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speech from the throne.* The earl of Roden moved the address in the lords, which was as usual an echo of the speech. The earl of Bective, in a maiden speech, disclaimed every idea of vexatious opposition; but he could not agree to that part

The following is his excellency's speech.
"MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN,

"I HAVE his majesty's commands to assemble you in "parliament at this important period, and resort to your deliberation and advice. "When I reflect on the tranquillity which attended the late general elec. tion, I have just ground to believe, that the wisdom and firmness which "were manifested by the late parliament were felt and approved by the nation "at large, and that your conduct will be actuated by similar principles in defence of our happy constitution.

"It must have given you great concern to learn, that his majesty's endea"vours to restore the blessings of peace have been again frustrated by the "desperate ambition of the French government. I have his majesty's com"mands to lay before you his royal declaration, and the various papers which "passed in the course of the late negociation, in which the magnanimity and "moderation of his majesty were so eminently displayed as to leave no pretext or colour for the insidious conduct and fallacious statements of the enemy. "His majesty relies with confidence on the spirit of his people of Ireland, "who are sensible of their duty to their God, their sovereign, and their coun"try. He knows they are incapable of being intimidated by any threats, or deluded by any offers; and he implicitly depends on the valour of his regular "and militia forces, the active loyalty of the district corps, the courage of the "nation, and the prowess of his fleets and armies for defeating every hostile "attempt, which may be made on this kingdom.

"The late signal victory of admiral lord Duncan over the Dutch squadron, "achieved on their own coasts with such professional skill and heroic gallantry "has not only added fresh lustre to the glory of his majesty's navy but has given new strength and security to all his majesty's dominions." "GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS,

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"I HAVE ordered the public accounts and the estimates "for the ensuing year to be laid before you: I lament, that additional burthens "are still necessary in order to maintain the honour and security of the empire "in the present exigency; and although from the state of preparation in which "this kingdom stands some of the demands of former periods will not recur, "yet I fear the general expense of the ensuing year will not admit of any con"siderable reduction. When you reflect on all you have to preserve, and all you have to expect from the enemy you have to combat with, I doubt not the "supplies will be cheerfully granted. I shall endeavour on my part that they "shall be faithfully applied."

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"MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN,

"IN consequence of the addresses of the Houses of "Lords and Commons in May last, I directed immediate and vigorous mea"sures to be taken for repressing disaffection in the northern parts of the king"dom, and for restoring security and confidence to the loyal and well disposed; "the effect of which has been manifested in the return of subordination and industry in that quarter. Other attempts have since been made by the "leaders of the disaffected in some parts of the midland and southern districts "with too much success, and emissaries have been employed, and publications "have been circulated by them to revive religious animosities, and to open prospects of plunder, by which means the lower classes have been excited to "commit acts of the most horrid outrage and barbarity. I have to lament, that "the diligence and activity of the magistrates though assisted by the troops

of the address which approved of the measures of administration. He reprobated the system of coercion; thought Ireland was only to be reclaimed by timely concession; and strongly recommended Catholic emancipation and temperate reform. The chancellor, in a very animated reply, insisted that these objections were but catch words for revolt and rebellion: What did the noble lord mean, by using the phrase, "imparting to the Roman Catholic' body the blessings of the constitution?" There was not a Roman Catholic in Ireland, to whom the benefits of its constitution were not extended as amply as to the noble lord, or any other peer who heard him. The Roman Catholics of Ireland laboured under no disability, to which the Protestants were not equally subject; except the qualification to keep arms, of being a freeholder, or having a certain personal property, can be so construed. The measures of emancipation and reform were far short of the designs of the disaffected: the separation of that country from her imperial connexion with Great Britain, and a fraternal alliance with the French Republic, were the obvious purposes of the insurgents. The government of Ireland had, by measures necessarily strong, at length quieted that part of the country in which the conspiracy originated. These measures were, to his knowledge, extorted from the nobleman who governed that country: they had been successful, and the state of the north at that day was a proof of their wisdom, The county from which he had lately returned, and which had formerly been a loyal, industrious county, was infested by emissaries from the north, exciting the peasantry to insurrection. Emancipation and reform were not the means which they employed for the seduction of the peasant. The suppression of tythes, the abolition of taxes, and exemption from the payment

which have been ordered into that part of the kingdom, have not yet been "able entirely to put a stop to those disturbances. Constant vigilance, and unremitting exertions continue to be necessary when all means are tried to "excite the people to rebellion and revolt; when a systematic plan of assassi"nation is adopted and encouraged, and when the most audacious attempts are "made to impede and prevent the administration of justice.

"Amidst your exertions for the defence of the kingdom, I must not omit to "recommend to you not to relax your attention to its commerce, its agriculture, " and its manufactures, and especially to that of the linen; nor will your liber"ality be less conspicuous in continuing that protection to the Protestant charter"schools, and the other charitable institutions, under which they have so long flourished.

"His majesty has commanded me to declare to you, that his firm resolution "is taken in the present arduous contest. He will not be wanting to his people, "but with them will stand or fall in the defence of their religion, and in the "preservation of the independence, laws, and liberties of his kingdoms.

"It will be a source of infinite satisfaction to my mind, if, in the execution of "my duty, I can contribute to support the generous determination of my sove"reign and maintain the safety and prosperity of his people. I rely upon your "advice and co-operation, and, aided by them, I look forward with confidence "to a happy issue of the contest in which we are engaged."

of rent, were the rewards they promised. Emancipation and reform were only used to delude the better classes.

The question being put on the address, was carried in the affirmative.

The avowal which Lord Clare made in that speech was most pointedly illustrative of this delicate and important period of Irish history, and conclusively demonstrative of the benefit which Ireland must reap from an incorporate union with Great Britain, were it only to be relieved from the ferocious severity, with which an Irish government has never failed, when permitted, to oppress and aggrieve their countrymen. His lordship's assertion, that the strong measures of government had then quieted the north, was not generally admitted: but inasmuch as he was the dictator of those very strong measures which must have been against the judgment, feelings, and sentiments of the chief governor, from whom they were extorted, the confession of that noble lord purifies earl Camden and the British cabinet from the ocean of blood, which was let out after, if not by means of those very strong measures.

In the commons also some ineffectual opposition was made to the address, upon similar grounds as in the lords. Mr. Smith moved, by way of amendment to the address, an additional clause, by which the house should recommend to his majesty such measures as were likely to conciliate the people, and unite them for the safety of the realm against the common enemy. There was indeed nothing like a serious opposition in parliament, since the secession of the Whig party in the last session.

Various causes combined to bring the conspiracy of the unionists to an earlier issue, than was originally intended. Their Gallic friends had long neglected them, and had gone by every opportunity of succouring them with effect. The vigilance and activity of government had increased: the greatest and most respectable part of the population of the kingdom had in their addresses given fresh pledges of their loyalty, and renounced and reprobated the principles of the union. The leaders therefore of the union, wearied out by the tardiness of their allies, and perceiving their opponents increasing in strength, and their own party visibly on the decline, towards the beginning of the year 1798, resolved upon a desperate effort. In the month of February a military committee was appointed by the executive council of the rebels; detailed instructions were issued to the adjutantgenerals; and thanks were voted to the several colonels for their assiduity in embodying and organizing the people. In the mean time, the Irish executive prepared a dispatch for the French Directory, pressing, in the most earnest terms, for the promised succours; but it was found impossible to convey it to France.

In the months of February and March, many parts of Leinster and Munster were in the actual possession of the United Irishmen, and other parts were secretly under their control. Nocturnal insurrections were innumerable throughout the kingdom. In one instance, an attack was made in the open day. The town of Cahir, in the county of Tipperary, was infested by a party of 800 men, chiefly cavalry: it was retained in their possession till a regular search was made for arms, and they were suffered to evacuate it in order and without molestation. Acts of murder and barbarity, committed on these occasions, were numerous; and such was the terror generally excited, that the report of the committee of the commons states, that very many of the loyal inhabitants of the counties of Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Kilkenny, Carlow, King's county, Queen's county, Kildare, and Wicklow, fled for safety to the garrison towns.

One more humane effort was made by the earl of Moira, supported by all those who were at once the friends of order and of liberty, to restore the tranquillity of the kingdom by measures of conciliation: and on the 19th of February, 1798, his lordship submitted a motion to that effect, to the consideration of the Irish House of Lords. In a long and impressive speech he repeated nearly the same facts which he had stated in his place in the British House of Peers. He related, "that many individuals had been torn from their families, and locked up for months in "the closest confinement, without hearing by whom they were "accused, with what crime they were charged, or to what means "they might recur to prove their innocence; that great numbers "of houses had been burned, with the whole property of the "wretched owners, upon the loosest supposition of even petty "transgressions; that torture, by which he meant picqueting and "half hanging, continued to be used to extort from the sufferer a charge against his neighbours." If he should be contradicted with respect to these facts, he professed himself prepared to "produce the affidavits of them," and declared his intention of moving "for the examination of the deponents at the bar. If "there be delinquencies, there must be delinquents. Prove "their guilt, and punish them; but do not, on a loose charge of "partial transgression, impose infliction on the whole commu "nity. The state of society was dreadful indeed, when the "safety of every man was at the mercy of a secret informer, "when the cupidity, the malevolence, or the erroneous suspicions "of an individual were sufficient to destroy his neighbour."

His lordship proposed an address to the lord lieutenant, to urge his excellency to pursue such conciliatory measures as might allay the apprehensions and extinguish the discontents unhappily prevalent in that country.

Lord Glentworth remarked, that the motion appeared to hing to be calculated to dishearten and dismay the loyal, and to ani mate and invigorate the disloyal. The noble earl (he said) in his statement seemed to mistake the effect for the cause. The measures of which he complained, were the consequences, and not the cause of dissatisfaction; government was certainly to blame, but it was for not having resisted those measures sooner. The lord chancellor, after paying a just compliment to the cha racter of the noble earl, attributed to his residence out of his own country his ignorance of the actual state of it. He asserted, that the system of government had been a system of concilia tion; that in no place had the experiment been so fairly tried as in Ireland; in none had it so completely failed.

In the course of his speech, the chancellor passed some reflections on the bishop of Down, who had promoted a petition to his majesty in favour of conciliatory measures. From the charge of disaffection, the learned prelate very satisfactorily exculpated himself. He professed, that he was a friend to conciliation: coercion, he said, had been tried long enough. He attributed much of the calamities of the country to the recal of earl Fitzwilliam. With respect to Catholic emancipation, he considered it as a matter of right, not of favour: and a reform of parliament as an act of policy, which the state of the country rendered absolutely necessary. The motion was also supported by lord Dunsany, who asserted, that the present system was the cause of the existing discontents. It had been asked of the noble earl who made the motion, why he had not now brought before the house a catalogue of those enormous cruelties, which he had detailed in the British House of Peers? Instead of being asked such a question, the noble and learned lord should rather have thanked him for the conciliating and pacific manner in which he proposed to act. But if noble lords wanted such a catalogue, he could furnish them; he could relate to them not simply the burning of houses, but the murder, in cold blood, of their inhabitants: he could give them an account of three men particularly, who, after having had their houses burned to the ground, were shot by the military, after having been for some time prisoners: and he could add to these accounts, the much more numerous instances of men torn froni their family and country, and, without the form of a trial, transported for life.

The earl of Moira made a very ample reply, and again offered to substantiate his facts at the bar of the house. He admitted that a conspiracy did exist in the country against the government, but he attributed that conspiracy to the severe and unconstitutional measures, which government had adopted, and to that most impolitic and lamentable measure, the recal of earl Fitz

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