Two Parliaments Escape Reform 217
The Irish Parliament, as already explained, represented the Anglican or Anglo-
Irish community, though in the peculiar fashion of the time, for where in England
it was estimated that 5,723 persons controlled half the seats in the House of Com-
mons, only about a hundred controlled two- thirds of those in the Commons of
Ireland. Many of these oligarchs worked habitually with the Castle—Dublin Cas-
tle, the seat of the Lord Lieutenant and the British authorities—so that the crown
was normally able, as in England, to “influence” Parliament in the desired direc-
tion. In any case, by the famous Poynings’ Law, enacted as long ago as 1494 to
control the Anglo-Irish magnates, no bill could be introduced in the Irish Parlia -
ment without the previous consent of the English Privy Council, through its agent
the Lord Lieutenant. This law was the symbol of the subordination of the Irish
Parliament, which, however, did legislate pretty freely on internal matters. Most of
the legislation against Catholics was the work of the Irish Parliament, not the
British. After the mid- century the British government usually showed more indul-
gence toward Irish Catholics than did the Irish government in Ireland.
The Anglo- Irish, like the Americans, were well satisfied with their English cul-
ture. They were aware, too, that their position as against the native Catholics de-
pended ultimately on British protection. Nevertheless, they often defended Irish
interests against the English. Though Ireland was not taxed by the British Parlia-
ment, and maintained its own army, administration, and debt, it was subject to
trade controls enacted in Britain for the protection of British merchants. These
controls forbade Ireland to export woolens and other goods that might compete, or
to levy tariffs against England, or in general to trade with Europe or the British
colonies except through intermediaries in England. Ireland lived by the export of
beef, pork, butter, and linens. There was always a balance- of- trade problem, since
landowners and pensioners resident in England took out almost £1,000,000 a year.
Despite all disadvantages, there was a considerable business growth in Ireland after
the mid- century. The Irish Parliament wished to get rid of the trade regulations
enacted in England.
The impact of the troubles with America was very direct. American non-
importation agreements, followed after the outbreak of hostilities by British em-
bargoes, caused a sudden and ruinous decline in the export of linens and provi-
sions. All classes felt the blow: landlords could not collect rents, nor farmers pay
them; weavers were thrown out of work; and merchants saw their stocks pile up
unsold in Dublin, Cork, and the depots of London. The proverbial poverty of the
Irish poor was worse than ever.
Then, in April 1778, John Paul Jones, in the United States warship Ranger,
sailed unopposed into Belfast harbor. Troops had been withdrawn for the Ameri-
can war; there were never enough, in any case, to guarantee security in wartime
against a French invasion with which it was expected that the Catholic population
would collaborate. The French did have plans for invasion, and soon financed John
Paul Jones’s small American flotilla. In Ireland people of the middling and upper
ranks rushed to defend themselves, organized neighborhood companies, procured
arms, assembled for drills, and adopted “neat and elegant” uniforms. These compa-
nies were at first exclusively Protestant. Such leading men as the Duke of Leinster
and the Earl of Charlemont accepted positions of command. The British govern-