196 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1800. 



Meath, 



Granard, 



Ludlow, by proxy, 



Moira, by proxy, 



Arran, 



Charlemont, 



Kingston, 



Mountcashell, 



Farnliam, 



Massey, by proxy, 



Enniskillen, 



Belmore, by proxy, 



Dillon, 



Strangford, 



Powcrscourt, 



De Vesci, by proxy, 



Wm. Down and Connor, 



Rd. Waterford and Lismore, 



Loutli, 



Lismore, 



SLindcrlin. 



Protest entered on the Journals of 

 the Irish House of Lords, on re- 

 porting the Union Propositions. 



Dissentient, 

 1st, TJECAUSE, that In thepre- 

 J3 sent awful state of affiiirs, 

 when the most unremittlniiindustrv 

 IS made use of to unhinge every 

 established government in Europe; 

 when revolutionary principles have 

 pi-oduced the overthrow of several 

 ancient established governments, we 

 think every loyal subject who re- 

 gards the liberties of his country 

 called up!)u to rally round the con- 

 stitution, and to preserve its stabi- 

 lity; we therefore cannot help pro- 

 testing against the rashness of the 

 minister, who, in such times, hazards 

 the experiment of annihilating that 

 constitution which has for so many 

 ages maintained the connection be- 

 tween Great Britain and Ireland, 



and of substituting in its stead (in 

 opposition to the general voice of 

 the nation) a new system, totally 

 subversive of every fundamental 

 principle of that constitution which 

 we consider as the best security for 

 those liberties which the subjects of 

 Ireland now enjoy. 



2dly, Because, however willing 

 we now are, and always have been, 

 to contribute in proportion to our 

 means to the support and defence 

 of the Empire, we hold it our boun- 

 den duty, before that we shall irre- 

 vocably enter into any engagement, 

 to take upon ourselves any parti- 

 cular proportion of the expenses of 

 the empire, to ascertain the proba- 

 ble amount of such proportion, to 

 inquire into the ability of Ireland 

 to discharge the same, and to ex- 

 amine whether such part be propor- 

 tionate to the relative abilities of 

 the two nations. Upon such in- 

 quiry we find that the expense in- 

 curred by Great Britain in the year 

 1799> amounted to upwards of 

 3^,000,000/.; and that which was 

 inc urred by Ireland in the same year, 

 amounted to upwards of 6,000,000/. 

 t wo-seventeenths of which sums( the 

 proposed proportion) amount to up- 

 wards of 4,400,000/. which added 

 to the present interest of the debt 

 incurred by Ireland, and the dis- 

 charge of her annuities, amounting 

 to 1 ,400,000/. and the interest of 

 the loan of this year, amounting to 

 about 250,000/. will make the annual 

 charge upon Ireland to amount to 

 6,050,000/. It appears to us that 

 the produce of our revenue, inclu- 

 ding the estimated amount of the 

 taxes laid on this session, does not 

 exceed 2,800,000/. and consequent- 

 ly they will fall short by 3,250,000/. 

 of the sum necessary to discharge 

 such proportionate part of the ex- 



