120] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1800. 



number holding places, and conse- 

 quently 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 representatives 

 of great commercial towns : of 

 whom there were not above five or 

 six who held offices. With respect 

 to the remainder, it was obvious, 

 from the manner in which they 

 were to be chosen, that it was im- 

 possible to ascertain, exactly, the 

 number of offices they might hold. 

 They would not, however, exceed 

 the number of twenty : a number 

 not sufficient to have any great 

 effect in deciding upon the question 

 of the extent of the influence of 

 the crown. 



" We then, said Mr. Pitt, pro- 

 ceed to the number of the other 

 house of parliament; and their pre- 

 cise number, I own, does not ap- 

 pear to me a matter that calls for 

 close investigation or minute in- 

 quiry. The number for Scotland, 

 as we all know, is sixteen to repre- 

 sent the peerage, and for the com- 

 mons forty-five. There may, in- 

 deed, be another view of consider- 

 ing it on the part of Ireland, differ- 

 ent from that of Scotland, which is 

 true to a given extent, and, on 

 which extent, I shall observe here- 

 after ; but in the view in which 

 I take it, at present, and thinking, 

 as I do, that the whole should be a 

 representation, having for its object 

 the general welfare of the empire, 

 the number cannot be very mate- 

 rial ; besides, we are to look at 

 Ireland as represented locally, by 

 thirty peers, and also by those peers 

 in England who possess great part 

 of their property in Ireland; so 



that, in comparison of the thirty-two 

 Irish peers, there may be said to be 

 no less than one-fifth to be added 

 from the peers of Great Britain. 



" With respect to" the manner in 

 which they are to be chosen, I can 

 only say, that I have never heard of 

 any objection to the arrangement 

 which is proposed in the resolutions 

 of the Irish parliament ; should any 

 opposition be offered to that branch 

 of the subject, I should say, that the 

 choice of the peers, to represent 

 the Irish nobility for life, is a mode 

 that is more congenial to the ge- 

 neral spirit and system of the esta- 

 blishment of apeerage, than that of 

 their being septennially elected, as 

 the nobility of Scotland are : upon 

 the whole of that topic, I am satis- 

 fied that no gentleman in this house 

 will think this part of the arrange- 

 ment in any degree improper. An- 

 other part, branching out of this 

 subject, is that which has attracted 

 a great deal of observation. I mean 

 the right reserved for the peers of 

 Ireland, who are not elected to re- 

 present their own peerage, to be 

 members of the house of commons, 

 of the united parliament in Great 

 Britain, until they shall happen to 

 be elected to represent the nobility 

 of their own country. This has 

 been described and stated as a sub- 

 ject fit for ridicule ; I own I see it 

 in no such light. If, indeed, they 

 were subject to be chosen alter- 

 nately, to represent the lords and 

 commons of Ireland, the objection 

 would be well founded ; but here 

 they are not so; for when they 

 are chosen to represent the nobility, 

 they are so for life, and can never 

 return to the house of commons ; 

 and, by the way, I consider this a 

 better mode than that which was 

 adopted with regard to the nobility 



