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230]  ANNUAL REGISTER For the YEAR 1772.  [231

most faithfully to represent to his majesty, the unshaken loyalty and affection of the Commons of Ireland.

The Speech of the Right Honourable the Speaker of the House of Commons in Ireland, to his Excellency Lord Townshend, Lord-Lieutenant and Governor-General of Ireland, on January 1ft, 1772.

May it please your Excellency,
IN obedience to the commands of the House of Commons, I present to your excellency, for the royal assent, a bill of supply; by which, and the bill I had the honour of presenting to your excellency this session, ample provision is made for the honourable support of his majesty's government, and the security of the kingdom. The constant attention of the Commons to these two great objects, at all times, and under all circumstances, affords the most convincing proofs of their inviolable attachment to his majesty's sacred person and royal family, and of their zeal for his service; and they humbly presume to hope, that your excellency's just and favourable representation of their conduct, their duty, and their affection, on which they rely with the fullest assurance, will entitle them not only to the continuance of his majesty's countenance and protection, but to an extension of their commerce, by which alone they can entertain any reasonable expectation of being able, much longer, to support the expence of the present establishment.

The bill I have now the honour of presenting to your excellency, is entitled, "An act for granting unto his majesty, an additional duty on the several commodities, goods, and merchandizes therein mentioned; and for prohibiting the importation of all gold and silver lace, and of all cambricks and lawns, except of the manufacture of Great-Britain."

His Excellency George Lord Viscount Townshend, Lord Lieutenant-General, and General-Governor of Ireland, his Speech to both Houses of Parliament, at Dublin, on Tuesday, the 2d day of June, 1772.

My Lords, and Gentlemen, 
I Cannot put an end to this session of parliament, without returning you my particular thanks for your long and close attention to the public business. 

I congratulate you on the many excellent laws which have received the royal assent this session. The act for preventing the delays of justice, by reason of privilege of parliament, must be received as a very strong mark of your disinterested regard for the rights and welfare of your fellow-subjects. The act to prevent frauds committed by bankrupts, and that for rendering securities by mortgage more effectual, cannot fail to produce the most salutary effects, by restoring that credit and confidence amongst the people, which have been much wanted, and are essentially necessary, in this commercial country; and it was with particular satisfaction that his majesty gave his royal consent to these laws, which do honour to your deliberations, and are so wifely calculated for the public good. 

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Gentlemen of the House of Commons,
I thank you, in his majesty's name, for the supplies which you granted at the beginning of this session; they shall be faithfully applied to the support of his majesty's establishments, and to the advancement of the public service: But, although I have expectations, that the act for amending and explaining a clause in the act of tonnage and poundage, will be productive of some addition to his majesty's revenue, I think it my duty to inform you, that the arrears which had been incurred upon his majesty's establishments civil and military, before the time of your meeting, made it necessary to borrow one hundred thousand pounds, immediately after the act was passed which gave authority for that purpose; and, that sum not proving sufficient, I have, some time since, been obliged to order the further sum of one hundred thousand pounds to be raised, being the remainder of the credit entrusted to the by the that act.

So early a demand for the whole loan, gives me reason to apprehend that, unless there should be a considerable increase in his majesty's revenue, a still greater arrear will accrue before the usual time of your meeting in another session.

I do therefore most earnestly recommend it to you, to take it into your serious consideration (between this and the next session of parliament) what will be the best method of making provision for such deficiencies as arise upon the present duties, so as to guard against any farther increase of the national debt.

The additional duties given for the support of government, in aid of his majesty's hereditary revenue, are nearly the same which were granted in the year 1727, at the late king's accession. Had they been solely applied to that purpose, they would have been fully sufficient, and no debt or arrear would have been contracted or incurred; but the large expence occasioned by the many premiums, now payable under different heads, must necessarily continue to increase both; it will therefore be true policy, and worthy of your wisdom, to give particular attention to this object, and, by prudent regulations, to form and establish such a system, as will best obviate any further inconvenience, and most effectually promote every great national purpose.

My Lords, and Gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to observe, that the tumults and outrages of the lower ranks of people, which unhappily disturbed some of the northern counties in this kingdom, have now subsided. I flatter myself, that these deluded persons are fully convinced of the atrociousness of their attempts, and of the impossibility of effecting any of the purposes intended by them. I would however recommend it to such gentlemen, whose weight and influence lie particularly in those parts, to have a watchful eye over their behaviour, and to exert themselves, with the other civil magistrates, in enforcing a due obedience to the laws; and I doubt not that, by their authority on one hand, and by their justice and moderation on the other, a thorough 

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Transcription Notes:
The s's need to be replaced with f's. ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-05-12 13:15:13 Have replaced the s's with f's ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-05-22 19:24:19 talked with Emily of SI Transcription Center: transcribe as "s" --Jlch ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-05-23 08:06:45 ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-05-23 05:20:35 Reviewed and replaced a single letter "f" with a letter "s", per SI Transcription Center instructions.