the union, on the twenty-firft of April, admitted, that if any thing could, in his mind, throw a doubt on the quection of union, it would be the neceffity of difturbing the reprefentation of England. But that neceffity, fortunately did not exit. He had once, indeed, entertained a different opinion. But times and circumftances had changed. And he thought it right to declare farther his moft decided opinion, that even if the times were proper for experiments, any, even the lighteft change in fuch a confitution, must be confidered as an eril. While Mr. Pitt was thus illuftrating the confiftency of his own conduct, on the point of parliamentary reform, a commotion and clamour of hear! hear! arofe on the oppofition benches, which was carried beyond the ufual pitch of fuch vociferation, and bore fome refemblance to the debates in the convention affembly of France, and afterwards, in the council of fivehundred. Some muttered centure, fome laughed aloud, all cried hear! hear! while, on the minifterial fide of the houfe, there was as loud a cry of order! order! Mr. Pitt, after a long and involuntary paufe, faid, calmly I wifh gentlemen would hear me and then aufwer me. When I fee that the conftitution has fupported itfelf against the open attacks of its enemies, and against the more dangerous reforms of its profelled friends; that it has defeated the unwearied machinations of France, and the no lefs perfevering efforts of jacobins in England, and that, during the whole of the conteft, it has uniformly maintained the confidence of the people of England: when I confider all thele circumftances, I hould be afhamed of my felf, if any former opinions of mine could now induce me to think that the form of reprefentation, which, in fuch times as the prefent, has been found amply fufficient for the purpose of protecting the interefts, and fecuring the happiness of the people, fhould be idly and wantonly difturbed, from any love of experiment, or any predilection from theory. Mr. Pitt had been led farther, he said, by the unufual interruption he had met with, into the fubject of reform, than he intended. But he did not mean to have passed by the fubje& of the Irith members, without accompanying it with fome obfervations on British reprefenteion. However thefe members might be chofen, there was one confideration which could not fail to prefs itself on their minds, namely, that, by the laws of England, care had been taken to prevent the influence of the crown from becoming too great, by too many offices being held by members of parliament. In Ireland there were laws of a fimilar nature, but not quite to the fame extent: fo that it might happen that, in the hundred members to be chofen, there might be a great number holding places. It was impoflible to provide against this contingency by an article of union to be binding on the united parliament, because it was found, from experience, that the number of of fices, to be held by members, muft always remain in the difcretion of parliament, to be regulated from time to time, as circumftances might require. On the other, if no regulation on this fubject thould at prefent, be made, it might happen that, in the firft hundred members cholen, there might be a great [14] number number holding places, and confequently under the influence of the crown, who would have to decide, in the imperial parliament, on the extent to which that influence ought to extend. The greater number of the members that were to come over, would be the reprefentatives, and great commercial towns: of whom there were not above five or fix who held offices. With refpect to the remainder, it was obvious, from the manner in which they were to be chofen, that it was impoffible to afcertain, exactly, the the number of offices they might hold. They would not, however, exceed the number of twenty: a nuisber not fufficient to have any great effect in deciding upon the queftion of the extent of the influ ence of the crown. "We then, faid Mr. Pitt, proceed to the number of the other houfe of parliament; and their precife number, I own, does not appear to me a matter that calls for clofe investigation or minute inquiry. The number for Scotland, as we all know, is fixteen to reprefent the peerage, and for the commons forty-five. There may, indeed, be another view of confidering it on the part of Ireland, different from that of Scotland, which is true to a given extent, and, on which extent, I fhall obferve hereafter; but in the view in which I take it, at prefent, and thinking, as I do, that the whole fhould be a representation, having for its object the general welfare of the empire, the number cannot be very material; befides, we are to look at Ireland as reprefented locally, by thirty peers, and alfo by thofe peers in England who poflefs great part of their property in Ireland; fo that, in comparison of the thirty-two which they are to be chofen, I can was of Scotland; and my reafon for it is this, that a nobleman in Ireland, if not chofen by his own order, may be chofen as a legiflator by a clafs of inferior rank, and which I am fo far from regarding as improper, that I deem it, in a high degree, advantageous to the empire, analogous to the practice, as well as friendly to the fpirit of the British conftitution. We know full well the advantages we have experienced from having, in this houfe, thofe who, in the courfe of defcent, as well as in hopes of merit, have had a profpect of fitting in our houfe of peers. Thofe, therefore, who object to this part of the arrangement, can only do fo from the want of due attention to the true character of our conftitution, one of the great leading advantages of which, is, that a perfon may, for along time, be a member of one branch of the legiflature, and have it in view to become a member of another branch of it; this it is which conflitutes the leading difference between the nobility of Great Britain, and thole of other countries." A motion, by Mr. Grey, for limiting the number of Irish placemen, who fhould fit in the houfe of commons, to nineteen, instead of twenty, was negatived, without a divifion. Dr. Lawrence wifhed to call to mind the influence which the addit on of one hundred members, to the British houfe of commons, from another kingdom, might throw into the hands of the crown, which he thought, with his late illuftrious friend Mr. Burke, had increafed, was ingreafing, ond ought to be diminifhed. He compared the penfion-lifts of the two countries. In this it amounted to 120,000. In Ireland there was, befides the civil lift of 104,000l. a penfion-lift, amounting to 110,000. The propofed addition of one hundred Irith members to the British houfe of commons, fuperadded to what was already at the difpofal of the crown, made him. afraid of throwing any farther weight into a fcale, which, in his opinion, preponderated too much already. But a matter of greater alarm to the learned doctor was, the difturbance that might be occafioned, by the introduction of fo many members from Ireland, in that houfe, from a quickness of difpofition, and a propenfity to duelling. He confefled, that he was not without apprehenfions for the order, the tranquillity, and the fecurity of the houfe, even under the good government and authority of fo excellent a chairman as the prefent fpeaker. The refolutions for the union having, after various amendments, propofed and rejected, been agreed to, Mr. chancellor Pitt, in the house of commons, the fifth of May, moved, "That an addrefs be prefented to his majefty, humbly begging leave to acquaint his majefty, that, in conformity to his majesty's gracious meffage, laying before them the refolutions of the lords and commons of Ireland, they had proceeded to refume the confideration of the great and important fubject of a legislative union between Great Britain and Ireland. That it was with unfpeakable fatisfaction they had obferved the conformity of the faid refolutions to thofe principles which they had humbly fubmitted to his majefty in the laft feffion of parliament, as calculated to form the bafis of fuch a fettlement.-That, with the few alterations and additions which they had found it neceflary to fuggeft, they confidered thefe refolutions as ( and profperous conclufion of the great measure of the union: an event to which he looked forward with the moft anxious, expectation as tending, above all others, to fecure and perpetuate the happiness of all his fubjects." as fit to form the articles of both kingdoms, afforded his ma union between Great Britain and jefty the beût pledge of the speedy Ireland. And if thofe alterations and additions fhould be approved of by the two houfes of the parliament of Ireland, they were ready to confirm and ratify thefe arli. cles, in order that the fame might be eftablished for ever, by the mutual confent of both parliaments. That they offered up to his majefty their humble congratulations on the near profpect of the accomplishment of a work, which his majefty, as the common father of his people, had jufly declared to be fo near his heart, concurring with his houfes of parliament in Ireland, on the full conviction that, by incorporating the legiflature, and confolidating the refources of the two kingdoms, we fhould increase the power and ftability of the British empire and, at the fame time, contribute, in the most effectual manner, to the improvement of the commerce, and the prefervation of the liberties of his ma jetty's fubjects in Ireland." This addrefs, being voted, was communicated, in a conference, to the lords (who, in a previous conference had made fome fmall additions and amendments to the refolutions of the commons) on the ninth of May, and a joint addrefs, of both houfes, on the fubject of the union, agreed to, was carried to his majefty: who, in his gracious anfwer, on the twelfth of May, exprefled the greatest fatiffaction at their proceedings: and engaged, without delay, to communicate to his parliament of Ireland the fentiments and declarations contained in the addrefs. "The difpofitions which had been manifefted by his parliaments, in The refolutions of the British parliament were remitted to Ireland; and, being approved by the Irith parliament, after a few fight alterations, were ratified by the parliaments of both kingdoms, and paffed into a law, by the royal aflent, on the fecond of July. The oppofition to the union in Ireland had by this time become faint: fome of its adverfaries, by mature deliberation, had brought their minds to a conviction of the utility of the meafure; while others, in whofe minds nothing could counterbalance the lofs of independence, perceiving the inefficacy of remonftrance and complaint, began to fix their attention on other objects. Having now given fome account of the proceedings of parliament, with refpect to finance, to foreign nations, and to Ireland, which feemed, before the union, to hold a kind of middle place between a foreign country and a portion of our own, we come now to notice the principal meafures adopted by the legislature, for the internal fecurity and quiet of the empire, and the general improvement of the country, and condition of the people. On the thirteenth of February, the attorney-general rofe, in the houfe of commons, purfuant to notice, to move for the renewal of the act, to enable his majesty to fecure and detain pertons who should be fufpected of confpiring againat his perfon and government; which act would would expire on March next. The country might, at this time, be in a ftate of greater fafety than it was a year or two ago: but it was impoffible to read the whole of the report of the committee of that houfe, publifhed last year, without being convinced that there were perfons in this country who would difturb the peace of it, if any opportunity prefented itfelf. Conceiving it to be necefTary, therefore, to continue the fame powers, he moved for "leave to bring in a bill to continue the act of laft feffion This motion was oppofed by Mr. Jones, Mr. Sheridan, and fir Francis Burdett. Mr. Sheridan faid, "It was cruel that the people at large fhould be deprived of their privileges, merely becaufe one Irishman, and one Swedish baron, had been taken up fince April, 1799." The motion was fupported by Mr. Buxton, the fecretary-at-war, Mr. Canning, and Mr. Wilberforce. Mr. Windham faid, among a variety of other pofitions, that the queftion was, whether any fuch change had taken place, fince the laft fufpenfion of the habeas corpus act, as to require meafures different from thofe which parliament has hitherto parfued, by way of general fafety? Now, on that fubject he muft contend, that we were not warranted in faying that there is no fymptom now of the mifchief which we formerly dreaded; and, therefore, that the habcas corpus fhould not now be fufpended: he was very far from being fure that fuch a mode of reafoning ought to be adopted; or that the reverfe was not, in fome measure, to be taken up because the very ceffa tion of the mifchief proved, to a certain extent, the efficacy of the remedy; and, therefore, the nonappearance of the evil, instead of being a reafon for taking off the remedy, was a reafon for its continuance; otherwife the house must come to this fort of reafoning, "We will repeal the act because we believe it to be efficacious." The cafe was, indeed, open to two ways of reafoning: for he believed that both were in a degree true. He believed that the quiet of the country was partly owing to this act; and he believed all that there was a change in the difpofitions of fome parts of the country: he would fay again, fome parts of the country: for he begged leave to diftinguish that part from the great mass of the people, who were now, they always had been, perfectly loyal. as Mr. Wilberforce faid, that minifters were entitled to confidence, unless there appeared, from their character and conduct, reafons for refuting it: and, on the view of their character and conduct, parliament were now to judge, whether they were perfons difposed to abuse their truft. Parliament would allo confider, whether the perfons who oppofed this bill were perfons that might not be impofed on, and whether they had not, under fuch impofition, been led folemnly to atteft, upon oath, the characters of perfons who were highly fufpe&ted, and afterwards convicted of crimes. from which they then ef aped. This teftimony was not then given, under any hafty and tranfient act of the mind, but formally, and folemnly, in a court of juftice: and he thought that fach gentlemen, if they did not confe's their being impofed on, fhould, at leaft, refiain from the difcuffion. The motion, for renewing the act for fufpen ing the habeas corpus, was carried by 69 against 9. The |