GRATTAN. 201 On the 13th of November, 1781, Mr. Grattan made a motion for bringing in heads of a bill to explain, amend, and limit, an act to prevent desertion and mutiny in the army, which was seconded by Mr. Flood. The great patriotic orator thus prefaced his motion:—he said, that “in the eighteenth century, however astonishing it must appear, he rose to vindicate Magna Charta, sanctified as it was by the authority of six hundred years. He called upon gentlemen to teach British privileges to an Irish senate. He quoted the laws of England, first, because they were laws; secondly, because they were franchises, and they were the franchises of Irishmen as well as Eng lishmen. He was not come to say what was expedient, he came to demand a right; and he hoped he was speaking to men, who knew and felt their rights, and not to cor rupt consciences and beggarly capacities.” After having displayed a considerable portion of his usual eloquence, the motion was lost by a division of seventy-seven for, and one hundred and thirty-three against the motion. On the 20th of February, 1782, when the Roman ca tholic bill was in the committee, Mr. Grattan delivered a most powerful speech in favour of their withheld rights and privileges, proving in every instance, that they had behaved as a brave, loyal, and sincere people. “When this country (said he) had resolved no longer to crouch beneath the burthen of oppression that England had laid upon her; when she armed in defence of her rights, and a high-spirited people demanded a free trade, did the Ro man catholics desert their countrymen No; they were found among the foremost. When it was afterwards thought necessary to assert a free constitution, the Roman catholics displayed their public virtue; they did not en deavour to take advantage of your situation, they did not endeavour to make terms for themselves; but they entered frankly and heartily into the cause of the country; judging by their own virtue that they might depend upon your generosity for their reward. But now, after you have obtained a free trade, after the voice of the nation
