been seen, had closed their ranks, began an equally vigorous campaign.
On the 1st of December Shelburne again called attention to the affairs of Ireland, and moved a vote of censure upon the Administration. He began by painting the consequences of their neglect. "Ireland," he said, "now disclaimed any connection with Great Britain; and put herself into a condition of defence against her foreign enemies. Oppressed by England, and at length reduced to a state of calamity and distress, experienced by no other country that ever existed unless visited by war or famine, and perceiving that all prospect of justice or relief was in a manner closed, and that she must perish or work out her own salvation, she united as one man to rescue herself from that approaching destruction which seemed to await her. The people had armed themselves, and the numbers armed had increased to upwards of 40,000 men, and were daily augmenting. This most formidable body was not composed of mercenaries, who had little or no interest in the issue, but of the nobility, gentry, merchants, citizens, and respectable yeomanry: men able and willing to devote their time and part of their property to the security of their country. The Government had abdicated, and the people had resumed the powers vested in it; and in so doing were fully authorised by every principle of the constitution, and every motive of self-preservation."
To prove that these were the declared and real sentiments of the whole Irish nation, Shelburne declared he would not dwell upon the resolutions of county and town meetings, or upon the language of the Associations, or upon the general prevalent spirit of all descriptions of men and of all religions: matters of this kind, however true or manifest, were subjects which might admit of controversy. He would solely confine himself to a passage contained in a State paper; he meant the Address of both Houses of the Irish Parliament, declaring that nothing but granting the Kingdom "a free trade" could save it from certain ruin. "Here was the united voice
