to authority over Ireland. The British Commons had agreed unanimously to the Irish claims, and in the House of Lords there had been but one dissentient. Next, touching a chord which vibrated in every heart, he declared that the spirit of the nation was called upon to make an unconditional grant to England. The sea had been the scene of Britain's glory; there she could most effectually be assisted. Hence he would ask them to vote £100,000 to raise and equip twenty thousand Irish seamen, for the common defence of the empire. The suggestion was adopted with delight, as evidence of their resolve "to stand or fall with England," now that Ireland's rights were conceded. Other proofs followed fast. Volunteer corps proffered to cross the Channel and give their services to Great Britain in case of an emergency. Their weapons, so lately directed against her, were now ready for her defence. Further, a Bill enabled his Majesty to draw five thousand men out of the standing army of Ireland whenever he required them; with the remnant of the regulars and her volunteer army Ireland engaged to protect her own coasts. These and analogous acts were evidences undeniable of that generous spirit of cordial amity which sprang up immediately on the concession of the Irish claims at a time when Ireland might have enforced them by arms. Not ungrateful, the emancipated Parliament voted Grattan £50,000. The court party, not sharing in the glow of generous emotion, sought to disarm his influence by crown favours. The Lord-Lieutenant offered him the viceregal lodge. He accepted the people's tribute, but declined the court's proposals.

During the sessions of 1781-82 the abuses of the administration-for which the English Cabinet was responsible were attacked by the popular party in Parliament with vigour and persistency. At the beginning of the session, they called attention to the extraordinary fact that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, drawing an immense salary, did nothing for it, and lived out of the country. They protested against another grievance equally scandalous and startling, namely, that the Master of the Rolls

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was allowed to act in like manner, drawing a great revenue out of "a kingdom he does not condescend to visit." The judges, on the other hand, had been poorly paid, and kept dependent on the Government, their tenure being "during pleasure." Already the patriots had moved that they should be made independent and properly paid. The Cabinet consented to increase the stipend (which by itself increased the dependency), and rejected the other issue. Not until the legislature acquired its independence was the independence of the judicature assured, and assured it was immediately. Minor reforms, connected with the administration of justice, relating to masters in Chancery and jurors, were also advocated by the popular party. The prisons had frequently been pest-houses, too often devastated by jail-fever, which sometimes swept off jurors, lawyers, and witnesses by its pervading contagion. Measures were taken to remedy this, and, by a revision of the criminal law, to humanise that terrible code which had dealt death alike to culprits offending by a petty theft and to those guilty of parricide. Poor debtors were considered. Until the popular party took up their case and bettered their condition, these unhappy wretches had been confined indefinitely in prisons, or rather noisome dungeons, often in the same cell with the felon and malefactor. Public baths were subsidised, to which the poor were admitted free, in great numbers. Thus the Irish capital takes rank as probably the first to provide such hygienic accommodation for the humbler classes. Measures were adopted to promote the planting of trees in the rural districts. In the city the repair of the streets was taken from a corrupt corporation, and by other measures the principal avenues of the city were enlarged, adorned, and a great new bridge built. The old custom-house had fallen into ruins, and become a disgrace and a danger; expansion of trade required new buildings; the foundations were accordingly laid of the classic edifice which attracts the admiration of every visitor. The rules relating to law students were considered, and the splendid Four Courts and Inns of Court arose, whilst the English judges still

sat in sheds off Westminster Hall. Irrespective of these, the sole official measure brought in during the session was one for the creation of a national bank-the Bank of Ireland—a measure which Provost Hutchinson had previously urged on every administration for ten years, and urged in vain.

Then came the great constitutional Act of Habeas Corpus, at last secured at a period when arbitrary power had been advancing. Nor was the Constitution of Parliament itself untouched or unimproved. Some members had been habitual absentees; "one gentleman, twentytwo years a member, had never attended in his place but once to vote." Ballots for committees were ordered, and absent members rendered liable to punishment. Care was taken to prevent delays in calling Parliament, and an effort was successfully made to diminish the influence of the Crown by purifying the electorate to some extent. Government had the appointment of revenue officers, and nominated them, by way of patronage, in numbers far in excess of the requirements of the service. Until then, as Mr. Mulgrave mentioned, at elections a gentleman could boast of having "mandatory letters from the revenue board to officers to influence them." Corruption could not be abolished in a period when minds were still corrupt; it began to diminish in an era of virtue. In the penal code directed against the Roman Catholics, a legacy of hatred and foul oppression had been bequeathed. This Henry Grattan and others had striven against from the first; and this, notwithstanding the objection of Flood and the murmurs of a few others, the Parliament had begun to destroy. Its early efforts were not great in themselves; they evoked the scorn of Burke and the impatience of Grattan, but they marked a distinct advance. The declaration of the volunteers made this possible and imperative; the bell of Dungannon Church announced an epoch of national as well as of colonial freedom.

In reviewing the work done, the Lord - Lieutenant

1 Letter to a peer of Ireland, February 21, 1782.

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might well congratulate Parliament on the important Acts. which should strengthen the great constitutional reform achieved, and which would "for ever distinguish that memorable session." "You have," he said, "provided for the impartial and unbiassed administration of justice by the Act for securing the independence of judges; you have adopted one of the most essential securities of British freedom by limiting the Mutiny Act in point of duration; you have secured that most invaluable of all human blessings, the personal liberty of the subject, by passing the Habeas Corpus Act; you have cherished and enlarged the wise principles of toleration, and made considerable advances in abolishing those distinctions which have too long impeded the progress of industry and divided the nation."1

Such were the first - fruits of Grattan's Parliament, when Grattan's influence predominated in it. Nor was the succeeding session inferior in the amount of substantial work done, though, as this had reference chiefly to matters social and commercial rather than political, the results are not so obvious. The entire commercial framework of the country had to be built on new foundations, and the labours of committees are not always interesting. But by such labours Parliament succeeded in averting a threatened famine, in relieving distress, in fostering infant industries, encouraging trade, extending commerce, and in making an impoverished country prosperous. Harbours were improved, piers built, fisheries promoted, and the carrying trade of the inland counties facilitated by a system of canal and river communication. A shipping law regulated the manning, victualling, and accommodation of vessels, so that passengers should no longer suffer from the recklessness or rapacity of owners. The gaols were again looked to, and all prisoners who had been nominally acquitted or discharged by proclamation, but were really detained for gaol fees, often in a starving condition and indefinitely, were at once liberated. Churches, colleges, and schools (all Protestant, of course)

1 "Irish Parliamentary Debates," vol. i. p. 484.

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were built. Skilled artisans were brought over from Britain, and factories established: the village of Balbriggan alone could show twelve hundred workers, six hundred being children. Associations were encouraged to promote industrial skill-the Dublin Society being granted £5000 for the improvement of husbandry and the useful arts, particularly glass- and porcelain-making, which it effected by procuring instruction and granting premiums. At the same time care was taken to prevent the abuse of loans to manufactures, and, on the motion of Mr. Foster, a man of great financial capacity, bounties on exports were gradually substituted-each bounty being thus a species of results' fee, granted on work done. The post-office was taken under Irish charge, and new rules were laid down for its better government, including the formation of Dublin (on a diameter of eight miles) into a penny-postal district. A measure was also adopted to prevent bribery and corruption at elections. It is true that reform of Parliament itself did not proceed so rapidly as was desired by many. The volunteers held a convention in the Rotunda, not far from the seat of the legislature, and, under the chairmanship of Charlemont, and guided by Flood, proposed a scheme for the more equal representation of the people. This scheme of reform was narrow, for in excluding the Catholics it virtually excluded the Irish nation. It was premature, and there can be no question that it was an error to convoke an armed convention, in the heart of the capital, in order to propound a scheme of reform to Parliament. It savoured too much of dictation, and gave offence to moderate minds. Had Parliament been offered and refused a reform resolution, the case would have been altered; popular manifestations might then have fairly pressed on a necessary and righteous reform. But Parliament had not been first consulted. Though Grattan pleaded that Flood should be allowed to bring in the Bill, and strongly deprecated any semblance of difference between Parliament and the volunteers, his speech lacked fire. Many sympathised with Sir Hercules Langrishe