LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAJGN /\ • • 941.5 B641 The person charging this material is re- sponsible for its return to the library from which it was withdrawn on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN AU8 HIS^I NOV 8 1982 NOV 28 8W SEP 1 198l> FEB 1 1993 j/^N 1 (I 100^ H61 — O-I096 r^/ IRELAND AS A KINGDOM AND A COLONY. IRELAND, AS A KINGDOM AND A COLONY OR A HISTORICAL, POLITICAL, AND MILITARY SKETCH OF ITS STATE, PREVIOUS TO, AND SINCE THE INVASION UNDER HENRY THE SECOND. BY r ''BRIAN BOROHME THE YOUNGER." LONDON : C. DOLMAN, Gl, NEW BOND STREET. DUBLIN : S. J. MACHEN, 28, WESTMORELAND STREET. 1843. Printed by Thortias 1. White, 65, Fleet Street, Dublin. 3>A { INTRODUCTION. The enlightened English, of every sect, acknowledge, that the Irish have always been an oppressed and injured people, they value their generous efforts in the great cause of civil and religious hberty, and they wish for the establishment of a lasting friendship between the two countries, whose energies and industry should always render them emulous of each other, but who have been made almost enemies by the detestable policy of interested and corrupt statesmen. Reason, which these statesmen despise, and history that teaches them a lesson they reject, in vain point out the necessity of a more liberal poUcy. It is only by looking back at the past we can hope to direct the future. It is only by the detail of events we can expect to disperse the clouds of prejudice that obscure the understanding. In drawing aside the dark veil that concealed the revolting and terrific picture of Ireland's misfortunes, the intention is not to irritate the Irish people, but to enhst in their cause the sympathies of the wise and the virtuous. If the author succeeds he will be amply rewarded by the approbation of his countrymen. 436856 CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Ireland at an early period— Funeral rites — Seat of learning during the dark ages — Ancient weapons and gold ornaments — Ancient music and poetry — Arrival of the Milesians — Irish Alphabet — Round Towers — Ancient Mines — Ogham characters — The Pentarchy — Royal authority — Tyranny of the Chiefs — The Irish ignorant of Diplomacy — Mac Murrough applies for aid to Henry II. — English children sold as slaves — MacMurrough does homage to Henry — He raises an army to invade Ireland — Strong- bow, Earl of Pembroke — Want of discipline amongst the Irish — Strong- bow consents to aid Mac Murrough— Mac Murrough returns to Ireland, p. I CHAPTER II. Arrival of the invaders — They establish themselves on the coast — Pope grants a Bull to Henry — Death of Mac Murrough — Want of union amongst the Irish — Henry lands in Ireland — Enters into a compact with the Irish chiefs — Conquest of Ireland refuted, . - p. 21 CHAPTER III. Fealty of the chiefs to Henry — Meaning of the word conquest — Chai-tcr granted by Henry the Third — Resistance of the Irish hierarchy — Ireland in a military view impregnable — Henry the Second violates the compact — Penal statutes — Henry reinforces his army — Poyning's law, p. 3 1 CHAPTER IV. Accession of Elizabeth — Issues a proclamation against the Catholics — Embarrassment of Elizabeth — She arrests the Irish prelates — Hostilities against the English by O'Neil — Charter of O'Neil, king of Ulster — The Queen's letter — Proclamation forbidding the Irish to serve their chiefs — O'Neil's answer to the commissioners — O'Neil treacherously murdered — Penal statutes — Elizabeth excommunicated — Lord Mount joy ap- VI CONTENTS. pointed Lord Deputy — War of extermination — Queen's instructions — INIountjoy's report to Elizabeth — Murder of an Irishman not capital — Irish prisoners tortured in the tower, .... p. 47 CHAPTER V. Death of Ehzabeth — Her character — Mary, Queen of Scots — Her treat- ment by Ehzabeth. - - - --.-p. 62 CHAPTER VI. Tranquillity interrupted in the reign of Charles I Rebellion of Sir Phe- lim O'Neil — Barbarous cruelties — Cromwell — His cruelties — Puts the garrison of Wexford to the sword — Banishes the survivors to Connaught — Further cruelties committed by his army — Battle of the Boyne — Des- peration of the Irish — Siege of Limerick, 1690, - - - p. 72 CHAPTER VIL King William returns to England — Siege of Limerick, ann. 1691 — Treaty of Limerick — Violation of the treaty — Commerce restricted — Mines of Ireland — Woollen manufactory — Assumption of the English parliament, p. 84 CHAPTER VIII. The Irish vilified — Landlords and tenants — Fertility of the soil — Population Early marriages — State of Ireland previous to the general arming — Edu- cation of the people — American revolution — Speech of Lord Chatham — Venality of the Irish parliament— Origin of the Volunteers — Volunteers vilified — War between France and England — France prepares to invade Ireland— Generous conduct of the Irish nation — Volunteers — Religious disputes cease — Determination not to use British manufactures — Great Volunteer demonstration in Belfast — Resolutions entered into at Armagh — Dungannon meeting — Resolutions at Dungannon — Quarrel with Por- tugal — Mr. Fitzgibbon, - - - - - - -p. 96 CHAPTER IX. Second Dungannon Meeting — Determined conduct of the Irish — Quarrel between Grattan and Flood —The Volunteers demand Free Trade — Eng- land conciliates the Irish people — Character of Grattan — Vaccilating conduct of Lord Charlomont — His character — Volunteers in 1782 — Meeting of Delegates at the Rotunda — Procession to the Rotunda, p. 122 CONTENTS. VU CHAPTER X. Mr. Pitt's duplicity — The Earl of Bristol — Sinister conduct of government Want of decision in Lord Charlemont — Bill for reform, 1783 — Mr. Fitzgibbon's speech — Reproved by Mr. Curran — Bill rejected, p. 139 CHAPTER XI. Indignation of the people — Another reform bill rejected — The Volunteers disperse — Mr. Pitt in 1784 — Character of Mr. Pitt — Prosperous state of Ireland — Meeting in Dublin to petition the king — Mr. Pitt's answer — Some Volunteers continue to meet — Duty on Irish produce — Servile con- duct of Fitzgibbon — Duke of Buckingham appointed Viceroy — The Irish Parliament address the Prince of Wales — The Prince's answer — The Union suggested by Mr. Dundas — Origin of the Irish Rebellion — Appli- cation to the Catholics — Proceedings to produce rebellion — Mr. Duigenan — Insidious policy of Mr. Pitt — Meetings in the North, - p. 1 5 1 CHAPTER Xn. Effects of the French Revolution Measures to promote the Union. — Lord Fitzwilliam appointed Viceroy Enthusiasm of the People Mr. Beresford — A Pluralist — His Dismissal. — Resignation of Earl Fitz- william, p. 171 CHAPTER Xm. Origin of the United Irish — Lord Edward Fitzgerald — Fatal consequences of Lord Fitzwilliam's recall — Arrival of Lord Camden — Riots — Mr. Fitzgibbon, the Irish Chancellor — Lord Camden — His government — The Catholics and Protestants unite — Mr. Pelham — Strong measures Origin of the Orangemen — The Press — Energies beyond the law — Major Sirr — Spies and Informers — Lord Castlereagh — His Character — Arrest of the leaders of the United Irish — Partial Justice — Orange atrocities Necessity of Revolt to produce a Union — Lord Carhampton — He with- draws the Dublin Garrison — Order under the sign manual — Lord Car- hampton resigns the command of the Army— Sir R. Abercrombie ap- pointed to succeed him — He resigns — The United Irish send an Agent to France— The French offer a large force — Refused — The United Irish encouraged to believe aid unnecessary — Reynolds, the informer— Military men appointed Magistrates — Martial law declared— Prisoners tortured Arrest of Lord Edward Fitzgerald— System of terror — Lord Edward Fitzgerald dies of his wounds — General Lake declares martial law in the ^'^'•tl^' p. 180 Vlll CONTENTS. CHAPTER XTV. Plan to surprise Dublin — Precautions to prevent success — Outbreak of the Rebellion — Battle of Naas— Torture to force confession — EfiFects of civil war — Politics preached from the pulpit — Rebels surprise Prosperous — Put the garrison to the sword — Royal troops under Major Foot defeated — King's troops routed at Gorey — Colonel "WaJpole killed — General Dundas defeated — Captain Armstrong, the informer— Execution of the Messrs. Shears — Prisoners sent to Prussia — Battle of Ross — Death of Lord Mountjoy — Burning of Scullabogue — Battle of Arklow — Defeat of the rebels — Determined conduct of Colonel Skerrit — Death of Father Murphy — Battle of Ajitrim — Rebels take the town — Rebels defeated — False report of religious warfare — Consequences of these reports — Courts mar- tial— Battle of Vinegar Hill, p. 205 CHAPTER XV. Cruelties continued — The leaders enter into terms with government — Breach of faith of ministers — Landing of the French at Killala — Joined by the peasantry — Race of Castlebar — State of Ireland after the insur- rection — First intimation of intended union— Lord-lieutenant's message — Debate on the address — Incompetency of the Irish Parliament — Sir Lawrence Parsons — Scotch and Irish Unions compared — Lord Perry's opinion of the Union — Extensive bribery — Lord Castlereagh proposes the Union — Lord Clare's speech, - - - - - p. 220 CHAPTER XVI. Compensation to Proprietors of Boroughs — Ireland declared a Colony — House of Commons surrounded by military — Tithes — Inefficiency of the Protestant Church — The Irish Protestants — Means to force the Union — Conclusion, .........p. 232 V* IRELAND, AS A KINGDOM AND A COLONY. CHAPTER I. Ireland at an early period — Funeral rites — Seat of learning during the dark ages — Ancient weapons and gold ornaments — Ancient music and poetry — Arrival of the Milesians — Irish Alphabet — Round Towers — Ancient Mines — Ogham characters — The Pentarchy — Royal authority — Tyranny of the Chiefs — The Irish ignorant of Diplomacy — Mac Murrough applies for aid to Henry H. — English children sold as slaves — MacMurrough does homage to Henry — He raises an army to invade Ireland — Strong- bow, Earl of Pembroke — Want of discipline amongst the Irish — Strong- bow consents to aid Mac Murrough— Mac Murrough returns to Ireland. The Irish People, suffering for many ages under the Ireland at oppression attendant on an armed occupation of their ^ f*!"^^ . . . , period. island, reviled and held up to surrounding nations as robbers and barbarians, reduced by their rulers to a degrading and humiliating state of inferiority in power and in commerce, reproached with the want of civilization, taunted with their state of dependence, naturally turn to, and find a melancholy consolation in, the ancient history of their country. They possess, it is true, no literary remains on which to found their claims to a remote anti- quity ;* but although the learned are divided in opinion respecting the aborigines of Ireland, they agree in the belief of the early civiHzation of her inhabitants — a passage in Diodorus Siculus would seem to confirm this opinion ; and when tradition is divested of the fabulous and super- During the wars of extermination under Elizabeth and Cromwell, all '■ecords that could elucidate Irish history were eagerly sought after, and destroyed by the different commanders. B Z IRELAND AS A KINGDOM stitious mystery, in which it was the custom in the early ages to envelope it, and in that state transmitted to pos- terity, it leaves no doubt of the Irish being descended from a people possessing in an eminent degree those acquire- ments in the arts and sciences, the never-faihng attendants on learning and civiHzation. The striking difference in personal appearance, of the descendents of the ancient Irish from that of the people of England — their irritable tem- perament and quick perception — the similarity that exists in the manners and customs of the inhabitants, with those along the eastern side of the Adriatic — give strong evi- dence in support of their claims to an Eastern origin ; and when we consider that it is only by comparing and tracing these customs, that the antiquary is enabled to found a belief as to the chain that connects the two people, it must be admitted, in the absence of all written proof, that the connection is estabhshed. Amongst those customs, there is one that has hitherto escaped the observation of all who have endeavoured to solve the question — it is the ancient practice, called in Ireland " keening,'' of apostrophising the dead, which is also continued and preserved in the present time by the natives of Istrea.* Their As the strict observance of the funeral rites and cere- rites, monies of all nations is held more sacred than any others, from a superstitious feehng that forbids, and causes them to dread as pregnant with evil to the survivors, any alte- ration or change, it is to be presumed the Irish have inherited this custom from those unsettled commercial ' adventurers, who first dared to pass the pillars of Hercules, and estabhshed a colony in their island. The passage I alluded to in Diodorus Siculus is as follows : — " There is an island in the west that is beautiful, pleasant, and is dedi- cated to Apollo, which god, for the space of nineteen years, * The author, when at Pola, in 1814, saw a wife kneeling by the side of the dead body of her husband, and placing her mouth to the ear of the deceased, ask questions in a loud a mournful tone of voice- AND A COLONY 3 used to come to and converse with its priests ; and which is more remarkable, the inhabitants could, as if they had the use of telescopes, show the moon very near them, and dis- cover therein mountains, &c. They had a large grove and temple of a round form, to which the priests frequently went with their harps, to chaunt the praises of Apollo, their great deity. They had a language of their own ; but some Greeks had been in the island, and presented valuable gifts to the temple, and one Abaris, who became afterwards a disciple of Pythagoris, went into Greece, and contracted an intimacy with the Dehans." He also adds, that the island " was about the size of Sicily." That this can only apply to Ireland is very evident, as there is none other that answers the description. The ancient Irish also wor- shipped Apollo, which was the sun, and their harps were attuned to the praises of that deity. There is also a tra- dition of several Greeks having visited Ireland for instruc- tiop, who were educated at a seminary established by the priests at the ancient town of Lismore. At a later period, the learned and venerable Bede,* an authority that cannot be disputed, acknowledges that " many of the nations, of all ranks, in the time of Bishop Finican, leaving their own native country, retired to Ireland, that they might devote themselves in a more effectual manner either to the read- ing or studying divinity, or to a more strict and continent life. Those of a more active genius frequented the schools, receiving instruction with pleasure, and pursuing the know- ledge of divinity, with unwearied diligence. All the Irish readily and cheerfully entertained them, maintaining them at free cost, procuring for them such books as were neces- sary to the prosecution of their studies, and defraying the expense of their education." The town of Lismore, in the county of Waterford, seems to have been considered the chief place of resort of the learned. Here Alfred is sup- * Histor. Eccles. lib, iii. cap. xxvii. IRELAND AS A KINGDOM posed to have derived much of the knowledge that has since immortalised his name. It is thus described by an old writer : — " Lismore is a famous and holy city, half of which is an asylum in which no woman does enter ; but it is full of cells and holy monastries, and religious men in great numbers abide there, and thither holy men flock to- gether from all parts of Ireland, and not only from Ireland, but also from Britain, being desirous of removing from them to Christ." Ryland states that " there were many (some say twenty) churches in Lismore." The traditions or legends of the Irish, mixed as they are with extravagant and fabulous, give an animated description of their ances- tors, who are represented as a brave people, forced from home in search of a new settlement. That after many adventures, they landed in a rich and beautiful island, of which they took peaceable possession, divided the lands, elected chiefs, and devised means of improving their situa- tion, by the cultivation of the soil, and encouraging the arts and sciences. Their descendents elected chiefs from famihes distinguished for the wisdom, courage, and bearing of their sons. In this selection no attention was paid, or any claim admitted on the plea of primogeniture ; but in- variably the choice fell on those who evinced steadiness of character, kindness of disposition, and unbending bravery. Seat of That Ireland was considered the seat of learning, in what leannng -g Q2dled " the dark ages," when Europe was overrun by dark ages, the northern barbarians, whose ferocious and ignorant per- secution of the learned drove them from other parts of Europe, to seek an asylum where they might pursue their hterary studies in safety, and without interruption, is a well established fact ; and if tradition is admitted as an evidence, she can date her civiUzation and love of letters to a still more distant period. Ancient The belief in these traditions is strongly established by weapons ^\^q discovcrv in different parts of Ireland, of collars and and gold ornaments, armlets of pure gold, of the most chaste and beautiful work- AND A COLONY. 5 manship. To these may be added the brazen swords found in the morasses, which in sliape and workmanship are exactly similar to those found at Cannae, (now in the British Museum), and are said to have belonged to the Carthaginian troops, under Hannibal.* No similar weapons or ornaments have been found either in England or Scot- land. The pecuHar shape of several golden ornaments have embarrassed antiquarians to account for their use. If Ancient the cultivation of music and poetry is, as has been asserted, ^^^^^ ^^^ and believed to be the attendant upon a high state of civi- lization, the Irish may boldly demand a prominent place amongst the nations distinguished for learning and a know- ledge of the fine arts. One of the most unscrupulous and audacious slanderers of the Irish, Giraldus Cambrensis, who came over with Henry the Second, whose veracity cannot be disputed when he speaks favourably of Ireland, says that in music the Irish far excelled all other nations ;t and Spenser, whose good taste as a poet is undoubted, often alludes to the beauty and force of their poetical effu- sions. The soft and melancholy harmony that pervades their ancient music, could only be composed by a people of strong feeling and great refinement. The sonnets or ballads of the bards, composed by the Felch, or poets, a race held in high estimation, because of their acquirements, by the ancient Irish, are records of Irish history that are not to be despised in the absence of written proofs. These musical traditions recount wonderful things of one Hiarbnel Faidhe, i. e. the prophet and poet, who arrived with the Nemedian colony, in the year of the world 2029 ; and although this event is adorned with all the briUiancy of poetical fiction, we are not to reject it altogether as an in- vention of the bards, or as a proof of the non-existence of those adventurers ; for although the excited imagination * De Lancy. t " In musica solum instrumentis couimendabile invenio gentis istius diligentiam in quibus prae omni nationse quam vidim us incomparabiliter iustructse — Giral Cambren. c. 19, Hist. 6 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM often led them to pass, in their descriptions, the boundaries of probabihty, still when recounting historical events, their effusions are generally found to be based on truth, and should not therefore be thrown aside as the inventions of heated imaginations, but received as evidence of the state Arrival of of the couutry at the period to which they allude. These an colony, poetical traditions record the arrival in Ireland, in the year of the world, 2934, of a Milesian colony, under the guidance of two chiefs, Amergin and Heneman, who are represented as men possessing many accomplishments in all branches of science ; and O'Flaghterly states, that from the time of Amergin, the Milesian, to the reign of Concquorac Mac Nessin, (that is Connor the great son of Nessin), the King of Ulster, in the year of the world 3937, a period of one thousand years, the poets and bards were invested with the exclusive right of legislation, and pronounced their decrees in extemporaneous verse. The poetical judgments were called judicice ccelestia, or heavenly decrees, on account of the people being taught to receive them as the sacred de- cision of Apollo, pronounced through their bards— for Apollo, or the sun, which they worshipped, was held by them to be the God of learning, but more particularly of music and poetry ; a belief in perfect accordance with their love of those accomplishments. The Irish traditions say, that these Milesians derived their origin from a colony of Scythians, who were known in after times under the name of Phsenicians, settled in Egypt. That one of their chiefs married Scotia, the daughter of one of the kings of that country, who afterwards emigrated, and followed by many of his countrymen, settled in the western coast of Spain, from whence their descendents landed in Ireland. These traditions are firmly believed by the Irish, and as there is nothing extraordinary or improbable in the story of Ireland having been colonized by another nation, they serve to identify the Irish with the Spanish people. The Irish annals also recount, that the Spaniards were received by AND A COLONY. 7 the natives, who are described as a harmless and innocent race, and were soon induced to the domination of the stran- gers, but from whence they derived their origin is not men- tioned. These traditions are handed down from the Spani- ards, and as they could have no motive either to exaggerate or deceive, may be looked upon as conveying a true history of the aborigines of Ireland. There is an air of truth throughout the whole history of the arrival of the Spani- ards, that commands attention ; and the striking resem- blance already mentioned between the two people — the dark hair and complexions, so different from tlie descend- ents of the fair haired foreigners of the north of Europe- are strong arguments in favour of their Spanish origin. The Scythians, or Phoenicians, for they were known by both names, were most undoubtedly the first people ac- quainted with the use of numbers and letters. The Irish alphabet contains but seventeen letters, Irish aipha- and the ancient alphabet previous to the wars of the Greeks and Trojans only sixteen. This coincidence is of great consequence to all those who endeavour to prove the descent of the Irish from the Phoenicians; for from what other people could they have derived it ? It could not be from the barbarians of the north of Europe ; and it is improbable that it was their own invention, because they were not in that high state of civiUzation which inspires mankind with the love of research, and awakens his powers of invention. De Lancy says, " Those who refuse to ' receive these as proofs of the identity of the ancient ' Irish with the Phoenicians, ask why there are no remains ' of temples and palaces similar to those of ancient Greece ' and Rome to be found in Ireland ? To this it may be ' answered, that it is to be presumed, that the early ' settlers were more employed in securing their conquest ' and giving stabiUty to their government, than in erecting ' palaces. The palaces of Greece and of Rome were ' erected by powerful emperors and conquerors from pride 8 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM " or religious enthusiasm, and the slaves brought from " countries they had subdued were employed in their cott- " struction ; but the Irish colonists were probably devoid " of those feelings, and their views being confined to com- *' merce, they neither had the means nor incHnation to adorn " their country with such magnificent but useless struc- " tures." It has been asserted by several authors, that the ancient Irish used wood only in the construction of their dwellings ; that they were totally ignorant, and refused to make use of more sohd materials, or receive instruction in Round *^® ^^^ ^^ building with stone and lime. Hence it has towers. been inferred, that the round towers were built by the Danes, but for what purpose is not stated. When, how- ever, we consider that, with the exception of two in a district of Scotland, formerly occupied by the ancient Irish, neither in Denmark, nor in any other part of Europe are the slightest remains of similar edifices to be found, it is but fair to attribute their formation to a race whose history is unknown, and whose existence can only be traced through the wild legends and vague superstitions of their descen- dents. A late writer,* whose great talents, learning and indefatigable research were employed in endeavouring to elucidate the mystery that surrounds these towers says, that " Caucasus abounds with those columnar fanes ; and on Terric Banks there is a beautiful and lofty one, as like as possible to some of ours." They are also met with in Hindostan ; but the natives are equally ignorant of the use for which they were intended, or the hands by which they were erected as ourselves.f Mr. O'Brien traces their ori- gin to the Budhists of Persia, and considers them as tem- ples erected in honour of the sun and moon, and also of the god Priapus. The remarkable coincidence between a word in the Irish language and that of Bhudist, along with the shape of these towers strongly supports this opinion. Stones beautifully chiseled and ornamented, termed by the * O'Brien's Ilouud Towers. f Lord Valencia's Travels. AND A COLONY. ignorant, crosses, are still standing in many places, and are, perhaps, of as great antiquity as the towers. The one at Kells is curiously wrought with serpents, dogs, and other animals, amongst which the fabulous centaur is conspicuous. Geraldus Cambrensis speaks briefly of these towers ; but does not attempt to explain by whom they were erected. He contents himself by describing them as " Turres JEccle- siasticus," or Church Towers fashioned after a singular manner. Another writer,* who seizes every occasion to destroy the behef of the antiquity of the Irish, says they were built by the Danes. But the word Ostmen or East- men, to whom Irish tradition attributes their erection, and which he states means the Danes, may be equally applied to any other nation East of Ireland. These towers, that defy all antiquarian research, are so strongly constructed, and the materials so artfully put together, that time, which destroys all human works, has as yet had Httle effect on them ; and there is little doubt they are of an antiquity long previous to the introduction of Christianity. There are Ancient also many mines discovered in Ireland, that have been-"^"^^ worked at a period antecedent to all that is known of the history of the island. One deserves particular notice from the geological proof of its great antiquity. It is a coal mine discovered in the county of Antrim, where, on being opened, excavations were found, containing ancient mining implements, which in themselves bore evidence of great an- tiquity. But what is of more importance in this respect, were the stalactical pillars of such a size and hardness, that centuries must have passed before they could have been formed.t It is a favourite question asked by those who endeavour to cast suspicion on ancient Irish history. Why, if Ireland was so early civilized, there is no mention of her by Greek writers ? But this omission is easily accounted for, by the state of primitive society in which the inhabi- * Molyneux. f Hamilton's Antrim. mmes. 10 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM tants are reported to have lived, having scarcely any com- munication with the neighbouring island, or ancient Gaul, both of which were also but little noticed or known by the ancient Greeks or Romans. Their history at this period is one that creates much interest, as describing a people of primitive habits, preserving their institutions and ancient customs free from mixture with those of surrounding nations. The Irish That they lived in this state of voluntary seclusion may be communi- easily supposed, as we have an instance of the same descrip- cation with tion [q ^ much more populous nation — the Chinese, of tions. whom but Httle is known, and who have but httle commerce with or knowledge of other countries. The foundation on which the Irish rest their claims to being descended from a Round civilised people, is their ancient poetry, their national music, towers, XV Poetry and their ancient implements of war, and their round towers, ogham cha- These remains give to the history of their island an impress racters. . . of truth, that no reasonmg of the incredulous can weaken, nor no sophistry can destroy. To these may be added the characters or letters cut on stone, called ogham, so often met with in Ireland, which are nearly the same as the sacred characters of the Egyptians to be seen at Perse- polis.* Such are the powerful testimonies in favour of the traditionary history of the Irish nation. In the fifth century, when England was overrun by the Anglo-Saxons, whose course was marked by rapine and the Ireland the persecution of the learned, Ireland, from its proximity, was kininff in selected by men of talent and education as a sanctuary, the dark where they founded seminaries for the instruction of youth ; and while the rest of Europe was employed in the fruitless attempt to stem the dark torrent of ferocious ignorance that threatened destruction to their enlightened institutions, * See Monsieur Gebelin's " Origine de I'ecritune," vol. ii. . Also Mon- sieur Bailly — " les caracteres Irlandois appeles ogham ne consistent que dans r unite repetee cinq fois, et dont la valem change, suivant la maniere dont EUe est relativement a une ligne fictive. Us ont beaucoup de rapport avee ceux de Persepolis." — Letters d' Atlantide. AND A COLONY. 11 when the northern savages, whose hordes succeeded each other like the waves of the ocean, one propelUng and forcing on the other ; she became the school of learning to all the countries of the west of Europe. Rome also lent her aid in peopling Ireland with learned men. Her sovereign pontiffs, fully aware that a servile submission to doctrines or laws, it mattered not how preposterous the one or coer- cive the other, was only to be expected from ignorance, discouraged literature, and prohibited all education in the countries that acknowledged their power ; and they were further induced to prohibit all instruction, and to denounce all that taught, from a persuasion, that education had pro- duced the numerous sectarians who began to renounce their allegiance to the court of Rome. At a later period, Ire- land was divided into five provincial kingdoms — Munster, Leinster, Ulster, Connaught, and Meath, which were sub-tarchy. divided into smaller independent jurisdictions. Each of these petty kingdoms had its chieftain, and this distri- bution of power, was called the Pentarchy. These king- doms or principaUties, although independent of each other, acknowledged a lord paramount or supreme monarch, to whom they owed obedience. The sovereigns and princes were elected ; and the manner of choosing their governorSj called tanistry, explains the frequent revolutions that took place in the constitution and laws of Ireland. In ancient times, a king or chief was selected from amongst the people for their good quaUties of courage and wisdom ; but as these virtues might not descend to his heirs, those kings and chiefs were invested with the regal authority for life only, and were chosen by election. In other parts of Europe, attachment to the reigning sovereign and his family had converted this mode of conferring supreme authority into hereditary succession; but in Ireland it continued in full force for many ages. It deprived the supreme monarch of almost all power, and rendered his authority only nominal over the other districts. The same IS',"'" 12 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM The royal System of election prevailed in the other four provinces, and not^her/di ^^^^ *^® Sovereign to the meanest leader of a tribe, the tary in Ire- possessor of pohtical power was exalted to his situation by the voice of the people. The deplorable consequences to society from such a pohtical arrangement, may be easily imagined. Each district was torn by dissensions ; and the influence obtained by one family was the cause of frequent and bloody strife, continual intrigue, and hereditary hatred. The chiefs became independent of each other, affected the pomp of majesty, and considered themselves as powerful, and in no manner inferior to the other sovereigns of Europe. This remarkable method of government was productive of that weakness that ultimately rendered Ireland an easy prey to the invader. A spirit of contention and civil feud was thus introduced amongst the tribes. Each chieftain who considered himself aggrieved by the rejection of the favourite whom he patronised, declared war against his neighbour. Consequently no bond of political union existed, and the natives, accustomed to a slavish and blind obedience to the will of their respective rulers, wilhngly offered them- selves as victims in endeavouring to avenge their quarrels or gratify their sanguinary ambition. The divided interests of the chiefs produced a corresponding want of union amongst the natives ; and the hatred of one to the other was produc- tive of the same feeling in their followers. The frequent and successful incursions of the Danes in the ninth century, their settlements on the coasts, and their taking almost unmolested possession of the principal sea ports and strong holds of the island, furnish a melancholy example of the weakness caused by the absence of a sense of common interest in the inhabitants, and of the misery arising Tyranny of out of the selfish quaxTcls of their leaders. The principle chiefs. of hereditary sovereignty being unknown, or if known, not acknowledged in Ireland, many of their chiefs aware that their power and their influence did not descend to their families, indulged in every species of extortion, cruelty, and AND A COLONY. 13 tyranny. Instead of consulting the honour and happiness of the governed, they only thought of their own aggran- disement. For many years after the Norman conquest, the English were engaged in wars with France in endeavouring to assert their sovereignty, in right of their ancestors, over the territories they possessed in that country, which right was denied and obstinately disputed by the French. Eng- land weakened by a long continuance of hostihties, and separated from Wales, was not in a state to interfere with other nations ; but after it was united under the Norman princes, she became a powerful and dangerous neighbour to any nation against which that power might be directed. The dissensions amongst the Irish at this period afforded an opportunity to their neighbours for indulging in that thirst for insular conquest and colonization which in all ages has formed the distinguishing feature in the Enghsh character. Having endeavoured to estabhsh the claim of the Irish to being considered as a nation of very great antiquity, and having explained the cause of her poUtical weakness, we now come to that period of her history when the English, under Strongbow, first invaded Ireland, and we find it fol- lowed by one continued scene of misery, usurpation, cruelty, treachery, and oppression. History recounts many instances of national weakness when invaders have succeeded in seizing on the territory of others, and of retaining it either by treachery or force of arms. Thus Greece fell an easy prey, and submitted all at once to the Macedonians. The northern barbarians over- run and dismembered, in a very short period, the Eoman empire. Spain was conquered by the Saracens ; and in our own time, we have seen her king become a vassal to Napoleon. Thus, many circumstances may tend to the occupation of a country by foreigners, who do not possess either the virtues or bravery of its inhabitants. With 14 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM respect to the Irish, their simplicity rendered them unsus- picious. Holding very little intercourse with other nations, they had no wrongs to avenge — no interests to forward. The Irish Having no ambassadors at foreign courts, they were igno- ^fU"^"*"^ rant of the mystery and intrigue of diplomacy. Treaties and negotiations that are employed to secure the indepen- dence of states, were to them unknown. They lived there- fore in a fatal ignorance of the preparations of the EngUsh to invade their country and subdue its inhabitants. If reliance is to be placed on Irish annalists, the assis- tance given by some Irish princes to his enemies first sug- gested to the mind of Henry the Second the necessity of concihating the Irish chiefs, or of rendering them tributary by either a mihtary display of his strength, or by cajoling them into an acknowledgment of his supremacy ; and as princes are not long in discovering some cause, either real or imaginary, to justify their interference, or palhate their aggressions, one soon presented itself, and was seized on by Henry as a pretext for the invasion of their country. Mac Mur- The profligate and infamous Dermod Mac Murrough, rough, king ^[j^g of Leinster, was expelled from hjs kingdom in conse- applies for qucuce, according to Giraldus Cambrensis, of an affair of aid^to Hen- g^n^^^^iYj i^ having Carried off the wife of O'Rourke, king of Brefny, which drew upon him the resentment of that prince. O'Rourke, supported by Roderick O'Connor, the acknowledged head of the chiefs, or nominal monarch of Ireland, forced Dermod to fly from the country and seek refuge in England. Other historians, with a greater appearance of truth, attribute his expulsion to the very great cruelty and oppression exercised by this unprincipled and execrable prince. It is probable, however, that this glaring act of open abduction was the principal and imme- diate cause of the revolt of his subjects ; as the Irish people have always viewed with the greatest horror, and visited with severe punishment, any attempt to destroy female virtue or conjugal happiness. The miscreant monarch, driven from AND A COLONY. 15 his country, sought an asylum in England, and lost no time in claiming the aid of Henry in furtherance of the plans for the resumption of his authority, of which he had been deprived by the imited voice of an indignant people. The flatterers of Henry exerted themselves in prevailing on th« king to grant the desired assistance, by urging on him, that Edgar, the Saxon, had sent troops into Ireland, and made acquisitions of territory which Henry ought not to hesitate in reclaiming ; that EngHsh children had formerly been English sold in the market at Bristol as slaves to those barbarians ; goi^ as all of which, they averred, were good and substantial *^*^^^* grounds for the invasion and subjugation of Ireland. Henry hesitated to act according to the wishes of his courtiers. He either affected a reluctance to attack an unoffending people, or really felt, that these were not suflScient reasons to warrant an invasion of their territory. Both nations had been guilty of trafficking in slaves. The Saxons had freely offered their children to the Irish, who purchased them for a mere trifle. The latter, however, were only guilty of selling their prisoners taken in their inroads in the reign of WiUiam the Norman.* Dermod, on his arrival, was received by the EngHsh with hospitality, to whom he represented himself as an injured prince, driven from his country by conspirators, carefully concealing his cruel, sor- did, and infamous conduct. He was welcomed and enter- tained by the English clergy ; and learning that Henry was in France, he proceeded to that country. On his introduction, he humbled himself, and did homage to the Mac Mur- English monarch, and gave a touching narrative of thehoimageto persecutions he had endured ; spoke in strong terms of the Henry, malice of his countrymen, of their depravity, their savage disposition, and barbarous customs ; and finally implored, in the most abject manner, the assistance of the English arms in establishing him in his principality ; offering, in the * "William of Malmesbury. #» ' ^;; ;"^-* 16 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM event of success, to acknowledge Henry as king, and to "be- come his vassal.* At any other time Henry would have in- stantly afforded the desired assistance, as he Ijad long sepf^tly entertained the idea of an attempt on Ireland ; but as the * war in France required all his resources and all his atten- tion, his means to equip an army adequate to insure con- quest were too hmited. But the sagacity of Henry foresaw the great advantages to be derived from this application, and he deceived Dermod with-promises of support, granting him letters patent, authorising his subjects to enter into the service of the expatriated prince on such terms as might be agreed on. Mac Murrough returned to England elated with his reception, and full of the hope of regaining his lost power. He first repaired to Wales, where he was received as an unfortunate prince, the victim of the hatred of an ungrateful people ; and was treated with marked kindness, particularly by the clergy, who lent him their powerful influence in recruiting and embodying an army. Mac Mur- Mac Murrough, under the authority of his letters patent, rough en- ^^ide flattering promises to all who would join his stan- deavouTs to ... recruit an daid ; notwithstanding which, few offered to accompany theinvi^ion ^^^- Whether this unwilhngness arose from a suspicion of Ireland that he had misrepresented the cause of his expulsion from Ireland, or a doubt of the fulfilment of his engagements, ia not known ; but his preparations were not supported with the warmth that from his reception he expected. Becoming disheartened, he had nearly abandoned all Strongbow ij^pgg Qf j^g restoration, when he bethought him of soHciting Pembroke, the council and aid of Richard, Earl of Chepstow and Pem- broke. This nobleman, who had already acquired a name as a brave and skilful warrior, was beloved by his depen- dents; but his embarrassed circumstances separated him from the court, and his pride made him reserved to his vassals and haughty to his equals. Although prepared by * Giraldus Cambrensis. ^^^ AND A COLONY. 17 poverty to accept of. any proposal that might offer an honourable hope of retrieving the fortunes of his house, he at first received the advances of Mac Murrough with a cold- ness' amounting to contempt. He suspected the truth of liis statement, and doubted the propriety of sending an army, although sanctioned by royal authority, into a foreign country, in support of a prince whom he knew, and whom he despised. Dermod aware that the assistance of Strong- bow was the only hope that remained, renewed his suppli- cations, and demeaned himself so far as to go on his knees before him, and even offered the young nobleman his daughter in marriage with, on his death, his kingdom as a dowry, although sensible that by the laws of his country he could not' bequeath his authority. These promises were well calculated to overcome the scruples and excite the ambition of one situated as Richard. Accordingly his pride yielded more to his necessities than to the sohcitations of Mac Murrough, and he covenanted and agreed for the stipulated reward to give the assistance demanded, and promised to assemble a force with which he would accom- pany Dermod to Ireland the following spring. On its being made public that Strongbow had consented Strongbow to put himself at the head of the expedition, the Welsh, ^"^^Mac* *° who had heretofore looked with an eye of suspicion on Mac Murrough. Murrough, and doubted his success, now crowded to his stan- dard. Amongst others, two Welsh pauper chiefs, Fitzgerald and Fitzstephens, consented to take part in the expedition. The rumour of the formation of an army for the invasion of Ireland rapidly spread throughout the north of Europe ; and adventurers of all nations, hastened to enroll themselves as soldiers. Britons, Saxons, Normans, Gascons, and Flemish, officered by younger sons, swelled the ranks, all eager to establish themselves by the sword, and to peril their lives to obtain an existence, — a host of indigent and liungry adventurers, whom the rich lands of fertile Ireland soon transformed into powerful and wealthy noblemen. c 18 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM Such is the description given of them by Nubrigensis.* The same authority thus describes their great leader, Strongbow : — " The count, who had dissipated his patri- mony, and to whom nothing remained but his title of nobiUty, became in a short time powerful and illustrious by the riches he amassed in Ireland and England."! The conduct of the invaders and of those who afterwards fol- lowed them, fully bore out the character thus given ; for their progress was marked by plunder of the goods and confiscation of the lands of the natives, which were por- tioned out according to the will of the different commanders. Thus, under various pretexts, the possessions of the ancient families of Ireland were taken from them, and transferred to the soldiers of Strongbow. Mac Mur- Mac Murrough having so far succeeded in inducing the ""^"f^.®"*^' Welsh leaders to espouse his interests, appeared impatient ceeds in in- ^ ^ _ ... ducing the to depart ; and in order to impress his new allies with a asstst^him ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ popularity with his former subjects, he affected to have received a pressing invitation to return, and accord- ingly embarked without them. On landing in Ireland, he Mac Mur- ... . . . rough re- assumed a disguise which enabled him to avoid detection ; turns to ^jj^j arriving at the town of Ferns, he there met with some Ireland. i /. i ^ - adherents, and found concealment m a monastery which he himself had endowed. Notice of his arrival was dispatched to all who had re- mained faithful to his cause ; and acting under the advice of the priesthood, to whom he boasted of the warm and friendly reception he had experienced from Henry, and of the complete equipment of the expected army under the Welsh nobles, he determined to assemble his forces, and * Misso festiuanter in Angliam filio accersivit vires militares, et juven- tutem strenuam spe lucri profusions illectam accitis ex Anglia viris inopia laborantibus, et lucri cupidis — Nubr. de Reb. AngL lib. 2, cap. 26. f Idem comes qui paulo ante exinanlto prodige patrimonio, fere nihil aluid quam nudam nobilitatem habuerat Hybernicus Anglicisque opibus in- clitus, in multa felicitate agebat Nubrigensis, ibid. AND A COLONY. 19 declare himself, without waiting for the arrival of Strong- bow. This bold step conveyed a confidence of success, and the number of Welsh invaders being greatly exaggerated, many, who would otherwise have opposed his attempt, became, through fear, his staunch supporters. Dreading, however, that some unforeseen circumstance might retard or totally prevent the embarkation of the Welsh, and fore- seeingj. that without them, certain* destruction awaited him- self and followers, he secretly dispatched a confidential messenger to hasten their departure, with directions to stimulate the Welsh leaders to further exertions, by re- newed promises of grants of land, and splendid rewards to the adventurers that composed their army. These pro- mises, so well suited to gratify the plundering propensities of the indigent mountaineers, soon completed the ranks of the invading army. Many leading men offered themselves as partisans ; not, as may be easily imagined, from an attachment to Mac Murrough, but from a wish, like their commander, Strongbpw, to improve their desperate for- tunes by an onslaught on the persons, and plunder of the property of the unfortunate natives. During the absence of his messenger, Dermod marched with his small army and took possession of a part of his former kingdom, called Hikensallagh, and even risked a skirmish with some troops O'Rourke had sent against him, in which, his soldiers con- ducted themselves well, and remained masters of the ground. Sensible, however, of his unpopularity, and certain, if unsupported by the foreigner, of ultimate discomfiture, this unprincipled and cunning chief, feeling the necessity of gaining time, offered to enter into a treaty, by which he would bind himself to renounce all claim to the sovereignty of Leinster, humbly requesting as a favour, that he might be permitted to establish himself as chief of a very small portion of the province, and as a vassal to Roderick O'Con- lior ; offering at the same time, hostages for the fulfilment 20 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM of any agreement he might enter into, and moreover, expressing great anxiety that all disputes and ancient feuds should be buried in oblivion. In full confidence in his sin- cerity, and trusting to his promises, Roderic accepted of his submission. But the treacherous character of Mac Mur- rough was soon made manifest. The arrival of Strongbow and his motley mercenaries, so long and so anxiously expected, was the signUl for this perfidious prince to renounce his allegiance to Roderic, and to recommence hos- tilities against his government. AND A COLONY. 21 CHAPTER II. Arrival of the invaders — They establish themselves on the coast — Pope grants a Bull to Henry — Death of Mac Murrough — Want of union amongst the Irish — Henry lands in Ireland — Enters into a compact vk'ith the Irish chiefs — Conquest of Ireland refuted. The advanced guard of the invading army, commanded Arrival of by Robert Fitzstephens, consisting only of thirty knights, *^g ^^*^^ sixty men in armour, and three hundred archers, soldiers inc. who had proved their prowess in battle, landed in a small creek near Wexford. The arrival of this force, though trifling, created a movement and general armament amongst the Irish. These preparations for resistance alarmed the Welsh ; and previous to advancing into the interior, they sent to Mac Murrough to ask his counsel and demand his assistance. The landing of Fitzstephens roused the almost extinguished hopes of Dermod ; and those followers who, despairing of success, had deserted their leader, now has- tened to rejoin his army, and enabled him to detach five hundred men to reinforce Fitzstephens. Mac Murrough soon after joined with the main body, and having again renewed his promises in the event of victory, he proceeded to take possession, and garrison the sea ports of the south- ern part of Ireland. Mac Murrough was invested with the nominal command of . the troops, and their acts of hos- tility against the Irish received his sanction and were exer- cised in his name. He had his own troops, and only a handful of auxiharies. It was he who recompensed the ofiicers and soldiers, and to his treachery alone is to be attributed the overthrow of the neighbouring princes, for- merly his friends. The principal strongholds on the coast having been sur- 22 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM Want of discipline amongst Irish. The Eng- lish estab- lish them- selves on the Irish coast. prised and occupied, the main body of the foreigners, under Strongbow, experienced no opposition to their landing, which soon after took place ; and assuming the chief com- mand, but still affecting to be commanded by the Irish prince, this adventurer commenced a yigorous campaign against the Irish. Unaccustomed as the native Irish were to meet disci- phned troops in the field, and unsupported by the other princes, whose territories were distant from the scene of action, they, notwithstanding, displayed great courage in their resistance to the invaders. A proficiency in the art of war often decides the fate of battles, and renders the num- ber and bravery of an army of little avail. At the battle of Hastings the use of arrows gave the invading Normans a great superiority over the English. The same weapon mainly assisted in the advantages obtained by Strongbow over the Irish. The use of armour, although known to them, appears to have been, neglected. Armed, some with stones, and others with Danish battle-axes and two short lances for close encounters, they were not on equal terms with the soldiers they had to combat. Ignorant of for- tifications and sieges, accustomed to open warfare and deadjy personal rencontres, they, when defeated, retired to their forests and morasses, abandoning the strong positions with which nature had surrounded them, and which in later days are known, if defended, to be impregnable. But the steady discipline of well-trained soldiers, and the superiority of their arms, could not fail in defeating the Irish, who rushed to the combat in irregular masses, and when re- pulsed, had no rallying point where they might re-assemble. The English and Welsh adventurers, after several san- guinary encounters with the natives, established themselves on the coast ; and having repulsed all attempts to drive them from the island, formed the project of extending their power and confirming their authority. In proportion as they advanced into the interior, they selected the strongest AND A COLONY. 23 positions, which they fortified ; thus securing a retreat when forced to retire before the Irish. Superstition lent its aid to the invaders ; as a great proportion of the Irish looked on the coming of the stranger as a punishment from heaven for their sins in having purchased the children of the English for slaves,* whom the latter were so unnatural as to sell. The success of these marauders it would appear en- Henry re- couraged Henry in the hope of obtaining a permanent foot- mission**' ing in Ireland, and the acknowledgment of his supremacy ^^°^ ♦he by the chiefs. Jealous of the success of Strongbow, and invade ire- fearing that he and his troops might join Mac Murrough, ^*'^*^- and declare themselves independent, he hastened to inter- fere, and avaiUng himself of the religious superstition of the age, he applied for, and obtained a bull from Pope Adrian, authorizing him to invade Ireland, and reduce its inhabit- ants to obedience to his government. Armed with this religious license to lay waste and despoil — the shield of religion being thrown over every act of enormity he might think proper to commit — he instantly made preparations to follow up the advantages gained by the army of Strong- bow. The pubhcation of the bull granted by the Pope, made a great impression on the minds of the Irish, who, accustomed to a bhnd obedience to every mandate from Rome, refused on several occasions to fight the Enghsh, and even surrendered their arms at the orders of Cardinal Vivian, the Pope's legate, who forbade them, under pain of excommunication, to use them against the English If In the Death of midst of these events, death defeated, the ambitious projects ^^^, of Dermod, who died of a most disgusting disease, the morbus an. 1 1 7 1 . pedicularis. His death, however, did not retard the ope- Giraldus Cambrensis. Hib. expugnat, lib. I. cap. xvii. t Nam Legationis muuus ad Hibernos antistis suscepit uti provincialis pronsus a bello discedere cogeret et omnes a fidelium sodalatio excluder- ent, qui inanum contra Regeni facerent, quam Legationem caste intergreque confecit — Stainhurst de reh. in Hib. yest lib. »^l 24 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM Quarrels and want of union amongst the Irish. rations of the invaders, who advanced into the interior, and reduced many petty chiefs to obedience. Henry, affecting great anger against Strongbow and his soldiers, for having presumed to extend their views further than was authorised by the letters patent, granted by him to Mac Murrough, which restricted his efforts to the re-establishment of that prince in his kingdom of Leinster, promptly issued his mandate, prohibi)# government. Complaints were forwarded from all parts of Ireland of the scandalous infraction of the articles agreed on, and of the total contempt of their majesties' commands. In a report of the lords justices, dated 19th November, 1691, they state, that representations had been made of the non-performance of these articles ; '* and that contrary to public faith, as well as law and justice, they (the inhabi- tants) were robbed of their substance, and abused in their persons."! It does not appear that the government was inclined to notice these remonstrances, as it did not disavow the acts of its subordinates ; but on the contrary, gave its tacit appro- * Ilanis's Life of King Williaui. f Carey's Civil AVars. AND A COLONY. 89 val of these disgraceful proceedings, by which the possession of the lands of the original proprietors of the soil was con- firmed to those who had obtained them either by force or fraud since the first plundering expedition of Strongbow down to the massacres under Elizabeth and Cromwell. The greater number of the old Irish families were reduced to beggary, and many of their descendents are now labourers on the estates which formerly belonged to their ancestors. William the Third died March the 8th, 1702, and was succeeded by Queen Anne. During his reign, the restric- tions imposed on Irish commerce were very great, and were marked with the strongest circumstances of national distress and despondency. The commerce of Ireland which had ^ ^ »' ^ _ CommercG always been circumscribed, was still confined to more narrow restricted, limits by the grasping avarice of the Enghsh monopolist. **" ' Gifted by nature with the advantages of an insular situa- tion — possessing the finest and most commodious harbours in the world — placed between the new and the old continent — her position giving her the means (if independent) of cut- ting off the commerce, not only of England, but of the greater part of Europe — with a soil productive beyond all behef, and with a population indued with the bold spirit of enterprise — she was looked upon and dreaded as a dan- gerous rival to her neighbours. Consequently any efforts for the extension of her commerce were watched with great jealousy by the merchants of England. If any commercial speculation was ventured, immediately petitions were for- warded from the great towns in England, remonstrating in strong terms against the granting of any commercial privi- leges or indulgences to the Irish merchant or manufacturer ; representations that were received and gravely discussed by the English government. In the year 1698 two were presented from the towns of Folkstone and Aldborough, in Suffolk, setting forth the injury they sustained by the Irish Herring Fishery at Waterford ; as the fish, when saved were sent to the Medi- Mines of 90 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM terranean, " thereby forestalling and ruining petitioners market." The restrictions that already bore heavily on the trade of Ireland, were raultiphed, and rigorously en- forced. The Irish were prevented from participating in the advantages arising from trading with the colonies ; and in order to destroy the staple manufacture of the island, a heavy duty, almost amounting to prohibition, was imposed on the importation to England of Irish linens, whilst those of Holland were admitted comparatively duty free ! These prohibitory duties were not levied for the sole purpose of encouraging and protecting the English manu- facturer, but also to ruin the Irish capitalist — a proceeding that perpetuated commercial jealousies, and national ani- mosities. Amongst the many natural advantages possessed by Ireland. Ireland, that of her mines is not the last in the scale of im- portance. These are to be found in several districts, and, if properly worked, would be an inexhaustible source of wealth to the country. Gold has been frequently discovered in the beds of streams. Gerard Boat, who was state physician to the justices of the commonwealth, in his work on the natural history of Ireland, cap. xvi. sect. 11, thus speaks of them — " All the mines which are at this day found out in Ireland, have been discovered by the new English, that is such of them as came here in and since the days of Ehzabeth, and these were iron, lead, and silver." He also states that a drachm of pure gold was found in a stream in the county Tyrone, and infers from this that the mountains abound with this precious metal. In chapter eighteen, he describes the produce of a silver mine in the county of Antrim, as having repaid the proprietors by yielding for every thirty pounds of ore, one of pure silver. Adrianus, a Dutchman, a much earlier writer, thus speaks of the Irish mines — " Stannique Sodinas, Et puri argenti venas. AND A COLONY. 91 That the mines of Ireland were known in very remote ages, we have the authority of Donatus Fesicoli, one of the earliest writers, who thus speaks of them — " Insula dives gemmarum vestis et auri." And the name of Cambrensis can also be added to the hst of authors who have described Ireland as an island rich in the precious metals. Not many years since, a copper mine was discovered in Kerry, which bore marks of having been formerly explored. Shafts had been sunk, and implements for mining, differing in shape from those now used, were found. A lead mine has been lately discovered at Bangor, in the county of Down, and is worked by an English com- pany, who derive great profit from it. The finest amy- thests, aqua marina, and emeralds, are also met with in Ireland. Geologists have found, near the Lake of Kil- larney, specimens containing tin ; and iron is found in the same county. The fabrication of woollens, in 1639, had Woollen been by the industry of the Irish, introduced into the ™^°'^^*<'- country, which derived great advantages from it. This, however, excited the jealousy of England, and in that year an attempt was made by Lord Strafford to interdict the manufacture of broad cloths in Ireland ; but the injustice of such an arbitrary proceeding was too glaring, and he was forced to reUnquish the intention. In 1667, Charles the Second, by the advice of the privy council, issued a proclamation, encouraging the exportation of their manu- factures to foreign countries. We find also by the Irish statutes, of the 13th Henry VIII., 28th Henry II., and 18th Charles the Second, that an inclination was evinced by their governments to protect Irish industry. It appears by these statutes that every faciUty was given to the ex- portation of Irish woollens, and strong hopes were enter- tained that they would not be deprived of this branch of industry. By a report of the Commissioners of Trade, dated 23d December, 1697, laid before the house of com- ture. 92 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM mons in 1G98, we find that the woollen manufactures had increased since 1665 as follows — Years. New draperies. Old draperies. Frizes. 1665 224 pieces 32 pieces 444,381 1687 11,360 — 103 — 1,129,716 1696 4,414 — 34i — 104,167 Fearful, however, that the riches produced by this manu- facture would render Ireland too powerful — throwing aside all sense of shame, and regardless of every feehng of justice, on the 23d February, 1697, a law was proposed in the English house of commons, for restraining the expor tation of the woollen cloths of Ireland, which was ultimately passed in 1699. This tyrannical proceeding is illustrative of what has been asserted of England, that when she puts forth her mighty arm, it is not to sustain the commerce of her settlements, but to overthrow and extinguish it. In the latter part of the reign of William the Third, the king listening to the interested remonstrances of the English merchants, declared in his answer to them, in 1699, that " he would, as far as in him lay, restrict the Irish woollen trade," which promise he, unfortunately for Ireland, reh- giously adhered to, and a law was accordingly made, pro- hibiting the exportation of manufactured woollens. From this time may be dated the dechne and final ruin of the Irish woollen trade. After the passing of this unjust and impolitic act, five years elapsed before a parliament was held, therefore no remedy could be applied to the numerous evils arising from this measure. In progress of time the manufactory of woollens, thus discouraged, disappeared from Ireland, and with it the habits of industry it had engendered. The manufactory of linen, proposed as an equivalent, required much capital, and many years ere it could be brought to that perfection so as to compensate for the great loss sustained by the wholesale destruction of the AND A COLONY. 93 fabrication of woollens. The spirit of enterprise that had infused life into the whole population, was at once extin- cuished. In the south it never revived, Bereft of com- merce by unjust laws, the capital that afforded employment to the people was either lost or totally withdrawn. Her industry thus fettered, Ireland speedily became, what she has remained up to the present period, a country with every requisite to form a great and powerful nation, but steeped in poverty and ground down by oppression. English capital, combined with Enghsh coercion, was but too suc- cessfully employed to counteract every attempt at improve- ment ; and the same cause poisoned every source of national prosperity in trade, in the arts, and in agriculture. Session after session passed without any measure being introduced to benefit the Irish manufacturer, from a dread of giving offence to the sleeve-button or garter makers of Birmingham and Manchester, whilst measures to cripple Irish enterprise were passed without discussion. The commerce of Ireland, under the baneful effects of this fatal and cruel policy, soon languished and became nearly extinct. The Irish parUament possessed many members enthusiasti- cally devoted to their country (for at that time the aris- tocracy felt an honest pride in beiijg Irish) who struggled hard but ineffectually against this tyrannical combination. Every law they introduced to protect the Irish interests, if not met with a decided negative by the British government, was so mutilated as to render it useless. Thus under the different administrations — for neither change of dynasty or administration produced a more liberal policy — Irish indus- try was offered up as a sacrifice on the altar of British prejudice and British monopoly. Left unprotected by domestic legislation, and prostrate at the feet of her rulers, another blow was thought necessary, ere the inordinate appetite for commercial monopoly could be satisfied, or the fears of despotism tranquilUsed. The Enghsh government, alarmed at the possibihty of Ireland becoming a rival in 94 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM the markets of the world, continued the same system that had already been so fatal to her prosperity ; and fearing that Poyning's law, severe as it was, would be ineffectual for the purpose — urged by the British traders, anxious to grasp the exclusive commerce of the world — encouraged by the slavish supineness that benumbed the best energies of her inhabitants — and conceiving that every act of oppres- sion, though severely felt, would be borne in silence — determined to arrogate to itself the sole power of legislating for Irelend, and " at one fell swoop" to extinguish her Assump. independence. Accordingly, without condescending to ^^"jj^^*^® consult the wishes of the Irish people, or to ask permission parliament, of their representatives in Parliament — in defiance of the solemn compact entered into by the two nations — in con- tempt of every principle of justice, of honour, and of inte- grity — in the sixth year of the reign of George the First, a law was enacted, conferring on Great Britain what was falsely and ostentatiously denominated " the inherent and imprescriptable right of governing Ireland," to make such laws as she thought necessary for that purpose, which laws it was the duty of the Irish to obey, although they had not originated in their own house of parliament. This gross assumption of despotic power left Ireland the mockery of a parhament, and the phantom of an independent government. Stripped of the attributes of a free nation, she rapidly descended to that abject state of misery, which has called forth the commiseration of all who have visited her shores, or who have either written or spoken of her misfortunes. These laws would, it was supposed, have the desired effect of destroying all competition in trade, and at the same time eradicate from the minds of the Irish all thoughts of inde- pendence. Their character had apparently undergone a great change. From being a people who bore with im- patience the taunts, the insolence, and the exactions of the oppressor, habit, combined with poverty, seemed to have subdued the spirit of resistance, and to have reconciled them AND A COLONY. 95 to their degradation. Their feehngs of independence, their enthusiastic love of country, it was believed, had for ever vanished, and had been replaced by a sense of weakness, which made them crouch down, and wish to conciliate their self-styled conquerors. If occasionally symptoms of dis- content were manifested, they were soon suppressed, and they only afforded a pretext for adding another Hnk to the chain their efforts had failed to snap asunder. Accustomed to suffer, it was imagined they would cease to complain ; but the many causes that entailed beggary on the popula- tion, were too obvious to escape the observation of an injured and clear sighted people. True they had sunk into a sta,te of almost hopeless despondency ; coercive laws, rigidly and tyrannically administered, crushed them to the dust. The seeds of dissension, in the shape of poUtical and religious animosity, artfully introduced, and industriously sown, produced their bitter fruits. A religious persecution in the name of the Lord had commenced, and was con- tinued with all the bigot virulence, fanatical violence, and ignorant intolerance, that characterise sectarian warfare — oppression, poverty, and their attendant evil, disease, careered throughout the land, withering and destroying. Her manufacture ruined, her trade extinguished, her popu- lation in rags, and worse housed, and worse fed than any other on the face of the earth — almost forgotten as a nation, or if remembered as such, the acknowledgment was accom- panied with contempt, and her nominal independence treated with derision. Ireland, at the commencement of the American revolution, stood amongst nations Hke a blasted tree in the midst of the green and glorious forest, and yet England, the boasted land of liberty, had been in possession of the kingdom for more than six hundred years ! ! 96 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM CHAPTER VIIT. The Irish vilified — Landlords and tenants — Fertility of the soil — Population Early marriages — State of Ireland previous to the general arming — Edu- cation of the people — American revolution — Speech of Lord Chatham — Venality of the Irish parliament — Origin of the Volunteers — Volunteers vilified — War between France and England — France prepares to invade Ireland — Generous conduct of the Irish nation — Volunteers — Religious disputes cease — Determination not to use British manufactures — Great Volunteer demonstration in Belfast — Kesolutions entered into at Armagh — Dungannon meeting — Resolutions at Dungannon — Quarrel with Por- tugal — Mr. Fitzgibbon. The Irish The principal feature that distinguished the English cabi- fied^^ ^''"net with respect to Ireland was its anxiety to conceal her true state and great importance, as a possession, from the other powers of Europe. To accomplish this, the island was represented and believed to be of very little commercial or political importance ; and the inhabitants described as a fierce and savage race, incapable of being instructed, and averse to civilization. The Irish gentry, reared in those prejudices that form the barrier between them and the affec- tions of their tenantry, when visited by the stranger, receive him with their characteristic hospitality ; but he is taught by them to consider Ireland as almost uninhabi- table, in consequence of the natural vicious propensities of the people. Confirmed by these misrepresentations in all his national prejudices, on his return to his country he describes the Irish as a degraded and demoralised people addicted to every vice, and stained with every crime. Ignorance and prejudice are thus combined to stamp the Irish character with indolence and turbulence; but the crowds of vigorous husbandmen who annually leave her shores to seek employment during the time of the harvest in England, and the host of Irish labourers who cheerfully AND A COLONY. 97 perform the hardest work in the cities of the United States of America, their orderly conduct, their courteous demea- nour, and their obedience to the laws, fully refute these shameful calumnies. If the social state of a whole people is the best criterion of a good or bad administration of the laws, how can the population of Ireland, perishing in the midst of plenty, whose condition compared with that of the Russian serf, is misery, be supposed to enjoy the advantages of a good government ? In England, the landlord acting on the prin- Landlord* ciple of "live and let live," gives encouragement to his tenant, Tenants, by not demanding or receiving more than the actual value of the land he lets, and by pursuing this wise system, his estate is improved, and the cultivator is repaid for his labour ; but " live and let starve" is the principle that, with a few exceptions, actuates the conduct of the south of Ireland landlords. When the long leases granted by their progeni- tors fall, the people who had settled on their estates by the subletting of the holders or middlemen to whom those leases had been granted, are with their families turned out of their wretched hovels, often by the summary process of taking oiF the roofs, and left to seek subsistence from the charity of their neighbours. To them no new lease of their wretched tene- ments is given ; and if permitted to remain as yearly occu- pants at a rack rent, they are handed over by the absentee proprietor to the paternal care of some pauper agent or country attorney, who, if their patch of land is made more productive by their industry, immediately pounces upon them for an increase of rent ; and should they refuse to pay it, notice is immediately given them to quit at the end of the year, and seek a habitation elsewhere. Whilst other countries have been making rapid strides in the path of prosperity, Ireland has retrograded. The causes that have forced her back into the wretchedness from which she was emerging, are manifold. The union that lianded over her population to grinding agents and avaricious H 98 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM middlemen, the fiiction fights which have only just ceased, the gross corruption, until lately, in the administration of justice; the road-jobbing; the enormous war rents con- tinued in the time of profound peace ; illicit distillation, which if not permitted is tolerated ; the corruption of forty shilling freeholders ; the tithes ; and last, though not least, rehgious dissension. These form the gangrene that eats into the heart of Irish happiness and Irish prosperity. They arouse the passions, excite a spirit of resistance to the laws, and create a feeling of deadly hatred to the landlords and their agents. Disputes between the owners of the soil and the tenantry still frequently occur, and have their origin in the letting of land. An Irishman not having any daily employment, naturally endeavours to obtain a small portion of land from which he may derive an existence, consequently competition amongst the peasantry has increased with an increasing population. When a plot of ground is known to be vacant a host of hungry aspirants to the situation of tenant encumber the door of the agent to whom they offer much more rent than the land is worth. Once in possession, the tenant by his industry is enabled for three or four years to pay the rent and eke out an existence, but after that period the soil is worn out, and becomes unproductive, the rent is not forthcoming, and the occupant is driven from his hovel. The English people are deceived into the belief that Irish tranquilhty would remain undisturbed were it not for the unfounded calumnies and outrageous declamation of unprincipled demagogues, that Irish grievances are ideal, and that exaggerated statements of neglect and oppression lead the peasantry into the commission of crime. But could they visit their wretched cabins, had they an opportunity of contemplating their squalid misery, could they mark the starvation that furrows their cheek, and the anxiety that sits on their brow, and then cast their eyes over the rich pastures, the cultivated fields that surround those abodes of disease and poverty, conviction would be carried to their AND A COLONY. 99 minds that misery does exist, that the iron hand of the oppressor does press heavily on the tiller of the soil, and their only feehng would be that of astonishment at the patience and forbearance, under such destitution, of a people who are described as " the most excitable of the human race." The residence of men of large fortune in a country, is always attended with great advantages. In passing through a county where the men of property for the most part reside, the estate of the absentee is easily distinguished by the squalid wretchedness of the tenantry, and the miserable state of cultivation. Men of property originate all improve- ments in agriculture ; the actual farmer cannot bear the risk. It is they who enable him to make experiments. Let these men reside in another country, and the farmer no longer encouraged by the flattering approval of the land- lord, and deprived of all assistance to carry out improve- ments on the property, will have neither inclination nor motive for such undertakings. The Irish peasant is abandoned. Hence his hatred to his landlord whom he never sees — hence his discontent, his rags, and misery. The same neglect and oppression of the native Irish that commenced under Henry the Second has been steadily pur- sued and diligently encouraged — the same jealousy of Irish commerce sedulously cultivated — the same anxiety to coun- teract and put down every exertion of the people to raise their country in the scale of civilization carefully fostered — and the same ruinous method of mismanagement unremit- tingly and pubhcly pursued. The fertility of the soil has long been celebrated. Nature Fertility of has been prodigal in her gifts ; as it produces in abundance '^ ^°' ' every necessary of life. The pasture lands abound in the richest herbage, which alfords sustenance to the black cattle that supply the English markets and victual her navies. That England depends on the Irish market for provision- ing her fleet is a well-known fact. When the French expe- 100 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM dition anchored in Bantry Bay in 1798, provisions destined to supply the British navy for the following year, valued at upwards of a million sterling, were in the stores of the city of Cork ; and had the French disembarked and occupied that place, the British navy, glorious and splendid as its achievements have been, would have been starved into inac- tion ! • Population. The population of Ireland arising from the early mar- riages of its inhabitants, has increased with more rapidity than that of any other country ; and notwithstanding the swarms that annually emigrate to the American continent, the numbers are calculated to be nine millions. In the south the greater part are in the most abject state of desti- tution, subsisting on the scanty crop of potatoes raised from a small portion of land, for which a rent far above the real value is exacted. In the north of Ireland, where the great landholders generally reside, and where capital circulates, the people are comparatively more comfortable. Gervase Parker Bushe, in an essay concerning the popu- lation of Ireland in 1789, states the Cathohcs at that period to consist of four millions forty thousand, and one milHon and a half of Protestants ; since which, it has increased rapidly. This increase is attributable not only to female virtue, but also to the poverty of the priesthood, whose means of existence are derived from the fees on marriages and baptisms ; and it is natural, therefore, that they should Early mar- encourage young persons to marry, which they generally do riages of ^^ i\^q age of puberty. Indeed the peasantry are early taught to consider a man who remains from prudential mo- tives in a state of cehbacy, as one unworthy of the name of Christian ; and as abstinence, whether forced or involuntary, is favourable to the propagation of the species, we ought not to be surprised at the swarms of naked and starving children with which their miserable cabins are tenanted. An Irishman, accustomed to implicitly obey and follow the directions of his priest, does not pause to ask himself the AND A COLONY. 101 question, where he is to find food for his offspring ? but enters into the marriage state, and trusts to Providence for their support ! The miserable and mistaken poHcy adopted and perse- ^***® ^^ vered in by the EngUsh cabinet, appeared to have settled previous to into a fixed principle with every succeeding administration, of^^g"^"^^ Her distress augmented ; and pauperism and despondency lunteers, took possession of the island. Notwithstanding all her natural advantages, Ireland presented a frightful picture of destitution — the result of misgovernment ; for as the tree is known by the fruit, so a just estimate may be formed of the good or bad acts of a government by their effects on the governed. In 1779, Ireland borne down by oppressive laws that restricted her commerce, her population deprived of the rights enjoyed by the other subjects of the British crown, with an inefficient parliament, subject to the arbitrary dictation of the English ministry, shorn of the constitutional right of originating laws, an empty trea- sury, and a bankrupt people, had sunk into a mere English province, and her inhabitants into inactivity and apparent apathy, seemingly careless of the welfare of either them- selves or their country. The unwarrantable assumption of supreme authority by the British cabinet, and the insolent and unconstitutional claim of the British Parliament, without a shadow of right on which to found the claim, to legislate without the concurrence of the Irish House of Commons, was an act of pohtical atrocity that finds no parallel in the history of nations. The influence of this despotic and un- just system of governing, gave a severe blow to commercial activity, and had a stunning effect in paralysing every effort at improvement. Having possessed herself of the means, England constantly and eagerly apphed it for the discouragement of Irish industry. If a measure favourable to Irish commerce was proposed, it was only necessary for the English speculator to express his dissent to have it rejected, and every struggle of the few members who 102 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM remained uncorrupted to protect the interests of the country were of no avail. In possessing an independent parliament free to make salutary laws, England anticipated a commercial rivalry that was thought incompatible with the cherished monopoly she had established. Dreading the removal of the restric- tions on trade that she had imposed which would give to Ireland the right of free barter with other' nations, and having usurped the power of confirming and adding to them, she decided on crushing, by the colossal apphcation of capital and prohibition, the hopes of the Irish merchant, and the industry of the Irish manufacturer ; men were found, who, forgetting their duty to their country, unblushingly advo- cated the right of Great Britain to treat Ireland as a colony, and whose purchased oratory sedulously inculcated the ab- surd belief that without English protection Ireland must perish. Carefully conceahng the true position of both coun- tries, which lean on each other for support, and whose salva- tion depends on a feeUng of mutual friendship, an impartial administration of the laws, and an equal participation of civil and religious liberty. The commerce of the country thus fettered and the seeds of industry exterminated, the fatal effects were felt by every class of the community. Want of employment produced dissolute habits and consequent poverty amongst .the labouring classes. The better orders partook of the habits of the peasant, the children of both Education were generally educated in the same school — the stable, and of the ijjg doff-kennel, and the intellect of the landlord was often, people. . ° 1-1 in other respects, as uncultivated as that of his tenant or dependant. The dark cloud that had so long obscured the sun of Irish prosperity was at length tinged with a ray of coming light which seemed struggling to penetrate the gloom of adversity and oppression, and to communicate life and heat to the benumbed energies of the country. The serpent folds of British jealousy had succeeded in poisoning the AND A COLONY. 103 source of her happiness, but had failed in totally extirpating her vitality, when in the year 1782 she awoke from her lethargy, no longer the dejected and humble suppUcant for justice ; but feeling her strength she stood erect in the pre- sence of her oppressor, and with the bold front of conscious rectitude demanded, in a voice of thunder not to be mis- taken, an equality of commercial rights with other British subjects. This demand, supported by the lightning that gleamed from a hundred thousand bayonets in the hands of a determined and patriotic population, comprised of men in whom mutual suffering had caused mutual exertion, was too powerful to be resisted, and what was called " Free trade" or the permission hitherto withheld, of trading with the colonies, was reluctantly and trembhngly granted. The English ministry according that to fear, which they had obstinately refused to a sense of justice, thus affording another illustration of the remark, that Ireland has always been indebted to a display of physical force for every legis- lative concession on the part of England. It is a curious coincidence that the circumstances which American put arms in the hands of the Irish people and enabled them *^^" "*'^"' to remove the commercial restrictions under which they suffered, arose out of the efforts of the American colonists to obtain similar concessions. The despotic principle that operated with such fatal success in Ireland, was about this period appUed by England to her colonies on the other side of the Atlantic. Principals that produced an explosion in America, that shook the old world to its centre, and which disseminated a love of independence that threatened the mo- narchical system of Europe with, if not total destruction, a great change in its most ancient and cherished institutions. The Americans smarting under the exactions and de- grading treatment of what was termed " the mother coun- try," roused to a sense of their importance as a powerful and intelligent people, disgusted with the laws attempted to be forced upon them by a nation from whom they were 104 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM separated by the vast Atlantic, determined to renounce allegiance to a government to which they had in vain appealed and from which they found they had nothing to hope. The enthusiasm arising out of this determination became general, and America under the most fearful dis- advantages, entered into a struggle for liberty against the power of a country whose riches made her formidable as an enemy, whose despotic arrogance could only be humbled by defeat, and whose prejudices could only be rooted up by the sword. Without money, without arms, and with a circumscribed population, the attempt was thought madness, and her success impossible. But feeble as were her resources and helpless her condition, she evinced a courage and persever- ance that augured well for the future, and created an uni- versal feeling in her favour. Even in the ranks of the English aristocracy there were some, who superior to the prejudices of their class, caught the enthusiasm of the day, and dared to declare their sentiments in favour of the revolted colonies, openly avowing their admiration of their exertions, and strongly denouncing the attempts of the government to coerce them into obedience. Speech of The celebrated Lord Chatham lent his splendid talents in support of American hberty ; and in reference to the struggle, said from his place in the House of Commons, " Sir, I rejoice she has resisted, I am proud and happy she has shown her English blood and Enghsh origin, and I hope it may descend to her sons for future ages." As the difficulties she had to encounter increased, America shone forth a brilliant example of what may be accomphshed by a people suffering under the lash of an iron despotism, if united by sympathy, endowed with courage to resist, and determined to conquer. The citizens of America, animated by a sense of their wrongs, and their duty to their country, willingly sacrificed all the comforts of domestic life, the fond sentiments and endearing attachments of kindred and Lord Chatham. AND A COLONY. 105 friendship, in order to obtain the rights of a free and inde- pendent nation. The American revolution had attracted the attention of both the governments and people of the old world. The former dreaded the consequences of its success, and felt alarmed at the dissemination of the prin- ciples on which it was based, whilst the latter hailed with undissembled delight the efforts of the Americans to estab- lish these principles, which, if successful, would produce results advantageous to civil hberty in Europe. It was at this period that Ireland began to be sensible of her strength, and to feel her degradation. Her commerce had been destroyed, her independence a shadow ; the right of legis- lation withdrawn, her population in misery ; the undis- guised anxiety to prevent her from participating in the advantages that providence intended she should enjoy, and the persecution under which her people groaned, all com- bined to add fuel to the flame of their already strongly excited passions, and still more firmly confirmed their national prejudices and hereditary hatred. The rapidly increasing population, and the unsubdued spirit of the people, effected an unexpected change in the position of the country — a change that promised prosperity to Ireland, and carried dismay into England. The American revolution had awakened an unfounded alarm in England, and all her efforts were directed to stifle the smouldering flames of Irish independence, which, after a lapse of centuries, began at this period to burn with renewed lustre. It might naturally be expected to follow, that a people suffering from misgovernment, and so long dependent on the will of a more powerful nation, would have ceased to consider themselves as capable of self-govern- ment — would have lost all feeling of patriotism, all sense of independence. The Irish parliament, previous to 1779, Venality of had evinced a degrading subserviency to the orders of the *^^ J^^^^ , , o o ^ ^ ^ parliament. British cabinet ; and with a few brilliant exceptions, the members of that body yielded to temptations held out to 106 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM them in the shape of place, pension, or title ; yet even those were sometimes shamed by their more sternly virtu- ous colleagues, into a resistance of measures that tended to destroy the remnant of prosperity enjoyed by their country. Smarting under the lash of the oppressor, some of the representatives of the people evinced a spirit that was reechoed from without, and carried conviction to England that the weight of injustice that had so long pressed Irish- men to the earth, must be, if not wholly removed, consider- ably lightened. Prohibited by the law already mentioned from the discussion of any great constitutional measure, their debates were confined to the arrangements of local interest, still during their continuance it frequently occurred that matter was introduced, bearing on constitutional ques- tions; and the conduct of the British cabinet furnished ample field for severe animadversion and violent contro- versy. The wishes of the Viceroy had often been resisted in a manner which gave reason to hope that the Irish Parliament, corrupt as it was, would still hesitate, previous to lending itself to the views of the government, to totally extinguish the liberties of its country. These disputes, though carried on with great warmth, had no healthy result, and only foretold the certainty of a return to the path of patriotism, from which it had so disgracefully turned. Out of parliament, however, these discussions roused a spirit of inquiry into the cause of Ireland's degradation, that ulti- mately produced effects which, in a short time, placed her in an attitude that carried terror into the very heart of the British cabinet. The obstinate and unexpected resistance of the Americans — their courage, their perseverance, and self-devotion in the great cause for which they struggled, revealed to Ireland the secret that had been so long care- fully concealed — the secret of her strength as a people and her resources as a nation. The attitude assumed by the American colonies placed England in a situation that ren- dered it dangerous to refuse relief to Ireland. Shut out AND A COLONY. 107 from the American ports, through which hitherto her com- merce had flowed, it became a matter of paramount impor- tance to make concessions that might satisfy the Irish merchants, and restore that attachment between the two people that the commercial restrictions and arbitrary pro- ceedings of England had nearly for ever destroyed. Ire- land it was feared, goaded to desperation, might follow the example of America, and, availing herself of the embarrass- ment occasioned to England by the war, endeavour to establish herself as an independent and separate country. This dread accompHshed that which the urgent representa- tions and repeated remonstrances had failed to obtain — representations that had heretofore been hstened to with insolent arrogance, and treated with contemptuous coldness. All at once a new hght seemed to have illuminated the understanding of statesmen, and ministry affected to have at length discovered that it was not incompatible with the safety of the state that Irishmen should be permitted to trade with the colonies. The conviction carried to the minds of the EngUsh ministry was not the result, as they wished the world to beheve, of a more kind feeling and liberal policy, but a truth forced on them by a whole people in arms, who were fully determined to obt-ain their rights. The general armament, that produced such a beneficial ^"gin of . the Volun- result to Ireland, occurred in 1779. In that year England teers, was at war with the revolted colonies ; and an American '^^®~"^' privateer had the audacity to enter the port of Lame, in the north of Ireland, and to order the authorities to supply her with provisions and water. The unprotected state of the coast, and indeed of the whole island, which had only an army of 5000 regular troops, alarmed the merchants of the large seaports, who lost no time in applying to government for an addition to this force. To this application an answer was returned, stating the inabiUty of government to send the required reinforcements. This unsatisfactory communica- 108 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM tion threw the Irish on their own resources, for the defence of their coast, and the preservation of their property. Meetings were held in the principal towns, in order to discuss the propriety of organizing and arming the inhabit- ants. The large and flourishing town of Belfast took the lead in giving an impulse to this movement. At these meetings, all who had a stake in the country stepped for- ward to encourage it, and before many months had elapsed, Ireland found herself strong enough not only to resist foreign aggression, but also to demand those rights and immunities which had so long been unjustly withheld. The bright spark of independence communicated itself to every bosom, and kindled the flame of freedom throughout the kingdom. Ireland for the first time displayed a true sense of her interests, by the union of her population, for the attainment of two great objects — commercial equality and constitutional liberty. Firmly resolved to support each other in these demands, at the same time aware of the necessity of forbearance and discretion, the armed popula- tion pledged their faith, their honour, and their all to Ireland, in the hearing of surrounding nations, to uphold their country's good, its freedom, its honour, its safety, Volunteers ^nd its independence. There were some who, inter- viiiified. ested in the suppression of a body so well organized and disciplined, afi'ected to consider the Volunteers as a disorderly mob, not armed for the protection of the country, but assembling for the purpose of dictating to the government what they considered should be done for the good of the nation ; and for the introduction of anarchy into the island. Every engine of power was put in motion to annihilate the Volunteers, and every art, every menace, every abuse, used to destroy them, by misrepresenting their motives ; but their forbearance and temper, at a time when they might have renounced Enghsh connexion, and when every means were employed, and every epithet used to villify and degrade them, gave the lie to such aspersions, AND A COLONY. 109 and created a feeling of just admiration, respect, and grati- tude, that to the present day remains in the breasts of their descendents. The mutual jealousy of the two great rivals, France and England, whose endeavours to arrive at European ascen- dancy, had carried desolation into the neighbouring states, was still in full vigour. Although bound by fallacious treaties to observe peace, each nation anxiously watched for an opportunity to weaken or destroy the power of its opponent. The American revolution was an event that led France to believe that the moment was arrived when she could humble the pride of England, by giving her power- ful aid to the revolted colonies. A manifesto was soon issued by the former, detailing the want of faith and flagrant breach of treaties, the usual apology for aggression, by the latter, and a war was commenced and pursued by both War be- nations, in which the resources of each were applied for the *7®®" ' _ _ . France and attainment of their views. France, from a strong desire to England, ruin England, decided on supporting the repubUcan prin- ciple in America, whilst England endeavoured to reduce her colonies to the most abject slavery. Each expended her blood and treasure in the obstinate struggle, and America alone reaped the benefit of their mutual hatred. Europe looked on with amazement at the efforts of a despotic country in the cause of freedom, and the colossal exertions of a free state to estabhsh despotism. The revolt of the English colonies had produced an astounding effect on European institutions. The French people, proud of the services of their troops, partook of republican en- thusiasm, and became deeply imbued with the republican principles for which they combatted ; ultimately those prin- ciples overturned the monarchical system in France, and threatened destruction to surrounding governments. Dur- ing the unnatural struggle to estabhsh despotism in the colonies, Ireland did not remain an unconcerned spectator, well aware that the only chance of the restoration of her 110 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM constitutional rights was in the display of her physical force, and in the failure of the arms of England, and that the battle for the glorious prize of Irish liberty was to be fought on the other side of the Atlantic. She contemplated with intense anxiety the probable result of the sanguinary contest. The Irish people, considered of little weight in the empire, their miseries unheeded, their wrongs unre- dressed, though armed, and firm in their determination to obtain justice, evinced a moderation and caution that con- ferred much honour on the national character. Meetings were convened in the principal towns, at which the policy of continuing the war against American liberty was freely discussed, and resolutions passed, animadverting on the conduct of the British cabinet, in continuing a war fraught with misery to both countries. Whilst the resources and the energies of the American people were vigorously em- ployed to obtain a separation from England, Ireland availed herself of the opportunity to obtain a participation in the liberties guaranteed by her constitution. France ^^ Order to withdraw the attention of England from her prepares to revolted colonies, and by so doing to assist the Americans, Ireland. France made preparations for invading Ireland. These preparations for the invasion of a country whose population had been rendered discontented by oppression and who were not averse to any change, occasioned much uneasiness to the English government. Her army employed in the attempt to crush the republicans of the New World, or scattered amongst her other possessions, she was left without the power of furnishing a sufficient number of troops incase of a landing, for the protection of Ireland. The conduct of conduct of t'^® I^'is^ ^* ^^^^ critical period, was that of a generous and Ireland proud pcoplc, and evinced a chivalrous feelinsr which, tovva,r'V: 144 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM dency, and the extirpation of Irish industry. Parliament had shewn strong symptoms of an approach to independence, many of its members, hitherto the interested and crawling creatures of the castle, had been warmed into Irish feeling Conspiracy ^7 ^he rising sun of Irish liberty. It was necessary to to produce extinguish this feeling before they could regain their in- fluence. Despotism was to be restored, and the hand of corruption was employed to repair the tottering edifice of English ascendancy. It was at this critical period, the infamous conspiracy was hatched, which stirred up the vile, but almost extinguished passion of religious animosity, intro- duced the scourge of civil war, deluged the country with blood, and destroyed the endearing ties of family love and brotherly affection. Humanity shudders at the cold blooded atrocity that could dehberately plan the destruction of a country they affected to love and to protect, and repudiates as men the monsters that calculated on the gibbet, the sword, and the torture for replacing Ireland within the unsisterly grasp of the country they governed. The events that followed remove all doubts of the truth of these assertions. On the 29th of November, Mr. Flood proposed that the convention should go down in a body to the House of Com- mons and demand the introduction of a Bill of Reform similar to the one he had submitted to the deputies, and which had been approved of by them, and moved, " that the convention should not adjourn till the fate of the bill was ascertained." Both motions were agreed to. The ardour of Mr. Flood overcame every obstacle ; the ascen- dency he had obtained over the people was felt within the walls of the Rotunda, and any proposal no matter how wild or rash, would have received the cordial support of the whole nation. A strong party had been formed against the vacilating system of Lord Charlemont, of which Mr. Flood and the Earl of Bristol were the leaders. The rejection of the latter as president had wounded his pride ' ' f'.f4'' Tip '"IT ■ ■■■■-•'•.> . ■ Tw AND A COLONY. 145 and checked his ambition. Angry and disappointed, he joined the opposition, whose power was soon evinced by the adoption of Mr. Flood's proposition. In this instance, the usual good sense of Mr. Flood yielded before his en- thusiasm, and in his wish to serve his country, his impatience defeated his object. Relying on the support of the armed population for the completion of his views, it did not occur to him, that an armed interference of a people (no matter how pure the motive) with their rulers is always looked on with suspicion, and that the fear of military despotism detaches many from their ranks, and neutralises their efforts to enforce their measures for the pubhc advantage. The predominant feature of Lord Charlemont was that weakness which is the Want of !• ii" /••J*' Tj**jn i_ ii decision in foundation ot indecision, indiviaually brave, but, as aLor^Char- pubhc character, timid in the extreme, commanding with'^^o^*- dignity at a review, but destitute of that moral courage for great achievements so necessary to form a good officer in the field of battle. He was deservedly respected for his virtues, and this respect always found an apology for his faults. The hands of the Irish people were on their swords but he prevented their being unsheathed. He dreaded civil war, but the very measures he proposed and carried, entailed it, at a later period, on his country. The eminence to which he had arrived, opened to his view a prospect which he could not contemplate with firm- ness. He descended from it carrying along with him Irish independence, Irish happiness, and Irish prosperity. His fall was as sudden as his elevation had been rapid. His virtues are not forgotten, but his faults are a matter of history, and can never be forgiven by his country. The Lord Lieutenant and the cabinet were undecided as to their proceedings. They calculated on the increasing dissension for the dissolution of the convention and the total breaking up of the volunteers. In adopting this course they displayed great foresight ; not strong enough to employ force, they 146 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM had recourse to the weapon of the weaker, dissension. By alternately alarming the timid, flattering the vain, and cor- rupting the venal, they hoped to obtain the accomphshment of their wishes. The moderation of Lord Charlemont was praised, and his pride gratified, by being told, that on him alone the government depended for the preservation of peace, and the connexion between the two kingdoms. It was artfully represented, that if he felt himself unable to control the warlike propensities of the Volunteers, or the fiery spirit of the Delegates, he ought at once quit their ranks. That his resignation would be followed by that of others, and that this would enable government to propose measures for the suppression of an illegal assembly. His hesitation announced his perplexity, and his weakness trembled at responsibility. He had organized the Convention, and notwithstanding his resignation he was aware that he would still have to answer for their proceedings. He would not be ordered, but his mind was commanded by his fears. His sense of what he considered duty to the government, struggled with the feel- ing of love to the country, and shame at the abandonment of the vessel amidst the tempest he had raised. The com- bat was not of long duration ; his timidity mastered his un- derstanding, and his resignation, at the moment when he was within reach of the rich fruit of his labours, deprived him, as a public man, of the love of his country, his glory, and of the respect of posterity. His resignation had the effect anticipated by ministers. His defection from the sa- cred cause of Irish freedom, gave a fatal blow to those who had elevated him to so proud an eminence, and was the first step towards the dissolution of the armed associations. Gaining confidence by their success in detaching Lord Charlemont from the Convention, ministers resolved to make a desperate effort against the Volunteers, by instructing their majority in the House of Commons to refuse leave for the introduction of the bill, framed by the convention, for reform in Parliament, under the plea of its emanating from an armed and unconstitutional body. AND A COLONY. 147 On the 29th of November, in the House of Commons, Bill for Re- Mr. Henry Flood moved for leave to introduce a bill for^*^'"™' ^'^^ the more equal representation of the people in Parliament.* The motion was opposed by the Attorney-general, Mr. Yelverton, in a speech remarkable for its eloquence. He was followed by the arrogant and ready advocate of oppres- sion, Mr. Fitzgibbon, who, unable to control his vindictive and mahgnant spirit, made a speech full of invective against the Volunteers ; describing them as armed demagogues, * Plan for reform in Parliament, proposed by the National Convention of Volunteer Delegates, assembled in Dublin in 1783. Decayed boroughs to be opened by the admission to suffrage of a barony or baronies, parish or parishes, as the case may require. Any city, borough, or manor, which hath hitherto returned members, shall be considered decayed, that does not contain a number of electors, over and above potwoUopers, not less than 200 in Ulster, 100 in Munster and Connaught, and 70 in Leinster ; or at any time hereafter when such cities, &c. shall so far fall into decay as not to furnish that number of Elec- tors, they shall cease to return members until the due number shall be sup- plied. Triennial Parliaments. In all cities, towns, boroughs, or manors, forty shillmg freeholders and upwards to have votes in such cities, &c. In counties, besides their present electors, persons possessing leasehold interests for years, originally set for sixty-one years, or upwards of ten pounds yearly value, and twenty years unexpired, to be voters in counties. Extension of suffrage to Roman Catholics. Voters to swear to qualitication, and that he will vote for the candidate he believes most likely to support the interests of the people in Parliament ; also to take the oath against bribery ; votes once taken to stand unimpeach- able ; heavy penalty against a voter falsely swearing, and loss of his fran- chise. Members in Parliament (besides the present oaths in use,) to swear that neither they, nor any person for them, with their knowledge, bribed any elector to vote for them. That they will not accept, during their holding seats in Parliament, pen- sion, place, or title. Placemen to vacate their seats, but capable of re-election. A member convicted by a jury of perjury, to be disqualified from sitting. Abrogation of all corporation bye laws contracting the franchise of Elec- tors. ■■t ■: 148 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM Mr. Fitz- ready to plunge the country into confusion and bloodshed, gibbon s ^^^ loaded the Convention with every epithet of abuse. speech. _ ... . . His speech produced an irritation which, had it been sup- ported by the house, might have been immediately fatal to British connexion ; but his abuse was not approved of, and his conduct met with a severe reproof from the eloquence Reproved of Curran, who denounced him as one dangerous to the by Mr. . . ° . Curran. peace of the country ; an incendiary, who, for his own ad- vantage, wished to kindle the torch of civil war and reli- gious intolerance. The debate degenerated into uproar ; party violence usurped the place of sound argument, and personal abuse, that of courtesy. After a debate unpre- cedented for warmth and party irritation, in which Mr. Yel- verton declared, " that to receive a bill which originated with an armed body, was inconsistent with the dignity of the House, and the freedom of debate," the bill was re- jected by 158 to 49 ; of this majority, 138 were placemen. Had this bill passed, the Union Bill in 1800 would not have been carried ; for these same men formed the majority when that national suicide was committed by the Irish Par- liament. In proposing his bill to the house, Mr. Flood, whose arguments were couched in terms remarkable for their energy as their courtesy, said, *' I ask you, will you receive it from us, from us your members ; neither intend- ing by any thing within doors or without, to intimidate or overawe you ? — I ask, will you receive it as our bill, or will you conjure up a military phantom of interposition to aiFright yourselves?" Bill for Re- ^^ *^® rejection of the bill, the Attorney-general anxious, form re- to soizo ou the moment to stamp with reprobation the Na- tional Convention, immediately moved, " that it was now necessary to declare, that this house would support the rights and privileges of Parliament against all encroachments." This motion was also carried, and an address embodying it was voted to his Majesty. The rejection of their bill, with- AND A COLONY. 149 out condescending to discuss its merits — the abuse poured out against them within those walls which had formerly re- sounded with their praise, caused a strong feeUng of indig- nation amongst the Volunteers. A sullen deportment an- nounced a discontent that only wanted some daring spirit to call it into action. The mind of the well-meaning, but feeble Lord Charlemont, was agitated by love of country on the one side, and fear of revolution on the other. The phantom of popular tumult seemed to have haunted his imagination from the moment of the first meeting of the Convention, and the inconsiderate conduct and intemperate language of the Bishop of Derry and the other deputies, only served to confirm him in the beUef of its existence. In his alarm, he forgot that Ireland looked to him for inde- pendence ; carried away by the fear of revolution, he fell into the snare so artfully prepared for him ; and after con- sulting a few of his intimates, he resolved on dissolving the Convention. Aware that this would meet with opposition, and doubtful of success from the sensation occasioned by the rejection of Mr. Flood's bill, he stooped to employ cun- ning. On Monday morning, long before the usual hour of assembling, accompanied only by some of his own partizans, who alone knew of his intentions, he repaired to the Rotun- da. The few Delegates who assembled were surprised at his arrival, and on his taking the chair, a member of the conven- tion rose, and commenced a tirade against the House of Com- mons, for the insult they had received by the unceremonious rejection of the bill. This was expected by his lordship, and he was prepared to silence any attempts to discuss it. He called the Delegate to order, and fearful that time might be given, by discussion, for the arrival of the rest who would vote against adjournment, he appealed to his sense of propriety, by stating it to be unparliamentary to take notice of what had occurred in the other house. By this absurd apology for refusing to hear the opinion of the people through the Delegates, he silenced all who 150 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM attempted to speak on the subject, and hurried to the conclusion of the drama, in which he had been the principal and responsible performer. After some short debate of minor importance, a farewell address was voted to His Majesty. The adjournment was proposed and carried, sine die. The doors of the Rotunda were closed, and on the arrival, at the hour of meeting of the great body of Delegates, they heard with mixed feelings of surprise and indignation that the man of the people had betrayed his trust, and that their functions had ceased. f AND A COLONY. 151 CHAPTER XL Indignation of the people — Another reform bill rejected — The Volunteers disperse — Mr. Pitt in 1784 — Character of Mr. Pitt — Prosperous state of Ireland — Meeting in Dublin to petition the king — Mr. Pitt's answer Some Volunteers continue to meet — Duty on Irish produce — Servile con- duct of Fitzgibbon — Duke of Buckingham appointed Viceroy — The Irish Parliament address the Prince of Wales — The Prince's answer — The Union suggested by Mr. Dundas— Origin of the Irish Rebellion — Appli- cation to the Catholics — Proceedings to produce rebellion — Mr. Duigenan — Insidious policy of Mr. Pitt — Meetings in the North. The indignation of the deputies spread amongst the people, indignation and the insulted majesty of the nation vented its anger in pig. ^ ^^^ contempt for the man who had betrayed its confidence. A new leader was wanting ; one whose patriotism shielded him from corruption, and whose courage despised intimida- tion. The Bishop of Derry, who had endeared himself to the people, was the man chosen to repair the faults of im- becility and hesitation. The Volunteers continued to meet and to deliberate, but their union had been destroyed by the desertion of their leaders, and their thoughts, which had been hitherto occupied with plans for their country's wel- fare, were suddenly turned into another channel — one that proved fatal to the repose of the country, and one that placed the people of Ireland again at the mercy of Great Britain. The spirit of liberty that nerved the nation was humbled and paralysed ; government gained ground, as the Volunteers became disunited ; the Parliament was purchased, and disappointed hope engendered despair. A last effort, however, to introduce a reform bill into Parhament was, on the suggestion of Lord Charlemont, determined on. He had been cheated into the belief that government would no longer resist a measure, if brought under their considera- 152 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM tion in the usual way, which had been refused to the de- mands of an armed and discontented population. This pro- position enabled his lordship to retire from pubhc life with some show of decency, and was offered as an apology for the abandonment of the cause he had espoused and cherished. Another Mr. Flood was selected to present the bill. His speech was bill '"ti'o- tame and deficient in the eloquence produced by the prospect rejected, of success. It was supported by Mr. Grattan ; but his sup- port wanted energy, and was given only to the measure, not to the proposer — jealousy of his great rival damped his ardour, and silenced his eloquence. The bill of the Volun- teers had excited a spirit of resistance because it was consi- dered as military dictation, and the bill of the people was rejected, because it struck at the root of the tree of corrup- tion. This last blow to their hopes was fatal to the armed associations. Their numbers gradually diminished, and the resignation of the majority of their officers gave the signal of approaching extinction. They survived a few years ; r,„ ,r but disunion had done its work, and the proud bearing of TheVoun- . , leers dis- the IHsli Volunteers] was replaced by a puerile display of perse. childish vanity — they had been betrayed by their leader — they despaired and dispersed. Such was the end of an institution, whose patriotism was unbounded, and whose force was irresistible. It did some good ; but its efforts were paralysed by placing too much confidence in the cha- racter, intelligence, and energy of its commanders. Mr. Pitt, In consequence of a change in the British ministry, Mr. Pitt, son of the great and venerated Earl of Chatham, was appointed Premier, and the Duke of Rutland was sent over to replace Lord Northington as Lord-lieutenant of Ireland. Great good was augured from this appointment ; Mr. Pitt had declared himself as a strenuous advocate for reform in the Parliament of England, and it was anticipated that no opposition would be offered to a similar measure for cleans^ ing of corruption the Irish House of Commons. The apos- 1784. AND A COLONY. 153 tasy of public men from their political opinions is so common an occurence that it has ceased to astonish, and is no longer considered disgraceful. When it arises from a conviction of error it is not reprehensible, for, as obstinacy is generally founded on ignorance, the yielding to the arguments of truth is a proof of cultivated intellect and sound judgment ; but when they prostitute their talents to secure the support of the public voice — when they flatter the prejudices and inflame the passions of the people in order to seize on the reins of government, and then turn round and desert them — it is no longer an apostasy that can be palliated ; it is po- litical swindling ; it is the servant disposing to the highest bidder, the property he has stolen from his master. Mr. Pitt began his public hfe under circumstances that character ' of Mr. Pitt, promised a brilUant career in the path he had chosen which led to popularity. At the close of the American war, he either did or affected to see the necessity of Parliamentary reform. He declared his sentiments on this vital question, and thus secured to himself the support which he sought from the great body of the nation. Men of high and princely fortunes were found amongst his most enthusiastic admirers ; corruption summoned all its sophistry to its aid in opposition to his propositions, and the same arguments were used against reformation, which afterwards received the sanction of his great name and the powerful support of his known abilities. Pamphlets were pubhshed, exposing the borough system — those of Mr. Pitt probed the wound to the bottom. He advocated public meetings to ascertain pubUc opinion on the conduct of the legislation, and finished by deserting the party of the people, to which it was thought he had for ever bound himself. Nearly sixty years have elapsed since he com- menced his career as prime minister of England, and during that long period his system of governing has been steadily pursued, with only one exception of consequence — Parha- mentary reform. It is for the nation to judge of the wis- dom or the folly of that system by the benefits it has con- 154 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM ferred or the injuries it has inflicted on the country. Deeply immersed in the study of measures tending to the good of his fellow-creatures, every faculty of a man's soul is under its influence ; and, with regard to memory, what in the common herd of mankind is an involuntary defect, is in him systematic, and under the direction of a judgment per- fectly sound, and a discernment so quick and penetrating, that he sees at one glance what ought to be remembered or forgotten, and can be retentive or obHvious according to convenience, or as existing circumstances require. To give an instance or two. It was convenient for Mr. Pitt to forget the instructions he received in his youth from a father who lived and died in the beUef of the purity of his princi- ples. It was also proper and convenient to forget the speeches he delivered in the House of Commons, and what „ , passed in the societies for reform in 1784. His career as Happy and *^ _ _ prosperous minister of Great Britain is written in the national debt ; and Ireland ^^^ history as man recorded in the blood-stained annals of the Irish Rebelhon. On his accession to power, Ireland was daily improving in prosperity — never since the first invasion had she enjoyed such peace and happiness — her population employed ; absenteeism almost unknown, for the great land- holders resided on their estates ; rehgious feuds had ceased ; in short, Ireland was rapidly approaching to a state of pros- perity and happiness, which again aroused the jealousy of the British cabinet, and under the auspices of Mr. Pitt, an infamous and dark conspiracy was formed, to subvert her constitution, to ruin her trade, and destroy her population. The Duke of Rutland succeeded the Earl of Northing- ton, and with him commenced the pohtical crusade against Irish independence, which ended in deluging her fields with blood, and extinguishinff her as a nation. The petitions of Petition.- , , . ,. j. i i . . tor Reform the pcoplc for parhamcntary reform had been rejected, and rejected, ^j^^ demand for duties to protect the manufactures refused — a law against the liberty of the press had been passed. The excitement became general, and excesses were com- w AND A COLONY. 155 mitted by the populace, who assaulted, on theu* way to the house, some members who were known to be favourable to the views of the British government. The people accustomed under the protection of the armed associations to meet and discuss pohtical questions bearing on matters of vital impor- tance to their interests, determined, notwithstanding the dis- union that rendered the Volunteers feeble and powerless, on petitioning against any encroachment on the constitution, and urging reform in Parliament. An address was put forth, calling on the inhabitants of Meeting in counties to meet and take into consideration the propriety ^^^^ ^^ r r J petition the of petitioning the throne for Parliamentary Reform, and to King. pray his Majesty to resist all attempts for the subversion of the laws for the protection of Irish commerce. A peti- tion to this effect was carried unanimously at the first meet- ing which was held at Dublin, on the 25 th of October, to which was added a prayer that his Majesty would dissolve the Parliament. This petition, couched in strong, though respectful language, was of a nature to displease the go- vernment, which, beginning to feel its returning strength shewed by the answer of the Lord-Ueutenant its contempt of the petition and petitioners. It was as follows : — " Gen- tlemen, at the same time that I comply with your request in transmitting to his Majesty a paper signed by you, en- titled a petition of the freemen, freeholders, and inhabitants of the City of Dubhn, I sliall not fail to convey my entire disapprobation of it, as casting unjust reflections upon the laws and parliament of Ireland, and tending to weaken the authority of both." The arrogant coldness of this reply had the double efFect foreseen by the government. It irritated the petitioners and infused new hopes into the faction, which, under the fostering hand of England, was forming to counteract the exertions of their fellow-countrymen to forward the cause of reform, and place their country in the position which Providence intended she should hold amongst nations. The vigom- »■;-■'■■- ■ . • / ■' . . • • ' ■■■■■■ - ^"■>'-T-''^'^^''?im 156 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM displayed by the government was applied to other parts of Ireland where similar meetings had been called. Criminal proceedings were taken against the sheriffs who had presided, and the High Sheriff of Dublin was sentenced to fine and imprisonment for the offence he had committed. Notwith- standing these severe measures the flame of independence still continued, though feebly, to burn. A similar petition was forwarded to Mr. Pitt, the supposed advocate of reform, from Belfast, for presentation to his majesty. The answer returned by the minister to the petitioners destroyed all hopes of his support, and though still professing a behef in the necessity of reform, it contained proofs of his dissent from their principles, and clearly announced his change of Mr. Pitt's political feeling. He informed them " that he had un- answer. doubtedly been, and still continued a zealous friend to a reform in parliament, but that he must beg leave to say, that he had been so on grounds very different from those adopted in their petition, that what was there proposed he considered as tending to produce still greater evils than any of those which the friends of reform were desirous to remedy." Some corps "^^^ volunteers unwilling to renounce their character for of Voiun- perseverance in the great cause of reform, still continued to nue to as- Struggle against the exertions made to stifle all pubhc demon- serabie. stration in its favour. But divided as to the extent of their demands, and disunited on the always fatal question of Catholic emancipation, they formed into parties, each sacri- ficing the general good in useless and ilhberal quarrels about the world to come. Nothing is so injurious to the peace and prosperity of a nation as religious dissension, because of the unforgiving rancour of the different prsuasions. Its virulence is unbounded, and no reasoning can remove the ignorant prejudice of fanaticism, or check the cruel persecution of bigotry ; and education and sound intellect plead in vain at the bar of intolerance, and self-interest. The poison intro- duced by the government soon began to operate, it infected the whole frame of Irish union, and finally destroyed its '■^f' .-.-.fi'-rT^-a:-,-™-!^ ■ -_-•'.■ .■■■■(;-. -« ■ ■ ■'_ ' ■ •■ ■ ..-:"%',- ?■:* * ■■' ^ "; ^ . » ^^ ■ -v ':5sa^S!raw^'| AND A COLONY. 157 giant strength The Irish Volunteers formerly so powerful, dispersed and were dissolved, leaving behind them a grate- ful remembrance of their eminent services, accompanied with a regret that a too great confidence in their leaders, and a feehng of religious animosity, should have deprived their country of their powerful protection.* * The following excellent advice was, in humble verse, at this period given, but not followed : — ADVICE TO PADDY. TcNE — "Larry Grogan" Arrah Paddy my joy, What makes you so shy To join your Catholic brother, your brother ? Sure you never can thrive If you both do not strive To live on good terms with each other, each other. Your foes long have prided To see you divided. That they with more ease might oppress you, oppress you. But when they once find You together have joined, I'll be bound they'll be glad to caress you, caress you. Then your rights will be granted And all things you wanted. To fit you for every high station, high station. "With such a connection You'll shine in perfection. Oh ! then you'll be a bright nation, bright nation. But if by a blunder You still keep asunder, Those blessings can never attend you, attend you. Till you go to your graves You shall live and die slaves, And all will cry out, devil mend you, devil mend you. 158 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM The British parhament met on the 25th of January, 1785, and that of Ireland, on the 28th of the same month. Both were occupied in discussing commercial regulations, to which their attention had been called by the speech from the throne. The expectations of protection for Irish indus- A heavy ^^J from both parliaments had been disappointed. The duty levied nation loudly called for protecting duties. English produce on Irish , . . ^ • t ^ i i produce, of every description was admitted at very low ad valorum duty into the Irish ports ; but an impost, amounting almost to prohibition, was laid on every thing Irish entering Eng- land, with two exceptions — the talents and bravery of her sons, and her linen cloth. The people, however, had felt their strength, and it was not thought prudent to rouse the spirit that had been with such difficulty suppressed. That something must be done was evident. Accordingly, the 7th of February, 1785, Mr. Orde, the Irish Secretary, proposed a series of resolutions for the regulation of the commerce between the two nations, founded on a system of mutual admission of their respective produce into the ports of each. These resolutions passed the Commons, and were sent to England ; but instead of presenting them in their original form for discussion in the British senate, the minis- ter artfully incorporated them in a bill, containing twenty propositions, all of which were worded to deceive the Irish people into a belief that their commerce and manufacture were particularly favoured, whilst in fact, it gave the Eng- lish monopohst every advantage ; and by the introduction of a clause, England was enabled to appropriate the reve- nues of Ireland to the fitting out and manning her navy. Another bill was framed, embodying the twenty proposi- tions of Mr. Pitt, and sent for the approval of the Irish par- liament. Though ignorant of commerce, the country gen- tlemen who were not yet corrupted, saw through the insi- dious attempt to assail Irish prosperity. The debate became animated, and grave discussion ended in personal invective. The Attorney-general's (Fitzgibbon) AND A COLONY. 159 arrogance was such, as to call forth the anger of the house. servUe His subserviency and truckhng to ministers was strikingly ^"^"f* ^^ contrasted to his insolent and overbearing language to their gibbon. opponents. After a debate that continued all night, a divi- sion took place, which gave a doubtful victory to ministers, the numbers being 127. for the measure, and 108 against it. The bill was withdrawn, and the defeat never forgiven. Its rejection decided the fate of Ireland : for from that moment the mind of Mr. Pitt was employed in devising plans for corrupting the members of the Irish legislature, and destroying her independence. When men in power decide on the accomplishment of a favourite measure, the scruples arising from the feelings of honour and humanity that in private life prevent the com- mission of crime, are seldom allowed to govern their actions. That " the end justifies the means" is their maxim, and the rule of their conduct. It is their apology for private vil- lainy and public cruelty : it is a principle that acknowledges no law and respects no rehgion. With them expediency gives absolution for political delinquency, and a bill of indemnity shields them from consequences, and satisfies their consciences. The ministerial career of Mr. Pitt and his fellow-labourers in the great field of Irish corruption and cruelty, illustrates the truth of these observations. On the demise of the Duke of Rutland, which took place Duke of in October, 1787, the Duke of Buckingham was appointed j^"*^^^"^ viceroy of Ireland ; and shortly after, George the Third pointed was affected with the deplorable malady that incapacitated '^^'"^^" him from attending to pubHc business. It was necessary a Regent should be appointed to govern. Mr. Pitt, foresee- ing that the election of the Prince of Wales to fill the situ- ation would be fatal to his continuance in ofiice, put every intrigue in motion, and used all his influence to induce the parliaments of both kingdoms to vote an address to her Majesty, calUng on her to administer the affairs of the nation. The report of the physicians, signed by the mem- 160 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM bers of the Privy Council, was laid before parliament on the 4th of December, 1789. On that day, committees of both Houses were directed to examine the physicians, who agreed as to the incapacity of his Majesty to govern. Mr. Pitt immediately moved for a committee to search for pre- cedents ; and it was decided, that it was the exclusive pri- vileges of both Houses to appoint a head to the government of the kingdom. The restoration of his Majesty, however, fortunately rendered legislation on the subject unnecessary. During the interregnum, steps were taken to secure the con- currence of the Irish parliament to the views of the admi- nistration ; so that the Irish parliament should act in accor- dance with the British House of Commons. But the opportunity of showing their independence, gratified the national pride, was not to be thrown away. The Irish members, who had hitherto been the wiUing dupes of the minister, abandoned him on this momentous question, and voted in direct opposition to his wishes. Mr. Grattan sup- Parii^'^'^^t P^^*-®^ *^^ proposition of the English Whigs in favour of the vote an Prince of Wales ; whilst Mr. Fitzgibbon, the Attorney- The '^Prince S®^®^^^' "^^^^ ^^^ usual pertinacity, adhered to the path of Wales, pointed out by his patron. The same hne of argument adopted by Burke and Fox in England, was followed by Mr. Grattan. He argued, that as the crown must at some future period devolve on the Prince, it was an insult to him, as well as impolitic, to direct the regal power from its direct channel. There was the Prfnce ^ poli^ical demise, and that if the House were of opinion of Wales, that such was the case, they would exceed their power in appointing any other than the Prince, to the high situation of Regent of the kingdom. That the Prince had an inherent right to administer the laws as king could not be doubted; and that the assumption of the royal dignity by any other, and the exercise of its functions, although sanctioned by parlia- ment, would be unconstitutional and dangerous. Mr. Grat- tan supported his opinion with his accustomed eloquence AND A COLONY. 161 and sound reasoning ; and concluded by moving, that an humble address be presented to His Royal Highness, to take upon himself the goyernment of this realm, during the continuation of His Majesty's present indisposition, and no longer, and " under the style and title of Prince Regent of Ireland, in the name of His Majesty, to exercise and admi- nister, according to the laws and constitution of this king- dom, all regal powers, jurisdictions, and prerogatives to the crown and government thereof belonging." The opposition of the Attorney-general was marked by great firmness and ability ; but his arguments were enfee- bled by his arrogance ; and government not wishing to expose their weakness, allowed the measure to pass without a division. Defeated, but not discouraged, the ministry threw every obstacle in the way of this address being for- warded to His Royal Highness. Instructions were sent to the Lord Lieutenant to refuse transmitting it, on the ground of its being contrary to his oath to submit an address, calling on the Prince to assume the government before he was entitled to do so by the law. Immediately this refusal was communicated to the House : Mr. Grattan moved that a deputation should be chosen from the members of the House of Commons to present it to His Royal Highness. This motion, after a short discussion, was carried by a majority of 130 against 74. The Lords appointed the Duke of Leins- ter and Lord Charlemont ; and the Commons, — J. O'Neil, W. B. Ponsonby, and J. Stewart, as their representatives, to present the address. The deputation proceeded to Lon- don, and arrived there on the 25th of February, 1789 ; and next morning they waited on His Royal Highness to present the address, which was graciously received. In his answer, the Prince, after expressing his thanks for the con- fidence reposed in him by the Irish people, said, " But the ^^ fortunate change which has taken place in the circumstances Prince's which gave occasion to the address agreed to by the Lords and Commons of Ireland, induces me to delay, for a few 162 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM days, giving a final answer ; trusting that the joyful event of His Majesty's resuming the personal exercise of his royal authority, may then render it only necessary for me to repeat those sentiments of gratitude and affection to the loyal and generous people of Ireland, which I feel is inde- libly imprinted on my heart." Soon after this answer His Majesty was restored by Providence to the prayers of a loyal and affectionate people. The daring act of insubordination of the Irish Houses of Parhament, in presuming to exert their undoubted right without consulting the wishes of the British minister, was considered by him as a personal insult, and one which he determined to chastise. But with every inclination to inflict it, he was at a loss in what manner to proceed, so as to con- vince the people of Ireland that they must not consider themselves as an independent people, but merely as a nation The project tolerated by Great Britain. In this dilemma he consulted suggested" Mr. Dundas, afterwards Lord Melville, a man as remarka- by Mr. ^jg for his cunniug as for his cupidity, and whose meanness was only equalled by his venality. This person repre- sented to Mr. Pitt the difficulty the Enghsh ministry would have to contend with, if Ireland was longer permitted to have a parliament of her own, the members of which they would be obliged to purchase every session, and strongly urged the minister to immediately commence operations, so as to Origin of securo a union of the two legislatures. The comprehensive Rebellion mind of Mr. Pitt immediately caught at the suggestion, and saw the great advantages that would accrue to his admini- stration by the accomplishment of the measure ; but in his anxiety to estabhsh his power on a firm basis, and his im- patience to avenge insulted diplomacy, he overlooked the consequences of the political profligacy that destroyed Irish prosperity and English tranquiUity. Had Ireland been permitted to retain her parliament, the agitation that has extended itself to England would have been unknown, and, governed by her own legislature, she would have become And a colony. 163 the powerful auxiliary, instead of the dissatisfied and dan- gerous dependent. The proposition of Mr. Dundas was communicated to the leading members of the British cabinet by Mr. Pitt, and the means for carrying it into effect determined on. The union of all classes of the Irish people had divulged to them the secret, which it is the interest of all governments to conceal from the governed, of their intellectual and physical strength. To destroy that Union was the great object of the Pitt conspiracy. The flame of religious animosity that was nearly extinguished was again fanned into a wide spreading conflagration ; suspicion replaced confidence ; poli- tical discord soon followed ; and the glorious temple of Irish freedom erected by her volunteers was levelled to the dust by the same hands with which it was reared. The atro- cious poHcy that under Elizabeth and Cromwell made Ireland a desert, was again employed under George the Third with the same results. England secured supremacy at the expense of national integrity, and Ireland lost her independence, but not her virtues or the remembrance of her wrongs. The first step of the Ensrhsh minister was to intimate to -'^ppiica- ^ . P. . . tion to the the leading Catholic families, his wish to abrogate the Catholics. penal statutes. This intimation, conveyed to them by the Duchess of Buckingham, herself a Cathohc, was coldly received because a similar petition had not only been rejected but actually trampled under foot by the members of the Irish House of Commons, and although many years had elapsed since the indignity was offered, and religious hatred had ceased, still they feared that it might be again aroused, and that they would by a similar appHcation subject them- selves to a repetition of the insult. It was necessary for the success of the plot, and with a view to ulterior proceedings, that their reluctance should be overcome, accordingly the Catholics were assured that government would use all its influence in their favour, and that thus powerfully supported 104 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM their success could not be doubted. Encouraged by these promises, a petition for the repeal of the penal statutes was presented to parliament. This proceeding was represented by the government agents as the first step of the Irish Catholics towards supremacy, and it was insinuated that should their prayer be granted the cherished Protestant ascendancy would be endangered, and that ultimately a claim would be made by them for the restoration of the confiscated lands of their ancestors.* These insinuations alarmed the weak and the credulous. * To give a direct denial to these assertions at a meeting of the Irish Catholics in DubUn, the following declaration was agreed to. DECLARATION OF THE CATHOLICS OF IRELAND. Whereas certain opinions and principles, inimical to good order and govern- ment, have been attributed to the Catholics, the existence of which we ut- terly deny, and whereas it is at this time peculiarly necessary to renounce such imputations, and to give the most full and ample satisfaction to our Pro- testant brethren, that we hold no principle, whatsoever, incompatible with our duty as men or as subjects, or repugnant to liberty, whether political, civil or religious. Now, we, the Catholics of Ireland, for the removal of all such imputations and in deference to the opinion of many respectable bodies of men and individuals among our Protestant brethren, do hereby, in the face of our country, of all Europe, and before God, make this our deliberate and solemn declaration. 1. We abjure, disavow, and condemn the opinion that princes, excommu- nicated by the Pope and council, or by any ecclesiastical authority whatso- ever, may therefore be deposed or murdered by their subjects, or any other persons. We hold such doctrine in detestation, as wicked and infamous, and we declare we do not believe, that either the Pope, with or without a general council, or any prelate or priest, or any ecclesiastical power whatsoever, can absolve the subjects of this kingdom, or any of them, from their alle- giance to His Majesty King George the Third, who is, by authority of par- liament, the lawful King of this realm. 2. We abjure, condemn, and detest as unchristian and impious, the prin- ciple, that it is lawful to murder, destroy, or any ways injure any person whatsoever, for or under the pretence or colour of their being heretics ; and we declare solemnly before God, that we believe no act in itself unjust immoral or wicked, can ever be justified or excused by, or under pretence AND A COLONY. 165 The descendants of the soldiers of Ehzabeth and Crom- well trembled for their possessions, and saw in every Con- or colour, that it was done either for the good of the church, or in obedience to any ecclesiastical power whatsoever. 3. We further declare that we hold it, as an unchristian and impious principle, that *' no faith is to be kept with heretics." This doctrine we detest and reprobate, not only as contrary to our religion, but as destruc- tive of morality, and society, and even of common honesty ; and it is our firm belief, that an oath made to any person, not of the Catholic religion, is equally binding as if it were made to any Catholic whatsoever. 4. We have been charged with holding as an article of our belief, that the Pope with or without the authority of a general council, or that certain ecclesiastical powers can acquit and absolve us, before God, from our oaths of allegiance, or even from the just oaths and contracts entered into between man and man. Now, we do utterly renounce, abjure, and deny that we hold or maintain any such belief, as being contrary to the peace and hap- piness of society, inconsistent with morality, and above all, repugnant to the true spirit of the Catholic religion. 3. We do further declare that we do not believe that the Pope of Rome, or any other foreign prince, prelate, state or potentate, hath or ought to have, any temporal or civil jurisdiction, power, superiority or pre-eminence, directly or indirectly, within this realm, 6. After what we have renounced it is immaterial in a political light, what may be our opinions or faith on other points respecting the Pope, however, for greater satisfaction we declare that it is not an article of the Catholic faith, neither are we thereby required to believe that " the Pope is infallible," or that we are bound to obey any order in its own nature immoral, though the Pope, or any ecclesiastical power, should issue or direct such order, but on the contrary, we hold, that it would be sinful in us to pay any respect or obedience thereto. 7. We further declare, that we do not believe, that any sin whatsoever committed by us can be forgiven at the mere will of any Pope, or of any person or persons whatsoever, but that sincere sorrow for past sins, a firm and sincere resolution, as far as may be in our power, to restore our neigh- bour's property or character if we have trespassed on, or unjustly injui-ed either ; a firm and sincere resolution to avoid future guilt, and to atone to God, are previous and indespensable requisites, to establish a well founded expectation of forgiveness ; and that any person who receives absolution without these previous requisites, so far from obtaining thereby any remis- sion of his sins, incurs the additional guilt of violating a sacrament. 8. We do hereby solemnly disclaim, and for ever renounce all Interest in, and title to, all forfeited lands, resulting from any rights, or supposed rights, 1(3G IRELAND AS A KINGDOM govern raent to produce rebellion. Proceed- cession to the Catholic an approach to spoliation. Thus ings of the prepared to adopt any proposition that might avert, the supposed danger, the corrupt, daring, and ready tool of despotism, the Irish Chancellor, Fitzgibbon, received secret instructions to prepare and forward to the different counties counter petitions for their signature. As the government had urged the Protestants to forward these addresses, they naturally expected that they would be supported by minis- ters, and that the reply to the Catholics would have been that as it was evident that all the property of the king- dom was in direct opposition, it would be impossible to grant their request. They were deceived however in their ex- pectations, Mr. Pitt, had determined on forcing the measure of a repeal of the obnoxious laws, and thereby secure the support of the Catholics whilst he foresaw and calculated on the discontent and jealousy it would occasion amongst the Protestants. The Catholic Relief Bill was introduced by Mr. O'Neil, and seconded by Mr. Gardner, both strenu- of our ancestors, or any claim, title or interest therein ; nor do we admit any title, as a foundation of right, which is not established and acknow- ledged by the laws of the realm, as they now stand — we desire further, that whenever the patriotism, liberality, and justice, of our countrymen, shall restore to us a participation in the elective franchise, no Catholic shall be permitted to vote at any election for members to serve in parliament, unless he shall previously take an oath to defend, to the utmost of his power, the arrangements of property in this country, as established by the different acts of attainder and settlement. 9. It has been objected to us, that we wish to subvert the present church establishment, for the purpose of substituting a Catholic establish- ment in its stead, now we do hereby disclaim, disavow, and solemnly abjure any such intention ; and further, if we shall be admitted into any share of the constitution, by our being restored to the right of elective franchise, we are ready in the most solemn manner to declare, that we will not exercise that privilege to disturb and weaken the estabhshment of the Protestant religion, or Protestant government in this country. Signed by order and on behalf of the general committee of the Catholics of Ireland, RicHABD Byrne, Chairman, Richard M'Cormick, Secretary. AND A COLONY. 167 ous advocates for the abrogation of the penal statutes. The introduction was the signal for furious declamation against the administration. The Irish gentry denounced the pro- ceeding as treacherous to themselves, and dangerous to the country — under the influence of prejudices and alarm they refused to submit to the dictation of Mr. Pitt, alleging that there existed no necessity for the measure, as the Catholic religion had been for many years retrograding. That scarcely an individual professing that creed was pos- sessed of five hundred pounds per annum, and that the penal laws ought to be continued, otherwise popery would again be estabHshed in the country. Many of the leaders of the opposition were excellent men, and worthy gentlemen, but strongly saturated from their boyhood with groundless fears of Cathohc supremacy. They had been educated in the intolerant school of ignorant bigotry, where they were taught to consider the Catholics as idolaters, their priests impostors, and their salvation doubtful. Inheriting all the prejudices of their fathers, in concession they saw rebellion, and in any relaxation of the penal code, anarchy and spoliation. Others, whose reli- gion was pohtical, and whose patriotism was place, were the most inveterate opponents to any change in the existing laws. But the most violent antagonist, and bitter enemy of the Catholics, was Doctor Patrick Duignan, Judge of Doctor the Prerogative Court of Ireland. His obstinate and per- ^"'t'"*"- severing acrimony against his Cathohc countrymen knew no bounds, and his name will survive, and be repeated as the uncompromising enemy of social order and of his country, so long as the unhappy dissensions of that country are remembered ;* violent in debate, his invective was un- * Dr. Duignan on being asked by a friend to account for his hatred of Catholics, replied, "my wife is one, and my house is constantly infested by Catholic priests." 168 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM checked by decorum, and as a public orator he was more remarkable for warmth than for wisdom, more audacity than argument — when excited he often overstepped the bounds he had himself laid down for his government, and, forgetting his character as a bigot, he betrayed a feeling quite con- trary to the doctrine he avowed and supported. He wor- shipped Episcopacy, and the Primate of Ireland was the only person who could soften down his asperity, or control his temper — as Vicar-General he was closely connected with the church estabhshment. When its rights were attacked his fury was awakened, and he spared neither Protestant nor Cathohc. In private hfe, a convivial and entertaining com- panion, and, as a pubhc character, a coarse and corrupt partisan. After the legislative union he accepted the office of commissioner, for paying the promised bribes tonnembers of parhament under the name of compensation, for loss of their seats in parhament, and died at an advanced period of life in the enjoyment of all his faculties, and the firm conviction of having done his duty in the persecution of his countrymen, and in assisting to deprive Ireland of her con- stitution !* Notwithstanding that the bill met with the same fate as the former, Mr. Pitt, with that pertinacity which distin- guished all his pohtical proceedings, determined, cost what it might, to carry a point on which depended the accoraphsh- ment of his plans, for the fostering of rehgious animosity. He directed that peerages should be offered for sale, either for two seats in parliament or for the sum of five thousand pounds, for the purpose of obtaining with the money thus levied from the vanity of its possessors, a majority in the * Doctor Duignan, Lord Annesly, and Mr. Jameson, an Englishman, under this commission, distributed by Lord Castlereagh's directions, one million five hundred thousand pounds of the Irish money, amongst members of the Houses of Lords and Commons, this sum, along with creations of peers, purchased the majority which voted for the act of union. — Barrington. AND A COLONY. 169 Irish House of Commons, and it was accordingly expended in that way. Many of the Irish gentry were thus ennobled, little dreaming that the sums paid were to be used in cor- rupting the members of both houses, with the ulterior view of bringing about the legislative union, to which many of them, when the measure was proposed, evinced so uncompromising an opposition. The experiment succeeded — the enemies of Catholic concession were silenced, fanaticism bent its stub- born head before the splendour of title, and the allurements of profit. The Catholic Rehef Bill, relaxing the severity of the penal statutes, passed both houses without much opposi- tion, and was hailed by the CathoUcs as the herald of eman- cipation, and of rehgious and pohtical freedom. Elated with the progress of corruption, the EngUsh minister silently pursued the path traced out for the destruction of Irish independence. Jealousies were awakened, and family feuds fomented, some argued that the people should rest satisfied, others that they should not be contented with any thing short of total emancipation, without which peace and security could never be estabhshed on a firm and lasting foundation. The fervour of Irish patriotism having abated, different shades in poUtics, the result of corruption, began to show themselves in the Irish Parhament. A degenerate feehng of dependence on England replaced that of Irish freedom, and the scramble for the artificial distinction of title became, with a few noble exceptions, general. The love of country that had produced the unanimity which gave to Ireland freedom of commerce was gradually subsiding, and finally ceased to exist. The English minister saw, with a mah- Insidious cious exultation, the moment approach for striking a blow policy of that would crush Irish happiness. Dead to every feeling ^^^' ^'*** except that of vengeance and ambition, he continued to practice on the vanity of the weak, the fears of the timid, and the cupidity of the avaricious. Personal aggrandise- ment grasped at the bribe, vanity was gratified by distinc- 170 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM tion, and timidity sought confidence under his protection. Thus armed he proceeded to urge on the civil war that rendered Ireland a waste that carried tears and lamentations throughout the land, that handed over to the sword, the scaffold, and the torture men who, from their rank and information, were useful members of society and an honour to their country. AND A COLONY. 171 CHAPTER XII. Effects of the French Revolution Measures to promote the Union — Lord Fitzwilliam appointed Viceroy — Enthusiasm of the People — Mr. Beresford — A Pluralist His Dismissal.— Resignation of Earl Fitz- william. Profligate statesmen are seldom deterred from pursuing their political path by a feehng of shame, or a sense of in- justice, and never hesitate to employ means the most vile, and men the most despicable, for the completion of their projects. Hurried away by the ambition of being con- sidered men of profound diplomatic talent, they stop not to consider the consequences that may be the result of their policy, nor the misery their acts may entail on future generations. The career of Mr. Pitt with respect to the Irish rebelhon and subsequent union, is a strong and melan- choly illustration of the truth of this observation. The repeal of several of the laws that pressed severely on the Catholics, gave great offence to the Protestants of the North, meetings MeetiugBi were held, at which speeches were made declaratory of their the North disgust at the conduct of the government, and deprecating in the strongest terms any further concessions to the Catho- hcs. These speeches created an unfounded suspicion of in- tended treachery, and the uneducated Protestant was taught to beUeve that the CathoHcs aimed at both the recovery of their forfeited estates, and the suppression of the Protestant religion. Previous to the heartless Pitt conspiracy, the Protestant and Cathohc had Hved in the greatest harmony, mutual oppression had made them friends, disputes about the other world never disturbed the peace of society. The question of ** is he a Catholic, or is he a Protestant" was never asked. To be an Irishman, and honest, was the only and strongest recommendation to secure kindness, hospi- 172 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM tality, and confidence. But the great and paramount pro- ject of the union was to be perfected, and the violation of the peace of society, the sacrifice of human life, and the ruining of thousands, were but dust in the balance when weighed against expediency, and personal ambition. To complete a legislative union, proceedings unparalleled for baseness in the whole history of diplomatic corruption, were resorted to, which unchained all the worst passions of the people of both countries, which gave blood to the bigot, and power to the oppressor, and produced events that may ultimately lead to the subversion of those institutions, under whose protection these islands have so long flourished. The admirers of Mr. Pitt's politics describe him as " the pilot that weathered the storm ;" but it is to be feared they may yet discover that he who weathered it, ran the great vessel of the state on the fatal shoals of the national debt and Irish union. The enthusiasm caused by the French revolution spread like an electric shock through the whole of Europe, and Ire- land, already prepared by the insidious measures of the minister for the political explosion that destroyed her as a nation, soon caught the flame. EflFects of The spirit that armed her population was not yet extinct. Revolution ^^^ ^^^ people still remembered the lesson of independence taught them by the volunteers, but forgot that, since that glorious period, religious dissension had been introduced, that sectarian suspicion and violence had replaced the Chris- tian feelings of brotherly love and toleration. In the fatal belief that they were still strong as a united people, they hurried forward in the treacherous path prepared for them, and with that carelessness of consequences that marks the Irish character, they never suspected or looked back at the base hand that pressed them on to destruction. The dissemination of principles in direct opposition to 1701. monarchy began to produce eff'ects that alarmed the different governments of Europe. Their fears induced them to adopt vigorous measures for their suppression, and whilst these : T AND A COLONY. 173 measures were in progress in England, in Ireland revolution- ary principles were zealously propagated, and allowed to be inculcated even in the capital, under the eye of the Irish executive. Paid agents were instructed to inflame the minds of the people, who fell into the abyss prepared to receive them. The impulse given to the revolutionary feehng was felt throughout the whole nation. The spirit of insurrection began to show itself, secret associations, under the name of the United Irish, were formed. The rich and flou- rishing town of Belfast took the lead in these proceedings. Essentially Presbyterian, its inhabitants were hostile to the Church establishment, and had always evinced a stronger in- clination to cultivate a good understanding with the Cathohcs than with those who belonged to the Church of England. The revolutionary train was laid, and only awaited the Mr. Pitt touch of the match to explode, but it was necessary to con- ^'^^^u^!?'^ ceal the hand that applied it. Having divided the country, measures and corrupted the parliament, the next step of the govern- ^^* °'"°* ment was, by a show of further concession to the Catholics, to irritate the Protestant population. It was determined to send Earl FitzwiUiam to supersede Lord Westmoreland as Viceroy. This appointment occasioned great surprise to all who were not in the minister's confidence, as that amiable nobleman was one of the opposition, and had always been the strenuous advocate of Cathohc emancipation. Mr. Pitt was aware that his being sent over as Lord- Lord Fitz- Lieutenant would awaken hopes that he was determined ^o\"\^ *^ should never be reahsed, and that his recall at the time Viceroy. when he was about giving peace to the country, would bring on that pohtical crisis he so long and so ardently expected. The arrival of Earl FitzwilUam gave universal satisfaction, and was hailed by the people as a proof of the wish of the government to inquire into and redress their grievances and promote their happiness. Sentiments of confidence were expressed, and flattering hopes of future prosperity cherished. 174 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM The public mind which had been agitated by wanton acts of shameful atrocity, became composed, and all men united in giving their support to a Viceroy who presented himself as enthusiasm t^® benefactor and pacificator of their country. From one of the peo- corner of the kingdom to the other, nothing was to be heard but invitations to an union in favour of his administration ; but this exultation was of short duration. The cup which had been presented in mockery to the parched lip of the slave, was rudely withdrawn, dashed to the ground, and along with it all the dreams of the future which had glad- dened the heart and intoxicated the imagination. Lord Fitzwilliani's departure for Ireland was delayed in consequence of Mr. Pitt's questioning the terms on which the Duke of Portland alleged he had received the appoint- ment of Viceroy. The dispute however was finally arranged, by giving a compensation to the then Lord Lieutenant, Lord Westmoreland, and Lord Fitzwilham, came over under engagements to certain persons in Ireland, with full powers from the Duke of Portland to fulfil these engagements, and with the knowledge and acquiescence of Mr. Pitt, whose duphcity concealed his intention of employ- ing all his influence to secretly thwart the Viceroy's en- deavours to give peace and tranquillity to the people whom he was appointed to govern.* Lord Fitzwilliam took posses- sion of his government on the 4th January, 1795, under auspices the most cheering to the country. He commenced his labours by the dismissal from office, but with ample com- pensation, of such persons as had lost the confidence of the country, and who were intimately connected with the abuses of the former government. Their removal from official situations was considered necessary as they might have impeded the great work of reform, and in so doing he acted with the privacy, and consent of the English cabinet, under the belief of its being the serious intention of the ministry to * These engagements are, Catholic Emancipation and Reform in the Irish House of Commons. AND A COLONY. 175 strangle the monster of Irish corruption. A supply from the Irish parliament, liberal beyond the example of any former period, was granted, and every thing tended to revive the 1795. hopes that had been nearly destroyed. This amiable, high minded, and unsuspecting nobleman, had accepted the situation of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from an anxious wish to satisfy all parties, and tranquiUise the country. Armed with great authority, he repaired to Dublin under the conviction that his endeavours would receive the sup- port of ministers, and satisfy both countries. Mr. Pitt had long and secretly decided on inflaming the passions of the people into overt acts against the government, and only permitted him to proceed in the work of reform to a certain point, so as to enable him to change his government with the precipitancy necessary to irritate and alarm. Among Mr. Beres- the dismissals there was one which gave great satisfaction to racterlmd the people, but which was strongly resisted by the Pitt admi- dismissal. nistration, that of Mr. Beresford. This gentleman had been long in the service of the revenue and the crown. He had voted for seven and twenty years for every measure of every administration, however hostile or odious to the Irish nation, and had acquired, along with an unenviable celebrity, some influence from being supposed to be the devoted agent and ready tool of England. He had rendered himself obnoxious by, on every occasion, bartering pohtical probity for place, and voting against the resolutions which had been carried in favour of free trade. Having taken in the person of his son an active part against the Roman Cathohcs, in 1792, and in the person of the same son having opposed the Cathohc Relief Bill in the same session, he was thought an improper person to be continued in the confidence of a government whose great and wise object was to unite all ranks in sup- port of the crown. He united in his own person, or his sons, the different lucrative situations of commissioner of the treasury, of revenue, of counsel to the commissioners, of store keeper and banker. There were other and more 176 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM powerful reasons for the removal of this person from the influential situations, that rendered him a dangerous enemy A pluralist, to a liberal government. His family had aspired to all the powers of government, his brother-in-law was chancellor, his son-in-law, treasurer. He endeavoured to make his brother primate, and he himself had the entire control of the reve- nue, so that the system of the family was to monopolize the patronage of the church, the law, and the revenue, and by holding the last to overawe and govern all the mercantile interest of the country. It was thought therefore expedient that he should be dismissed, which was accordingly done with a compensation of £3000 per annum. His family re- tained the places and emoluments actually in their possession. His case, however, was thought by the Enghsh cabinet to be one of compassion, or rather it afforded a favourable oppor- tunity to break faith with Lord Fitzwilliam, and at the same time convince the unprincipled speculators in Irish politics that their services were appreciated, and that their future exertions should not be overlooked or forgotten. Mr. Beresford's dismissal gave a pretext for remon- strance, which was soon followed by the resignation of the most popular, enlightened, and virtuous Viceroy that had ever administered the affairs of Ireland. Resi"-na ^^ March, 1 795, his lordship, to whose public and private tionofEari virtucs, all Ireland bore testimony, finding the double and lam mippincipled game by which it was intended to mystify the people, and to rob them of their parliament, resigned the high situation of Viceroy, and the country was deprived, in the hour of its greatest difficulty, of his talents and his virtues, which had he remained at the head of the govern- ment might have been employed to prevent those measures that plunged the country into anarchy and bloodshed. Too high minded to lend himself as a tool, and too virtuous to assist oppression, he resigned the government of Ireland. Throughout the whole history of tortuous, and deceitful diplomacy, there is not an instance of greater address, or of AND A COLONY. 177 more atrocious perfidy, than was displayed by the British minister. Earl Fitzwilliam wished to prevent rebelUon, but Mr. Pitt had decided on producing it. The departure of the former from Ireland cast a general gloom throughout the nation, which was only the prelude to the storm that swept away the Hves of thousands, whilst the latter rejoicing in his success, shut his heart to every feeling but ambition, and exulted in the prospect of reducing Ireland from an independant nation to an humble province of Great Britain. When we consider the popularity of the measures which Lord Fitzwilliam was forced to abandon ; the solemn pledges which he had given to the parliament of Ireland for their immediate adoption ; the national detestation of the men whom he was so peremptorily directed to restore, and the strong reinforcement of troops that had been cau- tiously and gradually landed, little doubt can be enter- tained of the diabolical policy of the Pitt cabinet, a policy that was deaf to the cries of the wretched, and laughed at the suflferings of the multitude. That the discontentment, arising out of the recall of Lord FitzwilHam had been purposely created by theEnghsh minis- try is too notorious to be disbeheved by the most sceptical, and on this subject httle proof is necessary. His forced resig- nation is an incontrovertible and sufficient evidence of Mr. Pitt's wish to produce general indignation ; a few weeks had elapsed since unanimity and harmony pervaded the nation. It was fondly beUeved by the people that the grievances under which they had so long laboured were to be done away, and that all religious differences were to be abolished. Exulting in these expectations, they had made large sacri- fices, and they were made with the most marked wilhngness ; yet the people were cruelly deceived. A beloved Viceroy was taken from them ; their hopes were blasted, and their expectations disappointed. For other acts ministers might have been shielded by the N 178 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM word " expediency," but here the mischief they occasioned admitted of no excuse, nor permitted of any subterfuge. Deprived at a most critical moment of the man to whom they looked to for an impartial administration of the laws, and under whose mild sway they anticipated a briUiant future, the national spirit which had slumbered was again roused, meetings were called at which the indignation expressed clearly demonstrated the alienation of the Irish people. In barbarous times government rested on the superstition of the people for support, and in feudal times it existed by the love which vassals entertained for their lords who led them to what is called glory, and to spoil ; but in the open intercourse of modern manners where there is no bond of union between the governors and the governed, but the advantages resulting from good government and legitimate obedience ; when ignorance is banished, and superstition is forced to yield to reason, on what is a govern- ment to lean for support but on the attachment of the mul- titude who witness, with gratitude, the labours of their representatives in enacting good and salutary laws for the welfare of all ? But with respect to Ireland a good, virtuous, and impartial administration of the laws was incom- patible with the crooked poHcy of Mr. Pitt — he despised the attachment of a people whom he hated, and decided on humbUng a nation which he feared. During the short period of Lord Fitzwilham's administra- tion, the Irish people were satisfied with the management of the affairs of the country. The Protestants of the Esta- bhshed Church were inchned to forget their newly awa- kened and groundless fears of Catholic supremacy, and the Presbyterians joined both in expressing their approbation of the viceregal government. This approbation arose out of the conviction that Lord Fitzwilliam was not actuated by the low and narrow pohcy of dividing the country to degrade it. They knew it was his wish to unite all His AND A COLONY. 179 Majesty's subjects in affection for each other, and in a com- mon lore for their sovereign and the constitution, to bury rehgious dissension. He departed from the country, bearing with him the gratitude of the whole nation, and left behind him a cloud that for many years hung over Ireland, freezing her hopes and darkening her prospects. Had he remained, no rebelHon would have been permitted, and no union would have been accomplished. 180 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM CHAPTER XIII. Origin of the United Irish — Lord Edward Fitzgerald — Fatal consequence* of liord Fitzwilliam's recall — Arrival of Lord Camden — Riots — Mr. Fitzgibbon, the Irish Chancellor — Lord Camden — His government — The Catholics and Protestants unite — Mr. Pelham — Strong measures— Origin of the Orangemen — The Press — Energies beyond the law — Major Sirr — Spies and Informers — Lord Castlereagh — His Character — Arrest of the leaders of the United Irish — Partial Justice — Orange atrocities — Necessity of Revolt to produce a Union — Lord Carhampton — He with- draws the Dublin Garrison — Order under the sign manual — Lord Car- hampton resigns the command of the Army — Sir R. Abercrombie ap- pointed to succeed him — He resigns — The United Irish send an Agent to France — The French offer a large force — Refused — The United Irish encouraged to believe aid unnecessary — Reynolds, the informer — Military men appointed Magistrates — Martial law declared — Prisoners tortured — Arrest of Lord Edward Fitzgerald — System of terror — Lord Edward Fitzgerald dies of his wounds — General Lake declares martial law in the North. Origin of In the year 1791, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, hitherto un- the United j^jjown to his countrymen, except as an accompUshed young Lord Ed- nobleman, the finished scholar, and the polished gentleman, gmiid ' ^' came to Ireland. He was beloved by all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance, and was distinguished in his own family by his devoted attachment to every member of it. His Lordship being an Irishman and consequently no favourite at the court of George the Third, who was notorious for his dislike to every thing Irish, had been overlooked in the promotion at the Horse Guards, although his claims were of a much stronger description than those gentlemen whose services consisted in a promenade to Windsor or a parade in the park ; possessing a mind so organized as to magnify slight into insult, and neglect into contempt. Enthusiastically attached to his country, actuated AND A COLONY. 181 by a feeling of disgust at the treatment he had received, he determined to resign his commission in the army, and to de- vote his person, talents, and influence, to one great object, the union of Irishmen. He perceived that the chief cause of all the miseries under which Ireland had for centuries laboured, was the disunion of her people, and he conceived the idea of uniting them, by an aboUtion of all distinctions founded on rehgious opinions. From the moment this idea took possession of his mind, his whole time was devoted to the completion of the great work of union. In pursuance of this determination he repaired to ihe north of Ireland where he was for many months employed in endeavouring to soften down those religious animosities which he was fully aware formed the grand obstacle to his wishes. Having assembled the leading men of each religious per- suasion, he stated his suspicions of the sinister intentions of England, and forcibly pointed out the means that he consi- dered indispensable for the attainment of the freedom of the country, recommended a mutual forgiveness of all previous injuries, an obhvion of all rehgious dissensions, and finished by drawing a glowing picture of future prosperity to the country, if they would agree to form a brotherhood composed of men of all rehgious persuasions, whose sole object should be to shake off what he considered the yoke of England, and to place Ireland on the list of the nations of the earth. His success was commensurate with his zeal. Throughout the whole of the north and nearly all of the province of Leinster his views were eagerly adopted. He next submitted to them his plan of government-, which was the estabhshment of a republic. Having formed a directory composed of the most respect- able persons in the north, he proceeded to the south of the Island where he endeavoured to explain his intentions, and made similar proposals to the people, but there he was met by distrust and refusal in consequence of the ignorance of the population as to the meaning of the word republic. 182 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM Foiled in his attempt with the idultitade, he next assembled their priests, to whom he entered into an explanation of his views, holding out to them hopes of the restoration of the ecclesiastical property, and of their being placed on a footing with the clergy of every other rehgion. It is not a matter of surprise that the Catholic clergy, who laboured under the pressure of poverty should have immediately promised their influence to assist him in organizing their flocks. Fatal con- The appointment of Lord Fitzwilliam had raised the of Lord hopes of the Cathohcs to the highest pitch of expectation, FitzwUii- jyj(j jjs departure at the moment when they were about am s recall. . . . . " being reahzed inflamed their minds and prepared the path that conducted to the civil war meditated and arranged by the Pitt cabinet. The English minister foresaw, that the recall of the viceroy would be followed by discontent, dis- content by conspiracy, and conspiracy by open rebellion ; and whilst he was silently but eff'ectively preparing to sup- press it, his whole power was secretly at work to produce it. Anticipating the consequences of the coercive system he intended to introduce along with Earl Camden, Mr. Pitt directed strong reinforcements to be sent to Ireland. Regi- ment after regiment was gradually introduced, and orders given to quarter the troops on the people on the first symptom of popular movement. Great indignation was felt by the country at the recall of Lord Fitzwilliam ; a flagrant act of deception had been practised both on his lordship and on the Irish nation ; meetings were called in every parish, and resolutions adopted that fully expressed the irritation of the public mind. In the parish of St. Catherine's, in Dublin, the following resolution was unanimously car- ried — " Resolved that our feelings as Cathohcs are lost in our feeUngs as Irishmen, at the outrage offered in this instance of ministerial treachery to the insulted honour of our independent country. Shall an English minister dare to dictate to an Irish Parliament, and prefer the claims of a peculating junto* to the unanimous voice of an entire ua- * The Beresfords and others. AND A COLONY. 183 tion ? The king of Ireland and the cabinet of Ireland ought alone to direct the councils of Ireland, and the uncalled for interference of the cabinet of England is an attack on the in- dependence of our country, and an usurpation oyer the sovereignty of our legislature." These public declarations, couched in terms that gave strong evidence of the irritation of public feehng had been foreseen, and were hailed by Mr. Pitt as the heralds of that rebellion that he knew would ruin Ireland and confirm his power. The crafty, daring, and un- principled minister saw all the advantages to be derived from these demonstrations ; agents were employed and liberally paid to attend the meetings, whose duty it was to encou- rage and applaud violent declamation, and to use every means to urge the people to take up arms. On Tuesday, the 30th of September, 1795, the succes- Arrival ot sor of Lord FitzwiUiam — Earl Camden, arrived in Dublin. dJ'n fou^I His reception was marked by events that evinced the gene- ed by riots. ral indignation at the removal of his predecessor, and the riots and outrages that followed occasioned alarm and un- easiness to the well disposed and peaceable inhabitants of the capital. He was escorted to the Castle by a party of dragoons, and in his progress was scoffed and hissed at by the assembled multitude. These public insults were not directed against the person of the Viceroy, as the people knew nothing of his lordship, but were intended to manifest their dislike to the measures of the British cabinet, and to his political connection with a minister whose associates had been long known as inimical to the freedom and happiness of the Irish nation. Emotions of sorrow and indignation were visible in every countenance ; strong patroles of both horse and foot paraded the streets, and the tumult was only allayed at the expense of some bloodshed ; some part of the discontent which recent circumstances had produced mani- ^ fested itself, on this occasion, towards the persons of those whom popular fury pointed out as unfriendly to Irish inde- pendence. 184 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM Mr. Fitz- The Lord Chancellor, Fitzgibbon, then Lord Clare, was • iri hCh*^^ pelted with stones whilst proceeding in his carriage to his celior. house, and his lordship was exposed to imminent danger from this attack of the people. Houses were also attacked, and the windows broken; from the apartments of Mr. Beres- ford several shots were fired on the multitude, by which one man was killed and several wounded. Every one acquainted with political affairs was fully den. aware that Lord Camden came over as the immediate agent of Mr. Pitt, bound to support his poUtics, to forward his diabolical scheme for fomenting rebeUion, and to imphcitly obey his instructions, but the particular motive for the pre- ference given to this nobleman, at so critical a moment, to govern Ireland, was not generally understood. That motive was a characteristic firmness or rather dogged determination, accompanied with a sufiicient stock of personal courage, that enabled him to execute any order, no matter how arbitrary, or to commit any act, no matter how tyrannical or revolting, to humanity. The cruelties committed during his govern- ment have been attributed more to the vindictive and arro- gant Lord Clare than to his lordship, but both had received their instructions, and both agreed to obey them by exciting a civil war to superinduce the union. A fallacious hope was indulged in by those who were acquainted with his charac- ter, that his lordship was too proud to be ordered, and too merciful to oppress, that he would not be dictated to by the odious party who had so long usurped the authority of governing Ireland by the heartless expedients of corruption in parUament, coercion, tumults, mob meetings, and secret associations. But it was soon evident that his lordship was not exempt from the influence which neither conferred honour on his high station nor produced benefit to the coun- try he was sent to govern. Alarm, confusion, malicious perse- cution, and wilful misrepresentation, again were employed, and the government was once more placed in the hands of men without discretion, property, talents, or connections ; AND A COLONY. 185 men who sneered at patriotism, and grasped at power, sacri- ficing the former to obtain the latter; whose prejudices made them cruel, and whose ambition made them unprin- cipled. Lord Camden assumed office with all the bitter reflection Lord Cam- den 8 go- of having succeeded one whose popularity was unbounded, vemment. and whose philanthropy had endeared him to the nation that he Lord Camden was directed to destroy. He knew he was sent to exercise power without popularity, to admin- ister laws he did not understand, and to coerce a people to whom he was an object of hatred and suspicion As yet the secret intentions of the government had not been suspected, or allowed to transpire, and their staunch adherents accus- tomed to admire every act, were struck with amazement at a hne of conduct which they were fully aware must ulti- mately goad the people to desperation. The existence of the societies of United Irishmen had been for some time known to the government. These associations had been formed for the ostensible purpose of obtaining " an equal representation of all the people of Ireland," but in reality, for organising and arming the population in defence of what they considered their constitutional rights. It was generally believed that the united Irish only sought for, and would be satisfied, with reform in parliament, therefore men of rank and influence were prevailed on to join them. At first these societies were chiefly composed of Protestants ; the distrust from the difference of rehgion still acted as a barrier to mutual confidence. The energetic representations of Lord Edward Fitzgerald had, however, succeeded in des- troying suspicion, and Catholic and Protestant, forgetting their prejudices, became joined as one in the first and patriotic work of CathoUc emancipation and parhamentary reform. The Presbyterians of the north were more attached to xheCatho- political liberty than the Catholics whose first object was lies and emancipation. The rejection of the bill for removing the ants united 186 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM disabilities of the latter was seized on by the leaders of the union, and urged as a proof of the necessity of uniting them- selyes to the former, without which they were told success was impossible. During these proceedings the Irish executive were fully aware of the intention of the conspirators, and although repeatedly urged by the leading noblemen and gentlemen of the country to instantly arrest the members of the directory, (all of whom were well known), as well as Lord Edward Fitzgerald, and thus prevent open rebellion, they showed the most perfect indifference to these appHcations. The time had not yet arrived to fire the mine that was destined to carry ruin and dismay throughout the island. This state of things was allowed to continue for three years, without any effort to arrest the leaders of the united Irish ; a time more than sufficient to enable them to mature their plans for a general rising of the whole kingdom. Mr S€cre- Mr. Pelham, the intimate friend and willing slave of Mr. ham. * Pitt, was at this critical period secretary to the Irish govern- ment. He was selected to hold this high situation from an intimate knowledge of his abilities as a wily diplomatist. Gifted with a superior understanding, and careless of con- sequences to other countries, so long as England's aggran- disement was secured, he prostituted his talents to the British minister, under whose auspices and directions he commenced his career at the Castle of Dublin, by maturing these plans for the overthrow of the institutions of the country. He made use of his power to counteract the acts of the Privy Council, which had decided on stopping the further progress of the united Irish, by arresting their lea- ders, although this determination had received the sanction of the bead of the government. But it was soon made manifest that the secret societies had extended further and become more powerful than had been anticipated ; a prema- ture movement was therefore necessary in order to occasion AND A COLONY. 187 alarm and to at once suppress insurrection, before it could acquire the strength that might render it dangerous to those who had produced it. The English minister, aware that the people were ripe for rebellion, and that the country would ere long make a demonstration of its physical force, strong had been employed in throwing troops into Ireland. This 17 95.5 . ' was done by degrees, as it was not his intention to awe the multitude, or to prematurely stifle insurrection. Camps were formed in the four provinces of Ireland, of about fiye thousand men each. Lord Carhampton, commander-in- chief, had imder his immediate orders the troops in Lein- ster ; General Murray in Munster, and General Dalrym- ple, in the North. The preparation to speedily suppress any sudden outbreak of the people being now completed, orders were issued to the commanders of corps to quarter the troops under their command on the inhabitants.* Previous to the union, the Irish people proposed and per- fected by Lord Edward Fitzgerald, two armed factions under the names of Peep-of-day-Boys, and Defenders, opposed to theOrange- each other in rehgious belief, had committed many acts of cm- ™«^- elty and spoliation on the persons and property of each other. The former composed exclusively of Protestants, found their numbers much reduced by the union, many, however, still adhered to their prejudices and cherished their hatred against the Cathohcs. Their rehgious animosity was encou- raged by the government, and under the name of orange- men they grew into pohtical importance, lodges were formed, and oaths administered, binding the members to support the English monarchy. Cradeled in intolerance, and blinded by ignorance, the orangemen became the willing tool of the crafty and designing, who found it not difficult to fetter the beings whom ignorance and prejudice had prepared to their * Free quarters means the occupation of the bouses of the people by the soldiery, who are empowered to make use (without payment) of what they contain, and to treat the inhabitants as they may think proper. 188 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM hands. The sacred name of the Almighty was used to sanction their orgies, whilst petty squires were the sub- stantial objects they were taught to worship. The social affections of man, his natural love of peace, and abhorrence of strife, were perverted ; often from trifling, and oftener from infamous motives. Persecution for religious belief was inculcated as a duty, and the blasphemed God of all was declared propitious to acts of blood ! Miserable beings enhs- ted in what was denominated " the cause," and uninterested in the event, because unacquainted with that cause, were marched forth to commit murder, with no more compunction at their deeds, than in the exercise of an useful art or an honourable profession. With them it was a principle, full and open in declaration, and in practice estabhshed, that the bulk of mankind were created with an inability to take care of themselves. That this, as a direct task, would be too troublesome to their Maker ; that therefore a few were specially endowed for the purpose, who were to manage and drive them as a shepherd does his sheep, and they were instructed to assist their leaders in domineering over, and rioting in the wretchedness of their countrymen. The Press. That terror of bad governments, the scourge of the wicked, and powerful protector of the injured — the pubhc press — lent its aid in the destruction of prejudice and the promotion of union. The miUtary, both officers and men, were guilty of most gross attacks on the citizens, in almost every town in Ireland, and even women were subject to their indecent violence. Representations to government remained unan- swered, and no attention was paid by the commanders to the complaints of the people. The public press, however, did not fail to denounce, in no measured terras, the indivi- duals guilty of these atrocities ; a public journal, published in Belfast, called the Northern Star, had been instrumental in holding up to the indignation of the citizens ; the conduct of the military quartered in that town, and had in the month AND A COLONY. 189 of February printed the defence of Arthur O'Connor against the charge of high treason. This proceeding gave great offence to the Irish executive, and produced one of these illegal acts denominated by Mr. Dundas " energies beyond the law," from the effects of which he and colleagues were afterwards shielded by a bill Energies of indemnity. Instructions were sent to Colonel Barber — beyond the . . . law. a violent partizan officer of the Irish artillery, at that time quartered in Belfast — to take steps to prevent its further publication ; accordingly, he, accompanied by other officers and a mihtary escort, entered the office of this newspaper, seized all the books, papers, and types, which he carried off, leaving the house occupied by a guard, under the com- mand of a corporal who had been made a special constable for the purpose. Similar outrages were committed in other towns, and thus the last spark of the freedom of the Irish press was extinguished. The moment at length arrived, when the government considered it expedient to awake from its seeming lethargy ; active operations were commenced against the United Irish societies, by the arrest of their leaders or those suspected of favouring their proceedings. In Dubhn, the notorious Major Sirr was employed to per- Major sirr. form this duty, and in the north, the no less celebrated Robert Stewart, afterwards Lord Castlereagh, was charged with the same office. The exploits of Sirr, whose well paid loyalty rendered him an active instrument in the hands of govern- ment, were of such a nature as to recommend him to the ministry. This Sirr, the son of an obscure whiskey mer- chant in French-street, followed the same trade as his father, and was appointed to the situation of deputy, under Major Sandys, the town-major of Dublin. This per- son had all the attributes of a good poHce officer ; active, persevering, and cunning ; devoid of feeling and insensible to fear ; servile and mean to his superiors, and insolent to his inferiors ; ready to execute any act no matter how ille- 190 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM gal, and to obey any order no matter how arbitrary. To the Major was confided the task of organizing a band of spies and informers, and although the selection did not con- fer honour on the selected, it showed the great penetration of government. This band was composed of wretches the outcasts of so- ciety, lost to shame, guilty of every vice, and saturated with depravity. These men were scattered throughout Ireland Spies and and received instructions to attend public meetings, there to spread and eulogize the doctrine of resistance by an appeal to arms. In every house, in every place of public resort, they were to be found encouraging by every means in their power the belief, that the United Irish were strong enough to openly bid defiance to England, and as their pay depended on the importance of their communications, they did not fail to exaggerate and misrepresent the sentiments of all with whom they conversed. Some of those who had received a superior education, quoted high authorities for violent proceedings ; Archdeacon Paley's chapter on civil government was printed and distributed amongst their un- fortunate victims, and they were urged to follow the pre- cepts it inculcated* by a display of physical force, which they were told was sufficient to awe the government, and to secure the independence of their country. These mis- creants spread alarm of every kind amongst the people, and secretly denounced the very men whom they induced to conspire against the laws and peace of the country. They introduced distrust into the ranks of the united Irish, and by the fabrication of charges against individuals, they fur- * ''Let civil governors learn from hence to respect their subjects; let them be admonished that the physical strength resides in the governed ; that this strength wants only to be felt and roused to lay prostrate the most ancient and confirmed dominion ; that civil authority is founded on opinion 5 that general opinion, therefore, ought alvt^ays be treated with deference, and managed with delicacy and circumspection." — Paley. AND A COLONY. 191 nished government with an excuse for arbitrary measures. They busied themselves in composing seditious songs and handbills, which were sung in every pubhc house and sold in every street ; rejoicing in their security, they gloated over the victims that produced them the price of their in- famy ; amongst them were men whose mental attainments were of the first order. They were under the command of Majors Sirr, Swan, and Sandys, from whom they received their private instructions previous to being let loose to hunt down their prey, and to whom they addressed their reports of the political state of society. To these reports was ap- pended a list of the disaffected in each district, and the life and character of respectable citizens was placed at the mercy of a gang of heartless ruffians, whose trade was per- jury, whose profession was deceit, and whose Hves were infamous. The agent selected by government for conducting the arrest of the leaders of the united Irish societies of the north was the Hon. Robert Stewart, afterwards Lord Castle- reagh. This gentleman commenced his political career, like ^^j.^ Mr. Pitt, as a reformer, and like him finished it by pohtical Castie- apostacy. He was an active member of the Volunteer asso- ^^^^ ^' ciation, and his name is recorded amongst the men of rank, riches, and influence, who first assembled in Ulster, under the denomination of the Northern Whig Club (the nucleus of the secret societies), for the redress of grievances, which they announced to the multitude could only be obtained by their united exertions.* * At a meeting of the Northern Whig Club, held at Belfast, on the 16th of April, 1790, Gawin Hamilton, Esq. in the chair, the following resolutions and address were agreed to. Resolved unanimously — That when an unmasked and shameless system of ministerial corruption manifests an intention to sap the spirit, virtue, and independence of parliament, it is time for the people to look to themselves. Resolved unanimously — That if the people have a due regpard to their 192 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM This selection was very judicious, he being a person well calculated, from his knowledge of the different members of essential rights and interests ; if they reflect that the arch of the constitu- tion was cemented with the blood of their ancestors, or consider themselves trustees for millions unborn, thej will steadily oppose so ruinous and exe- crable a system ; if they dp not, instead of glorying in that independence, which they so lately with efl&cacy vindicated, they must sink into the most ignominious slavery. Kesolved unanimously — That our respectful address to the electors of Ireland, together with these resolutions, the toasts of the day, and a list of the members of this club, be published. TO THE ELECTORS OF IRELAND. The third state of parliament no longer exists. The power of rege- nerating reverts to you; and never was a wise, a faithful, a spirited use of that power more loudly called for. The corrupt support given in the session, by placed and pensioned majorities, without pretension to argu- ment, decency, or ability, to an administration equally destitute of them all. in measures avowedly hostile to the rights, liberties, and prosperity of this country, proclaims your danger, points out your defence, and challenges your best exertions. In the name of your country then we call upon you to support the rights of Ireland, to exert the important privilege of freemen at the ensuing election, and to proclaim to the world that you deserve to be free. Guard your share in the legislature, as the great distinction between our constitution and tyranny. Preserve it equally from the inroads of the crown and of the aristocracy. Where a representative has proved faithful, renew the trust, where he has bartered his duty for emoluments either for himself or his retainers, reject him with disdain ; and amongst new candidates support those, and those only, whose characters place them above suspicion, and give a just gp"ound for confidence. Regard not the threats of landlords and their agents, when they required you to fail in your duty to your country, to yourselves, and to your posterity. The first privilege of man is the right of judging for himself, and now is the time for you to exert that right. Let no indi- vidual neglect his duty. The nation is an aggregate of individuals, and the strength of the whole is composed of the exertions of each part ; the man, therefore, who omits what is in his power, because he has not more in it, stands accountable for confirming and entailing slavery on the land that gave him birth. As an upright House of Commons is all that is wanting, do your duty to your country by endeavouring to create one ; and let no considera- tions tempt you to sacrifice the public to a private tie — the greater duty to the less. AND A COLONY. 193 the secret societies, for the situation. Unsuspicious of any design to arrest their persons, the leaders remained quietly in the midst of their families, little dreaming they were so soon to be dragged from them and immured in dungeons, We entreat you in the name of your insulted nation ; we implore you bj- every social and honourable tie ; we conjure you as citizens, as freemen, as Irishmen, to exclude from the representative body that herd of slaves, who have dared to barter your dearest rights and most essential interests for their private gain. The illustrious minority of the last session have acquit- ted themselves in a manner seldom equalled. It remains for you to do your duty to yourselves, if you are not satisfied with a house of commons, in which the voice of the nation is with difficulty to be heard ; with a majority of that house, returned by rotten borouglis, and filled through ministerial profligacy, with 104 pensioned hirelings ; if you do not wish to countenance corruption — if you desire to guard the treasure of the public from the rapa- city of English Viceroys ; if you do not wish the fountain of nobility conta- minated by the sale of the honors of one house for the purpose of boiling the other, and to see a police ruffian stand sentinel at every man's door in the land. You will propose the following questions by deputations of elec- tors, and on the very hustings to every gentleman who offers himself for the trust of representing you in parliament ; and you will not hesitate to reject the claim of any man, however great his rank, or extensive his con- nections, who shall not unequivocally pledge himself to support the following salutary and necessary measures. " "Will you regularly attend your duty in parliament, and be governed by the instructions of your constituents ? will you, in and out of the house, with all your ability and influence, promote the success of a bill for amending the representation of the people ? a bill for preventing pensioners from sit- ting in parliament, or such placemen as cannot sit in the British House of Commons ? a bill for limiting the number of placemen and pensioners ? a bill for preventing revenue officers from voting or interfering at elections ? a bill for rendering the servants of the crown of Ireland responsible for the expenditure of the public money ? a bill to protect the personal safety of the subject against arbitrary and excessive bail, and against the stretching the power of attachment beyond the Umits of the constitution ? and will you, as far as in you lies, prevent any renewal of the police act." Resolved unanimously — That we will not vote for, nor support any can- didate who shall not solemnly and publicly pledge himself to the measures recommended to the electors of Ireland in the preceding address. Signed (by order), Gawin Hamilton, President, A. Haliday, Secretary. O 194 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM by the very hand that had pushed them on to ruin. Ire- land beheld with sorrow and surprise his disgraceful apos- tacy, but did not foresee the extent of the evils he was pre- paring for her in the destruction of her constitution and the misery of her people. Robert Stewart had early, but secretly, adopted the degrading doctrine that patriotism was a mockery, the semblance of which was, however, necessary to forward the ambition of those who professed it. He cared not for his country's independence, of what import the hatred of a whole people. Let them be conducted to the scaflFold or flogged in the pubUc streets ; let their money be squandered in corrupting their representatives ; let gaunt misery sweep over the face of the land, provided that it contributed to ministerial success and to personal aggran- dizement. The polished gentleman, but unprincipled politician ; as an orator his figures of speech were at times striking and forcible, at others they bordered on the absurd and the ridicu- lous. His mind was not proof against the assaults of vanity, and he eagerly sought the artificial distinctions conferred by a court. Dazzled by a star, or seduced by a ribbon, he was sometimes flattered, by obtaining them, into a sacrifice of his political opinions. The following are a few of the names of the original members of the Northern Whig Club. Lord Charlemont, Hon. R. Ward, Hon. Robert Stewart (Lord Castlereagh), Hon. H. Rowley, Lord de Clifford, Eldred Pottinger, Lord Moira, W. Brownlow, Right Hon. John O'Neil (Lord O'Neil), Savage HaU, Right Hon. H. L. Rowley, W. Sharman, Archibald H. Rowan, John Forbes, William Tod Jones, Richard J. Ker, Honourable E. Ward, E. I. Agnew. The following were among the toasts of the day. " President Washington, and the United States of America." " A happy establishment to the Gallic Constitution." " Freedom to the Brabanters." " Our Sovereign Lord — the People." One hundred thousand copies of " Payne's Rights of Man," were printed at the expense of the members, and distributed amongst the people. AND A COLONY. 195 Such was the pubhc character of Robert Stewart, Lord Castlereagh, and yet (strange contradiction), in all the rela- tions of private Ufe, no man was more beloved, or displayed greater kindness of disposition. His memory will long live in the recollection of Irishmen, as one who has added ano- ther bloody page to the history of the misfortunes of his country.* The arrest of the leaders of the united Irish in the North Arrest of was, under the superintendence of Lord Castlereagh, soon *^^ J^^^? accomphshed, and they were conveyed to Dubhn guarded ed Irish in by a strong military escort.f The gaols were crowded with *^^ ^^nh. prisoners of minor importance, whose trials were conducted so as to give httle chance of escape. The so much vaunted trial by jury, the palladium of liberty, was vitiated and rendered worse than useless. Its intentions were reversed; it was made the legal apology for inflicting unmerited pun- ishment on the innocent, and used as a shield for the pro- tection of crime ; juries were packed and intimidated ; con- viction was necessary, and the perjury of paid informers hurried them to the scaffold, or banished them from their country. If a jury had the hardihood to pronounce a verdict in op- Partial ad- position to the charge of the bench, they were dischai'ged, ™>»istra- and marked as men of doubtful loyalty ; and if they pro- tice. nounced a verdict of guilty against an orangeman or soldier, for outrage or murder, their verdict was set aside by the prisoner producing a pardon from government.t Of all the * The author lately visited the Bank of Ireland where the Irish parliament formerly held its sittings ; an attendant pointed to the spot where Lord Castlereagh stood when the act of union was passed — a well dressed indi- vidual stepped forth from the crowd and spat upon it. f The military, accompanied by a person wearing a mask, visited several houses in Belfast, and arrested the individuals whom he pointed out. This man was afterwards discovered to be a government informer, who, as a painter of miniatures, had formerly been admitted into their families .- X At the assizes for Armagh, Colonel Sparrow was tried and found guiltv of murdering a Mr. Lucas, and when called up to receive sentence, he handed his Majesty's pardon to the court, and was immediately Hberated. 19C IRELAND AS A KINGDOM measures for the suppression of disaffection, none was less effectual than the Insurrection Act, which however fully answered the end for which it was passed — that of irritation. Of all the refinements on coercion, none was more galling or offensive than this. Its provisions gave impunity to the military and the magistracy ; it outraged all the rights and privileges of the people ; it " gave more effective powers" to the magistracy, by empowering them to enter houses in search of arms and ammunition, to prevent the assembhng of large bodies of the people, and to commit to prison for an indefinite period, any one suspected of disaffection. When this bill was submitted by the Attorney-general to Parliament, he drew a terrific picture of the state of society — of the assassinations and outrages of the defenders, but was silent as to the persecutions and atrocities of the orange- men ; the ever watchful mind of Grattan supplied the de- ficiency. He described, in strong language, the lawless conduct of these persons ; he told the house " they were men who committed massacre in the name of God, and ex- ercised despotic power in the name of liberty." Protected by this act of indemnity, the magistrates had recourse to the strong measures so necessary to produce a general out- break. The religious warfare was carried on in the north, with all the fanatical fury of the barbarous ages. Orange The county of Armagh was the scene of the greatest hitheco^^n ^^rocities. The magistrates of that district, with a few ex- ty Armagh, ceptions, refused their protection to the Catholics, and de- clined taking their examinations against their persecutors ; seven thousand Catholics had their houses burned, and were forced to seek refuge in the neighbouring districts, and the brigands who expelled them were encouraged, con- nived at, and protected by the government. At this time the United Irish received a great accession of strength from the Catholics ; the numbers now amounted to five hundred thousand men — the greater part well trained in the use of arms. Confident of success, many of their leaders advo- AND A COLONY. 197 cated an immediate movement against the government, whilst others, more prudent, counciled caution and delay, until the long promised succours from France should arrive. The plan of government began to develop itself ; aware of the strength of the United Irish, and forewarned of their intentions, they made no vigorous effort to crush the in- tended insurrection. Disaffection had been speedily put down in Scotland and England, and the tranquillity of Ire- land, had it been the sincere intention of the minister might have been, by the same means, preserved. The feeble efforts to suppress the secret societies by the arrest of their leaders, served only to irritate ; but the burning and wrecking of houses and imprisonment of their owners, drove the people to desperation. The mysterious and inexpUcable conduct of the Pitt administration alarmed their friends, and had the desired effect of giving confidence to the conspirators. The . . Necessity' government beheld with savage joy the moment approach of a revolt that confirmed their power, secured Ireland as a colony, *° pro i \ /» • , foreign aid in the beliei that they were sufficiently strong to succeed unnecessa- ^(^ithout them. Exposed to the most gross and inhuman treatment, they plunged into rebelhon, and Mr. Pitt's policy was crowned with success. The principal government agent employed in obtaining information, was a silk merchant of the city of Dublin, Reynolds, one Reynolds. This person being a CathoHc, was not suspected of treachery by the conspirators; of plausible speech and insinuating address, he had been long in their confidence, and was intimately acquainted with their persons as well as their plans for overturning the government. mer AND A COLONY. 201 Reynolds was in constant communication with the secretary of state, Lord Castlereagh, who issued orders for the imme- diate arrest of all whom he thought proper to denounce. It was he who gave the information which led to the seizure of the delegates and their papers, at OUver Bonds, the 12th of March, 1798, and, when discovered and avoided by his former associates, it was he who offered himself on every occa- sion where proof was wanting, to swear away the lives of men whom he did not know, and of whom he had never heard! His associate in obtaining information, was one Armstrong, a captain in the King's County Mihtia. For these services he received five thousand pounds, and a pension of fifteen hun- dred a year, which he enjoyed to the moment of his death, which took place at Paris, where he expired full of years and infamy. Throwing: aside all respect for what is known by the^^^^^^y " ^ . . *, men ap- name of constitution, a most daring and profligate attack was pointed made on it, and a direct insult offered to the Irish gentry, J^^gis- by the appointment of mihtary commanders, not possessing one foot of ground in Ireland, to be magistrates. This was a great grievance, inasmuch as under the mask of civil power the law could be perverted, and mihtary torture inflicted. Notices were issued in each county for the immediate Martial law surrender of arms. Troops were quartered in the houses of all suspected of being disaffected. At length the civil power was entirely superseded, and martial law declared. The elements of civil discord were let loose, anarchy, murder, and suspicion carried misery and dismay into the poor man's cottage, as well as the rich man's palace. Tenements were burned, others sacked, citizens were arrested on suspicion of having concealed arms and ammunition, and various tortures were invented, and apphed, to extort confession, Many were daily flogged in the pubhc market places; thumb-screws wore placed, some were picketed, others half strangled. The heads of several were shaved, and caps of coarse hnen, thickly smeared with pitch on the 202 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM Prisoners inside, were placed on them, and adhered so firmly as tortured, j^^^ ^^ ^^ removed without tearing the scalp of the pri- soner.* The mind recoils with horror from even the recital of such inhuman atrocities, and civiUzation shudders in con- templating the cruelties committed by men who presumed to rank themselves amongst its votaries.f The government was fully informed of the day fixed for a general rising of the united Irish, and as Lord Edward Fitzgerald was considered dangerous on account of his mili- Arrest of tary skill and determined courage, it was an object of the Lord Ed. nrreatest importance to secure his person. A reward of one ward Fitz- or f geraid. thousand pounds had been offered for his apprehension, but he had continued to escape the vigilance of his pursuers. " On the 19th of May, information was received that he was concealed in a house in Thomas-street, occupied by a man named Murphy, who dealt in feathers. Majors Sirr and Swan, accompanied by Captain Ryan, of the Sepulchre corps, and eight soldiers in plain clothes, proceeded to the street in hackney coaches ; whilst they were in the act of posting the sentries so as to cut off all chance of escape. Major Swan observed a woman run hastily up stairs to apprise Lord Edward of the approach of the officers. He followed her, and entering an apartment, he discovered his lordship lying in bed, and approaching him told him he had a warrant for his arrest. Lord Edward instantly sprang from the bed, and presented a pistol at the officer, which missed fire ; he then drew a dagger, and closing with him inflicted several wounds on different parts of his body. During the struggle, Captain Ryan entered, and placed a * At a trial some years after the rebellion, in which Sir Thomas Fitz- geraM was interested, an allusion was made to his having applied salt to the back of a flogged rebel, when, addressing the bench, he exclaimed, " My lord, by such means the country was /jreseri'et/" — " and pickled too," re- joineti his lordship, f An officer of militia, named HepenstaJ, of colossal stature, obtained the sobriquet of the walking gallows, from his strangling his prisoners over his shoulder. AND A COLONY. 203 pocket pistol close to his lordship's head, but it also missed fire, he then wounded him severely with a sword cane, and grappling with each other they fell to the ground ; at that moment Lord Edward plunged the dagger into the side of the officer, and wounded him so severely, that his bowels fell on the floor. This desperate resistance was unavaihng. Major Sirr entered the room, and meeting Lord Edward, he immediately fired, and wounded him in the shoulder, when his lordship renounced all further attempts to escape, and declared himself their prisoner. He was then conveyed to the Castle."* The name of his betrayer is not known ; but it has been asserted that " the over anxiety of an indiscreet friend," discovered the place of his concealment. It is how- ever, more probable that the very large reward offered for his apprehension, induced some person well acquainted with all his movements, to give the information. His lordship's ^^^^^f^^l' wounds proved mortal, and he expired with prayers on his dies of his hps for the happiness and prosperity of his country. The death of Lord Edward Fitzgerald was a severe loss General • J Lake de- to the conspirators, who had rehed on him as an experienced glares mar- soldier, to direct their operations ; but it did not occasion Jjai kw^m any alteration in the time appointed for insurrection. With- without out consulting the Irish Parhament, General Lake bad ^^^"^"^'^'^^ issued a manifesto declaring the province of Ulster under martial law. This glaring act of miUtary arrogance, this insolent exercise of illegal authority, was defended by min- isters on the usual plea of expediency, and Mr. John Claudius Beresford, the celebrated placeman, and strenuous advocate of strong measures, in his place in the House of Commons, boldly, loudly, and emphatically declared, that " he wished the North of Ireland was at that moment in open rebelHon, because he was persuaded the government was strong enough to suppress it." This declaration caused much surprise in the house ; but, without, it was received as a confirmation, if any was wanting, of the wishes of the government to produce a premature insurrection. * Plow den. 204 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM System of The system of terror, when applied by a government to terror, ^y^q governed, knows no law and acknowledges no religion. It stifles all feeling ; it severs the bonds of society, and gives full license for the indulgence of the most vile passions. It protects the criminal, and deaf to the cries of the innocent, it hands them over without mercy, and often without trial, to miUtary execution. But it was not martial law ; it was not vehement threats, often carried into execution, to burn and to shoot, that solely constituted the miseries of un- happy Ireland. It was seizing the hour of silence and of rest, when all nature was still ; when sleep held every faculty, peace every door, and unsuspecting innocence every heart. It was at that hour when all was hushed, that the silence was broken by the noise of cavalry and the tramp of armed men ; by the demand for admittance to the peace- ful cottage, accompanied with the yells and imprecations of a furious soldiery. The system of terror may succeed in producing a temporary calm, it may exult in the attainment of its views ; but it leaves behind it an impression of horror that nothing can efface, and the remembrance of atrocities that are never forgiven. On the 21st May, the Lord Mayor received a letter from Lord Castlereagh, announcing, " that his Excellency had discovered that the disaffected in the city and neighbour- hood of Dublin, had formed a plan of possessing themselves in the course of the present week of the metropolis, and of seizing the executive government, and those of authority in the city ;" and on the following day a similar communication was made to the parliament. His lordship's information was correct, the night of the 23rd May had been appointed for the attempt. The plan was skilfully arranged, and a beUcf in the ignorance of government promised certain success. AND A COLONY. 205 CHAPTER XIV. Plan to surprise Dublin— Precautions to prevent success— Outbreak of the Rebellion — Battle of Naas — Torture to force confession — EflFects of civil war — Politics preached from the pulpit — Rebels surprise Prosperous — Put the garrison to the sv?ord — Royal troops under Mayor Foot defeated — King's troops routed at Gorey — Colonel Walpole killed— General Dundas defeated — Captain Armstrong, the informer — Execution of the Messrs. Shears — Prisoners sent to Prussia — Battle of Ross — Death of Lord Mountjoy — Burning of ScuUabogue — Battle of Arklow — Defeat of the rebels Determined conduct of Colonel Skerrit — Death of Father Murphy — Battle of Antrim — Rebels take the town — Rebels defeated — False report of religious warfare — Consequences of these reports — Courts mar- tial — Battle of Vinegar Hill. A GREAT many of the troops had been seduced from their Conspiracy allegiance; to them was assigned the task of spiking the^^^j^^"^^ guns in the Phoenix Park. The camp of Loughhnstown was to have been surprised, the castle to be occupied, and all the ministers and officers of government marched priso- ners to the Pigeon House, and there embarked for England. The stoppage of the mail coaches, was to serve as the signal to the disaffected in other parts of the kingdom, to declare themselves. As it was not the intention of government to allow the rebels to take possession of any part of the seat of excutive, every preparation was made to defeat the attempt, and every assailable point was secured against surprise. The guards at the castle were trebled. V Troops were placed in strong detachments throughout Precau- the country, and aU persons willing to assist in the defence J*^"\Jj° ^^' of the city were furnished with arms and ammunition. Not- attempt. withstanding the rebels were aware of these precautions, they decided on making a simultaneous attack on the dif- ferent military posts. 20G IRELAND AS A KINGDOM Outbreak of the re- bellion. Battle of Naas. Torture applied to extort con- fession. Military executions. On the evening of the 23rd May, all the mail coaches were destroyed, and on that night, and the following morn- ing, the different positions occupied by the royal troops were attempted to be carried. In two instances only, were they successful, at Dunboyne, and Barretstown, where the feeble detachments could offer but little resistance. On the morning of the 24th, an obstinate and bloody rencontre took place between the royal troops and the rebels at Naas and Kilcullen. Lord Gosford had early, and correct information, of the numbers and force of the assailants, and by timely arrangements, succeeded in completely routing them. In this affair the few prisoners taken were immediately hanged. The King's troops lost many men, and several officers. The insurrection now was general. Proclamations were issued by the commanders of districts ; directing all persons to remain within their houses from nine o'clock at night, till five next morning, and ordering military execution on the persons of all who should disobey. Another, bearing the signature of the Viceroy, authorised his Majesty's generals to punish with death, or otherwise, " as their judgment should approve," all persons accused or suspected of assisting in the rebellion. With many of the generals suspicion justified arrest, and arrest justified punishment. It was necessary to extort confession ; the pitch cap and cat of nine tails were employed to obtain it. These sanguinary proceedings have placed the brand of infamy on the names of those who could have prevented them — a bloody mark that time can never efface, or title conceal. The plans of the insurgents, though arranged with great mihtary skill, could not succeed. Without fire- arms, without officers, and without discipline, their bravery was unvaihng, and their discomfiture certain. In the attack on Dublin, in the night of the 23rd of May, the bodies of the rebels who fell were collected and brought in carts to the castle yard, where they were stretched out under the windows of the Viceroy, the bloody trophies of AND A COLONY. 207 war. the recent victory. The same day the prisoners, captured by the yeomanry corps under the command of Lord Roden, were pinioned and marched to the bridges, and principal streets, and hung to the lamp irons.* Others who endea- voured to escape in disguise were discovered, and instantly conducted to the scaffold. Every morning witnessed new executions. The feeling of mercy slept, and the unnatural thirst for blood seemed to increase with the number of the victims. The account of these executions soon reached the insurgents, and,- exasperated to madness, they retaliated by putting to death their prisoners. A war of extermination commenced, and neither party gave or received quarter. Those who had hitherto stood aloof, were looked upon with the jaundiced eye of suspicion by both parties, and were at length forced to declare for either the one or the other. The social relations were totally unhinged ; the strong Efifects of affections that bound friend to friend and relative to relative, ^^^/'""'^ were completely destroyed in the fire of poUtical zeal ; and the fury of party spirit separated every circle, and poisoned even the cup of domestic happiness. Each party invented calumnies against the other ; concealed enmity was vented in charges of conspiracy where none existed ; secret accusa- tions sufficed to arrest and imprison the accused, or to send them on board the Tender; suspicion and distrust occupied every heart. Some were eager for revenge, others anxious for power ; many persecuted their neighbours, and endea- voured to convince by torture, and the sword, the gaol and the gibbet. The courts of law were closed, and courts martial administered a spurious justice, that was bhnd to the revolting cruelty of military execution, whilst it con- victed the suspected rebel without proof, and shut out all hopes of mercy to the condemned. Tumults were formed in the different towns, for the purpose of forcing peaceable and well behaved subjects to participate in acts of turbulence and licentiousness : anarchy replaced order, and cruelty and * This wa3 called by the military "illuminating the city." 208 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM corruption took possession of the sword of justice; her ba- lance was broken, and her name became a mockery and a bye word in the mouths of a profligate and ferocious sol- diery. Nothing could palUate the perpetration of these cruelties ; for the insurrection was not of a character to create any doubts as to the power of putting it down. Government had been effectually and silently preparing to allay the storm which itself had raised, and the possibiUty of success, on the part of the revolted, was treated as the troubled dream of the timid, or the heated aspiration of the enthusiast ; therefore, these severe examples of military execution were uncalled for, as they only tended to produce retaliation, and excited Politics a thirst for vengeance. To consummate these abomina- preached ^jong^ the ministers of rehgion abused their holy calling, by pulpit. preaching pohtics from the pulpit, and men remarkable as quiet citizens, were suddenly transformed into fierce and intolerant partizans, denouncing, in all the fury of ignorant bigotry, their most intimate friends, and violating every principle of the social compact. The rebels The attack on Dubhn and Kildare having failed, the surprise, rebels surprised, and put to the sword, the whole of the gar- and put to . f > f ' ^ & the sword, rison of the town of Prosperous. In Wexford, they were sonof"^' ^* ^^^* ^®^^ successful. The garrison, finding them- Prosperous selves too weak to oppose, with any probability of suc- cess, the rebel army, evacuated the town, and in their re- treat lost many of their number. A strong body of rebels, posted at Oulart, under the command of a well known priest named Murphy, were attacked and dispersed by a detach- ment of the North Cork Militia, headed by Lieutenant Col. u-oo Tde' Tooke, which pursued them to the summit of the hill, when feated at three hundred of the fugitives suddenly turned on their pur- suers, and, after an obstinate struggle, slew the whole de- tachment with the exception of the Lieutenant Colonel, a sergeant, and two or three privates. Emboldened by this success, they marched on Camolin, where they seized eight hundred stand of arms, that had been sent by Lord Mount- AND A COLONY. 209 morris for his yeomanry. They then pursued the fugitives to Enniscorthy, and their numbers having increased, they stormed the town, and after a desperate conflict the greater part of the garrison were put to death, the remainder gal- lantly cut their way through the rebels, and were fortunate enough to escape. The possession of Enniscorthy secured to them the strong position of Vinegar Hill, and left an ex- tensive country at their mercy — every partial attempt to disperse the rebels was attended with defeat. Major Foot and a detachment advancing on Oulart, was xhe royal routed, and only three of his corps escaped. General Faw- *'"°^^' .""' cet, who commanded the district, advanced to Tagmone, Foot, de- but holding the rebels too cheap, his advanced corps, com- ^^^*«<^- posed of only eighty-eight men, were attacked under the Three Rocks, and destroyed, and he was forced to fall back on Duncanon, with the loss of his material and artillery. Colonel Walpole, a brave man, but a bad officer, sohcited rj^^ King's and obtained leave to attack the rebel camp near Gorey ; troops rou- but approaching it without previously feeling his way, rev ; Coi. he was surprised by the rebels, and fell early in the action, J^,^'^**'^ which was closed by the capture of the whole of the artil- lery, and the dispersion of the royal troops. The town of Gorey was taken and burned ; several skir- mishes took place with alternate success between the con- Dundas tending armies. At Kilcullen, General Dundas, relying on defeated, the weight of the heavy cavalry, had the imprudence to charge a strong column of the peasantry armed with pikes. The result was not in accordance with his expectations, and only served to prove that the pike, at close quarters, was a most dangerous and useful weapon. In this charge he lost two captains and many privates ; the general himself es- caped with difficulty. In the mean time, the disafi'ected were using every means to corrupt the military ; emissaries were despatched to every camp and garrison in the island ; but the camp at Laughlinstown, from its proximity to the capital, was the principal object of the rebels. It wascom- P iilO IRELAND AS A KINGDOM posed chiefly of the Irish mihtia, who began to show strong symptoms of insubordination. Captain To discover these emissaries, Captain Armstrong, of the Armstrong King's County Mihtia, offered himself to the government ; considered as a trustworthy brother conspirator, he found no difficulty in ingratiating himself into their confidence, and having obtained their names and ascertained their guilt, he reported them to his employers. This person held the ho- nourable situation of an officer, but forgetful of the princi- ples it inculcates, he tarnished it by hiring himself as a com- mon spy and despicable informer. Execution Two young barristers, Henry and John Sheares, had, of Messrs. fj-Qm a mistaken interpretation of the word patriotism, con- sidered themselves justified m entering into a secret corres- pondence with the troops. Easy of access, of amiable man- ners, and confiding disposition, it was not difficult for Captain Armstrong to steal into their confidence. He offered to assist in seducing the troops from their allegiance; contrived secret meetings with the disaffected soldiers, and when he had thus estabhshed their guilt, he denounced them to the government. The brothers were arrested, and on his evidence, tried, convicted, executed, and beheaded. Whenever the strong raise the cry of fear against the weak, it is always the prelude to some flagrant act of injustice. It is generally accompanied by some word or phrase which is used to suit the ends of those who use it. Thus, " ma- lignant" authorized cruelty and persecution in Scotland ; " aristocrat" murder in France ; and " croppy"* transport- ation, the triangles, or the scaffold, in Ireland. To be de- nounced as a croppy was the signal for arrest, and the word was often apphed to gratify private hatred or avenge pohti- cal animosity. The arrest of the suspected had filled the tenders and gaols to suffocation. The number was so great as to occa- * The word " croppy" was synonymous with rebel, because the hair cut short was considered in England as a mark of republicanism. AND A COLONY. 211 sion considerable embarrassment to the government. It was necessary to dispose of them ; a treaty was accordingly entered into with the King of Prussia, by which he bound himself prisoners to incorporate them with his army, with an understanding ^^^^ *° that they should not be permitted to leave his kmgdom, and these very men, years afterwards, composed the garri- son of Flushing, which, by its obstinate defence, caused so much loss to the army commanded by Lord Chatham. Flushed with victory, the rebels of the south conceived themselves invincible. Their audacity was in propor- tion to their success, and notwithstanding their ignorance of mihtary tactics, they did not hesitate to attack the royal troops. Having taken the artillery attached to the unfortu- nate expedition of Colonel Walpole, they divided themselves into two bodies ; the one commanded by Edward Rorke, and the other under Bagnal Harvey. They then advanced to New Ross, which they attacked Battle of with the greatest impetuosity. Its possession was obsti- nately contested for ten hours ; sometimes it was occupied by the rebels, at others, by the royalists ; at length, drunk- enness did its work. The town was fired, and the intoxi- cated insurgents, amounting to seven thousand men, were either shot, or perished miserably in the flames.* In the early part of the day Lord Mountjoy was killed, Death of when gallantly leading his regiment into action. To pre- Mountjov. vent co-operation, it was of paramount importance to des- troy the confidence and separate the union that existed be- tween the rebels of the south and those of the northern part of the island. Emissaries were dispatched, with instruc- tions to mix themselves in their ranks, and to assure them that the insurrection in the North had assumed a religious character ; that the Protestants had turned their arms igainst the Catholics, and that great numbers of the latter * The commanders of the royal forces, Generals Johnson and Eustace, *ere both Irish. This accounts for the steadiness of the troops, who were dmost all Irish. 212 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM had been cruelly massacred. The fanatical animosity that formerly existed was too recent to be forgotten, and gave an air of truth to the falsehood. The chiefs of the southern rebels, cut off by the royal army from all commu- nication with the north, were not enabled to contradict the assertion — the consequences were fatal to the rebels. Burning of In the dwelling house and barn of Mr. King, of ScuUa- bogurand ^^gue, near Carrickburn mountain, a number of loyahsts, the prison- some of them Cathohcs, were confined as hostages for the ed in it. Safety of the rebels prisoners to the King's army. The fugitives from the battle of Ross, smarting under defeat, and irritated to madness, by the report of a similar butchery having been perpetrated on the rebel prisoners, forced the guard, fired the barn, and barbarously consumed its unfor- tunate inmates. The success of the rebels was the result of partial engage- ments, and had they confined themselves to a desultory warfare, for which Ireland is so well adapted, their resis- tance might have been protracted to a much more distant period. At Gorey, Carnew, the Three Rocks, and many other places, where they availed themselves of the intricacies of the ground, they completely defeated the royal army, and had they succeeded in taking Arklow, the capital would have been uncovered, to which they might have marched in one day. Aware of the importance of this town a strong reinforcement of royal troops, under the command of Colonel Skerret, was despatched for its defence. The disaffected of the capital were anxiously expecting the capture of this town as a necessary preliminary to their junction with their friends. „ ^ The rebel army although without discipline, was very Arklow. numerous. It consisted of 3,000 men who made no secret the rebeb ^^ their intention to storm Arklow the following morning. This indiscreet announcement was in great measure the cause of their failure. To save Dublin, Arklow must be defended — a further reinforcement, composed of the Cavan AND A COLONY. 213 militia, commanded by Lord Farnham and some yeomanry, were directed to proceed immediately to the aid of General Needham — and, such was the pressing necessity, every vehicle was put in requisition to convey them to their des- tination. The battle of Arklow was remarkable, not only from the '^i^® ^**^'® ' •' of Arklow. numbers engaged ; but also from the combatants, on both sides, displaying a greater knowledge of military tactics, than in any that occurred during the insurrection. The rebels amounted to many thousands, the King's troops to only fifteen hundred. The former armed with pikes and fire arms of every calibre, weje but scantily provided with ammunition. A short time previous to the arrival of the Cavan militia the action had commenced. The royal troops were in line with their artillery on each wing. The pea- santry were in their front covered by a ditch ; each party had their skirmishes in advance, but the action did not become general until the arrival of the militia, when a heavy fire was sustained for some hours without occasioning much loss ; at length, the fire from a piece on the flank of the insurgents, dismounted one of the royal cannon. Had the pikemen who were in the rear, charged at the moment, the movement would have been decisive. The royal troops wavered, and General Needham was on Determin. the point of sounding the retreat, but Colonel Skerret of Colonel declared that he would not obey, and that himself and the Skerrit, regiment he commanded, the Dunbarton Fencibles, were determined never to turn their backs on the enemy. Had General Needham persisted in directing a retrograde move- ment, the whole of the royal troops must have been annihi- lated. Victory or death was the only alternative. At this critical moment a large party of pikemen detached from the main body, attempted too late to turn the flank of the royal army. They were met by a steady and well directed fire, which notwithstanding their daring impetuosity checked ^®*t^ °^ their advance. Their leader. Father Murphy, for whom Murphy. 214 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM they had a superstitious veneration from a behef in his being invulnerable, was cut in two by a shot from a four pounder. His fall spread dismay amongst his followers, and the ammunition of those engaged in the front being expended they began the retreat, but in such good order that the royal army, satisfied with remaining masters of the field, did not think it advisable to interrupt it. This victory saved the capital, for had the royal troops been defeated nothing could have prevented the occupation of the seat of government by the insurgents, where 30,000 men, well organised, awaited their appearance to take up arms. The disaffected in tj^e north had not yet shown themselves. They waited until information should arrive of the proceedings in the south. Less subject to excitement than the rest of their countrymen, they took time to dehbe- rate, and were not so enthusiastic in the behef of future success ; at length the wished for inteUigence was communi- cated. Battle of The three victories gained in succession over the royalists were magnified into a total dispersion of the King's forces ; elated by the news the insurgents without any preconcerted plan, assembled on the 7th June in the vicinity of the town of Antrim, a commander had been appointed by anticipation but failed to make his appearance. In this dilemma when the advanced guard of the troops, commanded by General Nugent, were within one mile of their camp, a man of proved courage and acknowledged talent, volunteered the chief command of his countrymen. Fearless of consequences he, with a chivalry worthy of a better cause, devoted himself to the attainment of what he beheved to be his country's hberty. The offer of Henry M'Cracken was accepted, and preparations made to attack the town. Antrim was a station of considerable importance, situated about twelve miles from Belfast, and nearly the same distance from the British camp of Blaris ; its possession opened the communication with the western district, and as a co-operation was expected in that direction, Antrim. AND A COLONY. 215 its occupation was desirable. The town was strongly gar- risoned, the cannon were placed so as to enfilade the prin- cipal street, and the cavalry were protected by the wall which surrounded the church. On the appearance of the insurgents, a heavy fire was opened, which however failed in arresting their advance, a charge was attempted by the cavalry which was gallantly repulsed, and they were forced to retire with considerable loss. A division of pikemen made a bold attempt to take the guns, but were mowed down by repeated discharges of grape, and after displaying the most undaunted courage, the survivors gained the church yard where they found safety under the protection of their musketry. Another and more successful attempt was made to take the guns, M'Cracken with a determined band charg- ed through the principal street, drove every thing before him, and in the deadly struggle of man against man, dis- played a cool and unbending courage, worthy of a better fate than that which awaited him. The town was taken : '^^^ rebels take the but by a fatal mistake was soon retaken by the British town, troops. The insurgents from the northern district were . within a short distance of the town, and in one hour would have joined the main body under M'Cracken, but meet- ing the retreating cavalry they mistook their rapid flight for a charge, and imagining the day lost they fled in all direc- tions. The royal troops having been reinforced from the camp at Blaris, became the assailants. The report was soon spread of the dispersion of the expected succour ; dismay replaced exultation ; and the insurgents evacuated the town. The rebels M'Cracken endeavoured to prevent this ; but all his efforts **^^^^^^'^- were ineffectual ; the rout became general, and each sought security in flight. Not long after he fell into the hands of the enemy, was tried by a court martial, and executed. On the scaffold, as in the field, he displayed a contempt for death, and his only regret was that it was one unworthy of a soldier. It is a remarkable fact, that men executed for political 216 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM offences, have generally met their fate with the fortitude of martyrs. This courage in suffering death, probably arises from an idea they have formed of the justice of the cause for which they die, and also from a hope that at a future period their names may be mentioned, in the annals of their country, as heroes and martyrs. It is this feeling, and this hope, that makes them ascend the scaffold with a firm step, and suffer death without betraying the shghtest symptom of fear. The decisive battle of Antrim was followed by that of Ballynahinch, in the county of Down, which was equally disastrous in its consequences to the insurgents. Their lea- ders were also taken and executed ; others on a smaller scale, took place between detachments of the royal army quartered at a distance from their regiments, with similar Report results. The report of the rebellion having assumed spread of . . i • • i tvt i i i i • religious a rehgious complexion m the JNorth, caused the burmng warfare in ^f Scullaboffuo. The northerns were, on the other the South. ° , ' hand, assured that the Catholics had sworn to exter- minate the Protestants, and that the burmng of Sculla- bogue was only the prelude to similar atrocities in the North. The double falsehood succeeded ; and from that Conse- moment the embers of religious discord, which were all but these re- extinguished, were reallumed and have since continued to ports. burn with redoubled fury. The wreath of shamrock that united Ireland's sons, was destroyed by the unchristian hands of bigotry and sectarian violence. In rehgious dissension England considers there is alone safety. Every means therefore, have been taken to implant a rooted hatred between CathoHc and Protestant. But it is evident that we approach a period in the history of Ireland when such narrow policy can be no longer appUed with safety to the empire, and that its security consists in endeavouring to gain the affections of the Irish by an impartial administra- tion of justice, and by admitting them to the enjoyment of all the immunities and privileges of British subjects. AND A COLONY. 217 The courts martial continued to sit. The discretionary courts power given to the military was often used with unnecessary 'partial, severity ; one instance occurred which is worthy of being recorded, as illustrative of military rigour and mihtary justice. A lad of the tender age of fifteen, was detected in the act of affixing a revolutionary proclamation to the walls of a church. His arrest was reported to the general commanding the district, who wrote a note to the colonel in whose custody he was, containing the following short but significant sentence : *' try — and hang him for an example." He was obeyed, and by a refinement of cruelty this youth was suspended to a tree opposite his mother's cottage, under which he had often played. That moment the wretched widow was seized with insanity, and died a maniac ! The battles of Ballynahinch and Antrim, were followed by the immediate dispersion of the united Irish ; no further attempt was made at insurrection, but the cessation of hos- tiUties produced no relaxation in the sufferings of the people ; the exercise of mercy was called weakness, and cruelty firmness ; the angry passions were excited, and demanded more victims. To conceal a friend who was charged with revolt, was to participate in his offence.* Proclamations were issued, calling on the leaders of the insurrection to surrender themselves, and offering large rewards for the discovery of those who disobeyed ; arms were surrendered, * The following proclamation of Colonel James Durham, commanding the Fifeshire Fencibles, at Belfast, was issued after hostilities had ceased. ♦• And shall it be found hereafter that said traitor had been con- cealed by any person or persons, or by the knowledge or connivance of any person or persons of this town and neighbourhood, or that they or any of them have known the place of his concealment, and shall not have given notice thereof to the commandant of this town, such person's house shall be burnt, and the owner thereof hanged. " This is to give notice, that if any person is taken up by the patrols after ten o'clock, he will be fined five shillings, for the benefit of the poor ; if the dehnquent is not able to pay five shillings, he will be brought to a drum head court martial, and will receive one hundred lashes." James Dubhah, Colonel Commandant. 218 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM but neither the fear of miUtary execution, or offers of reward, could induce the people to treacherously betray their chiefs, several of whom were afterwards fortunate enough to escape to America. The suppression of the insurrection in the north was an object of paramount impor- tance to government ; its duration was short, but sufficed to answer the purpose of the EngUsh statesmen ; the terror it spread amongst the Protestant population made them acqui- esce in that measure which transformed their country from an independent kingdom into a miserable colony. The tranquiUity of the north being restored, government was enabled to direct all its force against the insurgents of the south ; the latter, after their defeat at Arklow, seized Battle of on the strong position of Vinegar Hill, where they entrenched Hiu!^*'^ themselves. Armed with only two thousand muskets, and but a small quantity of ammunition, they awaited the threat- ened attack, trusting to the pike, with which the remainder were armed, for their defence, should the royal troops decide on storming their encampment. The position was well chosen, and its defenders desperate. Under these circum- stances. General Lake did not think it prudent to make the attack until strongly reinforced. Having assembled a force of 20,000 men, and a brigade of artillery, he, on the morn- ing of the 21st June, marched to the attack, in four columns. The action commenced by a discharge of artillery, under cover of which, the King's troops moved to the assault of the position, the peasantry withstood for an hour and a half a tremendous shower of shells and shot, with the greatest bravery. The fire of the insurgents, though badly sustained, did considerable execution, several officers were killed and wounded ; the few swivels they possessed were from being badly mounted, almost useless, whilst every shell car- ried destruction amongst their ranks. Deficient in ammu- nition, they charged with their pikes, and drove back their assailants in front ; but nothing could withstand the mur- derous fire of a well served artillery. At length, finding AND A COLONY. 219 that all was lost, the survivors broke and found safety through the pass left unoccupied by the non arrival of Gene- ral Needham.* In their retreat they received a feeble charge of cavalry, and the same evening they entered the town of Wexford. On the 22nd, General Lake arrived before the town, which he found occupied by some troops, under Gene- ral Moore, the insurgents having evacuated it that morning. Some, trusting to the assurances of safety, made by Lord Kingsborough, who had been their prisoner, remained, were apprehended, and suffered death. The separation of the united Irish was now complete. Hunted in every direction by the royal troops, they found little repose, and no mercy. Reduced in numbers no engage- ment of any moment took place, but in several skirmishes they died fighting with the courage of despair. With the battle of Vinegar Hill all serious resistance to the royal authority ceased ; the reign of terror was established, a bill of indemnity was passed, and government now proceeded to complete the great work of the destruction of the Irish con- stitution. These sanguinary transactions, by carrying dis- may throughout society, rendered all attempts to counteract the designs of ministers of httle avail ; a legislative union had long been determined — a union based on corruption and cemented with the blood of Irishmen. * The pass had been purposely left open, as it was not the policy of government to immediately crush the rebellion. 220 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM CHAPTER XV. Cruelties continued — The leaders enter into terms with government — Breach of faith of ministers— Landing of the French at Killala — Joined by the peasantry — Race of Castlebar — State of Ireland after the insur- rection — First intimation of intended union — Lord-Iicutenant's message — Debate on the address — Incompetency of the Irish Parliament — Sir Lawrence Parsons — Scotch and Irish Unions compared — Lord Perry's opinion of the Union — Extensive bribery — Lord Castlereagh proposes the Union — Lord Clare's speech. Cruelties HOSTILITIES in the field had now ceased, but the cup of civil war was not yet exhausted. A portion of the half educated gentry of the south, eager to display a barbarous loyalty, still applied the torch to the cottage, and delivered the in- mates to torture and transportation. These enormities were committed with impunity, and the peasantry, goaded to madness, mistaking retaliation for justice, wreaked their vengeance on the persons and properties of their per- secutors. Fanatical hatred was again awakened, and raged with all its former ferocity. Protestant and Catholic forgot the di- vine precepts of forbearance and forgiveness ; mutual hatred produced mutual distrust, and the Christian religion was offered by both as an apology for disgraceful acts of cruelty and aggression that would have dishonoured the followers of Mahomet. At length government considered it time to arrest these proceedings ; Earl Camden was recalled, and the Marquis CornwaUis was appointed to supersede him. His lordship had positive directions to use moderation, and check the ferocity of both parties. His first act was to issue a proclamation declaring an amnesty to all, the leaders excepted, who should deliver up their arms, and take the oath of al- legiance to his majesty. He was selected, with Lord Cas- AND A COLONY. 221 tlereagh, to prepare the country for the legislative union. The system they pursued was one of the greatest duplicity ; they insidiously introduced a strong feeling of fear amongst the Protestant population, as it was the only means that could induce them to surrender their constitution. With the horrors of the recent struggle still before them, it was supposed that, to prevent their repetition, the people would submit to any measure, it mattered not how arbitrary or dishonest. Tranquillity was gradually returning, but martial law was still in force, and several leaders of the insurrec- tion were tried and suffered death under its provisions. The remainder were included, by a sort of capitulation, in the act of amnesty. By an agreement between Lord Castlereagh, on behalf of the government, and the prisoners in custody, Messrs. ment of the Emmett, O'Connor, MacNevin and Nelson, it was stipu- [^*^^® .J^^ lated, that on permission being given to the latter to ex- Irish with patriate themselves, they would make a return of the arms, jaent. ammunition, and plans of the United Irish for overturning the executive, as well as an account of their relations with foreign powers. These informations were given on oath before a secret committee of the House of Commons, but afterwards the government was guilty of a shameful breach of the contract, by detaining fifteen of the principal conspi- rators in prison during the continuance of hostilities with France. On the 17th of July, a bill of attainder was passed against Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Cornelius Grogan and faith of the Bagnel Harvey, (all leaders in the late insurrection) de- ^^Jif^'^"' ceased. This act of unnecessary cruelty fell severely on their relations. It was as uncalled for as it was vindictive, and occasioned a strong feeling of disgust against those who proposed it. The period had passed when assistance from France Landing of might have proved dangerous to Great Britain. The ur- *t KUUa^^ gent demands of the United Irish had been answered by promises of aid, and now, when the insurrection had been 222 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM quelled, they despatched an armament to the Irish coast. They landed at Killala, on the 22nd of August, 1798, under General Humbert. They were joined by many of the peasantry, and advanced to attack Castlebar, strongly garrisoned, under the command of Lord Hutchinson. Ge- neral Lake and his staff had only arrived that morning, and were quietly reposing in their quarters, when informa- tion was brought of the advance of the enemy. The troops were immediately under arms, and took up a position at a short distance from the town, supported by nine pieces of artillery. Joined by ^^ *^® advance of the French, they were received by the peasan- heavy fire from the cannon, but a movement being made defeat the Under the cover of some walls, to turn the flank of the royal English, and the orders issued to repel it being mistaken, troops at ® r o » Castlebar, confusion foUowed, and a general rout ensued ; the British troops, in their panic, abandoned their artillery, and made the best of their way to Castlebar, closely pursued by the enemy. This town was occupied the following day by the French troops — this battle is still called the Race of Castle- bar. The French, consisting of only a handful of men, finding that further resistance was useless, and that success was impossible, soon after surrendered prisoners of war, and were sent to France. A considerable part of the Louth and Kilkenny regiments of militia had joined the invaders, and foreseeing that their disaffection would be punished with death, they determined to keep possession of their arms, and retreated on Killala, which was occupied by the peasantry. Lord Cornwallis marched against it, and after a severe conflict took the town. Many fell, and numbers were hanged ; above ninety of the militia were amongst the latter. With this battle ended mihtary power and martial law, which had destroyed the population and desolated the island. The temporary success of the handful of troops under Huraber, encouraged the French government to risk ano- AND A COLONY. 223 ther and more powerful attempt to subvert the British power in Ireland. On the 11th of October, a squadron, consist- ing of a ship of the line and eight frigates, appeared on the coast of Donegal. They were full of troops, under the command of the French General Hoche. On the following day they were attacked by Sir John Warren, who captured a ship of the line and six frigates. Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the most active and intelligent agents of the United Irishmen, was on board. He held the rank of heu- tenant general in the French service, and wearing the uni- form, and speaking the language fluently, he either was not recognised or purposely allowed, from the humanity of the ofiicers of the navy, to escape detection. Government were not so considerate ; they were aware of his having embarked, and employed an old and intimate schoolfellow to betray him. This person was Sir G. Hill, who, entering the place where the prisoners were confined, selected Tone from amongst them, and walking up to him said, " how do you do Mr. Tone ? Tone unhesitatingly repHed, " quite well. Sir George, I hope Lady Hill is well." Being thus identi- fied, he was conveyed to Dubhn, tried, and sentenced to be executed, but escaped the scaffold by self-destruction.* Ireland was now in that state which rendered helpless any or£lt6 Or struggle against the hands that had prepared her chains. Ireland The moment was propitious for bringing forward the pro- ^^^^^ *^® position for a legislative union. Those that were well af-tion. fected to the government were under the influence of fear, arising out of the recent outbreak. The disaffected, alarmed for their safety, dare not oppose the wishes of ministers. The CathoHcs were cajoled by promises of emancipation, and Ireland thus weakened and depressed, was unable to effectually resist the joint and too successful efforts of a Cornwallis and a Castlereagh, to pack a parliament with * Sir George Hill was rewarded for this service by a lucrative situation, and although discovered as a peculator, was sent out governor of St. Vin- cents, where he died insolvent. 224 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM unprincipled legislators, in order to rob her of her constitu- tion. Much as the Irish hdd to complain of the conduct of the borough members, EogHsh and Scotch speculators in Irish poHtics, there were^ many who, supported by the force of public opinion, had induced the., house to give a legal utterance and form to the bill. England foresaw, that as long as there existed a separate legis- I lature, her power to dictate would be disputed, and her supremacy denied ; she was aware that a union would not only obviate this, but also secure an associate to ease her of the overwhelming burthens brought on by her wars, and her extravagance — to give security for her debts — to furnish places for her aristocracy, and to divide her taxes ; she did not dare to propose this measure during Ireland's pros- perity, but seized the moment of civil strife and fatal ani- 9» mosity to complete it. First inti- A pamphlet written by Mr. Edward Cook, the under the intend- Secretary of state, gave the first intimation of the intention ed Union, of government. The country became alarmed — meetings were held in the metropoUs, to protest against the measure. At their meetings it was declared that the removal of the legislation would be followed by the removal of the rank and riches of the country ; that Ireland would be abandoned by the great landholders, to the tender mercies of agents and attornies ; that poverty would ensue, and general misery prevail. That whenever the interests of the two nations should clash, the Irish members as a body would be without weight or influence, and be opposed by the prejudices, passions, and interests, of the English majority. Yet Eng- land persevered, pursued the policy of all ambitious and unprincipled powers, who take advantage of thte dissensions of their neighbours, to promote their own selfish ends of aggrandisement. Lord Lieu- The Irish Parliament assembled on the 22nd January, speech re- 1799. The Viceroy's speech, after alluding to the attempts commend- made to separate the two kingdoms, concluded with these * words : " His Majesty commands me, to express his anxious AND A COLONY. 225 lope, that this consideration, joined to the sentiment of nutual affection, and common interest, may dispose the mrliaments of both kingdoms to proyide the most effectual neans of maintaining and improving a connexion essential ;o their common security, and consolidating as far as possible nto one firm and lasting fabric, the strength, the power, md the resources of the British empire." The address was an echo to the speech, and an amend- Debate on nent moved by Lord Powerscourt, against the contemplated inion, was lost by a large majority. In the commons a similar address was moved by Lord Tyrone, who thus gained I degrading celebrity amongst his countrymen. He was the eldest son of the Marquis of Waterford. His speech, (vritten for him, and concealed in the crown of his hat, was 3nly remarkable for its arrogance and total absence of sound irgument ; without talent, and ignorant of the meaning of * the word patriotism, he only considered the legislative union IS a measure that would increase the already overgrown power of the Beresford family. The debate, which lasted twenty two hours, was warm and animated ; it was strongly Insisted upon by the opponents to the measure, that the Irish Parliament would exceed their powers by voting away the Irish constitution ; that the members who composed it were returned to the house, not to commit an act of national suicide, but to legislate for the people. The advocates of the measure, drew a flattering picture of future prosperity to Ireland by its adoption ; like the touch of the magicians wand, it was to change the whole face of the country. She was to share in the commerce of Great Britain. Her rivers were to be lined with warehouses. The sea to be covered with her shi|i!i. The hum of the loom and the shuttle were to be heard in the streets, and Irishmen were to enter into the enjoyment of all the immunities and privileges of British subjects. The incompetency of parliament even to entertain the incompe- question was strongly urged by some of the first Irish law- Parliament 226 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM to vote an yers. Mr. Plunket, afterwards Lord Plunket, Mr. Saurin, Union, since Attorney- General, Sergeant Ball, Sir John, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Bush, afterwards Chief Justice, and many other men, eminent for their virtues and information, were of this opinion. They pronounced it illegal, contrary to every principle of equity, and sub- versive of the constitution. These were the leaders of the unbribed and incorruptible body that had virtue and firmness enough to resist the attack on the liberties of their country. Lord Castlereagh, in reply, declaimed against the opinion of these eminent lawyers ; defended the competency of parliament to vote its own extinction, and dwelt on the great advantages that would accrue from the union. He pointed out the distracted state of the country, the religous dissensions, the danger to the landholders of a total separa- tion, and the influence of British capital, if guaranteed by the union. He was followed by those members, who for- getful of their country's interests, had basely sold themselves to government ; their arguments, though feeble, eHcited an expose of the sinister conduct of the British cabinet, to perpetrate a union. Sir Lau- Sir Lawrence Parsons fearlessly stated the fact, that the government had by their acts terrified the country into submitting to any law it thought proper to propose; he insisted that tranquillity did not depend on a union ; that Ireland possessed within herself the means of restoring that peace which had been disturbed by the machinations of a cruel policy. That if the Irish had been left to themselves, religious dissension would long since have ceased ; and that the promised prosperity was a political cheat which could never be realised. It was argued that the Irish Parhament was the best protector of Irish interests ; that the insurrec- tion planned and brought into hfe by Mr. Pitt, had been extinguished by the energy and loyalty of the Irish legis- lation. It was not the foreign mercenaries who were intro- duced to destroy the population, that suppressed it ; but the rence Par sons. AND A COLONY. 227 vigorous measures and unshaken loyalty of the Irish Par- liament. The jMiid partisans of government instanced Scotland as The Scotch a proof of the necessity for a union, and dwelt upon the u^ion com- great advantages she had derived from an incorporation of pared, the two legislatures. But this reasoning was fallacious, as th^ existed no analogy between the two countries. In the reign of Anne, the question of a union became one of neces- sity, because in the event of her dying without issue, the crown of Scotland must have devolved on a Scotch Peer, the Duke of Hamilton, and the two kingdoms would have been separated ; whereas the crown of Ireland, hke that of England, was inahenable, and must have descended to the successor of the reigning monarch. The Scotch had their "statute of security," which enacted, that the crown should never be worn by the same monarch a^ that of England. But the Irish statute specified that the two crowns should ever be worn by the same mmvarch. Hence a union with Scotland was necessary ; but with respect to Ireland, uncall- ed for. To the former, it gave protection and prosperity ; to the latter, poverty and persecution. Such a precedent was a weak vindication for political delinquency, and an apology for premeditated political dishonesty ; after a length- ened and angry debate, Mr. Ponsonby's amendment was negatived by a majority of ome in favour of ministers. When the late Lord Perry, formerly speaker of the Irish Lord Per- House of Commons, was consulted by Lord Castlereagh, 2on of a respecting a union, he emphatically said, " Young man, I Union. have many years ago, and at different times, considered this subject with the assistance of the wisest men of the country, and our uniform opinion has ever been, that if this measure is carried, it will end in the ruin of both countries. Ireland cannot be governed from Westminster. Enter my opinion in your pocket book, I shall say no more on the subject." The majority of only one in favour of the address, was 228 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM regarded as a ministerial defeat, and diffused general joy Extensive tliroughout the nation. But the union was to be accom- the ^^ov r^- pli^hcd, and the diabohcal and swindling policy that had mciit. sprinkled the path that led to union with the blood of the people, was once more called into action. Fraud, fear, and corruption, were employed; places, pensions, and titles, were offered and accepted, the former by a host of hungry adventurers, who had been smuggled into parliament by the government, and the latter by those weak and venal hunters after artificial distinctions, that swarm in every country.* It having transpired that ministers had not abandoned their hopes of success, great fermentation followed, and it was not thought prudent to immediately press the measure ; an adjournment would give time to corrupt and to terrify ; accordingly parliament was prorogued to the 1st June, 1799. During the recess. Lord CornwalHs, assisted by Lord Castlereagh, employed every means to secure a majority. They made use of arguments that could not fail of carrying conviction through the pockets to some, and promises, that gratified the vanity of others ; still the bought majority was not large enough to enable them to announce to the world that a union was the wish of the representatives of the people. Many held out for better terms, which were afterwards shamefully offered, and unblushingly accepted, even in the body of the house during the discussion of the measure. Lord Cas- ^n the 15th of February, 1800, the parhament re-assem- tiereagh bled, when numerous petitions were presented against the the act of union. Lord Castlereagh brought down a message from Union. ^jjg Viceroy, which he read, and then proceeded to announce the ministerial plan for a legislative union. In this speech he affected to beUeve that a total change had taken place in * It was the late Lord Chatham who said, " I have found many men ambitious of honours, who would not sacrifice their principles ; but from the moment I see a man a candidate for a peerage, from that moment I des- pair of him as a friend to his country." AND A COLONY. 229 the minds, of the representatives of the nation ; that they were now convinced that the prosperity and happiness of Ireland depended alone on the incorporation of the two par- liaments. He concluded a long speech as follows, viz., " I trust I have proved to every man, who hears me, that the proposal is such a one which is at once honourable for Great Britain to offer, as for Ireland to accept. It is one that will entirely remove from the executive power those anomalies which are the perpetual sources of jealousy and discontent ; it is one which increases the resources of our commerce, protects our manufactures, secures to us the Bri- tish market, and encourages all the produce of our soil ; it is one that puts an end to religious jealousy, and removes the possibihty of a separation ; it is one that establishes such a representation for the country as must lay asleep for ever, the question of parliamentary reform, which, combined with our reUgious divisions, has produced all our distractions and calamities." He then moved for leave to bring in a bill for the consolidation of the legislatures. His reasoning was not conclusive but bribery had convinced, and at a very late hour the house divided, when there were 158 for and 115 against the motion. During the debate of this momentous question, the anxiety of ministers was strikingly apparent. Negociations were going on, and it was observed that the whisper of the secretary created a smile, which clearly announced the conclusion of a disgraceful bargain. Looks were interchanged that conveyed an acquiescence to demands, and a bend of the head gave a silent but impressive assent to the terms that had been before refused. And this dis- graceful and disgusting scene took place under the eyes of two hundred and twenty gentlemen !* In the House of Lords, the Earl of Clare, already men- Lord tioned as the complaisant and ready agent of the British f^^^^ * This majority was obtained by the addition of twenty seven new titles to the peerage, promotions, grants, concessions, places, promises, and ready money. 230 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM Cabinet, brought forward a similar proposition. His speech was full of sophisms ; his personality offensiye, and his arro- gance unbounded. At its conclusion he declared, " that if he lived to see that measure, the union, completed, to his latest hour he should feel an honourable pride in reflecting on the share he might have had in contributing to it." The measure was carried, and he did live ; but not to congratu- late himself on his success. His fate was that of other cor- rupt and unprincipled statesmen. He was neglected by the party he had so assiduously served, and his last moments were marked by a sincere repentance for the share he had taken in the destruction of his country's independence — of him it may be truly said that he descended " Into the vile dust from whence he sprung, Unwept, unhonoured, and unsung." The first stop having succeeded, all the cunning of diplomacy was called into action to keep up the delusion that in union consisted the safety of Ireland. The terrors of the rebel- hon was still fresh in the minds of the people, and was adroitly used to convince. The timid were alarmed, and those implicated in the recent outbreak trembled for their safety. But the most pestilent of all traitors to their coun- try were those who sacrificed character, truth, and inde- pendence — who dared publicly to barter the constitution to which they had been appointed guardians by a too confid- ing people, for their own aggrandizement, and the selfish interests of their dependents. The people of all countries have been too apt to pardon, and sometimes even to applaud the vices and foibles of those who from birth and riches are their superiors, and although an aristocracy must always exist wherever there is education, talent and riches, still it is incumbent on that aristocracy, in whose hands the morals and liberties of those beneath them are necessarily placed, to be careful how they abuse the power with which they have been entrusted. It behoves them for their own safety AND A COLONY. 231 to be very watchful over the privileges of their fellow-coun- trymen, and not to forget that in their eagerness to serve themselves they may bring down ruin on the whole social fabric. The greater portion of the Irish nobihty and gentry either despising or losing sight of this principle, sold them- selves to government, and the social state of Ireland is a melancholy example of the truth of these observations. 232 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM CHAPTER XVI. Compensation to proprietors of boroughs — Ireland declared a colony — House of Commons surrounded by military — Tithes — IneflGiciency of the Protestant Church — The Irish Protestant — Means to force the Union- Conclusion. The permission to introduce a bill for a legislative union being granted, the viceroy and secretary had recourse to * every description of meanness and deception to procure ad- dresses favourable to their views. Every town and village was ransacked by their agents for signatures. The beggar was stopped on the highway, and received money for affix- ing his mark ; the cottager was tempted by the promise of a lease ; the tradesman by an assurance of custom, and the squireen — a race of small gentry pecuhar to Ireland — by the promise of place, or the payment of ready money. Even felons under sentence purchased pardon by signing a paper that was presented them, and the poor peasant, una- ble to read, put his mark to a document, of the contents of which he was totally ignorant. The anti-union addresses were called seditious, and those who signed them disloyal.* In many places force was used to prevent meetings to peti- tion, on the unconstitutional plea that the numbers assem- bled endangered the public peace, although no statute Hmits the number who may quietly meet to petition for a redress of grievances. Major Darby, the High Sheriff of the King's County, and Major Rogers of the artillery, placed two six pounders at the doors of the court house where the free- holders were assembled, and threatened to fire if they did not disperse. The fear of grape shot made them obey, and the petition was abandoned. These proceedings were so pubUc that they could not be denied. Therefore all secrecy * Mr. Humphry Butler, Clerk of the Pipe, was dismissed for having attended one of those meetings. I jensa- AND A COLONY. 233 was unnecessary, and the purchase of political opponents by the agents of the castle was now as common as that of potatoes by the forestallers in the market. The only remaining difficulty was the parUamentary compc proprietors of boroughs, who began to feel alarm for their tion to pro- property. That, however, was soon overcome by Lord Boroughs. Castlereagh publicly announcing that compensation would be given to all who possessed them. He declared that every nobleman should receive £15,000 for each member he returned, that every member who had purchased a seat would be indemnified ; that all members who should be losers by the Union would be recompensed by the treasury, and that £1,500,000 of the public money should be appro- priated for this wholesale bribery. In short, that all who should support the measure should be amply provided for ; to render him justice, it is necessary to state he kept his word, as after the debate on the union, a bill to raise one million and a half of money upon the Irish people was passed, which was expended in paying the unprincipled betrayers of their country. Three members were appointed commissioners, at a salary of £1200 a year each, to parcel out the wages of corruption, these were the Hon. Mr. Annesley, Secretary Hamilton, and Dr. Duignan, all useful servants of the minister. The conspiracy was now complete, and the moment approached to strike the last fatal blow against Ireland as a kingdom, against Irish happiness, Irish prosperity, and Irish trah- quiUity. The House of Commons had adjourned to the 5th of February, on that day Lord Castlereagh brought on the motion that blotted his country as a nation, out of the map of Europe. Certain of a majority his exultation could not be concealed, and his tongue gave utterance to the joy that illuminated his countenance ; yielding to the visions of am- bition about being reaHsed, his demeanour was haughty, and his language overbearing. After an ardent and pro- 234 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM tracted debate of the entire night a division sealed the fate of the Irish legislature. The numbers were, ireiaiKi Yot Lord Castlereagh's motion 158 declared a k ' l 'j. -i-ii? Colony. Against It 115 Majority 43 By this division it appears the anti-Unionists had added to their number, and the names of the minority, men whom court favour had failed to flatter, or government money to bribe, will be handed down to posterity as senators whose patriotism has rendered them immortal, and whose conduct has saved the gentry of Ireland from the reproach of being all bought to swerve from their duty. The House During the debate the House was surrounded by the mihtary, although no danger could be apprehended from a mons sur- rounded by desponding and depressed people. The rebeUion had pro- duced the effect that was anticipated, the people were dis- organised and deterred by fear from making any effectual resistance. The period for an attack on the hberties of Ireland was judiciously chosen, the panic was general, places promised, and compensation freely offered. To these causes may be attributed the success of the minister in perfecting the union, and to that union the increased poverty and misery of the population. Had the measure been deferred for a few years, all the influence of the crown, and all the corruption of the cabinet, would have failed in making Ireland a British colony. On the act of Union, impartial posterity will pronounce a verdict of condemnation against the perpetrators of this great national crime, and though concealed under the courtly varnish of titles, their names will ever remain on the black hst of infamy and treachery. Forty years have elapsed since the legislative union be- tween the two countries, and during that time have either the promises or prophecies of those who proposed it been AND A COLONY. 235 fulfilled ? Is the condition of the population improved ? has commerce flourished ? have manufactures increased ? has religious dissension ceased, and has Ireland received her just share of the benefits conferred by the British constitution ? Her present state of misery and discontent affords an ample answer to these questions. The same system is pursued that has raised a monument not of glory but of infamy to the projectors of the union ; a monument in the minds of every Irishman, on which is traced in bloody and indelible characters, the names of a Pitt, a Dundas, and a Castle- reagh. The two great evils that form the incubus which sits on the breast of Irish prosperity, are the Established Church and absenteeism. It is evident that the former cannot much longer continue to hold its enormous revenues ; and that government will be forced to follow the example of Henry the Eighth, (who to put down the CathoHc Church, seized on and distributed a large portion of its lands amongst the laity), by annulling the absurd right of the Protestant Church to levy a tax that impedes the industry of a people who do not attend its worship or beheve in its doctrines. Since the reformation, the greater part of the soil has been confiscated, which has placed the tithes, for the most part, in the hands of government, although they regranted the lands, they either reserved the Church property to themselves, or gave it to the bishops, consequently in Ire- land the tithe system may be easily abolished, — for as each parish becomes vacant, a government tax may be laid on, as in England, and levied in place of tithes to form a fund for Tithes. the payment of the working clergy of every religions per- suasion, To this it may be objected that the money thus raised would be insufficient for the purpose ; but the income of the heads of the Irish EstabHshment ought to be reduced, because it is much greater than that of the EngUsh, and this arrangement would increase rather than diminish their zeal, for it is notorious that the Scotch clergy, who are very poor, 236 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM are the best and most efficient teachers of the gospel in Europe. If the tithe question was thus arranged, the Cathohc clergy hke the Presbyterian would be at the mercy of government.* What Elizabeth ought to have done may yet be eflfected. Provide for the Cathohc clergy ; place them in their proper situation by making them no longer dependant on their parishioners for an existence ; remove the causes that degrade an intelhgent, active, and respect- able priesthood ; elevate them to that rank to which they have an undoubted right as the spiritual teachers of nearly a whole people, who cling to them and the doctrines they preach with a pertinacity confirmed by persecution, and an affection that precludes proselytism. Situated as they at present are, the Catholic priesthood must either work or starve ; they therefore have established a poll tax on every Cathohc householder in the kingdom, and hurry the Irish peasant into the connubial state at the age of puberty, in order to obtain the marriage fee. Hence the rapid growth of the pauper population, for the income of the priest is in- creased or diminished according to the number of his pa- rishioners. A<,narian Thoso who delight in representing the Irish as a race of outra-re. uneducated savages, point with great exultation at the pro- tection given to criminals by the people, and in their anxiety to cast an odium on the whole population, purposely over- look, and carefully conceal the fact, that it is only the agrarian outlaw who meets with sympathy, and is shielded from justice. The anxiety to assist in the discovery and arrest of criminals, is strongly displayed by the Irish on every occasion where the crime is unconnected with disputes * It has been asserted that the Catholic clergy would reject any offer of salary, so did the Presbyterians in the reign of Charles the Second ; but the government of that period voted the necessary funds and gave them per- mission to draw for the amount. This they did not do for a year or two ; at the end of that time, some yielding to their necessities accepted the money, and the example was quickly followed by the whole body. AND A COLONY. 237 about the tenure of land, and if the offences committed by the peasantry against the landlords and their agents were erased from the calendar, but little employment would be found for either judge or jury in Ireland. Although no nation has a right to keep a register of crimes Crime in committed by the people of another, and hold the inhabitants ^^^^ ^ up as a nation of savages and murderers, still as this is the Ireland, practices of prejudiced writers on Irish affairs, it is but just to compare the state of England, with respect to crime, with that of Ireland. In the latter the victims are landlords or their agents who have roused by their oppression a feehng of bitter hatred followed too often by a fierce and cruel revenge ; whilst the English murderer is only actuated by a wish to appropriate the property of others. The Irish peasant strikes to avenge, the Enghsh felon to plunder, both are culpable in the eyes of God and man, both expiate their offence on the scaffold, yet when we consider their motives, we feel some commiseration for the one, whilst we abhor and have no pity for the other. The victims to the blind fury of excited passion, in Ireland are always men, whereas in England the softness of the sex stays not the hand of the assassin. That enormous abuse, the Church Estabhshment — that TheProtes- colossus of rehgion, whose right foot rests on Protestant *;^°*9!*."f^^ ° /.I Estabhsh- England for support, and whose left, planted on the neck ment. of Catholic Ireland, presses her to the dust, must be pulled down, and shorn of its unjust proportions, not only from its inutility but also from its oppression. Its inefficacy in making converts has been fully established, and can- not create surprise in the minds of those acquainted with the history of the Protestant Hierarchy. Queen Eliza- beth, whose ideas of prerogative were based on divine right to do wrong at her royal will and pleasure, directed the establishment of the Protestant Church in Ireland, and having confiscated four-fifths of the kingdom, she endowed it with the ecclesiastical property taken from the Catholic Church, but forgot to have the Bible and Liturgy 238 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM translated into the language of the country, and its own clergy employed to teach her new doctrines.* Instead of which she appointed English Protestant clergymen, ignorant alike of the people and their language, whose duties were confined to the collection of tithes, not "the cure of souls." But what they could not teach from the pulpit was inculcated by the sword, and men's religious and poHtical opinions, it was vainly imagined, could be altered and directed by the hand of violence. The Irish people, therefore, rejected a religion they did not understand, whose precepts were conveyed to them through oppression, and whose ministers were only known by their exactions. The same causes still exist; the same ignorance of the language still prevails ; the same system of exaction, under the name of tithe, still continues ; the same intollerant contempt and hatred of the CathoUcs and their priests still fostered and encouraged, and CathoUc Ireland is still afflicted with a Protestant hierarchy, who, in- stead of using the Christian forbearance and Christian charity that might convince the Catholics of their supposed error, mount the pulpit, and, hurried away by a mistaken and fana- tical zeal, denounce their brethren as idolaters, as men deaf to the truths of religion and without hope of salvation. The odium theologicum thus poured out, is only heard by Pro- testants, for what CathoUc will enter a Protestant church where he must expect to hear himself reviled, and his reli- gion described as that of the heathen ? The Irish Saturated with the poison of intolerance, the Irish Pro- Protestant. testant is a being totally different from all who profess the same creed in other countries. BUnded by prejudice, he thinks he is serving his God by persecuting his neighbour. He turns to the East, and making a low reverence at the name of the Redeemer, he salHes forth to oppress and abuse his fellow-countrymen, because they sprinkle them- selves with water in the name of the Saviour. Ignorant of bdng used as a pohtical tool by England, his mind is nar- * Hume asserts that Her Majesty always believed in transubstantiation, and the virtues of the sign of the cross. AND A COLONY. 239 rowed into the belief, that without Protestant ascendency there is no safety, and without Protestant persecution there is no conviction.* . The riches accumulated by the Irish Protestant bishops are enormous, but the pauper population from whom these riches are derived (for the money is produced from the soil) receive no benefit from them. Not one farthing is disbursed for their benefit, but is employed in aggrandizing their fa- milies ;t and the resources of the country, instead of being applied to public improvement, are divided between a resi- . dent hierarchy, and an absentee aristocracy. Previous to the passing of the law that admitted Ireland into a partner- ship in the EngHsh national debt, and deprived her of her commerce, the great landholders resided on their properties during summer, and in the winter, by their presence in Dubhn, they added to the splendour of the court and , happiness of the people. The expensive estabhshments of the nobility ; the commerce of the city increasing ; the ani- mated appearance of the citizens ; the busy hum of industry in the streets ; the equipages of the wealthy, and the influx of visitors, all combined to render Dublin one of the most delightful cities in Europe. This prosperity vanished with the Union, and the capital of Ireland can now only be re- cognised by the splendour of its pubHc buildings, occupied * In Germany, and other places on the Continent, no one is asked how he worships his Creator, and Catholics freely offer their chapels for the performance of the rites of the Protestant religion. f The following is an extract from the probate of wills as laid before the House of Commons, July 12th, 1832. Fowler, Archbishop of Dublin, left 160,000/. Beresford, Archbishop of Tuam, left 250,000/. Agar, Archbishop of Cashel, left 400,000/. Stopford, Bishop of Cork, left 25,000/. Percy, Bishop of Dromore, left 40,000/. Cleaver, Bishop of Ferns, left 60,000/. Bernard, Bishop of Limerick, left 60,000/. Porter, Bishop of Clogher, left 250,000/. Hawkins, of Raphoe, left 250,000/. Knox, of Kil- laloe, left 100,000/. Stuart, of Armagh, 800,000/. Total, 1,875,000/., besides malntsuning their wives and families — all, with two exceptions, Englishmen. ISUI, 240 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM as public offices. The houses of the nobihty tenanted by lawyers ; the streets filled with a discontented and desti- tute population, and the face of the country covered with the leprosy of pauperism and disaffection.* This change, produced by a measure that secured to England the power of legislating for the Irish, lost her their affections, weakened her strength as an empire, and ultimately may cause the Absentee- destruction of both. Absenteeism has always been one great cause of the misery of the people. The only period in the history of Ireland, since the invasion of the English, that presents a picture of prosperity, is marked in the events arising out of the American revolution. Her sons, in arms for the general good, preserved order and protected property. Religious feuds, no longer introduced to cause disunion, were forgotten. Government, in the hour of peril, had called on the armed population to protect the coast from foreign aggression, and a domestic legislature, if it did not assort her independence, secured to her a resident gentry. But with the Parliament departed her prosperity — the gentry sought pleasure and amusement in the cajfltal cities of the foreigner, her commerce languished, and religious animosity gave the final blow to her happiness. In a work entitled " The Interests of Ireland," published in 1682, we find that the attention of the English government was, at an early period, directed to absenteeism, and that a heavy tax was levied from absentee landlords. The writer says — " above any of these (the causes of Ireland's poverty) is the " stock drained out of the kingdom by absentees, which ip " now augmented above treble what it was formerly, by * The Irish quit and crown rents (some of which are sold) amounting annually to nearly 5(J0,000/., which were, previous to the Union, applied to public works in Ireland, are now paid into the office of woods and forests, and expended in England. An application lately made, by the Commis- sioners for the improvement of Dublin, for 20,000/. to repair the drains of the city, was refused by government, and another for 6,000/. for the gar- dens of the Royal Dublin Society met with a similar fate. ' AND A COLONY. 241 " the great estates the adventurers possess, who being most " of them estated men in England, iive there, and dcaw " over vast sums of mon^y yearly, which they spend and lay " out in purchases in England, &c. So that this one drain, *' if no sluice can be contrived to stop its current, must ne- " cessarily draw Ireland dry of wealth. If alltheaforemen- " tioned impediments were removed, which our predecessors " have long groaned under, and several strict laws have " been made to prevent it. As in the third y^ir of Richard " the Second, Sir John Davis gives an account of an ordi- " nance made in England, against such as were absent from " their lands in Ireland, which gave two-thirds of their pro- " fits to the king until they returned to Ireland ; which " {saith he) was grounded upon good reasons of state, and was " put in execution for many years after, as appeareth by sun- " dry seizures made thereupon in the time of Richard the Se- " Gond, Henry the Fifth and Sixth, whereof there remain re- " cords in the Remembraiicer's ofice here. Amongst the rest, " the Duke of Norfolk himself was not spared, hut impleaded " upon this ordinance, for two parts of fjte profit of his estates, '* ojnd afterwards himself, the Earl of Shrewsbury, the Lord " Berkely, and others who had lands in Irelcmd, kept their " continual residence in England, were entirely reassumed " hy the a^t of absentees made 2^th year of Henry VIII. — " thus much Sir John Davis, page 199 — and it might seem " hard that these laws should now be exeouied, yet it is '* harder a nation should be ruined, and if themselves he ne- " oessarily detamed in His Majesty's service, or hy their " greater concerns in England, yet why they should not " consign their interests in this kingdom to their younger " sons, SfC.i or be engaged in some other jujay to spend a " good part of their rents here, is not easily answered, " unless private men's interests be to be preferred before the " public, for this is a burden this kingdom will not be long " ahle to bear." Those who declaim on the great advantages Ireland " R 242 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM Employ- would, if tranquil, derive from the employment of English English capital, are silent as to the much greater benefits that would capital. accrue to the population from the residence of the landlords, for the expenditure, since the legislative union of the money raised in it, amounting annually to nearly nine millions, is a much greater sum than would be circulated by the intro- duction of British speculation. Agriculture is the true source of Irish wealth, and the fertility of the soil, if pro- perly managed, would be the foundation of Irish prosperity. A country that depends on manufactures for the support of its inhabitants, and government may, by the superiorit;J^ of what it produces, continue for years to monopolize the trade of the world, and become powerful from accumulated riches : but when deprived of the resources arising out of the sale of the articles manufactured, it falls much more rapidly than it had risen. On the other hand, when the prosperity of a nation is based on the cultivation of the soil, the accumulation of individual property may not be so great but the general good is promoted, and the plethora of riches, as well as its antithesis, poverty, are both avoided. The present embarrassed state of Great Britain is an answer to those who would make use of British capital in manufactur- ising the Irish people. The hostile tariffs that shut her out of almost every market, have been followed by famine and general discontent. The rapid improvement in the manu- facture of every article by the foreigner, threatens destruc- tion to her finances, and speculation ; has assembled in her towns a mass of decrepid, degraded, and depraved human beings, who are numerous enough to be dangerous, and whose necessities may lead to revolution. England has been the great workshop of the world for more than a century. Her commercial prosperity, from the causes already stated, is on the decline, and her fiscal arrangements no longer fill the treasury. The interests of the hardy yeoman have been sacrificed to the sordid cupidity of the squalid manu- facturer. The former is no longer a " nation's pride," and AND A COLONY. 243 the latter, deprived of employment, wanders through the streets in search of a precarious subsistence, and drunken- ness, the usual attendant on idleness, destroys his body and weakens his understanding. There is more ostentation than charity in the philan- thropy that seeks in distant regions a field for its indulgence, -^he English philanthropists are loud in their denunciations of slavery in our colonies, selling of opium to the Chinese, and immorahty in the mining and manufacturing districts ; but are silent as to the drimken debauchery produced by EngUsh gin-palaces and English poor laws. The foreigner asks with astonishment, why a country, saturated with saints, should permit such abominations — ignorant that where an empty treasury is to be filled, the health or morals of a peo- ple are seldom taken into consideration. The stagnation of trade proves that capital may be employed beyond the bounds of prudence, and that the grasping hand of avarice may weaken a government, as well as destroy the moral and physical force of a nation. Ireland, therefore, it is to be hoped, will never be, hke England, over manufactured, but, trusting to the fertility of her soil and the restoration of her gentry for prosperity, happiness will again visit 'her shores, and plenty once more gladden the hearts of her unfortunate sons. The Legislative Union has now continued for forty- three years, and the experiment has fulfilled the prophetic denunciations of that measure. England has reaped agita- tion and embarrassment, and Ireland has gleaned nothing but misery. England sought a union, not Ireland. Eng- land forced a union in her anxiety for aggrandizement, and pushed it forward in the crisis which she herself had pro- duced, and which Ireland, in her insanity, had promoted. England availed herself of the political weakness her ma- chinations had introduced, which pervaded and paralyzed the whole nation. England, by holding out to the timid a repetition of the horrors of civil strife which had desolated the country, and to the disaffected the threat of again inflicting 244 IRELAND AS A KINGDOM the lash and the scaffold, terrified and astounded, and Eng- land, finally, by bribery the most barefaced of the borough . majority of the Parliament, returned for that purpose, accom- plished the union — a union whose offspring has been degra- dation and misery to Ireland, and chartism and weakness to England. Ignorance and superstition had receded from the land — the Act of Union recalled them and made them the inheritance of Irishmen. The friends of the measure appealed to the flourishing state of Scotland,, and attributed the pros- perity of that country to the union with England. But the case was different with respect to Ireland: England and Scot- land were two kingdoms in the same island, divided from each other by only a river or ridge of mountains ; Ireland is a separate island, disjoined by a dangerous though narrow sea. Nature, by its situation, points out that it should be an independent state, and that both islands may be united under one head, but separate bodies, each possessing its own heart and its own members. The results of the Scotch Act of Union are such as the philanthropist would desire, and the statesman aim at. By it the Scotch are allowed to , retain their peculiar laws, customs and rehgfon. They are admitted into a full participation of all the privileges of British subjects. The places of trust and profit under the state are filled alone by Scotchman. They have not been insulted by being obliged to contribute to the support of a church in which they do not believe, and their ministers have not been plundered in order to enrich a dominant hier- archy with which they have no sympathy, and Scotland has not been deprived, by the Union, of the benefits arising fr(5m a resident gentry. If the English government intend to act with the impartiality it professes, Ireland may yet boast of having given a Lord Advocate to Scotland, and a Lord Chancellor to England, and the Catholic population may yet hope to be relieved by the sending of the Protes- tant hierarchy, accompanied by an army of Englishmen, to Scotland, there to be maintained, in their turn, by the peo- \ AND A COLONY. 245 pie of that country. It should not he forgotten that Spain lost the Low Countries by attempting to force a religion on the people, and by the appointment of Spaniards only to places under the government, and that the Dutch have lost Belgium by following the same system. The union with Scotland was necessary *to secure the integrity of the empire, for had Queen Anne died without issue, the two countries must have been separated. The Duke of Hamilton would have been called on to reign, and, as in the case of Hanover, the two croons would have been worn by different monarchs. The incorporation, therefore, of the two legislatures was based on necessityi and was per- fected with the consent, and met with the approbation of the natives of both countries, because it conferred mutual benefit and mutual safety; but the same causes did not apply to Ireland. The Act of Union gave satisfaction to the Scotch, and stability to the empire ; but a similar mea- sure, with respect to Ireland, was uncalled for, was per- fected by fraud and bribery,* has created disgust, and been productive of misery to the people, and weakness to Eng- land. The competency of the Irish Parliament to vote away its The Irish power of making laws, was an assumption of authority for Parliament * _ . incompe- which there is no parallel. The members were delegated tent to by the nation to legislate for, and watch over its interests, u^^^jj*" but were not invested with the power of destroying the con- stitution. The sale of their poUtical existence was an action of black ingratitude to their constituents, and of base treachery to their country, Such was the opinion of the most profound lawyers — men as celebrated for th^ir legal knowledge as for their incorruptible integrity. * Lord Cornwallis sent a contidential agent to tell Earl Carhampton that if he chose he should be one of the representative peers. His answer was remarkable for the spu-it by which it was dictated — " No ;" said he, " tell '• Lord Cornwallis he shall never hang on my back a mark of the ruin and " degradation of my country." 24G IRELAND AS A KINGDOM , j , The present state of- England and Ireland is full of dan- ger to boiih, and it is the duty of good men and wise states- men to endeavour to avert it. Without the concurrence of the^ former, the latter can never ^remain a powerful and in- dependent nation, and- the colossal strength of England, whilst that concurrence is withheld, must be paralyzed, and perhaps ultimately destroyed, by the discontent of Ireland. That the two countries can exist as separate and indepen- dent states, with different rulers, is impossible. The safety of the one depends on the support of the other — they must stand or fall together. To estabhsh their connection on a sound and enduring foundation, Ireland must be concihated by the restoration of her Parliament, and by the allocation of a portion of the useless bloated opulence of the EstabHsh- ment to the education of the people. Then the resources of England, that have been always directed to crush Irish freedom and prosperity, may be applied to a more noble and profitable use. Let those statesmen who start at the name of Repeal, and declaim against it as a dismemberment of the empire, remember the last ominous words of the im- mortal Grattan in the Irish House of Commons, they were these— "IN SEPARATION THERE IS UNION, AND IN UNION SEPARATION." THE END. .fl Thomas I. White, Printer, 65, Flcet-street, Dublin.