CHAP. I. 1801. such acts would have secured him the lasting gratitude and esteem of all classes in his country. It was quite the reverse, and he reaped from his efforts and great services nothing but hatred and rancour. The revolutionists could never forgive him for having crushed their insurrection, and for ever blasted their hopes of a Hibernian republic in close alliance with France, and with themselves at its head. The Protestant oligarchy were exasperated at him for having terminated their withering rule; defeated corruption by its own weapons; and successfully enlisted the selfish principles against them. They were fain to lay upon him the severity and cruelties which in fact had arisen from the license of their own supporters. The Catholics have come to see that the union with Great Britain which he brought about has been fatal to the exclusive domination which they hoped to establish in a purely Irish Parliament by their numerical majority, and that they must be content to be ruled like their other fellow-subjects, not to rule them. Their main efforts, accordingly, have been directed to undo the union which he had effected. The English aristocracy were jealous of such great things having been done by one who was not of themselves, and the dangerous precedent being established of the chief direction of Irish affairs being placed in the hands of an Irishman by birth. All parties were alike exasperated against the youthful statesman who had thus boldly interposed between them, and, disregarding all separate interests, pursued only the ultimate advantage of the country. It is to this combination of parties the most opposite and irreconcilable that the prejudice which has so long existed against his memory is to be ascribed, and that the firmest foundation for its ultimate vindication is laid. "The present and the future," says Sir Joshua Reynolds, "are rivals; he who pays court to the one must lay his account with being discountenanced by the other." CHAPTER II. LORD CASTLEREAGH FROM HIS RESIGNATION OF OFFICE IN CHAP. 1. debut in the Parliament. THE resignation of Mr Pitt, and with him of the whole Irish Administration, on the Catholic question, in February 1801, withdrew Lord Castlereagh from the theatre of his 1801. former exertions and usefulness. But it was a fortunate Lord Castlecircumstance for the general interests of the country that reag he was then removed from the scene of local strife and British ambition, and launched into the wide career, more suitable to his talents, which the large concerns of the empire at headquarters presented. His mind, naturally grasping in details, and yet capacious in generalisation, qualified him to acquire, with surprising rapidity, a thorough acquaintance with the great imperial questions of the day; and his intimate acquaintance with Mr Pitt imbued him with a complete knowledge of the views of that great statesman, especially on the all-important subject of the contest with the French revolutionary power. This was a matter of the very highest importance, and deeply affected his entire future life and history. It will hereafter appear that Lord Castlereagh's whole policy, when he became in a manner the arbiter of Europe in 1814 and 1815, was a carrying out of the views of Mr Pitt, as developed in the formation of the European Confederacy in 1805; and it was at this time that these CHAP. II. 1801. 2. sures in Ireland. views were first fully impressed upon him. How seldom in this world is wisdom and patriotism thus privileged to leave its mantle to a successor, and find in a kindred soul and a congenial character the fitting depositary and destined accomplisher of its greatest designs! Though no longer, after Lord Hardwicke's appointment, His mea- officially connected with Ireland, Lord Castlereagh did Parliament not lose sight of the interests of his country; and his regarding great information and calm views led to his being intrusted with the principal measures regarding it under Mr Addington's Administration. The two most important of these in the session of 1801, were the Act for the continuing of the Act for the Suppression of Rebellion in Ireland, and the suppression of the Habeas Corpus Act. Both were intrusted to Lord Castlereagh, and they came on in March and April. He said: "It is a painful duty to call on the House to re-enact a law such as this. Every man must feel a reluctance at bringing forward any measure which is to trench, as I admit this does, on the natural rights of the subject. It was reserved for the modern principles of Jacobinism to make it compulsory on the Government of Ireland to give existence to a system of judicature founded upon martial law. Such a system became necessary at a period when all law was suspended, when all duties were violated, and when the safety of the chief magistrate and the Government depended upon its vigorous application. If there be now the same necessity for continuing that measure, I am sure the House will not forget its duty or abandon the safety of the constitution by refusing to sanction it. This is an act of necessity which cannot longer be delayed. 3. "The rebellion broke out in May 1798, and the GovContinued. ernment then published a proclamation of martial law. They proceeded from May 1798 to May 1799 exercising martial law wherever rebellion existed, without any express enactment for that purpose, on the principle that they were authorised by the King's prerogative, provided No they did not transgress the necessity of the case. CHAP. II. 1801. 4. "The whole disturbances of Ireland are directed, first, against the persons and property of the well affected, Concluded. and, secondly, against the courts of justice; therefore the House must feel, unless there be some mode of bringing those persons who are engaged in acts of rebellion summarily to trial, that we are subjecting our friends to certain destruction. You will see from the report of the committee, that the rebels have their own courts-martial II. 1801. CHAP. against the well affected. It is impossible to keep up any system of coercion, if you can only have the ordinary tedious process of the municipal law against persons guilty of rebellion, when the persons who sat on the juries of the offenders are themselves liable to be put to the bar of the summary rebel courts, which adjudge with the rapidity of lightning, and execute without mercy. The system of rebellion in Ireland, now transmuted from contests in the field to secret assassination and threatenings, is one unparalleled in history, unknown in any other age or country. The only gleam of hope arises from this consideration, that it is greatly circumscribed in the sphere of its operation. Last year it was confined to three counties, Antrim, Limerick, and Wicklow, and the people have generally shown great readiness to aid in the suppression of these disturbances. The law is not to be carried into execution except in case of actual rebellion; and every case under it is brought under the special revision of the Lord-Lieutenant and law officers of the Crown; and the jurisdiction of the courts-martial is confined to crimes in furtherance of rebellion. While the rebellion exists it must be met by energetic measures, and I know of none capable of arresting it but martial law. I know that rebellion has too many friends in every part of the empire, and I do not expect that it will disappear during the war; but at present I propose to continue the Act only for three months, for which period also the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act is to be sustained." The motion was strongly opposed by Sir Lawrence Parsons and the United Jacobin and anti-Union party in the House; but it was supported in an eloquent and convinc1 Parl. Hist. ing speech by Mr Pitt, and passed by a large majority, XXXV. 1010- the numbers being 84 to 8-in the only division which took place on the question.1 * 1014. * Mr Pitt said, in this debate, in words not less just than eloquent: "This is indeed a measure at once unexampled in the necessity by which it is called for, and in the lenity by which it is distinguished. In former times, when it was |