THE LEGISLATIVE INDEPENDENCE OF IRELAND VINDICATED; IN A SPEECH of Mr. SHERIDAN's On the Iriſh Propoſitions in the Britiſh Houſe of Commons. On MONDAY, the 30th of MAY, 1785.

MR. SHERIDAN roſe, as the queſtion was going to be put, and ſaid, that as the perſevering ſilence of Mini⯑ſters made it impoſſible for him to gueſs whether they meant to admit the amendment in the fourth Propoſition or not; and as they had purſued the ſame conduct in rejecting the amendment moved by a noble Lord near him, which he had the honour of ſeconding, he would take the opportunity of ſpeaking to the Reſolution generally as it had been framed, and defended by the Miniſter, before it ſhould become ſtill more objectionable, by extending the powers it was to lodge in Great-Britain over the ſiſter kingdom. This, at leaſt, Mr. Sheridan ſaid, was a queſtion on which Gentlemen were no longer to hear the de⯑ſires and wiſhes of Ireland urged as arguments for their concur⯑rence; it was a matter wholely and entirely new; it was ſo far from being any part of the offer made by Ireland, that it had never even been hinted at, or alluded to, in the Iriſh Par⯑liament; it never had been once glanced at by Mr. Orde; it formed no part of the conſideration recommended to the atten⯑tion of the Parliaments of both kingdoms in his Majeſty's gra⯑cious Speech from the throne; it was not to be found in the queſtions referred to the inveſtigation of the Committee of Privy-Council, and the Rt. hon. Gentleman himſelf (Mr. Pitt) [4] in opening this buſineſs to the Britiſh Parliament had not ut⯑tered one word that tended to ſhew that this Propoſition was eſſential to the ſettlement propoſed between the two kingdoms. The queſtion then was, whether the new Propoſition, now in debate, contained matter fit to be propoſed from the Parlia⯑ment of this country to the Parliament of Ireland? In his con⯑ſcience he thought it did not;—it was injurious to make the offer, and it was folly to believe it could be accepted; it was not enough to ſay that the Parliament of Ireland ought not or dared not agree to it; they had not the powers to accede to it;—it would be a conceſſion beyond the limits of their truſt; they would betray the confidence repoſed in them, and the Iriſh nation would ſpurn at the bondage which their degene⯑rate repreſentatives had no authority to engage they ſhould ſubmit to. Much had been argued on a former day relative to the extent and ſpirit of this Propoſition. The event and con⯑cluſion of all thoſe arguments from both ſides of the Houſe, warranted him now in aſſerting, that this Reſolution went, in the fulleſt extent, to a complete reſumption of the right of ex⯑ternal legiſlation ſo lately exerciſed, but ſo ſolemnly renoun⯑ced, by Great-Britain over Ireland. It was unneceſſary to re⯑peat thoſe arguments. No Perſon would again attempt to maintain that this was a meaſure of experiment, or that it was in the power of Ireland to poſſeſs herſelf of the greateſt pre⯑ſent benefits from this country, which ſo many Gentlemen con⯑tended ſhe would immediately obtain, as a transfer of Britiſh capital, and the eſtabliſhment of Britiſh manufactures; and then, by refuſing to place upon her Statute-book ſome act of this Legiſlature which ſhe was bound to have adopted, void and annul the whole of this ſettlement, and revert unmoleſted to her preſent ſituation. A full explanation had been given on this ſubiect, the concluſion from which went diſtinctly to this: that the preſent ſettlement was final and perpetual. That the contracting parties in this momentous buſineſs being preſumed to act with perfect foreſight of the conſequences of their irre⯑vocable engagements, neither party could depart from any ar⯑ticle ſtipulated, without breach of faith. Such an infraction in the ſtronger power, would be an act of deſpotiſm and op⯑preſſion, and would juſtify the utmoſt extent of reſſiſtance; in the weaker, it would be a direct attempt to diſengage her⯑ſelf from all connection with or relation to the empire, and would authorize the vigour of coercion. This was the footing [5] upon which the two countries muſt in future be underſtood to be united. Upon this view it would be an impoſition on com⯑mon ſenſe to pretend that Ireland could in future have the ex⯑erciſe of free will or diſcretion upon any of thoſe ſubjects of legiſlation, on which ſhe now ſtipulated to follow the edicts of Great-Britain; and it was a miſerable ſophiſtry to contend, that her being permitted the ceremony of placing thoſe laws upon her own Statute-book, as the form of promulgating them, was an argument that it was not the Britiſh, but the Iriſh ſtatute, which bound the people of Ireland. For his part, if he were a Member of the Iriſh Parliament, he ſhould prefer the meaſure of enacting, by one deciſive vote, that all Britiſh laws, to the purpoſes ſtipulated, ſhould have im⯑mediate operation in Ireland as in Great-Britain; chooſing rather to avoid the ignominious mockery of enacting without deliberation, and deciding where they had no power to diſ⯑ſent; where ſetters were to be worn, it was a wretched am⯑bition to contend for the diſtinction of faſtening our own ſhackles.

If this was a fair conſtruction of the purport and neceſſary conſequences of the Reſolution, was it a light and trifling con⯑ſideration, when we reflected on the ſolemn and deciſive man⯑ner in which the faith of the two countries had been engaged on this ſubject? whether Great-Britain ſhould inſidiouſly, by ſurpriſe, and collaterally, as it were, make a propoſal, which would argue to her a repentance of the bounty, or rather of the juſtice, which ſhe had done to Ireland; and which, if not accepted, would neceſſarily deſtroy for ever all confidence in that country towards Great-Britain on thoſe great conſtituti⯑onal queſtions, which he had ſhewn were ſo near to her breaſt, and ſo valuable above all other advantages ſhe had either claimed or acquired? It had been ſolemnly ſtipulated be⯑tween the two kingdoms, that ‘"the right claimed by Ireland, to be bound in all caſes whatever, only by laws made by the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland, ſhould never more be queſtioned, or queſtionable."’ This Reſolution did not queſtion that right. No; certainly it did not; it only offered to bargain for it, and propoſed conditions on which the right was to be relinquiſhed for ever by Ireland. But who are the parties ne⯑gotiating, and under what circumſtances is the treaty carried on? A final commercial arrangement is declared to be neceſ⯑ſary to the future good underſtanding between the countries; [6] and this final arrangement it is declared by Britain to be an in⯑diſpenſable condition that Ireland ſhould give up all legiſlative authority in matters of trade and navigation; and this condi⯑tion is not fairly put forward in the outſet of the treaty, but Ireland is treacherouſly encouraged to demand a benefit, and then a price is exacted greater than any favour Britain can be⯑ſtow, while by the manner of granting it, Ireland is at the ſame time given to underſtand, that there can never be peace or cordiality between the two countries, till ſhe acquieſces in the ſacrifice. When a ſtrong power, conſcious of its ſuperio⯑rity, treats with a weaker one upon ſuch terms; it may not queſtion indeed the right to the poſſeſſion wiſhed for, but it does more, it hints a menace on the conſequence of with⯑holding it; the letter of the compact is not infringed, but the ſpirit of it is violated. Here Mr. Sheridan ſaid, he would not enter into a diſcuſſion, whether it was not reaſonable in any Adminiſtration, at any time, to entertain an apprehenſion, that great difficulties might ariſe in the government of two countries, each poſſeſſing an independent legiſlature, eſpecially in matters of commerce and navigation. To argue theoreti⯑cally on ſuch a ſituation, undoubtedly many apprehenſions might be juſtifiable; but what had been the event? It had not proved them to be well-founded; but whatever fears were en⯑tertained on the ſubject, this he was ſure of, that the only mode of treating with Ireland in a point of ſuch magnitude, was by fair, explicit, and ingenuous plain-dealing. If the Britiſh Government really thought it eſſential to the future good underſtanding, and to the common intereſts of the two kingdoms, that the power of legiſlating to particular objects ſhould be lodged in one kingdom, only for the common bene⯑fit of both, and of conſequence in that kingdom which was the head of the empire, it ſhould have been diſtinctly ſo ſta⯑ted in the front and outſet of the firſt overture made to the Iriſh Parliament, as the baſis of a permanent agreement. If then, upon due deliberation, and full communication with their conſtituents and with the country at large, the Parliament of that kingdom had thought it adviſeable, and had been au⯑thoriſed to treat for the ſurrender of thoſe rights which they had ſo lately deemed the only ſafeguard, either of their com⯑merce or of their conſtitution, and which they gloried ſo much to have obtained by their own virtues and ſpirited exer⯑tions; then undoubtedly whatever he might have thought of [7] their prudence, he ſhould not have held himſelf at liberty to make the ſame comments on the proceeding. Inſtead of this, all had been deluſion, trick, and fallacy; a new ſcheme of commercial arrangement is propoſed to the Iriſh as a boon, and the ſurrender of their conſtitution is tacked to it as a mer⯑cantile regulation. Ireland, newly eſcaped from harſh tram⯑mels and ſevere diſcipline, is treated like a high mettled horſe, hard to catch; and the Iriſh Secretary is to return to the field, ſoothing and coaxing him, with a ſieve of provender in one hand, but with a bridle in the other, ready to ſlip over his head, while he is ſnuffling at the food. But this political jockeyſhip, he was convinced, would not ſucceed; Ireland would ſpurn at any offer to which ſuch a condition was to be annexed! ſhe would now plainly ſee that this alarming condi⯑tion, now indeed declared to be the eſſence and vital principle of the whole ſettlement, though introduced as an after⯑thought, as it were, and as a conſequence of the tenor of the requiſitions made by Ireland, was no doubt the firſt original object, and contained the ſeed and ſource of the whole buſineſs. He was the more confirmed in this opinion, from recollect⯑ing many paſſages in the Rt. hon. Mover's ſpeeches, ſince he firſt opened this matter; although it was not then thought pru⯑dent even to hint that ſuch a ſtipulation ſhould be part of the treaty, he conſtantly made it a topic of accuſation againſt his Rt. hon. Friend (Mr. Fox) that he had permitted Ireland to aſſert the freedom of her conſtitution, unconditionally, and without reſerving to Great Britain, a neceſſary controul over her trade and navigation. Here Mr. Sheridan went into a full defence of the conduct of his Rt. hon. Friend on that occaſion, he reminded the Houſe of the circumſtances of the times, the ſituation in which Ireland then ſtood, and maintained that the declaratory ſtatute which Ireland demanded to be repealed, was more diſgraceful to the Journals of that Houſe, and more a libel on the principles of this country, than injurious to the people it inſulted; but was there a man in that Houſe who would ſtand up and ſay, that conditions ought to have been made with Ireland, annexed to this conceſſion, if a conceſſion it could be called? Was there a man who ſtated this to be his opi⯑nion at the time? If the Rt. hon. Gentleman who ſo frequently repeats this charge, has to plead in his excuſe, that he was not THEN poſſeſſed of all that political foreſight, and conſummate ſagacity which three years experience had given him, how [8] came it, that his new ally, the Rt. hon. Gentleman by his ſide (Mr. Jenkinſon) whoſe prudence and abilities were certainly not immature at that time, ſo far deſerted his duty, as ne⯑ver to proteſt, while the meaſure was in its progreſs, againſt the indiſcretion and raſhneſs of a Miniſter, whom he had no reaſon to ſavour, nor once to warn him, that he was inconſider⯑ately placing the two countries in a ſituation, in which it was impoſſible for them to ſtand, and inducing Parliament to re⯑linquiſh a right, which it would be indiſpenſably neceſſary, on the firſt opportunity to reſume; fortunately for the peace and future union of the two kingdoms, no ſuch miſerable and narrow policy entered into the mind of his Rt. hon. Friend; he diſdained the injuſtice of bargaining with Ireland on ſuch a ſubject, nor would Ireland have liſtened to him if he had attempted it. She had not applied to purchaſe a conſtitution, and if a tribute or contribution had been demanded in return for what was then granted, thoſe patriotic ſpirits who were at that time leading the oppreſſed people of that inſulted coun⯑try, to the attainment of their juſt rights, would have point⯑ed to other modes of acquiring them, would have called to them in the words of Camillus, arma aptare atque ferro non auro patriam et libertatem recuperare.

But if he had been ſurprized at this ſort of language coming from thoſe Gentlemen, he had been much more aſtoniſhed, at another Rt. hon. Gentleman's declaration (Mr. Grenville) that when he had been in an official ſituation, in Ireland, he had wiſhed for, and meditated a ſettlement between the two countries, upon the principle of the preſent propoſed ſyſtem. Had the Rt. hon. Gentleman forgot the ſecond legiſlative act paſſed by this Parliament, in acknowledgment of the Conſti⯑tutional rights of Ireland? Had he forgot that that act was a meaſure of his adminiſtration? and did he remember the ſo⯑lemn pledge, there given, to remove for ever all doubt that any power but the King, Lords, and Commons, of Ireland, ſhould dictate in a legiſlative capacity to that country? The Rt. hon. Gentleman had ſtated, that this act had become abſo⯑lutely neceſſary, for that Ireland, almoſt to a man, had con⯑ceived that the ſimple repeal of the 6th of George the Firſt, had not reſtored to them the ſecurity of their conſtitution, which yet remained to be acquired, if this was the caſe, and a bargain were neceſſary, then was the time for the Rt. hon. Gentleman to have propoſed his conditions, and not to have [9] permitted thoſe for whom he obtained this new acknowledg⯑ment, to have conceived him to have been the champion for a more ſolemn and explicit renunciation of the legiſlative claims of Great Britain over Ireland, if he had in his mind a reſerve, that a ſettlement was even then neceſſary, which ſhould re⯑aſſert thoſe claims, and degrade Ireland to her former ſtate of ſervile dependance.

With regard to the ſtate of Ireland, it was ridiculous to argue that any circumſtances had ſince occurred to juſtify or call for the preſent arrangement. It had been attempted to be proved in the Report of the Committee of Privy Council that Ireland had begun to ſhew a hoſtile diſpoſition towards Great Britain, and that ſhe had paſſed two or three acts, impoſing duties on ſome articles of Britiſh export. It was idle to reaſon from ſuch trivial circumſtances. One or two of theſe acts, it was known, had paſſed the Iriſh Parliament rather by ſtealth and through inadvertency. No material principle upon which the two countries were to remain connected, had been violated; and when we conſidered the perpetual ſhifting of the govern⯑ment and ſyſtem in Ireland, that every three months waſted over a new Lord Lieutenant, the only wonder was that thoſe principles had been ſo ſteadily adhered to. The clamour and riots of Dublin had alſo been reſorted to as pretences for this arrangement; this ſort of argument had been ſufficiently repro⯑bated by a Rt. hon. Friend of his (Mr. Burke) on a former day, but if clamour was to be attended to, let the meaning of it, where there was any, be preferred to the noiſe. Had the Iriſh clamoured for the preſent ſettlement, or for any one article contained in it? Had they been loud in demanding acceſs to the Britiſh market in preference to protecting duties? Had they requeſted to be tied for ever to the Britiſh monopoly in the Weſt Indies, and to have the price of the commodities of thoſe Colonies increaſed upon them. Had they complained that fortune had offered the trade of the United States of America to them without condition or reſtraint? Had they vehemently expreſſed their apprehenſions, that the rich com⯑merce of the Eaſt would ſpeedily be open to them, if effectual meaſures were not taken to prevent it? Had they regretted that they were burthened with a ſurplus of the hereditary re⯑venue? Had they called out, that they were tired of their Legiſlative Independence, and intreated to be relieved from it? But the fallacy of ſtating ſuch flimſy ground, as the ſup⯑poſed [10] cry of the populace, as the real origin and ſpur of this important arrangement, was too obvious to be commented on. The true ſpring and incentive to this artful and complicated buſineſs evidently lurked in this fourth pernicious Reſolution, the tendency of which, was of a piece with their whole ſyſ⯑tem of Government in Ireland, with the arbitrary and illegal proceedings of their agents in the buſineſs of attachments, with their attacks on the liberty of the preſs, meaſures arguing a mind hoſtile to the true principles of conſtitutional freedom, and juſtifying us in preſuming that ſimilar ſteps would be purſued in this country, if they could be practiſed with equal impunity.

Mr. Sheridan now adverted to what the noble Lord in the Blue Ribband (Lord North) had ſaid, was his conception of the ſpirit of the Propoſition then in debate. The noble Lord had very fairly ſtated, that it was unqueſtionably a propoſal on the part of the Britiſh Parliament, that Ireland ſhould, upon certain conditions, ſurrender her now acknowledged right of external legiſlation, and return as to that point to the ſituation from which ſhe had emancipated herſelf in 1782. The noble Lord had alſo added, that though he might not approve of the manner and circumſtances under which this offer was made, yet he ſincerely hoped, that Ireland would forget both, and perceive her intereſt in acceding to the propoſal. The noble Lord was right in ſaying, that Ireland muſt forget before ſhe could conſent; but ſhe had more to forget than the inſidious and unfair manner in which this propoſal come to her; ſhe muſt forget that Great Britain ever had the power now re⯑quired to be conceded to her; ſhe muſt forget the uſe Great-Britain made of it while ſhe poſſeſſed it. And by what ar⯑guments is Ireland to be induced to relinquiſh this right? Can it be ſtated to her, that ſhe has ever once exerciſed it to the injury of this country? No, but we are told, that it is poſſible that ſhe may do ſo; and is it not equally poſſible that Great Britain may abuſe the truſt, and employ this power to the oppreſſion of Ireland? It is argued that the malice of party, the intereſted views of mercantile ſpeculation, or the folly of narrow politicians, may, at ſome time or other, lead Ireland, even at the expence of her own intereſt, to meaſures which might embarraſs the trade and navigation of the Em⯑pire. And has Ireland nothing to apprehend from party, from mercantile avarice, or from blind and narrow policy? If it is urged that England is grown too liberal and enlighten⯑ed [11] to juſtify any ſuch apprehenſions on the part of Ireland, the Chancellor of the Exchequer himſelf contradicts this rea⯑ſoning, by aſſerting, that the two hundred thouſand manufac⯑turers whoſe petitions are on the Table, are all influenced either by the ſuggeſtions of faction, or blinded by prejudice and ſelfiſhneſs; in truth, there is not a ſingle argument which can be uſed as an inducement to Great Britain to attempt to reſume this power, which does not equally apply as a motive to Ireland not to part with it, with this difference only, that fact and experience will juſtify the refuſal of the one, but have afforded no pretence for the requiſition from the other.

But this power, if returned to Great Britain, is to be re⯑turned with this qualification. The laws which Ireland is to be bound to adopt and to obey, are ‘'to enforce the ſame reſ⯑traints, and to confer the ſame benefits upon the ſubjects of both countries.'’ Here then ariſes a queſtion which will ne⯑ceſſarily be duly weighed and duly conſidered by the Iriſh. Is it, or is it not poſſible for Great Britain, under the title of Laws for the Regulation of Trade and Navigation, or for regu⯑lating and reſtraining the Trade of the Britiſh Colonies and Plan⯑tations, to adopt reſtrictions and enforce conditions which may materially cripple and embarraſs the trade and navigation of Ireland without proportionably affecting the commerce of Great Britain. He took upon him confidently to aſſert, that this might be done in innumerable particulars. He had ſtated for example ſake ſome inſtances upon a former day; he had ſtated that Great Britain might reſtrain the trade and naviga⯑tion between the Colonies and theſe kingdoms to veſſels of conſiderable burthen and a proportionable number of ſeamen. England has large ſhips and numerous crews, Ireland has nei⯑ther. The advantage of Ireland has been ſuppoſed to be her making more frequent voyages to the Plantations and for ſmall⯑er cargoes. Such a meaſure of legiſlation as is alluded to, would evidently have a different operation on the commerce of the two Countries. He had ſtated, that Great Britain re⯑ſerving the power of preſcribing the form of original certifi⯑cates to be given by the Revenue Officers of the Colonies, and of requiring them to accompany the importation of every ar⯑ticle of Colonial produce, imported from Ireland into Great Britain, might, by limiting the time at which they ſhould be allowed, and by various other means entangle and diſtreſs the Iriſh Trader, and the more ſo, as the reſtraint was not even [12] to be reciprocal. He had ſtated, that Great Britain might make it a condition, that no ſhip ſhould clear out a cargo from the Weſt Indies, which did not take out a ſtipulated quantity of ſome Britiſh manufacture not to be obtained in Ireland; but it was unneceſſary for him to multiply or argue upon examples. If he was wrangled out of one caſe, ſtill the principal he went upon was not defeated, for he was not to be called upon to prove the probability of the inſtances he quoted, or that Great Britain would not injure herſelf were ſhe to adopt them, becauſe the whole of the preſent arrangement was built upon this foundation, that it was eſſential to the ſyſtem that neither country ſhould retain a power upon any terms to injure the commerce of the other.

But whether it was probable or not that Great Britain would in future exerciſe this right of external legiſlation over Ireland with juſtice and liberality, ſhutting her ears to preju⯑dice and ſelf-intereſt, ſtill it muſt be admitted, that it was claiming a conſiderable ſacrifice from the ſiſter kingdom; and what were the advantages held out to her to induce her to make this ſacrifice? He wiſhed the Houſe to view the whole of this matter, and not to confine their attention to the ſubject of the Britiſh market, which had been argued upon as if there was nothing elſe to be conceded by one ſide or acquired by the other. What was the preſent ſituation of Ireland in reſpect to all branches of commerce, independent of her intercourſe with this kingdom? Here Mr. Sheridan went into a more minute detail, than it is neceſſary for us to purſue, in order to ſhew the ſituation in which Ireland now ſtood, in reſpect to her trade with our Colonies and with Foreign Countries, and that in which ſhe was propoſed to be placed, ſhould the ſyſtem of arrangement at preſent in contemplation, be adopted.

With reſpect to the Weſt Indies, Ireland was to agree to forego every market, but that of the Britiſh Plantations, to give up the cheapeſt for the deareſt, to loſe the option ſhe at preſent poſſeſſed, of being ſupplied circuitouſly through Great Britain upon the low duties, if ſhe found it not to her advantage to apply to the direct trade for the whole of her conſumption, to double her preſent duties on the article of rum, to impoſe not only equal port duties upon her exports, but to countervail every internal duty, which Great Britain may impoſe upon any ſimilar article of her own manufacture, ſo that if Great Britain was to lay a duty upon the export of [13] her linen to thoſe Colonies, which would be of little injury to her, Ireland muſt do the ſame, though the reverſe would be the conſequence; in ſhort, the whole was ſacrifice and ſur⯑render on the part of Ireland.

As to America, the difference lay in a word. Inſtead of a trade to that whole Continent without reſtriction or duty, but what ſhe ſhould think proper herſelf to impoſe, ſhe was to admit into her ports no articles of ſimilar growth, produce, or ma⯑nufacture, to thoſe of the Britiſh Colonies, or which were li⯑able to be imported from thence as ſuch, but upon the terms that Great Britain ſhould hereafter dictate. With Africa, ſhe was to be placed upon the ſame footing as with the Weſt In⯑dies, and for India, ſhe was to abandon all hope and proſpect of intercourſe with thoſe countries to the end of time, and conſent that an immoveable boom ſhould be placed from the Cape of Good Hope to the Straits of Magellan. Thus re⯑ſtrained and dependent, her proſpects of European commerce were to be proportionably diminiſhed; theſe ſacrifices could not be diſputed; and it was to be conſidered that every article propoſed to be abandoned by Ireland, was an advantage to which her title was not diſputed, an advantage that ſhe held as a right, for which ſhe had a claim to compenſation if re⯑linquiſhed.

Theſe then being the ſacrifices which Ireland was to make in her proſpects of an extended foreign commerce, where was to be her retribution? In what inſtance was the advantage in this treaty to be on her ſide? From whence was ſhe to receive the boaſted compenſation? The BRITISH MARKET—that was to be opened to her. There, and there only, was ſhe to look for an equivalent for the numerous and important ſacrifices ſhe was to make both in commerce and conſtitution. He defied any man to have the confidence to deny, for a moment, that in every other inſtance Ireland was not to be placed in an infinite⯑ly worſe ſituation than that in which ſhe now ſtands, and in which ſhe ſtands by fair and acknowledged right. But how was this advantage to be given to her? Upon what terms was the Britiſh market to be opened? If he was to adopt the lan⯑guage and ſentiments of thoſe who propoſe this boon, he ſhould anſwer, upon ſuch terms as ſhall effectually prevent Ireland from ever profiting, in the ſmalleſt degree by the con⯑ceſſion. To this point, all their arguments had tended: to this, all their evidence had been pointed; ſo that if we were [14] to give credit to the Miniſter, and his ſupporters, this equita⯑ble treaty, this bargain upon the baſis of reciprocity, would prove neither more nor leſs than a direct fraud, cheat, and robbery, ſtripping Ireland of all the commercial advantages ſhe had obtained, as well as of the conſtitution which ſecured them to her, and giving nothing in return, but a right to render herſelf odious in this country, by an attempt at a rivalſhip, which could not be profitable to herſelf, though it might be miſchievous to Great Britain. He was not inclined, however, to give credit to the Miniſter's reaſoning on this ſubject, and much leſs to the evidence he had brought to ſupport it, the greater part of which had been merely a libel on the character and habits of the Iriſh nation, nor did he at the ſame time go with the manufacturers of this country to the extent of the evils which they apprehended—many of their arguments were un⯑doubtedly well founded, and the evidence they had given at the Bar merited the moſt ſerious attention: there was one point, however, in which he moſt completely agreed with them,—in their aſſertion, that if the Iriſh trader ſhould be enabled to meet the Britiſh merchant and manufacturer in the Britiſh market, the gain of Ireland muſt be the loſs of Eng⯑land. This was a fact not to be controverted on any principle of common ſenſe, or reaſonable argument. The pomp of ge⯑neral declamation and waſte of fine words, which had on ſo many occaſions been employed to diſguiſe and perplex this plain ſimple truth, or ſtill more fallaciouſly to endeavour to prove, that Great Britain would find her balance in the Iriſh market, had only tended to ſhew the weakneſs and inconſiſt⯑ency of the doctrine, they were meant to ſupport. The truth of the argument was with the manufacturers, and this formed, in Mr. Sheridan's mind, a ground of one of the moſt vehement objections he had to the preſent plan. Ireland muſt not endea⯑vour to riſe on the ruin of the trade of Great Britain—ſhe muſt not aim to thrive avowedly at the expence of the Britiſh manufacturer, however alluring the proſpect, not juſtice and generoſity alone, but intereſt and policy, would call upon her to deſiſt from the attempt. Poſſibly at firſt ſhe might find a profit and an advantage in the conteſt—but how was a great part of this advantage to be obtained?—by means incompatible with the true ſpirit and principles, which led to permanent commercial proſperity, by means which had been ſtated at the bar, to form a great part of the apprehenſions of thoſe who [15] petitioned againſt theſe Propoſitions, by a lax execution of her revenue laws, by the corrupt countenance of her legiſla⯑ture to ſuch a conduct, by ſtealing her own manufactures into this country, by paſſing thoſe of foreign countries for her own, by obtaining a transfer of capital, and enticing over artiſts and workmen by ſalfe hopes and ill-founded proſpects, in ſhort by ſmuggling, by evading, by defrauding, by conniving, by de⯑ceiving. The profit earned by ſuch means would by the ſyſtem they tend to introduce be ruinous in the end to the country which practiſed them, while they would immediately deeply injure the ſiſter kingdom if ſhe ſubmitted to them; but that would not long continue, the conſequence would be, that even the name of Iriſhman would become odious and deteſtable to the commercial intereſt of Great Britain, and Ireland would ſoon be taught to know, that while ſhe was preſſing by all poſ⯑ſible means her own advantage from this article of the ſettle⯑ment, ſhe had by other conditions of the treaty ſurrendered into the hands of Great Britain the power of crippling and cruſhing the whole ſcheme of her commerce, of chaſtiſing her preſumption, and of reducing her to her former ſtate of ab⯑ject dependence, whenever the intereſt, the prejudices, or the animoſity of the trading part of this community ſhould counten⯑ance the meaſure. Mr. Sheridan urged this in other points of view, and declared, that if he were a perſon of conſideration in Ireland, ſo far from encouraging the people there to ſtruggle for the Britiſh market, he ſhould think it his duty, and what he owed to the intereſts of his countrymen, to call loudly to the whole land to turn away their eyes and thoughts from that one object, to attempt no race or conteſt with the Britiſh ma⯑nufacturer, to ſhun, as the greateſt evil, the jealouſies, heart burnings, and deſtructive ill will, which would neceſſarily breed on ſuch a competition, circumſtanced ſo peculiarly with reſpect to burthens as Great Britain was, and biaſſed by rooted habits of thinking upon this particular point, but to endea⯑vour to increaſe by fair and gentle means the home conſump⯑tion of the produce of their own induſtry, and by ſyſtematic and vigorous enterprize to aim at a ſucceſsful intercourſe with every foreign port; there, if they met the Britiſh merchant, it would be a liberal emulation, there, he could have no inno⯑vation or unfairneſs to complain of, and there, even if ſucceſſ⯑fully rivalled, he would be conſcious that the encreaſing wealth of Ireland, from ſuch a ſource, might with truth be ſtated to [16] be a fund wherein the general commerce of England would aſ⯑ſuredly find its compenſation. Thus might Ireland be addreſ⯑ſed under her preſent circumſtances, but let the ſettlement now propoſed be once eſtabliſhed, what would be the anſwer? Would not the Iriſh merchant and manufacturer reply—‘"What you adviſe us to is unreaſonable and prepoſterous, We have bound ourſelves for ever to the monopolies of Great Bri⯑tain in the Eaſt and in the Weſt; we receive the commodities of both at her will, at her prices, and at her duties; we are crippled in our intercourſe with America, holding a preca⯑rious and reſtrained trade with thoſe Sovereign States, as if they were ſtill Britiſh Colonies; our dreams of being the de⯑pot and emporium for the foreign countries of Europe are of conſequence become viſionary and ridiculous; we have violated the principles of our Conſtitution, by giving a perpetual aid to a military force at the will of the executive Magiſtrate; we have for ever ſurrendered our right of external legiſlation into the hands of Britiſh Parliament: for all this the Britiſh mar⯑ket is our compenſation; upon that we are compelled to faſten our minds, to that we muſt cling, that we muſt obtain by eve⯑ry poſſible exertion of every kind, and if Great Britain ſuffers by it, the miſchief is of her own ſeeking, and the reſtrictions which force us to this conteſt of her own impoſing."’ Theſe would be the happy fruits of a plan, whoſe boaſted object was to cement the union of the two countries, and connect them by bonds of eternal amity and reciprocal affection!

After enlarging on this, Mr. Sheridan concluded with preſ⯑ſing to the attention of the Houſe the Propoſitions as they then ſtood, completely changed in ſpirit, principle and regula⯑tion, and begging them to conſider them in their true light, as new Propoſals from the Britiſh Parliament, thoſe made by the Iriſh Parliament being in fact rejected; and to decide whether they were ſuch as human reaſon could ſuppoſe the Iriſh Parlia⯑ment, weighing what they are to renounce, and what they are to acquire, could accept, if fair time was given them to argue and deliberate; or if by ſurpriſe and management, they were hurried through that Parliament, at a ſeaſon of thin atten⯑dance and relaxed attention, whether the moſt fatal miſunder⯑ſtandings might not be apprehended, from the country's after⯑wards diſcovering the deluſion which had been practiſed upon them, and the arts and fallacies, which had obtained the irrevocable ſurrender of their deareſt rights. The Reſolu⯑tion [17] in debate was declared to be the eſſence of this new ſyſ⯑tem: negative that and the plan fell to the ground; if it paſſed that day, a deep wound would inſtantly be given to the con⯑fidence of Ireland in Great Britain; if adopted raſhly by the Iriſh Parliament, the deciſive blow would be ſtruck, and af⯑fection and good faith between the two countries be baniſhed for ever.