The  idea  of  coercing  the  Parliament  very  rapidly  lost
ground,  and  in  a  §hort  time  it  became  the  general  opinion,
that  Mr.  Flood's  Reform  Bill  had  been  opposed  by  many


310  RISE    AND    FALL

upon  the  principle,  that  it  was  rather  a  command  than  a
soUcitation  ;  and  that  it  would  be  prudent  to  give  the
Parliament  a  fair  trial  before  they  absolutely  condemned
them.  It  was  thought  that  the  objection  being  removed,
by  the  dissolution  of  the  National  Convention,  a  new  bi21
should  be  presented  in  the  ordinary  course  of  parlia-
mentary proceedings,  by  members  solely  in  their  civil
character,  and  the  disposition  of  the  House  and  the  re-
solves of  Government  be  thus  fairly  ascertained.
The  people  were  severed,  but  the  Government  remain-
ed compact ;  the  Parliament  was  corrupted,  the  Volun-
teers were  paralyzed,  and  the  high  spirit  of  the  nation
exhibited  a  rapid  declension.  The  jealousy  of  patriots
is  always  destructive  of  liberty.
III.  A  new  event,  however,  soon  proved  the  weak  de-
lusions of  Earl  Charlemont.  At  the  dissolution  of  the
Com^ention,  he  recommended  a  Reform  Bill  to  be  pre-
sented to  Parliament,  as  emanating  solely  from  civil
bodies,  unconnected  with  military  character.*  Every
experiment  is  silly,  where  its  failure  can  be  clearly  anti-
cipated, and  almost  every  man  in  Ireland  well  knew,  that
such  a  bill  would  be  lost  in  such  a  Parliament.  Mr.
Flood,  however,  tried  the  experiment,  and  it  failed ;  he
attempted  it  without  spirit,  because  he  was  without  con-
fidence. Mr.  Grattan  supported  it  with  languor,  because
it  was  the  measure  of  his  rival.  The  military  bill  had
been  scouted,  because  it  was  military,  and  the  civil  bill
was  rejected  because  it  was  popular.  A  corrupt  senate
never  wants  a  vicious  apology.
