The thing he proposes to buy, is what cannot be sold—<small>LIBERTY!</small> For it, he has nothing to give: every thing of value which you possess, … - Henry Grattan
" "The thing he proposes to buy, is what cannot be sold—<small>LIBERTY!</small> For it, he has nothing to give: every thing of value which you possess, you obtained under a free constitution; part with it, and you must be not only a slave but an idiot.
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About Henry Grattan
Henry Grattan (3 July 1746 – 4 June 1820) was an Irish politician and lawyer who campaigned for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century from Britain. He was a Member of the Irish Parliament (MP) from 1775 to 1801 and a Member of Parliament (MP) in Westminster from 1805 to 1820. He has been described as a superb orator and a romantic. With generous enthusiasm he demanded that Ireland should be granted its rightful status, that of an independent nation, though he always insisted that Ireland would remain linked to Great Britain by a common crown and by sharing a common political tradition.
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Alternative Names:
Rt. Hon. Henry Grattan
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Additional quotes by Henry Grattan
Let me conclude by observing, that you have the two claims before you; the claim of England to power, and of Ireland to liberty: and I have shown you, that England has no title to that power to make laws for Ireland; none by nature, none by compact, none by usage, and none by conquest; and that Ireland has several titles against the claims of England;—a title by nature, a title by compact, and a title by divers positive acts of parliament; a title by charter, and by all the laws by which England possesses her liberties;—by England's interpretation of those laws, by her renunciation of conquest, and her acknowledgment of the law of original compact.
I would now wish to draw the attention of the House to the alarming measure of drilling the lowest classes of the populace, by which a stain had been put on the character of the Volunteers. The old, the original Volunteers had become respectable, because they represented the property of the nation: but attempts had been made to arm the poverty of the kingdom. They had originally been the armed property of Ireland. Were they to become the armed beggary! Will any man defend this? These measures I lament and condemn, because they have been called the measures of the people of Ireland; but the people have not been guilty, and are incapable of being guilty of such vanities.
The Roman Catholics whom I love, and the Protestants whom I prefer, are both, I hope, too enlightened to renew religious animosity.
I do not hesitate to say I love the Roman Catholic—I am a friend to his liberty—but it is only in as much as his liberty is entirely consistent with your ascendancy, and an addition to the strength and freedom of the Protestant community.
These being my principles, and the Protestant interest my first object, you may judge that I shall never assent to any measure tending to shake the security of property in this kingdom, or to subvert the Protestant ascendancy.
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