How to write yourself into prison.

Appendix

The following paper was my first essay in pamphleteering, and was also, I believe, one of the earliest published protests against the project of Union between the two kingdoms. A copy was lately sent to me by an old friend, and I am induced to reprint it, not by any opinion I entertain as to its merits, but as a proof that the experience of upwards of half a century has not effected any change in my sentiments upon the subject to which it relates. This trifle of boyish penmanship was, I believe, the motive cause of the persecutions adverted to in the foregoing Recollections; 52 years have elapsed since it was written, but imprisonment, and disfavour, and pecuniary damage, have not beaten out of my head or heart the convictions that influenced its composition.

Thoughts on the Projected Union

between

Great Britain and Ireland**

(Dublin Printed for J. Moore, No 45, College-green. 1797.)**

“Nous perdons la Patrie, si nous nous divisons.”

Introduction.

The author of the few following pages, animated by an anxious desire of saving his country from an attempt he has long foreseen and dreaded, is yet conscious of his inability to place the picture in the strongest light. He hopes, however, to succeed so far as to put the matter in a way of being fully discussed by persons more equal to the important task.

The pain which every Irishman must feel at reading the historic page of his country, has not deterred him from sketching the cause and progress of our original connexion with England, together with our present subjection to the Cabinet of that country, in fourteen years after our emancipation from its Parliament. Whilst he deprecates the measure of AN UNION**, as ruinous to this country, he does not imagine there is any necessity for painting the present bankrupt and degraded situation of Britain, to recover her from which the minister would sacrifice us. He is fully convinced that no exertion of his is necessary to the determined opposition of the great body of his countrymen; but he wishes to prevail with our next Parliament, to gain the hearts of Irishmen by scouting the preposterous idea; to prove themselves our representatives, by protecting us from a measure to be carried at the point of the sword; and whilst they refuse reform, to show some attachment to the interests of the people, by saving us from the last dreadful innovation a British minister can make on the few remaining rights of IRELAND-an **innovation that he never dare to attempt, IF THE PEOPLE WERE FULLY AND FAIRLY REPRESENTED, but which, if effected, will for ever destroy all hope of reform, or of liberty.

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There** **are certain periods in political, as well as in moral opinion, when the man who is born free, as well as the philosopher who has spent his life in the investigation of truth, feels himself equally called upon, by *principle, *to make his thoughts public.

The period is now arrived when every native of this island should fix his attention on one of the most important subjects that has ever employed the mind of an Irishman - to wit, an Union between this country and the kingdom of Great Britain. I know there are many who, even yet, look on such an event as merely ideal, and contrary to the wishes of the British Government; while others, perhaps, overvaluing our parliamentary virtue, and the great danger that must attend such a measure, fancy it utterly impossible. But those who build their security on the political self-denial of an English minister, or the virtue of an aristocracy, but too much subject to British influence, know but little of the power of *wealth *and *rank *on the minds of men educated to regard the mere *sound *of title as the *feeling *of *genuine honour, *and to look on the *pre-eminence *of equipage as the true distinction of superior virtue.

That the minister of England is *serious *in his design to bring about an Union between the two kingdoms, is a matter so evident, that he must be blind who does not instantly perceive it, not only from the great advantages that must result to England from such a measure, but from the avowed sentiments and regular approaches of the minister of that nation to effect this long-projected purpose: for,

In the year 1776, a Lord-Lieutenant was fixed on by the then minister, who was to have been invested with powers to couple this design with a total repeal of the Popery laws, and this nobleman had sent a person to Lord Harcourt, to confer with him on the means of carrying this intention into effect. In consequence, Lord Harcourt had digested a system for the purpose; but it fell to the ground, on account of Lord Hertford’s not wishing to remain so long in office as would be necessary to put it into execution. Again, in the English debates on the propositions, the wishes of the Parliament of that country appeared without disguise; for those who defended the propositions alleged that they would lead to *an Union, *and those who objected to them, argued that they would *impede *it; both sides of the house being equally desirous of such a measure; and even so late as Lord Fitzwilliam’s administration, it is a matter of notoriety that this favourite plan has been again projected, as appears evident from one of the Duke of Portland’s letters to that nobleman, which says, “If the Catholic question can be postponed until a *peace, *something may be obtained for England, more important than anything which has happened since the Revolution, or at least since the Union.” What measure to be obtained in Ireland could bear this description but an Union?

It is to be particularly remarked, in how many respects the Government of England has followed the plan of Lord Harcourt.

He advised that the attempt should *not *be made in time of war, for that, he said, would be insanity; that the proposal should be made to come from an Irish party in Parliament (as in all probability it will); that the Catholic question should be *inseparably *connected with it; and that a formidable body of troops [There have been 18 regiments poured into this kingdom since Christmas last.] should be ready in the country.

But it may be asked how this secret history of British designs has been so brought to light, that the public may be satisfied of its reality? To this I answer, that nothing but *time *will suffer secret history to bring forth its *authorities, *which when produced become final evidence; nevertheless, when such history (which I will admit to be questionable) comes, backed by notorious fact, [The Duke of Richmond, in his reply to the Irish delegates, says, “I have always thought it for the interest of the two islands to he *incorporated, *and form one and the same kingdom, with the same legislature; meeting sometimes in Ireland as well as in England.”] I think little doubt may be entertained of its veracity.

Since then *an Union *is determined on, and the time of peace only waited to put this plan into effect, it may not be unnecessary to look back to the original political connexion of the two islands, with a view to examine the first links of that chain, with which Ireland has been bound for so many centuries; and, although it may appear invidious to many to unbind the first ties of the two nations to that incision in which Ireland became a graft on Great Britain; yet, as gratitude may be made an argument for this measure of an Union, we will just glance at our original obligations.

I feel it to he a feature in the historic delineation of these islands, which is far from pleasant to depict; but it is a political circumstance, too well known to be hidden, which few will either doubt or defend. I am the more reluctant to recur to this period of British and Irish history, as it has always been my wish to compare *political policy *on the scale of *individual rectitude; *a criterion which, praise be to God, is coming every day more and more into use; and though I believe it is not customary with those who exhibit the moral outlines of particular ages to compliment the age in which themselves live with progressive attainments in *virtue; *yet, bad as we all admit the present world to be, I feel persuaded, should any individual in this age behave to -another, as England, in the first instance, thought fit to conduct herself [The original invaders of our country looked upon the murder of a mere Irishman as no crime, Quere - Are not the ministers of the present day of the same opinion? - *vide *“Davies on Ireland,” pages 11 and 12.] towards this island, the most indulgent judgment of mankind would, at least, be banishment, if not an irrevocable outlawry, as a punishment for so high an aggression.

It is a subject, not beneath the moral inquirer, to know how great and polished nations could treat with such fraudulent policy, obscure, but independent states-countries whose very low inferiority, in both population and traffic, could neither menace their security with the terrors of invasion, nor alarm their avarice with the apprehensions of commercial rivalry. Indeed, history abounds with the contentions of many nations, so equal in strength, and so implacable from a spirit of revenge, and a mutual ambition of surpassing each other in glory and wealth, that evident policy seemed to dictate little less for the safety of the one than the utter extermination of the other.

But how a Christian prince, without a near prospect of extraordinary gain; without the inducement of fame, or any other strong incentive to aggression, could invade a generous and unoffending nation (under whatever specious pretext) with the diabolical determination of butchering and enslaving all such as dare to oppose so wicked and cruel a design - I say, how such a wantonly calamitous conduct could be adopted with deliberation, is a circumstance, though strictly true, yet so contrary to natural justice, that no good man would, or could give it credit, if his doubts were not fully removed by the concurring evidence of all historians.

But to return. When the quarrels of the Irish princes invited the designing Henry II. to intermeddle in the domestic affairs of this kingdom, that politic prince clearly foresaw the high importance that such an island, and so situated as Ireland, must assume by its annexation to his former empire. He was well convinced that the unity of the two islands would secure the peace and double the vigour of England, by concentering in him, and in him fixing in Britain the physical powers of both: it was he, perhaps, who first had the sagacity to perceive the weight that these two insular nations united would, in after ages, acquire in the balance of European politics.

Henry was a prince of the most refined political penetration. He valued the possession more than the name of power, and the *name *more than the *spirit *of religion; for he preferred the security of dominion to the title usually annexed to the means by which his conquest had been acquired, and the enlargement of that dominion to moral justice. His forces landed as friends, to restore peace to the country; but afterwards made the possession of the country the object of perpetual war with the owners of it. The discordant leaders, and naked, undisciplined forces that endeavoured to set bounds to the various subjugating contrivances of an enemy no longer *concealed, *were easily defeated by a veteran phalanx, acting as a military machine on a mass of men (however individually brave) that thronged to battle almost certain of defeat. But although discomfiture was the companion of resistance, the Irish opposed every attempt of an enemy found by calamitous experience to be invincible, and despaired not of the independence of their country, though slaughtered in every effort to assert it.

England soon found that victory, however complete, was attended with loss to the successful, and that the vanquished, however broken and dispersed, found means of fresh resistance; she therefore endeavoured to accomplish that by *treaty *which she found could not be effected by *arms; *and contenting herself at length with partial dominion, left that to be done by posterity, which other projects afforded neither time nor ability finally to execute, *i.e., *the entire subjection of the island.

Since those days various efforts have been made to complete the design of the first invaders, and have been attended with almost all the success that either the avarice or the vanity of a Briton could wish for. What will appear strange to the man unacquainted with the history of Ireland, and acquainted only with the Irish military character in foreign nations, the natives of this island have been, almost without exception, unsuccessful in their endeavours to defend their own country. But what can the most illustrious courage effect darkened by the obscurest ignorance of science? And what will not *disunion *itself accomplish without an auxiliary?

Within the last century this country has become too *populous *and too much *enlightened *to be bullied by the comparison of numbers, or its inhabitants unresistingly slaughtered through their ignorance of military tactics. Terror has ceased (till of late) to be the order of the day, though yet our degraded subjection continued, not from the threats of external power, but from *external influence *operating on the majority of an internal aristocracy.

Such, until the auspicious year of 1782, was the brief political history of this ill-fated country - a country, from its insular, far-detached situation, formed by the Sovereign Architect for the most unconnected independence [Surely far more than Portugal, Switzerland, Holland, or Denmark, which are not islands, nor have half our population.] - a country blessed by the Donor of good with the abundance of all the necessaries and comforts of life; fortified by the ocean, garrisoned with Irishmen, and stored by the united hands of Mars and Ceres.

Ireland had been hitherto nothing more in effect than an humble colony, swindled out of her national rights, pilfered of her domestic treasures, flattered out of her virtues, and indebted to England only for her vices; Ireland, like the beggarly kinswoman of a relation by whom she was despised, boasted of the consanguinity of a *sister, *submitting to the treatment of a *step-child. *In that good year the country was relieved from much of the weight that had been laid upon us by the oppression of foreigners; the parliament of Ireland, stimulated by the energy of our glorious and immortal volunteers, conveyed some small portion of constitutional spirit into our government ; and this spirit, feeble as it was in reality, so vivified all conditions of the people of Ireland, that a whole century of the former progression of the country was scarcely equal to a single year’s improvement during that dawn of libcrty. [Grattan obtained for Ireland a free trade and free parliament; but our freedom of commerce has been much impaired by an ill-regulated channel trade; and our late parliaments, by their own corruption, have sold that liberty, and not contented with being themselves slaves, have enacted laws subversive of the liberties of the people.] But what was, in fact, this *liberty, *this *constitution, *which appeared so dazzling, and of which so much was boasted? A power vested in an *eighth *part of the people to vote for the *fourth *part of the members of an independent parliament; in other words, an exclusive right in the *English interest *to elect representatives for the *Irish people; *in fact to form a parliament, the grand object of the majority of whose members was, first, to provide places and pensions for themselves, and then to vote for whatever measure the *British Secretary *should recommend, without any regard to the interest of the island, whose parliament they styled themselves, when such interest appeared to clash with that of Great Britain.

But this partial return of the popular voice could not long deceive. The British constitution said, that the House of Commons represented all the people in the land possessed or a certain property, i.e., a property of such a value a’s gave its possessor an undoubted interest in the peace and prosperity of the state. The Irish Catholic found himself in possession of a national stake, generally equal, and in numerous instances, superior, in value to what was thought necessary by the constitution to secure the amor patriae; but the favourite scheme of *divide et impera *of our English rulers deprived that great portion of our people of their elective franchise, because they continued attached to the religion of their forefathers. The *Protestant *was taught to look on the Catholic as his *vassal, *or almost as a being of an *inferior nature, *who should be completely shut out of that right of franchise which he thought his due as freeman, and which he was highly interested in the exercise of as a chief possessor of the commercial wealth of the country.

This exclusion, so contrary to the intentions of the founders ot the constitution, so severe when applied to the great majority of the people, and so absurd and insulting when used in a state said to be *free, *where every man in the land ought to enjoy his representative in parliament has of late appeared so illiberal and preposterous to the *enlightened *and independent men of every religious description, that the general sentiment and general voice of the valuable part of the nation has repeatedly and strenuously demanded its repeal. But how could the voice of thousands and tens of thousands avail when an omnipotent majority in parliament said no - and when that *no *was not the result of meeting the question fairly, and replying to it on principles of sound *national *policy; but a negative to the prosperity of our country, dictated by those whose grand aim was to make a divided people; [The Orangemen, a banditti of tolerated murders, have, of late, devastated some of our most flourishing counties, and revived the horrors of religious warfare. The people attacked by them, styling themselves Defenders, have, in many instances, been guilty of equal outrage.] because division kept us in poverty and weakness, and our weakness and poverty was their strength and aggrandizement.

But the sad differences in religious opinion which had so long shut up the people of this land from the blessings of social communication, and closed the eye of benevolence on “the human face divine,” could no longer partition the general good by the rancour of theological acrimony. The professors of the various sects of Christianity began to abate of their violence to each other, and so far relaxed in their hostility against the papal doctrines, as to regard the Church of Rome, not *as the whore of Babylon, *but as a venerable though diseased mother, who in return seemed to look on her self-willed, long-exiled children with a goodnature not far removed from charity. At length the spirit of Christianity splendidly dawning on the people, and shooting its beneficent influences over those sharp and terrifying fences that so long divided communities, presented to their view the very *soul of religion, *in the truly divine precept of *“Love one another.” *The animosities of religious distinction ceased or subsided: all sects seemed to implore mutual forgiveness, and from this moment the general voice was for the general good.

This unanimity, so felicitous to Ireland and so grateful to the philanthropist, must be prevented by the British minister. The prejudices that so strongly affected former majorities in parliament having almost wholly ceased, fresh incentives must be held up. The parliament that seemed inclined to knock off the fetters riveted on the Catholics in the iron age of persecution, must themselves be bound to British interests by stronger chains of gold. *Places *without number or utility have been created, and *pensions *immoderate and indecent bestowed on those whose merit was opposition to the good of the country, or notoriety in blasting the growth of public and private virtue. Yet the good of Ireland has not been entirely *put down; *it has contended, though in vain, against the *frowns *and *smiles *of foreign fears and favours, till the experience of every meeting of parliament has sufficiently proved that such new gifts must be continually presented by the English minister to induce anti-patriotism, that no ingenuity of taxation can find means to supply them.

Formerly it was an easy matter for an English *minister, *by a judicious disposal of a few offices of emolument, and a Sparing application of *titles, *together with seasonable alarms for the safety of the Protestant religion, with Consequent terrors to the possessors of the forfeited estates, to hold the Irish parliament in such bonds that, in fact, it was-no other than a mere organ tuned by an outlandish hand, not to play the melodious music of the country, but to squeak out the unnatural Compositions of a foreign master. But of late, from the causes before assigned, the aristocracy of the country would no longer be content with a partial occupation of the great employments; and the English minister is so far *now *from having it in his power to provide for the abettors of his schemes in the British parliament, by placing them and their relations in the episcopacy, the seats of judgment, or in the possession of the other prime offices of Ireland, [One of the late Mr. Forbes’s excellent bills, and in which he succeeded, was a limitation of the pension list.] that he has found all the great and small employments of the nation scarcely sufficient for the avarice of a native aristocracy. Titles have ceased to dazzle by being always held to view; our fears for the Christian religion affect us the less, as we become better acquainted with its genuine energies; and the present owners of the forfeited lands arc so little uneasy at the security of such estates, that alarmists find it useless to bellow on this subject.

To get rid at once, then, of the parliament of Ireland, which is found too untractable even in its present *imperfect state, *the British minister is at this instant engaged not (as in former parliaments) in learning the sum that may be necessary to influence the next delegation of the people in favour of British interests, nor in procuring votes for or against a particular question; but in finding *the fee simple *of your liberty and property; by a permanent purchase of the parliament of Ireland.

‘Tis in vain for the agents of this measure, so capitally ruinous to the constitution of this kingdom, particularly to those great efforts made by our patriots, within the last 16 years, for its final redemption, to say that such a design as an *union *is not in contemplation by the present minister of Great Britain, or that a design so contemplated, will not very soon be (at least attempted to be) carried into effect. The prodigious advantage that must arise to England from such a project, if executed, and the means of executing which, no one will deny the British minister fully to have in his power, together with the daily increasing difficulty of managing a parliament, the more inclined to attachment to their country, as they see the people united to each other, and the less liable to be seduced by foreign influence, as they find their real interest in a virtuous discharge of their public trust. I say, the great advantage of an union, on the one hand, and the accumulating difficulties of managing a parliament in Ireland on the other, must convince every man of reflection, without further proof, that such a design as an union of the two islands is now in contemplation by the minister of England, and that nothing is wanted by him but a peace with France to put that design into immediate execution.

‘Tis true, the people of Ireland have been long well acquainted with their true interests, justly estimating the value of a constitution, which, though far from accomplishing what it theoretically promised, [The exclusive right of the people to constitute the third estate of the legislature. - Locke.] yet they nevertheless despaired not, in time, to disencumber of those clogs and impediments that so palpably frustrated the excellent intentions of those who first contrived it; and under this hope, every attempt of former British ministers, to transport the legislature of the land, the independence of the nation, the very name of kingdom, has been most deservedly opposed with an honest and general indignation. The minister of England well knows that this just indignation can never fail to be roused in the bosom of every Irishman, when a proposal, so *ruinous, *so *insulting, *so *inftaming, *is made to this independent kingdom. He will not, therefore, attempt to bring this infamous question before your parliament with the usual formalities. You may be sure, whenever he shall attempt it (and attempt it he certainly will, and perhaps carry it without your being aware, if the people of Ireland are not vigilant and determined to prevent it), he will attempt to smuggle it through both houses of parliament, without your consent or knowledge; and whilst you fancy your liberties are secure in the hands of your representatives, and your island free and independent of other nations, as it is detached from other countries, you will behold your rights transferred to the parliament of a foreign nation, and your goodly *kingdom *dwindled into a province.

I know there is no cause so bad, to which private interest will not procure public advocates. I have no doubt then, that an *union, *fatal as it must be to the welfare of this country, will find its supporters and defenders even among *Irishmen; *and perhaps it will be said by such persons, that Scotland has benefited by her union with England, that her industry has increased, her commerce extended, and such a flux of wealth found its way into the country, as it was totally unacquainted with before that period. All this I grant-but can by no means attribute such prosperity to an union; on the contrary (it may appear extraordinary, but so it is), to the calamities immediately produced by this measure, and not to its natural salutary consequences, we ought, in reality, to ascribe that prosperity.

In the reign of Queen Anne, when the union was at last effected, the kingdom of Scotland still endured the feodal fetters, that not only closed the hand of industry, but bound up the very mind against the grovelling pursuit of commerce, and gave no other liberty to the exertions of the people than the horrid latitude of civil war. The union then which took most of their chieftains from the clans, together with the troops brought into the country to keep down civil war, at once lopped off the resources of an idle life, and effectually prevented the general plunder that would naturally ensue. Traders and manufacturers, speculating on the situation and produce of the country, but most of all on the poverty of the people, and the consequent cheapness of labour, found it strongly their interest to commence business among them; and then the few persons of property who still remained in the country, observing the prosperity of strangers, and being freed from the ridiculous restraints of feodal absurdities, attached themselves likewise to industry; so that we may plainly see the advantages which Scotland has acquired in consequence of its union with England, have not arisen from any inherent good intended for the benefit of Scotland by that union, but from a casual and unintentional gain, in at once getting rid of the destructive system of feods, and restoring the people to their natural liberty of following that path of life which seemed the nearest way to the attainment of wealth.

It is therefore plain, that if Scotland could have enjoyed security in a peace with England, which she could not (and a war with that country must have been her immediate ruin), and at the same time have divested herself of the absurd prejudices of her nobles, which were equally fatal to tranquillity and exertion, her union with England would have been the most impolitic measure that could have been submitted to by a keen and independent people. Yet Scotland, in an union which she dared not avoid, acquired commercial advantages which Ireland cannot look for, because she already possesses them.

If Scotland yielded her nobles and commoners to England, she got in return a certainty of domestic peace, and liberty of mind to practise industry, with liberty of navigation to float that industry to its best markets; and if she resigned the title of her land, and the self-direction of an independent nation, she was still allowed her natural station in the island, by the title of North Britain; and as a member of the kingdom that could not be detached, she had no reason to suspect a less beneficial government than the other parts of Great Britain.

But Ireland in an union with England has everything to lose, with only one apparent benefit - that of a greater probability of domestic quiet. But should this quiet really ensue from the adoption of this measure-would any one be foolish enough to assert that this internal tranquillity would be permanent? By no means. It may be depended on, that such a *calm, *so far from being a sign of fair weather, would certainly prove like that kind of sickness incident to persons affected with epilepsy, which stupifies the brain before it agitates the body into foaming convulsions. Indeed, the power of 40,000 foreign troops, which, in such an event, you must pay for, and the terrors of a military government, which, of necessity, you must now submit to, might chain down the struggles and silence the ravings of your maddened country; but as soon as your poverty would petition the British parliament for the reduction of so enormous an establishment, and that parliament should be graciously pleased to hear your supplications, the nation, like the maniac reduced by chains from rage to despondency, feeling itself unbound, would, in all probability, commit such terrible excesses in its first transport of fury (and, perhaps, on its best friends) as reason dare not attempt to foresee, and seeing, could not prevent.

It should be observed, particularly, that at the time when Scotland and England became united, England was then at the very apex of her greatness; she had routed the French armies, was in close alliance with most of the powers of Europe, and her revenues were clear of any national debt. But at present she cannot pride herself quite so highly on either her military prowess or her political connexions - for she has neither routed the French armies, nor secured so extensively the alliance of her neighbours; and, such is the state of her national debt, that, for a country like ours, to hazard all in an union that must make our, almost clear, revenues responsible for such debts, would resemble the conduct of the little and secure trader who got admitted to the partnership of a declining firm, for the honour of making one in a splendid bankruptcy. Who would lash a stanch frigate to a sinking first-rate ?

[The funded debt of England amounts to upwards of 409 millions; that of Ireland does not amount to 10 millions.]

But let us for an instant anticipate the terms on which we are to resign, for ever, our national independence; and better terms it is impossible for us to expect, consistent with the nature of an union. By the first important article the English will share with us all their unbounded liberty of commerce. But are [But would a restoration of commercial advantages, by a well-regulated channel trade, still unjustly withheld from us, be a compensation for the loss of that independence? The East India trade is flow a monopoly in favour of the port of London, with an exception of a mere matter of form; and it is certain that no parliament meeting at Westminster will abolish that monopoly. As to the channel trade, I hope that either we shall have the spirit to assert our right to an equal advantage in it, or that we shall avoid the example of the foolish Esau, who sold his birthright for a mess of pottage.] we not already in possession of all this liberty of commerce, including even the East Indies to a certain degree? - and by the second article of grace (which will make up the *full sum *of those stipulations which will have even the shadow of concession) the landed interest will be specially indulged, by only paying a small rateable proportion of the land tax, that is now, or may be hereafter levied on Great Britain - perhaps £300,000 per year - surely this must be a notable indulgence, that we who pay no land tax at all, in fact, who are not able to pay it, should be favoured with one so moderated.

As for the other ingredients that may compose this pleasing cement of an union, I take it for granted that they will be made up of such suppurative materials, as will not only draw out the present symptoms of partial inflammation, but extract the very blood and life from the entire kingdom.

You will, perhaps, be permitted to send 30 of your peers to the parliament of Great Britain, styled the *parliament of the empire, *and, also, 70 commoners; but this body of 100 Irishmen, possessing, no doubt the greatest fortunes in your island (for you no more dare to call it *kingdom) *would be so far from having influence on any question concerning the interest of your country, when placed in opposition to England, that their very best exertions would affect such a vote only in the proportion of one to nine, which will appear evident by examining the number which that assembly will then consist of. Ridiculous as this proportion of one to nine will appear to him who considers the majority of a single vote, as fatal or fortunate to any question; yet, even this proportion we have no reason to expect, if we are not more wise in our selection than our neighbours of Scotland; [The virtue of the British parliament is not much increased by the addition of the Scotch members, who serve the minister of that house, as the bishops do in the Lords.] or (to judge of the future by the past) if our representatives, like gross fluids, don’t wonderfully improve by the voyage.

Now, by this one article of representation, which will not only prove a nullity to your interests, but an insult to your understanding; but, which England will give you as a proud substitute for your own parliament; you will, in the first experience of your treaty, add 100 of your richest men to the already huge mass of your destructive absentees; and if to those we further add their relations and friends, with, what is still more alarming, the prodigious numbers of your wealthiest people who will fellow them from the fashion of emigration that will then rage; nay, a less prevailing motive - the comforts of rational society; I think you may set down the export of the money that is now abundant in your thriving kingdom, at the last guinea your beggared colony shall be able to produce.

Your capital, now the most beautiful in the empire, and which promises, in a few years, to vie, even in wealth, with the first in Europe, will then be reduced to certain ruin. Its magnificent streets, or rather, its ranges of palaces, will no more buzz with the hurried and confused sounds of jocund industry and rolling splendor; but suddenly transformed into the dreary walks of hopeless misery, may be truly called the *metropolis *of *distress, *where the melancholy traveller shall hear no other sounds than the plaint of starvation, or the groan of the patriot. The fine arts, now in healthy infancy, would instantly expire; whereas, if we have but virtue and public spirit to preserve our independence, we shall not only bring them to maturity, but call to the heart of our country, our exiled ingenious brethren, the ornaments of most of the cities in Europe, as to their natural mother and most bountiful patron of her children’s ingenuity. Should you consent to an union, not only the fine arts would vanish, but even your established manufacturers, who now begin to feel the superiority of their own country to any other on earth, must follow the wealth that employed them, and emigrate in a body; or, forced from on shipboard by the point of the bayonet, remain in a desolate land, in a half-starved condition, to toil for the aggrandisement of English monopolisers.

Our canals, formed at such an immense expense, and not yet finished, would be rendered useless; for our capital being the heart from whence those nourishing veins spread through the body of the nation, the breaking of that heart must bring inevitable destruction on the commercial circulation of the whole island. I wish I could here finish the sad and tedious catalogue of our impending dangers; but the brief plan of these few pages, and what is still a greater impediment, alas I the state of my own feelings will not suffer me to dwell minutely on the ruin of my country, I shall, therefore, only put you in mind of what must be palpable to the meanest understanding.

All our great men (it matters not whether that greatness is applied to title and fortune, or to the uncommon power of genius) -I say all the great men would settle in England, either to seek for honours, to challenge rewards, or even to look for the humble comforts of society; our metropolis one ruin; our finest country seats, now the residence of magnificence and hospitality, would then be inhabited by a few English graziers, whose flocks would feed on your best lands, now producing (one of your chief articles of commerce) an abundance of the finest corn to nourish and enrich your rising peasantry, till those flocks themselves should be exterminated by the wolves, the ancient ravagers of your fields, who would ultimately be the chief gainers by such an Union.

What a grievous sight will then present itself to your man of science, when he looks on the map of the world, and fixing his eye on the delightful spot that gave him birth, observing its happy situation for trade to every part of *the world, *and its peculiar commercial advantages with respect to all the western hemisphere, its numerous and fine harbours, superior to any in Europe; its many and deep rivers - in short, its singular and entire requisites for the most sovereign independence - I repeat it, what will be his sorrow when he reflects that this island, the most delightful in the universe, had, within his own memory, enjoyed the blessings of its own government, was fertile for its own inhabitants, traded for its own profit, and grew rich for its own magnificence? - but now, alas! its harbours useless, its fields uncultivated, its towns nearly deserted, and its capital in ruins!

Will my independent countrymen resign for ever, without a shadow of compensation, the power of taxing themselves, the final adjustment of their own litigations, the framing and enacting of their own laws, the majesty of the nation? Will they pledge their country as a joint security for the liquidation of an English national debt - a debt of upwards of 409 millions sterling - a debt that never can be lessened, but which, in all probability, by the end of next year, will be increased by the addition of a further *loan, *of not less than six times the sum of your own national debt. Will you mortgage and double your taxes for the sole benefit of another island, and contract for fresh and usurious loans, in proportion as you find yourselves incapable of discharging, even the interest of your former debts?

But let me not calculate; your destruction is too plain to require demonstration, for the most dimsighted can perceive the ruin of your country through such an alliance. Nothing can be added to the political misfortunes of your Union; but to the moralist - the Irish moralist - who will be more affected for the character of his countrymen than for their national independence, or even for their means of physical existence, an Union must prove a cease-less cause of silent lamentation. No more shall he pride himself on the honest candour of the Irish character; nor boast himself as the native of a land exempt from the cowardly vice of deceit. The Union - the double-faced Union - will invert the aspect of your national virtues; and, in the predicament of Scotland, you will endeavour, like the people of that *united *country, to excel in the concealment of your thoughts. The affectation of virtues you do not possess - a *beggarly *humility, an *unnatural *self-denial, a slavish demeanour to your superiors; but to your inferiors, a haughtiness not to be endured, an arrogance not to be gratified. [This character seems to suit some persons in ministerial capacities.]

To prevent, as far as lies in my power, this Union, which I cannot think on without feeling the destruction of my country, I have taken the liberty of publishing the foregoing pages, that the genuine lovers of Ireland may not be wholly ignorant of a measure that will certainly and shortly be brought forward. My object is to make my countrymen unanimous, and unanimous in time, in an invincible opposition to so fatal a proposal, come in what shape it may. I am well aware that allurements of a very attractive nature will be held out to my brethren the Roman Catholics - motives of seduction, which I entertain no doubt they will resist; nay, abhor, when they know they will be offered as the price of the sovereign independence of their country. The Roman Catholics cannot but be sensible that the few remaining grievances of the many they have for so many years patiently suffered, will not long continue to afflict them. The liberality that has of late removed so many penal laws, will not cease to regard you with an eye of justice, until your last oppression is cast off; this must be soon; you will not then be so foolish in regard to your interests, and so treasonable to your country, as to sell the fee simple of the independence of your island, for the anticipation of your civic franchise of; perhaps, not a year-perhaps not longer than the meeting of the next parliament.

I would therefore earnestly recommend every Irishman to put aside religious distinctions, but I would particularly conjure all those who at present, in city, county, or borough, enjoy the shadow of elective franchise, to instruct [County meetings cannot at present be held, as, under prohibition, the military would disperse them.] their representatives to oppose with all their might so degrading and disastrous a measure as an Union. This will be the only effectual way to save the country, and to counteract the designs of the British minister; for every freeman should know that the Parliament is only a delegation of the people, convened for the benefit of the people. The people then speaking thus to their representatives, cannot fail to be obeyed; for no Parliament that sought its election from the people, can cease to obey the voice, the undoubted voice of its electors.

But, should the House of Commons vote away, or alter the constitution of the land, without the approbation of its constituents, such an act, I am certain, could be in nowise binding, because the Parliament being chosen to act under the constitution, cannot alter or destroy it, without rising above it. Should the Parliament of Ireland, then, accede to an Union with England, without the approbation of the people who made them a Parliament - an Union by which the sovereign constitution of Ireland would be swallowed up and lost in the ocean of English and Scotch representation - it could not be said to act with more fidelity than the servant, who being sent to collect the rents of an estate, took the liberty of selling it in fee. I should apprehend, both in law and justice, that the vote of the one and the sale of the other would be equally binding.

I shall no longer intrude with my anxieties and my fears, but conclude with reminding my readers of the motto with which I set out, “Nous perdons la patrie, si nous nous divisons.” Faithful and steady to a connexion with England which we prize, still let us not sacrifice our country for her aggrandisement. Whatever disadvantages we at present labour under, spring from an English [An English minister plunged Ireland into the present war, so disastrous to her finances and to her population, but by which, if ever so successful, she could not have hoped for the most minute advantage.] administration; let us not, then, add an English Parliament. In spite of oppression, in spite of martial law, let the people of Ireland be united as a man to oppose the fatal attempt; and let the people of England be assured, that if they suffer themselves to be made the instruments of enslaving us, they will in turn be themselves enslaved.

Ireland may yet be saved, it by a steady perseverance, we succeed in obtaining a Parliamentary Reform. [I have lately met a pamphlet, I cannot recollect where, which contains a well-conceived sketch of a parliamentary reform. The cities continuing to return their present number of representatives, and the boroughs disfranchised, each barony in the several counties might have its representatives with a very small increase to the number of your present commons. Every individual of a proper age to have the power of voting in the parish where he is enrolled. The poll to be had in each parish at the same time, and the return to be made at a fixed hour to the baronial court. By this means, the whole parliament would be chosen in one day, and in a manner that would effectually prevent riot, disorder, or bribery.

Many persons may disapprove of this scheme of universal suffrage; but what right can a Reformer have to shut out a particular class of his country men from the elective franchise and ought not all the people to be represented in a Parliament that can dispose of liberty, life, and limb, as well as of property. I most acknowledge I think the liberty and safety of the father of a family, who labours for its support, is of far more value to the community, than the acres of the monopolist, or the houses of the boroughmonger. The constitution thus invigorated would be supported and beloved by all the people, who would then have a real interest in its preservation, whilst it would afford them effectual protection.] Let not the warmth of temper, natural to my countrymen, incline them to any excess. Ministers only seek an excuse to continue, or, if possible, to increase their outrages against the people. Mr. Pitt, a good financier, and a lover of absolute authority, having lost the good opinion of the monied men in England, as well as of the body of the people, now speculates on the further taxation of Ireland, and of employing our physical force to put down his opposers at home. The trying moment approaches; I beseech the great Ruler of the universe to give us unanimity, and to inspire every Irishman with this great truth-that his individual welfare is inseparably connected with, and dependent on, that of his country.

The End

Dublin: Printed by Edward Bull, 6, Bachelor’s-walk.

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