stitutional and commercial rights of Ireland; to exert the important privileges of freemen at the ensuing election, and to proclaim to the world, that you at least deserve to be free. Regard not the threats of landlords or their agents, when they require you to fail in your duty to God, to your country, to yourselves, to your posterity. The first privilege of a man is the right of judging for himself, and now is the time for you to exert that right. It is a time pregnant with circumstances, which revolving ages may not again so favourably combine. The spirit of liberty is gone abroad, it is embraced by the people at large, and every day brings with it an accession of strength. The timid have laid aside their fears, the virtuous sons of Ireland stand secure in their numbers. Undue influence is now as despised as it has ever been contemptible: and he who would dare to punish an elector for exerting the rights of a freeman, would meet what he would merit, public detestation and abhor rence. Let no individual neglect his duty. The nation is the aggre gate of individuals, and the strength of the whole is composed of exertion of each part; the man, therefore, who omits what is in his power, because he has not more in his power, and will not exert his utmost efforts for the emancipation of his country, because they can, at best, be the efforts of but one man, stands accountable to his God and to his country, to himself and to his posterity, for confirming and entailing slavery on the land which gave him birth. An upright House of Commons is all that is wanting, and it is in the power of the electors to obtain it. Vote only for men whose past conduct in parliament you and the nation approve, and for such others as will solemnly pledge themselves to support the measures, which you and the nation approve. your duty to your country, and let no consideration tempt you to sacrifice the public to a private tie, the greater duty to a less. Do We entreat you, in the name of the great and respectable body we represent; we implore you, by every sociable and honourable tie; we conjure you as citizens, as freemen, as Irishmen, to raise this long insulted kingdom, and restore to her her lost rights. One great and united effort will place us among the first nations of the earth, and those who shall have the glory of contributing to that event, will be for ever recorded as the saviours of their country. It would be impossible and unnecessary, to state here the numerous resolutions agreed to by the several volunteer corps and other assemblies, where these subjects were taken into consideration they were substantially the same, and differed but in words. We shall therefore only add the proceedings of a few other bodies, that were not under the military character, to shew that the same disposition and sentiments pervaded all ranks of people. At a Meeting of the Freemen and Freeholders of the City of Dublin, convened by the High Sheriffs, at the Tholsel, on Tuesday the 19th of March, 1782, the following Address was unanimously agreed to. To Sir Samuel Bradstreet, Bart. and Travers Hartley, Esq. Representatives in Parliament for the City of Dublin. GENTLEMEN, AS men justly entitled to, and firmly resolved to obtain a free constitution, we require you, our trustees, to exert yourselves in the most strenuous manner, to procure an unequivocal declaration, " That the king, lords, and com66 mons of Ireland are the only power competent to make laws "to bind this country." And we solemnly pledge ourselves to you and to our country, that we will support the representatives of the people at the risk of our lives and fortunes, in every constitutional measure, which may be pursued for the attainment. of this great national object. Be assured, gentlemen, that your zeal upon this occasion will insure a continuance of our esteem and regard. you (Signed) James Campbell Sheriffs. David Dick The Sheriffs, having waited on the Representatives, received the following Answer. To the Sheriffs, Freemen, and Freeholders of the City of Dublin. GENTLEMEN, IT has ever been my wish to receive with pleasure, and to obey the instructions of my constituents. You may depend on my using every means in my power to procure an explicit and unequivocal declaration, "That the 66 king, lords, and commons of Ireland are the only power competent to make laws to bind this country;" and I rely on your solemn engagement to support your representatives in every constitutional measure, which may be necessary for the attainment of this great national object. Permit me to assure you, that my zeal for the accomplishment of your wishes can be equalled only by my desire to convince you how sacred I esteem the trust you have reposed in me, and how much I value a continuance of the good opinion of my fellow citizens. I have the honour to be, with the greatest respect, Your obliged and faithful servant, SAMUEL BRadstreet. To the Sheriffs, Freemen, and Freeholders of the city of Dublin. GENTLEMEN, I SHOULD be very unworthy of that honourable and important trust, with which you have so recently invested me, did I not receive with the highest respect, the most perfect satisfaction, and cheerful conformity, your instructions on a subject in which the national honour and security are essentially engaged. To suppose that any power, except that of the "king, lords, and commons of Ireland, is competent to "make laws to bind this kingdom," is utterly inconsistent with the idea of freedom; it is equal liberty alone, which can secure that perfect harmony to the subjects of the same crown, so necessary to the prosperity both of Great Britain and Ireland. of You may rely, gentlemen, on every exertion I am capable of, to procure an unequivocal declaration of the sole rights of the legislature of this kingdom, to enact laws obligatory on the people of Ireland; and I doubt not in this, and every constitutional measure, I shall be always secure of the support my constituents. Your instructions on this occasion will give a dignity to the vote you have intrusted me with, which it must have wanted, if considered as merely proceeding from my own private judgment. I have the honour, gentlemen, to be, With the most perfect respect, and sense of obligation, At a Meeting of the High Sheriff and Grand Jury of the County of Dublin, on the 11th of April, 1782, the following Resolutions were agreed to. Resolved, That no power on earth, but the king, lords, and commons of Ireland can in right make laws to bind the people of this land. Resolved, That the members of the House of Commons are representatives of, and derive their power solely from, the people; and that a denial of this proposition by them would be to abdicate the representation. The following Address was then read by the Chairman, and agreed to. To the Right Hon. Luke Gardiner, and Sir Edward Newenham, Knight. GENTLEMEN, WE, the high sheriff and grand jury of the county of Dublin, warmly coinciding with the determination respecting the constitutional rights of Ireland, with which the mind of every man in this nation is deeply impressed, think it our duty to express those feelings in the strongest terms. As you have already evinced your intention to support the sole and undoubted authority of the legislature of Ireland, to make laws for its government, we confidently hope and expect, that you will persevere in pursuing the most decisive and immediate measures, that may effectually carry that great object into execution, by a solemn ratification of our rights. Though this is, at the present crisis, the principal matter under the consideration of parliament, we have no doubt but that you must consider it your duty to act in all things that affect the freedom of our constitution, in such manner as may become the representatives of a great and independent county. Resolved, That copies of the above resolutions and address, signed by the high sheriff and foreman, be presented to the Right Honourable Luke Gardiner and Sir Edward Newenham, knight, and that the same, together with their answers be published. The following Answers were returned.. To the High Sheriff and Grand Jury of the County of Dublin. GENTLEMEN, IT gives me very sincere satisfaction, that my past conduct, relative to the sole and undoubted authority of the legislature of Ireland, has merited your approbation. You may be assured, that I shall persevere in giving my warmest support to the great and important object, as I consider it so decisively founded in right, that no man who loves to be free, can hesitate to acknowledge and to assert it. With respect to any other matter that may affect the freedom of our constitution, I am so conscious of my intentions to promote the perfect contentment of this country, that I have no doubt I shall, in every particular deserve that confidence, with which you have hitherto honoured me. I am very glad that you have given me an opportunity of declaring my sentiments thus publicly at this crisis; as I think that the time is now come, which demands an explicit and a permanent settlement of the constitution of Ireland, as the certain means of establishing the tranquillity of this country, and of perpetuating the harmony, which ought to subsist between us and Great Britain. I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, With the greatest respect, Your very obliged and humble servant, Henrietta Street, April 13, 1782. To the High Sheriff, Foreman, and Grand Jury of the County of Dublin. GENTLEMEN, I ALWAYS received your instructions with respect and pleasure, for it is equally my duty and inclination to obey them; if I did not, I should betray that delegated trust, with which you have honoured me. In respect to those great objects in which you desire "I will persevere," I assure you, I will most faithfully pursue that line of conduct marked out by you, confident that his majesty cannot, in justice to this independent kingdom, refuse his royal assent to such acts, as may be deemed by the Irish parliament "a solemn ratification of our rights." I flatter myself that no Irish minister will be found to be so presumptuous, as to impede |