than indirectly to evade it by concealment and deceit. I am convinced that trivial circumstances in things like this tend greatly to form the national character: and that it is most consistent with that of a British or Irish freeman, that ALL his actions should be OPEN AND AVOWED, and that he should not be ashamed of declaring, in the face of his country, whom he wishes to intrust with its interests. On the same idea that ballots may be a cover for independence, they must also be a cloak for bribery, and a school for lying and deceit.

"As to the seventh question, whether it would not be equitable or expedient that BOROUGHS now in the possession of individuals should be purchased by the nation? I think that although no man can have a strict claim in equity to be refunded the loss of what neither buyer nor seller had a right to barter, yet it will be wise to purchase the good-will, or at least to soften the resistance, of the present powerful possessors of boroughs by a most ample compensation. The liberties of a nation cannot be bought too dear; but the whole cost of these boroughs would not amount to the profits of one jobbing contract.

"I have now answered all the questions you were pleased to propose; but I must mention another advantage which ought to recommend the measures you are pursuing to every friend to the internal peace and quiet of the kingdom, which is, that WHEN THE PEOPLE have obtained a REGULAR, LEGAL, AND SPEEDY WAY of giving effect to their sentiments, there can no longer be any apprehension of their endeavoring to redress themselves by MOBS AND TUMULTS; and even such regular and well-conducted meetings as yours will become needless. I mention this circumstance with the more satisfaction, as it stamps your conduct with the most unequivocal marks of disinterested patriotism. Power, when once acquired, is generally endeavored to be preserved by its possessors; but you, after having taken up yours from necessity, and employed it usefully, are now endeavoring, with unexampled virtue, to render its continuance unnecessary. For great as your services have been, in so soon forming a complete army, in the advantages you have procured for your country, in the good order you have preserved, and in the efficacy you have given to law, you will derive still greater credit, in my opinion, from your good sense in seeing that a great military force totally unconnected with the civil government, cannot be a permanent establishment in a free country, whose first principle is never to trust absolute power in any hands whatever. Your present endeavors to restore the constitution to its purity and vigor, evidently tend to make this and every extraordinary institution unnecessary; for, when the people are FAIRLY AND EQUALLY REPRESENTED in Parliament, when they have ANNUAL OPPORTUNI

TIES of changing their deputies, and through them of controlling every abuse of government in a safe, easy, and legal way, there can be no longer any reason for recurring to those ever dangerous, though sometimes unnecessary, expedients of an armed force, which nothing but a BAD GOVERNMENT CAN JUSTIFY. Such a magnanimous end to your proceedings, when, after having restored liberty, commerce, and a free government to your country, you shall voluntarily retire to the noble character of private citizens, peaceably enjoying the blessings you have procured, will crown your labors with everlasting glory, and is worthy the genuine patriotic spirit which animates the Irish Volunteers.

"Before I conclude, I beg leave to express a wish that the mutually essential connexion between Great Britain and Ireland may soon be settled on some liberal and fair footing. That which did subsist was on such narrow and absurd principles, that no friend to either kingdom can regret its loss: founded on constraint and dependance, incompatible with the condition of freemen, Ireland had an indisputable right to dissolve it whenever she chose so to do. But surely, if we do not mean a total separation, it would be right to agree on some new terms by which we are to continue connected. I have always thought it for the interest of the two islands to be incorporated, and form one and the same kingdom, with the same legislature, meeting sometimes in Ireland as well as in England. But if there are difficulties to such an union not to be got over at present, some sort of federal union at least between the two kingdoms seems necessary to ascertain the many circumstances that concern their joint interests; and a union of this sort may now be formed with much greater propriety than before, as it will be sanctified by the free consent of independent nations.

"I do conceive that some steps of this sort are absolutely necessary, because the present footing, of separation rather than union, is too unfair to be able long to subsist. England, besides the load of the whole debt contracted for the use of both kingdoms, bears all the burdens of naval defence and foreign negociation, and by far more than its proportion of the service in time of war. But what is worse is, that there is no certainty now left that we shall have the same enemies and the same friends. Different interests, as they may appear, may lead one kingdom to think a war necessary, and the other to remain in peace; the same King, in his different kingdoms, may think it wise to follow the advice of his respective Parliaments. I need scarcely add, that the unavoidable consequences of such a difference are a WAR between the two kingdoms. Unless some settlement takes place on these and many other important subjects, I am far from being clear that it will be for the advantage of liberty in either kingdom, that its monarch should continue the sovereign of a neighboring state with which it

has no connexion. I am sensible that there are great difficulties attending the adjustment of such a union, and that it requires great wisdom and temper to form it, especially on the part of Ireland, which must feel that she ought to give the preponderance to Great Britain; but I am sure the business ought not to be neglected, and that every true friend to both kingdoms ought to give it his most zealous assistance.

"I beg pardon for having gone into a subject not immediately belonging to that on which you have desired my opinion; but I thought it so connected with it, and at the same time so important, that I trust you will excuse my having introduced it. I fear I have been very long; but it was impossible for me to compress so much matter into a less compass; and when you wished to have my opinion, I thought it best to give it fully, or at least as fully as I could in a letter. If it contains one thought that can be useful, I shall be happy. I have only to assure the Committee of the zeal I feel for the cause the Volunteers have undertaken, to the support of which I shall ever be ready to give every assistance in my power; and that it is with the highest respect and admiration for their conduct, that I have the honor to be

"Their most obedient, and most humble Servant,

"RICHMOND, &c."

ΤΟ

WILLIAM WILBERFORCE, ESQ. M. P.

I

SIR,

HAVE been anxiously waiting for the present period, when the foes of our country are subdued, to address you on the subject of Slavery. The great and unwearied efforts you have made to suppress the traffic of human flesh, will transmit your name with honor, as a man and Christian, to the most remote posterity. You have at last received the noblest reward in the success which has crowned your labors; and the treaty just concluded with, France, consecrates your exertions, whilst it shows what a single individual, impelled by an honest zeal, is capable of performing. This perseverance and this success in behalf of the negro, encourages me to claim your powerful aid, in order to redress another grievance equally glaring, and where the sufferers have a much stronger title than the African to your sympathy. The sufferers are Britons; and what is more, to their courage and intrepidity the country is principally indebted for the prosperity and security she now enjoys.

I belong myself to this class of men, whose hardships have been so long and so unaccountably neglected; and whilst you, Sir, and other philanthropists ranged the earth, in order to break the fetters of the slave, you disregarded with singular inconsistency, the ill treatment which the British seaman, the guardian of your independence, has been obliged to endure. In his cause no bolts of eloquence were shot, no commiseration was excited; and whilst he encountered death in every form, and raised the fame of Britain to the highest elevation that can be reached, his ill treatment, though more galling than that of the negro, because he was born and bred

Had the same zeal been manifested by Mr. Wilberforce in the cause of British seamen, and upon the subject of Ireland, this country would be able to brave future dangers as it has surmounted past perils. Apropos for Ireland: whoever will legislate for that important division of the empire must combine the qualities of our Alfred and of Peter of Russia-he must unite great and extensive views to justice and energy.