liament to three year's. Lord Charlemont did not enter fully into the spirit of these resolutions; he rather took the position of chairman, hoping to modify the proceedings of the Convention, and prevent the evils that might flow from the alternative of the presidency of the Bishop of Bristol. One hundred and sixty-eight delegates from the Volunteers attended. Several days of debate ensued, and upon a night of momentous importance Flood brought forward in Parliament the Volunteer Reform Bill. Through the influence of Government it was defeated by 158 to 49—more than half the majority being placemen. Had this Bill passed, Mr. Lecky surmises that the Catholics of Ireland would soon have been emancipated, the liberties of Ireland would have been placed on a broad basis, the blood of '98 might never have flowed, and the Union never have been consummated. The Volunteers had already at Dungannon shown their sentiments towards their Catholic fellow-countrymen by resolving "that as men and as Irishmen, as Christians and as Protestants, we rejoice in the relaxation of the Penal Laws." Upon the defeat of Flood's Bill, Lord Charlemont adjourned the Convention, and the peaceable separation of its members furnished the most eloquent refutation of the charges of opponents. Indeed their spirit was broken; many gatherings and reviews were held afterwards, but with gradually decreasing numbers; and Lord Charlemont adhered to the organization to the last, with the desire rather of keeping up his influence with its members than with any hope of resuscitating the movement. Matters might have taken a widely different course had he been a less scrupulous man, of greater force of mind. Mr. Lecky remarks: "This period was perhaps the only one in Irish history, when the connection between the two countries might have been easily dissolved, and when the dissolution would not have involved Ireland in anarchy or civil war." On the Regency question, in 1788, he sided with Grattan, and moved the address to the Prince of Wales requesting him to take upon himself regal power in Ireland. He exerted himself with zeal in the formation of the Whig Club, in which Wolfe Tone at one time took part. In 1791 he resigned the lord-lieutenancy of Armagh, in consequence of the executive having made changes in the government of the county. Even upon a man of Lord Charlemont's liberal principles the French Revolution began to tell, and we find him now opposing Catholic emancipation. His biographer remarks: "His refusal of their demands was so gracious, and accompanied with such known integrity of heart, that it conciliated them more than the votes of others in their favour, preceded, as such votes were, by angry and insulting speeches." 77 " In 1793 he had to lament the death of his second son, aged 17. His circle now began to be sensibly narrowed, and his own health to fail. The successes of the French arms, and the increase of the United Irishmen were causes of deep anguish. Writing to his friend Haliday, he says: "I need not say how ardently I have ever loved my country. In consequence of that love I have courted her; I have even married her and taken her for life; and she is now turned out a shrew—tormenting herself and all her nearest connexions." His popularity continued, the people feeling they might implicitly trust in his honesty and patriotism; and when ill-health obliged him and his wife to visit Bath, Dublin turned out to bid them farewell. Literature and the arts were an unfailing source of pleasure to him in these latter years, as they had been through life. He took much interest in the proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, which had been established in 1785. He was its first president, and its meetings were often held at his house. At the last his mind began again to open to the justice of the Catholic claims. If the Insurrection of 1798 caused him the bitterest mortification, the proposal for the Union may be said to have broken his heart. Happily for his peace of mind, he passed away before the measure was accomplished, at Charlemont House, on 4th August 1799, aged almost 71. His remains were interred in Armagh Cathedral. He could scarcely be called a great statesman; he was not an orator, or a brilliant writer; but he was an honest man and a patriot. He is described as having been of middle size; his figure somewhat bent. He had injured his eyes by study; his eyebrows were large and black; his features strong, and more expressive than handsome; when in conversation they lit up with great animation. His Countess survived him about eight years. His son, the 2nd Earl, succeeded, and lived until 1863, when the honours of the family descended to his nephew, the 3rd and present Earl. 77 196 212 331 336
Celeclerech or Eilian, Saint, Bishop and martyr. Apostle of Franconia, flourished in the latter part of the 7th century. He was of an illustrious Irish family, and entered the monastic state early in life. Travelling abroad, he reached Rome in 686 or 687 and was well received by the Pope, who commissioned him to labour at
