HISTORY OF EUROPE. [121 



i)f Scotland; and my reason for it 

 is this, that a nobleman iu Ireland, 

 if not chosen by his own order, may 

 be chosen as a legislator by a class 

 of inferior rank, and which I am so 

 far from regarding as improper, that 

 I deem it, in a high degree, advan- 

 tageous to the empire, analogous to 

 the practice, as well as friendly to 

 the spiritof the British constitution. 

 We know full well the advantages 

 we have experienced from having, 

 in this house, those who, in the 

 course of descent, as well as in 

 hopes of merit, have had a prospect 

 of sitting in our house of peers. 

 Those, therefore, who object to this 

 part of the arrangement, can only 

 do so from the want of due atten- 

 tion to the true character of our con- 

 stitution, one of the great leading 

 advantages of which, is, that a person 

 may, for a long time, be a member 

 of one branch of the legislature, 

 and have it in view to become a 

 member of another branch of it ; 

 this it is which constitutes the 

 leading difference between the no- 

 bility of Great Britain, and those 

 of other countries." 



A motion, by Mr. Grey, for li- 

 miting the number of Irish place- 

 men, who should sit in the house 

 of commons, to nineteen, instead of 

 twenty, was negatived, without a 

 division. 



Dr. Lawrence wished to call to 

 mind the influence which the ad- 

 dition of one hundred members, to 

 the British house of commons, from 

 another kingdom, might throw into 

 the hands of the crown, which he 

 thought, with his late illustrious 

 friend Mr. Burke, had increased, was 

 increasing, and ought to be diminish- 

 ed. He compared the pension-lists 

 of the two countries. In this it 

 amounted to 1 20,000/. In Ireland 

 there was, besides the civil list of 



1 04,000/. a pension-list, amounting 

 to 110,000/. The proposed addi- 

 tion of one hundred Irish members 

 to the British house of commons, 

 superadded to what was already at 

 the disposal of the crown, made him 

 afraid of throwing any farther 

 weight into a scale, which, in his 

 opinion, preponderated too much 

 already. But a matter of greater 

 alarm to the learned doctor was, 

 the disturbance [.that might be 

 occasioned, by the introduction of 

 so many members from Ireland, in 

 that house, from a quickness of dispo- 

 sition, and a propensity to duelling. 

 He confessed, that he was not with- 

 out apprehensions for the order, the 

 tranquillity, and the security of the 

 house, even under the good govern- 

 ment and authority of so excellent 

 a chairman as the present speaker- 



The resolutions for the union ha- 

 ving, after various amendments,pro- 

 posed and rejected, been agreed to, 



Mr. chancellor Pitt, in the house of 

 commons, the fifth of May, moved, 

 " That an address be presented to 

 his majesty, humbly begging leave 

 to acquaint his majesty, that, iu 

 conformity to his majesty's gracious 

 message, laying before them the re- 

 solutions of the lords and commons 

 of Ireland, they had proceeded to 

 resume the consideration of the 

 great and important subject of a 

 legislative union between Great 

 Britain and Ireland. That it was 

 with unspeakable satisfaction they 

 had observed the conformity of 

 the said resolutions to those princi- 

 ples which they had humbly sub- 

 mitted to his majesty in the last 

 session of parliament, as calculated 

 to form the basis of such a settle- 

 ment. — That, with the few altera- 

 tions and additions which they 

 had found it necessary to suggest, 

 they considered these resolutions 



