conscience amounts to a disqualification to hold any office in the service of our country, it is time for the people to look to themselves, and in great national questions to assert their right to control those, who owe their political existence to their breath, and may be annihilated by their displeasure.

Resolved, That at an æra when every thing which can be dear to a nation is at stake, we are called upon by our duty to ourselves, to our country, and to posterity, to stand forth, and by the most unremitting exertions stem the returning torrent of corruption at home, and resist the usurpation from abroad, that all mankind may see we are determined to preserve the purity, while we vindicate the rights of our legislature.

Resolved, therefore, That we do hereby solemnly pledge ourselves to each other, and to our country, by every tie of honour and religion, which can be binding to man, that, as the sacred duty which we owe to the community supersedes all ties and obligations to individuals, we will not suffer private friendship or private virtues, to warp our settled determination not to vote for any man, at a future election, either for county, town, or borough, who shall act in opposition to our instructions, and who will not subscribe a test to obey them previous to the election, or who shall absent himself when those questions, on which we instruct him, are agitated in parliament.

Resolved, That the king, lords, and commons of Ireland are the only power competent to make laws to bind this kingdom, and that we will resist the execution of any other laws, with our lives and fortunes.

Resolved, That if force constitutes right, the people of this country have a right to use force against the man, who dares to maintain doctrines subversive of their constitution; but as the object is beneath the dignity of the national resentment, we shall only bid such a man beware how he hereafter trifles with the rights of his country, and provokes the vengeance of a people determined to be free.

Resolved, That we highly approve of the resolutions of the volunteer delegates, assembled at Dungannon and Ballinasloe.

Resolved, That the thanks of this county be returned to the minority in parliament, and particularly to our countrymen Anthony Daly, Sir Henry Lynch Blosse, and Robert Dillon, Esqrs.

Resolved, That the following address be presented to the Right Honourable Denis Daly, and W. P. Keating French, Esqrs. representatives in parliament for this county.

TO DENIS DALY, ESQ.

SIR,

THERE is a moment in the affairs of nations as well as of individuals, which if seized and happily improved, may lead to prosperity, if neglected, may terminate in the riveting of its oppressions. Such a moment is the present: the eyes of Europe are upon us, and posterity will read our conduct with applause or execration according to the use we make of the opportunities, which a providential combination of events has afforded us. When the rights of a nation become objects of public question or discussion, not to assert is to relinquish, to hesitate is to betray. The die is cast; if we advance with a manly and determined step, we ensure success; if we recede or divide, we sink for ever; in so awful an hour, who is the man that, however unwilling to provoke the question, will not at the day of trial be found in his post? Your private opinion, Sir, must give way to the national voice; the assemblage of quali ties which formed and elevated your character, raised you to one of the most exalted situations a subject could arrive at. Your abilities remain, we have relied on your integrity; yet we cannot but lament, that at the moment we stood in need of all the influence of such a character, its brightness should have been shaded, and its weight lost to the nation by being placed in a station in which, however chaste, it may at least be suspected. But waving at present the consideration of this subject, we now call upon you, as one of our representatives, as you value our future approbation and support, to give your fullest assistance to the following measures, whenever they shall be proposed in parliament, viz. a declaration of our national rights; an ademption of the assumed power of the privy council to stop or alter bills; a mutiny bill limited in its duration; a bill rendering the judges independent of the crown; and a bill to reduce the expences of the nation to a level with its revenues, as we cannot conceive a conduct more insane, than for a people scarce emerging from ruin, like a profligate heir, to anticipate its funds, and ground certain extravagance on uncertain prosperity.

SIR,

TO W. P. KEATING FRENCH, ESQ.

THE present period calls upon every man in this country to take an active and decided part in the common cause. The nation is not now to be trifled with. Upon our conduct at this eventful hour depends the establishment of our constitution,

and the liberties of unborn generations. We shall not, Sir, suffer our attention to be drawn from the great objects in which we are engaged, by a retrospect into your past parliamentary conduct, however dissonant in many points from our opinions; but we call upon you, if you value our future approbation, to give your fullest support to the following measures, whenever they shall be agitated in parliament, viz. a declaration of our national rights; an ademption of the power of the privy council to stop or alter bills; a mutiny bill limited in its duration; a bill to render the judges independent of the crown; and a bill to reduce the national expences to a level with its revenues.

At a Meeting of the Electors of the University, on the 3d of April, the following Address was unanimously agreed to, and ordered to be presented to their Representatives.

To the Right Honourable Walter Burgh and John Fitzgibbon, Esq. Representatives in Parliament for the University of Dublin.

GENTLEMEN,

WHEN the murmurs of a people, struggling for their rights, have been heard even in the quiet retreat of science, we should deem it a breach of duty to our countrymen and ourselves, did we neglect to second their virtuous exertions: we are never forward in political contests: we shall always be decided and steady; although we have not been the first to complain of, yet, we have not been the last to feel, the repeated injuries this country has suffered, not only from those who may have separate duties and separate interests, but from men who are bound by the strongest duty, and the dearest interest, to vindicate its rights, and cherish its prosperity.

The power of binding Ireland by acts of a foreign legislature, is what nothing but a spirit of arrogance or oppression would insist upon, nothing but the most abject servility submit to; for we cannot suppose, that the appearance of a claim, which irritates the whole body of the people, would be retained, unless there was an intention of enforcing this claim hereafter; we are therefore convinced, that an express declaration of rights, is the only measure upon which this country can build its legislative independence, and that a reluctance to assert the constitution of the land, may furnish Great Britain with a pretence for denying the justice of our requisition.

We do not think the present situation of Great Britain to be any objection against such a declaration, as we can never suppose that she could derive strength from our weakness, or any security to her liberties from the oppression of ours; and that time is undoubtedly to be preferred for the assertion of our right, when the object is likely to be obtained with the least struggle.

The insecure attachment of Ireland to the crown of England at a former period, furnished a pretext for divesting the houses of parliament of their right to originate bills, unless previously certified into England under the great seal of this kingdom; now, as the loyalty of this country for several centuries, so often tried, and so often acknowledged, has removed every cause of distrust; we conceive that this injurious and humiliating restriction should also cease.

The dependance of the judges of Ireland on the will of the sovereign, may, in the hands of an aspiring monarch, prove a powerful instrument of oppression; now, holding ourselves entitled to every constitutional security which our sister kingdom possesses, we consider it necessary that the judges of this kingdom should be made equally independent with those of Great Britain.

But since every advantage, which could result from these reformations must be precarious, as long as a perpetual mutiny bill exists, by which force may be made to supersede right, and the soldiery of Ireland are subject to trial and punishment by any future articles of war, which the king and privy council of Great Britain may think proper to adopt; we are persuaded, that every concession must be imperfect, unless accompanied by the repeal of so dangerous a law.

We therefore expect you will exert your most strenuous efforts, to obtain a declaration of the rights of Ireland: a repeal or satisfactory explanation of the law of Poynings; an act for making the tenure of the judges independent of the crown; and a repeal of the perpetual mutiny bill.

We declare, that these are our fixed and unalterable sentiments, and we are convinced, that nothing short of the requisitions herein contained, can be, in any degree, satisfactory to the people of Ireland.

It is our wish to render the connection between this country and Great Britain, as close and permanent as possible, and we are persuaded, that this is only to be accomplished by abolishing all usurped authority of the one over the other, and removing every invidious distinction between the constitutions of two countries equally entitled to be free.

To this Address the following Answers were returned.

To the Electors of the University.

GENTLEMEN,

WHEN I reflect on my past parliamentary conduct, it affords me the highest satisfaction, to find that it entirely corresponds with the tenor of your instructions. Whenever the objects that you recommend have come into discussion, I have given them my uniform and decided support. My conduct has been founded upon principles, which no motives of interest or ambition have been able to shake, and in which I shall persevere unto the last hour of my life.

I have the honour to be, with the greatest respect,

Gentlemen,

Your most faithful humble servant,

WALTER BURGH.

To the Electors of Trinity College.

GENTLEMEN,

I AM just now honoured with your instructions, which have been forwarded to me by post. Be assured, that I shall always feel the utmost satisfaction in receiving the instructions of that very great and respectable body, which I have the honour to represent, and that you shall ever find me ready, to the best of my ability, to vindicate your rights.

I have always been of opinion, that the claim of the British parliament to make laws for this country, is a daring usurpation on the rights of a free people, and have uniformly asserted this opinion both in public and in private. When a declaration of the legislative right was moved in the House of Commons, I did oppose it, upon a decided conviction, that it was a measure of a dangerous tendency, and withal inadequate to the purpose for which it was intended. However, I do, without hesitation, yield my own opinion upon this subject to yours, and will, whenever such a declaration shall be moved, give it my support.

With respect to an explanation of the law of Poynings, I confess, the more I consider the subject, the more difficult it appears to me. Allow me to remind you, that the University did, upon a very recent occasion, experience that this law, in its present form, may operate beneficially. A total repeal of