and that therefore he will now support; I know these are not the opinions of other people, but, however singular I may be, they are mine.

The House is up, and no speech from the Speaker.

Yours ever,

J. B.

LORD AUCKLAND TO MR. BERESFORD.

Palace Yard, March 14th, 1799.

MY DEAR BERESFORD,-Lady Auckland and I are much annoyed by the account which you give of your health; but we are willing to hope that your strong fit of thirty-six hours will have enabled you to send a better account before you receive this note.

I hope to send to you some very curious additional accounts respecting the British and Irish commerce by the post of next Monday. It has been a work of great labour for poor Irving and his department, but will be of great importance in all its bearings, and far beyond the mere consideration of Union.

With regard to that consideration, however, there will be two results perfectly tenable, in defiance of Mr. Foster : the one, that if you have no Union, your commerce, wealth, and capital, must remain subject and subservient to the absolute will and pleasure of Great Britain and the other, that if you will condescend to put yourselves on a par with us, your commerce will not only be secured but greatly increased.

We talk of having our Irish debate on Tuesday next;

;

a

but our Chancellor is nearly as ill as you have been;

and unless he recovers fast, I think that we shall postpone the consideration till after the recess.

All well under this roof.

I am, my dear Beresford, ever affectionately yours,

AUCKLAND.

LORD AUCKLAND TO MR. BERESFORD.

Palace Yard, Thursday, 21st March, 1799.

MY DEAR BERESFORD,-We enter to-day on a ten days' recess, which I shall be glad of; for though we have had no trouble with Opposition in Parliament, the mere details of momentous businesses necessary to be brought before Parliament have been very fatiguing.

I hope to obtain and send for you by this mail a copy of the report of the Secret Committee respecting treasonable practices. It is plentifully alarming, and I fear not exaggerated in any respect.

I have postponed the stating what I wish to state respecting Irish trade to our debate on the 4th instant. In truth, there are many points which I have not yet sufficiently examined. And I am desirous to be accurate, and to omit nothing material in a consideration which, when properly understood, will, more than any other, influence the adoption of Union among you. I hope that you will have looked with attention to the printed accounts which I have sent to you; and if any matter occurs that may throw light upon them from a Lord Loughborough.

your side of the water, I wish that you would immediately state it to me. It was once wished that I should also have moved an address to the King for your Irish accounts; but I think that we do better in having the appearance of proceeding entirely calmly, and decidedly on English grounds of reasoning and information; using, at the same time, such particulars of Irish intelligence as we possess.

I must be able to state clearly what is the proportion in value of your commerce inwards and outwards, in four columns-Great Britain, British Colonics, United States, and the rest of the world. Also what is the amount of revenue received on your whole import and export trade in customs and customable excise; distinguishing what you receive from the trade of Great Britain and her colonies, and also what is the amount of duties received on the import of British manufactures and British produce; and on the export to Great Britain of Irish produce. This last includes your export of provisions to us and to the islands. On that subject of provisions I wish you would give me a little sense. I believe that, though it is an object of near two millions sterling, the whole amount is not more than about 30,000 head of cattle (for I conceive that an ox is equal to about three and a half barrels of salted beef) and about 50,000 hogs, all of which is so small a business in the scale of our national consumption that it will furnish good remark. What proportion does the above bear to the whole of your annual consumption of beef and pork?

I think that we give to you, and against the United

States, the exclusive supply of provisions—at least, in peace.

Can you have the goodness to send to me Mr. Foster's answer to the Address of his county? I have mislaid it. I think it was in that answer he gravely stated that the prevention of Union was the best mode of preserving the monopoly of the linen trade.

When the whole of my materials are collected and arranged, they will form a very curious statement. Yours affectionately,

AUCKLAND.

MR. BERESFORD TO LORD AUCKLAND.

Buxton Wells, 19th Aug., 1799.

MY DEAR AUCKLAND,-I arrived here on Saturday, in such weather as I never before saw, and it has not since ceased raining. I wrote to you from Dublin, and told you that I was ordered here. I am much better this day, and I expect to drink the waters in two or three days. I sent you my pamphlet; I have not put my name to it, nor do I intend to do so.

I give you the history of it, which is as follows:Cooke wrote to me that he was about a pamphlet, in answer to many written at him, and that he intended to include the Speaker's, and he begged me to assist him in the trade part; I accordingly wrote what you now see, and sent it to him to make a portion of his pamphlet. His Excellency did not like Cooke's production, as there were some imprudences in it, and he stopped the publi

cation, but they took my part, exactly as I sent it to Cooke, and printed it; but no one gave himself the trouble of attending to the press. I have made some corrections and additions, and send you a copy. If you think it worth while, you may send for Stockdale and let him print it. Pray correct anything you think

wrong.

I mean to stay here as long as I can, so do not let me be called away until necessary. Write to me on the subject of what we are to do, and particularly your ideas upon the proportionate quantum of our contribution to the general fund.

Ever yours,

J. BERESFORD.

LORD AUCKLAND TO MR. BERESFORD.

Eden Farm, Aug. 23rd, 1799.

MY DEAR BERESFORD,-I write rather as fishing for another letter from you than as having anything to communicate. Lady A uckland and I are not quite at ease under the late accounts which you have given of your health; and we feel anxious to know the success of your bark regimen, and also of the Buxton waters, if you should try them. In looking forwards to your coming southwards with recovered health, and to stay some weeks among us for Union discussions, I hope it is superfluous to assure you that we shall be happy to see you in this House, not as a visitor, but as a permanent guest, in a quiet corner, with your books about you, and your papers, and for as long as you like.