[PDF]Debates relative to the affairs of Ireland : in the years 1763 and 1764

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DEBATES

RELATIVE TO THE

Affairs of Ireland,

In the Years 1763 and 1764.

TAKEN B V

A MILITARY OFFICER.

Sit mihi fas audita loqui. Virg.
What I have hcard^ pcr?jut me to relate.

To which is added.

An E N Q^ U I R Y

How far the Restrictions laid upon the
Trade of Ireland, by Britijh A6ls of
I'arliament, are a Benefit or Difadvantage to
the Britijh Dominions in general, and to En-
gland in particular, for whofe feparate Advan-
tage they were intended.


ExiraQs of fuch Parts of the Statutes as lay the Trade of
Ireland ui.der thofe Reflridioiis.

VOLUME II.


L'O N D O N

IVC.CCC.LXVI.


DEBATES

Relative to the

Affairs di IRELA N D.


MONDAY, Nccember 21, 1763.
TWENTY-SECONn DAY,

A Report being received from a Commit-
tee, relative to feveral Sums granted,
and to be granted for improving an inland
^»^avigation, the Houfe again refolved itfelf
into a Committee of the whole Houfe, to
^•onfider of the Supplies and the Speech ;
when the H — ble Mr B. — M^^ fpokd to
the following pfFed: :


^ ;


The H--.bIe Mr B^ M-,
My own Obfervation, Sir, as well as what
1 have heard in this Houfe, relative to the dif-
treifed State of this Kingdom, has determined
gie to do all in my Power to prevent the cor-
rupt or injudicious Difpofal of public Money.
It is with great Pleafure that I obferve a Dif<-
pofition in the Houfe not to grant Money for
the Commencementof new Works, pretend-
(jd to be of public Utility j but, I am forry to
fey^ that if the Works that are already begun

6 4 2 ^Q


40,6 Deflates r^Jathe^ to the ■ [Dj^V ^%^'

are carried on with an Expence proportioned
to that of the Part already executed, they will
coft us too dear j for no Advantage, which it
is pretended they will produce, can counter-
ballance the Evil of Bankruptcy, which, X
think, they muft inevitably bring upon us.
A Sum of 5000/. is demanded of us for one
Part of the Shafvwn, and nolefs than 50,000/.
is faid to be necelTary to compleat that Under-
taking, upon which we have expended
76,000/. already , and though there are par-
ticular Duties eftablifhed into a regular Fund,
for improving the Inland Navigation of this
Country, as being the principal ObjecfV of Na-
tional Attention, yet the parliamentary Aids
that have been granted for this Purpofe are
immenfe : No lefs. Sir, than 233,000/. has
been appropriated to that Fund fmci the
Year 1753, from which the Public has not
hitherto received the leafl Advantage. The
Undertakerr are, indeed, as liberal of their
Prpmifes as we have been of our Money ;
thefe cunning Alchymifts are continually tel-
ling us, that the Moment of Projedlion is at
hand, and that the Treafures of factitious
Gold will be foon poured into our Lap ; we
have always been difappointed, yet we flill
belif ye j and though thofe who pretend to

enrich


Day XXII.] JfairsofluELkKT>. 407
enrich us, are every Day enriching themfelves
at our Expence, we blindly acquiefce in the
Cheat, and make the Lofs we have incurred
already a Reafon for incurring greater. We
have long believed that the next Seflions will
fee a Navigation eftabliflied through the
whole Interior of the Kingdonii, by a Varie-
ty of Schemes, which are ftill kept on foot
with the public Money ": But furely. Sir, it is
very ftrange that Experience itfclf fhould not
convince us that thefe Schemes are impradi-
Gable, and it is ftrange that we ihould not yet
have difcovered that the greater Part of them
are unnecefTary. What are the Commodities
that this Inland Navigation is to tranfport ?
Have we any Towns on the Banks, or near
the Branches of thefe Canals, that can fupply
VefTels with Manufadures, or any other Ar-
ticle of Commerce, in fuch Quantities as will
make the Benefit of Navigation equal to the
Expence ? Our Roads are good, Sir, La-
bour is cheap, and Land-Carriage may be pro-
cured for fuch Commodities as we have to
fend from one interiour Town to another, at
a very eafy Expence ; at an Expence much
lefs than will be necclTary to keep the Rivers
navigable, that we are labouring to make fo ;
fuppofing we fliould fucceed, new formed
D d 3 Chan-


4o8 Debates relative to the [Day XXII.

Channels are liable to be obftruded by the
falling in of Banks, and the rufliing down of
Floods : The Stream muft, in many Places,
be raifed by Locks and Flood-Gates, which
are Structures of great Expence, and, by be-
ing alternately wet and dry, are fubjedt to
fpeedy decay, and, when all is done, as no
one Houfe will be able to load a VeiTel, its
Departure muft be delayed till a Freight caa
be gleaned up from feveral, fo that the Con-
veyance of the Commodity would not only be
more expenfive, but lefs expeditious than by
Land, except only in Turf and Coals. With
Refpedt to the Conveyance of thefe Ar-
ticles to Diiblm^ Water- Carriage will be an
Advantage, and where it is to be appropria-
ted to them, and there is a rational Profped:
of Succefs, at a reafonable Expence, I think
the Undertaking fliould be encouraged. Our
firft Confideration certainly fliould be, whe-
ther the Towns between which this Commu-
nication is to be opened, have any Thing to
communicate, whereas we have only coniidered
whofe Eftate fliould be improved, and, at the
fame Time that we have fquandered immenfe
Sums in fome Counties, we have not laid out
a Penny in other?, where there were Profpecfts
of greater Advantage, and more eafy Succefs.

Be-


Day XXII. Affairs of Ireland. 409

Befides, Sir, the very Method of obtaining
Money for thefe Purpofes feems to be inequi-
table: Why fhould the Counties of Ferma-
nagh and Cd'Van be taxed, to make Experi-
ments upon a Piece of Inland Navigation in
Kilken?2ey ? If we do appropriate any Sum
to thefe Experiments, let it be by an Addi-
tion to the appropriated Duties, and not by e-
normous Aids of Parliament. The Duties
now appropriated to the Inland Navigation of
this Kingdom, amount to about 9,000 /. a
Year, and, if we lay fome additional Tax up-
on Luxury, that will produce about 6,000/.
a Year more, the Fund will be quite fufficient
to defray the Expences of all Works that may
rationally be undertaken on this Account. I
think an additional Tax upon Cards would
raife 3,000/. of the Money, and playing at
Cards is not only a Luxury, but a Luxury that
is too frequently pufhed into a Vice, the moft
odious and pernicious that has ever contami-
nated the Mind, or difturbed Society. The
prefent Tax upon this Article brings in 3000/.
\ a Year, and, I am very confident, that if it
was double, there would not be one Card lefs
ufed than at prefent,

Dd4 Mr


410 Debates relative to the [Day XXII.

Mr R — FitZ'G — perfedly agreed with
Mr M — , and propofed a Tax upon Dogs,
which, he faid, would contribute to the Pre-
fervation of the Game, and raife a confidera-
ble Sum befides, as thofe who kept Dogs for
Pleafure would chearfuUy pay the Tax which
fecured their Sport.

Sir JR- D-.

There is a charitable Inftitution in this Ci-
ty, Sir, for which I will venture to follicit a
parliamentary Aid, even under the fulled
Convidion of the Truth of what has been
faid in this Houfeagainft fuch Aids. The late
moft eminent and excellent Dean of St Pa-
trick'Sy Dr Jonathan Swifty left, by his Will,
a certain Sum to ere6t and endow an Hofpital
for the Cure and Maintenance of Ideots and
Lunatics : I fliould think it Prefumption in
me to expatiate on the Propriety of this In-
ftitution, or by any Attempt at pathetic Elo-
quence, to intereft you for the Objeds it was
intended to relieve. The greatefl: poflible
Proof of its Propriety is the Charadler of its
Founder j a Man who was the Objedl of u-
niverfal Admiration and Reverence, for his

Wit


Day XXIL] Affairs of Irei^a^d. 411

Wit, his Judgment, and his public Spirit ;
xvho knew Mankind as Solomon did vege-
table Nature, from the Cedar in Lebanon to
the Hyfop upon the Wall, and who made the
Foundation of this Charity the laft and moft
folemn Adt of a Life that was fpent in doing
good, not by the Indulgence of a mere In-
ftind, in an undiftinguifliing Bounty, nor with
the external Graces of Compaffion, that follicit
the Tribute of Praife, but upon a fteady and
rational Principle of Piety to God, and Bene-
ficence to Man. For thofe whom Swift dif-
tinguifhed, as having a fuperior Claim to our
Pity, it cannot be necefTary to plead with
you : To re-phce an Ideot, or a Lunatic, in
the Scale of rational Beings, is little lefs than
to create a Man ; and to fupport thofe who
are incurable, where they will neither fufFer
corporal Mifery themfelves, nor inflid it upon
others, is, at leaft, equal to any Work of
Charity in our Power, with Refpedt to Per-
fons differently afflicfted : I therefore move
that it be a Refolution of this Committee that
the Sum of 1000/. be granted towards the
Support of St Patrick's Hofpital, for Ideots
and Lunatics.

The


412 Debates relative to the [Day XXII.

The Queftion being put, it paffed in the
Affirmative.

The Committee alfo granted 1 500 /. to
Meffieurs Nejbit and Company, for encourag-
ing the Whale Fifhery, on the North Weft
Coaft oi Ireland y and the manufacturing tlie
Bone and Blubber.

In the private Committee that had been
appointed to examine the Petition the follow-
ing Particulars appeared, which, though not
reported, are too curious to be fiippreired.

In the Year 1736, one Chaplain^ 2l Lieu-
tenant in his Majefly's Forces, quartered at
Gibraltar, who had been formerly employed
in the Greenland Fifhery, was informed by
Captain Nejbit, who was alfo quartered in
that Garrifon, that in the Spring of the Year
many Whales frequented the North Weft
Coaft of Ireland, from 'Tyland-head in the
County of Donegal, to the Bay of Sligo j
Chaplain, being an enterprizing Man, fold his
Commiffion foon after he had received this
Information, and came to Ireland, with a
View to fifh for thefe Whales -, he, accord-
ingly.


Day XXII.] Afairs of Ik'e land, 41 |.

ingly, procured two Boats to be made upon
the Model of thofe ufed in the Gf'eenland
Seas, and furniihed hiinfelf with Harpoons,
and other Inftruments, but he was able to
kill only two Whales in eight Years. As
there were Whales in great Plenty on the
Coaft, he imputed his bad Succefs to the
Want of a better Apparatus, which, not be-
ing able to purchafe, he applied to Parlia-
ment for aid, and obtained a grant of 500 /.
but dying before he received it, it was never
paid. After his death his Brother purfued
his Projed, but with no better Succefs, for
eight Years more, during which Time, he
alio killed two Whales, and then died.

' In the Year 1759, Meffieurs Thomas^ and
Andrew Nejbit, Gentlemen who lived near
Killibegs^ on the Sea Coaft of the County of
Do7iegal, and who were very fkilful in the
Herring and other Fifheries, carried on there,
feeing Whales in great Numbers, revived
Chaplain's Undertaking, and took for granted,
that he mifcarried either for want of Money,
or Perfcverance. In this Projed they en-
gaged MefTrs Be?ifo?i, and IriviUy Gentlemen
of Credit and Property,,^ and procured a Ship
Jp be fitted qp in the Greenland Way, with

five


414 Dehfes relative to the [Day XXIT.

five Boats of a new Conftrudion : They
alfo procured Harpooners and other Perfons,
experienced in the Greenland Filliery, and in
the Year 1760, they began to fifh ; but
though they faw many Whales they were
able to kill none. Mr T^hcmas Nejbit after-
wards killed one large Whale with his own
Hand, and as there was no Manufactory for
the Bone or Blubber in this Kingdom, he fent
it to London,

After procuring fome Alterations and Im-
provements to be made in his Ship, he made
another Attempt with five of the ableft and
moft fkilful Harpooners he could get, and
eight Boats extremely well provided, yet not
a fingle Whale was killed that Seafon, though
great Plenty were feen, and Opportunities of
ftriking them often offered.

At length the Company having expended
3000/. in the Undertaking, it was difcovered
that the Method of Fidiing, and Harpoon-
ing in Greenland^ would not do in thefe Seas.
In Greenland^ the Water being always calm,
the Boats are not agitated, fo that the Har-
pooner is more fure of his ftroke ; and the
Whale frequently bends his Head downward

in


Day XXII.] Affairs of Irf. land, 415

in order to plunge under Water, which the
Fifliers call Backing, and which, ftraining
and tightening the Skin, the Harpooner feiz-
es that Inftant to ftrike, and the Harpoon
enters deeply, which it would not do if the
Skin hung loofe over the Blubber. In thefe
Seas, on the contrary, the Water is always
rough, either by Wind, or a Swell, fo that
the Harpooner can take no Aim, and the
Whale feldom backing, but lying extended
on the Surface of the Water, with the Skin
loofe and flaccid over the Fat, the Harpoon,
though it reaches him with confiderable
force, does not enter. Mr Nejbit^ therefore,
in order to give force to the Harpoon, and
alfo to the Lances, which are difcharged at
thp Fifh every Time he rifes after the Har-
poon has entered, contrived to difcharge both
the Harpoon and Lance, from a fwivel Gun,
which fu cceeded fo well, that in the Year
1762, the Company killed three Whales,
two of v/hich were between 60 and 70 Feet
long, and the other above fifty, and, in this
Year 1763, they have killed two Whales of
a large Size, which is more than many Ships
have done, that have been fitted out for
Greenland at a vaft Expence.


la


4i6 Debates relative to the [Day XXII,

In this State of the Undertaking, they pe-
titioned the Parliament for Aid, and this
Committee granted them lOoo/. as mention-
ed above.

It is to be obferved, that in the Sea off
the Coaft of Donegal^ there are, befides the
Wh?!es, that yield only Bone and Blubber,
the Finn-iifli, the Porpoife, the Sun-fi{h, and
the Spermi-ceti-Whale, befides Seals. The
Teeth of the Sperma-ceti Whale, are fhaped
like a Cucumber, and are about 1 8 Inches
long J they are as white as Ivory, take a fine
polidi, and make Very beautiful and durable
Handles for Knives and Forks. The Sun-
fifli is valuable for the Oil that is extraded
from the Liver, each Fifh yielding about a
Ton j they are to be found all the Year, and
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