Item 3 - Letter from Lord Altamont, Dublin to Richard 2nd Earl, [England]

8pp

Letter from Lord Altamont, Dublin to Richard 2nd Earl, [England], assuring him that he will inform him of any developments. He writes of the creation of peers after the Union. The Earl can be certain that he will make every exertion to keep their parts of the country tranquil and that they will not 'impede the measure on which so much of our future happiness and security depend'. He writes of the growth of anti-unionist feeling and that the House of Commons is 'a school for treason and sedition'. It would not be safe for those in opposition to change sides now as the 'heat on both sides has risen to a pitch not ever to be credited'. The resolutions for the Church government and for transferring appeals have passed without opposition and all the resolutions will have passed the House of Commons within the next week. They hope to hasten the recess. Mr Pitt will then devote six weeks to the Irish arrangement. 'The Speaker and Downshire are as desperate as Napper Tandy'. Gen Walpole is the ambassador for [Charles James] Fox and the English opposition in Dublin and attends all the anti-union meetings. A proposition has been received from the Cabinet in England that the Irish peerage ultimately will be restricted to 100 with the creation of 1 new peer for every 2 peerages that become extinct. He sees no advantage in this and thinks there should be just one Peerage of the Empire. He thinks they will lose [Richard] Annesley and Gen Gardiner in the Clogher election. He recounts an incident during a debate in the House of Commons 'on Thursday' [11 Mar 1800], much resembling the proceedings of the French Convention and involving a barrister named Thomas Sinclair. He emphasizes that 'this certainly is the most critical hour' in the whole proceeding, great importance being attached to trifling incidents. There may be a scarcity of grain in Dublin but 'in our part the prosperity of every kind exceeds any time within my recollection'. It is also peaceful [in Co Mayo] although 'some rebels have been incautiously let out (Gibbons and Crump) at the representation of Mr O'Donell. He believes the French mean to pay 'an immediate visit....the horrors in Limerick and Antrim exceed all we have yet heard of. He concludes by telling him of the new farming society that has been formed with about 200 members and asks him to send over Vol 32 of Arthur Young's Annals of Agriculture.

Open

Catalog

03/01/2017
29/07/2025