ABSTRACT
T H E LE G ISL A T IV E U N IO N —CA STLEREA G H , CO RNW ALLIS A N D P IT T
T h e fact that the rebellion brought to an end the G rattan Parliament gave rise to a base calumny. Almost from the first the idea was disseminated that, in order to provide an excuse for the Union, Castlereagh and P itt ‘dragooned’ Ireland into rebellion. ‘A m ong the phantoms o f hatred and suspicion w hich arose from this field o f carnage [the rebellion] was the horrible idea that the English Governm ent had intentionally stimulated the Irish people into rebellion in order to pave the way for the U nion.’ The words are Mr. G oldwin Smith’s, and he adds: ‘N o evidence in support o f this charge can be produced.’ 1 Yet even so reputable —albeit so prejudiced-a w riter as D r. George Sigerson did not scruple to reiterate the charge. ‘The administra tors in the Castle’, he wrote, ‘w ith a view to render the Irish Parliament odious as well as contemptible, and to make Irishm en resign themselves to the idea o f the Union, then proceeded to inflame sectarian rancour and to dragoon the country into rebellion.’ 2 Some w hat less offensive but equally unfair was the accusation formulated against P itt by Mr. Lecky: ‘The steady object o f his later Irish policy was to corrupt and degrade in order that he ultimately m ight destroy the Legislature
1 Irish History and Irish Character, p. 176. 2 Two Centuries of Irish History (ed. Bryce), p. 144.
