William Rogers, Esq., to Lord Castlereagh. Lisburn, February 19, 1800. My Lord-It gives me pain to draw your Lordship's attention one moment from the important concerns you are engaged in at this juncture; but, as I find my tenants in the County of Down have been imposed upon by certain persons carrying false messages from me, to induce them to sign a Petition against the Union, I take the liberty to say they did it totally without my knowledge or approbation; and, as I must ever have an ambition to appear consistent to those I respect, I trust your Lordship will have the goodness to excuse me for this intrusion. I have the honour to be, &c., WILLIAM ROGERS. Lord Camden to Lord Castlereagh. Arlington Street, February 20, 1800. Dear Castlereagh-I have just received the account, by express, that the first Resolution, that "there shall be a Legislative Union between Great Britain and Ireland" has been carried, after the preliminary debate and division which has taken place. I think I may now venture to congratulate you upon seeing your way, in a great degree, in this most important measure; and, although I doubt not you will have infinite difficulty in some of the details, I hope and believe you have not had to complain of the want of the expression of satisfaction from this side of the water, since the Duke of Portland's silence on the first communication. The fact is, that your despatches came just as the second letter from Buonaparte arrived; and the consideration of the manner in which that business should be taken up in Parliament certainly did prevent the Ministers from paying as much attention as they ought to the services of those who were exerting them elsewhere. I hope you have quite recovered from your influenza, although you have scarcely had the fair advantage of one day's relaxation. As I trust the principle of the measure is secured, which I never ventured to think till the account of the last division arrived, I beg you to offer my congratulations to Lord Cornwallis upon this event. Believe me, &c., Private. CAMDEN. The Duke of Portland to the Lord-Lieutenant. Whitehall, Thursday, February 20, 1800. My dear Lord-Although I have but a very few moments to spare, I cannot let the post go out without carrying my congratulations to your Excellency on the eventful and happy decision which the House of Commons came to on Tuesday morning, on the great leading article of the Union, the ultimate success of which, it appears, we are sufficiently authorized to look to with that degree of confidence which disposes one to calculate the time that may be necessary for its accomplishment, and indulge the expectation of receiving the articles from you, so as to admit of our concurrence in them before our adjournment for the Easter holidays. Excepting the articles which respect the representation and the commercial concerns, there are none which can occupy much of the time of Parliament; and I trust the event of Tuesday, and the sentiments which, I observe, have been avowed by Mr. J. C. Beresford, will secure you against unnecessary delay. It is a most mortifying consideration that so glorious and happy a day as Tuesday promises to prove should have been stained by a circumstance so much to be lamented as the accident that happened to Mr. Corry. I am willing to hope that, by the manner in which you express yourself with respect to the consequences of his wound, there is no ground for serious. apprehension; but, considering the circumstances, one cannot look but with satisfaction at the dissolution of the Assembly, by which such an event was suffered to take place. The Earl of Carysfort1 to Lord Castlereagh. Mountjoy Square, February 25, 1800. My dear Lord-I am under an absolute necessity of going to England by the next packet, and therefore enclose a blank proxy, which I have executed, and will beg the favour of you to dispose of as you think fit. I shall hold myself in readiness to return, the moment I receive a summons from your Lordship, and intend, at any rate, to be present there when the Resolutions' return from England and the Bill is brought in. I cannot help observing to you, that I have been hearing very general disapprobation of that part of the propositions which goes to empower the King to keep up the Peerage to the numbers at which it shall stand when the Union takes place. It must be owned that it bears very hard upon the interests and feelings of the present Peers; and, as any advantage to result from it to the public is not easily discernible, it appears to many a wanton insult, as well as a cruel injury. I cannot, indeed, persuade myself that the English Government have fully reflected upon the subject. The situation of the bulk of the Peerage would be sufficiently humiliating, even if the proportion between the numbers who are to sit, and those who are to be left out of Parliament, were to remain as at present; but the balance will not only be turned against them by a very numerous creation, previous to the Union taking place, but, in some degree, by the extinction, from time to time, of those Peerages, the possessors of which are at present Peers of Great Britain. Might not some such plan as this be adopted, and diminish the present discontent, without materially affecting the patronage, which is all that I can find concerned in the business, of the English Ministry? That the Crown should retain the power of creating new Peers to the amount of two-thirds of 1 John Joshua, second Baron and first Earl of the Irish Peerage: created an English Baron of the same name in 1801. the actual vacancies at any period; and, when the numbers shall be reduced to 100, over and above those who are or shall be Peers of the United Kingdom, then of creating, from time to time, as many as may be necessary to keep up the Peerage to that point. I throw this out for your consideration, as it is certainly desirable not only to prevent opposition, but to carry the business through as much to everybody's satisfaction as you can. I shall certainly support what is already proposed, if you choose to adhere to it. I take with me blank proxies, to be executed by Lords Buckingham and Mountnorris, and think they will certainly be returned to this kingdom before the day appointed for the further proceedings of the Lords. I remain, with great regard, &c. Lord Camden to Lord Castlereagh. CARYSFORT. [No date. Indorsed March, 1800.] Dear Castlereagh-I have received your and Lord Londonderry's letters, and you will probably hear to-night from Charles his determination, which, I doubt not, will be to depart very speedily for Dublin. From the accounts which arrived on the day of his first receiving his father's letter, it appeared as if opposition upon the detail was withdrawn in some degree, and I therefore did not combat his wish to stay here till he could hear again from you. I confess I do not think you are prudent in deferring the article relative to the representation, for it is a most important one, and if your argument is founded that the Opposition think frequent divisions tend to cement your party, surely it would be politic to pledge them as early as possible upon that measure. Most sincerely yours, CAMDEN. I will write to you respecting continental circumstances in a post or two. Private and Secret. Mr. King to Lord Castlereagh. Whitehall, March 6, 1800. My dear Lord-The Duke of Portland's letter to the LordLieutenant, which accompanies this, is an answer of yours to me of the 3rd inst. I have nothing further, therefore, to add on that subject. And, lest Mr. Pitt should not be able to fulfil his intention of writing to you to-day on the subject of muslins, &c., the Duke of Portland has taken this opportunity of adding a short letter to his Excellency on that point also, which, I trust, will be sufficient to answer your purpose until you hear more at large from Mr. Pitt. Many of our merchants are sending out vessels to Sicily and the Barbary States for grain. To encourage this trade, and to facilitate the procuring of cargoes, I enclose you a copy of our circular letter to all our consuls to the Barbary States. Should the French or the combined fleets venture to leave Brest, I think the disposition of our naval force here will afford security to Ireland, as well as to our more distant possessions, supposing either one or the other of them to be threatened: for we have now about 24 sail off Brest, and at least 14 in Torbay. At the same time, I conceive it would be bad policy, in every sense, to consider Ireland in any other light than as the point which is threatened. It is, therefore, I believe, proposed to send 2000 of the Guards immediately to Ireland, to be followed by other 2000, and, in return, to withdraw about 2000 of the regular battalions now with you, which will leave you an excess over present numbers of 2000 men. Ever, my dear Lord, &c., J. KING. The Duke of Portland to Lord Cornwallis. Whitehall, March 6, 1800. My Lord-I lose no time in acquainting your Excellency, in consequence of the letter to Mr. King, received yesterday from |