Above : Illustration Picture Of Henry Grattan

In the Irish Commons Henry Grattan, a young man of thirty-two who in 1775 had been elected to Parliament, moved that an address on the state of the country should be presented to the King (February 1778). But Government influence over the corrupt Assembly was strong, and the motion was rejected. When, in the English House, a proposal was made to remove some of the restrictions on Irish trade fierce opposition arose. Petitions poured in from manufacturers, crying out against the consequences which would follow to themselves and the country at large if any such concessions were granted. Manchester Preston, and Stockport declared their fear of Irish checks ; Worcester and Stafford would be ruined by Irish gloves and Irish glass. Scotland joined in the chorus. Glasgow ” wished well to Ireland, but would not go so far as to reduce herself to poverty for her sake.” In most of the petitions, and in the Parliamentary debates, it was urged that the lower; taxation and the cheapness of labour in Ireland, as well as the less cost of living, would enable her to undersell English goods, even in their home markets. The English Minister, North, yielded to the ” Storm,” and whittled down his proposed concessions so much that they amounted] in the end to little more than a permission to Ireland to export some goods of minor importance to the British Colonies, and spun cotton-yarn, duty free, to England.

Above : Statue Of William Pitt

Above : Illustrating Picture Of Castlereagh Giving Speech

In January, 1799, the Irish Parliament met The King’s speech asked for a discussion of the question of a Legislative Union. In the Commons there was a long debate, at the end of which the Government motion was carried only by a majority of two. Such a course was, it need entirely opposed to the spirit of the English Constitution, and would never have been tolerated at Westminster.