Charles James Fox,
The Speech of the Right Hon. Charles James Fox, in the House of Commons, on the Irish Resolutions, on Thursday, May 12, 1785
London: Prinied for J. Debrett. 1785
Fox makes one of his most memorable speeches on Ireland. Here in an almost perfect uncut copy, stitched as issued. ‘I will not barter English commerce for Irish Slavery; that is not the price I would pay, nor is this the thing I would purchase’.
$200.00
Fox makes one of his most memorable speeches on Ireland. Here in an almost perfect uncut copy, stitched as issued. ‘I will not barter English commerce for Irish Slavery; that is not the price I would pay, nor is this the thing I would purchase’.
Fox makes one of his most memorable speeches on Ireland. Here in an almost perfect uncut copy, stitched as issued.
‘I will not barter English commerce for Irish Slavery; that is not the price I would pay, nor is this the thing I would purchase’.
The volume(s) measure about cm. by cm. by cm.
Each leaf measures about 230 mm. by 150 mm.
- Main description
- Condition
- Biography / Bibliography
Main description
The full title reads as follows:
The Speech of the Right Hon. Charles James Fox, in the House of Commons, on the Irish Resolutions, on Thursday, May 12, 1785, to which is added an authentic copy of the resolutions, as originally proposed and now altered by Mr. Chancellor Pitt. London: Prinied for J. Debrett, opposite Burlington House, in Piccadilly, 1785.
The volume is paginated: [4], 100 p.
The volume collates: [A]2 B-M4 O2.
With a half-title: ‘The Speech of the Right Honourable Charles James Fox.’
First Edition. With ‘Prinied’ instead of Printed on the Title page.
ESTC: T1046
Condition
The Volume is in Very Good to Fine Condition, with generally clean uncut leaves, sewn as issued, with some mild general toning.
It would be hard to find a more pleasing example of this work.
Please take the time necessary to review the photos On Our Website in order to gain a better understanding of the content and condition of the volume.
Biography / Bibliography
When Pitt brought forward his resolutions regulating the conditions of commerce between Great Britain and Ireland in the spring of 1785, Fox condemned them in a speech on February 22nd. Pitt was forced to give way to pressure from the opposition and British manufacturers and water down the concessions. But Fox and his followers were not going to let go the issue that easily.
In a speech in the British Commons on May 12, 1785 (our copy) Fox altered the angle of his attack. He softened his comments and argued that ‘it would be false and injurious to allege that the people of Ireland had forced the British Minister into a tame surrender of the manufacturers and commerce of our country’. He claimed that the new resolutions were ’the reverse of the former’ and made ‘the present system far more palatable to Englishmen’.
The Foxites indignation focused on a proposal stipulating that in order to ensure uniform commercial legislation in Britain and Ireland the Irish Parliament was required to ratify all commercial laws made in Britain. In the commons Fox said that the altered clause forced Ireland to ‘relinquish her legislative independence’ and ‘in commercial laws and external legislation be governed by Britain. According to an opponent present during the speech Fox ‘made one of the most barefaced party speeches I ever heard’ and ‘frequently set the House a laughing’. In an emotive outburst asserted: ‘I will not barter English commerce for Irish Slavery; that is not the price I would pay, nor is this the thing I would purchase’.
Pitt succeeded in forcing the measure through the commons. But Fox’s performance deserves some credit. He was undoubtedly correct in his assertions that there was a clear division between the claims of Pitt and the Irish chief secretary. Fox feared for British manufacturers and Irish liberties, and he pursued both strands of his attack at the same time. Ignoring charges of Hypocrisy, Fox boldly reconciled his views by claiming that he deserved to be called both an English and Irish patriot.
Drawn from: Charles James Fox and Ireland, Martyn J. Powell, Irish Historical Studies Vol. 33, No. 130 (Nov., 2002), pp. 169-190.
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