IRELAND. 



263 



% ' - 

 SB) d. 



raent could not be tools of the minister in a higher de- 

 gree, nor with more expence to the nation, than the 

 local parliament had already been, in which were 116 

 placemen and pensioner*: that the augmentation of the 

 evil arising from the absentees, would be more than coun- 

 terbalanced l>y new advantages, particularly those of 



lerce: that the person* who now made the in- 

 crease of absentees an argument against the union, had 



ng before opposed the design of a remedy for this 

 evil, the proposal of a tax on absentees, which admini- 

 stration had offered to support : that the necessary ab- 

 sence of bishop* from the clergy under their care, by 



nu.-ntl.ince in the Imperial Parliament, would occur 

 so seldom, as not in the slightest degree to prevent them 

 from performing their duty in rewarding merit, if such 

 should be the.. that the political amalga- 



mation of the ' i the people of Great Britain, 



cuuld not be a declension from national dignity : and 

 that the infraction of the compact with Ireland, could 

 not with more reason be apprehended from the Imperi- 

 al Parliament, than the di*franchi*etnent of Scotland, of 

 Wales, or of Yorluhire." 



( May, on a motion that leave be given 

 to bring in a bill for the union into the House of Com- 

 mons, there were lt>0 for it, and 100 against it. On 

 the second reading of the bill, on the 2(kh of the same 

 mont ittan'moved to defer the business till the 



lt of August; but only 87 voted in support of this 

 motion, and 124 against it. On the 5th of June, the 

 bill passed the committee. In the House of Lord*, 

 where there was less opposition, it was read a third time 

 on the ISth of June. '1 he subject being again introdu- 

 ced into the British Parliament, it was discussed in both 



c* ; and on the 2d of July received the royal as- 

 sent. 



The article* of onion were partly commercial, or re- 

 lating to revenue, and partly political. The regulations 

 of commerce did not materially differ from the propoai 

 tiont of 1785. The proportion of revenue to be raised 



perial parliament, two for each county, two 

 the cities of Dublin and Cork, one for the 



Act rf m- 



iBHtaft 



A.D. 1S01 



in the two kingdoms, was fixed by a comparison of their 

 aggregate exports and import*, and their consumption 

 ofcrrtain kinds of merchandize. By thi* rule, Ireland 

 was to rai*e two parts of the revenue, for every fifteen 

 raised by Great Britain during the first twenty year* 

 after the union. At the termination of this period, the 

 proportion wa* to be regulated by parliament. ( >nr 

 hundred commoner* from Ireland were to sit in the im- 



i for each of 



! Cork, on* for the university, 

 and on*) for each of the 31 most considerable town*, 

 proprietors of the disfranchised boroughs were to 

 receive a pecuniary compensation. Four lord* spiri- 

 tual, by rotation of sessions, and 28 lords temporal, 

 elected for life by the Peer* of Ireland, were to sit in 

 the House of Lord*. The first of January 1801, was 

 fixed ss the commencement of the union. 



From the period of the union, the history of Ireland 

 naturally falls into that of BRITAIN ; but we shall here 

 cursorily node* such transactions or proceeding* in the 

 Imperial Parliament, a* more directly relate to thi* 

 country. 



In the first session of the Imperial Parliament, a bill 

 was passed for indemnifying all persons concerned in 

 the securing, imprisoning, and detaining individuals, 

 under the suspension of the habeas corpus act, or in 

 the performance of any act* done tor the preservation 

 of the public peace, and suppression of rebellions and 



section* in Ireland, since March 1" 

 Ireland appeared to be gradually subsiding into 



state of comparative tranquillity, when, in the summer History, 

 of I ><>:*, it was suddenly agitated by a considerable * P Y~~ 

 though short lived alarm. The constitution was at- 

 tempted to be subverted by the violence of a few men, 

 tlie rashness of whose attempt vt-r paral- 



leled. The leaders were Robert Emmett .-rid ThoiiKp 

 Russel, both of whom had experienced the clemency of 

 government in l~W ; the latter was brother to the 

 Emmett who was one of the directory at that period. 

 The centre of the plot was Dublin, where these men 

 bad collected a few arms, and hoped, by the assistance 

 of a mob, to seize the castle, which was protected by 

 upwards of 2000 soldiers. The 23d of July was the Insurree- 

 day fixed upon for the insurrection. On the morning """I" 

 or' that day a crowd of country |eople from the county J " 

 in kildare entered the capital ; a signal was given by 

 the firing of rockets, and the doors of the depot of 

 arms were opened. The number of the insurgent" is 

 supposed to have been about 500. The time of their 

 principal operations was bite in the evening ; and while 

 the mob were the roost furiou-. they met Lord KiU 

 warden, the lord chief justice of the King's Bench, his 

 daughter Miss Wolfe, and his nephew Mr. Wolfe. The 

 two gentlemen were dragged from their carriage and 

 murdered. .NJisi Wolt'c < tl'ectcd her escape, and fled to - 

 the castle, where she gave the alarm. Their only mar- 

 tial effort was an attack on an outpost, defended by a 

 few soldiers, whom they overpowered and put to 

 death. But being themselves attacked by about 120 

 soldiers, they were dispersed in a short time, and the 

 whole insurrection was extinguished. Emmett, Rus- 

 sel, and some others of the leader*, were tried, con- 

 demned, and executed. A royal massage was sent 

 down to parliament, announcing the insurrection and 

 it* end, in which it wa* recommended that measures 

 should be taken fur the suppression of the rebellious 

 . from which the insurrection had original. ! ; 

 and a bill for trying the rebels in Ireland by martial 

 law, and another for suspending the habeas corpus act 

 were passed. Emmett, Russel, tec. were however 

 tried, not by a court martial, but a special commis- 



As the spirit of insurrection still lurked in various losunte- 

 parts of the country, and broke forth in various acts of lion rt - 

 outrage, in 1807. Sir Arthur Wellesley, who was then A- ' 180T> 

 secretary to the lord lieutenant, moved, in the House 

 of Commons, for leave to bring in a bill, the provisions 

 of which were the same with those of the insurrection 

 act of 1796, so far a* they gave power to the Lord 

 Lieutenant to proclaim disturbed counties, and autho- 

 rity to the magistrates to arrest persons found out of 

 their dwelling-houses between sunset and sunrise ; but 

 it was enacted, that person* so arrested should be tried 

 at the quarter session* by the magistrates and assistant 

 barrister*, with the addition of a king's counsel sent 

 for the purpose. Another bill was passed to prevent 

 improper person* from keeping arms. These bills 

 were opposed strongly, but their necessity wa* admit. 

 ted by Mr. (.rattan. 



It had been generally understood, that, in the event 

 of the union between Great Britain and Ireland taking 

 place, the Catholic* might look forward to the removal 

 of all the disabilities under which they Mill laboured ; 

 their emancipation, however, not taking place, they 

 resolved to endeavour to bring it about by every 

 peaceable and legal method. That they might act with 

 more effect, as well a* with less trouble to them- 

 selves, a committee wa* formed; the deliberation* 

 of that of 1 809, were always confined to their petition , 



1 



