established by acts of the respective parliaments of His Majesty's said kingdoms. Second-"That it appears to this Committee that it would be fit to propose as the first article, to serve as a basis of the said union, that the said kingdoms of GreatBritain and Ireland shall, upon a day to be agreed upon, be united in one kingdom, by the name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Third- That for the same purpose it appears also to this committee, that it would be fit to propose that the succession to the monarchy and the imperial crown of the said united kingdoms fhall continue limited and fettled in the fame manner as the imperial crown of the faid kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland now stands limited and settled, according to the existing laws, and to the terms of the union between England and Scotland. Fourth-"That for the same purpose it appears also to this committee, that it would be fit to propose that the said United Kingdom be represented in one and the same parliament, to be stiled the parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and that such a number of Lords fpiritual and temporal, and such a number of members of the House of Commons as shall be hereafter agreed upon by acts of the respective parliaments as aforesaid, shall sit and vote in the said parliament on the part of Ireland, and shall be summoned, chosen, and returned, in such manner as shall be fixed by an act of the parliament of Ireland previous to the said union : and that every member hereafter to sit and vote in the said parliament of the United Kingdom shall, until the said parliament shall otherwise provide, take and subscribe the same oaths, and make the same declaration, as are by law required to be taken, subscribed, and made by the members of the parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland. Fifth," That for the fame purpose it appears also to this committee, that it would be fit to propose that His Majesty's subjects in Ireland shall, at all times hereafter, be entitled to the same privileges, and be on the same footing in respect of trade and navigation, in all ports and places belonging to Great Britain, and in all cases with respect to which treaties shall be made by His Majesty, his heirs, or successors, with any foreign power, as His Majesty's subjects in Great Britain; that no duty shall be imposed on the import or export between Great Britain and Ireland of any articles now duty free; and that on other articles there shall be established, for a time to be limited, such a moderate rate of equal duties as shall, previous to the union, be agreed upon and approved by the respective parliaments, subject, after the expiration of such limited time, to be diminished equally with respect to both kingdoms, but in no case to be increased; that all articles which may at any time hereafter be imported into Great Biritain from foreign parts, shall be importable through either kingdom into the other, subject to the like duties and regulations as if the same were imported directly from foreign parts; that where any articles, the growth, produce, or manufacture of either kingdom, are subject to any internal duty in one kingdom, such countervailing duties (over and above any duties on import to be fixed as aforesaid) shall be imposed, as shall be necessary to prevent any inequality in that respect; and that all other matters of trade and commerce other than the foregoing, and than such others as may before the union be specially agreed upon for the due encouragement of the agriculture and manufactures of the respective kingdoms, shall remain to be regulated from time to time by the united parliament. Sixth, "Sixth,-That for the like purpose it would be fit to propose that the charge arising from the payment of the interest or sinking fund for the reduction of the principal of the debt incurred in either kingdom before the union, shall continue to be separately defrayed by Great Britain and Ireland respectively. "That for a number of years to be limited, the future ordinary expences of the United Kingdom, in peace or war, shall be defrayed by Great Britain and Ireland jointly, according to such proportions as shall be established by the respective parliaments previous to the union; and that after the expiration of the time to be so limited, the proportions shall not be liable to be varied, except according to such rates and principles as shall be in like manner agreed upon previous to the union. "Seventh,--That for the like purpose it would be fit to propose that all laws in force at the time of the union, and that all the courts of civil or ecclesiastical jurisdiction within the respective kingdoms, shall remain as now by law established within the same, subject only to such alterations or regulations from time to time as circumstances may appear to the parliament of the United Kingdom to require : "That the foregoing resolutions be laid before His Majesty with an humble address, assuring His Majesty that we have proceeded with the utmost attention to the consideration of the important objects recommended to us in His Majesty's gracious message: "That we entertain a firm persuasion that a complete and entire union between Great Britain and Ireland, founded on equal and liberal principles, on the similarity of laws, constitution, and government, and on a sense of mutual interests and affections, by promoting the secu VOL. II. M M rity, rity, wealth, and commerce, of the respective kingdoms, and by allaying the distractions which have unhappily prevailed in Ireland, must afford fresh means of opposing at all times an effectual resistance to the destructive projects of our foreign and domestic enemies, and must tend to confirm and augment the stability, power, and resources of the empire. "Impressed with these considerations, we feel it our duty humbly to lay before His Majesty such propositions as appear to us best calculated to form the basis of such a settlement, leaving it to His Majesty's wisdom, at such time and in such manner as His Majesty, in his parental solicitude for the happiness of his people, shall judge fit, to communicate these propositions to his parliament of Ireland, with whom we shall be at all times ready to concur in all such measures as may be found most conducive to the accomplishment of this great and salutary work, And we trust that, after full and mature consideration, such a settlement may be framed and established, by the deliberate consent of the parliaments of both kingdoms, as may be conformable to the sentiments, wishes, and real interests of His Majesty's faithful subjects of Great Britain and Ireland, and may unite them inseparably in the full enjoyment of the blessings of our free and invaluable constitution, in support of the honor and dignity of His Majesty's crown, and in the preservation and advancement of the welfare and prosperity of the whole British empire." The question was carried for the Speaker's leaving the chair, and the House then went into a committee upon the re solutions. After After some farther delays, Mr. PITT finally accomplished his point; but he was severely censured for some of the means by which it was brought about, particularly the promise of complete emancipation made to the Roman Catholics, to induce them to support the union. It does not appear that Mr. PITT had any authority to send lord CORNWALLIS instructions to make such a promise. He found it would not be sanctioned in the Cabinet, where he also experienced, at the close of the year 1800, a determined opposition to his dictates on some other points, which he had equally at heart. But as the catholic question was of a popular nature, and therefore better fitted to conceal the mortifications of his pride, he made it the apology for his resignation. END OF THE SECOND VOLUME. Strahan and Prefton, |