to their perfonal character, he should not fubfcribe to their opinions; it was a question which required not the knowledge of a great lawyer, but a knowledge of the conftitution. A great lawyer might be a powerful advocate for life and property. and yet poffibly might be deficient in conftitutional information; on the contrary, there might be many lords in, the other house, from their reading and education, good judges of a conftitutional queftion, although ignorant if they should die inteftate, to whom their perfonal property would devolve. A challenge had been thrown out to any lawyer to prove that the Prince could act in the Regency under the powers granted him; he would accept it-and I say that he can; because he acts under the authority of the only powers that are competent to call him to government; and I therefore say, that he not only has a right, but that he ought to act. But it is faid we may have a Regent by fiction, which is another word for falfity; I say it is totally impoffible, without a violation of the conftitution.

the

The great object of Mr. Yelverton's bill, which had been held out to terrify us, was to prevent the alteration of bills by the British Privy Council, and nothing more; it left the conftitution just as it found it, fave this amendment. It had been faid, that if the King was in Ireland in his Royal Cafle, he could not give the royal affent; he denied it; the Great Seal would not then be neceffary as a fign of his approbation, and he con

fitended

tended that England would have acted like us only to enfure their reftrictions. But the queftion before the houfe was, "had the Lord Lieutenant acted properly?" He thought he had not he had prefumed to fet his opinion against the legal act of the two houfes of parliament, and therefore he should agree to the refolution.

EMBASSY to the PRINCE of WALES.

A rap, announcing a meffage from the lords; on this a difpute arofe, one fide contending for admiffion of the meffengers, and the other for proceeding in the debate. It was at length agreed to adjourn the debate for half an hour, and to admit them. The meffenger then announced that the lords concurred with the houfe, and had appointed his Grace the Duke of Leinfter, and the Earl of Charlemont, to join with a deputation from their body to prefent the addrefs of both houfes, to his Royal Highnefs the Prince of Wales.

Mr. Grattan then feverally moved, that the houfe fhould depute the following gentlemen, to act with the deputation from the lords:

Right Hon. T. CONOLLY,

Right Hon. J. O'NEILL,

Right Hon. J. PONSONBY, and

Mr. STEWART, Member for the co.Tyrone.

Mr.

Mr. Conolly rofe, and faid, that in whatever fituation he might be placed, he would act for the good of the country, it had been the object of his political life, for 7 or 8 and 20 years paft-if he had not acted with the greateft wifdom-certain he was, that he had acted with the utmost integrity. He had seen more difficult times than the prefent, and had feen the country committed; in that fituation he had acted to the beft of his poor abilities to extricate it with honour-and if appointed on the present occafion [this was before the question was put on his name] he should chearfully and readily obey; but if he apprehended there was any thing in it on the contrary he would ftand fingly in the breach to oppose itas he had done on a meafure he had formerly thought tended to that purpose-he concluded with faying, that all his exertions should be for the profperity of the kingdom.

The Attorney General faid, that fince the addrefs had been voted, he was happy that fo refpectable a character was one of the delegates.

Mr. O'Neill expreffed his deep fense of the honour conferred on him by the house-he fhould accept it with chearfulness-and he thought that we now appeared in the moft diftinguished light in which we ever fhone, as an imperial kingdom; and their proceedings would remain as a record of the ftruggles they had made in favour of the prince and conftitution.

Mr.

Mr. Ponfonby expreffed himfelf to the fame purpose as did Mr. Stewart, member for the co Tyrone, both accepting the truft with chearfulnefs and alacrity.

The Attorney General declared, that all the delegates had his hearty approbation.

The debate was then refumed.

Mr. Browne, of the College, denied the practicability of proceeding by bill because it muft pre-fuppofe the exiftence of the very authority they meant to create. What was done at the revolution? King William did not prefs an act to make himself King; no; nor did he afterwards pafs an act to confirm himself on the throne. Mr. Browne entered into the matter of the fubject; but as all the arguments pro and con. are already before the public, we deem it needlefs to repeat them. He then glanced at Mr. Pitt's monftrous and inordinate ambition, he had centered in himself two płaces, the wort of which was fufficient to gratify the most voracious avarice, and the most aspiring ambition. He had fecured the keys of the treafury, and the keys of the Exchequer. One of his relations he had accommodated with the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland-another at the bead of the army -another at the head of the Navy-another at the head of the Commons-the public patronage and treasure thus diftributed amongst his friends.

This is the man that tells the fountains of ho nour that they fhall not flow, and the coffers of the nation that they shall not open but to himself; who made the moment of power a moment of plunder; who is fo great in his downfall that he tells his Prince, "thus far fhalt thou go and no farther;" who imprifons his wifhes; who takes from him the power of patronage fo neceffary to government; who takes from him the power of reward, fo dear to every fenfible heart. He then turned to the queftion more immediately before the house, and faid that the Lord Lieutenant had afferted, that they called upon the prince to take upon him the government contrary to law, which was faying, the Lords and Commons of Ireland had been guilty of high treafon. No one eftate had a right to pafs a cenfure on the other; a precedent of it was not to be found in the Journals of Parliament; the third eftate can make a refufal, but it cannot chide the other two; it may advise, but it cannot denounce malediction or abufe on them. The conftitution points out the mode, and it was decency and mildnefs; if the King diffented, he did not fcold parliament, or give an opinion; he only faid," Le Roi s'avifera." Why should his deputy exceed thefe bounds? He condemned the Lord Lieutenant's advisers, if he had any, for not keeping him in the back ground, and with a fhameless effrontery putting him in the front of the line, to join iffue with parliament.

He