reland, that from
this period must be dated the determination to unite both Parliaments in
one legislature. For it was justly argued, that if the Irish Parliament
might invest one individual with powers different from those intrusted
to him by the English Parliament, it might in the same manner invest a
different individual, the result of which might be a civil war, or a
separation.

This rash resolution was, however, strongly opposed. Twenty-three of the
peers, among whom was Lord Mornington, signed a protest against it, and
the viceroy, the Marquess of Buckingham, refused to transmit the address
to England. This increased the confusion: not only were the two
legislatures at variance, but the Irish legislature passed a vote of
censure on the viceroy.

The King's recovery extinguished the dissension at once, and the hand of
government fell with severe but well-deserved penalty on its deserters
in the season of difficulty. The rewards of the faithful were
distributed with equal justice. Lord Mornington's active support of the
viceroy was made known to the monarch, and he was evidently marked for
royal favour. From this period he took a share in all the leading
questions of the time. He supported Mr Wilberforce's motions for the
abolition of the slave-trade.

The bold and sagacious conduct of Pitt, in protecting the royal rights
in the Regency, had established his power on the King's recovery. The
Whigs had lost all hope of possession, and they turned in their despair
to the work of faction. Their cry was now Parliamentary Reform. No cry
was ever more insincere, more idly raised, carried on in a more utter
defiance of principle, or consummated more in the spirit of a juggler,
who, while he is bewildering the vulgar eye with his tricks, is only
thinking of the pocket. The Reform Bill has since passed, but the moral
of the event is still well worth our recollection. The Whigs themselves
had been the great boroughmongers; but boroughmongering had at length
failed to bring them into power, and they had recourse to clamour and
confederacy with the rabble. Still, in every instance when they came in
sight of power, the cry was silenced, and they discovered that it was
"not the proper time." At length, in 1830, they raised the clamour once
more; the ministry, (rendered unpopular by the Popish question,) were
thrown out; the Whigs were, for the first time, compelled to keep their
promise, and the whole system of representation