rous action. As Lords Justices, the Speaker and his
son-in-law had the supervision of the revenue, and it
was calculated that by various forms of peculation as
much as 150,000l. a year was lost to the Government
out of the customs duties. Ponsonby had appointed
his friends to the Customs offices from highest to lowest,
and though never suspected of having himself conde-
scended to fraud, it was thought possible that he had
not endangered his political influence by too inconve-
nient inquisitiveness. In some way or other at any
rate large sums were unaccounted for. In this very
summer time the Viceroy learnt that a large cargo of
tobacco had been seen at a spot where it was delibe-
rately overlooked, and that the cargo of an East In-
diaman, on which the duties would have been 13,000l.,
had been landed surreptitiously at Cork, and that
no enquiry had been made. Hertford had received
power from the King to remove all officers of all
degrees if found unfit for their posts.
had not been renewed to Townshend.
punish the incompetent or dishonest. He could not
reward and encourage the good. To the members of
Parliament who had been watching how the wind
would blow, he could give none of the assurances
which they expected, and which he had begged so
earnestly to be allowed to hold out. Even Lord Drog-
heda and Lord Tyrone, who had supported him in
the last session under promise of marquisates, had
their ambition still ungratified, and were 'threatening
vengeance.'1

These powers
He could not

Thus it was that when the time came for the new Parliament to meet, the impression prevailed that England was afraid, and that opposition would remain 1 'Townshend to Weymouth, October 22.'

CHAP.

II.

1769.

BOOK

V.

1769.

as before the surest road to promotion and patronage. The Government had been defied, and had ventured a dissolution. But a dissolution had been inevitable, at all events. The insolent servants of the Crown' were still in office, and on them and on Irish ideas it was alone safe for those who were making politics their profession to rely. Even the Viceroy himself had been obliged to affect politeness to them. 'I declined coming to extremities,' he sadly said, 'because I have all along observed in your letters a reluctance to any measures that might be thought violent. Things remain, therefore, as they were, both as to men and measures.'1

The session began on the 17th of October. Ponsonby was re-elected Speaker without opposition. The speech avoided doubtful subjects, but drew attention to frauds in public departments, which Ponsonby might take to himself, if he chose; 'to clandestine running of goods,' which had been carried to great lengths;' and to the imperfect discharge of their duties by the officers of the revenue.2

The patriots were eager to try their strength, or to show it in the new House. The Government must be informed, as speedily as possible, that they meant to be its masters, and to dictate their own terms. The question on which the Viceroy was most anxious was as before, of course, the augmentation of the army. A motion was made immediately in the committee of supply to consider whether an increase was necessary, and the Government was again defeated

1 To Weymouth, October 17.'
2 Arthur Young says that in
1771 smuggling had much de-
clined. It is one of the few in-
stances in which this usually exact

writer is mistaken. The contraband trade yielded perhaps less extravagant profits, but it was never more active, and ran in so smooth and deep a stream that little was heard of it.

II.

1769.

by 104 to 72. The first blow was followed in- CHAP. stantly by a second. The popular leaders brought up the Pension List, and examined its composition. There, it was but too true, scandalously, shamefully, inexcusably, stood the name of the Countess of Yarmouth, niece of her grace of Kendal, for 4,0007. a year. There stood Lord Grantham, with 2,000l. for his own life and his son's; Lord Cholmondeley was there, whose merit was to have been Walpole's son-in-law, for 3,500l.; Lord Bathurst had 2,000l.; Lady Waldegrave 8007. 81,000l. in all was taken from the Irish revenues for these extraordinary personages by a virtuous Government, while honest national patriots were expected to shiver unrewarded; and the highest offices in the Irish service were bestowed equally on English favourites, who did not trouble themselves even to reside and do their duty. The army question came up again in another form. What use did the Crown make already of the sums voted for the defence of the kingdom? Colonel Vallancey reported that all round the coast the fortifications were in ruins. Cork, Waterford, Belfast, Limerick, wealthy and growing cities, were utterly undefended; the guns in the batteries were a hundred years old, and hardly useful as old iron.' This, too, was disgracefully certain; and though the repairs would have commenced on Doomsday in the afternoon, if left to the patriots, though the Irish Lords Justices were the persons really responsible for the neglect, none the less it was a telling charge; and the points of it were not lost in the handling. The committee of supply recommended, instead of

1' Commons' Journals, November 16.'

BOOK

V.

1769.

an increase of the army, a local militia. The Duke of Leinster made up his quarrel with the Speaker, and threw his influence into the opposition, which was now in overwhelming strength; and Flood, Lucas, and Pery were chosen to draw up a Militia Bill. The stream of triumph still bore them on. They passed next to the field on which they had suffered their last reverses in their conflict with England-the origination of their Money Bills. Since their defeat on the appropriation of the surplus, the Money Bill had been presented to them by the Council, and they had endured it as a perpetual affront. Their turn was come for revenge. On the 21st of November the motion for the usual supplies was rejected by a large majority, because it had not taken its rise in the House of Commons of Ireland. The Commons did not mean to refuse the grant. They proceeded immediately to draw a bill of their own. But they were resolved to vindicate their privilege; and lest the Viceroy should attempt to make himself independent of them by falling back on the hereditary revenue, they thwarted measures which he had proposed for a reduction of the expenditure, and they even introduced a motion the effect of which if carried into execution would have largely reduced the fixed and permanent duties. This last step was of so extreme a kind, that the opposition was less unanimous. The friends of Government struggled hard to resist it, and had very nearly succeeded. But this, too, was carried by the casting vote of the Speaker, who, to the astonish

1 'The sinking of the hereditary revenue is the great plan of some gentlemen here, and was fought strongly by the servants of the

Crown in committee, and afterwards in the House.-Townshend to Weymouth, December 6.'

ment of everybody, though himself at the head of CHAP. the revenue, divided against the Castle.'1

Nothing so violent as this had been seen in the Irish Parliament since the Viceroyalty of Lord Sydney. On that occasion the Viceroy, without even waiting for orders from home, had replied by a prorogation. Lord Sydney's conduct had been fully approved by William's ministers. The Parliament which had defied him was not suffered to re-assemble, and there had been serious thoughts of abolishing the parliamentary constitution.

Townshend had been too feebly supported by the Cabinet to venture on such summary measures on his own responsibility. He was confronted by a combination of all the great Irish houses the Leinsters, the Shannons, the Ponsonbies, the Beresfords, the Loftuses-who had forgotten their jealousies in the common resolution to maintain the oligarchical constitution.

The catastrophe had come which Townshend had foreseen. The noble lords, he said, 'have unmasked their real sentiments;' 'they have shown they mean to acknowledge as little as possible the superiority of the mother country.' 'Such conduct as they have observed I should despise as a private man; but when marked towards his Majesty's representative, it becomes an object of serious consideration.' The constant plan of these men is to possess the government of this country, and to lower the authority of English Government, which must, in the end, destroy the dependence of this country on Great Britain.'

Conciliation had borne its natural fruits. The

1 'Townshend to Weymouth, Dec. 6., 1769.' S. P. O.

II.

1769.