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 GRATTAN. 257 and intemperance of his language, and a disorderly extra dissertation on the measures of the lord-lieutenant, which brought up Mr. Grattan thus in reply:—“It seems, the right hon. baronet is ignorant of the only subject he is supposed to be acquainted with, order; he talks of scur rilous language; his language and epithets return on himself: but a man's language is of little moment, it is his conduct that is essential : what shall we say of the conduct of that man, who voted in one session for a pen sion bill, and against it in the next; of that man, who voted for a place bill in one session, and voted against it in the next; of that man, who voted for a committee to proceed towards impeachment against the present minis try for the selling peerages, and the very next session votes for thanks to that very miuistry : What does he think of such an apostate * The first bill for the emancipation of the catholics was brought forward in the Irish parliament in 1792, which Mr. Grattan supported, although not officially called upon by them until December 1794, when they unanimously committed their cause into his hands, and in both the Irish and the English parliaments, from that period until the time of his decease, he continued their steady, inflex ible, and uncompromising advocate, assisting them in pri vate with his counsel and advice, and in public devoting to their cause the stupendous powers of his oratory. The society of United Irishmen of Dublin, of 1794, had, amongst their publications on the subject of parlia mentary reform, strongly inculcated the necessity of an nual parliaments and universal suffrage, which Mr. Grattan, in his speech upon Mr. Ponsonby's bill, most severely reprobated, and thus exposed to derision and scorn:- “To destroy the influence of landed property is the object of individual representation, but i t s immediate effect would b e t o extinguish the people. The rich might for a time make a struggle; they might i n some places buy a mob, who b y such a plan would b e a l l electors; they might beset the hustings with their retainers, who WOL. II. s