ourable friend of his on the floor [Mr. Fitzherbert], for whofe fentiments and character he entertained the moft fincere regard, or act contrary to the probable wifhes of the noble perfon at the head of the adminiftration here, for whom he felt high refpect. If the queftion were merely a perfonal accommodation of three or four days, without any leading confequences or important conclufions, he should have found it hard to refift the compliance with fuch defire; but this queftion had become, as it were, an hinge on which the fentiments of gentlemen turned, concerning the due and speedy appointment of the Prince, during the unfortunate indifpofition of his royal father, to the exercife of the regal authority, with fuch an extent of authority and undiminished luftre as the wisdom of our ancestors had annexed to it, which fhould not be restrained except on urgent neceffity, and which neceffity furely did not exist in this country. Under this impreffion he could not be infenfible to the importance of the queftion, or the duty that impelled him to refift a moment's delay. A right honourable member had defired delay only on account of the importance of the fubject, and for the fake of decorum; he answered that the fubject was fo important that delay would be indecency, and expedition decorum. Another gentleman obferved, that we had no parliamentary evidence of his Majesty's indifpofition: he fincerely lamented that we had all too decifive teftimony preffing on our hearts of that melancholy event; but as to formal intelligence, we had it from his Excellence in his fpeech from the throne, who told us, that from his Majefty's indifpofition he was unable to make the ufual communications with his Parliament. He faid, if the question were, whether bufinefs of fo much magnitude were to be concluded next Wednesday, the arguments of the right honourable member would be irrefiftible; but the question was not whether you fhould end, but whether you should begin that great bufinefs fo foon; and that under the preffure of fo important a duty, to poftpone the commencement of it would be unpardonable; it would be infenfibility to our own fituation, and disrespect to the object of our choice. That if when Wednesday shall arrive, from our relative fituation to Great Britain, and the progrefs of their proceedings (to which in prudence we fhould ever pay attention) we fhall judge it premature to come to a decifion, we may then take further time; but certainly to poftpone the day of ent ring on the confideration, would not only look like a reluctance towards the great perfon in contemplation, but a neglect of our own condition; for it is now in the virtues of the fon alone that we can find confolation for the misfortune of the father.

The SECRETARY OF STATE faid that the writ which called them together mentions the intention of their confulting de arduis regni bonum publicum concernentibus; that the fupplying of the fupreme executive power was the fubject which of all others, moft

effentially concerned the public good. They were now, for the first time, to discharge that important function, the exercise of which they owed to a right honourable gentleman, [meaning as is fuppofed Mr. Grattan,] by whose talents and exertions, feconded by the fpirit of the nation, their parliamentary independence was established. We had now, he faid, no conftitutional execative-we lived under the government of a fellow-fubject, not under the control or direction of the perfon exercifing fovereign power. He hoped this was a fort of executive power, which no Irishman would call conftitutional, and which the spirit of the nation ought not to endure for a moment longer than the neceffity required. As to the fact, which every man lamented, of the Sovereign's not being capable, at prefent, to exercife the royal functions, no man could doubt the melancholy truth, and no man deplored it more than himself. He faid the speech from the throne fully proved this fatal event, by informing us that his Excellency had received no commands from his Majefty to communicate to his House of Parliament; and when he confidered the affectionate attention which the father of his people has ever fhewn to this country, that could have proceeded from no other caufe but his Majefty's unfortunate difability to communicate fuch inftructions. He was not for precipitation; but the evidence contained in the papers laid before us applicable to this melancholy truth, every gentleman could be master of in a few minutes. We are told, faid he, of an intention to lay further documents before us: but their import has, in no fort, been explained. If thofe who fent us here were to afk any of us, why we did not proceed to supply the deficiency in the executive power? and we were to anfwer, that we waited for those documents, the next queftion would be, what are thofe documents? If we were to anfwer, as we must do, that we did not know their nature or tendency, he fuppofed the reafon would not appear altogether satisfactory. He acknowledged the propriety, that the fame perfon fhould hold the regency of both kingdoms; but said, that probably the next packet would bring an account of the acceptance of the regency of Great Britain by the Prince; and if we were not fatisfied with information from the public prints, we might addrefs the Lord Lieutenant for authentic information of that fact. He faid they could not answer it to their country to poftpone the confideration of this important fubject for one hour unneceffarily, and thought they ought to continue fitting from day to day. In this whole proceeding he fhould keep in view the great precedent of the revolution, out of which stem the illuftrious branch of the House of Brunswick grew and flourished;

and in that inftance, he said, they did not wait even for the meeting of a convention, but the peers, and fome of the members of the diffolved Parliament of Charles the fecond, immediately addreffed the Prince of Orange to take upon himself the

adminiftration of public affairs. He faid deliberation was neceffary, but every idea of delay ought to be rejected. That the motion to poftpone till Monday fe'nnight was made with that view, and he should therefore give it a moft decided negative.

Mr. W. TODD JONES faid he had not rifen in the debate upon the address, though it did not meet his approbation, confidering it as a matter of course, and at this ferious period of Irish affairs, almost unworthy of the time it occupied; but as an independent member of that Houfe, the property of no individual, he thought it his duty to speak what he conceived to be the fentiments of his conftituents.-The late prorogation appeared to him an audacious infult to this free and independent country; and the propofed adjournment, a repetition of it. He confidered all Lord Lieutenants in nearly fimilar lights, as ftate puppets, to whom adjournments and prorogations were curtains, which being withdrawn, exhibited the English wires-but there was nothing to be heard from England, which it was effential for Ireland to know previous to her exercifing the powers of an independent kingdom; and the papers upon the table contained nothing which the whole nation was not already in poffeffion of. He lamented that his ideas differed with great authorities in that House, touching the fufficiency of thofe papers, as a proper notification to Ireland, of the imbecility of her Sovereign'; and he entirely coincided in that point with the opinion of his friend, [Mr. Griffith] but he fubmitted to the fenfe of the House.-He also thought the introducing at all on that day the name of the Prince of Wales, indecent, and informal; and he conjured the Houfe to confider the dignity and the importance of the duty they were about to difcharge; acting, as they were, for a free and refpectable nation; banishing, as they ought to do, all party diftinctions, and all felfish motives; and feeling, as he trufted they would, the urgent neceffity of marking their conduct, with coolness, loyalty, and reverence for the reputation of Ireland.

The question was put on Mr. Fitzherbert's amendment, and the Houfe divided,

The question was then put on Mr. Grattan's motion, which was carried without a divifion.

Mr. SECRETARY FITZHERBERT informed the Houfe that his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant having been waited upon, according to order, to know his Excellency's pleafure when he will be attended by the Houfe with the addrefs to his Excellency, had been pleafed to appoint to-morrow, at four of the clock, at the Cafle.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1789.

Mr. O'HARA moved, that a committee be appointed to inquire into the fisheries on the north weft coaft of this kingdom.

Mr. ALEXANDER MONTGOMERY faid he wished to know from the honourable gentleman, what was the object he had in view in moving for fuch a committee? He faid a right honourable gentleman [Mr. Burton Conyngham] who always takes an active part in what relates to the fisheries of this kingdom, was not then in the Houfe, and he hoped the honourable gentleman would wait to explain his intentions till he was prefent.

Mr. O'HARA faid that his object went to the regulation of the fishery, and to correct several abuses and irregularities of the fishermen who were employed in that line. He mentioned that the right honourable gentleman who had been alluded to by the right honourable gentleman who spoke last, had been already confulted on the fubject.

Mr. CORRY faid he was of opinion that the fishery laws wanted very much a revifion, and he hoped the honourable gentleman would extend his object, by moving for a committee to take into confideration the state of the fisheries.

The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER faid he hoped the inquiry would be of a general nature, and not confined to any locality of fituation, as it was a fubject highly deferving the most ferious attention.

Mr. O'HARA faid he fhould for the prefent decline preffing his motion; but when he could procure the memorial which had been laid before Government on the subject, he would again bring forward a motion of a fimilar tendency.

Mr. CORRY faid he hoped the honourable gentleman would give notice of the day that he intended to bring forward his motion, as it was a fubject of the highest importance.

The Houfe adjourned for half an hour; and the Speaker, attended by the feveral members, went up to the Castle with the addrefs to his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant, and being returned, the Speaker informed the Houfe that his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant had been waited on with the addrefs of the Houfe, to which his Excellency was pleafed to give the following anfwer:

"Gentlemen,

"I return you my moft fincere thanks for this address. Your declarations of duty and attachment to his Majesty are par

ticularly pleafing to me at this melancholy crifis; and I am happy in the favourable opinion you are pleased to exprefs of my endeavours for the welfare and profperity of Ireland."

It was ordered, that his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant's anfwer be entered on the journals of the House.

The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER faid he thought it his duty to propose to the Houfe, what in his opinion, ought to be adopted in the prefent fituation of this country. It had been ftated in the course of the debate yesterday, that the House was not complete; but it could not be denied, that it was convened by a Chief Governor acting under his Majefty's authority. Whether the Houfe was complete or not, he was decidedly of opinion, that the Houfe ought to take fome fteps to provide money for the payment of the public credit; if Parliament was not complete, by providing money for the payment of public debts and for the fubfiftence of the army, it was doing what was abfolutely neceffary; and if Parliament was complete, in that cafe, it was their duty to act fo. In fupport of his argument, he said he would inftance the conduct of the two Houses of the English Parliament at the time of the restoration; they paffed three bills, one of which was for granting 50,000l. to his Majefty King Charles the Second, at the very time that his Majesty was out of the kingdom, and which bills did not receive the royal affent till three days after his Majefty's arrival. He obferved that it required twenty-eight days in going through the money bills, and if there should be any delay in proceeding to bufinefs, the bills could not be paffed in the ordinary courfe. He faid the business usually done at the commencement of a feffion was not of an active nature, it was more of an inquiry than real bufinefs, the committee of accounts usually fit a week, which is an inquiry into the expenditure of the public money, and to fee that no abuses had been committed in the appropriation thereof. He faid it was the interest of the nation to proceed to bufinefs as foon as poffible. He again obferved, that if there is a delay of many days the money bills cannot pafs in the ordinary course; and if any inconvenience fhould arife from their delay, nothing could be imputed to him, as he done the best in his power, and discharged his duty in the manner he thought himself bound to do. He moved, that the House do, on Monday next, take into consideration his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant's speech.

Mr. GRATTAN faid he deemed the motion to be fomewhat improper; in his opinion, both for the fake of decency, and out of respect to our moft gracious Sovereign, an inquiry into the ftate of his Majefty's health ought to precede all other business whatever; and he should therefore move an amendment to the motion made by the right honourable gentleman-" that the