(Continued from p. 663, of our Mag. for Dec. 1785.) TN the fettling of this part of the arrangement, very

applied to this country, as well as Ireland,, which would make a confiderable compentation, for any lofs that we might fuftain, if any fuch were in reality to be dreaded, from imparting a hare of our commercial advantages to Ireland, He therefore had new refolutions to move by Way of amendment of the propofitions, which fhould fully meet and embrace the principles by which he flated it was his intent to obviate the Various objections that had been railed against the fyftem intended to be adopted; thefe refolions he read to the houfe, together with the, feveral propofitions of the Irith parliament, to, the objects of which they respectively belonged; each of these new refolutions tending to meliorate andrectify fuch parts or confequences of the old, as were in any degree exceptionable, but still leavng the general principle of them all untouched. His new refolutions were belides calculated to, promote in a confiderable degree the commerce of our foreign fettlements, by making it a conditica of the plan, that Ireland fhould lay her felf under certain reftrictions in her Welt India made in favour of the colonies. There was befides, he obferved, another branch of foreign commerce which demanded regulation, and Which in fome degree might be confidered as alled to that which he had been speaking of, and, that was the trade to the Eaft Indies, that trade, be obferved, being by charter exclusively the proFerty of the East India Company, there was no poffibility of giving a share of it particularly and Dominally to the Irith; on that fubject however, he was not very unealy, as he was fully satisfied in his own mind, that to fuffer the Eaft India trade to remain in its prefent channel, was by no means a departure from the system that was now nder difcuffion, a fyftem of an equal and reciprocal participation of commercial benefits with Ireland.

41

tions which had been taken to that part of his
plan that related to the colony trade; together
with the feveral refolutions he meant to propofe,
in order to overturn fuch objections, and then
calling the recollection of the house to the period
when the principal part of the commercial con-,
ceffions were made to Ireland, he defired them to
recollect the ferious alarm which the demands of
that kingdom at that time gave rife to, and to
alarm,

futile and groundlef, though at first taken up as loudly, and extending as widely as the prefent. Whether having experienced how beneficial our, bounty had already been to that country, at the fame time that it had been of no prejudice to this, they ought to ftop fhort now, at a time when fo very little more would accomplish the whole, and when that little was neceflary to give effect, and operation to what had been done already, should the house after having given, up the power to controul and legiflate for Ireland, allo elinquifa the defile to oblige and gratify her? But he ex-. pected, that if any oppofition were to be made to this meafure, it might not come from a quarter, which had already given fo much, as to render the remainder not worth withholding, or if it were, not poffible to be withheld, Above all, he hoped, that they would not oppofe him on fuch grounds, as mult expofe their own former arrangements to a great degree of cenfure, and involve in their difapprobation of the prefent measure, a condemnation of thofe, which they' themselves had already been the authors of What he meant to allude to was the objection, that as a confiderable part of his plan was neceffarily to depend on an adjustment of duties, drawbacks, and bounties, that adjustment was liable to fo many errors as to render it extremely uncertain and dangerous to place any dependence on the accuracy with which it could be done. In the first place, he flattered himself, there was no perfon would take upon himself to say that fuch an adjuftment was abfolutely impracticable, nor for his own part did he think it even in any great degree difficult, but whether it was difficult, or whether it was impracticable, it was a part of the lyftem on which the noble Lord in the blue ribband had founded his former arrangement of that portion of the colony trade which in his ad miniftration had been given to Ireland. That As long as the legislature of this country conceffion had been made upon the fame princithought it advisable to fuffer that trade to be ex-ple as the prefent-that of equalization between the two countries, nor could he lee any reason dufively engroffed by the company, Ireland had no better right to complain of the exclufion, than why fuch an equalization could be lef's correctly one of our own out-ports, or even an individual carried into effect upon the prefent than on the merchant. Still though he did not fee either the former occafion. practicability or the expediency of conceding to cand a part of our Eaft India trade, he thought was fit that certain regulations affecting that Country fhould be relaxed, in order to open a dor for Ireland to proportional advantages, from which, by thefe regulations, the has been excludd. Thus he would have the East India Compaby impowered to take in fuch part of their outWard-bound cargo as they might find convenient in the ports of Ireland, and alfo to import directly from the East Indies fuch part of the produce of that country as they might think proper. He then recapitulated what he had already laid before the houfe, enumerating the several objec, Hib, Mag, Jan, 1786,

6

Mr. Pitt, after the above, went into that part of the question which related to the apprehenfions of certain perfons, of being underfold, by the import of the manufactures of Ireland, in our own markets; and here he went into a very wide field of argument, on the different topics which had been introduced to fupport that opinion. With great force of reafoning he combated the doctrine that Ireland, from the cheapnefs of labour, muft neceffarily be able to underfell the English manufacturer. Was it, he afked, becaufe the rudeft ipecies of labour was fomewhat cheaper in Ireland than in England, that the former had therefore the advantage of the latter?

Nel

1786.

venue was.

Hiftory of the Britifb Parliament,

to shew the house how certainly this compenfation would bear a regular proportion to the benefit, which Ireland was to reap from the new arrange ments, he would ftate what the hereditary reIt confifted of certain duties by caitor on almost every fpecies of goods ime ported, an excife upon fome articles of the most general confumption, and a house tax levied ac cording to the number of hegirhs in each. The committee would see from hence that this herediJary revenue would neceffarily increase as foon as the new arrangement began to have effect, and in an exact proportion to that effect, every are ticle of which it was composed being to clofely connected with commerce, wealth, and popu. lation.

Having proceeded to this point, Mr. Pitt addreffed the house in a most folemn and earnest manner, intresting them to confider and reflect, how momentous the object before them was, that it tended to conciliate a difference between this and our filter kingdom, which though now confined to fecret repinings, to disgusts, to jealous hes, and a war of interests and of paffions, might perhaps in time proceed to a length, which he Buddered to think of, and could not venture to expref➡that it tended to enrich one part of the empire, without impoverishing the other, while it gave ftrength and stability to both, that like mercy, the favourite attribute of Heaven

"It was twice bleft,

" It blessed him that gave, and him that took."
That after the severe calamities under which this
country had fo lang laboured, after the heavy loss
which he had fuftained from the recent divifion
f her dominions, there ought to be no object
more impreffive on the feelings of the house than
to endeavour to preferve from further dismember-
ment and diminution, to unite and to connect,
what yet remained of our reduced and shattered
empire, of which Great Britain and Ireland were
Bow the only confiderable members, in the mu-
tual bond of affection, of kindness, and of reci-
procity of interefts. He called upon thofe gen-
tlemen who from the share they had held at dif-
ferent periods in the government of Ireland to
declare, whether the time was not now paft
when temporary expedients, when lenitives cal
calated merely for the purpose of deadening the
immediate fenfe of pain, without even approach-
ing the feat of the diftemper, could be admini-
ftered with safety? Whether a regulation of the
post-office, or the inftitution of a court of admi-
ralty, could filence the demands, which the Irish,
with a loud and united voice, were at this mo-
ment making on the justice, the wisdom and
humanity of the nation?

After a fpeech of three hours, Mr. Pitt made
apology for having fo long troubled the house,
on a fubject on which they had now been al
ready for fuch a length of time engaged, declar-
ag, that among all the objects of his political
life, this was, in his opinion, the most important
he had ever engaged in; nor did he imagine he
fhould ever meet another that would call forth
all his public feelings, and roufe every exertion
of his heart in fo forcible a manner as the present
had done. A question, in which he verily be

43

lieved was involved every prospect that fill remained to this country of again lifting up her head to that height and eminence which the gace poffeffed amongst nations, and of giving to her commerce, her public credit, and her refources, that spring, and vivacity which the felt at the conclufion of the war before the last, which were now fo obviously returning, and which, he trufted, he would never be found to want, as long as liberality, public spirit and difintereftedness held their place in that house.

Lord North rofe as foon as the Chancellor of the Exchequer fat down and said, the Right Hon. gentleman had introduced fo many new refolu tions, and fo materially changed the face of the propofitions, that he would submit it to the cans dour of the Right Hon. gentleman, whether it would not be proper to adjourn the debate, and cause the new refolutions to be printed for the ufe of the members, in order that gentlemen might have an opportunity of reading them with atten tion, of confidering their import, and making themielves mafters of their tendency, before they were called upon to decide upon queftions of such infinite importance to the two countries, and about which they could as yet be fo little inform ed, in confequence of the very great alterations juft introduced by the Right Hon. gentleman. There would be fomething, his Lordship faid, fo extremely indecent in preffing the house of a sud. den, to a decifion of the leading question, that would pledge them to vote for all the reft of the propofitions, before they were apprized of the true meaning of almott any one of them, that he could not for a moment fuppofe, the Right Hon. gentleman had any idea of urging the committee to a vote upon the question before they parted, especially confidering the very late hour of the night at which the Right Hon. gentleman had himself made the motion.

For his part, his Lordship said, he was utterly incapable of deciding upon the new refolutions which the right hon. Gentleman bad read in the courfe of his fpeech, or of entering into a difcuffion of their merits; he was not fufficiently informed of their particular turn and tendency, to attempt either; all he could do was, to fay that on the first bluth of them they appeared to him to be amendments for the better, inafmuch as they materially contradicted and corrected the fpirit and principle of the Irish propofitions, which, as they had been originally introduced, appeared to him to be in the highest degree objectionable, impolitic, and unwife, and which, though as far as he had been able to dilcover, from having heard the resolutions read once, (and he had littened to the right hon. Gentleman with the utmost attention) were yet far from being entirely cured of affording ftrong grounds for objection, greatly amended, as he was ready to confess they were, by the new refolutions. For thefe reafons, his Lordship laid, he fhould not attempt to argue the grand fubject that day, but fhould merely confine what he had to fay, to a few of the many things of a perfonal nature, which the right hon. Gentleman had thought proper to fay of him, and of thofe who fat near him. The right hon. Gentleman, he observed, rarely rofe without attacking him and treating

F2

him with a degree of marked contempt, to both
of which he was most heartily welcome; but he
would just remind the right hon. Gentieman
that it fomewhat difcredited his argument upon
any question, and difcredited the queftion itself,
for the mover of it rather to content himself
with endeavouring to recommend it to the house
by an abuse of what others had done on the fame
fubject, than to reft it on its own merits. The
right hon. Gentleman undoubtedly felt a plea
fure in abufing him, and therefore it thewed his
ingenuity to fix upon such subjects to bring for
ward, as would ferve him to gratify his favourite
propenfity, though they would not afford much
ground for found reafoning in their fupport, or
bear any great degree of compliment. Having
made thefe ironical remarks on the Chancellor
of the Exchequer's conduct, Lord North pro-
ceeded to a juftification of himself from Mr.
Pitt's attack, and by a reference to facts proved,
that what he had granted to Ireland, when he
bad the honour of being First Lord of the Trea
fury, had not been what the right hon. Gentle
man had stated, nor any thing like what the
right hon. Gentleman now propofed to grant,
but merely a right to export and import to and
from the Weft-Indies, under certain circumftan
ces of circumfcription, fafety, and fecurity to the
commercial rights of this country. So far was
he, his Lordship faid, from having been at any
time willing to go the length of facrificing the
commercial interests of Great Britain to Ireland,
that he had uniformly oppofed fuch an idea, on
every occafion, when the fubject had come un-
der confideration, and impreffed with this fenti-
ment, it was, that he had that day come down
to the house determined to vote against the pro-
pofitions which he certainly fhould have done,
had they stood in their original form. His
Lordship next entered into an investigation of the
circumstances alluded to by a pamphleteer, who
had, he said, been instructed to abule him, and
whole arguments and file fo nearly correspond
with those of the right honourable Gentleman,
that a franger would have thought the pam-
phleteer, and the right hon. Gentleman, were
one, and the fame perfon. He contended, that
it was unfair for any man to confider the report
of a fpeech in parliament, given in a parliamen
tary regifter, or a newspaper, as a fufficient au-
thority to urge it against him, as a proof of his
argument or his declarations. It fo happened,
however, that the speech in question given as it
was, did not furnish ground fufficient to make
out the pamphleteer's reasoning, or to prove
that he had ever been an advocate for a furrender
of the commerce of Great Britain to Ireland.
„His Lordflip read fome extracts from the speech,
cited in the pamphlet, which fully corroborat
ed, his reatoning. He recapitulated alfo the
whole of the uanlactions on the fubject of the
different ceffions, that had been made to Ireland
while he was in office, fhewing that they had
originated in an address of the Irish parliament
pleading their poverty and difirefs; that when
the ceffions were made, the parliament of Ire-
land voted addreffes of thanks expreffing their
gratitude for what had been granted them in the
warmest terms, declaring themfelves perfectly
fauished with it, and praifing the goodness of

his Majefty, and the wisdom of his Council
for having done them so essential a service. His
Lordship read extracts from all these various do-
cuments as he proceeded, which abundantly con-
firmed the whole of his ftatement. He after-
wards entered loofely and curforily into fome
arguments relative to the particular effect that
paffing the propofitions would have upon our
different manufactures, and especially on the ma-
nufacture of iron, one of the most important we
had. He at length concluded with paying =
handsome compliment to Ireland, profeffing great
good-will towards that country, and repeating
what he had faid at the beginning of his fpeech,
relative to an immediate adjournment, declaring
his expectation, that from motives of candour
and decency, the right hon. Gentleman would
accede to fuch a motion.

Mr. Fox paufed, in order to see whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer would accede to the propofition or not; but finding that he was determined to perfevere, he rofe, he owned with confiderable reluctance, because not having the least fore-knowledge of the 16 new refolutions introduced by the right hon. Gentleman for the first time that day, not having had time to examine thofe refolutions, and not having had an opportunity of convincing himself in what degree and in what manner they affected the spiris and principle of the propofitions, though it was evident they were to a certain degree and in a certain manner repugnant to both, he must be under the neceffity of begging of the houfe a greater portion of their indulgence than on any other occafion, being confcious that he could not but fpeak upon the question in a more awkward and a worse manner than a fubject of fuch infinite importance and fuch magnitude ought to be spoken to.

After an exordium of this tendency, Mr. Fox proceeded to argue upon the propofitions as they stood originally, upon the new refolutions that had been slated to the house that day, and upon the general conduct of the right hon. Gentleman upon the fubject, both towards that house, and towards the public at large; an argument, which he purfued in a vein of eloquence, and with a degree of brilliancy and ability, that surpassed almoit any thing we have witneffed in the courie of this feffion from Mr. Fox, able and ingenious, as many of his fpeeches have been within that period, He urged the indecency, the want of candour, and the unwarrantable precipitation of the right hon. Gentleman in preffing the committee, to come to a vote immediately, when he himfelt had not fat down till after midnight, and had only jul for the first time read to them curforily the fixteen new refolutions, which he meant to move by way of amendment of the propofitions, as they had been voted by the parliament of Ireland. Those fixteen refolutions, Mr. Fox faid, contradicted the principle of the propofitions, the fubftance and spirit of which that house had again and again heard the right hon. Gentleman declare, he would not on any account, confent to alter. Not that, by this obfervation, he meant to lay, the refolutions were bad, because they contradicted the Ipirit and fubitance of the propofitions: on the contrary, that was with him a very great recommendation