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278 Stephen Dunford: The Journey of The IrIsh
corrupt assembly to favour Irish interests over those of England. So not only was the Irish Parliament unrepresentative of Ireland because of its blatant blackguardism, it was equally unrepresentative because the majority of the people of the land, namely the Irish Catholics, had no voice in it.
It was the corruption, namely the purchasing and ownership of seats that the Volunteers and Patriot Party were most concerned with and set themselves to reform. To right this injustice it was decided to hold a national Volunteer Convention in Dublin which would prepare a plan and submit it to parliament to be turned into legislation.The delegates gath- ered at the Rotunda on 10 November, 1783, under the chairmanship of Lord Charlemont, the general of the Volunteers. Henry Grattan, unfortunately, was against any military body coercing the Legislature, but Henry Flood, who previous to this had fallen out with Grattan, and it is said ‘dominated the convention,’ supported their action. But this division consider- ably weakened the thrust of their demands, which were still further weakened by the fact that the delegates also split on the Catholic question-some of them demanding Catholic Emancipation, and some, including the bigoted Flood and Lord Charlemont opposing it.
Unfortunately, these divisions caused an irrecoverable split in the ranks of the Patriot members in the House, and when combined with the corrupting power of the Govern- ment who had gauged the situation correctly, and by doing so secured a majority against the resolution and defeated it. As one commentator remarked ‘the Volunteers were far too respectable and lawabiding to employ force against Parliament,’ so on their leader, Lord Charlemont’s advice, the Convention adjourned rather than precipitate a military collision with the Government.
From then on the popularity of the Patriot Party and the Volunteers quickly waned and the passion which they had heretofore generated in the country fizzled out, and with it went their power and prestige.
So the Government triumphed, and the following year, they were able, without serious difficulty, to prohibit several Volunteer meetings from taking place throughout the coun- try. As a result, only the most passionate and patriotic members remained on, after which they formed themselves into secret associations and began drilling men, both Catholic and Protestant-in preparation for a revolution.The authorities met this challenge by increasing its army to such an extent, that the numbers effectively put a stop to the preparations for this hoped for rebellion. So it came to pass that the once great Volunteer movement, having
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