194 ANNUAL REGISTER, ISOO. 



that,in conformity to your majesty's 

 gracious message, laying before lis 

 the resolutions of the lords and 

 commons of Ireland, we have pro- 

 ceeded to resume the consideration 

 of the great and important subject 

 of a legislative union between 

 Great Britain and Ireland; and it 

 is with unspeakable satisfoction we 

 have observed the conformity of the 

 said resolutions to those principles 

 which we humbly submitted to your 

 majesty in the last session of par- 

 liament, as calculated to form the 

 basis of such a settlement. 



With the few alterations and ad- 

 ditions which we have found it ne- 

 cessary to suggest, we consider these 

 resolutions as fit to form articles of 

 union between Great Britain and 

 Ireland; and if those alterations and 

 additions shall be approved by the 

 two houses of the parliament of Ire- 

 land, we are ready to confirm and 

 ratify these articles, in order that the 

 same may be established for ever by 

 the mutual consent of both parlia- 

 ments. 



We offer to your majesty our 

 humble congratulations upon the 

 pear prospect of the accomplish- 

 ment of a work, which your majesty, 

 as the common father of your peo- 

 ple, has justly declared to be so 

 near your heart; concurring, as we 

 do, with your houses of parliament 

 in Ireland, in the full conviction 

 that, by incorporating the legisla- 

 tures, and consolidating the re- 

 sources of the two kingdoms, we 

 shall increase the power and sta- 

 bility of the British empire, and 

 shall at the same time contribute in 

 the most effectual manner to the 

 improvement of the commerce, the 

 security of the religion, and the 

 preservation of the liberties of your 

 jnajesty's subjects in Ireland. 



Protest entered on the Journals of 

 the Irish House of' Lords, against 

 the Union. 



Dissentient, 

 1st. "O EC AUSE the resolution 

 XJ sanctions the principle of 

 a lesislative union between Great 

 Britain and Ireland, without an op- 

 portunity having been afforded to 

 this house of examining the details 

 which are held out as an induce- 

 ment for its adoption ; details 

 which have occupied the attention 

 of those who have proposed the 

 measure for a considerable length 

 of time, and which therefore should 

 not be hastily, or without due con- 

 sideration, acted upon by any 

 branch of the legislature of Ire- 

 land. 



2dly, Because those details do 

 not appear to us, on such consi- 

 deration as we have been allowed 

 to give them, to proffer any bene- 

 fits to this country of which it is 

 not already in possession, or to af- 

 ford any remedy for any of the 

 evils which it at present has reason 

 to apprehend. 



3dly, Because the resolution pro- 

 poses, as a remedy for partial and 

 temporaiy evils, an act which, if 

 once adopted, binds us and our 

 posterity for ever. 



4thlv, Because we consider the 

 independence of Ireland, and the 

 security of her connection with 

 Great Britain, to be equally essen- 

 tial to the well-being of this coun- 

 try; and that we consider both as 

 endangered by the measure of a le- 

 gislative union. 



5thly, Because the present con- 

 stitution of these kingdoms, founded 

 on the complete unity of their exe- 

 cutive power, and the perfect dis- 

 tinctness of their legislatures, ap- 



