agents of the government, and possibly by Castlereagh himself, which they would not venture to lay before the Lord-lieutenant.  It appears, however, from the papers which have recently come to light, that the prevalent belief of the Union having been mainly effected by a lavish expenditure of money is not well-founded; still it is certain that some money was expended in this way.”  Besides actual payment for votes, he adds that a very large sum—­a hundred thousand pounds—­is said to have been expended in the purchase of seats, the holders of which were, of course, to vote against the measure; and names Lord Downshire as subscribing L5000, Lord Lismore and Mr. White L3000 each, while the government funds were chiefly expended “in engaging[139] young barristers of the Four Courts to write for the Union.”  But, even if it were true that corruption was employed to the very utmost extent that was ever alleged by the most vehement opponent of the measure and of the government, it may be feared that very few of the last century Irishmen would have been so shocked at it as to consider that fact an objection to the Union, especially, it is sad and shameful to say, among the upper classes.  The poorer classes, those who could render no political service to a minister, as being consequently beneath official notice, were unassailed by his temptations; but the demoralization of the men of rank and property was almost universal, and few seats were disposed of, few votes were given, except in return for favors granted, or out of discontent at favors refused.  And it cannot be denied that the tendency to political jobbery had not been diminished by the concessions of 1782, if, indeed, it may not be said that the increased importance which those concessions had given to the Irish Parliament had led the members of both Houses to place an increased value on their services.  Certainly no previous Lord-lieutenant had given such descriptions of the universality of the demands made on him as were forwarded to the English government by those who held that office in the sixteen years preceding the outbreak of the Rebellion.

It is remarkable that the transaction which, as has been said before, may be conceived to have first forced on Pitt’s mind the conviction of the absolute necessity of the Union—­namely, the course pursued by the Irish Parliament on the Regency Bill—­bore a close resemblance to that which, above all other considerations, had made the Scotch Union indispensable, namely, the Act of Security passed by the Scottish Estates in 1703, which actually provided that, on the decease of Queen Anne without issue, the Estates “should name her successor, but should be debarred from choosing the admitted successor to the crown of England, unless such forms of government were settled as should fully secure the religion, freedom, and trade of the Scottish nation."[140] The Scotch Estates, therefore, had absolutely regarded the possible separation of the two kingdoms