CAULFIELD. order for consultation with them as to the measures which would be most likely to satisfy the wishes of their country; and on their return, and previously to the arrival of Earl Fitzwilliam, it was confidently signified, that the fatal abrogation of the remaining penal laws against the catho- lies, and a moderate reform in parliament, should be adopted;-measures which would at once have sileaced all clamour and calmed every discontent. Upon the first meeting, of parliament, Mr. Grattan, in his place, an- nounced the objeets of Lord Fitzwilliam's mission; and shortly afterwards moved an address to the lord-lientenant, and obtained from parliament, as a proof of national gra- titude, a vote of three millions in support of the war against 447 France. Several members, and especially Sir Lawrence Parsons, decidedly rejected to the precipitaney with which the house was about to pass this measure, and advised them to defer the gift until they were sure of the boon for which it was given; but his objections were treated as illiberally suspicious, and were borne down by the popu- larity of the new chief governor, and the implicit reliance placed in the sincerity of the British cabinet. The vote therefore passed; but before it had finally proceeded through both houses, a rumour prevailed that Earl Fitz- william was to be recalled, for that he had greatly exceeded his instructions in the pledges held out to the Irish parlia ment; and this rumour was very speedily verified by the publication of a correspondence on the subject between Earl Fitzwilliam and Lord Carlisle; and he was actually recalled. The joy of the country was suddenly ehanged to astonishment and despondency. The day of his depar- ture was a day of sorrow in the metropolis; and his pro- gress to the water side had all the appearance of a funereal procession. Lord Camden came as his successor, with Mr. Pelham as secretary, to perform the ungracious office of refusing all the measures held out for his predecessor. He was greeted by the populace with marked indignation. Mr. Grattan now, with his friends, returned to the ranks
