After I had expressed myself with the warmth I felt on seeing all
government and order buried under the ruins of liberty, and after I had
made my protest against the insufficiency of the propositions, I
supported the principle of enlargement at which they aimed, though short
and somewhat wide of the mark,--giving, as my sole reason, that the more
frequently these matters came into discussion, the more it would tend
to dispel fears and to eradicate prejudices.
This was the only part I took. The detail was in the hands of Lord
Newhaven and Lord Beauchamp, with some assistance from Earl Nugent and
some independent gentlemen of Irish property. The dead weight of the
minister being removed, the House recovered its tone and elasticity. We
had a temporary appearance of a deliberative character. The business was
debated freely on both sides, and with sufficient temper. And the sense
of the members being influenced by nothing but what will naturally
influence men unbought, their reason and their prejudices, these two
principles had a fair conflict, and prejudice was obliged to give way to
reason. A majority appeared, on a division, in favor of the
propositions.
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