long duration the prefent difference refulting from fuperior capital and perhaps fuperior habits of industry and invention. Thefe were circumftances which would diminish every year, and which might even be transferred to that country; while, by giving up as he did for ever the unfavourable conftruction of the navigation act, the British mar ket was open to the fubjects of Ireland, and they might fupply it on the fame terms as the British merchants themfelves. There would no longer be any restraint on fpeculation, that powerful ftimulus to commercial vigour. Ireland from her happy fituation might become an emporium of trade, and Great Bri tain might be obliged to have recourfe to her for the supply of her own confumption. Thus circumflanced, Mr. Orde conceived, he might rely upon the wisdom of the nation of Ireland, that they would think the trade which was imparted to them an object worth their care, and upon their generofity that they would contribute to the general de fence of the empire. He concluded with obferving that he did not with to prefs the parliament of Ireland to an immediate decifion, and he accordingly moved, that the confideration of the fyftem of commercial intercourfe fhould be refumed on the Friday following. The propo fitions were printed and delivered for the perufal of the members on Wednesday.

The enlargement of the colony trade was only a part of the great fyftem he had to propofe. The next confideration which prefented itself was the adjustment of duties upon the commodities of the two countries, for the purpofe of facilitating a mutual fupply. Thefe equitable principles of commerce were for merly not well understood. Im posts had been laid upon goods in their paffage from one diftrict of the fame country to another. Partial restrictions had been tried as the means of giving fuccefs to partial favour; but local predilections had been found by experience to occafion general diftrefs and impoverment, with advantage only to a few interested monopolifts. Wifer had been thofe fpeculations, and more fortunate for the public had been the practice, where a community of interefts had encouraged a competition of induftry; and it might even be doubted, whether between rival ftates there were not more of political prejudice than of commercial wisdom, in fuppofing the ftrength of the one to be the confequent weakness of the other. Mr. Orde enlarged with great energy upon the unequivocal liberafity and the generous difinterested nefs of Great Britain in the ftruc. ture of this fyftem. It was unne. ceffary for him to dwell upon thofe objects of apprehenfion, which might have been magnified in the eyes of a lefs liberal nation: the preferable commercial fituation of Ireland, its comparative cheapnefs in regard of the neceffaries of life, and the confequent diminished price of its labour. Nor could Great Britain confider as an advantage of any

It was conceived however by feveral members of the houfe of commons, that more time was ne ceffary for deciding upon a question of fo extreme magnitude. Adminiftration had been feverally called upon by Mr. Gardiner, Mr. Grif fith, and Mr. Hartley, previoufly to the production of the propofitions, to fuggeft to the house a ge

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neral outline of the fyftem in contemplation; but this requifition it had been thought proper to decline. On the Wednesday fubfequent to their being opened to the house, it was moved by Mr. Hartley, and feconded by Mr. Griffith, that the order for taking the fubject into confideration on Friday, fhould be difcharged, and that a new order fhould be made for that day fevennight. This motion was oppofed by Sir Hercules Langrifle, on the ground of motives derived from the nature of the fyftem. The object of the arrangement was the benefit of Ireland. That kingdom was to be refcued from the ftate of fubju gation and inferiority in which it had long been held, and to be raifed to a full and generous equality with Great Britain. Could it then be neceffary, as fome gentlemen had fuggefted, that they fhould confult their constituents? Would they wait to afk the people in the North whether they would confent that a perpetual preference fhould be given to their linen manufacture? Was it neceffary to afk the merchants of Cork, Waterford and Belfast, whether, when their fhips returned from the colonies, they would confent to have the market of England opened for their fale? Muft they afk the various manufacturers of Ireland, whether they were contented, that an unrestricted vent for their goods fhould be allowed in every part of Great Britain? The question did not admit of hesitation; and delay in this inftance would be as abfurd as it was impolitic. To thefe confiderations it was added by Mr. Bufhe, that, if they let flip this op. portunity, it would be loft for ever. The whole fabric of British monopoly was about to be thrown down in favour of Ireland. Should they then delay till the monopolifts were

roufed; till the manufacturers of Manchester, Glafgow and Paisley inftructed their members to oppose the indulgence of Ireland; till the miniler was harraffed with addreffes from all parts of Britain, and their hopes were for ever buried in interested and univerfal clamour? The motion of Mr. Hartley was fupported by Mr. Flood, Mr. Brownlow, Mr. Molyneux, Mr. Corry, Mr. O'Neil and Mr. Longfield. It was oppofed by Sir Henry Cavendish, and Mr. Brooke member for the county of Donegal. The members upon the divifion were, ayes 37, noes 156.

That we may render more intelligible and perfpicuous the fort of debate that arofe on the different heads of the fyftem, we fhall view the fyftem as confifting of three parts, the intercourfe of the two kingdoms relative to the productions of the colonies, their intercourfe relative to their own productions and manufactures, and the compenfation Ireland was to make for the benefit conferred, by the appropriation of the furplus of her hereditary revenue. To the first part only a trifling demur was fuggefted by Mr. Corry. As fome productions of foreign countries paid a higher duty, as matters flood at prefent, coming from the place of their growth, than when they came through Britain, he was doubtful which of the two duties it was intended to adopt. Being however informed by Mr. Fofter, that the preference would certainly be given to the lower duty, Mr. Corry chearfully acquiefced in this part of the fyftem.

The objections to the fecond head of the commercial arrangement were urged with more zeal and perinacity. These refted chiefly upon two confiderations: first, that by

the

the adoption of this fyftem Ireland would of course be for ever excluded from the benefit of those protecting duties, which had been fo much the object of her predilection: and fecondly, that by thefe propofitions the exifting prohibition in Britain upon the raw material of her woollen manufacture was rendered perpetual, contrary to the general fpirit of the fyftem. Both thefe objections were flated with great perfpicuity by Mr. Gardiner upon the day on which the fyftem was opened to the Irish houfe of commons; but he did not lay great ftrefs upon the former, and declared himfelf willing to recede from the idea of protecting duties. That matter was not fo easily yielded by the whole body of the reprefentatives of the Irish nation.

His objections were taken up in two petitions that were prefented immediately previous to the debate of Friday, on the part of the Dublin chamber of commerce, and of the manufacturers of wool, worsted, filk and cotton goods of that city. The first of thefe petitioning bodies declared themselves anxious for the establishment of fome fuch fyftem as that which was propofed, while the fecond demanded to be heard by their counfel relatively to the provisions of the fyftem.

It was moved by Mr. Flood as an amendment to the fyftem, "that it was highly important to the general interest of the British empire to give due encouragement to the home industry of each kingdom, and that every article of the product, growth, or manufacture of each kingdom fhould have an effectual preference in the home market of each, referving to each other an effectual preference over all fimilar articles from other countries." Mr. Flood obferved, that in every country the

home market was infinitely a more important and a greater objet than the foreign. In England, which had the trade of all the world, her foreign trade was equal only to the two and thirtieth part of her home confumption. It was therefore the greatest abfurdity, to talk of any country's manufaturing for others, while he was unable to fupply herfelf, and thus to give up the greater object for the lefs, and to take as firit in point of time that which ought to be a fecondary confideration. The amendment was ftrenuoufly fupported by Mr. Hartley, Mr. Longfield and major Doyle. By the latter, the fyftem was fidiculed in ftrong terms. Ireland had asked for bread, and he feared they had given her a ftone. She had afked for protecting duties, and fhe was offered equalization. This was like the proceeding of a company of ftrolling players, who advertifed the tragedy of Hamlet, in which the part of Hamlet was, by particular defire, to be omitted. On the other hand it was alerted by Mr. Fofter, that the amendment of Mr. Flood was the most ruinous ever fuggefted. Did he understand what it was in which he engaged? inftead of laying a ground for mutual intercourfe and benefit, he called for mutual prohibition and ruin, at leaft on the fide of Ireland; for Britain could fuffer comparatively but little in the conteft. Britain might protect herself against the productions of that kingdom to the annual amount of 2,400,000l. Would they invite her to this exertion, to exclude only 380,ocol. worth of her goods by the laying on of protecting duties? The amendment was rejected.

To place the fubject of the woollen manufacture together with fome other articles in limilar circum

ftances

ftances in a more ftriking light, it was moved by Mr. Griffith, that there be laid before the house a lift of thofe commodities, the importation of which into Britain was prohibited, or their exportation from Britain into Ireland. As there was fome difficulty in bringing this paper before the houfe in compliance with parliamentary forms, Mr. Griffith directly ftated what thofe articles were. Among the first were included hats, foap, candles, ftarch, and linen checks of more than ten yards in a piece. Among the latter he enumerated particularly live heep, worsted, linen yarn, and every fpecies of commodity that was contructed from wool not yet manufactured. The fpirit of prohibition in this refpect, he obferved, went fo far, that a gentleman would not even be permitted to bring a mattrafs from England for his bed.

In purfuance of the ideas he had ftated in the outfet, Mr. Gardiner moved as an amendment, that "no prohibition nor any duty whatfoever fhould hereafter fubfift upon the export of the primum of the ftaple manufacture of either king dom into the other." The amendment was feconded by fir Edward Newenham, and ftrenuoufly recommended to the adoption of the houfe by Mr. Corry, Mr. Hartley and Mr. Molyneux. Major Doyle reminded the house, that it had been the diftrefs of the woollen manufacturers that had brought forward the question of protecting duties, and that for their relief the various non-importation agreements had been formed. To render both of thefe remedies unneceffary was the avowed object of the prefent fyftem; and how did it operate? By making the poor, ftarving woollen-weaver worfe than he was before, and mak

ing the linen weaver who had nơ complaints, in appearance better than he was before. And then it was expected that the woollen weav er was immediately to grow fat and content. We might indeed fend our woollens to England, and our coals to Newcastle, and that was called equality. If the refolution paffed in its prefent form, he added, it would be neceffary to follow it with a law to export 12680 manufacturers of woollen cloth, for whom there would be no longer any occafion; or, which might be a fhorter method, to import a certain portion of the plague from the Levant to rid the country of the complaints of these poor fellows. Mr. Griffith remarked, that if the exportation of wool from Great Britain was prohibited, the propo fitions however permitted to Ireland the law of retaliation: the plain English of which was this. Whenever Ireland fhall increase her flocks, improve the quality of her wool, and reduce its price lower than it was in England, which could never be, fhe might then retort upon the feat of empire, and prevent them from enjoying any advantage from the low price and fuperior ex cellence of the Irish wool. Mr. Griffith knew not how to combat fo abfurd an argument, but by inftancing one of a fimilar nature. An unfortunate fmuggler was taken in the fact of carrying tea on fhore from an Eaft India fhip in the har bour of Cork. He was immediately brought on board and put in irons. Shortly after feveral lords, privycounfellors and perfons of diftinction came on board in a beautiful barge, and began to fmuggle at a very great rate. The fmuggler, finding that no notice was taken of this by the custom-house officer, begau to revile him in a very nervous

ftyle,

ftyle, for having punished him a very poor man, for what he fuffered lords and privy-counfellors to do with impunity. Pifh, you fool," faid the officer, "get yourfelf made a lord, and then you may fmuggle as much as you pleafe." This advice, Mr. Criffth averred, was much more plausible and ferious, and the execution of it much more feasible on the part of the fmuggler, than to fuppofe that the wool of Ireland could ever come in competition in quality and price with the wool of England. The amend ment of Mr. Gardiner was excepted to by fir Edward Crofton and Mr. Dennis Browne, from the confideration that the province of Connaught, two feveral counties of which they reprefented, paid its rent in wool, and that the amendment would prove its total deftruction. The houfe divided upon the question, ayes 33, noes 178.

The last head of the propofitions that encountered the animadverfion of the house was that relative to the compenfation to be made by Ireland in the furplus of her hereditary revenue. This had originally been treated in terms of the feveret reprobation by Mr. Brownlow. It had been well for Mr. Orde that he was at prefent in a civilifed country; had he made fuch a propofition in a Polish diet, he would not have lived to carry back his anfwer. Mr. Brownlow however afterwards ac knowledged, that he had perhaps fpoken of the propofition under the influence of mifapprehenfion, and that he had faid fome things to the British minifter which he believed he should not have done in a cooler moment. At the fame time he saw no ground for altering his opinion. He did not like the mode of voting money to Great Britain uncondition ally; it appeared to him to have all

the features of the odious fhip mo ney, or whatever other impofitions had been regarded as moft oppref five. The meafure was equally cen fured as unconftitutional, by Mr. Griffith, Mr. Longfield and Mr. Molyneux. By Mr. Flood it was fet in a ftill farther Ight of objection. Every man knew the conftant complaint of Ireland had been the drain occafioned by her abfentees, a drain equal, in comparifon to the rental of Ireland, with the taxes of Great Britain in comparifon to the property of Britain. Now fhould it be afked, will you agree to a measure to increase the number of abfentees, instead of decreafing them, the answer would furely be in the negative. But in truth they did increase them when they voted an augmentation of the army; and if they voted for the fupport of the navy, they muft increase them again. Was it poffible for Ireland in her prefent fituation, giving with her right hand to the army, and with her left to the na vy, and having this drain of abfentees, was it poffible for her to exift? It was replied by Mr. Mafon, to the objection of Mr. Flood, that he was mistaken in his reprefentation. The money was not bound to be fent abroad. They might build frigates at home for the protection of their trade; they might fend it in beef, they might lay it out in gun-powder. They might direct every penny of it to be laid out in Ireland; for the whole furplus was to be at the difpofal of parliament. This part of the fyftem was voted without any material alteration.

The whole plan of the propofed arrangement was cenfured by Mr. Montgomery, member for the county of Donegal, Mr. Arthur Browne and Mr. Parfons, the reprefentatives

of