"Fortunately for the peace and future union of the two kingdoms, no such miserable and narrow policy entered into the mind of his Right Honourable friend; he disdained the injustice of bargaining with Ireland on such a subject; nor would Ireland have listened to him if he had attempt. ed it. She had not applied to purchase a Constitution; and if a tribute or contribution had been demanded in return for what was then granted, those patriotic spirits who were at that time leading the oppressed people of that insulted country to the attainment of their just rights, would have pointed to other modes of acquiring them;-would have called to them in the words of Camillus, arma aptare atque ferro non auro patriam et libertatem recuperare."

the

The following passage is a curious proof of the short-sighted views which prevailed at that period, even among shrewdest men, on the subject of trade :

"There was one point, however, in which he most completely agreed with the manufacturers of this country; namely, in their assertion, that if the Irish trader should be enabled to meet the British merchant and manufacturer in the British market, the gain of Ireland must be the loss of England. This was a fact not to be controverted on any principle of common sense or reasonable argument. The pomp of general declamation and waste of fine words, which had on so many occasions been employed to disguise and perplex this plain simple truth, or, still more fallaciously to endeavour to prove, that Great Britain would find her balance in the Irish market, had only tended to show the weakness and inconsistency of the doctrine they were meant to support. The truth of the argument was with the manufacturers; and this formed, in Mr. Sheridan's mind, a ground of one of the most vehement objections he had to the present plan."

It was upon the clamour, raised at this time by the English manufacters, at the prospect of the privileges about to be granted to the trade of Ireland, that Tickell, whose wit was always on the watch for such opportunities, wrote the fol lowing fragment, found among the papers of Mr. Sheridan:

"A VISION.

"After supping on a few Colchester oysters and a small Welsh rabbit, I went to bed last Tuesday night at a quarter before eleven o'clock. I

* Mr. Fox also said, “Ireland cannot make a single acquisition but to the proportionate loss of England."

slept quietly for near two hours, at the expiration of which period, my slumber was indeed greatly disturbed by the oddest train of images I ever experienced. I thought that every individual article of my usual dress and furniture was suddenly gifted with the powers of speech, and all at once united to assail me with clamorous reproaches, for my unpardonable negleet of their common interests, in the great question of surrendering our British commerce to Ireland. My hat, my coat, and every button on it, my Manchester waistcoat, my silk breeches, my Birmingham buckles, my shirt-buttons, my shoes, my stockings, my garters, and, what was more troublesome, my night-cap, all joined in a dissonant volley of petitions and remonstrances-which, as I found it impossible to wholly suppress, I thought it most prudent to moderate, by soliciting them to communicate their ideas individually. It was with some difficulty they consented to even this proposal, which they considered as a device to extinguish their general ardour, and to break the force of their united efforts; nor would they by any means accede to it, till I had repeatedly assured them, that, as soon as I heard them separately, I would appoint an early hour for receiving them in a joint body. Accordingly, having fixed these preliminaries, my Night-cap thought proper to slip up immediately over my ears, and, disengaging itself from my temples, called upon my Waistcoat, who was rather carelessly reclining on a chair, to attend him immediately at the foot of the bed. My Sheets and Pillow-cases, being all of Irish extraction, stuck close to me, however,—which was uncommonly fortunate, for, not only my Curtains had drawn off to the the foot of the bed, but my Blankets also had the audacity to associate themselves with others of the woollen fraternity, at the first outset of this household meeting. Both my Towels attended as evidences at the bar,—but my Pocket-handkerchief, notwithstanding his uncommon forwardness to hold forth the banner of sedition, was thought to be a character of so mixed a complexion, as rendered it more decent for him to reserve his interference till my Snuff-box could be heard-which was settled acccordingly.

"At length, to my inconceivable astonishment, my Night-cap, attended as I have mentioned, addressed me in the following terms:

Early as was the age at which Sheridan had been transplanted from Ireland-never to set foot upon his native land again the feeling of nationality remained with him warmly through life, and he was, to the last, both fond and proud of his country. The zeal, with which he entered, at this period, into Irish politics, may be judged of from some letters, addressed to him in the year 1785, by Mr. Isaac Corry, who was at that time a member of the Irish Opposition, and combated the Commercial Propositions as vigorously as he afterwards, when Chancellor of the Exchequer, defended their

"consummate flower," the Union. A few extracts from these letters will give some idea of the interest attached to this question by the popular party in both countries.

The following, dated August 5, 1785, was written during the adjournment of ten days, that preceded Mr. Orde's introduction of the Propositions :

"Your most welcome letter, after hunting me some days through the country, has at length reached me. I wish you had sent some notes of your most excellent speech; but such as we have must be given to the public-admirable commentary upon Mr. Pitt's Apology to the People of Ireland, which must also be published in the manner fitting it. The addresses were sent round to all the towns in the kingdom, in order to give currency to the humbug. Being upon the spot, I have my troops in perfect order, and am ready at a moment's warning, for any manœuvre which may, when we meet in Dublin previous to the next sitting, be thought necessary to follow the petitions for postponing.

"We hear astonishing accounts of your greatness in parti cular. Paddy will, I suppose, some beau jour be voting you another 50,000, if you go on as you have done.

"I send to-day down to my friend, O'Neil, who waits for a signal only, and we shall go up together. Brownlow is just beside me, and I shall ride over this morning to get him up to consultation in town... .. we must get our Whig friends in England to engraft a few slips of Whiggism here -till that is done, there will be neither Constitution for the people nor stability for the Government.

"Charlemont and I were of opinion that we should not make the volunteers speak upon the present business; so I left it out in the Resolutions at our late review. They are as tractable as we could desire, and we can manage them completely. We inculcate all moderation-were we to slacken in that, they would instantly step forward."

Alluding to the recent vote of that sum to Mr. Grattan.

The date of the following letter is August 10th-two days before Mr. Orde brought forward the Propositions.

"We have got the bill entire, sent about by Orde. The more it is read, the less it is liked. I made notable use of the clause you sent me before the whole arrived. We had a select meeting to-day of the D. of Leinster, Charlemont, Conolly, Grattan, Forbes, and myself. We think of moving an address to postpone to-morrow till the 15th of January, and have also some resolutions ready pro re natâ, as we don't yet know what shape they will put the business into ;Conolly to move. To-morrow morning we settle the Address and Resolutions, and after that, to-morrow, meet more at large at Leinster House. All our troops muster pretty well. Mountmorris is here, and to be with us to-morrow morning. We reckon on something like a hundred, and some are san guine enough to add near a score above it-that is too much. The report of to-night is that Orde is not yet ready for us, and will beg a respite of a few days-Beresford is not yet arrived, and that is said to be the cause. Mornington and Poole are come-their muster is as strict as ours. If we divide any thing like a hundred, they will not dare to take a victory over us. Adieu, yours most truly,

"I. C."

The motion for bringing in the Bill was carried only by a majority of nineteen, which is thus announced to Mr. Sheridan by his correspondent:

"I congratulate with you on 108 minority-against 127. The business never can go on. They were astonished, and looked the sorriest devils you can imagine. Orde's exhibition was pitiful indeed-the support of his party weak and open to attack-the debate on their part really poor. On ours, Conolly, O'Neill, and the other country gentlemen, strong and of great weight-Grattan able and eloquent in an uncommon degree-every body in high spirits, and altogether a force that was irresistible. We divided at nine this morn

ing, on leave to bring in a Bill for the settlement. The ground fought upon was the Fourth Resolution, and the principle of that in the others. The commercial detail did not belong accurately to the debate, though some went over it in a cursory way. Grattan, two hours and a half-Flood as much the former brilliant, well attended to, and much admired-the latter tedious from detail; of course, not so well heard, and answered by Foster in detail, to refutation. "The Attorney General defended the constitutional safety under the Fourth-Resolution principle. Orde mentioned the Opposition in England twice in his opening speech, with imputations, or insinuations at least, not very favourable. You were not left undefended. Forbes exerted his warm attachment to you with great effect-Burgh, the flag-ship of the Leinster squadron, gave a well-supported fire pointed against Pitt, and covering you. Hardy (the Bishop of Down's friend) in a very elegant speech gave you due honour; and I had the satisfaction of a slight skirmish, which called up the Attorney General, &c.

"

On the 15th of August Mr. Orde withdrew his Bill, and Mr. Corry writes-" I wish you joy a thousand times of our complete victory. Orde has offered the Bill-moved its being printed for his own justification to the country, and no more of it this session. We have the effects of a com plete victory."

Another question of much less importance, but more calculated to call forth Sheridan's various powers, was the Plan of the Duke of Richmond for the fortification of dock-yards, which Mr. Pitt brought forward (it was said, with much reluctance) in the session of 1786, and which Sheridan must have felt the greater pleasure in attacking, from the rene gade conduct of its noble author in politics. In speaking of the Report of a Board of General Officers, which had been appointed to examine into the merits of this plan, and of which the Duke himself was President, he thus ingeniously plays with the terms of the art in question, and fires off his wit, as it were, en ricochet, making it bound lightly from

sentence to sentente :