they were misguided, and adopted measures, which he conceived improper, he was not backward in avowing himself against their proceedings; but when he reflected, that the moment the volunteers were told their conduct was disagreeable to parliament, they retired to the country without a murmur, such conduct secured his admiration, and made him tenacious of their liberties; nor could their arms be placed in better hands than where they were. There were several heated debates upon this bill: it was treated by opposition as a most unconstitutional job, a mere bill of patronage for ministerial purposes: although it must be allowed, that the secretary offered to alter whatever should be found objectionable in the committee, and some of the noxious clauses were withdrawn. Several petitions were presented against the bill, but received with ill grace. Amongst other petitions, one was presented by the freeholders of the county of Dublin, by Sir Edward Newnham, which the attorney-general moved to have rejected,* as an insult to the house; and it was "that it would be said, the rebellion, as it was ludicrously termed, of O'Con"nor, made it absolutely necessary. I am also convinced, that the affairs in "the south are likewise exaggerated, and by no means fairly stated, so as "to give rise to this measure." 6 Parl. Debates, p. 338. The temper of the house will be better seen by considering the petition which met with this severe fate. (6 Parl. Debates, p. 388). A petition of the freeholders of the county of Dublin, signed by the sheriff of the said county, was presented to the house and read, setting forth that the "petitioners, deeply interested in the welfare of this country, the metropolis thereof, and the kingdom of Ireland at large, and anxiously solicitous for the honour and dignity of parliament, have, with the most sincere concern, ob served a bill, intituled "a bill for the better execution of the law within the city "of Dublin, and certain parts adjacent thereto, and for quieting and protecting "possessions within this kingdom, for the more expeditious transportation of "felons; for the reviving, continuing, and amending certain statutes therein "mentioned, and for repealing an act passed in the 17th and 18th years of "the police of the city of Dublin," involving the chartered rights of the ancient and respectable corporation of the city of Dublin, the liberties, properties, and domestic enjoyments of the inhabitants of the capital and its environs, precipitating through the House of Commons, at a time when a considerable number of members were unavoidably engaged in the business of the assizes, and therefore could not have had an opportunity of being consulted upon a subject of such magnitude; that the petitioners conceive that a certain class of men, who, from their character and conduct have never been considered as objects of responsibility, under the absolute control of certain commissioners nominated by the minister, with powers arbitrary and despotic, may to gratify |