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.pdfWhig Tactics and Parliamentary Precedent: The English Management of Irish Politics, 17541756
Author(s): J. C. D. Clark
Source: The Historical Journal, Vol. 21, No. 2 (Jun., 1978), pp. 275-301 Published by: Cambridge University Press
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The Historical Journal, 2I, 2 (I978), pp. 275-30I.
Printed in Great Britain
WHIG TACTICS AND
PARLIAMENTARY PRECEDENT: THE ENGLISH MANAGEMENT OF
IRISH POLITICS, 1754-1756
J. C. D. CLARK
Peterhouse, Cambridge
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I |
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In |
1949 Sir |
Herbert |
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Butterfield |
showed, |
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for |
one |
important |
episode, |
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the |
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necessity |
of |
treating |
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England |
and |
Ireland |
as a single |
political |
world |
and |
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of |
explaining |
public |
events |
in |
London |
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and |
Dublin |
concurrently.1 |
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Yet |
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most modern |
scholarship |
has persisted |
in examining |
the two |
nations |
in |
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isolation. |
Ireland |
is typically relegated, |
like Scotland, |
to a separate |
chapter |
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in |
the manner |
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of |
the |
Oxford history of England; |
and |
despite |
studies |
of |
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Anglo-Irish |
constitutional |
disputes |
in the |
light of analogous |
debates |
over |
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the |
American |
Revolution, |
the |
close |
texture |
of |
the reciprocal |
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influence |
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of |
English |
and |
Irish |
politics |
in |
the |
mid eighteenth |
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century |
has |
still |
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received |
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almost |
no attention |
from |
historians.2 |
One, |
indeed, |
has positively |
||||||||||||||||||
asserted |
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that |
'From |
the |
end |
of |
Queen |
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Anne's |
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reign |
until |
the |
I 770s |
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Ireland |
was |
almost |
outside |
the |
range |
of |
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British |
politics'.3 |
In |
reality |
the |
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connexion |
was both |
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strong |
and |
of several |
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kinds. |
Many English |
politicians |
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had an |
opportunity |
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to |
learn |
through |
personal |
involvement |
in Ireland |
||||||||||||||||||
lessons |
which they were |
later to find applicable |
at home. |
The |
fourth dukes |
|||||||||||||||||||||
of |
Devonshire |
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and |
Bedford, |
Richard |
Rigby, |
Lord |
George |
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Sackville, |
||||||||||||||||
Henry |
Seymour |
Conway, |
the |
duke |
of Newcastle |
and |
Henry |
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Fox |
were |
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1 GeorgeIII, Lord North and the people(London, |
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I949). |
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years' work in Irish |
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2 Sir Herbert Butterfield, 'Eighteenth-century |
Ireland' in 'Thirty |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
history', |
I[rish] I-I[istorical]S[tudies], xv (i966-7), 38I-2. |
Most of what modern |
scholarship |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
there is deals with the years before |
c. I725 or after c. I770; cf. D. W. Hayton, 'Ireland |
and |
the English ministers, I707-I6' (Oxford Univ. D.Phil. thesis, I975); L. A. Dralle, 'Kingdom
in reversion: the Irish viceroyalty of the earl of Wharton, |
I708-I7I0', |
The Huntingdon |
|||
LibraryQuarterly,xv (I95I-2), |
393-43I; T. Bartlett, 'The Townshend viceroyalty, I767-72' |
||||
(Belfast |
Univ. Ph.D. thesis, |
I976); F. G. James, 'The |
Irish lobby in the |
early eighteenth |
|
century', |
E[nglish] I-I[istorical]R[eview], LXXXI (i966), |
543-57, |
and especially his Ireland in |
theempirei688-I 770 (Harvard, I973). This book rightly asserts the importance of Anglo-Irish political links yet Professor James too often draws his account of them in the middle decades of the century from the work of Professor McCracken (see below) and is insufficiently acquainted with the course of English party politics. Nor did Dr James make use of such major sources as the papers of Newcastle, Holdernesse, Fox, the 3rd and 4th dukes of Devonshire, Sir Robert Wilmot, Henry Boyle or Lord George Sackville; as a result, his conclusions and analogies (Ireland, pp. 256-8) are deeply misleading.
3 J. C. Beckett, Confrontations.Studies in Irish history(London, I972), p. I28.
275
276 |
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J. C. D. CLARK |
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all |
involved |
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both in the Irish crisis of |
the |
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I750S |
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and |
in the |
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English |
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ministerial |
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controversies |
of the |
1760s. |
The |
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English |
ministry |
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was kept |
fully |
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informed |
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about |
Irish |
politics |
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through |
both |
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formal |
and informal |
channels. |
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Even |
statesmen |
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not directly |
concerned |
had |
links which |
encouraged |
them |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
to |
keep |
in |
touch |
with events |
in |
Dublin. |
Fox, |
in |
Ireland |
in the |
summer |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
of |
1750 |
visiting |
his brother-in-law |
the earl |
of |
Kildare, |
sent |
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Henry |
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Pelham |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
perceptive |
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accounts |
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of |
the |
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crisis |
to |
date |
in |
which |
he |
argued |
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for |
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the |
||||||||||||||||||||
necessity |
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of eventual |
legislative |
union |
between |
the two countries;4 |
Charles |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Townshend |
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was aware of Irish problems |
at |
the |
same |
time |
as |
he |
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was |
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preparing, |
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for |
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Newcastle, |
his |
'Remarks |
upon |
the |
Plan |
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for |
a |
General |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Concert' |
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of the American |
colonies.5 |
The |
lieutenancy |
was not a backwater, |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
but was |
held |
by |
peers |
of |
the |
first political |
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rank: until |
1760, Shrewsbury, |
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Sunderland, |
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Townshend, |
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Bolton, |
Grafton, |
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Carteret, |
Dorset |
(twice), |
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the |
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third |
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and |
fourth |
dukes |
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of |
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Devonshire, |
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Chesterfield, |
Harrington |
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and |
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Bedford. |
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Many |
lesser |
offices |
in the Irish |
government |
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were |
held |
at some |
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stage |
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of |
their |
careers |
by |
English |
M.P.s. |
Again, |
an |
education |
at Trinity |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
College, |
Dublin, |
must have |
conferred |
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some |
appreciation |
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of |
the |
politics |
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of the capital: Barre was in residence |
1740-5 |
and |
Burke |
1744-50. |
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Yet |
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modern |
students |
of |
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Burke |
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have |
ignored |
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the |
tactical |
characteristics |
of |
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Irish |
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politics, |
preferring |
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like |
others |
to |
see |
there |
merely |
an |
arena of |
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corruption |
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and English tyranny; and, through |
neglecting |
to enquire |
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into |
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the |
political |
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function |
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of |
patriot |
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discourse |
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in England |
and |
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Ireland, |
have |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
failed |
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even |
to establish |
whether |
Burke |
wrote |
for or against |
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Charles |
Lucas, |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
an early |
patriot |
active |
in Dublin |
in I 7439.6 |
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Barre |
has been |
no better |
served |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
in |
respect |
of |
his |
understanding |
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of Irish |
government.7 |
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Moreover, |
Dublin |
witnessed |
in the |
1750S |
political |
events |
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of the utmost |
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drama |
and |
importance. |
It is the |
aim of this article |
to show, |
for this crisis, |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
both |
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that |
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the |
detailed |
course |
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of |
events |
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in |
the |
two |
capitals |
must |
be |
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explained |
together |
and |
in parallel |
if it is to be |
understood |
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in either, |
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and |
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that many of the long-term |
developments |
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in English |
politics |
can be found |
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echoed |
in |
Dublin |
in |
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such |
a way as to suggest |
that |
it was |
very often |
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the |
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Irish |
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example |
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which |
served |
as |
the |
unacknowledged |
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precedent |
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for |
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English |
innovations. |
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Historians |
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have |
yet |
to |
attend |
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to |
the |
lessons |
drawn |
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by English |
ministers |
from |
the way in which |
an Irish |
faction |
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or opposition |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
might |
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be |
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controlled, |
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resisted |
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or |
accommodated; |
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to |
the |
developing |
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opinions |
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within |
the |
English |
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ministry |
on |
Irish policy, and the different |
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4Cf. |
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esp. Fox to Pelham, |
28 |
May and |
i6 June |
I750: |
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Newcastle |
(Clumber) |
MSS, Not- |
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tingham University Library. |
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5Charles |
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Townshend |
to Lord Townshend, |
[2 |
May I 754], |
microfilm of the Townshend |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
MSS at Raynham in the Norfolk |
Record Office; cf. Sir Lewis Namier and John Brooke, |
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Charles Townshend(London, 1964), |
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p. 40. |
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6 |
C. B. Cone, EdmundBurkeand thenatureof politics (Lexington, |
I957), |
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pp. I0-I3; |
T. H. D. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mahoney, |
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Edmund Burke and |
Ireland (Harvard, |
I960), |
pp. |
6-7, ii; |
|
G. L. Vincitorio, |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
'Edmund |
Burke |
and |
Charles |
Lucas', |
Publications of the Modern Language Association of |
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America, LXVIII |
(953), |
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I047-55- |
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pp. |
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7P. |
Brown, |
The Chathamites(London, I967), |
I89-227. |
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THE |
ENGLISH |
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MANAGEMENT |
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OF |
IRISH |
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POLITICS |
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277 |
||||||||||||||||
approaches |
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advocated |
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by |
Dorset |
and |
Hartington; |
or |
to |
the |
changing |
||||||||||||||||||||||
directions |
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in |
which, |
during |
that |
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decade, |
the |
course |
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of |
events |
in either |
|||||||||||||||||||
country |
shaped |
and |
led |
that |
in |
the other. |
Yet |
Ireland |
in |
1753-6 |
was |
in |
|||||||||||||||||||||
a ferment |
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of |
the |
sort |
which |
has |
frequently |
focussed |
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the |
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attention |
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of |
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Englishmen |
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on |
its problems. |
Between |
those |
years |
two |
lords |
lieutenant |
- |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
the |
duke |
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of |
Dorset |
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and |
the |
marquis |
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of |
Hartington |
- were |
aligned, |
|||||||||||||||||||
together |
with |
the |
supporters |
of |
the Dublin |
Castle |
executive |
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in the legis- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
lature, |
against |
the remainder |
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of |
the |
Irish |
Commons |
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in a political |
and |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
constitutional |
crisis. |
The |
nature |
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of that |
confrontation, |
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considered |
as a |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
domestic |
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Irish |
phenomenon, |
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is |
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still |
disputed. |
Earl |
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Macartney, |
a |
con- |
||||||||||||||||||||
temporary, |
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thought |
Dorset's |
tactics |
involved |
him |
unknowingly |
in |
sup- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
porting |
the |
primate's |
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illegitimate |
ambition, |
and |
that 'the |
personal |
contest |
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between |
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the |
Speaker8 |
and the |
primate9 |
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was |
the real |
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source |
of |
national |
|||||||||||||||||||||
division '.' The earl of Charlemont |
endorsed |
the view that it was a merely |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
personal |
struggle |
for |
power, |
but |
explained |
|
it as an |
attack |
by Boyle |
on |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Stone |
and |
the |
Ponsonbys |
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(the |
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other |
leading |
faction |
in |
Parliament) |
||||||||||||||||||||||
disguised |
in the |
language |
of |
patriotism |
and |
obscured |
|
by the issue of the |
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king's prerogative.1" |
To |
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Litton |
Falkiner, |
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it seemed |
an attempt |
to reassert |
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the |
power |
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of |
the |
lord |
lieutenant |
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against |
the |
encroachment |
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of |
a native |
|||||||||||||||||||
Irish oligarchy;12 |
but |
|
J. C. Beckett |
denied |
the |
existence |
of any conscious |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
policy |
on |
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the |
part |
of |
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Dublin |
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Castle |
to |
extend |
its |
control |
over |
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the |
|||||||||||||||||
Commons.13 |
J. L. McCracken |
reasserted |
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Macartney's |
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view |
of |
the contest |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
as |
an |
assault |
on |
the |
Boyle |
connexion |
|
by Stone |
in |
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alliance |
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with |
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the |
||||||||||||||||||
Ponsonbys;14 |
yet |
E. M. Johnston |
|
stressed |
the |
prior |
importance |
of |
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the |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
resentment |
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of two Irish |
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leaders, |
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Carter15 and |
Malone,16 |
at Stone's refusal |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
to accommodate |
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their |
families' |
ambitions |
for |
place, |
and |
argued |
that |
they |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
and Boyle, |
|
not |
George |
|
Stone, |
constituted |
the new |
opposition.17 |
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A study |
of the evolution |
of English |
policy |
endorses |
none |
of these views |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
as |
a sufficient |
answer. |
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Rather |
than seek |
to |
do |
so, |
it is here |
argued |
that |
||||||||||||||||||||||
the |
crisis |
reveals |
the |
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existence |
of |
an |
Anglo-Irish |
political |
dimension |
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on |
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8 Henry Boyle (i682-I764), |
Speaker |
of the Irish Commons |
I733-56; chancellor of the |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Exchequer I733-54, |
I755-7. |
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9 George Stone (?I 708-64), archbishop of Armagh and lord primate of Ireland from I747. 10 J. Barrow, Some account of the public life, and a selectionfrom the unpublishedwritings
of the Earl Macartney(London, I807), |
II, |
I30: 'A |
short sketch of the political history of |
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Ireland.' |
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" |
H.M.C. I 2th Report, Appendix, |
Part X, Manuscriptsand correspondenceof James, first |
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earl of Charlemont(London, |
I89I), I, 5. |
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12 |
C. Litton Falkiner, 'Archbishop |
Stone', in Essaysrelating to Ireland (London, |
I909). |
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13 |
J. C. Beckett, The making of modernIreland i603-i923 |
(London, I966), pp. I90, |
I93. |
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14 |
J. L. McCracken, 'The |
conflict |
between the |
Irish administration and parliament, |
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1753-6', I.H.S. III (1942-3), |
159-79. |
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15 |
Thomas |
Carter (d. I763), master of the Rolls I73 I-54, |
secretary of state I755-63. |
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16 |
Anthony |
Malone (I 700-76), prime |
serjeant |
I740-54, |
chancellor or the Exchequer |
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I 757-6 I. |
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17 |
E. M. Johnston, Ireland in the eighteenthcentury(Dublin, I974), p. I I5. I was unable to |
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consult Dr Declan O'Donovan's Ph.D. thesis, 'The |
Money Bill dispute of I753' (University |
|||||||
College, Dublin, I977). |
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278 |
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J. C. D. CLARK |
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the levels both of day-to-day |
management |
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and of longer-term |
trends. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Most |
importantly, |
|
the |
relationship |
between |
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the |
Irish |
Commons |
and |
the |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
lord |
lieutenant |
at times |
reflected |
and |
at times |
anticipated |
the |
changing |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
balance |
between |
George |
II and |
George |
III, |
and |
the English |
legislature. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
For |
|
until |
the |
crisis |
of |
the |
1750s, |
successive |
|
lords |
lieutenant |
|
had |
enjoyed |
|||||||||||||||||||||
a relatively |
secure |
hold |
over the |
Dublin parliament |
not |
by constructing |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
a Castle |
party, |
as |
was |
to be the case from Townshend's |
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lieutenancy |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1767-72), |
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but |
through |
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tacit arrangements |
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with the |
'undertakers', |
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the |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Irish |
|
leaders |
of a whig |
elite |
of |
Commons |
managers:18 |
Conolly |
and |
Gore |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
under |
Carteret; |
Henry |
Boyle |
and |
his |
|
associates |
from |
1733.19 |
Just |
as, in |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
England, |
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the |
1750S |
saw |
the |
dissolution |
|
of party |
alignments |
|
of |
long |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
standing,20 |
so |
in |
Ireland |
that |
decade |
|
witnessed |
the |
breakdown |
|
of |
the |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
undertaker |
system |
into |
factional |
conflict |
|
publicly |
defined |
in terms |
of |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
patriot |
zeal or |
support |
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for |
the prerogative |
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and |
the king's government. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
T. J. Kiernan, |
|
reviewing |
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the |
constitutional |
|
precedents, |
|
wrote |
percep- |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
tively |
that |
'taken |
as an isolated |
instance |
of |
parliamentary |
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encroachment |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
on |
the |
prerogative |
|
of |
the |
Crown, |
there |
is strong |
evidence |
on |
the |
side |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
of those |
|
who |
regard |
the |
dispute |
as having |
|
been |
engineered |
|
by a factious |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
opposition'; |
though |
he |
added |
that, in the |
light |
of previous |
|
events |
in the |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Irish |
|
parliament, |
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the |
rejection |
|
of |
the |
|
Money |
Bill |
'cannot |
be |
treated |
so |
||||||||||||||||||||
lightly ',21 |
the |
contribution |
of |
that |
episode |
|
to |
the |
constitutional |
law |
on |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Irish |
|
finance |
|
will |
not |
|
be |
discussed |
here. |
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The |
present |
|
aim |
is |
not |
to |
||||||||||||||||||
apportion |
|
the |
blame among |
the |
protagonists |
in Dublin22 |
but |
to account |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
for |
the |
English |
ministry's |
handling |
of |
the |
crisis |
primarily |
|
with |
reference |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
to its |
impact |
on |
|
events |
at |
Westminster. |
What |
emerges |
|
in |
such |
a per- |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
spective, |
|
it is argued, |
is a view |
of |
Irish |
disturbances |
which |
presents |
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the |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
pattern |
|
of |
their |
parliamentary |
|
politics |
as, |
variously, |
a |
mirror |
of, |
a |
re- |
||||||||||||||||||||||
sponse |
to, |
and |
a precedent |
|
for |
the |
English |
equivalents |
in the |
sessions |
of |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
1754-5 and 1755-6; but |
which |
reveals |
|
also |
the |
terms |
in |
which |
the |
Irish |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
parties |
were |
described |
|
and |
countered |
|
as prefiguring |
not |
the |
nature |
of |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 |
J. L. McCracken, |
'The |
|
undertakers |
in Ireland |
and their relations with the lords |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
lieutenant, |
I724-7I' |
|
(M.A. thesis, |
Queen's |
University, |
Belfast, |
I94'); |
Dr Henry to Arch- |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
bishop Herring, |
2 I Dec. I 753: |
35592, |
fo. 225 |
(numerical references |
are to Additional |
MSS, |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
British Library, unless otherwise specified). The same name was |
sometimes |
used of |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
English Whig managers under George |
I and George |
II; cf. Dodington |
to Bute, |
26 |
Nov. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I760 |
|
in J. Carswell and |
L. A. Dralle |
(eds), The political journal of George Bubb Dodington |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(Oxford, |
I965), |
p. |
40I. |
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19 The hitherto accepted |
view that lords lieutenant |
before Carteret (I724-30) |
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organized |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
their |
own |
proprietary |
party |
in |
the |
Commons |
and |
that a radically different |
system of |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
parliamentary management |
grew |
up |
c. |
1724-33 |
|
has |
been ably criticized |
in |
Dr |
David |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hayton's D.Phil. thesis (cited above) and in 'The |
beginnings |
of the "Undertaker system"'. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I am grateful to Dr Hayton |
for a copy of this as yet unpublished |
paper. In it he argues |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
for the earlier existence |
of an undertaker |
system, of which events in c. I 7I5-25 |
produced |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
only a rephrasing. |
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xciii (1978). |
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20 |
Cf. my article 'The |
decline |
of party, |
I740-I760', |
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E.H.R., |
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21 |
T. J. Kiernan, History of thefinancial administration of Ireland to i817 |
(London, |
I930), |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
p. I56. |
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22 |
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For which, see McCracken in I.H.S. (cited above). |
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THE |
ENGLISH |
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MANAGEMENT |
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OF |
IRISH |
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POLITICS |
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279 |
||||||||||||||||||
factional |
|
disorder |
|
in England |
in the |
four |
years |
after |
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the |
death |
of Henry |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pelham |
|
(whose |
characteristics |
were |
derived |
from |
its |
central |
outcome, |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
the |
destruction |
|
of |
whig |
and tory |
parties |
which |
no |
longer |
had |
an Irish |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
parallel), |
but |
rather |
the |
professedly |
|
'constitutional' |
|
crises |
of |
the |
early |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
1760S. |
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II |
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In November |
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1753 a committee |
of the Dublin |
Commons |
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drafted, |
and the |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
House |
|
approved, |
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the |
heads |
of |
a |
bill |
|
for |
appropriating |
|
part |
of |
the |
|||||||||||||||||||||
surplus |
|
in |
the |
|
Exchequer |
to the |
redemption |
of |
the |
|
Irish national |
debt. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
The form of words used deliberately |
|
omitted |
any reference |
|
to the |
king's |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
'gracious |
intentions' |
or 'previous |
consent' |
to the |
step, |
despite |
precedents |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
for |
both |
|
in the |
original |
text |
of a similar |
bill in |
1749 and |
in words |
inserted |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
by |
the |
English |
|
privy |
council |
in |
another |
|
of 1751. |
The |
heads |
of |
the |
bill |
||||||||||||||||||||||
of |
I 753, |
|
thus |
phrased, |
posed |
a challenge |
to what was |
now |
held |
to be |
a |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
royal |
prerogative: |
|
that |
the |
king's |
consent |
was |
required |
for |
a |
surplus |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
arising |
|
from |
revenue |
|
already |
voted |
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to |
be |
applied |
to |
the |
liquidation |
|
of |
|||||||||||||||||||||
public |
debt. |
When |
returned |
from |
the |
English |
|
privy |
council, |
the |
bill had |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
accordingly |
|
been |
|
altered |
to include |
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an |
|
acknowledgement |
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of |
the |
king's |
||||||||||||||||||||||
previous |
|
consent |
|
to the |
appropriation. |
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Once |
returned, |
|
it was |
not open |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
to the |
Irish |
parliament |
to amend |
the |
bill, |
but |
only |
to |
accept or reject |
it |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
as it stood; |
and |
on |
I7 |
December |
1753 |
|
it was defeated |
|
in the |
Commons.23 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
That vote was the culminating |
|
success |
of |
a campaign |
of |
opposition |
by |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
the |
self-styled |
patriots. |
Although |
the |
precedents |
|
were |
debatable |
(and |
the |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
constitutional |
|
question |
was |
argued |
at length |
in the pamphlet |
press), |
and |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
although |
|
there |
was |
a |
long |
history |
of |
intermittent |
rivalry |
|
between |
the |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Castle |
and |
|
the |
Dublin |
|
Commons |
over |
the |
control |
|
of |
the |
budget,24 |
a |
||||||||||||||||||||||
constitutional |
|
crisis developed |
in |
I753 |
as an |
episode |
in |
a political |
cam- |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
paign of great heat and bitterness. |
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That |
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campaign |
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was |
conducted |
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in |
a parliamentary |
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world |
|
in which |
the |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
organized |
groups, |
|
and |
the |
identities, |
|
of |
whig |
and tory |
had |
long |
before |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
ceased |
to exist.25 |
Their |
place |
was |
taken |
|
by |
the |
appearance |
|
of |
a polarity |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
between |
|
'Court' |
and |
'Country', |
an alignment |
|
of attitudes |
loose |
enough |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
for |
personal |
groups |
to be distinguished |
within |
it. Walpole |
described |
the |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Irish |
Commons |
|
in |
1757 as |
divided |
|
into |
four |
factions: |
those |
|
of |
the |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
primate; |
|
Lord |
|
Kildare; |
the |
Speaker, |
John |
Ponsonby, |
|
'who |
were |
in truth |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
a defection |
|
from |
|
Kildare'; |
and |
a smaller |
'flying |
squadron' |
|
of |
patriots.26 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
In |
1753 |
|
|
the |
politically |
active |
in the |
House |
could |
similarly |
be divided |
into |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
23 |
The debate is summarizedin the Newcastlepapers:33034, |
fo. I57. |
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24 |
Cf. James, Ireland, pp. |
32, |
34-5, |
I49-5I- |
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25 |
Hayton, |
'Ireland |
and the English |
ministers', |
p. vi: 'The terminal dates of this thesis |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
coincide with the life span of "party" politics in Ireland.' |
Cf. James, Ireland, pp. I05, |
109 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
suggests |
I 7 I5-20 |
for their demise. |
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26 |
Horace |
Walpole, |
Memoirs of the reign of King George the Second (London, |
i846), |
iii, |
68-9.
280 |
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|
J. C. |
D. |
CLARK |
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|
the four |
factions |
of |
the primate |
and Sackville, |
in the |
Castle |
interest; |
|||||
Kildare; |
the |
Speaker, |
Boyle; and Malone and other patriots, the |
two last |
||||||||
being |
closely |
though |
equivocally |
linked.27 With |
the rise of an opposition |
|||||||
drawn |
from |
Castle supporters, the |
language |
of |
politics |
changed |
again; |
|||||
patriot |
rhetoric acted |
upon a Court-Country |
alignment |
to give it, to some, |
||||||||
the appearance |
of a simple choice |
between |
English |
and Irish |
national |
|||||||
interests: |
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The Speaker told the Lord Lieutenant lately, that he had been 45 years in Parliament and seen all parties of Court and Country, Whig and Tory, but that he never saw such animosities and divisions among gentlemen as at this time: that this was not properly either Court or Country, Whig or Tory. The true question is, whether they shall be governed by the Primate and an English party?28
The |
element |
of tactical |
evasion |
behind |
|
such |
assertions |
made |
it impossible, |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
at the |
time, |
accurately |
|
to |
anticipate |
the |
nationalist |
implications |
of |
the |
||||||||||||||||||||||
crisis. |
But |
the |
defection |
|
of Boyle |
to the |
opposition |
suspended |
|
the |
under- |
|||||||||||||||||||||
taker |
system |
|
and |
temporarily |
modified |
the |
party |
pattern |
it entailed. |
It |
||||||||||||||||||||||
was |
not |
|
until |
|
the |
|
176os |
in |
England |
that |
Old |
Corps |
fragmentation, |
|||||||||||||||||||
following |
the |
end |
of |
|
a |
whig-tory |
|
polarity, |
revealed |
the |
Court |
|
and |
|||||||||||||||||||
Treasury |
|
element |
as basically |
loyal to the executive; |
a Court'party' |
rather |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
than |
the undertakers' |
'party ' it had |
seemed |
|
to be. In England |
in the |
1760s |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
and |
Ireland |
in the |
1750S, |
the |
crossing |
|
over |
of some |
groups |
to opposition |
||||||||||||||||||||||
produced |
the misleading |
impression |
|
that both Houses |
of Commons |
were |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
to be |
ruled |
through |
the use |
of |
a narrow |
and |
tightly |
disciplined |
Court |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
group; |
|
that, |
|
as |
Macartney |
|
put |
it, |
Dorset |
was |
'obliged |
to |
form |
a |
new |
|||||||||||||||||
party'.29 |
In |
reality, |
the |
|
emergence |
of |
a Castle |
party was a different |
|
and |
||||||||||||||||||||||
distinct |
process, |
the |
origins |
of which |
are rooted |
in the |
events |
of the |
early |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
6os.30 |
In |
1753, |
by |
contrast, |
|
the |
lord |
lieutenant |
still |
sought |
|
to |
govern |
|||||||||||||||||||
through |
|
a single |
party |
in |
the |
old |
sense, |
|
though |
backed |
now |
by |
the |
|||||||||||||||||||
primate |
and |
marshalled |
|
in |
parliament |
by Lord |
George |
Sackville; |
it was |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
the |
opposition |
|
which, |
|
as |
Conway |
later |
observed, |
was |
'an |
|
unnatural, |
||||||||||||||||||||
temporary |
coalition |
'.31 |
Dorset's desire |
in I 753-4 |
to accommodate |
the truly |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
repentant |
as |
individuals, |
on |
their |
renunciation |
|
of |
opposition, |
|
reflected |
||||||||||||||||||||||
that broad bottom |
willingness |
to incorporate |
the well disposed |
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which |
was |
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common |
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to English |
administrations, |
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in different |
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configurations |
of party, |
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in both |
the |
1750S |
and |
1760s. |
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27 |
Primateto Andrew Stone, 24 |
Dec. I753: |
32733 |
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fo. 54I- |
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28 |
Dr Barry to earl of Orrery, 4 Mar. I752, |
in Countess |
of Cork and Orrery (ed.), The |
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Orrerypapers(London, I903), |
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II, |
I03. |
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29Barrow,Macartney,II, I30.
30It is anticipated in, for example, W. G. Hamilton (chief secretary) to John Hely
Hutchinson (prime serjeant), io Nov. I762: H.M.C. Twelfth Report, Appendix, Part IX, The manuscriptsof the duke of Beaufort, K.G., the earl of Donoughmore,and others(London,
I89I), |
p. 239- |
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31 |
Conway to Hartington, 7 Aug. |
I755: |
Dev[onshire MSS, Chatsworth] 4I6/8. I am |
grateful to his grace the duke of Devonshire |
and the trustees of the Chatsworth settlement |
||
for permission to consult, and quote |
from, the Devonshire MSS. |
THE ENGLISH |
MANAGEMENT |
OF IRISH POLITICS |
28I |
He reacted, however, |
to parliamentary opposition from |
within the |
ministry by a policy of dismissing office holders for adverse votes. These dismissals came in two groups, in January and April 1754; in both cases he was fully supported by Newcastle. But Dorset's tenure was in question for much of 1754, and after his return to England in May he engaged in a series of careful negotiations with Clements, the last major Irish patriot remaining in place, as to his future conduct. The alternatives at St James's appeared to be Dorset's own replacement or a further round of removals. Eventually he was succeeded by Hartington; yet Newcastle managed the move, part of a reconstruction of the English ministry, in such a way that it was not an open condemnation of Dorset's record or policies. After the difficulties which followed the Irish dismissals,
Newcastle sought from |
late 1754 to construct |
ministerial systems based |
||||
on conciliation and comprehension - including, |
that is, whig frondeurs |
|||||
in both |
countries. |
But |
Dorset's replacement |
was based on a forward- |
||
looking |
calculation, |
and was undertaken equally |
for |
English and Irish |
||
reasons: |
in particular, |
to inhibit the revival |
of |
the |
Fox-Cumberland |
conspiracy which Newcastle imagined to be both covertly levelled against his English administration and implicated in fomenting Irish unrest.
Dorset always claimed to be acting on the defensive. The Irish lord chief justice consistently urged a dismissals policy on Hardwicke pre-
cisely because he, too, would not accept that the constitutional |
conflict |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
was genuine: '. . it cannot |
be seriously |
said, much less proved, |
that the |
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preservation of the rights and |
liberties |
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of |
the |
people |
was the cause of |
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this |
notable |
stand, |
but |
on the contrary, |
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'tis most |
certain, |
'twas inten-ded |
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as a trial of |
their |
skill and |
strength |
to overpower |
Government |
and |
retain |
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that |
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share, |
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if not |
the |
whole |
of |
it, |
which |
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had |
been |
so |
long |
in |
their |
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possession'32 |
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Chesterfield |
|
summed |
it up: 'the |
question |
is by |
no means |
||||||||||||||||||||
how |
Ireland |
shall be governed, |
but by whom'.33 |
Dorset received |
the same |
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impression: |
|
whatever |
the |
issues |
at stake, |
the opposition's |
conduct |
showed |
||||||||||||||||||||
him |
that |
'peace |
and |
quiet |
could |
only |
be |
obtained |
by his |
[the |
primate's] |
|||||||||||||||||
being |
removed |
from |
the |
share |
he had in the administration, |
though |
no |
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crime |
(upon |
enquiry) |
could |
be imputed |
to him '.3 |
The objections |
levelled |
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at the primate - the |
faults |
of |
ambition, |
an |
excess |
of |
power, |
and |
the |
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derivation |
of that |
power |
from |
the |
arbitrary |
support |
of |
the executive |
in |
|||||||||||||||||||
the |
person |
of the lord |
lieutenant |
|
- |
were |
analogous |
to the cries later |
raised |
|||||||||||||||||||
against |
Bute.35 |
For |
although |
|
Newcastle |
feared |
the |
dispute |
|
would |
||||||||||||||||||
become |
one |
'between |
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the |
two |
kingdoms, |
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and |
for the independency |
of |
||||||||||||||||||
Ireland',3f |
that |
aim was |
not openly |
voiced |
by |
Irish |
leaders; |
the |
points |
|||||||||||||||||||
32 |
Sir William Yorke to Hardwicke, |
I2 |
Nov. I754: |
35593, fo. 54. |
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33 Chesterfield to Bishop of Waterford, |
I4 |
Nov. I754, |
in B. Dobree |
(ed.), |
The lettersof |
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Philip Dormer Stanhope,4th earl of Chesterfield(London, |
I932), |
V, |
2I25. |
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34 |
Maxwell to Holdernesse, |
i i |
Oct. I753: |
Eg[erton |
MSS, British Library] 3435, fo. 22. |
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35 |
For Armagh's sense of that analogy, cf. Primate to Bute, 23 |
June I 763: |
Btite MSS iI |
/ I18, |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cardiff Central Library. |
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36 |
Memo, |
i i |
Sept. 1754: |
32995, |
fo. 31 1 - |
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282 |
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J. C. D. CLARK |
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at issue |
were |
ostensibly |
the |
king's |
prerogative |
in the application |
of funds |
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arising from duties already voted,37 |
and |
the |
free |
discretion |
of |
the |
lord |
|||||||||||||||||||
lieutenant, as the |
king's |
representative, |
|
to choose |
ministers |
in |
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Ireland |
||||||||||||||||||
uncoerced |
by the |
Dublin |
parliament. |
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Hartington's |
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policies |
contrast |
markedly |
with |
Dorset's, |
and |
the current |
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state |
of |
|
scholarship |
would |
seem |
to |
invite |
a |
comparison |
between |
the |
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former's |
plans |
and the |
corpus |
of |
moralizing |
political |
aspirations |
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shared |
|||||||||||||||||
by Prince |
Frederick's |
opposition |
in |
the |
late |
I740s. |
Near |
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the |
end |
of |
the |
||||||||||||||
Irish |
sessions |
of |
I 755-6, |
Devonshire38 |
claimed |
that |
'by impartiality |
I have |
||||||||||||||||||
got the |
business |
of the |
session |
through', |
though |
without |
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finding |
in that |
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notion |
a permanent |
solution. |
From |
a hope |
that |
he |
might balance |
and |
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play |
off |
the |
factions, |
|
he |
had |
been |
drawn |
to |
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a |
stronger |
line: |
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'I have |
|||||||||||
therefore |
wished |
to |
get the better of and |
break |
the |
parties |
|
here.'39 |
||||||||||||||||||
Horatio |
|
Walpole |
applauded |
the |
final |
settlement |
precisely |
because |
he |
|||||||||||||||||
supposed |
that it 'must |
certainly |
crush |
the hydra |
of Party-Faction |
|
'.40 The |
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difference |
was partly |
one |
of degree, for Hartington's |
manouevres |
|
of May |
||||||||||||||||||||
I 755 to February |
I 756 were |
eventually |
|
directed |
to breaking |
parties which |
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he had |
earlier |
sought |
to suppress |
by more gentle |
means. |
|
But |
an original |
||||||||||||||||||
and |
deliberate |
policy |
lay behind |
the views |
he expressed after |
five months |
in Ireland:
my scheme is if possible to govern this country without a party and make those that receive favours from the Crown think themselves obliged to it and not to their party here: for as Lords Lieutenant are often changed, whoever has any favours to ask, endeavours to obtain it by the means of some powerful person here, and if they carry their point think themselves more obliged to the person that recommended them than they are to the government that has given it
them.41
By |
the end |
of the session |
he attached |
particular importance |
to the |
|||
Speakership, |
whose |
holder |
was at least the nominal |
head of the |
patriots: |
|||
my view is to reduce |
the power of that office42and to suffer no person or party |
|||||||
to grow so powerful |
as to presume to dictate to government, and in order to do |
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so, I would break the present |
parties and then keep a strict eye to prevent any |
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others from growing too powerful... |
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His |
opinions |
were |
vigorously seconded by those of |
his chosen |
secretary, |
|||
H. |
S. Conway, |
an efficient |
and loyal army |
officer |
who was later |
to lead |
37 Holdernesse to Albemarle, 3 Jan. I754: Eg 3457, fo. 226. For a summary of the constitutional arguments, cf. W. Hamilton, A historyof Ireland (Strabane, I 783), II, 305-8;
Kiernan, Financial administration, pp. I48-204; Johnston, Ireland, pp. I I2-26.
Lord Hartington became 4th duke of Devonshire with the death of his father on 5
Dec. |
I.755- |
|
3I Jan. I756: 32862, fo. 303. |
|
39 |
Devonshire |
to Newcastle, |
||
40 |
Horatio Walpole to Devonshire, |
I I Mar. I756: Dev I80/46. |
||
41 |
Hartington |
to Newcastle, |
4 Oct. |
1755: 32859, fo. 376. |
42 |
This he achieved. John Ponsonby, Boyle's successor as Speaker, was not appointed |
|||
a lord justice. |
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43 |
Devonshire |
to Newcastle, |
3 Feb. I756: 32862, fo. 32i. |
THE |
ENGLISH |
MANAGEMENT |
OF IRISH |
POLITICS |
283 |
|
the English |
Commons |
in the |
ministries |
of Rockingham and |
Chatham. |
|
From the outset, he anticipated |
the tactics |
which were |
to prove |
effective: |
The dangerous and disgraceful way to government is when whole parties force themselves into favour or what is equivalent into power and places; putting out and in and [?carving] for themselves; but when whole parties are made easy by favour to one or a few; or those few themselves gained, it seems to me so much clear and cheap advantage to the public, in proportion to the weight of those parties or consideration of the persons.44
After further experience of Ireland, Conway added:
for myself I hate all parties as parties; and abhor factions; my utmost wish is to see my Lord Hartington as able as I know he is willing and desirous to put an end to them all ... in any event I would not have him govern by a party; but I would not have him governed by one; and as there is one I am afraid almost big enough to dictate here, I must for his sake and theirs who mean to be his friends wish it may grow no bigger.45
The |
fission |
of |
the |
Irish |
whigs, |
in |
the |
absence |
of |
an |
|
Irish |
tory |
party, |
|||||||||||||||||
presented |
Hartington |
with |
a novel |
situation |
|
in |
which |
government |
both |
||||||||||||||||||||||
could |
not |
and |
need |
not be |
based |
on |
party |
qua whig |
and |
tory - |
as it still |
||||||||||||||||||||
was, |
until |
|
the |
I750s, |
in |
England. |
|
In |
these |
|
circumstances |
the |
primate |
||||||||||||||||||
expressed |
a vague |
sense |
that |
the |
largest |
party |
in |
the |
Dublin |
Commons |
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inherited |
some partial claim to form the |
administration;46 |
|
but |
this |
doc- |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
trine was not openly |
advanced |
or recognized, |
|
and |
Lord |
|
George |
Sackville |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
corrected |
Henry |
Pelham's |
misapprehension |
|
that |
Irish |
groupings |
pos- |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
sessed |
the |
|
coherence |
and solidity |
of |
English |
parties.47 |
Rather, |
in |
both |
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countries, |
it was |
tactical |
devices |
for |
the |
destruction |
|
of |
party |
and |
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the |
|||||||||||||||||||
executive |
rationale |
of |
disinterested |
|
government, |
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the |
official antithesis |
of |
||||||||||||||||||||||
proliferating |
|
opposition |
'patriot' |
|
rhetoric, |
|
which |
henceforth |
|
found |
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increasing |
expression |
in |
the |
complexities |
of |
high |
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politics. |
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Few |
of |
these structural |
changes |
|
were |
quickly |
appreciated. |
Fox, |
suc- |
||||||||||||||||||||||
cessively |
Hartington's |
promoter, |
|
supporter |
(via |
Kildare) |
and |
client, |
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welcomed |
an even |
balance |
of parties48 |
without |
apparently |
appreciating |
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Hartington's |
hopes |
for their |
elimination: |
to Fox, |
such |
forces |
were to be |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
manipulated |
and |
exploited, |
|
not |
destroyed. |
|
Lord |
Waldegrave |
|
had |
no |
||||||||||||||||||||
means |
of |
knowing |
the |
internal |
|
history |
of |
|
Irish |
|
affairs. |
Thus |
|
neither |
|||||||||||||||||
Waldegrave |
nor |
Fox, |
Horace |
Walpole's |
two |
main |
sources, |
was aware |
of |
||||||||||||||||||||||
the |
originality |
of |
Hartington's |
contribution. |
|
Walpole |
completely |
|
missed |
||||||||||||||||||||||
the |
significance |
of this |
lieutenancy,49 |
|
and |
later historians, |
relying |
heavily |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
4 |
Conway to Sir Robert Wilmot, i8 May I 755: |
Catton [collection, Derby Central Library, |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Irish letterbooks], |
20. |
I am grateful to Mr D. W. H. Neilson |
for permission |
to consult, and |
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quote from, the Catton collection. |
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45 |
Conway to Fox, 27 |
Nov. 1755: |
51381, |
fo. 77- |
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46 |
Primate to Andrew |
Stone, 27 |
July I752: |
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Sackville MSS, Drayton House I, no. 54. |
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47 |
Lord George Sackville to Primate, |
io June |
I752: |
Catton |
I5. |
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48 |
Fox to Hartington, |
I2 |
Nov. I755: |
Dev 330/74. |
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49 |
Walpole, |
GeorgeII, II, |
23-6, |
I83-4. |
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