when the cause came on for hearing it was too late. Lord Mansfield took
the cause without any reference to the special circumstances attending
it, which he was not judicially called upon to notice. He acted strictly
on the practice of the court; and, although it was held by some of the
statesmen of the day that he ought to have taken a more enlarged view of
so peculiar a case, it was the opinion of Mr. Fox that he could not have
acted otherwise than he did. At all events, the case could never have
been drawn into a precedent. The real point for consideration, upon
which Mr. Fox--who had himself framed the Act of Repeal--entertained
some doubts, was whether the Repeal was sufficiently minute and
comprehensive in its scope, to extinguish the right of appeal in Irish
cases, by writs of error, to the King's Bench of Great Britain. But this
point was not raised, on its special merits, by Lord Mansfield's
decision, which involved nothing more than a technical question arising
out of the practice of the court. It was wise to allay the feverish
anxiety of the people, by removing any obscurity that hung over the
settlement of the separate judicature of Ireland; but, such being
clearly the intention of the Imperial Legislature, it is difficult to
understand why it should have entailed so much clamour and
misunderstanding.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, Jan. 8th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

This morning I received your letter and despatch of the 3rd and
4th instant, and soon after, the enclosed note from Townshend.
The general idea is, that they have received the exceedingly bad
news of their negotiation being totally at an end; and the style
of this letter seems, I must own, to confirm it. Before I close
this letter, which shall not be till to-night, I shall most
probably know with certainty. If it should be so, I see nothing
in Lord Shelburne's conduct throughout this business, which can
prevent me from being convinced that he has foreseen this
conclusion, that the _acquiescence_ is to be ascribed to that
foresight, and to an intention of pledging you to some very
strong measure to be immediately proposed to Ireland--of men,
money, or some other support; and that his language about peace
was calculated for no other purpose than that of making to
himself a merit which he had not, and inducing me to pledge you
with less difficulty t