voted in the committee might not be made the bafis of a permanent treaty, conducive to the mutual harmony and happiness of both countries; undoubtedly they might, ftrengthened, explained, and meliorated by amendments and regulations of a different nature: What he would humbly fuggeft was, that the farther confideration of the refolutions be adjourned at leaft till the next feffions; that proper perfons, members of parliament, and others, be appointed on the part of the two kingdoms to enquire into what would beft conduce to the true interefts of each, that thofe perfons affiduously conduct their investigation during the recefs, and that parliament be called together as early as poffible, to receive the fubftance of the enquiry, and then with good ground to tread on, and Certain information before them, proceed to conftruct a stable, a folid, and a permanent temple, facred to the concord and commerce of the two countries. If, inftead of acting with that neceffary precaution, the right hon. Gentleman rafhly infifted on raifing a building on a fandy foundation, it would be torn up by the first blaft, and blown to atoms. Let the right hon. Gentleman recolle&t he had many years to look forward to. They would afford him joy or regret exactly as he acted on the prefent occafion. A falfe ftep in fuch a bufinefs, through too great a degree of eagernefs and precipitation, could never be retrieved. After defcanting for fome time in this manner, Mr. Minchin concluded with moving," that the refolutions be taken into confideration that day three months." Mr. P. D. Coke rofe to fecond the motion, which he said he could do with great propriety; as he had last week given notice of his intention of making a motion, not exactly the fame in deed to that now made, but which would very well come in under it. Mr. Coke then urged the neceflity of this country's first obtaining the confent of Ireland before the went farther. He stated the great inequality on which the two countries were proceeding, and after fome pointed remarks on it, faid, there was one thing fuggefted by the hon. Gentleman that he did not approve, and that was, the appointing CommifHoners to confift of members of parliament, and others, to treat with Commiffioners of Ireland. His great objection, Mr. Coke faid, was, there were already 40,000 Commiflioners in Ireland ready to treat on her part. He flated a converfation he had lately had upon the fubject with an ingenious and fentible man. He had faid, thefe refolutions would not prove an ultimatum to Ireland. There was one thing more that the would likewife with; fhe would be a fool if fee. did not demand it, and it was now obvious that Ireland had only to ask and have. He meant, they would defire that the King should live one year out of three in Dublin. The confequence would be, all our merchants and manufacturers would go there, and, once in the country, there they would remain. He saw no wildom in the councils of Great Britain; he looked for it in the councils of Ireland. He wished therefore to know before we proceeded farther, whether the refolutions would prove fatisfactory to Ireland. Mr. Fox ftrenuonfly fupported the mover and feconder, appealing to the majority of the house how much more to their credit it would be to vote upon fo important a fubject, confirmed by knowledge of their own, and how infinitely more fafe than to vote on grounds of rafh and ill-advised confidence. Mr. Fox reminded the house how much the refolutions had been altered, and how very different they stood now to what they had flood originally-a itronger proof need not be adduced that their confidence had been ill placed, and it was plain the right hon. Gentleman was now convinced, that the form in which the refolutions flood, when he first called on his friends to vote them, had appeared to him to be exceedingly incomplete and improper to país. Mr. Fox argued upon the complicated nature of the refolutions, their aumber, the great variety of important objects which they embraced, and the very weighty and ferious confequences they might lead to, as reasons that ought to induce the house to accede to the motion, and to wait till the next feffions before they came to a decifive vote upon them. Mr. Fox faid, the right hon. Gentleman could never mean to act upon the refolutions in the prefent feffions of parliament. If he did, they should have that important business before them, when they could fcarcely procure the attendance of forty members to make a house. Mr. Brickdale was alfo an advocate for time, and ftated the extreme fatisfaction it would afford `his conftituents, if the house was not hur ried to an immediate decifion. Mr. Harriton ipoke on the fame fide, and adduced a variety of arguments in support of the motion. Mr. Harrison in particular urged the neceffity of their meeting their conflituents, and talking over the fubject with them, before they decided on a matter to infinitely important, and to deeply interefting to the whole empire. Mr. Mr. M. A. Taylor, on the contrary, preffed the Houfe to take them into confideration then, while the evidence they had heard at their bar, and the numerous débates that had taken place, were fresh in their minds, and they had it in their power to affitt their recollection. Taylor faid, for his part, if he was allowed five years to confider and revolve what had paft lately, he could not make up his mind more completely upon the fubject, than he had already done. A great deal of matter, well worth.attending to, had been started by Gentlemen on the other fide of the house, and most ably had they argued it. The confequence was, he was ready to vote the refolutions that hour; as ready as he could poffibly be at any future moment of his life. The refolutions were then read one by one, and when the clerk came to the second, viz. "That a full participation of commercial advantages fhould be permanently fecured to Ire land, whenever a provifion, equally permanent and fecure fhall be made by the parliament of that kingdom towards defraying, in proportion to its growing profperity, the neceffary expences 1786. Hiftory of the British Parliament. in time of peace, of protecting the trade and general interefts of the empire." Mr, Pelham rofe, and after a fhort preface, moved to infert the fame amendment in the beginning of the refolution, that he had moved in the committee, where it had been rejected. Mr. W. Grenville faid, he had a refolution to move, that would fuperfede the neceffity for any fuch amendment, as that moved by the right hon. Gentleman. Mr. Grenville faid, he moved his amendment on the ground, and in the full conviction, that all the refolutions were I confiftent with the true interefts of the commerce, manufactures, and revenue of Great Britain, and thole who were not prepared to vote it on that ground, ought not to vote it at all. Mr. Grenville concluded with moving, that the words, "It is confiftent with the effential interefts of the manufactures, revenue, commerce and navigation of Great Britain," be inferted after the words "that it is the opinion of this com mittee.' Mr. Sheridan faid, he prefumed, the right honourable Gentleman moved the amendment, meaning to follow it up with a motion to reject all the remaining propofitions, because as they contained fuch a variety of reftrictions, &c. certainly they could not be conftrued to convey "full participation of commercial advantages to Ireland." Mr. W. Grenville replied, that he had no fuch idea, he was feriously latisfied the fubfequent refolutions did not convey a full participation of commercial advantages, and he repeated it, those who thought otherwife ought not to vote for his amendment. The amendment was put and carried. Mr. Sheridan next moved to omit the words of the fame [the ad] refolution, which require a provifion to be made by Ireland in fome permanent mode, in time of peace, and propofed words expreffive of a confidence in Ireland, that the will give her affiftance proportionable to her increating profperity both in peace and war, Mr. Sheridan very ably supported this amendment, arguing upon the ablard and contradictoy conduct of tying down Ireland to a bargain in ume of peace, and trufting to her generofity in ume of war, the featon when we were most likely to stand in need of her ailiftance. Should the confider the bargain as a limitation of all that we expected at her hands, the right in one inftance materially injure us by her nigardlinefs, and in the other, if the retufed to help us in the hour of diftreis, we had it not in our power to enforce the claim. This unalterable fettlement, he contended, militated against the principles of eur conftitution, and confequently it would miliate against that of Ireland. It created a perpetual torce of which he was not to have, as with us, the annual controul, It was not a defence of this violation to tay, that the force it eftablished was comparatively unimportant; the intringement was equally unjustifiable, and the precedent equally dangerous. As the propofition in its prefent Rate was thus contradictory and unconftitutional, he entertained strong hopes that the house would not reject an amendment which entirely removed those objections. 323 Mr. Sheridan added a variety of other ingenious arguments, to prove that, as Ireland had ever fhewn hertelf ready in the most noble and generous manner to ftand forth the voluntary ally and fupporter of Great Britain, it was much better to truth altogether to her good faith, and generofity unreftrained by the fetters of any bargain. He therefore moved to leave out all words after the word Ireland, and to infert in their ftead, words importing "that Great Britain confided in the good faith, affection and attachment of Ireland for her ready affistance, in proportion to her growing profperity, both in time of peace and in time of war. Mr. Eden faid, that though he did not feel inclined to adopt complimentary expreffions in a national compact, he fully concurred in the purport of the propofed amendment. Perhaps it might lay fome ground for the admiffion of it, to remark that the refolution in its prefent form, under the alteration introduced by the right honourable Gentleman (Mr. Grenville) approached nearly to abiolute nontenfe; that alteration had been brought forward as a parliamentary manœuvre, with fome degree of precipitancy; and the house was now required to reloive, that it is confiftent with the effential interefts of the manufactures and revenue of this kingdom, to give to Ireland a full participation of commercial advantage, whenever Ireland that! give fome precarious and contingent fums from the hereditary revenue in time of peace to Great Britain." It feemed difficult to itate more ab furd and inconfequential reafoning; but it was worfe; because it muft neceffarily be confidered. together with the twentieth refolution; under which view it would be found, that Great Britain was placed in the predicament of urging an illiberal bargain with the fifter kingdom, and at the fame time of counteracting her own folid interefts. Was it not evident to every man who had given only a fuperficial attention' to the twentieth refolution, that the annual affiftance to be expected from it, in any national point of view, was fo fmall that it was too ludicrous to be mentioned? and at the fame time fo much expoled to deductions in the nature of the propolitions, that it was a foily to talk of it as ferioully important; even the right hon. Gentleman who propofed it, on a principle contradictory to the Irish parliament, had never ventured to lay that he expected to derive any confiderable fum from it. Surely then it was improvident by making to hopeless a ftipulation to preclude the fair pretenfions which this kingdom might otherwile molt juttly torm upon lieland, by an ho nourable reliance on the exertions and affittance of that generous country, according to her increafing poperity, under the propofed new fyftem of conceflions. Mr. Eden then proceeded to ftate various particulars i cipecting the nature of the hereditary revenue; the caly means of evading the increase of any furplus in favour of this kingdorn, and the folly of waving all pretenfions to the real exertions of Ireland, by afking and accepting in lieu of thofe exertions an unceitain and unproductive fupply, unfafe for the conftitution of Ireland, and unprofitable to the Exchequer of Ireland. Lord North having again repeatedly argued Sf 2 againft against the resolutions, on the general grounds of kingdom. Confidering the matter however in the only rational point of view, in which it could be confidered, and taking it for granted, that the intention was, that no more than 656,000l. of the produce of the hereditary revenue, be the produce ever fo great, was to be appropriated in aid of the annual expenditure, and that Ireland was to take care of her own eftablishment, it would, he trufted, be found, on a retrospective view of the average amount of the hereditary revenue of hieland," that there was little probability of any advantage accruing to this country, in confequence of the laft refo lution, at all worth reckoning upon. The hereditary revenue of Ireland, his lordfhip faid, had of late been fo frequently analyfed in debate, that it would be walling the time of the house to go much into detail respecting it. Every body knew it confifted of customs, of excife, of quit rents, and of hearth money. The two former were capable of increase, in proportion to the growing commerce of the country, and the hearth money might certainly well in its amount, as population accumulated, but the quit rents could not increafe. In order to fhew how little probability there was of the customs growing, as gentlemen had flattered themselves, to a fize far above their prefent measurement, his lordship referred to an ingenious tract on the fubject, written by Sir R. Cox, an able man and an experienced commiffioner of revenue. That gentleman had accurately traced the amount of the hereditary revenue for many years back, and compared it with the existing amount at the His lordship read period at which he wrote. fome pages from the pamphlet to which he referred, in order the better to impress the house with the argument he was urging. He also re ferred to fome accounts on the table, furnished by the prefent commiflioners of revenue. From the two he ftated, that the population of Ireland had increated from 1684 to 1784 (a complete century) to more than double, and that never therels the custom had in 1684 produced more than in 1784. He argued upon this for fome time, in order to thew that paft experience proved, that little was to be expected from an increase in the produce of the cuftom. He next traced the hearth money, and stated, that the tax had progreffively increated in a courte of years, as the population of Ireland had accumulated. The quit rents, he said, from their nature, were incapable of increase, a circumstance, which he carried to the conviction of the house, by giving an hiftorical account of their origin and of the origin of the hereditary revenue. Upon the refloration of Charles the II. immediately after the termination of the rebellion of 1641, immenle tracts of land were forfeited by the ancient Irish proprietors, and were afterwards occupied by Cromwell's foldiers and others; but whether in the hands of Irish rebeis, or of English rebels thete forte tures were not lefs the property of the crown,which however,tock no advantage of thee forfeiture, but actuated by a founder policy, forbore to exercile its rights, and by the cele brated act of fettlement, and the fubiequent set for explaining it, the grantees were fecured is the poffeffion and enjoyment of thote lands į and 10 |