Sir,
On the 2d day of March the news of the royal consent to the bill, which the British Parliament has passed for granting to Ireland a free commerce with the American Colonies, the West Indies, and the Coast of Africa, was celebrated in Dublin by public rejoicings; the guns of the Lark were discharged, the garrison made a feu de joie, the castle and other public buildings were illuminated, as well as some private houses. The government were probably encouraged to these demonstrations of joy, by the motion, which was made the day before, that is, the 1st of March, by Mr Dennis Doly in the House of Commons, for an address of thanks to the King, to which both parties unanimously consented, not excepting the principal patriots, such as Mr Ogle, Mr Hussy Burgh, and Mr Grattan.
The address contains an assurance of their attachment to the royal person and government of the King; a profession of gratitude for his Majesty's uninterrupted attention to the interest of Ireland, and for the happy alteration, which the wisdom of his councils, and the liberal sentiments of the British Parliament have effected in the situation of their affairs. They express a double satisfaction for the benefits, which have been granted them, because they appear to them to be an efficacious remedy for the poverty of that country, and because they furnish an unquestionable proof of that fraternal affection, which they think they have a right to expect from Great Britain, and which they will constantly endeavor to cultivate and augment to the most perfect degree of mutual confidence. They profess the sincerest pleasure in finding that the ties, which have ever united the two kingdoms, have been bound faster than ever, by the conduct of their fellow subjects, and they assure his Majesty, that on their part, they will never fail to make the greatest efforts for the maintenance of that close connexion between the two kingdoms, which they firmly believe to be inseparable from their happiness and prosperity.
The next day the House of Peers, even at the motion of the Duke of Leinster, followed the example of the House of Commons. Their address is in substance the same, with this addition, that the benefits received afford a remedy proportioned to their distress, and that they will discountenance with all their power all attempts, that deluded men might make to excite ill founded apprehensions in the people, and to turn their attention to the commerce, which has been granted them in a manner so extensive.
To these additions, however, there was an opposition, and finally a protest, signed by Lord Carrisford, the Earls of Charlemont and Arran, and the Viscounts Powerscourt and Mountmorris, and by the proxies of the Earl Moira, and the Lords Eyre and Irnham.
The Duke of Leinster, however, has brought upon his reputation by this motion suspicions all over Europe, that he has been gained by the King, which a little time and his future conduct will either dissipate or confirm.
The next day Parliament adjourned to the 11th of April. Congress will be able to put a just interpretation upon these addresses, by the account I gave in my last, of the instructions of the city of Dublin to their representatives, and their answer, as well as by those of the county of Dublin, which remain to be communicated. On the 7th of March, there was held at Kilmainham, an assembly of the freeholders of the county of Dublin, when the following instructions to their representatives were agreed on.
"We, your constituents, desiring to acknowledge as we ought, the advantages our commerce will derive from the particular attention, which his Majesty has given it, from the integrity of our Parliament, the firmness of our countrymen, and the justice, which the English nation begins to render us, we declare to you, that what follows is the principal cause of our joy upon this occasion. It appears to us, that the desire of monopolising commerce was the only motive, which could make England imagine that she had a right to usurp a legitimate authority over this kingdom, and from the moment when she renounced this monopoly, she has taken away the principal obstacle, which opposed our liberty, and consequently the British nation will not continue to itself an arbitrary power, from which she can derive nothing but reducing this kingdom to slavery. We desire to know, moreover, whether the united efforts of the Parliament and people of Ireland ought to confine themselves, so as to leave this island in a state of dependence and submission to laws, to which the nation has never consented, to laws dictated by a Parliament, in which she has no representatives? Let it not be said, that this power attributed to the English Parliament is chimerical. We may see the proofs of it even in the repeal of several of the acts and in this, that several persons declare, however falsely, that this power is founded upon law. Having an equal right to political liberty and to commerce, but deprived of both; and nevertheless content to be restored to the enjoyment of a free commerce alone; will it not appear, that we absolutely give up the former? This idea would be absurd. It is then our duty to declare to the universe, that we are of right a free nation, not to be subjected to any laws, but such as are made by the King and Parliament of Ireland.
"Desirous of nothing so much as to live always in good intelligence with the British nation, on account of the union of the two Crowns, our instructions are, that you shall make the greatest efforts to obtain an act, which shall establish forever the independence of the legislative power of Ireland. We wish, moreover, that you would endeavor to qualify Poyning's law, by taking away from the privy council the legislative power. In accomplishing these important objects, you will acquire honor to yourselves, and give satisfaction to the nation.
"It is not to be doubted, that you will also fall upon some plan of economy, by making savings, which are become necessary to increase the revenue of the Crown, and improve the commerce of the nation."