tional militia. At that time the idea of a Volunteer force had not arifen, therefore, I adopted the idea which at that time appeared to be the beft.-The third great object I took up as neceffary for this country, was a law for limiting the duration of parliaments; thefe were three great, falutary, and noble objects, worthy of the enlarged mind of an enlarged country.-I purfued them with ardour, I do not deny it; but I did not purfue them with intemperance.-I am fure I did not appear to the public to do fo; they gave my exertions many flattering teftimonies of their approbation. There is another proof that I was not intemperate; I was fuccefsful, intemperance and mifcarriage are apt to go together, but temperance and fuccefs are affociated by nature. This is my plain hiftory with regard to that period. The clumfinefs or virulence of invective may require to be fheathed in a brilliancy of diction, but plain truth and plain fense are beft delivered in plain terms. I now come to that period, in which Lord Harcourt governed, and which is ftigmatized by the word venal. I fay, Lord Harcourt's, for in my confideration of his adminiftration, I will include that of Lord Townfhend. If every man who accepts an office is venal, and an apoftate, I certainly cannot acquit myfelf of the charge, nor is it neceffary-I should have fo many alfociates in the crime, if ever there was a crime in what multitudes would defend. I am fenfible multitudes and majorities would not be wanting to defend that.-But, I fay, either it is a crime, or it is not-if it be a crime univerfally, let it be univerfally afcribed. But, Sir, I fay, it is not fair, that one fet of men fhould be treated by that Hon. Member as great friends and lovers of their country, notwithstanding they are in office; and another man, because he was in office, fhould be treated as an enemy and an apoftate-but what is the truth. Every thing of this fort depends upon the principles on which office is taken, and on which it is retained-with regard to me, let no man imagine I am preaching up a doctrine for my own convenience; there is not a man lefs concerned in the propagation of it. I have no treaty with the Right Hon. Gentleman on the floor, nor fhall I have any,

Now, Sir, I fhall beg leave shortly to ftate the manner in which I accepted that office, which I give you my word I never will refume. It was offered to me in the moft honourable manner, with an affurance not only of being a placeman for my own profit, but a minifter for the benefit of my country. My answer was, that I thought, in a conftitution, fuch as ours, an intercourfe between the prince and the fubject ought to be honourable, the being a minifter ought to redound to a man's credit; but I lamented that it often happened otherwife: men in office often gave up thofe principles which they maintained before. I told them, therefore, that my objections were not to the going into office, but to following the examples which I had fometimes feen before

me. I mentioned the public principles I held. I faid, if confiftently with thofe principles, from an atom of which I would not depart, I could be of fervice to his Majefty's government, I was ready to be fo; I fpeak in the prefence of men who know what I fay. After the office had come over, and landed in this kingdom, I fent in writing to the chief governor, that I would not accept the office, unlefs upon that principle.

into one.

Thus, Sir, I took office; the adminiftration before I oppofed only in part of it; in the firft feffion of Lord Townshend I did not oppofe; I never oppofed Lord Townshend till after his prorogation and proteft. This appeared to me an infamous violation of the privileges of parliament. With regard to money-bills, and after that proteft, by which he endeavoured to make the journals of the House of Lords, inftead of being the record of their privileges, the monument of their difgrace, I oppofed him; now what did I oppofe in that adminiftration?-The violation of the privilege of this Houfe, with regard to money-bills, and the wanton augmentation of offices, by the divifion of the board of commiffioners into two parts. In Lord Harcourt's adminiftration, what did I do? I had the two boards of commiffioners reduced again I do not fay my fingle voice effected this, but as far as it had any efficacy, it infifted on having the twelve commiflioners again reduced to seven, and the two boards to one, a saving, including the whole arrangement, of twenty thousand pounds a year to the nation. It went further; it infifted to have every altered money-bill thrown out, and privy-council money-bills not defended by the crown. Thus, inftead of giving fanction to the meafures I had oppofed, my conduct was in fact to regifter my principles in the records of the court, to make the privy-council a witness to the privileges of parliament, and to give final energy to the tenets with which I commenced my life. Oeconomy did not ftop with the reduction of the commillioners boards. The Right Honourable Gentleman who has cenfured me, in order to depreciate that œconomy, faid, that we had fwept with the feather of economy,, the pens and paper off your table-a pointed and a brilliant expreflion is far from a juft argument. This country has no reafon to be afhamed of that fpecies of economy, when the great nation of Great Britain has been obliged to descend to an œconomy as minute. Neither, Sir, was this all, it is not my fault if infinitely more was not done for this country upon that occafion; they were offered a faving, they did not chufe to take it-they were offered the abfentee-tax, and they refufed it: I am not to blame for that, it was a part of the faving propofed. If adminiftration were wrong on that occafion, they were wrong with the prejudices of half a century, they were wrong with every great writer that had ever written upon the fubject of Ireland they were wrong with fome of the plaineft principles, as it feems,

;

of human nature in their favour.-I will fuppofe the determination not to accept it to have been right, ftill it was meritorious in administration to offer it; and to fhew that I was not under any undue influence of office, I appeal to the memory of many men prefent-whether, when the difpofition of the House was made to alter upon that fubject, and when administration yielded, not unwillingly, to the violence of parliament, I appeal to the confcious and public knowledge of many, whether I did veer and turn about with the Secretary, or whether I did not make a manly ftand in favour of that principle; after having pledged myself, to the public, I would rather break with a million of administrations than retract?

I not only adhered to it, but by a fingular inftance of exertion, I forced it a fecond time under the confideration of this Houfe.That this benefit was loft to this country, if it be a benefit, it was not my fault. One thing I must go back to; I had repeatedly preffed the bill for limiting the duration of Parliaments. In Lord Townshend's time, I brought it in finally, and crowned it with fuccefs; thus I restored to the univerfal community of Ireland, a right of which they had been robbed for near a century, namely, their first and fundamental franchise as electors, without which this Houfe is but a fhadow. And thus after having reftored that root of all their other rights in Lord Townshend's administration, after having reftored œconomy and reduced twelve commiflioners to feven in Lord Harcourt's, I went on to the other great measure which I have mentioned, the militia law; and when a Right Honourable Gentleman (Mr. Ogle) moved that question, I engaged all the intereft I could with government in behalf of it; I rofe up to fecond his motion, and declared I would fupport him and his militia bill to the laft; accordingly I gave him the afliftance of my poor labours, and it was carried; thus therefore, Sir, I fay that in that administration in which I accepted office, inftead of relinquishing my principles I preferved them. Inftead of getting a minority to vote for them, I brought the majority to give an efficient fanction to their truth, by entering into office upon that occafion and acting as I did; I acted the part of an honeft minister between the prince and the people; in doing so I think I was more a patriot than if out of othce I had made empty declamations on empty fubjects, without any advantage to the public. Moft of thofe who hear me can recollect the state of this kingdom at the clofe of Lord Townshend's administration-I appeal to them all, and I ask what was then my repute in the nation? I will not fay it was the first, or the fecond, or the third, but did it not stand in an honourable rank, and among the foremost rather than among the laft? In Lord Harcourt's government, the Vice Treasurerthip was offered to me, accompanied with every declaration that could render it acceptable to an honourable mind. When that office was offered to me,

F

was my fituation that of a reprobated man? Did the adminiftration of England fend over an office ufually referved for the parliament of England, and offer it of their own accord to a reprobated man? I take the facts of both countries to difprove this calumny. Is it fince I have become a mark of obloquy? I flatter myfelf not. Lord Buckinghamshire's adminiftration fucceeded.With regard to Lord Harcourt's adminiftration, the objection is, I did too much; the charge with regard to the other is, I did too little for it; thofe two accufations run a little in contrary direction, and like a double poifon, each may cure the operation of the other; but the fact is this, I acted not upon vifions and imaginations, but on found common fense, the best gift of God to man; which then told me, and still whifpers that fome administrations deferve a more active fupport than others; that fome administrations deserve little of either; I adapted my conduct to those three conditions, I did not run headlong againft government at one time, and with government at another, but adopted my conduct as I ought to do, to what I faw and what I felt. Did I fupport Lord Harcourt? Why?-Because he gave me an influence in his councils. It is nonfenfe to fay, a man is not to fupport his own councils; but the next adminiftration took another direction, and they did not give me any influence on their councils. What was the confequence? I did not give them fupport: was there any thing more fair? I felt myfelf a man of too much fituation to be a mere place-man. If not a minifter to ferve my country, I would not be the tool of falary. What was the confequence? I voted with them in matters of importance when they were clearly right; I voted against them in matters of importance when they were clearly wrong; and in matters of fmall moment I did not vote at all:and why? I fcorned, by voting for them in fuch matters, to seem to pay court. To vote againit them in fuch matters would have been abfurd. What remained? Not to vote at all. If y I you call that abfconding, going behind the chair, or efcaping into the corridore, call it what you pleafe, I fay it was right.—This is my plain way of dealing; it is common fenfe. I told Lord Buckinghamshire, I would not attend the cabinet councils of the fige Mr. Heron, Was that duplicity? I think not. I did more; I fent my refignation to England, to the fame friend through whom the first communication was made to me on the fubject of office; but, from the ideas of friendflip to me, he took time to confider, and at length declined to deliver my refignation. I have faid fomething to the middle period, I fhall come to the third, viz. Lord Carlife's administration, in which my conduct has been flandered as the conduct of an incendiary; when that idea took place in fome minds I cannot tell, but this I am fure of-that the kight Hon. Gentleman who cenfured me, was called an incendiary at that time, and fo perhaps might 1, but I am fure the

Right Hon. Gentleman at that time, did not think me an incendiary more than himfelf. There was not a fingle inftance in which he did not co-operate. If I am an incendiary, I fhall gladly accept, therefore, of the fociety of that Right Hon. Gentleman under the fame appellation: But he laughed at the folly of the accufation at that time, and fo do I now. If I was an incendiary, it was for moving what the parliaments of both kingdoms have fince given their fanétion to: If that is to be an incendiary, God grant I may continue fo! In this administration it was that I was difmiffed from office; now, Sir, I do not know that, in general, my difmiffion from office was thought any difgrace to me: I do not think this House or the nation thought me difhonoured by that difmiffion. The first day I declared those sentiments for which I was difmiffed-I remember it well-I thought it for my honour; fome very honourable and worthy gentlemen, fome fince dead, and fome ftill alive, one of them whom I fhall ever love and shall ever lament; one of them is dead fince to every thing but his own honour and the grateful memory of his country; one of them who thought me fo little of the character of an incendiary, that he croffed the Houfe, together with others, to congratulate me on the honour of my conduct, and to embrace me in open parlia ment. At that moment I think I ftood clear to the imputation of being an incendiary. The character of an incendiary, therefore, feems to have been fuperinduced upon me of a fudden; it has fprouted out and germinated from that root of much evil, the fimple repeal: fince that moment only, it seems that I have been going down in the opinion of the public; fince that moment they have found out my character and conduct deferve all reprobation, and deferve the brand-of being an incendiary; and yet I can hardly prevail upon myfelf to think that is the cafe, because, fince that moment, I have received more honourable teftimonies from every corner of the kingdom, than that Right Hon. Member has received in the fame period. I fhall return once more to the fentiments of that beloved character I have just described: He was á man, over whofe life, or over whofe grave, Envy never hovered; He was a man, wifhing ardently to ferve his country himself, but not withing to monopolize the fervice, wifhing to partake and to communicate the glory of what paffed: He gave me in his motion for a free trade, a full participation of the honour. Upon another occafion he faid—I remember the words-they are traced with the pencil of gratitude on my heart-He faid, "That I was a man whom the moft lucrative office in the land had never warped in point of integrity." The words were marked; I am fure I repeat them fairly-they are words I fhould be proud to have infcribed upon my tomb. Confider the man from whom they came; confider the magnitude of the fubject on which they were spoken; confider the fituation of the perfons concerned, and it adds to,