J. 1798. 64. CHAP. him. He was brought into high office expressly to carry through the great measure of the Union in the Irish House of Commons, of which, ex officio, he had now beGreat diffi- come leader. To accomplish this immediately after the culties of rebellion, and when its embers were still smouldering in with which many parts of the country, seemed almost an impossibicharged. lity. To the reluctance which an ancient and high the duties he was spirited people always feel against being absorbed and, as it were, merged in a greater State, was to be added the condition of the country and the unprecedented exasperation which prevailed on both sides. The rebels openly declared their determination to exterminate the Orangemen; the Protestants loudly called for continued executions, and strongly expressed their dissatisfaction if any rebel was pardoned. Add to this another difficulty of a peculiar kind which was attached to this question, and which augmented to a most serious degree the obstacles with which it was beset. The English and Protestant party, by whose loyalty and assistance the rebellion had been put down, were the most determined opponents of the Union. They were so not only from the strong and estimable feeling of nationality, but from other motives of a less disinterested kind. They had long regarded the country as an appanage to be farmed out for their exclusive advantage; and they entertained the most serious apprehensions, not without reason, that a union with Great Britain would be the signal for an immediate stoppage of their separate influence, and a sharing with England of the emoluments, offices, and honours which had hitherto been exclusively enjoyed by themselves. Religious zeal added to these already grave causes of discord; and the Protestant leaders generally regarded a union with England as the first step in a series of changes which would, in their ultimate effects, lead to the resumption of the church lands and the establishment of the Romish faith in Ireland. The Catholics too, it was feared, might be brought to concur in the same views; and, in the transports of their animosity against the "Sassenach," unite with their present antagonists to expel the stranger, in the hope that their preponderance of numbers would ultimately secure for them the command of their country. СНАР. I. 1798. of Lord character Notwithstanding these difficulties, it was indispensable 65. to make the attempt; for Ireland had now been brought Adaptation to such a state by long mismanagement, and the present Castleviolence of parties at each other, that it was impossible to reagh's go on with the existing system of government unless for the task. something was done to arrest its downward progress. Ireland, as Lord Cornwallis observed, would, if the present course was persevered in, so far from being a source of strength, become an element of weakness, which might in the end prove fatal to the empire. The character and disposition of Lord Castlereagh qualified him in a peculiar manner to contend with these difficulties. To the strongest and most intense patriotic feelings he united a calm judgment, a temper the suavity of which nothing could ruffle, a resolution which nothing could deter. He anxiously desired to heal the wounds and restore the shattered fortunes of his country, but his good sense told him how alone this most desirable object could be accomplished; he saw it was not to be done, either by continuing the old system of governing Ireland by means of a Protestant oligarchy, ruling by corruption, and applying the influence of administration exclusively to their own purposes, or the new one of severing the country by a Jacobin insurrection from the neighbouring island, and constituting a Hibernian Republic in alliance with France, ruled by delegates chosen by Ribbon Lodges and Catholic priests. The only way in which it seemed possible to avoid this disastrous alternative was by forming a union with Great Britain, which might in the end amalgamate the two countries, and, setting aside separate interests, unite the ardour of the Celtic character to the steady energy of Anglo-Saxon enterprise. To attain this end was the great object of Lord Castlereagh; and it was not less so VOL. I. F СНАР. I. 1798. 66. to it in Dublin. of the Government, which intrusted to him the arduous duty of carrying it through against a hostile majority of the Irish House of Commons. No sooner was it whispered about the Castle of Dublin Opposition that a union with Great Britain was in contemplation, than the most violent opposition to it broke out in all quarters, and those hitherto deemed the most secure and influential. The barristers in the four courts were the first to take the alarm; and as the opinion of so able and influential a body of men, hitherto the strongest supporters of Government, had necessarily great weight, it occasioned no small embarrassment to the Administration. The shopkeepers and tradesmen in Dublin were equally decided on the question. They naturally anticipated a serious diminution of their profits and business if the Parliament were removed from College Green, and the capital reduced merely to the viceregal residence, or possibly the rank only of a first-rate provincial town. The great commercial towns of Cork, Limerick, and Belfast, were more favourably disposed, as the advantages of a closer union with England were obvious to the great trading and mercantile interests; but even there the violence of party and sectarian spirit had produced a very serious division. The great body of the Catholics stood aloof, and took little share, one way or the other, in the controversy. They regarded it as a quarrel among their oppressors, from which they had some hopes advantage might in the end accrue to themselves. But among the great body of the Protestant noblemen and landed proprietors in the country, who had hitherto been accustomed to direct the Government in Dublin, the opposition was of the most serious and impassioned description.* * "It would be hazardous to give any opinion so early on the public disposition towards a union. As far as we have gone, I see nothing to discourage us. There certainly is not that positive prepossession in its favour which can be expected to render it a very popular question, but there is as little appearance of indignant resistance. The bar continues to feel most warmly upon it; even in this body the steps that have been taken seem to I. 1798. Mr Pitt's Union and emancipa Mr Pitt's views in regard to the Union, and the import- CHAP. ant measure of Catholic emancipation, which was so closely connected with it, were distinctly stated in a letter to Lord Cornwallis on November 17: "You will observe that, 67. in what relates to the oaths to be taken by members of views on the the United Parliament, the plan which we have sent copies Catholic [of, is founded on] the precedent I mentioned in a former tion. letter of the Scotch Union; and on the grounds I before mentioned, I own I think this leaves the Catholic question on the only footing on which it can safely be placed. Mr Elliott, when he brought me your letter, stated very strongly all the arguments which he thought might induce us to admit the Catholics to Parliament and office; but I confess he did not satisfy me of the practicability of such a measure at this time, or of the propriety of attempting it. With respect to a provision for the Catholic clergy, and some arrangement respecting tithes, I am happy to find a uniform opinion in favour of the pro-1 Mr Pitt posal among all the Irish I have seen; and I am more to Lord and more convinced that those measures, with some effec- Nov. 17, tual mode to enforce the residence of all ranks of the Cornwallis Protestant clergy, offer the best chance of gradually put-440 Corresp. ii. ting an end to the evils most felt in Ireland.”1 Cornwallis, 1798; 68. As time went on the opposition to the measure, especially from the bar and citizens of Dublin, became Alarming daily greater; and although the leading men of the king-opposition dom were divided in opinion on the subject, and some of Union. the most influential, when consulted, declared in its fa have had their effect: there is more disposition to reason the point, and less to bring it to a question of arms. Perhaps it is too much to expect to divide this learned body; I do not despair, however, of having a respectable minority. Opposition from the citizens of Dublin is not less to be expected. There is every reason to hope that a different sentiment prevails at Cork; the Protestants and Catholics in that city (who seldom agree on any point) are both alive to the great commercial benefits they would derive from it; the same is said to be the feeling of Limerick : these towns cannot fail extensively to influence the province of Munster. There appears no indisposition on the part of the leading Catholics; on the contrary, I believe they will consider any transfer of power from their opponents as a boon."-- LORD CASTLEREAGH to MR WICKHAM, November 23, 1798; Cornwallis Correspondence, ii. 443. CHAP. I. 1798. 1 Lord Castlereagh Portland, Nov. 30, 1798; Cornwallis 454. vour, yet there was soon reason to apprehend disturbances of the most serious kind if it were persisted in. The "Lawyers' corps of yeomanry," on 30th November, were ordered by their commander, Captain Saurin, “to assemble on Sunday next, to take into their consideration a question of the greatest national importance." 1 The to Duke of meeting did take place, and strong resolutions condemnatory of the Union were passed; but a majority of the bar, though decidedly against the measure, had the Corresp. ii. good sense not to countenance, by their presence, a proceeding so very questionable as that of armed men deliberating on public measures. At this critical juncture the Government was much embarrassed by a demand made by the English militia regiments in Ireland, whose time of service, for which they had volunteered, had expired, and who, thoroughly disgusted with duty there, now insisted on returning to their own country. This demand at such a crisis, when the loyal party were violently excited on account of the projected Union, justly filled the Lord-Lieutenant with alarm; and he did not fail to represent to the English Government, that if this wish were carried into effect, Ireland would again be involved in civil war, and all hopes of carrying the Union must be given up. The Government accordingly issued a pressing circular to the commanders of English militia regiments in Ireland, urging them to prevail on their men to agree to remain a little longer, which had, Cornwallis in most cases, the desired effect; and, at the same time, 455; Castle- as many of the Irish militia regiments as could be spared resp. i. 450, were sent to Great Britain and the Channel Islands.** Corresp. ii. reagh Cor But still the opposition was so threatening, and the agita *“I could not suffer myself to defer, even for a single day, my most earnest instances to your Excellency, to employ the most immediate and efficacious measures to represent to the commanding officers of those corps [the English militia regiments in Ireland] the extreme importance of their extending the time of their service, and that, great as has been the advantage which has been derived from their gallantry and liberality, the withdrawing themselves at this moment could not but be productive of dangers, of a magnitude to which they could never have attained but from the strength and confidence which |