It would be vain indeed to hope that a proposition upon which prejudices are so likely to operate, and which is so liable to misconception, should be unanimously approved. But the approbation I hope for is, that of the Parliament of Ireland, and of the intelligent part of the Public of that Country. It is with a view to this object that I think it my duty to bring this measure forward at present; not for the sake of urging its immediate adoption, but that it may be known and recorded; that the intention of the British Parliament may be known, in the hope that it will produce similar sentiments among our Countrymen in Ireland. With this view it is my intention not to go at present into any detailed statement of the plan, because should it ultimately be adopted, the minuter parts must necessarily become the objects of much distinct discussion; but to give such a general statement of the nature of the measure as will enable the House to form a correct judgment upon it. I shall therefore, Sir, before I sit down, open to the House a string of Resolutions, comprising the general heads of this plan. It will be necessary for me, for the purpose of discussing those Resolutions with regularity and convenience, to move that the House should resolve itself into a Committee. And I have already stated, that it is not my intention then to press the Committee to come to an immediate decision upon the Resolutions; but if, upon full and deliberate examination, the Resolutions which I shall have the honour to propose, and which contain as much as is necessary for an outline of the plan, shall be approved, my opinion is, that nothing can contribute more to obviate any doubts and dissatisfaction which may exist, than that Parliament should adopt those Resolutions, and that it should then humbly lay them at the foot of the Throne, leaving it to HIS MAJESTY’S wisdom to communicate them to the Parliament of Ireland, whenever circumstances should appear favourable to such a Measure. I shall therefore, Sir, proceed as shortly as I can to state to the House the nature, of the Resolutions, and of the Address which I shall propose to accompany them, if it should be the pleasure of the House to adopt them. Having now, Sir, explained to the House the mode I mean to pursue, and my reasons for persisting, under the present circumstances, in submitting this Measure to the consideration of Parliament, I will endeavour to state the general grounds on which it rests, the general arguments by which it is recommended, and to give a short view of the outline of the Plan.