men, and declared the
Union to be necessary to the peace and stability of the Empire. The
House agreed with him and negatived the amendment without a division.

It is worth noting that of Sheridan's hypothetical colleagues in office
under the Prince Regent in the Cabinet outlined in February 1789, not
one now supported him. Fox was not present, being engrossed in Lucretius
and the "Poetics" of Aristotle. He, however, informed Lord Holland that
he detested the Union and all centralized Governments, his predilection
being for Federalism.[556] The remark merits notice in view of the
concentration of power in France, and in her vassal Republics at Rome,
Milan, Genoa, and Amsterdam. That eager student of the Classics wished
to dissolve the British Isles into their component parts at a time when
the highly organized energy of the French race was threatening every
neighbouring State. While the tricolour waved at Amsterdam, Mainz,
Berne, Rome, Valetta, and Cairo, Fox thought it opportune to federalize
British institutions. The means whereby Pitt sought to solidify them are
open to question. But which of the two statesmen had the sounder sense?

On 31st January, after the receipt of the disappointing news from
Dublin, Pitt returned to the charge. Expressing deep regret that the
Irish House of Commons should have rejected the plan of a Union before
it knew the details, he proceeded to describe the proposals of the
Government. Firstly, he insisted that it was the concerted action of
invaders from without and traitors within that made the measure
necessary. He then argued that the settlement of 1782, according
legislative independence to the Irish Parliament, was far from final, as
appeared in the ministerial declarations of that time. Moreover, Irish
Bills did not become law unless sanctioned by the King and sealed by the
Great Seal of Great Britain on the advice of British Ministers, facts
which implied the dependence of the Irish Parliament. Turning to the
commercial issues at stake, he effectively quoted the statement of
Foster to the Irish House of Commons in 1785, that they would be mad to
reject the commercial proposals then offered, which, if thrown out,
would not be renewed. But now, said Pitt, they are renewed in the
projected Union; and Foster has used his influence to reject a measure
which breaks down the fiscal barriers between the two kingdoms. After
referring to the Regency Question, he pointed out the danger of Fra