wear, perhaps, too peremptory an appearance, were I to introduce you, and when the minister finds that you are, in all events, secure of admission, he will, probably, be less reluctant to have the credit of it himself. If, however, he should persist in his refusal, you may then command me. The event justified his prediction ; the minister relaxed; and Wednesday, the 2d of January, was fixed as the day of their introduction. On that day the delegates were introduced at St. James's in the usual forms, by Mr. Dundas, and, agreeably to their instructions, delivered into the King's own hands the petition of his Catholic subjects of Ireland. Their appearance was splendid, and they met with, what is called in the language of courts, a most gracious reception; that is, his Majesty was pleased to say a few words to each of the delegates in his turn. In those colloquies, the matter is generally of little interest, the manner is all; and with the manner of the Sovereign, the delegates had every reason to be content.

Thus had the Catholics, at length, through innumerable difficulties, fought their way to the foot of the throne; the King had, in the most solemn manner, received their petition, and his ministers were in full possession of their situation, their wants, and their wishes. Their delegates had now executed their mission, and began to prepare for their return. After allowing a decent interval of a few days, they attended on the minister, for the last time, to learn, if they could, his determi nation, and to take what may be called their audience of leave. In this conversation, as in every former one, the claims of the Catholics were powerfully enforced and impressed on the mind of the minister in language stronger than is often used to men in his high station, and which would most probably have shocked the delicacy of a gentleman usher. He was given to understand, in terms that were scarcely equivocal, that the peace of Ireland, or, in other words, the submission of the Catholics, depended on the measures which government might adopt on their behalf. Yet, the cool and guarded temper of the minister was not to be disturbed, and, though he heard them with attention, and, apparently, at times, with emotion, he was not to be driven from the diplomatic caution, behind which he had carefully intrenched himself. After much of that general language, which is vernacular in official stations, the delegates were told, that VOL. I-12

his Majesty was sensible of their loyalty and attachment to the principles of the constitution; that, in consequence, they should be recommended in the speech from the throne at the opening of the impending session, and that ministers in England desired approbation and support from them, only in proportion to the measure of relief afforded. If the elasticity of this answer, which would dilate or compress to any magnitude, did not appear entirely satisfactory to the plain and uncourtly understandings of the delegates, they were told, and, probably, with some truth, that the minister had gone farther than custom in similar circumstances would warrant; and that, preserving the decorum due to the independent govern. ment and legislature in Ireland, more could not, with proprie. ty, be said on the one hand, or required on the other. With this answer they were forced to be content, and they satisfied themselves in the reflection that nothing on their part had been left undone to procure one more definite.

It now became necessary to consider of the report which should be made to their constituents in Ireland. The expressions of the minister, according to all received rules of construction, were to be taken most strongly against himself; the King was sensible of their loyalty; they were to be liberally recommended, and their gratitude was to be commensurable with their relief. Combining these expressions with the general behavior of the minister, and the effect produced on their minds in the various conferences, and making allowance for the delicacy of his station, which did not permit him to be more explicit, they resolved that the answer of the minister was satisfactory, and satisfaction to Catholic minds, then inferred the idea of complete relief, a construction which they founded, not on this or on that expression, but adopted as a general impression, resulting from the whole tenor of Mr. Dundas' conduct, from the commencement to the termination of their negotiation.

In pursuance of this principle, as the session had already opened, two of their body were instantly despatched, to state to the sub-committee all that had been done, and what the deputation did conceive to be the sentiments of ministry in England. The other members followed more leisurely, and, in the course of a few days, the deputation was collected, save one gentle

man, Mr. Devereux, of Wexford, who remained in London as a kind of Chargé d'Affaires.

The opening of the session of 1793 was, perhaps, as critical a period as had occurred for a century in Ireland. In consequence of the regulation above mentioned, every country gentleman delegated for either county or city, was now a member of the sub-committee, and the anxiety which they felt for the event of a question, in which their dearest interests and warmest hopes were so deeply involved, had detained a number of the most active, spirited, and intelligent of the Catholic gentry in town during the whole period of the absence of their deputation. On their return, the sub-committee was, in consequence, very diligently attended, and the process of the measures intended for the relief of the Catholics, was very fully investigated, and, on several material points, debated in crowded meetings, and with considerable heat.

At the adjournment of the General Committee, in December, and for some time after, administration in Ireland was in a state of deplorable depression and dismay. Already stunned with the rude shock received from the Catholics, the minister, at the opening of the session, was a perfect model of conciliatory concession. To the astonishment of the nation, the principle of parliamentary reform was asserted unanimously by the House of Commons, and admitted without a struggle, almost without a sigh, by administration. The people seemed to have but to demand and to obtain their long withheld rights, and sanguine men began to indulge the hope that the constitution of their country would, at length, be restored to its theoretical simplicity and justice, and all its impurities be purged away. But this vision, so bright in the perspective, was soon dispelled, and the nation, in the course of a few short weeks, awakened from its fancied triumph over inveterate corruption, to a very solid and substantial system of coercion. To follow, in detail, many of the measures which materially contributed to this sudden and unexpected, change would now be, at best, useless, perhaps prejudicial; yet, truth requires that some of them should be developed; the investigation of past errors, if it cannot recall lost opportunity, may, at least, prevent their repetition in similar circumstances, should such ever recur again.

The solid strength of the people was their union. In December, the Catholics had thundered out their demands, the imperious, because unanimous, requisition of 3,000,000 of men ; they were supported by all the spirit and intelligence of the Dissenters. Dumourier was in Brabant, Holland was prostrate before him; even London, to the impetuous ardor of the French, did not appear at an immeasurable distance; the stocks were trembling; war seemed inevitable; the minister was embarrassed; and, under those circumstances, it was idle to think that he would risque the domestic peace of Ireland to maintain a system of monopoly, utterly useless to his views. The Catholics well knew this; they well knew their own strength and the weakness of their enemies; and therefore it was that the sub-committee derided the empty bluster of the Grand Juries, and did not fear, in the moment that they stigmatized the administration, to approach their Sovereign with a demand of unlimited emancipation. Happy had the same decided spirit continued to actuate their councils. But it would be fruitless to deny what it is impossible to conceal. From whatever cause the system was changed, the simple universality of demand was subjected to discussion, and, from the moment of the first interview with the minister of Ireland, the popular mind became retrograde, the confidence of administration and their strength returned, and the same session which afforded a mutilated, though important relief to the Catholics, carries on its records a militia bill, a gunpowder act, and an act for the suppression of tumultuous assemblies. These bills are now the law of the land. In times like the present, it is not safe to descant on their merits; they will be appreciated by the fair and impartial judgment of posterity. But, though a critical investigation of their excellencies, however curious or interesting, be, for the present, denied to him who feels himself indignantly bound by their extensive operation, it is not yet, perhaps, criminal to relate, historically, in a work like the present, the progress of measures so closely connected with the Catholic question, or to conjecture at the probable views of those who planned, those who supported, and those who connived at those famous statutes.

The General Committee had framed their demand for total emancipation; their instructions to the deputation had been to adhere to the spirit of the petition. These instructions had

been faithfully observed, perhaps exceeded, in every interview with the British minister. Even in the unimportant circumstance of the day of their introduction, they had refused to consult his convenience or his caprice, and they parted from him with a reiteration of the principle which, in every conversation, they had maintained, that nothing short of total emancipation would be esteemed satisfactory by the Catholics of Ireland. But, when they had returned, having executed the object of their mission, certain it is, that this unaccommodating spirit relaxed, and something of a more conciliatory nature, and a system of less extensive demand, appeared to pervade the councils of the Catholics. In the first interview with the Irish minister, the two houses of Parliament were at once given up, and the question began to be, not how much must be conceded, but how much might be withheld. So striking a change did not escape the vigilance of administration; they instantly recovered from the panic which had led them into such indiscreet, and, as it now appeared, unnecessary, concessions at the opening of Parliament; they dexterously seduced the Catholics into the strong ground of negotiation, so well known to themselves, so little to their adversaries; they procrastinated, and they distinguished, they started doubts, they pleaded difficulties; the measure of relief was gradually curtailed, and, during the tedious and anxious progress of discussion, whilst the Catholic mind, their hopes and fears, were unremittingly intent on the process of their bill, which was obviously and designedly suspended, the acts already commemorated were driven through both houses with the utmost impetuosity, and, with the most cordial and unanimous concurrence of all parties, received the royal assent.

This negotiation, however, did not proceed without serious opposition amongst the Catholics themselves. Many warm debates occurred in the sub-committee, and several of the members strenuously resisted the idea of compromising the general demand. It is not necessary, nor could it now be useful to detail these various combats, in which the same ground was fought over again and again, with equal obstinacy and the same success. It may suffice to give the substance of one debate, as a specimen.