e to the Government. This felicitous state of
things was suddenly interrupted by one of those incidents which no
foresight could have anticipated, and which, absolutely trivial in
itself, was magnified at once, by the jealous spirit of patriotism, into
a violation of the solemn compact that had just been ratified on both
sides of the Channel. An Irish cause was brought into an English court
of justice, was heard in the ordinary way, like any other cause, without
reference to the competency of the tribunal before which it was tried,
and decided, as a matter of course, by Lord Mansfield. The remedy for
this contravention of the notorious settlement of the judicial
independence of Ireland was plain. The decision was waste paper: it
could not be carried into effect. The Irish might have rested satisfied
with the power which they possessed of nullifying and rejecting the
authority of the English Judge. But the delays of the Cabinet awakened
their suspicions, and they apprehended, not, perhaps, very unnaturally,
that if they suffered this single case of illegal interference to pass
without some decisive declaration on the part of the English
Legislature, it would be wrested into a precedent for further and still
more dangerous innovations. Mr. Grattan held this opinion also, but
trusted implicitly to the honour of the English Parliament for a measure
that should fully set at rest all uneasiness on the subject; while Lord
Temple was so impressed with the propriety of adopting such a measure
that he drew up the Bill of Renunciation, which, after much superfluous
discussion, ultimately passed into a law.

The case itself, however, lay in the narrowest compass, and admitted of
the simplest solution. The Irish cause which had occasioned all this
trouble, and menaced so seriously the tranquillity of the country, had
been entered for hearing _before_ the operation of the Repeal, but
delayed by some accident until a subsequent term. The reason why it was
not dismissed when it came before the court was, that the time had
elapsed for pleading against the competency of the court, pleadings
having already begun upon the matter of the suit. The parties could not
plead to the writ--to use the legal phraseology--because they had
already pleaded in chief. The only time when, according to the practice
of the court, the competency of the court could be objected to was when
the cause was entered; but at that time the objection did not exist, and