that great good might refult to Ireland, if fhe paffed laws adapted to the regulations of duties contained in the tariff.

Mr. Flood faid, that he could affure the right honourable Mr. Flood. gentleman and the House, that he felt no extreme anxiety for the obtainment of any benefits for Ireland through the medium of a treaty, to which he had fo many objections on the ground of its being disadvantageous to Great Britain. He had on a former day stated, that if the fentiments of the manufacturers remained unaltered, they could not but be adverfe to a treaty with France, founded on principles fo tranfcendently more injurious to their interests, than the principles of the former treaty with Ireland. Nothing could be more felf-evident than that if the reafoning of the manufacturers had been right on that occafion, and their apprehenfions had been juftifiable, the fame ftyle of reafoning would apply more forcibly on the prefent occafion, and their apprehenfions would be still more juftifiable. With regard to the Court of France understanding that Ireland was implied and comprehended in the prefent treaty, although it was not fo declared in exprefs words in any part of the treaty, he asked what fecurity had Ireland for her fhare of the advantages or privileges which the treaty held out to Great Britain, if either privileges or advantages were likely to arife from it, any more than fhe had for the Court of Lifbon's extending to her the advantages of the Methuen treaty, which it was well known fhe had refused to suffer Ireland to participate, in violation of the fpirit and meaning of that treaty, and which breach of treaty on the part of Portugal, although it had been five years in negotiation, no redrefs had been obtained for Ireland. Mr. Flood ftated his conviction, that the commercial treaty was neither likely to be a benefit to Great Britain nor Ireland, and he thought a ftronger proof of its objectionable invalidity could not be stated to the friends of Ireland, (and every honeft Briton must be the friend of Ireland, because her interefts were fo deeply involved and interwoven with the interefts of Great Britain, that they were infeparable confiderations) than the extraordinary pofition in which the commercial treaty would place the two countries of France and Ireland, by entitling France to commercial privileges and advantages in Great Britain to which Ireland was not entitled, and by entitling Ireland to greater privileges and advantages in France, than fhe could obtain in Great Britain.

Mr. Grenville declared, that Great Britain had two years Mr. Grenago made a liberal offer to Ireland, which the Parliament of ville. that mifled and infatuated people had been perfuaded to refufe. He never would admit the doctrine, that therefore

LI2

Great

Mr. Flood.

Great Britain had no right to treat and conclude a com
mercial treaty with France, adapted to her own CO
mercial circumstances, without confidering herself as a de-
pendent on Ireland, and confulting her previously upon the
fubject. Mr. Grenville went into a recapitulation of the
parliamentary tranfactions of the year 1785, respecting
the commercial arrangements then agitated in favour of
Ireland, and confulting her previously upon the fubject.
He faid that the offer of Great Britain had been more
liberal than it perhaps ever might prove again, and that
it ill became thofe who had principally ftood forward in
the Parliament of Ireland to perfuade that affembly to
reject the offer, to be afterwards among the foremost to
endeavour to prevent this country from carrying into ex-
ecution a treaty with France, which was concluded with
a view to the benefit of Great Britain. Ireland had been
favoured with an early option of folid and fubftantial
advantage, and Ireland had rejected the offer under cir-
cumftances of great delufion, and under artful misreprefen-
tations of the real nature of that offer, he was ready to ad-
mit; but having rejected it, till fhe faw her fatal delufion,
and was from conviction of the value of what fhe had been
fo unhappily perfuaded to refufe, induced to afk Great Bri-
tain to give her a fecond option, he had not the fmallest
pretenfions to complain of neglect of her interests on the
part of Great Britain; and the more especially, as the pre-
fent commercial treaty with France had been concluded with
an eye to her interefts equally with the interests of this
country, as it lay with the Parliament of Ireland to de-
çide for themselves, and if they thought the treaty advan-
tageous to that country, they had it in their power to
make it fo, by paffing laws adapted to the ftipulations in
the tariff.

Mr. Flood anfwered, that he could not have conceived it poffible for three or four natural expreffions to have drawn down upon him an animadverfion, delivered in so high and imperative a tone. Being a native of Ireland, and having the honour to poffefs a feat in the Parliament of that kingdom, he had thought it his indifpenfable duty pot to fit filent, when fo much had been faid on the fubject of Ireland, and its commercial interefts; but he plainly faw, that if any man profeffed himfelf to be the real friend of Ireland, he was to be reprehended and ftigmatized as the enemy of Great Britain. He had before declared, that he was a friend to both countries, and had faid that every honeft Briton must be the fame. The right honourable gentleman had contended that Great Britain was not the dependent of Ireland; it was un

doubtedly true; but was Great Britain not bound to take care of the interests of every part of the empire? The Parliament of Great Britain was the imperial Parliament. Was it not then the indifpenfable duty of that Parliament in every great national meafure to look to the general interefts of the Empire, and to fee that no injurious confequences followed to the peculiar interefts of any part of it. If this were admitted, would any man fay that Ireland was not to be confidered on the prefent important occafion! And why,-because the Parliament of Ireland had rejected, and rejected with difdain, the commercial treaty of 1785. The right honourable gentleman had told them that in 1785 Great Britain made a liberal offer to Ireland. This was the first time that it had been owned, that the treaty of 1785 was the offer of Great Britain; at the time the right honourable gentleman (he believed) had called the measure the Irish propofitions, and ftated them as coming from Ireland. He had now confeffed the fact, and acknowledged (more perhaps than he meant to admit) that the propofitions were English propofitions, fent originally from hence to Ireland, then fent back and ultimately returned from England in a fhape widely altered from their original appearance. The right honourable gentleman had talked of delufion, and hinted that thofe who endeavoured to open the eyes of the Parliament of Ireland, were ashamed to avow their conduct. The right honourable gentleman was miftaken. He gloried in the fhare which he had taken in that tranfaction. The offer had been infidious, and under colour of commercial advantage, the conftitution of Ireland was endeavoured to be bartered away. Mr. Flood next took notice of what he termed the right honourable gentleman's declaration, that till Ireland asked to have the propofitions revived, fhe was to expect no favour from Great Britain. He faid that it reminded him of the declaration of the right honourable gentleman (a member of that House) in an eminent fituation in Ireland, who had obtained an address as a fanction of the measure, and who triumphantly told the Houfe of Commons of Ireland, that in lefs than three months, when the people were undeceived, and the delufion in which they had been involved cleared up, they would come in numbers to the House, execrate thofe members who had been most active in oppofing that mafs of propofitions, fome parts of which they had been told was English, fome part Irish, fome commercial, and fome political, and earnestly implore their revifal. To ensure this triumph, fome thousand copies, accompanied with the address to the Lord Lieutenant, had been printed and diffeminated throughout the kingdom of Ireland, but to that day, no man

had

Mr. W. Grenville.

Mr. Fox.

had ventured to mention the revival of the propofitions in Parliament, nor was it at all likely that they fhould. Mr. Flood faid, that, he hoped it would not be thought that he had obtruded the fubject of Ireland upon the House. It had been agitated for a confiderable time before he interfered, nor fhould he have faid thus much had he not thought that his filence would have been deemed a dereliction on his part, of a cause which it would ever be his pride to affift in maintaining and fupporting. There was fomething fo high in the tone of the right honourable gentleman, that it ftruck his ear as extraordinary; he could not imagine that the right honourable gentleman meant any thing perfonal, but he begged leave to fay, that no man living fhould brow beat him, or awe him into an unbecoming filence.

Mr. W. Grenville faid, that in the first place he hoped no man would believe that he meant to brow beat the right honourable gentleman; and far lefs could he have intended to have ftood up as profeffing to entertain any fentiment inimical to the interefts of Ireland. To the contrary he profeffed and felt a warm affection and fincere regard, grounded on principles of perfonal gratitude for paft kindneffes and attentions to himself, and on a variety of dear and interesting confiderations. In the progrefs of the Irifh propofitions through that Houfe, he had been actuated by those principles, and had stood up as the friend of Ireland to ftem the torrent of prejudice, to refift and oppofe the objections of interested individuals, and to reafon into filence and conviction the groundlefs alarms and apprehenfions of those manufacturers who, mifled by factious men, were taught to be terrified at imaginary evils, and to expect dangers never likely to happen. Mr. Grenville ftated the object and end of the Irifh propofitions to have been, for Great Britain to grant to Ireland as full a participation of her commercial advantages as could be permitted confiftently with her own fafety, and to fecure a fuitable return. The idea of its being intended to affume the power of legiflating for Ireland, he contended, was nothing more than an empty phantom, raised by the machinations of fophiftry to frighten the parliament of Ireland from accepting one of the greatest boons ever offered to one country by the impulfe of the liberal and affectionate feelings of another.

Mr. Fox reprobated the idea that nothing beneficial to Ireland was to be thought of, because the 'had refufed the propofitions of 1785. He entered into a detail of the nature of thofe propofitions, ftated his own conduct respecting them, and concluded with moving, by way of amendment, that the words, "this day fe'nnight," be inferted in the motion, ipftead of the word " now.

"

Mr.

Mr. Pelham feconded the motion, declaring, that he Mr.Pelham fhould have moved it, had not his right honourable friend made fuch amendment. He took notice of that part of the treaty which referred to the Methuen treaty with Portugal, ftating feveral cogent arguments to prove, that our connection with the Court of Lifbon was of the moft ferious importance. Among other bad confequences of a rupture between Great Britain and Portugal, he inftanced the danger of our fuffering the Family Compact to be still farther ftrengthened; a circumftance which he defcribed, as by no means improbable, fince the grandson of the King of Spain had lately been married to the Infanta of Portugal. At length, the queftion was put, and the House divided; Ayes, (that the word "now" ftand part of the queftion) 158. Noes, 70.

The refolutions were then read a fecond time, and the queftion put upon each refpectively.

Mr. Francis afked (when the cambric and lawn refolu- Mr. Francis tions were read) why the prohibition on laces was not taken off. Answered by Mr. Grenville and the Chancellor of the Exchequer that it was.

The refolutions on muflins and millinery induced a converfation on the Eaft-India Company's affairs, between Mr. Fox, Mr. Dundas, Mr. Francis, Major Scott, and Mr. Baring.

At length, after a defultory conversation, it was agreed to in toto.

Mr. Beaufoy gave notice, that he would to-morrow move Mr. Beanfor an addrefs to his Majefty, informing him, that in com- foy. pliance with his moft gracious fpeech, they had entered into the confideration of the commercial treaty with France, with which, after due deliberation, they had come to a vote of concurrence.

Mr. Burke rofe to bespeak the attention of the Houfe to a Mr. Burke, matter of confiderable importance, and which he thought it incumbent upon him to fuggeft, though he did not mean to conclude what he had to fay with any formal notice or motion. The fubject he wished to call their attention to, was the impeachment of Mr. Haftings, the proceedings on which were now arrived to that fort of length that feemed to make it neceffary that some step fhould be taken, in order to render the perfon and property of Mr. Haftings amenable to juftice. At present, though a moft refpectable and decided mojority of their Committee had folemnly determined that there was matter of impeachment in two of the principal, moft ferious and moft weighty articles, that had been exhi bited before the Parliament, or rather before the Houfe of Commons, Mr. Haftings was at his full liberty, participat