HISTORY OF rauioPE. 



43 



furompoweringhis majesty to call out 

 the volunteers upon permanent tluty 

 when it should appear necessary.— 

 The bill was then ordered to be 

 taken into further considcratio-i on 

 the Gth of Ivlafch. 



On the 5th of March the Lord 

 Chancellor inlormcU the house of 

 lords that h2 Lad had tin interview 

 with his majesty, who gave his royal 

 consent to a private bill, rcspctting 

 the duke of York's estate, so far as 

 his majest)'s interest was concerned. 



The long e\pccted motion for in- 

 vestigating the causes dt" the late 

 Irish insurrection, came on in the 

 house of commons on the 7th of 

 March, when sir John AV'roltesly, 

 who brought it forward, stated, 

 that hL- considered it as a subject of 

 the utmost importance, both as re- 

 spefting the honour of the Irish 

 government, and the security and 

 hajjpincss of that people. The in- 

 terests of Ireland, he said, were 

 fornu'rly entrusted to its own legis- 

 lation, but, since the union, it be- 

 came tlie duty of every member of 

 the imperial parliament to pay at- 

 tcntion to them. lie thought that 

 beneficial consequences must result 

 from the question which was then 

 to be discussed ; for if it appeared 

 that the Irish government had been 

 vigilant and active, and that they 

 had not suffered themselves to be 

 surprised, but were well informed 

 of every thing that was likely to 

 take place ; in such case, those 

 doubts would be removed, that now, 

 in a great degree, lessen that confi- 

 dence w hich it were to be wished 

 that they possessed. If, on the 

 other hand, these doubts and sus- 

 picions were well founded, it would 

 be incumbent to address his majesty 

 to dismiss those persons from the 

 government of Ireland. After the 



lebellion of 1708, the Irish govern- 

 ment communicated all the infor- 

 mation they were p,osscsstd of ; he 

 thought they should do the same on 

 the present occasion. As far as he 

 w as informed of the transaction, it 

 was as follows : — In lite December 

 pieceding, Mr. Emmet returned 

 from the continent and joined a 

 conspiracy already formed. In the 

 same month depots were established 

 in Dublin, under the eyes of the 

 Irish government. The preparations 

 for collecting arms and ammunition: 

 went on, without intcriuption, till 

 the I6th of July, when the depot 

 at Patrick-street exploded, and the 

 premisi's being e:Kamined, by a police 

 othcc'r, were found to contain pikes 

 and preparations for making gun- 

 powder. After a fact so notorious, 

 and after government had received 

 express notice of the intended in- 

 surrection, it wcs incumbent upon 

 them to shew that they had done 

 every tiling, that was their duty, to 

 have prevented the insurrection. 

 Every circumstance, however, seem- 

 ed to shew that they suffered them- 

 selves to be completely surprised. 

 The lord lieutenant was at his lodge 

 in the park, guarded only by a 

 Serjeant and twelve men ; almost 

 every caiisiderable officer of the go- 

 vernment was out of town; and 

 there appeared to be as much su- 

 pineness and indifference about the 

 event as if this savage insurrection 

 had reallv been only a contemptible 

 riot. lie concluded by moving for 

 a committee to be appointed for 

 the purposes already stated. 



Lord Castlereagh opposed tlie en- 

 quiry on two grounds. In the first 

 place, he thought it unnecessary, 

 as no imputation of blame attached 

 either to the civil or military go- 

 vernment of Ireland, notwithstand- 

 ing 



