UNION. 



of the hour, ihe coulkleration of the rerolulioiis was de- 

 ferred. On the I ith of February another long debate took 

 place, in which the topics chiefly difcuffed were the con- 

 duft of the minifter to the Catholics in 1795, and the fet- 

 tlementof 1782, ,.hich rendered it neceffary to put off the 

 main fubiea til) the following day, on which the houfe «^nt 

 into a committee. The firll refolution, ftatmg the utihty 

 of uniting the two kingdoms, was oppofed by Mr. (now 

 fir B ) Hobhoufc, and Mr. Bankes, and fupported in a 

 very able fpeech by the fpeaker (now lord vifcount Sid- 

 mouth) The debate was not long, and all the reiolutions 

 were adopted without any divifion. On the 1 6th of Fe- 

 bruary, on the quellion being put that the report be brought 

 up, there was an animated debate, in which fevcral members 

 delivered their opinions, chiefly in favour of the meafure : 

 after which the refolutions were agreed to feriatim, and fent 

 to the houfe of lord?. The arguments ufed in that houfe 

 were fimilar to thofe in the commons ; the oppofition was 

 chiefly made by the earls Fitzwilliam and Moira, and lord 

 HoUand, but no divifion took place. Several able fpeeches 

 were delivered in favour of a union, fome of which, parti- 

 cularly thofe of lords Auckland and Minto, were printed fe- 

 parately, and circulated throughout Ireland. The marquis 

 of Lanfdowne, and the bifhop of LlandafF (Dr. Watfon), 

 though not in the habit of fupportmg minifters, were fa- 

 -^ourable to the meafure. On the refolutions being returned 

 by the houfe of lords, with an addrefs to his majefly, m 

 which the concurrence of the commons was requefted, Mr. 

 Pitt moved that concurrence on the 22d of Apnl, and after 

 a debate, in which nothing was advanced, the addrefs was 



aoreed to. . , 



" The refolutions thus agreed to were, i. " That in order 

 to promote and fecure the effential interefts of Great Britain 

 :ind Ireland, and to confolidate the ftrength, power, and re- 

 fources of the Britifli empire, it will be advifable to concur 

 in fuch meafures as may beft tend to unite the two kingdoms 

 of Great Britain and Ireland into one kingdom, m fuch 

 manner, and on fuch terms and conditions, as may be efta- 

 bhfhed by afls of the refpedive parhaments of his majefty's 

 faid kingdoms. 2. That it would be fit to propofe, as the 

 firft article, to ferve as a bafis of the faid union, that the 

 faid kingdom.s of Great Britain and Ireland fliall, upon a 

 day to be agreed upon, be u.nited into one kingdom, by the 

 name of th: Ur.ittd Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 

 3. That for the lame purpofe it would be fit to propofe, 

 that the fucceflion to the monarchy and the imperial crown 

 of the faid united kingdom, (hall continue limited and fet- 

 tled in the fame manner as the imperial crown of the 

 faid kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland now Hands 

 limited and fettled, according to the exifting laws, and 

 to the terms of the union between England and Scot- 

 land. 4. That for the fame purpofe it would be fit to pro- 

 pofe, that the faid united kingdom be reprefented in one 

 and the fame parhament, to be ftyled the Parliament of the 

 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland ; and that fuch 

 a number of lords, fpiritual and temporal, and fuch a num- 

 ber of members of the houfe of commons, as (hall be here- 

 after agreed upon by afts of the refpeftive parhaments as 

 aforefaid, Ihall fit and vote in the faid parliament on the part 

 of Ireland, and fliall be fummoned, chofen, and returned, in 

 fuch manner as fliall be fixed by an aft of parliament of Ireland 

 previous to the faid union ; and that every member hereafter 

 to fit and vote in the faid parliament of the united kingdom 

 (hall, until the faid parliament (hall otherwife provide, take 

 and fubfcribe the fame oaths, and make the fame declarations, 

 as arc by law required to be taken, fubfcribed, and made 

 by the members of the parhaments of Great Britain and 



7 



Ireland. 5. That for the fame purpoic it would be tit to 

 propote, that the churches of that part of Great Britain 

 called England, and of that part of Great Britain called 

 Scotland, and of Ireland, and the doftrine, wor(hip, difci- 

 plir.e, and government thereof, (hall be preferved as now by 

 law eftablilhed. 6. That for the fame purpofe it would be 

 fit to propofe, that his raajefl;y's fubjefts in Ireland fhall at all 

 times hereafter be entitled to the fame privileges, and be oii 

 the fame footing in refpeft of trade and navigation in all 

 ports and places belonging to Great Britain, and in all cafes 

 with refpect to which treaties (hall be made by his majedy, 

 his heirs and fucceflfors, with any foreign power, as his ma- 

 jelly's fubjefts in Great Britain ; that no duty fliall be im- 

 pofed on the import or export between Great Britain and 

 Ireland, of any articles now duty free ; and that on other 

 articles there fhall be eftablirtied, for a time to be limited, 

 fuch a moderate rate of equal duties, as fliall, previous to 

 the union, be agreed upon and approved by the refpcftive 

 parliaments, fubjeft, after the expiration of fuch limited 

 time, to be diminiflied equally with refpcft to both king- 

 doms, but in no cafe to be incre.ifed ; that all articles 

 which may at any time hereafter be imported into Great 

 Britain from foreign parts, (hall be importable through either 

 kingdom into the other, fubjeft to the like duties and regu- 

 lations, as if the fame were imported dircdlly from foreiga 

 parts : that where any articles, the growth, produce, or 

 manufaiflure of either kingdom, are fubjeft to any internal 

 duty in one kingdom, fuch countervailing duties (over and 

 above any duties on import, to be fixed as aforefaid) (hall 

 be impofed as (hall be neceffar)', to prevent any inequality in 

 that refpeft. And that all other matters of trade and com- 

 merce, other than the foregoing, and than fuch others as 

 may before the union be fpecially agreed upon for the due 

 encouragement of the agriculture and manufaftures of the 

 refpeiftive kingdoms, (hall remain to be regulated from time 

 to time by the united parhament. 7. That for the fame 

 purpofe it would be fit to propofe, that the charge arifing 

 from the payment of the intereft or finking fund for the re- 

 duftion of the principal of the debt incurred in either king- 

 dom before the union, (hall continue to be feparately de- 

 frayed by Great Britain and Ireland refpeftively. That for 

 a number of years to be limited, the future expences of the 

 united kingdom, in peace or war, (hall be defrayed by 

 Great Britain and Ireland jointly, according to fuch propor- 

 tions as fliall be eftabhflied by the refpeftive parliaments pre- 

 vious to the union ; and that after the expiration of the time 

 to be fo hmited, the mode of jointly defraying fuch expences 

 (hall be regulated according to fuch rules and principles as 

 (hall be in hke manner agreed upon previous to the union, 

 for the purpofe of eflablifliing gradually an uniform fyllena 

 of taxation through every part of the united kingdom. 

 8. That for the fame purpofe it would be fit to propofe, that 

 all laws in force at the time of the union, and all the courts 

 of civil or eccleCaftical jurifdiftion within the refpeftive 

 kingdoms, (hall remain as now by law eftabhlhed wi liii the 

 fame, fubjeft only to fuch alterations or regulations, from 

 time to time, as circumftaiices may appear to the parliament 

 of the united kingdom to require." 



Such were the refolutions fubmitted by the lords and com- 

 mons of Great Britain to the king, as beft calculare J to form 

 the bafis of a ilnion, and which were afterwaros Lid before 

 the Irilh parliament. The fixth and fevepth p/opofitions 

 contain much matter for difculfion, in fettling tiie duties and 

 proportions ; but the general outhne appears to be founded 

 on equal and hberal principles. The next rbjeft was to fe- 

 cure fuch a majority in the Irilh houfe of commons, and 

 fuch declarations in favour of it, as would enable the Irifli 



government 



