Lord Carlisle, with the easy assurance of a great nobleman whose position was secure, took over the government of Ireland in the spirit of the dilettante. The chief secretary, Sir William Eden, afterwards Lord Auckland, supervised the more arduous work, while the viceroy and his wife--a daughter of the Marquis of Stafford--gratified Dublin society by patronizing the card-table and the ballroom. In 1781 the present Viceregal Lodge was purchased for the use of the Lord-Lieutenant. Lord Carlisle's common sense, however, was not nullified by his native prejudice against Ireland. He came to Dublin prepared to administer laws made in England, but it was not long before he had to confess to his masters in London that it was utterly futile to attempt to govern Ireland by English-made laws. This testimony from a man whose honour was never doubted had enormous effect in winning for the Irish Parliament the famous Declaration of Independence, though it would not have been {183} accomplished had not men like Henry Grattan and Flood devoted themselves to it. Public opinion in Ireland gave Grattan the full credit for the victory, and some enthusiastic patriots brought forward a resolution in the Irish House of Commons with the object of securing for Grattan and his heirs the viceregal desmesne in Phoenix Park. This was very properly rejected, and nothing more was heard of the matter. [Sidenote: The Volunteer movement] The rise of the Irish Volunteer movement during the viceroyalty of Lord Buckinghamshire had created a new problem in Irish affairs. The Government in London, not understanding the crisis, magnified the Volunteers into a national army preparing to drive the English into the sea, and successive viceroys, well aware that the army in Ireland was in a disorganized and undisciplined state, regarded the Volunteers with a dismay their dignity compelled them to disguise. For the time being Henry Grattan was a greater power than the Lord-Lieutenant, and whenever the Irish statesman appeared at the Castle he was received with a favour that plainly indicated the respect he had gained in official circles. Grattan represented in his person the new Ireland. He was not a patriot in the sense the word is used nowadays; he did not fight the battles of all Ireland or advocate principles for the benefit of the whole country. He was the representative of the Anglo-Irish class which had risen to place and power by reason of its English origin.