HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



45 



Ternment must be deficient In infor- 



^ nation and vigilance whenever an 

 insurrection broke out : he witness- 

 ed much more serious riots in Lon- 



. don, in the year 1780, and yet it 

 was never thought necessary to in- 

 stitute a committee of enquiry into 

 the conduct of the British govern- 

 ment at that time. The murder of 

 lord Kilwarden was an event that he 

 deplored as much as any man, but 

 the circumstances attending it Mere 

 much exaggerated, when it was sup- 

 posed that a drunken mob, which 

 certainly did not exceed 400 men, 

 could put to serious hazard a city 

 which had a garrison of 4000 regu- 

 lars, bcijides the jeomaury. - lie 



■ stiil considered all parties in Ireland 

 as hostile to a French invasion, and 

 deprecated the idea of considering 

 the sentiments expressed by lord 

 Redesdale, in the correspondence 

 alluded to, as the disposition of the 

 Irish government. 



31 r. Dawson opposed the motion 

 on two grounds. If its object were 

 lo throw censure or syspicion on the 

 conduct of the Irish government, he 

 disapproved of it, and he considered 

 the silence of the Irish members up- 

 on (he sul)ject as a proof that they 

 <lid not perceive the practical utility 

 of such a discussion. If, on the 

 other hand, this was brought for- 

 ward as an opposition subject, 

 merely with the view of attacking 

 the mini-tcrs of this country, he 



. tliougiit it would be unfair and un- 

 generous to make Irish connexions 

 and Irish interests serve as a stalking 

 horse for the purposes of any party 

 in this country. He thought the 

 attempt at rebellion in Ireland was 

 unnatural and premature, and that it 

 was a sort of abortiou which the 



best doctor* could not have prevent- 

 ed. He bore testimony to the ami- 

 able character and conciliating mea- 

 sures of lord llardwicke in general, 

 which had made the people of Ire- 

 land much more contented and hap- 

 py than they were before. He con- 

 sidered the Irish government to be^ 

 upon the whole, a very good one. 



Lord Temple thought the discus- 

 sion must be, at all events, attended 

 with one good eiTect, as it would 

 shew the people of Ireland that 

 some attention was paid to their in- 

 terests. When he had the honour of 

 bringing up the act of union to the 

 other house of parliament, he felt a 

 strong hope, that, when the period 

 of peace should arrive, the wounds 

 of former animosities would be heal- 

 ed, and the aflFections of the people 

 of Ireland conciliated. Instead of 

 which, Irish ministers were now stu- 

 dying polemical theology, and sow- 

 ing fresh seeds of discontent. As for 

 the ministers of this country, there 

 was no knowing Wow to understand 

 their declarations. They had no 

 sooner asserted that the country was 

 in profound peace, than they came 

 forAvard, and spoke of the conduct 

 of France as a continued system of 

 aggression, insult, and hostility. 

 They had no sooner announced the 

 perfect tranquillity of Ireland, than 

 they stated an actual insurrection in 

 that country, which sometimes they 

 described as " formidable," and at 

 other times as " a nv^st contempti- 

 ble riot." He then censured the 

 want of vigilance and preparation 

 on the part of the Irish government, 

 especially after the explosion of the 

 powder-mill in the heart of the city 

 of Dublin. 



General Tarleton said, that, hav- 

 ing 



* Much mirth arose in the house, upon the honourable jjjcmbcr's use of this term. 



