66 "All nations," they said, "have experienced a period "of exaltation as well as of depression. From an illjudging policy, this kingdom has felt the latter; from "the well-timed and liberal sentiments which prevail, "it is likely to attain the former*." CHAP. LVIII. Patrick. The national pride was soothed by the formation Order of St. of a new Order, named, after the tutelar protector of the country, Knights of the most illustrious Order of St. Patrick. Of these, the King was always to be sovereign, and the Lord Lieutenant for the time being Grand Master; and, except two princes of the blood, the knights companions were of the highest rank and best families in Ireland; their Chancellor, the Archbishop of Dublin, and the Dean of Saint Patrick their Secretary. They were privately invested at 11th. the Castle, before the Lord Lieutenant; but their installation was performed, with great solemnity and 17th. splendour, on the day devoted to their patron-saint†. Geneva pro Another subject, not without interest to the Irish April. nation, although of small importance in the general Colony from view of history, engaged its share of attention during jected. the summer. In consequence of disagreements in the state of Geneva, a number of citizens determined to quit their native land, and deputed commissioners to open a negotiation for their establishment in Ireland, as a colony. Great hopes were entertained of advantages to be derived from the accession of this body of Protestant republicans to our dominion; and it was proposed to advance fifty thousand pounds, and to assign them, as a territory, a tract of crown land in the county of Waterford, near the confluence of the rivers on Barrow and Sair, then called Passage; but if the colony were established, it was to receive the name of New Geneva. Little progress was made in the negotiation; for the emigrants having insisted on being represented in Parliament, and, at the same time, go- The scheme verned by their own laws, their proposal was deemed fails. * See Annual Register, vol. xxvi. p. 354. † Seward's Collectanea Politica, vol. i. p. 323; Gordon's History of Ireland, vol. ii. p. 286; and almost all the periodical works of the time. CHAP. 1784. New Lord Lieutenant. June 3rd. General election. inadmissible. A few individuals attempted to settle, but soon abandoned their enterprise*. Lord Northington was the successor of Earl Temple. A dissolution of Parliament was shortly to take place, and the ferment of politics was even more violent in Ireland than in England. The volunteers, now an active and uncontrolled deliberative body in the state, assumed the power of publishing decisive opinions on many high and important subjects, and principally Parliamentary reform, declaring that it would be disgraceful to lay down their arms while with them they could hope to assure any benefit to their country. To themselves, and not to the legislature, they attributed the late concessions of the British government, and now, following the example of the reformers in Yorksire, they deputed delegates, formed committees, and entered into correspondence with persons in England most conPretensions of spicuous for their endeavours to alter the constitution the volunteers. of Parliament. The delegates from forty-five companies of the province of Ulster assembled at Lisburne ; Colonel Sharman was their president; and they resolved that a general meeting of volunteer delegates should be held at Dungannon on the subject of a more equal representation of the peoplet. Delegates. July 1st. Efforts of the England. Plan of Mr. If these measures of the volunteers appear bold Reformers in and striking, they were amply supported by the Reformers in England. Beside the avowed public resolutions of meetings held in the county of York, the city of London, and other places, individuals of known activity and influence entered into communication with them. Some differences existed in their practical opinions; but they all wrote in terms calculated to inspire confidence in the volunteers. The Reverend Christopher Wyvill, chairman of the Committee of Association in Yorkshire, and a most active promoter of the cause of Reform, in answer to questions submitted to him, deprecated universal suffrage, but recommended an extension of the right of voting to all who * Seward's Collectanea, vol. i. p. 328. Gordon. vol. ii, p. 286. CHAP. LVIII. 1784. Of Lord were endowed with some small portion of property; to all who paid taxes, to all copyholders and leaseholders for terms exceeding thirty years, of a yearly value of forty shillings, Catholics not excepted; but he would not allow persons of that religion to be members of the lower House. The disfranchisement of small boroughs, the transfer of their members to counties, the capital, and the great towns which had not hitherto sent representatives; adding to these such a number of members as should give them a preponderance in legislation; and a restriction of the duration of Parliaments to one, or, at the utmost, three years. He also recommended a general assembly of delegates from every part of Ireland: by such a meeting the union of volunteers might be preserved; their applications would be presented to Parliament with the weight and authority of the collective body, and the requisitions must be complied with. Lord Effingham advised that the boroughs should be divided into four classes, each class to return from four to ten burgesses; all persons paying scot and lot to be voters; the polls to be taken on a certain day in every parish, before the parish officers, witnessed by the constable, and by him transmitted to the sheriff, who, from these documents, was to return the members. The Parliament to be triennial, at the most; but it were more eligible that it should have no fixed duration beyond the session. There was, he said, no argument in favour of seven years which would not equally apply to seventeen. The Duke of Richmond, whose opinion was, for many of the Duke years afterward, the theme of daring innovators, laid of Richmond. down, as the result of many years' consideration and of every day's experience, that the restoration of the right of voting universally to every man, not incapaciated by nature for want of reason, or by law for the commission of crime; together with annual elections; was the only reform that could be effectual and permanent, the only reform that was practicable. His Grace recommended the extension of the right of suffrage to Catholics; and protested against voting by ballot. To Other these were added missives from Dr. Jebb, Dr. Price, opinions. CHAP. 1784. Major Cartwright, and some others, beside anonymous writers, urging the necessity of reform, and indicating to the volunteers their power of obtaining it by compulsion, if not granted by concession; all agreeing in some points, but varying in others*. Resolutions of The delegates were not less fervid in their resoluthe delegates. tions and declarations; and, while they insisted on freedom as their indefeasible birth-right, they censured, in all its parts, the composition of the lower House of Parliament, forming a body independent of the people; tendering majorities to every administration, while its imperfections, as a representative assembly, and its length of duration, were unconstitutional and intole rable grievances. Nor did they omit making ample acknowledgments to their friends in Englandt. 35th July. The elections peaceably conducted. 4th October. the Irish Par liament. During the sittings of the delegates, Parliament was dissolved; and, whatever might have been expected or desired by some parties, the elections were conducted without disorder, and produced no remarkable occurrence. On the meeting of Parliament, Mr. Pery was Proceedings in chosen Speaker, and an address agreed to without a division; when, on the motion of Lord Dudley, thanks were voted to the volunteers "for their spirited en"deavours to provide for the protection of their country, " and their ready and frequent assistance of the civil "magistrates in enforcing the due execution of the "laws." This motion appears to have been framed for the purpose of preventing any violent declaration of opinion respecting their proceedings; but it could not be expected, in the prevailing state of the public mind, to quell the disposition to angry debate. 15th. Ill-humour of party. A portion of ill-humour was shown on the following day, when a motion for a complimentary address to Lord Temple was opposed by Mr. Adderley, on the ground that the retiring Viceroy was too partial to the See a Collection of the Letters addressed to the Volunteers of Ireland, published by Stockdale, 1783; Letter of the Duke of Richmond, by the same publisher, 1783; and Political Papers by the Reverend Christopher Wyvill, vol. iii. p. 46. + Plowden, vol. i. p. 28 et seqq. CHAP. LVIII. Altercations Flood and Mr. Roman Catholics. A few days afterward, the ill-temper of party broke out in a more conspicuous manner. In a debate on a motion of Sir Henry Cavendish, on 1784. economical retrenchment, Mr. Flood and Mr. Grattan 28th. let loose upon each other a torrent of vituperative de- between Mr. clamation. To repeat their gross personalities could Grattan. only be of use if it were necessary to prove, by a striking example, that men, who, by education, talents, and eminent repute, ought, themselves, to serve as models of correct deportment, may, in the heat of debate, so far forget all that is due to public opinion and self-esteem, as to become a precedent and apology for those who pretend to be misled by the example of such men, while they are, in fact, only pursuing the bent of their own depraved minds and degraded habits. The con- 29th. test, in the present instance, was carried to such an extent, that the Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench intimated that he must interfere, but was prevented from issuing his warrant by an assurance from the Speaker that he would take the necessary measures for preventing a breach of the peace*. Mr. Flood, on a subsequent evening, entered into a long vindication of his public conduct; but a debate was prevented by a motion to adjourn. 31st. vention. 29th Nov. Mr. Flood's Reform. motion for Pursuant to resolutions at the Dungannon meeting, National conthe volunteers had formed a national convention in Dublin; and Mr. Flood moved for leave to bring in a bill for the more equal representation of the people. The scene which took place is described by an eye witness as being almost terrific. Several opposition members, and all the delegates who had come from the convention, appeared in uniform. The orders of the House, the regulations of debate, and even the rules of conduct observed among gentlemen, were alike disregarded. The Attorney-general, Mr. Yelverton, denied the Observations right of the volunteers to dictate to Parliament; of the Attorneywe gene: al. * For an account of the measures of the volunteers, the formation and proceedings of the convention, and this debate, see Hardy's Life o. Lord Charlemont, vol. ii. p. 92 to 138: also Gordon's History, vol. ii. p. 287; and for some severe, though merited, remarks on the coarse personalities of Mr.Flood and Mr. Grattan, Lord Orford's, Works, vol. v. p. 495. |