CHAPTER VIII.

THE DEMAND FOR PARLIAMENTARY REFORM.

A.D. 1782-1784.

FLOOD, who had once been the foremost leader of the Patriot party, was now consumed by the most bitter animosity against the man who had taken the helm when he had deserted the ship. And this ungenerous jealousy drove him to take up a more advanced line than Grattan, in hopes of regaining his old popularity. What the country now wanted was repose. It had regained its constitution, and had shaken off the trammels which fettered its trade and time was required to work off the evil effects of the old system, before the good results of the new order of things could be secured. Flood was heedless of this. He attempted to undermine Grattan's influence by getting up an agitation for "simple repeal;" the gist of which was an express renunciation by the British Parliament of the right to bind Ireland by statute. After being twice beaten on the question of simple repeal by heavy majorities, he made an attack on the Government on the question of reducing the standing army. A collision took place between the rival orators, in which

Flood received a terrible lesson from Grattan's scathing invective. He was unable in any of his efforts to obtain any substantial following in the House, and Lord Shelburne cut the ground from under him by passing "an Act of Renunciation," in the following year, "for the removing of doubts," which declared that "the right claimed by the people of Ireland, to be bound only by laws enacted by his Majesty and the Parliament of that kingdom, and to have all actions and suits at law and in equity instituted in that kingdom, decided in his Majesty's courts therein finally, and without appeal from thence, shall be and it is hereby declared to be, established and ascertained for ever, and shall at no time hereafter be questioned or questionable."

Foiled on the question of simple repeal, Flood took up a different point, which had much more substance in it; the reform of the Irish House of Commons. As in England so in Ireland a large proportion of the constituencies were rotten boroughs. The House consisted of three hundred members. The thirty-two counties each returned two knights of the shire; seven cities each returned two citizens; Dublin University had two members; and one hundred and ten boroughs were represented by two hundred and twenty burgesses. The bulk of the boroughs had been fabricated by the House of Stuart. Forty had been called into existence by James I., for the express purpose of swamping the representatives of the counties by a pack of Crown nominees. Thirty-four had, from time to time, been 23 Geo. III., c. 28 (English Statutes).

created by Charles I. and Charles II. with much the same object; two by James II. and two by Anne. The number of electors in each borough was absurdly small. In eighty-six of them the representatives were returned by the members of the corporations, consisting of some twelve persons, many of whom were non-resident. In fourteen of them the elective franchise was in the hands of the Protestant inhabitants at large, who were called "pot-wallopers." Five were "manor towns." One and all were under the complete control of the "patrons," that is to say the owners of the soil on which the borough stood. Harristown and Bannow were absolutely uninhabited. Fifty out of the whole number of borough members, or one-sixth of the whole House, were each returned by as few as ten electors; and two hundred borough members, or two-thirds of the whole, enjoyed the privilege of being returned by the votes of five score and under. The borough-mongers had it all their own way. The seats were openly bought and sold; as much as £11,000 was given for Belturbet for one session. Accordingly territorial interest and sale in the open market brought a large proportion of them into the hands of the big political families. No less than one hundred and sixteen seats were owned by as few as twenty-five proprietors; and it was this monopoly which had given to the old jobbing oligarchy such a commercial value for each successive viceroy. Lord Shannon was able to command no less than sixteen seats; Lord Bessborough and the Ponsonbys, fourteen; Lord Hillsborough, nine; the Duke of Leinster, seven; Lord

Loftus, seven; Lord Granard, four; Lord Clifden, four. The Castle itself had appropriated twelve. One hundred and twenty-three members of the Lower House were the nominees of fifty-three of the Upper. The Government reckoned on 186 votes, or a majority of thirty-six in the whole house. Eighty-six of these were given by men who held proprietary seats let to the Government in consideration of tities, or places of emolument; forty-four by men who held office under Government, and were liable to dismissal for an adverse vote; twelve by the Government nominees; thirty-two more by men who lived on hope or promises; and twelve by men who supported the Government on public grounds. Besides these there was a party of twenty-nine waiters upon Providence. The regular Opposition consisted of only eighty-two.

Reform was indeed terribly necessary. The subject was one which was rapidly coming to the front; and Flood saw and grasped the opportunity of again becoming the people's idol. Flood, who had been one of the last to put on a volunteer's uniform, was now doing his best to flatter that body of men, and to effect a breach between them and Grattan. Grattan, who fully approved of reform, was of opinion that the time had not come for raising the question, and therefore stood aside. A second meeting of delegates from the volunteers assembled at Dungannon, where resolutions were passed in favour of reform; and it was decided that a convention should be held in Dublin in the following November. The agitation was kept up in the press and on the drill-ground.

Lord Charlemont was still in command; but a strange, wild, ill-balanced man, Hervey, Earl of Bristol, Bishop of Derry, began to take the lead, and to head the more unsettled spirits in the corps. There was something like division growing up in their ranks, and the point of departure was a religious one. Charlemont and Flood were staunch Protestants. The bishop and his party were inclined towards toleration of the Roman Catholics, and wished to include them in any scheme of reform. Grattan's resolutions at the first meeting at Dungannon had included one in favour of religious toleration. Though originally strictly confined to the Protestants, the ranks of the volunteers now numbered many Roman Catholics, and a feeling was beginning to grow up that religious differences should be sunk, and that all parties should combine for the common welfare.

On November 10, 1783, one hundred and sixty delegates from the volunteer associations assembled in the Rotunda at Dublin. They marched through the streets of Dublin to take their seats, with much demonstration of military display all of them were in uniform; they were escorted by two or three mounted corps and by the Dublin Artillery; the streets were lined with volunteers, guns were fired, and bands were playing; and the bishop magnificently brought up the rear in a carriage and six with outriders. The Government were uneasy at this display of force. The Parliament eyed with suspicion the unconstitutional body which had come to sit side by side with it; and were much relieved when Lord Charlemont was elected chair