,transcribed from the #ahic ,cassell    
,company edition by ,david ,price1 email
  ccx#jgdpglaf4org                      
,,cassell',s ,,national ,,library       
99 99 99 99 99                          
,,peter ,,plymley',s ,,letters          
,,and                                   
,,selected ,,essays                     
99 99 99 99 99                          
,,by                                    
,,sydney ,,smith                        
,picture3 ,decorative graphic           
,,cassell  ,,company ,,limited          
,,london  ,,paris   ,,melbourne         
#ahic          ,,introduction4          
,,sydney ,,smith1 of the same age as    
,walter ,scott1 was born at ,woodford1  
in  ,essex1 in the year #agga1 and he   
died of heart disease1 aged             
seventy-four1  on the #bbnd of          
,february1 #ahde4  ,his father was a    
clever man of wandering  habits who1    
when he settled in ,england1 reduced his
 means by buying1  altering1 spoiling1  
and then selling about nineteen         

different places in  ,england4  ,his    
mother was of a ,french family from     
,languedoc1 that had been  driven to    
,england by the ,revocation of the      
,edict of ,nantes4  ,sydney  ,smith's   
grandfather1 upon the mother's side1    
could speak no ,english1 and  he himself
 ascribed some of his gaiety to the     
,french blood in his veins4    ,he was  
one of four sons4  ,his eldest brother  
,robert--known as ,bobus--was  sent to  
,eton1 where he joined ,canning1 ,frere1
 and ,john ,smith1 in writing  the ,eton
 magazine1 the ,microcosm2 and at       
,cambridge ,bobus afterwards was  known 
as a fine ,latin scholar4  ,sydney      
,smith went first to a school at        
,southampton1 and then to ,winchester1  
where he became captain of the  school4 
,then he was sent for six months to     
,normandy for a last polish to  his     
,french before he went on to ,new       
,college1 ,oxford4  ,when he had        
obtained his fellowship there1 his      
father left him to his own resources4   

,his eldest brother had been trained for
 the bar1 his two younger brothers  were
 sent out to ,india1 and ,sydney1       
against his own wish1 yielded to the    
strong desire of his father that he     
should take orders as a clergyman4      
,accordingly1 in #agid1 he became curate
 of the small parish of  ,netherhaven1  
in ,wiltshire4  ,meat came to           
,netherhaven only once a week in  a     
butcher's cart from ,salisbury1 and the 
curate often dined upon potatoes        
flavoured with ketchup4    ,the only    
educated neighbour was ,mr4 ,hicks      
,beach1 the squire1 who at first        
formally invited the curate to dinner on
 ,sundays1 and soon found his wit1      
sense1 and high culture so delightful1  
that the acquaintance ripened into      
friendship4  ,after two years in the    
curacy1 ,sydney ,smith gave it up and   
went abroad with the squire's son4      
8,when first ,i went into the ,church10 
he wrote afterwards1 8,i had a curacy in
 the middle of ,salisbury ,plain2  the  

parish was ,netherhaven1 near ,amesbury4
  ,the squire of the parish1 ,mr4       
,beach1 took a fancy to me1 and after ,i
 had served it two years1 he  engaged me
 as tutor to his eldest son1 and it was 
arranged that ,i and his  son should    
proceed to the ,university of ,weimar in
 ,saxony4  ,we set out1  but before     
reaching our destination ,germany was   
disturbed by war1 and1 in  stress of    
politics1 we put into ,edinburgh1 where 
,i remained five years40    ,young      
,michael ,beach1 who had little taste   
for study1 lived with ,sydney  ,smith as
 his tutor1 and found him a wise guide  
and pleasant friend4  ,when  ,michael   
went to the ,university1 his brother    
,william was placed under the  same good
 care4  ,sydney ,smith1 about the same  
time1 went to ,london to be  married4   
,his wife's rich brother quarrelled with
 her for marrying a man  who said that  
his only fortune consisted in six small 
silver teaspoons4  ,one day after their 
happy marriage he ran in to his wife and

 threw them  in her lap1 saying1        
8,there1 ,kate1 you lucky girl1 ,i give 
you all my  fortune60  ,the lucky girl  
had a small fortune of her own which her
  husband had strictly secured to       
herself and her children4  ,mr4 ,beach  
recognised the value of ,sydney ,smith's
 influence over his son by a  wedding   
gift of #gej4  ,in #ahjb a daughter was 
born1 and in the same year  ,sydney     
,smith joined ,francis ,jeffrey and     
other friends1 who then  maintained     
credit for ,edinburgh as the ,modern    
,athens1 in the founding of  ,the       
,edinburgh ,review1 to which the papers 
in this volume1 added to the  ,peter    
,plymley ,letters1 were contributed4    
,the ,rev4 ,sydney ,smith preached      
sometimes in the ,episcopal ,church at  
,edinburgh1 and presently had1 in       
addition to ,william ,beach1 a son of   
,mr4 ,gordon1 of ,ellon ,castle1 placed 
under his care1 receiving #djj a year   
for each of the young men4    ,in #ahjc 
,sydney ,smith left ,edinburgh for      

,london1 where he wrote busily in  ,the 
,edinburgh ,review1 but remained poor   
for many years4  ,his wit  brought      
friends1 and the marriage of his eldest 
brother with ,lord  ,holland's aunt     
quickened the growth of a strong        
friendship with ,lord  ,holland4        
,through the good offices of ,lord      
,holland1 ,sydney ,smith  obtained1 in  
#ahjf1 aged thirty-five1 the living of  
,foston-le-,clay1 in  ,yorkshire4  ,in  
the next year appeared the first letter 
of ,peter ,plymley  to his brother      
,abraham on the subject of the ,irish   
,catholics4    ,these letters fell1 we  
are told1 like sparks on a heap of      
gunpowder4  ,all  ,london1 and soon all 
,england1 was alive to the sound reason 
recommended  by a lively wit4  ,sydney  
,smith lived to be recognised as first  
among the  social wits1 and it was      
always the chief praise of his wit that 
wisdom  was the soul of it4  ,peter     
,plymley's letters1 and ,sydney ,smith's
 articles  on the same subject in ,the  

,edinburgh ,review were the most        
powerful aids  furnished by the pen to  
the solution of the burning question of 
their  time4  ,lord ,murray called the  
,plymley letters 8after ,pascal's       
letters the  most instructive piece of  
wisdom in the form of irony ever        
written40  ,worldly wealth came later2  
but in wit1 wisdom1 and kindly helpful  
cheerfulness1 from youth to age1 ,sydney
 ,smith's life was rich4                
,h4 ,m4          ,,letters ,,on ,,the   
,,subject ,,of ,,the ,,catholics4       
,,to                             ,,my   
,,brother ,,abraham1                    
,,who ,,lives ,,in ,,the ,,country4     
,,by ,,peter ,,plymley4        ,,letter 
,i4      ,,dear ,,abraham1--,a worthier 
and better man than yourself does not   
exist2 but  ,i have always told you1    
from the time of our boyhood1 that you  
were a bit  of a goose4  ,your parochial
 affairs are governed with exemplary    
order and  regularity2 you are as       
powerful in the vestry as ,mr4 ,perceval

 is in the  ,house of ,commons1--and1 ,i
 must say1 with much more reason2 nor do
 ,i know  any church where the faces and
 smock-frocks of the congregation are so
  clean1 or their eyes so uniformly     
directed to the preacher4  ,there is    
another point1 upon which ,i will do you
 ample justice2 and that is1 that  the  
eyes so directed towards you are wide   
open2 for the rustic has1 in  general1  
good principles1 though he cannot       
control his animal habits2  and1 however
 loud he may snore1 his face is         
perpetually turned towards  the fountain
 of orthodoxy4    ,having done you this 
act of justice1 ,i shall proceed1       
according to our  ancient intimacy and  
familiarity1 to explain to you my       
opinions about the  ,catholics1 and to  
reply to yours4    ,in the first place1 
my sweet ,abraham1 the ,pope is not     
landed--nor are  there any curates sent 
out after him--nor has he been hid at   
,st4 ,albans by  the ,dowager ,lady     
,spencer--nor dined privately at        

,holland ,house--nor been  seen near    
,dropmore4  ,if these fears exist 7which
 ,i do not believe71 they  exist only in
 the mind of the ,chancellor of the     
,exchequer2 they emanate  from his zeal 
for the ,protestant interest2 and1      
though they reflect the  highest honour 
upon the delicate irritability of his   
faith1 must  certainly be considered as 
more ambiguous proofs of the sanity and 
vigour  of his understanding4  ,by this 
time1 however1 the best-informed clergy 
in  the neighbourhood of the metropolis 
are convinced that the rumour is        
without foundation2 and though the ,pope
 is probably hovering about our  coast  
in a fishing-smack1 it is most likely he
 will fall a prey to the  vigilance of  
our cruisers2 and it is certain that he 
has not yet polluted  the ,protestantism
 of our soil4    ,exactly in the same   
manner1 the story of the wooden gods    
seized at  ,charing ,cross1 by an order 
from the ,foreign ,office1 turns out to 
be  without the shadow of a foundation2 

instead of the angels and archangels1   
mentioned by the informer1 nothing was  
discovered but a wooden image of  ,lord 
,mulgrave1 going down to ,chatham1 as a 
head-piece for the ,spanker  gun-vessel2
 it was an exact resemblance of his     
,lordship in his military  uniform2 and 
therefore as little like a god as can   
well be imagined4    ,having set your   
fears at rest1 as to the extent of the  
conspiracy formed  against the          
,protestant religion1 ,i will now come  
to the argument itself4    ,you say     
these men interpret the scriptures in an
 unorthodox manner1 and  that they eat  
their god4--,very likely4  ,all this may
 seem very important  to you1 who live  
fourteen miles from a market-town1 and1 
from long  residence upon your living1  
are become a kind of holy vegetable2 and
 in a  theological sense it is highly   
important4  ,but ,i want soldiers and   
sailors for the state2 ,i want to make a
 greater use than ,i now can do of  a   
poor country full of men2 ,i want to    

render the military service popular     
among the ,irish2 to check the power of 
,france2 to make every possible         
exertion for the safety of ,europe1     
which in twenty years' time will be     
nothing but a mass of ,french slaves3   
and then you1 and ten other such        
boobies as you1 call out--8,for ,god's  
sake1 do not think of raising cavalry   
and infantry in ,ireland6 4 4 4 ,they   
interpret the ,epistle to ,timothy in a 
different manner from what we do6 4 4 4 
,they eat a bit of wafer every  ,sunday1
 which they call their ,god60 4 4 4 ,i  
wish to my soul they would  eat you1 and
 such reasoners as you are4  ,what6 when
 ,turk1 ,jew1 ,heretic1  ,infidel1      
,catholic1 ,protestant1 are all combined
 against this country2  when men of     
every religious persuasion1 and no      
religious persuasion2 when  the         
population of half the globe is up in   
arms against us2 are we to  stand       
examining our generals and armies as a  
bishop examines a candidate  for holy   

orders2 and to suffer no one to bleed   
for ,england who does not  agree with   
you about the second of ,timothy8  ,you 
talk about the  ,catholics6  ,if you and
 your brotherhood have been able to     
persuade the  country into a            
continuation of this grossest of all    
absurdities1 you have  ten times the    
power which the ,catholic clergy ever   
had in their best  days4  ,louis ,,xiv41
 when he revoked the ,edict of ,nantes1 
never thought of  preventing the        
,protestants from fighting his battles2 
and gained  accordingly some of his most
 splendid victories by the talents of   
his  ,protestant generals4  ,no power in
 ,europe1 but yourselves1 has ever      
thought for these hundred years past1 of
 asking whether a bayonet is  ,catholic1
 or ,presbyterian or ,lutheran2 but     
whether it is sharp and  well-tempered4 
,a bigot delights in public ridicule2   
for he begins to  think he is a martyr4 
,i can promise you the full enjoyment of
 this  pleasure1 from one extremity of  

,europe to the other4    ,i am as       
disgusted with the nonsense of the      
,roman ,catholic religion as you  can   
be3 and no man who talks such nonsense  
shall ever tithe the product  of the    
earth1 nor meddle with the              
ecclesiastical establishment in any     
shape2 but what have ,i to do with the  
speculative nonsense of his  theology1  
when the object is to elect the mayor of
 a county town1 or to  appoint a colonel
 of a marching regiment8  ,will a man   
discharge the  solemn impertinences of  
the one office with less zeal1 or shrink
 from the  bloody boldness of the other 
with greater timidity1 because the      
blockhead  thinks he can eat angels in  
muffins and chew a spiritual nature in  
the  crumpets which he buys from the    
baker's shop8  ,i am sorry there should 
be  such impious folly in the world1 but
 ,i should be ten times a greater fool  
than he is1 if ,i refused1 till he had  
made a solemn protestation that the     
crumpet was spiritless and the muffin   

nothing but a human muffin1 to lead  him
 out against the enemies of the state4  
,your whole argument is wrong3  the     
state has nothing whatever to do with   
theological errors which do not  violate
 the common rules of morality1 and      
militate against the fair power  of the 
ruler3 it leaves all these errors to    
you1 and to such as you4  ,you  have    
every tenth porker in your parish for   
refuting them2 and take care  that you  
are vigilant and logical in the task4   
,i love the ,church as well as you do2  
but you totally mistake the nature  of  
an establishment1 when you contend that 
it ought to be connected with  the      
military and civil career of every      
individual in the state4  ,it is  quite 
right that there should be one clergyman
 to every parish  interpreting the      
,scriptures after a particular manner1  
ruled by a regular  hierarchy1 and paid 
with a rich proportion of haycocks and  
wheatsheafs4  ,when ,i have laid this   
foundation for a rational religion in   

the  state--when ,i have placed ten     
thousand well-educated men in different 
parts of the kingdom to preach it up1   
and compelled everybody to pay  them1   
whether they hear them or not--,i have  
taken such measures as ,i know  must    
always procure an immense majority in   
favour of the ,established  ,church2 but
 ,i can go no further4  ,i cannot set up
 a civil inquisition1  and say to one1  
you shall not be a butcher1 because you 
are not orthodox2  and prohibit another 
from brewing1 and a third from          
administering the  law1 and a fourth    
from defending the country4  ,if common 
justice did not  prohibit me from such a
 conduct1 common sense would4  ,the     
advantage to be  gained by quitting the 
heresy would make it shameful to abandon
 it2 and  men who had once left the     
,church would continue in such a state  
of  alienation from a point of honour1  
and transmit that spirit to their       
latest posterity4  ,this is just the    
effect your disqualifying laws have     

produced4  ,they have fed ,dr4 ,rees1   
and ,dr4 ,kippis2 crowded the           
congregations of the ,old ,jewry to     
suffocation3 and enabled every          
sublapsarian1 and superlapsarian1 and   
semi-pelagian clergyman1 to build       
himself a neat brick chapel1 and live   
with some distant resemblance to  the   
state of a gentleman4    ,you say the   
,king's coronation oath will not allow  
him to consent to any  relaxation of the
 ,catholic laws4--,why not relax the    
,catholic laws as well  as the laws     
against ,protestant dissenters8  ,if one
 is contrary to his  oath1 the other    
must be so too2 for the spirit of the   
oath is1 to defend  the ,church         
establishment1 which the ,quaker and the
 ,presbyterian differ  from as much or  
more than the ,catholic2 and yet his    
,majesty has repealed  the ,corporation 
and ,test ,act in ,ireland1 and done    
more for the ,catholics  of both        
kingdoms than had been done for them    
since the ,reformation4  ,in  #aggh the 

ministers said nothing about the royal  
conscience2 in #agic no  conscience2 in 
#ahjd no conscience2 the common feeling 
of humanity and  justice then seem to   
have had their fullest influence upon   
the advisers  of the ,crown2 but in     
#ahjg--;a year1 ,i suppose1 eminently   
fruitful in moral  and religious        
scruples 7as some years are fruitful in 
apples1 some in  hops71--it is contended
 by the well-paid ,john ,bowles1 and by 
,mr4 ,perceval  7who tried to be well   
paid71 that this is now perjury which we
 had  hitherto called policy and        
benevolence4  ,religious liberty has    
never made  such a stride as under the  
reign of his present ,majesty2 nor is   
there any  instance in the annals of our
 history1 where so many infamous and    
damnable laws have been repealed as     
those against the ,catholics which  have
 been put an end to by him2 and then1 at
 the close of this useful  policy1 his  
advisers discover that the very measures
 of concession and  indulgence1 or 7to  

use my own language7 the measures of    
justice1 which he  has been pursuing    
through the whole of his reign1 are     
contrary to the  oath he takes at its   
commencement6  ,that oath binds his     
,majesty not to  consent to any measure 
contrary to the interest of the         
,established  ,church2 but who is to    
judge of the tendency of each particular
 measure8  ,not the ,king alone3 it can 
never be the intention of this law that 
the  ,king1 who listens to the advice of
 his ,parliament upon a read bill1      
should reject it upon the most important
 of all measures4  ,whatever be  his own
 private judgment of the tendency of any
 ecclesiastical bill1 he  complies most 
strictly with his oath1 if he is guided 
in that particular  point by the advice 
of his ,parliament1 who may be presumed 
to understand  its tendency better than 
the ,king1 or any other individual4     
,you say1 if  ,parliament had been      
unanimous in their opinion of the       
absolute necessity  for ,lord ,howick's 

bill1 and the ,king had thought it      
pernicious1 he would  have been perjured
 if he had not rejected it4  ,i say1 on 
the contrary1  his ,majesty would have  
acted in the most conscientious manner1 
and have  complied most scrupulously    
with his oath1 if he had sacrificed his 
own  opinion to the opinion of the great
 council of the nation2 because the     
probability was that such opinion was   
better than his own2 and upon the  same 
principle1 in common life1 you give up  
your opinion to your  physician1 your   
lawyer1 and your builder4    ,you admit 
this bill did not compel the ,king to   
elect ,catholic officers1  but only gave
 him the option of doing so if he       
pleased2 but you add1 that  the ,king   
was right in not trusting such dangerous
 power to himself or his  successors4   
,now you are either to suppose that the 
,king for the time  being has a zeal for
 the ,catholic establishment1 or that he
 has not4  ,if  he has not1 where is the
 danger of giving such an option8  ,if  

you suppose  that he may be influenced  
by such an admiration of the ,catholic  
religion1  why did his present ,majesty1
 in the year #ahjd1 consent to that bill
 which  empowered the ,crown to station 
ten thousand ,catholic soldiers in any  
part  of the kingdom1 and place them    
absolutely at the disposal of the       
,crown8  ,if the ,king of ,england for  
the time being is a good ,protestant1   
there can  be no danger in making the   
,catholic eligible to anything3 if he is
 not1  no power can possibly be so      
dangerous as that conveyed by the bill  
last  quoted2 to which1 in point of     
peril1 ,lord ,howick's bill is a mere   
joke4  ,but the real fact is1 one bill  
opened a door to his ,majesty's advisers
  for trick1 jobbing1 and intrigue2 the 
other did not4    ,besides1 what folly  
to talk to me of an oath1 which1 under  
all possible  circumstances1 is to      
prevent the relaxation of the ,catholic 
laws6 for  such a solemn appeal to ,god 
sets all conditions and contingencies at

  defiance4  ,suppose ,bonaparte was to 
retrieve the only very great blunder  he
 has made1 and were to succeed1 after   
repeated trials1 in making an           
impression upon ,ireland1 do you think  
we should hear any thing of the         
impediment of a coronation oath8 or     
would the spirit of this country        
tolerate for an hour such ministers1 and
 such unheard-of nonsense1 if the  most 
distant prospect existed of conciliating
 the ,catholics by every  species even  
of the most abject concession8  ,and    
yet1 if your argument is  good for      
anything1 the coronation oath ought to  
reject1 at such a moment1  every        
tendency to conciliation1 and to bind   
,ireland for ever to the crown  of      
,france4    ,i found in your letter the 
usual remarks about fire1 fagot1 and    
bloody  ,mary4  ,are you aware1 my dear 
,priest1 that there were as many persons
 put  to death for religious opinions   
under the mild ,elizabeth as under the  
bloody ,mary8  ,the reign of the former 

was1 to be sure1 ten times as long2  but
 ,i only mention the fact1 merely to    
show you that something depends  upon   
the age in which men live1 as well as on
 their religious opinions4  ,three      
hundred years ago men burnt and hanged  
each other for these  opinions4  ,time  
has softened ,catholic as well as       
,protestant3 they both  required it2    
though each perceives only his own      
improvement1 and is blind  to that of   
the other4  ,we are all the creatures of
 circumstances4  ,i know  not a kinder  
and better man than yourself2 but you1  
if you had lived in  those times1 would 
certainly have roasted your ,catholic3  
and ,i promise  you1 if the first       
exciter of this religious mob had been  
as powerful then  as he is now1 you     
would soon have been elevated to the    
mitre4  ,i do not  go the length of     
saying that the world has suffered as   
much from  ,protestant as from ,catholic
 persecution2 far from it3 but you      
should  remember the ,catholics had all 

the power1 when the idea first started  
up  in the world that there could be two
 modes of faith2 and that it was much   
more natural they should attempt to     
crush this diversity of opinion by      
great and cruel efforts1 than that the  
,protestants should rage against  those 
who differed from them1 when the very   
basis of their system was  complete     
freedom in all spiritual matters4    ,i 
cannot extend my letter any further at  
present1 but you shall soon hear  from  
me again4  ,you tell me ,i am a party   
man4  ,i hope ,i shall always be  so1   
when ,i see my country in the hands of a
 pert ,london joker and a  second-rate  
lawyer4  ,of the first1 no other good is
 known than that he  makes pretty ,latin
 verses2 the second seems to me to have 
the head of a  country parson and the   
tongue of an ,old ,bailey lawyer4    ,if
 ,i could see good measures pursued1 ,i 
care not a farthing who is in  power2   
but ,i have a passionate love for common
 justice1 and for common  sense1 and ,i 

abhor and despise every man who builds  
up his political  fortune upon their    
ruin4    ,god bless you1 reverend       
,abraham1 and defend you from the ,pope1
 and all of  us from that administration
 who seek power by opposing a measure   
which  ,burke1 ,pitt1 and ,fox all      
considered as absolutely necessary to   
the  existence of the country4          
,,letter ,,ii4      ,,dear              
,,abraham1--,the ,catholic not respect  
an oath6 why not8  ,what upon earth  has
 kept him out of ,parliament1 or        
excluded him from all the offices       
whence he is excluded1 but his respect  
for oaths8  ,there is no law which      
prohibits a ,catholic to sit in         
,parliament4  ,there could be no such   
law2  because it is impossible to find  
out what passes in the interior of any  
man's mind4  ,suppose it were in        
contemplation to exclude all men from   
certain offices who contended for the   
legality of taking tithes3 the only     
mode of discovering that fervid love of 

decimation which ,i know you to  possess
 would be to tender you an oath 8against
 that damnable doctrine1  that it is    
lawful for a spiritual man to take1     
abstract1 appropriate1  subduct1 or lead
 away the tenth calf1 sheep1 lamb1 ox1  
pigeon1 duck10  c41 c41 c41 and every   
other animal that ever existed1 which of
 course  the lawyers would take care to 
enumerate4  ,now this oath ,i am sure   
you  would rather die than take2 and so 
the ,catholic is excluded from          
,parliament because he will not swear   
that he disbelieves the leading         
doctrines of his religion6  ,the        
,catholic asks you to abolish some oaths
  which oppress him2 your answer is that
 he does not respect oaths4  ,then  why 
subject him to the test of oaths8  ,the 
oaths keep him out of  ,parliament2 why1
 then1 he respects them4  ,turn which   
way you will1 either  your laws are     
nugatory1 or the ,catholic is bound by  
religious obligations  as you are2 but  
no eel in the well-sanded fist of a     

cook-maid1 upon the  eve of being       
skinned1 ever twisted and writhed as an 
orthodox parson does  when he is        
compelled by the gripe of reason to     
admit anything in favour  of a          
dissenter4    ,i will not dispute with  
you whether the ,pope be or be not the  
,scarlet  ,lady of ,babylon4  ,i hope it
 is not so2 because ,i am afraid it will
 induce  ,his ,majesty's ,chancellor of 
the ,exchequer to introduce several     
severe  bills against popery1 if that is
 the case2 and though he will have the  
decency to appoint a previous committee 
of inquiry as to the fact1 the          
committee will be garbled1 and the      
report inflammatory4  ,leaving this to  
be settled as he pleases to settle it1  
,i wish to inform you1 that1  previously
 to the bill last passed in favour of   
the ,catholics1 at the  suggestion of   
,mr4 ,pitt1 and for his satisfaction1   
the opinions of six of  the most        
celebrated of the foreign ,catholic     
universities were taken as to  the right

 of the ,pope to interfere in the       
temporal concerns of any  country4  ,the
 answer cannot possibly leave the shadow
 of a doubt1 even in  the mind of ,baron
 ,maseres2 and ,dr4 ,rennel would be    
compelled to admit it1  if three        
,bishops lay dead at the very moment the
 question were put to  him4  ,to this   
answer might be added also the solemn   
declaration and  signature of all the   
,catholics in ,great ,britain4    ,i    
should perfectly agree with you1 if the 
,catholics admitted such a  dangerous   
dispensing power in the hands of the    
,pope2 but they all deny  it1 and laugh 
at it1 and are ready to abjure it in the
 most decided  manner you can devise4   
,they obey the ,pope as the spiritual   
head of their  ,church2 but are you     
really so foolish as to be imposed upon 
by mere  names8  ,what matters it the   
seven-thousandth part of a farthing who 
is  the spiritual head of any ,church8  
,is not ,mr4 ,wilberforce at the head of
  the ,church of ,clapham8  ,is not ,dr4

 ,letsom at the head of the ,quaker     
,church8  ,is not the ,general ,assembly
 at the head of the ,church of          
,scotland8  ,how is the government      
disturbed by these many-headed          
,churches8  or in what way is the power 
of the ,crown augmented by this almost  
nominal  dignity8    ,the ,king appoints
 a fast-day once a year1 and he makes   
the bishops3 and  if the government     
would take half the pains to keep the   
,catholics out of  the arms of ,france  
that it does to widen ,temple ,bar1 or  
improve ,snow  ,hill1 the ,king would   
get into his hands the appointments of  
the titular  ,bishops of ,ireland4      
,both ,mr4 ,c-'s sisters enjoy pensions 
more than  sufficient to place the two  
greatest dignitaries of the ,irish      
,catholic  ,church entirely at the      
disposal of the ,crown4    ,everybody   
who knows ,ireland knows perfectly well1
 that nothing would be  easier1 with the
 expenditure of a little money1 than to 
preserve enough  of the ostensible      

appointment in the hands of the ,pope to
 satisfy the  scruples of the           
,catholics1 while the real nomination   
remained with the  ,crown4  ,but1 as ,i 
have before said1 the moment the very   
name of ,ireland  is mentioned1 the     
,english seem to bid adieu to common    
feeling1 common  prudence1 and common   
sense1 and to act with the barbarity of 
tyrants and  the fatuity of idiots4     
,whatever your opinion may be of the    
follies of the ,roman ,catholic         
religion1 remember they are the follies 
of four millions of human beings1       
increasing rapidly in numbers1 wealth1  
and intelligence1 who1 if firmly  united
 with this country1 would set at        
defiance the power of ,france1 and  if  
once wrested from their alliance with   
,england1 would in three years  render  
its existence as an independent nation  
absolutely impossible4  ,you  speak of  
danger to the ,establishment3 ,i request
 to know when the  ,establishment was   
ever so much in danger as when ,hoche   

was in ,bantry ,bay1  and whether all   
the books of ,bossuet1 or the arts of   
the ,jesuits1 were  half so terrible8   
,mr4 ,perceval and his parsons forget   
all this1 in their  horror lest twelve  
or fourteen old women may be converted  
to holy water  and ,catholic nonsense4  
,they never see that1 while they are    
saving these  venerable ladies from     
perdition1 ,ireland may be lost1        
,england broken  down1 and the          
,protestant ,church1 with all its deans1
 prebendaries1  ,percevals1 and         
,rennels1 be swept into the vortex of   
oblivion4    ,do not1 ,i beseech you1   
ever mention to me again the name of    
,dr4 ,duigenan4  ,i have been in every  
corner of ,ireland1 and have studied its
 present  strength and condition with no
 common labour4  ,be assured ,ireland   
does  not contain at this moment less   
than five millions of people4  ,there   
were  returned in the year #agia to the 
hearth tax #gja1jjj houses1 and there is
  no kind of question that there were   

about #ej1jjj houses omitted in that    
return4  ,taking1 however1 only the     
number returned for the tax1 and        
allowing the average of six to a house  
7a very small average for a  potato-fed 
people71 this brings the population to  
#d1bjj1jjj people in the  year #agia3   
and it can be shown from the clearest   
evidence 7and ,mr4  ,newenham in his    
book shows it71 that ,ireland for the   
last fifty years has  increased in its  
population at the rate of #ej or #fj1jjj
 per annum2 which  leaves the present   
population of ,ireland at about five    
millions1 after  every possible         
deduction for existing circumstances1   
just and  necessary wars1 monstrous and 
unnatural rebellions1 and all other     
sources of human destruction4  ,of this 
population1 two out of ten are          
,protestants2 and the half of the       
,protestant population are ,dissenters1 
and as inimical to the ,church as the   
,catholics themselves4  ,in this state  
of things thumbscrews and               

whipping--admirable engines of policy as
 they  must be considered to be--will   
not ultimately avail4  ,the ,catholics  
will  hang over you2 they will watch for
 the moment1 and compel you hereafter   
to give them ten times as much1 against 
your will1 as they would now be         
contented with1 if it were voluntarily  
surrendered4  ,remember what  happened  
in the ,american war1 when ,ireland     
compelled you to give her  everything   
she asked1 and to renounce1 in the most 
explicit manner1 your  claim of         
,sovereignty over her4  ,god ,almighty  
grant the folly of these  present men   
may not bring on such another crisis of 
public affairs6    ,what are your       
dangers which threaten the              
,establishment8--,reduce this           
declamation to a point1 and let us      
understand what you mean4  ,the most    
ample allowance does not calculate that 
there would be more than twenty  members
 who were ,roman ,catholics in one      
house1 and ten in the other1 if  the    

,catholic emancipation were carried into
 effect4  ,do you mean that  these      
thirty members would bring in a bill to 
take away the tithes from  the          
,protestant1 and to pay them to the     
,catholic clergy8  ,do you mean that  a 
,catholic general would march his army  
into the ,house of ,commons1 and  purge 
it of ,mr4 ,perceval and ,dr4 ,duigenan8
 or1 that the theological  writers would
 become all of a sudden more acute or   
more learned1 if the  present civil     
incapacities were removed8  ,do you fear
 for your tithes1 or  your doctrines1 or
 your person1 or the ,english           
,constitution8  ,every fear1  taken     
separately1 is so glaringly absurd1 that
 no man has the folly or  the boldness  
to state it4  ,every one conceals his   
ignorance1 or his  baseness1 in a stupid
 general panic1 which1 when called on1  
he is utterly  incapable of explaining4 
,whatever you think of the ,catholics1  
there they  are--you cannot get rid of  
them2 your alternative is to give them a

 lawful  place for stating their        
grievances1 or an unlawful one3 if you  
do not  admit them to the ,house of     
,commons1 they will hold their          
parliament in  ,potatoe ,place1 ,dublin1
 and be ten times as violent and        
inflammatory as  they would be in       
,westminster4  ,nothing would give me   
such an idea of  security as to see     
twenty or thirty ,catholic gentlemen in 
,parliament1  looked upon by all the    
,catholics as the fair and proper organ 
of their  party4  ,i should have thought
 it the height of good fortune that such
 a  wish existed on their part1 and the 
very essence of madness and ignorance   
to reject it4  ,can you murder the      
,catholics8  ,can you neglect them8     
,they  are too numerous for both these  
expedients4  ,what remains to be done is
  obvious to every human being--but to  
that man who1 instead of being a        
,methodist preacher1 is1 for the curse  
of us and our children1 and for the     
ruin of ,troy and the misery of good old

 ,priam and his sons1 become a          
legislator and a politician4    ,a      
distinction1 ,i perceive1 is taken by   
one of the most feeble noblemen in      
,great ,britain1 between persecution and
 the deprivation of political  power2   
whereas1 there is no more distinction   
between these two things  than there is 
between him who makes the distinction   
and a booby4  ,if ,i  strip off the     
relic-covered jacket of a ,catholic1 and
 give him twenty  stripes 4 4 4 ,i      
persecute2 if ,i say1 ,everybody in the 
town where you live  shall be a         
candidate for lucrative and honourable  
offices1 but you1 who  are a ,catholic 4
 4 4 ,i do not persecute6  ,what        
barbarous nonsense is  this6 as if      
degradation was not as great an evil as 
bodily pain or as  severe poverty3 as if
 ,i could not be as great a tyrant by   
saying1 ,you  shall not enjoy--as by    
saying1 ,you shall suffer4  ,the        
,english1 ,i believe1  are as truly     
religious as any nation in ,europe2 ,i  

know no greater  blessing2 but it       
carries with it this evil in its train1 
that any villain  who will bawl out1    
8,the ,church is in danger60 may get a  
place and a  good pension2 and that any 
administration who will do the same     
thing may  bring a set of men into power
 who1 at a moment of stationary and     
passive  piety1 would be hooted by the  
very boys in the streets4  ,but it is   
not  all religion2 it is1 in great part1
 the narrow and exclusive spirit which  
delights to keep the common blessings of
 sun and air and freedom from  other    
human beings4  8,your religion has      
always been degraded2 you are in  the   
dust1 and ,i will take care you never   
rise again4  ,i should enjoy less  the  
possession of an earthly good by every  
additional person to whom it  was       
extended40  ,you may not be aware of it 
yourself1 most reverend  ,abraham1 but  
you deny their freedom to the ,catholics
 upon the same  principle that ,sarah   
your wife refuses to give the receipt   

for a ham or a  gooseberry dumpling3 she
 values her receipts1 not because they  
secure to  her a certain flavour1 but   
because they remind her that her        
neighbours  want it3--a feeling         
laughable in a priestess1 shameful in a 
priest2 venial  when it withholds the   
blessings of a ham1 tyrannical and      
execrable when  it narrows the boon of  
religious freedom4    ,you spend a great
 deal of ink about the character of the 
present prime  minister4  ,grant you all
 that you write--,i say1 ,i fear he will
 ruin  ,ireland1 and pursue a line of   
policy destructive to the true interest 
of  his country3 and then you tell me1  
he is faithful to ,mrs4 ,perceval1 and  
kind to the ,master ,percevals6  ,these 
are1 undoubtedly1 the first             
qualifications to be looked to in a time
 of the most serious public  danger2 but
 somehow or another 7if public and      
private virtues must always  be         
incompatible71 ,i should prefer that he 
destroyed the domestic  happiness of    

,wood or ,cockell1 owed for the veal of 
the preceding year1  whipped his boys1  
and saved his country4    ,the late     
administration did not do right2 they   
did not build their  measures upon the  
solid basis of facts4  ,they should have
 caused several  ,catholics to have been
 dissected after death by surgeons of   
either  religion2 and the report to have
 been published with accompanying       
plates4  ,if the viscera1 and other     
organs of life1 had been found to be the
 same  as in ,protestant bodies2 if the 
provisions of nerves1 arteries1         
cerebrum1  and cerebellum1 had been the 
same as we are provided with1 or as the 
,dissenters are now known to possess2   
then1 indeed1 they might have met  ,mr4 
,perceval upon a proud eminence1 and    
convinced the country at large of  the  
strong probability that the ,catholics  
are really human creatures1  endowed    
with the feelings of men1 and entitled  
to all their rights4  ,but  instead of  
this wise and prudent measure1 ,lord    

,howick1 with his usual  precipitation1 
brings forward a bill in their favour1  
without offering  the slightest proof to
 the country that they were anything    
more than  horses and oxen4  ,the person
 who shows the lama at the corner of    
,piccadilly has the precaution to write 
up--,allowed by ,sir ,joseph ,banks to  
be a real quadruped1 so his ,lordship   
might have said--,allowed by the  bench 
of ,bishops to be real human creatures4 
4 4 4  ,i could write you  twenty       
letters upon this subject2 but ,i am    
tired1 and so ,i suppose are  you4  ,our
 friendship is now of forty years'      
standing2 you know me to be a  truly    
religious man2 but ,i shudder to see    
religion treated like a  cockade1 or a  
pint of beer1 and made the instrument of
 a party4  ,i love  the king1 but ,i    
love the people as well as the king2 and
 if ,i am sorry to  see his old age     
molested1 ,i am much more sorry to see  
four millions of  ,catholics baffled in 
their just expectations4  ,if ,i love   

,lord ,grenville1  and ,lord ,howick1 it
 is because they love their country2 if 
,i abhor 4 4 4  it is because ,i know   
there is but one man among them who is  
not laughing  at the enormous folly and 
credulity of the country1 and that he is
 an  ignorant and mischievous bigot4    
,as for the light and frivolous jester1 
of whom it is your misfortune to think  
so highly1 learn1 my dear ,abraham1     
that this political ,killigrew1 just    
before the breaking-up of the last      
administration1 was in actual treaty    
with them for a place2 and if they  had 
survived twenty-four hours longer1 he   
would have been now declaiming  against 
the cry of ,no ,popery6 instead of      
inflaming it4  ,with this  practical    
comment on the baseness of human nature1
 ,i bid you adieu6        ,,letter      
,,iii4      ,,all that ,i have so often 
told you1 ,mr4 ,abraham ,plymley1 is now
 come to  pass4  ,the ,scythians1 in    
whom you and the neighbouring country   
gentleman  placed such confidence1 are  

smitten hip and thigh2 their ,beningsen 
put to  open shame2 their magazines of  
train oil intercepted1 and we are waking
  from our disgraceful drunkenness to   
all the horrors of ,mr4 ,perceval and   
,mr4 ,canning 4 4 4 ,we shall now see if
 a nation is to be saved by  school-boy 
jokes and doggrel rhymes1 by affronting 
petulance1 and by the  tones and        
gesticulations of ,mr4 ,pitt4  ,but     
these are not all the  auxiliaries on   
which we have to depend2 to these his   
colleague will add  the strictest       
attention to the smaller parts of       
ecclesiastical  government1 to hassocks1
 to psalters1 and to surplices2 in the  
last  agonies of ,england1 he will bring
 in a bill to regulate                  
,easter-offerings3  and he will adjust  
the stipends of curates1 when the flag  
of ,france is  unfurled on the hills of 
,kent4  ,whatever can be done by very   
mistaken  notions of the piety of a     
,christian1 and by a very wretched      
imitation of  the eloquence of ,mr4     

,pitt1 will be done by these two        
gentlemen4  ,after  all1 if they both   
really were what they both either wish  
to be1 or wish  to be thought2 if the   
one were an enlightened ,christian who  
drew from the  ,gospel the toleration1  
the charity1 and the sweetness which it 
contains2  and if the other really      
possessed any portion of the great      
understanding  of his ,nisus who guarded
 him from the weapons of the ,whigs1 ,i 
should  still doubt if they could save  
us4  ,but ,i am sure we are not to be   
saved  by religious hatred1 and by      
religious trifling2 by any psalmody1    
however  sweet2 or by any persecution1  
however sharp2 ,i am certain the sounds 
of  ,mr4 ,pitt's voice1 and the measure 
of his tones1 and the movement of his   
arms1 will do nothing for us2 when these
 tones and movements1 and voice  brings 
us always declamation without sense or  
knowledge1 and ridicule  without good   
humour or conciliation4  ,oh1 ,mr4      
,plymley1 this never will  do4  ,mrs4   

,abraham ,plymley1 my sister1 will be   
led away captive by an  amorous ,gaul2  
and ,joel ,plymley your firstborn1 will 
be a ,french drummer4    ,out of sight1 
out of mind1 seems to be a proverb which
 applies to enemies  as well as friends4
  ,because the ,french army was no      
longer seen from the  cliffs of ,dover2 
because the sound of cannon was no      
longer heard by the  debauched ,london  
bathers on the ,sussex coast2 because   
the ,morning ,post  no longer fixed the 
invasion sometimes for ,monday1         
sometimes for ,tuesday1  sometimes      
7positively for the last time of        
invading7 on ,saturday2 because  all    
these causes of terror were suspended1  
you conceived the power of  ,bonaparte  
to be at an end1 and were setting off   
for ,paris with ,lord  ,hawkesbury the  
conqueror4  ,this is precisely the      
method in which the  ,english have acted
 during the whole of the revolutionary  
war4  ,if ,austria  or ,prussia armed1  
doctors of divinity immediately printed 

those passages  out of ,habakkuk1 in    
which the destruction of the ,usurper by
 ,general ,mack1  and the ,duke of      
,brunswick1 are so clearly predicted4   
,if ,bonaparte  halted1 there was a     
mutiny or a dysentery4  ,if any one of  
his generals  were eaten up by the light
 troops of ,russia1 and picked 7as their
 manner  is7 to the bone1 the sanguine  
spirit of this country displayed itself 
in  all its glory4  ,what scenes of     
infamy did the ,society for the         
,suppression  of ,vice lay open to our  
astonished eyes6 tradesmen's daughters  
dancing1  pots of beer carried out      
between the first and second lesson1 and
 dark  and distant rumours of indecent  
prints4  ,clouds of ,mr4 ,canning's     
cousins  arrived by the waggon2 all the 
contractors left their cards with ,mr4  
,rose2 and every plunderer of the public
 crawled out of his hole1 like  slugs1  
and grubs1 and worms after a shower of  
rain4    ,if my voice could have been   
heard at the late changes1 ,i should    

have  said1 8,gently1 patience1 stop a  
little2 the time is not yet come2 the   
mud  of ,poland will harden1 and the    
bowels of the ,french grenadiers will   
recover their tone4  ,when honesty1 good
 sense1 and liberality have  extricated 
you out of your present embarrassment1  
then dismiss them as a  matter of       
course2 but you cannot spare them just  
now2 don't be in too  great a hurry1 or 
there will be no monarch to flatter1 and
 no country to  pillage2 only submit for
 a little time to be respected abroad1  
overlook  the painful absence of the    
tax-gatherer for a few years1 bear up   
nobly  under the increase of freedom and
 of liberal policy for a little time1   
and ,i promise you1 at the expiration of
 that period1 you shall be  plundered1  
insulted1 disgraced1 and restrained to  
your heart's content4  ,do not imagine  
,i have any intention of putting        
servility and canting  hypocrisy        
permanently out of place1 or of filling 
up with courage and  sense those offices

 which naturally devolve upon decorous  
imbecility and  flexible cunning3 give  
us only a little time to keep off the   
hussars of  ,france1 and then the       
jobbers and jesters shall return to     
their  birthright1 and public virtue be 
called by its own name of fanaticism40  
,such is the advice ,i would have       
offered to my infatuated countrymen3 but
  it rained very hard in ,november1     
,brother ,abraham1 and the bowels of our
  enemies were loosened1 and we put our 
trust in white fluxes and wet mud2  and 
there is nothing now to oppose to the   
conqueror of the world but a  small     
table wit1 and the sallow ,surveyor of  
the ,meltings4    ,you ask me1 if ,i    
think it possible for this country to   
survive the recent  misfortunes of      
,europe8--,i answer you1 without the    
slightest degree of  hesitation3 that if
 ,bonaparte lives1 and a great deal is  
not immediately  done for the           
conciliation of the ,catholics1 it does 
seem to me absolutely  impossible but   

that we must perish2 and take this with 
you1 that we shall  perish without      
exciting the slightest feeling of       
present or future  compassion1 but fall 
amidst the hootings and revilings of    
,europe1 as a  nation of blockheads1    
,methodists1 and old women4  ,if there  
were any great  scenery1 any heroic     
feelings1 any blaze of ancient virtue1  
any exalted  death1 any termination of  
,england that would be ever remembered1 
ever  honoured in that western world1   
where liberty is now retiring1 conquest 
would be more tolerable1 and ruin more  
sweet2 but it is doubly miserable  to   
become slaves abroad1 because we would  
be tyrants at home2 to  persecute1 when 
we are contending against persecution2  
and to perish1  because we have raised  
up worse enemies within1 from our own   
bigotry1  than we are exposed to        
without1 from the unprincipled ambition 
of ,france4  ,it is indeed a most silly 
and affecting spectacle to rage at such 
a  moment against our own kindred and   

our own blood2 to tell them they  cannot
 be honourable in war1 because they are 
conscientious in religion2  to stipulate
 7at the very moment when we should buy 
their hearts and  swords at any price7  
that they must hold up the right hand in
 prayer1 and  not the left2 and adore   
one common ,god1 by turning to the east 
rather  than to the west4    ,what is it
 the ,catholics ask of you8  ,do not    
exclude us from the honours  and        
emoluments of the state because we      
worship ,god in one way1 and you        
worship ,him in another4  ,in a period  
of the deepest peace1 and the  fattest  
prosperity1 this would be a fair        
request2 it should be granted1  if ,lord
 ,hawkesbury had reached ,paris1 if ,mr4
 ,canning's interpreter had  threatened 
the ,senate in an opening speech1 or    
,mr4 ,perceval explained to  them the   
improvements he meant to introduce into 
the ,catholic religion2  but to deny the
 ,irish this justice now1 in the present
 state of ,europe1  and in the summer   

months1 just as the season for          
destroying kingdoms is  coming on1 is   
7beloved ,abraham71 whatever you may    
think of it1 little  short of positive  
insanity4    ,here is a frigate attacked
 by a corsair of immense strength and   
size1  rigging cut1 masts in danger of  
coming by the board1 four foot water in 
the hold1 men dropping off very fast2 in
 this dreadful situation how do  you    
think the ,captain acts 7whose name     
shall be ,perceval78  ,he calls all     
hands upon deck2 talks to them of ,king1
 country1 glory1 sweethearts1 gin1      
,french prison1 wooden shoes1 ,old      
,england1 and hearts of oak2 they give  
three cheers1 rush to their guns1 and1  
after a tremendous conflict1  succeed in
 beating off the enemy4  ,not a syllable
 of all this2 this is  not the manner in
 which the honourable ,commander goes to
 work3 the first  thing he does is to   
secure twenty or thirty of his prime    
sailors who  happen to be ,catholics1 to
 clap them in irons1 and set over them a

 guard  of as many ,protestants2 having 
taken this admirable method of defending
  himself against his infidel opponents1
 he goes upon deck1 reminds the  sailors
 in a very bitter harangue1 that they   
are of different religions2  exhorts the
 ,episcopal gunner not to trust to the  
,presbyterian  quartermaster2 issues    
positive orders that the ,catholics     
should be fired  at upon the first      
appearance of discontent2 rushes through
 blood and  brains1 examining his men in
 the ,catechism and thirty-nine         
,articles1 and  positively forbids every
 one to sponge or ram who has not taken 
the  ,sacrament according to the ,church
 of ,england4  ,was it right to take out
 a  captain made of excellent ,british  
stuff1 and to put in such a man as      
this8  ,is not he more like a parson1 or
 a talking lawyer1 than a  thorough-bred
 seaman8  ,and built as she is of heart 
of oak1 and admirably  manned1 is it    
possible1 with such a captain1 to save  
this ship from going  to the bottom8    

,you have an argument1 ,i perceive1 in  
common with many others1 against the    
,catholics1 that their demands complied 
with would only lead to further         
exactions1 and that it is better to     
resist them now1 before anything is     
conceded1 than hereafter1 when it is    
found that all concessions are in  vain4
  ,i wish the ,chancellor of the        
,exchequer1 who uses this reasoning to  
exclude others from their just rights1  
had tried its efficacy1 not by his      
understanding1 but by 7what are full of 
much better things7 his pockets4        
,suppose the person to whom he applied  
for the meltings had withstood  every   
plea of wife and fourteen children1 no  
business1 and good  character1 and      
refused him this paltry little office   
because he might  hereafter attempt to  
get hold of the revenues of the ,duchy  
of ,lancaster  for life8 would not ,mr4 
,perceval have contended eagerly against
 the  injustice of refusing moderate    
requests1 because immoderate ones may   

hereafter be made8  ,would he not have  
said1 and said truly1 ,leave such       
exorbitant attempts as these to the     
general indignation of the ,commons1    
who will take care to defeat them when  
they do occur2 but do not refuse  me the
 ,irons and the ,meltings now1 because  
,i may totally lose sight of  all       
moderation hereafter8  ,leave hereafter 
to the spirit and the wisdom  of        
hereafter2 and do not be niggardly now  
from the apprehension that men  as wise 
as you should be profuse in times to    
come4    ,you forget1 ,brother ,abraham1
 that is a vast art1 where quarrels     
cannot be  avoided1 to turn public      
opinion in your favour and to the       
prejudice of  your enemy2 a vast        
privilege to feel that you are in the   
right1 and to  make him feel that he is 
in the wrong3 a privilege which makes   
you more  than a man1 and your          
antagonist less2 and often secures      
victory by  convincing him who contends 
that he must submit to injustice if he  

submits to defeat4  ,open every rank in 
the army and the navy to the  ,catholic2
 let him purchase at the same price as  
the ,protestant 7if either  ,catholic or
 ,protestant can purchase such refined  
pleasures7 the privilege  of hearing    
,lord ,castlereagh speak for three      
hours2 keep his clergy from  starving1  
soften some of the most odious powers of
 the tithing-man1 and  you will for ever
 lay this formidable question to rest4  
,but if ,i am  wrong1 and you must      
quarrel at last1 quarrel upon just      
rather than unjust  grounds2 divide the 
,catholic and unite the ,protestant2 be 
just1 and your  own exertions will be   
more formidable and their exertions less
  formidable2 be just1 and you will take
 away from their party all the best  and
 wisest understandings of both          
persuasions1 and knit them firmly to    
your own cause4  8,thrice is he armed   
who has his quarrel just20 and ten      
times as much may he be taxed4  ,in the 
beginning of any war1 however  destitute

 of common sense1 every mob will roar1  
and every ,lord of the  ,bedchamber     
address2 but if you are engaged in a war
 that is to last for  years1 and to     
require important sacrifices1 take care 
to make the justice  of your case so    
clear and so obvious that it cannot be  
mistaken by the  most illiterate country
 gentleman who rides the earth4         
,nothing1 in fact1  can be so grossly   
absurd as the argument which says ,i    
will deny justice  to you now1 because  
,i suspect future injustice from you4   
,at this rate1  you may lock a man up in
 your stable1 and refuse to let him out1
 because  you suspect that he has an    
intention1 at some future period1 of    
robbing  your hen-roost4  ,you may      
horsewhip him at ,lady ,day1 because you
 believe  he will affront you at        
,midsummer4  ,you may commit a greater  
evil1 to  guard against a less which is 
merely contingent1 and may never happen4
  ,you may do what you have done a      
century ago in ,ireland1 make the       

,catholics worse than ,helots1 because  
you suspected that they might  hereafter
 aspire to be more than fellow citizens2
 rendering their  sufferings certain    
from your jealousy1 while yours were    
only doubtful  from their ambition2 an  
ambition sure to be excited by the very 
measures  which were taken to prevent   
it4    ,the physical strength of the    
,catholics will not be greater because  
you  give them a share of political     
power4  ,you may by these means turn    
rebels  into friends2 but ,i do not see 
how you make rebels more formidable4    
,if  they taste of the honey of lawful  
power1 they will love the hive from     
whence they procure it2 if they will    
struggle with us like men in the  same  
state for civil influence1 we are safe4 
,all that ,i dread is the  physical     
strength of four millions of men        
combined with an invading  ,french army4
  ,if you are to quarrel at last with   
this enormous  population1 still put it 
off as long as you can2 you must gain1  

and  cannot lose1 by the delay4  ,the   
state of ,europe cannot be worse2 the   
conviction which the ,catholics         
entertain of your tyranny and injustice 
cannot be more alarming1 nor the        
opinions of your own people more        
divided4  ,time1 which produces such    
effect upon brass and marble1 may       
inspire one ,minister with modesty and  
another with compassion2 every          
circumstance may be better2 some        
certainly will be so1 none can be worse2
  and after all the evil may never      
happen4    ,you have got hold1 ,i       
perceive1 of all the vulgar ,english    
stories  respecting the hereditary      
transmission of forfeited property1 and 
seriously believe that every ,catholic  
beggar wears the terriers of his        
father's land next his skin1 and is only
 waiting for better times to cut  the   
throat of the ,protestant possessor1 and
 get drunk in the hall of his           
ancestors4  ,there is one irresistible  
answer to this mistake1 and that  is1   

that the forfeited lands are purchased  
indiscriminately by ,catholic  and      
,protestant1 and that the ,catholic     
purchaser never objects to such a       
title4  ,now the land so purchased by a 
,catholic is either his own family      
estate1 or it is not4  ,if it is1 you   
suppose him so desirous of coming  into 
possession that he resorts to the double
 method of rebellion and  purchase2 if  
it is not his own family estate of which
 he becomes the  purchaser1 you suppose 
him first to purchase1 then to rebel1 in
 order to  defeat the purchase4  ,these 
things may happen in ,ireland1 but it is
  totally impossible they can happen    
anywhere else4  ,in fact1 what land can 
any man of any sect purchase in         
,ireland1 but forfeited property8  ,in  
all  other oppressed countries which ,i 
have ever heard of1 the rapacity of the 
conqueror was bounded by the territorial
 limits in which the objects of  his    
avarice were contained2 but ,ireland has
 been actually confiscated  twice over1 

as a cat is twice killed by a wicked    
parish boy4    ,i admit there is a vast 
luxury in selecting a particular set of 
,christians1 and in worrying them as a  
boy worries a puppy dog2 it is an       
amusement in which all the young        
,english are brought up from their      
earliest days4  ,i like the idea of     
saying to men who use a different       
hassock from me1 that till they change  
their hassock they shall never be       
,colonels1 ,aldermen1 or                
,parliament-men4  ,while ,i am          
gratifying my personal  insolence       
respecting religious forms1 ,i fondle   
myself into an idea that ,i  am         
religious1 and that ,i am doing my duty 
in the most exemplary1 as ,i  certainly 
am in the most easy1 way4  ,but then1 my
 good ,abraham1 this  sport1 admirable  
as it is1 is become1 with respect to the
 ,catholics1 a  little dangerous2 and if
 we are not extremely careful in taking 
the  amusement1 we shall tumble into the
 holy water and be drowned4  ,as it     

seems necessary to your idea of an      
established church to have somebody to  
worry and torment1 suppose we were to   
select for this purpose ,william        
,wilberforce1 ,esq41 and the patent     
,christians of ,clapham4  ,we shall by  
this expedient enjoy the same           
opportunity for cruelty and injustice1  
without being exposed to the same risks3
 we will compel them to abjure  vital   
clergymen by a public test1 to deny that
 the said ,william  ,wilberforce has any
 power of working miracles1 touching for
 barrenness or  any other infirmity1 or 
that he is endowed with any             
preternatural gift  whatever4  ,we will 
swear them to the doctrine of good      
works1 compel them  to preach common    
sense1 and to hear it2 to frequent      
,bishops1 ,deans1 and  other ,high      
,churchmen2 and to appear1 once in the  
quarter at the least1 at  some          
melodrame1 opera1 pantomime1 or other   
light scenical representation2  in      
short1 we will gratify the love of      

insolence and power2 we will enjoy  the 
old orthodox sport of witnessing the    
impotent anger of men compelled  to     
submit to civil degradation1 or to      
sacrifice their notions of truth to     
ours4  ,and all this we may do without  
the slightest risk1 because their       
numbers are1 as yet1 not very           
considerable4  ,cruelty and injustice   
must1  of course1 exist2 but why connect
 them with danger8  ,why torture a      
bulldog when you can get a frog or a    
rabbit8  ,i am sure my proposal will    
meet with the most universal            
approbation4  ,do not be apprehensive of
 any  opposition from ministers4  ,if it
 is a case of hatred1 we are sure that  
one man will defend it by the ,gospel3  
if it abridges human freedom1 we  know  
that another will find precedents for it
 in the ,revolution4    ,in the name of 
,heaven1 what are we to gain by         
suffering ,ireland to be  rode by that  
faction which now predominates over it8 
,why are we to  endanger our own ,church

 and ,state1 not for #ejj1jjj           
,episcopalians1 but for  ten or twelve  
great ,orange families1 who have been   
sucking the blood of  that country for  
these hundred years last past8 and the  
folly of the  ,orangemen in playing this
 game themselves1 is almost as absurd as
 ours in  playing it for them4  ,they   
ought to have the sense to see that     
their  business now is to keep quietly  
the lands and beeves of which the       
fathers  of the ,catholics were robbed  
in days of yore2 they must give to their
  descendants the sop of political      
power3 by contending with them for      
names1 they will lose realities1 and be 
compelled to beg their potatoes  in a   
foreign land1 abhorred equally by the   
,english1 who have witnessed  their     
oppression1 and by the ,catholic ,irish1
 who have smarted under them4           
,,letter ,,iv4      ,,then comes ,mr4   
,isaac ,hawkins ,brown 7the gentleman   
who danced so badly at  the ,court of   
,naples71 and asks if it is not an      

anomaly to educate men in  another      
religion than your own4  ,it certainly  
is our duty to get rid of  error1 and1  
above all1 of religious error2 but this 
is not to be done  per saltum1 or the   
measure will miscarry1 like the ,queen4 
,it may be  very easy to dance away the 
royal embryo of a great kingdom2 but    
,mr4  ,hawkins ,brown must look before  
he leaps1 when his object is to crush an
  opposite sect in religion2 false steps
 aid the one effect as much as they  are
 fatal to the other3 it will require not
 only the lapse of ,mr4 ,hawkins        
,brown1 but the lapse of centuries1     
before the absurdities of the ,catholic 
religion are laughed at as much as they 
deserve to be2 but surely1 in the       
meantime1 the ,catholic religion is     
better than none2 four millions of      
,catholics are better than four millions
 of wild beasts2 two hundred  priests   
educated by our own government are      
better than the same number  educated by
 the man who means to destroy us4       

,the whole sum now appropriated by      
,government to the religious education  
of four millions of ,christians is      
#ac1jjj2 a sum about one hundred times  
as large being appropriated in the same 
country to about one-eighth part  of    
this number of ,protestants4  ,when it  
was proposed to raise this grant  from  
#h1jjj to #ac1jjj1 its present amount1  
this sum was objected to by  that most  
indulgent of ,christians1 ,mr4 ,spencer 
,perceval1 as enormous2 he  himself     
having secured for his own eating and   
drinking1 and the eating  and drinking  
of the ,master and ,miss ,percevals1 the
 reversionary sum of  #ba1jjj a year of 
the public money1 and having just failed
 in a desperate  and rapacious attempt  
to secure to himself for life the       
revenues of the  ,duchy of ,lancaster3  
and the best of it is1 that this        
minister1 after  abusing his            
predecessors for their impious bounty to
 the ,catholics1 has  found himself     
compelled1 from the apprehension of     

immediate danger1 to  grant the sum in  
question1 thus dissolving his pearl in  
vinegar1 and  destroying all the value  
of the gift by the virulence and        
reluctance with  which it was granted4  
,i hear from some persons in            
,parliament1 and from others in the     
sixpenny  societies for debate1 a great 
deal about unalterable laws passed at   
the  ,revolution4  ,when ,i hear any man
 talk of an unalterable law1 the only   
effect it produces upon me is to        
convince me that he is an unalterable   
fool4  ,a law passed when there was     
,germany1 ,spain1 ,russia1 ,sweden1     
,holland1 ,portugal1 and ,turkey2 when  
there was a disputed succession2 when   
four or five hundred acres were won and 
lost after ten years' hard  fighting2   
when armies were commanded by the sons  
of kings1 and campaigns  passed in an   
interchange of civil letters and ripe   
fruit2 and for these  laws1 when the    
whole state of the world is completely  
changed1 we are  now1 according to my   

,lord ,hawkesbury1 to hold ourselves    
ready to perish4  ,it is no mean        
misfortune1 in times like these1 to be  
forced to say  anything about such men  
as ,lord ,hawkesbury1 and to be reminded
 that we  are governed by them1 but as  
,i am driven to it1 ,i must take the    
liberty  of observing that the wisdom   
and liberality of my ,lord ,hawkesbury  
are of  that complexion which always    
shrinks from the present exercise of    
these  virtues by praising the splendid 
examples of them in ages past4  ,if he  
had lived at such periods1 he would have
 opposed the ,revolution by  praising   
the ,reformation1 and the ,reformation  
by speaking handsomely of  the          
,crusades4  ,he gratifies his natural   
antipathy to great and courageous       
measures by playing off the wisdom and  
courage which have ceased to  influence 
human affairs against that wisdom and   
courage which living men  would employ  
for present happiness4  ,besides1 it    
happens unfortunately  for the ,warden  

of the ,cinque ,ports1 that to the      
principal incapacities  under which the 
,irish suffer1 they were subjected after
 that great and  glorious revolution1 to
 which we are indebted for so many      
blessings1 and  his ,lordship for the   
termination of so many periods4  ,the   
,catholics were  not excluded from the  
,irish ,house of ,commons1 or military  
commands1  before the #crd and #dth of  
,william and ,mary1 and the #ast and    
#bnd of ,queen  ,anne4    ,if the great 
mass of the people1 environed as they   
are on every side with  ,jenkinsons1    
,percevals1 ,melvilles1 and other       
perils1 were to pray for  divine        
illumination and aid1 what more could   
,providence in its mercy do  than send  
them the example of ,scotland8  ,for    
what a length of years was  it attempted
 to compel the ,scotch to change their  
religion3 horse1 foot1  artillery1 and  
armed ,prebendaries1 were sent out after
 the ,presbyterian  parsons and their   
congregations4  ,the ,percevals of those

 days called for  blood3 this call is   
never made in vain1 and blood was shed2 
but1 to the  astonishment and horror of 
the ,percevals of those days1 they could
 not  introduce the book of ,common     
,prayer1 nor prevent that metaphysical  
people  from going to heaven their true 
way1 instead of our true way4  ,with a  
little oatmeal for food1 and a little   
sulphur for friction1 allaying          
cutaneous irritation with the one hand1 
and holding his ,calvinistical  creed in
 the other1 ,sawney ran away to his     
flinty hills1 sung his psalm  out of    
tune his own way1 and listened to his   
sermon of two hours long1  amid the     
rough and imposing melancholy of the    
tallest thistles4  ,but  ,sawney brought
 up his unbreeched offspring in a       
cordial hatred of his  oppressors2 and  
,scotland was as much a part of the     
weakness of ,england  then as ,ireland  
is at this moment4  ,the true and the   
only remedy was  applied2 the ,scotch   
were suffered to worship ,god after     

their own tiresome  manner1 without     
pain1 penalty1 or privation4  ,no       
lightning descended from  heaven3 the   
country was not ruined2 the world is not
 yet come to an end2  the dignitaries   
who foretold all these consequences are 
utterly  forgotten1 and ,scotland has   
ever since been an increasing source of 
strength to ,great ,britain4  ,in the   
six hundredth year of our empire over   
,ireland we are making laws to transport
 a man if he is found out of his  house 
after eight o'clock at night4  ,that    
this is necessary ,i know too  well2 but
 tell me why it is necessary4  ,it is   
not necessary in ,greece1  where the    
,turks are masters4    ,are you aware   
that there is at this moment a universal
 clamour throughout  the whole of       
,ireland against the ,union8  ,it is now
 one month since ,i  returned from that 
country2 ,i have never seen so          
extraordinary1 so  alarming1 and so     
rapid a change in the sentiments of any 
people4  ,those  who disliked the ,union

 before are quite furious against it    
now2 those who  doubted doubt no more2  
those who were friendly to it have      
exchanged that  friendship for the most 
rooted aversion2 in the midst of all    
this 7which  is by far the most alarming
 symptom71 there is the strongest       
disposition  on the part of the northern
 ,dissenters to unite with the          
,catholics1  irritated by the faithless 
injustice with which they have been     
treated4  ,if this combination does take
 place 7mark what ,i say to you71 you   
will  have meetings all over ,ireland   
for the cry of ,no ,union2 that cry will
  spread like wild-fire1 and blaze over 
every opposition2 and if this be  the   
case1 there is no use in mincing the    
matter2 ,ireland is gone1 and the       
death-blow of ,england is struck2 and   
this event may happen  instantly--before
 ,mr4 ,canning and ,mr4 ,hookham ,frere 
have turned ,lord  ,howick's last speech
 into doggerel rhymne2 before 8the near 
and dear  relations0 have received      

another quarter of their pension1 or    
,mr4  ,perceval conducted the ,curates' 
,salary ,bill safely to a third reading4
  ,if the mind of the ,english people1  
cursed as they now are with that        
madness of religious dissension which   
has been breathed into them for the     
purposes of private ambition1 can be    
alarmed by any remembrances1 and  warned
 by any events1 they should never forget
 how nearly ,ireland was  lost to this  
country during the ,american war2 that  
it was saved merely by  the jealousy of 
the ,protestant ,irish towards the      
,catholics1 then a much  more           
insignificant and powerless body than   
they now are4  ,the ,catholic  and the  
,dissenter have since combined together 
against you4  ,last war1  the winds1    
those ancient and unsubsidised allies of
 ,england2 the winds1  upon which       
,english ministers depend as much for   
saving kingdoms as  washerwomen do for  
drying clothes2 the winds stood your    
friends3 the  ,french could only get    

into ,ireland in small numbers1 and the 
rebels were  defeated4  ,since then1 all
 the remaining kingdoms of ,europe have 
been  destroyed2 and the ,irish see that
 their national independence is gone1   
without having received any single one  
of those advantages which they  were    
taught to expect from the sacrifice4    
,all good things were to flow  from the 
,union2 they have none of them gained   
anything4  ,every man's  pride is       
wounded by it2 no man's interest is     
promoted4  ,in the seventh  year of that
 union four million ,catholics1 lured by
 all kinds of promises  to yield up the 
separate dignity and sovereignty of     
their country1 are  forced to squabble  
with such a man as ,mr4 ,spencer        
,perceval for five  thousand pounds with
 which to educate their children in     
their own mode of  worship1 he1 the same
 ,mr4 ,spencer1 having secured to his   
own ,protestant  self a reversionary    
portion of the public money amounting to
 four times  that sum4  ,a senior       

,proctor of the ,university of ,oxford1 
the head of a  house1 or the examining  
chaplain to a bishop1 may believe these 
things  can last2 but every man of the  
world1 whose understanding has been     
exercised in the business of life1 must 
see 7and see with a breaking  heart7    
that they will soon come to a fearful   
termination4    ,our conduct to ,ireland
 during the whole of this war has been  
that of a  man who subscribes to        
hospitals1 weeps at charity sermons1    
carries out  broth and blankets to      
beggars1 and then comes home and beats  
his wife and  children4  ,we had        
compassion for the victims of all other 
oppression and  injustice except our    
own4  ,if ,switzerland was threatened1  
away went a  ,treasury ,clerk with a    
hundred thousand pounds for             
,switzerland2 large bags  of money were 
kept constantly under sailing orders2   
upon the slightest  demonstration       
towards ,naples1 down went ,sir ,william
 ,hamilton upon his  knees1 and begged  

for the love of ,st4 ,januarius they    
would help us off  with a little money2 
all the arts of ,machiavel were resorted
 to to  persuade ,europe to borrow2     
troops were sent off in all directions  
to save  the ,catholic and ,protestant  
world2 the ,pope himself was guarded by 
a  regiment of ,english dragoons2 if the
 ,grand ,lama had been at hand1 he      
would have had another2 every ,catholic 
clergyman who had the good fortune  to  
be neither ,english nor ,irish was      
immediately provided with lodging1      
soap1 crucifix1 missal1 chapel-beads1   
relics1 and holy water2 if ,turks  had  
landed1 ,turks would have received an   
order from the ,treasury for  coffee1   
opium1 korans1 and seraglios4  ,in the  
midst of all this fury of  saving and   
defending this crusade for conscience   
and ,christianity1 there  was a         
universal agreement among all           
descriptions of people to continue      
every species of internal persecution1  
to deny at home every just right  that  

had been denied before1 to pummel poor  
,dr4 ,abraham ,rees and his             
,dissenters1 and to treat the unhappy   
,catholics of ,ireland as if their      
tongues were mute1 their heels cloven1  
their nature brutal1 and  designedly    
subjected by ,providence to their       
,orange masters4    ,how would my       
admirable brother1 the ,rev4 ,abraham   
,plymley1 like to be  marched to a      
,catholic chapel1 to be sprinkled with  
the sanctified  contents of a pump1 to  
hear a number of false quantities in the
 ,latin  tongue1 and to see a number of 
persons occupied in making right angles 
upon the breast and forehead8  ,and if  
all this would give you so much  pain1  
what right have you to march ,catholic  
soldiers to a place of  worship1 where  
there is no aspersion1 no rectangular   
gestures1 and where  they understand    
every word they hear1 having first1 in  
order to get him  to enlist1 made a     
solemn promise to the contrary8  ,can   
you wonder1 after  this1 that the       

,catholic priest stops the recruiting in
 ,ireland1 as he is  now doing to a most
 alarming degree8    ,the late question 
concerning military rank did not        
individually affect  the lowest persons 
of the ,catholic persuasion2 but do you 
imagine they do  not sympathise with the
 honour and disgrace of their superiors8
  ,do you  think that satisfaction and  
dissatisfaction do not travel down from 
,lord  ,fingal to the most potato-less  
,catholic in ,ireland1 and that the     
glory or  shame of the sect is not felt 
by many more than these conditions      
personally and corporeally affect8  ,do 
you suppose that the detection of  ,sir 
,henry ,mildmay1 and the disappointment 
of ,mr4 ,perceval in the matter  of the 
,duchy of ,lancaster1 did not affect    
every dabbler in public  property8      
,depend upon it these things were felt  
through all the  gradations of small    
plunderers1 down to him who filches a   
pound of  tobacco from the ,king's      
warehouses2 while1 on the contrary1 the 

acquittal  of any noble and official    
thief would not fail to diffuse the most
  heart-felt satisfaction over the      
larcenous and burglarious world4        
,observe1 ,i do not say because the     
lower ,catholics are affected by what   
concerns their superiors1 that they are 
not affected by what concerns           
themselves4  ,there is no disguising the
 horrid truth1 there must be some       
relaxation with respect to tithe3 this  
is the cruel and heart-rending  price   
which must be paid for national         
preservation4  ,i feel how little       
existence will be worth having1 if any  
alteration1 however slight1 is  made in 
the property of ,irish rectors2 ,i am   
conscious how much such  changes must   
affect the daily and hourly comforts of 
every ,englishman2 ,i  shall feel too   
happy if they leave ,europe untouched1  
and are not  ultimately fatal to the    
destinies of ,america2 but ,i am madly  
bent upon  keeping foreign enemies out  
of the ,british empire1 and my limited  

understanding presents me with no other 
means of effecting my object4    ,you   
talk of waiting till another reign      
before any alteration is made2 a        
proposal full of good sense and good    
nature1 if the measure in question  were
 to pull down ,st4 ,james's ,palace1 or 
to alter ,kew ,gardens4  ,will          
,bonaparte agree to put off his         
intrigues1 and his invasion of ,ireland8
  ,if so1 ,i will overlook the question 
of justice1 and finding the danger      
suspended1 agree to the delay4  ,i      
sincerely hope this reign may last many 
years1 yet the delay of a single session
 of ,parliament may be fatal2 but  if   
another year elapse without some serious
 concession made to the  ,catholics1 ,i 
believe1 before ,god1 that all future   
pledges and concessions  will be made in
 vain4  ,i do not think that peace will 
do you any good  under such             
circumstances4  ,if ,bonaparte give you 
a respite1 it will only  be to get ready
 the gallows on which he means to hang  

you4  ,the ,catholic  and the ,dissenter
 can unite in peace as well as war4  ,if
 they do1 the  gallows is ready1 and    
your executioner1 in spite of the most  
solemn  promises1 will turn you off the 
next hour4    ,with every disposition to
 please 7where to please within fair and
  rational limits is a high duty71 it is
 impossible for public men to be  long  
silent about the ,catholics2 pressing   
evils are not got rid of1  because they 
are not talked of4  ,a man may command  
his family to say  nothing more about   
the stone and surgical operations2 but  
the ponderous  malice still lies upon   
the nerve1 and gets so big1 that the    
patient  breaks his own law of silence1 
clamours for the knife1 and expires     
under  its late operation4  ,believe me1
 you talk folly when you talk of        
suppressing the ,catholic question4  ,i 
wish to ,god the case admitted of  such 
a remedy2 bad as it is1 it does not     
admit of it4  ,if the wants of  the     
,catholics are not heard in the manly   

tones of ,lord ,grenville1 or the       
servile drawl of ,lord ,castlereagh1    
they will be heard ere long in the      
madness of mobs1 and the conflicts of   
armed men4    ,i observe it is now      
universally the fashion to speak of the 
first  personage in the state as the    
great obstacle to the measure4  ,in the 
first place1 ,i am not bound to believe 
such rumours because ,i hear them2  and 
in the next place1 ,i object to such    
language1 as unconstitutional4  ,whoever
 retains his situation in the ministry  
while the incapacities of  the          
,catholics remain1 is the advocate for  
those incapacities2 and to him1  and to 
him only1 am ,i to look for             
responsibility4  ,but waive this        
question of the ,catholics1 and put a   
general case3--,how is a minister of    
this country to act when the            
conscientious scruples of his ,sovereign
  prevent the execution of a measure    
deemed by him absolutely necessary to   
the safety of the country8  ,his conduct

 is quite clear--he should resign4  ,but
 what is his successor to do8--,resign4 
,but is the ,king to be left  without   
ministers1 and is he in this manner to  
be compelled to act  against his own    
conscience8  ,before ,i answer this1    
pray tell me in my  turn what better    
defence is there against the            
machinations of a wicked1  or the errors
 of a weak ,monarch1 than the           
impossibility of finding a  minister who
 will lend himself to vice and folly8   
,every ,english ,monarch1  in such a    
predicament1 would sacrifice his        
opinions and views to such a  clear     
expression of the public will2 and it is
 one method in which the  ,constitution 
aims at bringing about such a sacrifice4
  ,you may say1 if  you please1 the     
ruler of a state is forced to give up   
his object when the  natural love of    
place and power will tempt no one to    
assist him in its  attainment2 this may 
be force2 but it is force without       
injury1 and  therefore without blame4   

,i am not to be beat out of these       
obvious  reasonings1 and ancient        
constitutional provisions1 by the term  
conscience4  ,there is no fantasy1      
however wild1 that a man may not        
persuade himself that he cherishes from 
motives of conscience2 eternal  war     
against impious ,france1 or rebellious  
,america1 or ,catholic ,spain1 may  in  
times to come be scruples of conscience4
  ,one ,english ,monarch may1  from     
scruples of conscience1 wish to abolish 
every trait of religious  persecution2  
another ,monarch may deem it his        
absolute and indispensable  duty to make
 a slight provision for ,dissenters out 
of the revenues of the  ,church of      
,england4  ,so that you see1 ,brother   
,abraham1 there are cases  where it     
would be the duty of the best and most  
loyal subjects to oppose  the           
conscientious scruples of their         
,sovereign1 still taking care that      
their actions were constitutional and   
their modes respectful4  ,then you  come

 upon me with personal questions1 and   
say that no such dangers are to  be     
apprehended now under our present       
gracious ,sovereign1 of whose good      
qualities we must be all so well        
convinced4  ,all these sorts of         
discussions ,i beg leave to decline4    
,what ,i have said upon constitutional  
topics1 ,i mean of course for general1  
not for particular application4  ,i     
agree with you in all the good you have 
said of the powers that be1 and ,i      
avail myself of the opportunity of      
pointing out general dangers to the     
,constitution1 at a moment when we are  
so completely exempted from their       
present influence4  ,i cannot finish    
this letter without expressing my       
surprise and pleasure at your abuse of  
the servile addresses poured in  upon   
the throne1 nor can ,i conceive a       
greater disgust to a ,monarch1 with  a  
true ,english heart1 than to see such a 
question as that of ,catholic           
,emancipation argued1 not with a        

reference to its justice or importance1 
but universally considered to be of no  
further consequence than as it  affects 
his own private feelings4  ,that these  
sentiments should be mine  is not       
wonderful2 but how they came to be yours
 does1 ,i confess1 fill me  with        
surprise4  ,are you moved by the arrival
 of the ,irish ,brigade at  ,antwerp1   
and the amorous violence which awaits   
,mrs4 ,plymley8        ,,letter ,v4     
,,dear ,,abraham1--,i never met a parson
 in my life who did not consider the    
,corporation and ,test ,acts as the     
great bulwarks of the ,church2 and yet  
it  is now just sixty-four years since  
bills of indemnity to destroy their     
penal effects1 or1 in other words1 to   
repeal them1 have been passed  annually 
as a matter of course4        ,heu vatum
 ignar mentes4    ,these bulwarks1      
without which no clergyman thinks he    
could sleep with his  accustomed        
soundness1 have actually not been in    
existence since any man  now living has 

taken holy orders4  ,every year the     
,indemnity ,act pardons  past breaches  
of these two laws1 and prevents any     
fresh actions of  informers from coming 
to a conclusion before the period for   
the next  indemnity bill arrives2 so    
that these penalties1 by which alone the
  ,church remains in existence1 have not
 had one moment's operation for         
sixty-four years4  ,you will say the    
legislature1 during the whole of this   
period1 has reserved to itself the      
discretion of suspending or not         
suspending4  ,but had not the           
legislature the right of re-enacting1 if
 it  was necessary8  ,and now when you  
have kept the rod over these people     
7with the most scandalous abuse of all  
principle7 for sixty-four years1  and   
not found it necessary to strike once1  
is not that the best of all  reasons why
 the rod should be laid aside8  ,you    
talk to me of a very  valuable hedge    
running across your fields which you    
would not part with  on any account4  ,i

 go down1 expecting to find a limit     
impervious to  cattle1 and highly useful
 for the preservation of property2 but1 
to my  utter astonishment1 ,i find that 
the hedge was cut down half a century   
ago1 and that every year the shoots are 
clipped the moment they appear  above   
ground3 it appears1 upon further        
inquiry1 that the hedge never  ought to 
have existed at all2 that it originated 
in the malice of  antiquated quarrels1  
and was cut down because it subjected   
you to vast  inconvenience1 and broke up
 your intercourse with a country        
absolutely  necessary to your existence4
  ,if the remains of this hedge serve   
only to  keep up an irritation in your  
neighbours1 and to remind them of the   
feuds  of former times1 good nature and 
good sense teach you that you ought to  
grub it up1 and cast it into the oven4  
,this is the exact state of these  two  
laws2 and yet it is made a great        
argument against concession to the      
,catholics1 that it involves their      

repeal2 which is to say1 ,do not make me
  relinquish a folly that will lead to  
my ruin2 because1 if you do1 ,i must    
give up other follies ten times greater 
than this4    ,i confess1 with all our  
bulwarks and hedges1 it mortifies me to 
the quick  to contrast with our         
matchless stupidity and inimitable folly
 the conduct  of ,bonaparte upon the    
subject of religious persecution4  ,at  
the moment  when we are tearing the     
crucifixes from the necks of the        
,catholics1 and  washing pious mud from 
the foreheads of the ,hindoos2 at that  
moment this  man is assembling the very 
,jews at ,paris1 and endeavouring to    
give them  stability and importance4  ,i
 shall never be reconciled to mending   
shoes  in ,america2 but ,i see it must  
be my lot1 and ,i will then take a      
dreadful  revenge upon ,mr4 ,perceval1  
if ,i catch him preaching within ten    
miles of  me4  ,i cannot for the soul of
 me conceive whence this man has gained 
his  notions of ,christianity3 he has   

the most evangelical charity for errors 
in arithmetic1 and the most inveterate  
malice against errors in  conscience4   
,while he rages against those whom in   
the true spirit of the  ,gospel he ought
 to indulge1 he forgets the only        
instance of severity  which that ,gospel
 contains1 and leaves the jobbers1      
contractors1 and  money-changers at     
their seats1 without a single stripe4   
,you cannot imagine1 you say1 that      
,england will ever be ruined and        
conquered2 and for no other reason that 
,i can find1 but because it seems  so   
very odd it should be ruined and        
conquered4  ,alas6 so reasoned1 in      
their time1 the ,austrian1 ,russian1 and
 ,prussian ,plymleys4  ,but the         
,english are brave3 so were all these   
nations4  ,you might get together a     
hundred thousand men individually brave2
 but without generals capable of        
commanding such a machine1 it would be  
as useless as a first-rate  man-of-war  
manned by ,oxford clergymen or ,parisian

 shopkeepers4  ,i do not  say this to   
the disparagement of ,english officers3 
they have had no means  of acquiring    
experience2 but ,i do say it to create  
alarm2 for we do not  appear to me to be
 half alarmed enough1 or to entertain   
that sense of our  danger which leads to
 the most obvious means of self-defence4
  ,as for the  spirit of the peasantry  
in making a gallant defence behind      
hedge-rows1  and through plate-racks and
 hen-coops1 highly as ,i think of their 
bravery1 ,i do not know any nation in   
,europe so likely to be struck with  the
 panic as the ,english2 and this from   
their total unacquaintance with  the    
science of war4  ,old wheat and beans   
blazing for twenty miles round2  cart   
mares shot2 sows of ,lord ,somerville's 
breed running wild over the  country2   
the minister of the parish wounded      
sorely in his hinder parts2  ,mrs4      
,plymley in fits4  ,all these scenes of 
war an ,austrian or a ,russian  has seen
 three or four times over3 but it is now

 three centuries since an  ,english pig 
has fallen in a fair battle upon        
,english ground1 or a  farm-house been  
rifled1 or a clergyman's wife been      
subjected to any other  proposals of    
love than the connubial endearments of  
her sleek and  orthodox mate4  ,the old 
edition of ,plutarch's ,lives1 which    
lies in the  corner of your parlour     
window1 has contributed to work you up  
to the most  romantic expectations of   
our ,roman behaviour4  ,you are         
persuaded that  ,lord ,amherst will     
defend ,kew ,bridge like ,cocles2 that  
some maid of honour  will break away    
from her captivity1 and swim over the   
,thames2 that the  ,duke of ,york will  
burn his capitulating hand2 and little  
,mr4 ,sturges  ,bourne give forty years'
 purchase for ,moulsham ,hall1 while the
 ,french are  encamped upon it4  ,i hope
 we shall witness all this1 if the      
,french do  come2 but in the meantime ,i
 am so enchanted with the ordinary      
,english  behaviour of these invaluable 

persons1 that ,i earnestly pray no      
opportunity may be given them for ,roman
 valour1 and for those very  un-,roman  
pensions which they would all1 of       
course1 take especial care to  claim in 
consequence4  ,but whatever was our     
conduct1 if every ploughman  was as     
great a hero as he who was called from  
his oxen to save ,rome from  her        
enemies1 ,i should still say1 that at   
such a crisis you want the  affections  
of all your subjects in both islands3   
there is no spirit which  you must      
alienate1 no art you must avert1 every  
man must feel he has a  country1 and    
that there is an urgent and pressing    
cause why he should  expose himself to  
death4    ,the effects of penal laws in 
matters of religion are never confined  
to  those limits in which the           
legislature intended they should be     
placed3 it  is not only that ,i am      
excluded from certain offices and       
dignities because  ,i am a ,catholic1   
but the exclusion carries with it a     

certain stigma1  which degrades me in   
the eyes of the monopolising sect1 and  
the very name  of my religion becomes   
odious4  ,these effects are so very     
striking in  ,england1 that ,i solemnly 
believe blue and red baboons to be more 
popular  here than ,catholics and       
,presbyterians2 they are more           
understood1 and  there is a greater     
disposition to do something for them4   
,when a country  squire hears of an ape1
 his first feeling is to give it nuts   
and apples2  when he hears of a         
,dissenter1 his immediate impulse is to 
commit it to  the county gaol1 to shave 
its head1 to alter its customary food1  
and to  have it privately whipped4      
,this is no caricature1 but an accurate 
picture of national feelings1 as they   
degrade and endanger us at this  very   
moment4  ,the ,irish ,catholic gentleman
 would bear his legal  disabilities with
 greater temper1 if these were all he   
had to bear--if  they did not enable    
every ,protestant cheese-monger and     

tide-waiter to  treat him with contempt4
  ,he is branded on the forehead with a 
red-hot  iron1 and treated like a       
spiritual felon1 because in the highest 
of all  considerations he is led by the 
noblest of all guides1 his own          
disinterested conscience4    ,why are   
nonsense and cruelty a bit the better   
because they are enacted8  ,if          
,providence1 which gives wine and oil1  
had blessed us with that  tolerant      
spirit which makes the countenance more 
pleasant and the heart  more glad than  
these can do2 if our ,statute ,book had 
never been defiled  with such infamous  
laws1 the sepulchral ,spencer ,perceval 
would have been  hauled through the     
dirtiest horse-pond in ,hampstead1 had  
he ventured to  propose them4  ,but now 
persecution is good1 because it exists2 
every law  which originated in ignorance
 and malice1 and gratifies the passions 
from  whence it sprang1 we call the     
wisdom of our ancestors3 when such laws 
are  repealed1 they will be cruelty and 

madness2 till they are repealed1 they   
are policy and caution4    ,i was       
somewhat amused with the imputation     
brought against the ,catholics  by the  
,university of ,oxford1 that they are   
enemies to liberty4  ,i  immediately    
turned to my 8,history of ,england10 and
 marked as an  historical error that    
passage in which it is recorded that1 in
 the reign  of ,queen ,anne1 the famous 
degree of the ,university of ,oxford    
respecting  passive obedience1 was      
ordered by the ,house of ,lords to be   
burnt by the  hands of the common       
hangman1 as contrary to the liberty of  
the subject  and the law of the land4   
,nevertheless1 ,i wish1 whatever be the 
modesty  of those who impute1 that the  
imputation was a little more true1 the  
,catholic cause would not be quite so   
desperate with the present4             
,administration4  ,i fear1 however1 that
 the hatred to liberty in these  poor   
devoted wretches may ere long appear    
more doubtful than it is at  present to 

the ,vice-,chancellor and his ,clergy1  
inflamed as they doubtless  are with    
classical examples of republican virtue1
 and panting1 as they  always have been1
 to reduce the power of the ,crown      
within narrower and  safer limits4      
,what mistaken zeal to attempt to       
connect one religion with  freedom and  
another with slavery6  ,who laid the    
foundations of ,english  liberty8  ,what
 was the mixed religion of ,switzerland8
  ,what has the  ,protestant religion   
done for liberty in ,denmark1 in        
,sweden1 throughout  the north of       
,germany1 and in ,prussia8  ,the purest 
religion in the world1  in my humble    
opinion1 is the religion of the ,church 
of ,england3 for its  preservation 7so  
far as it is exercised without intruding
 upon the  liberties of others7 ,i am   
ready at this moment to venture my      
present  life1 and but through that     
religion ,i have no hopes of any other2 
yet ,i  am not forced to be silly       
because ,i am pious2 nor will ,i ever   

join in  eulogiums on my faith which    
every man of common reading and common  
sense  can so easily refute4    ,you    
have either done too much for the       
,catholics1 worthy ,abraham1 or too     
little2 if you had intended to refuse   
them political power1 you should  have  
refused them civil rights4  ,after you  
had enabled them to acquire  property1  
after you had conceded to them all that 
you did concede in '#gh  and '#ic1 the  
rest is wholly out of your power3 you   
may choose whether you  will give the   
rest in an honourable or a disgraceful  
mode1 but it is  utterly out of your    
power to withhold it4    ,in the last   
year1 land to the amount of eight       
hundred thousand pounds  was purchased  
by the ,catholics in ,ireland4  ,do you 
think it possible to  be-,perceval1 and 
be-,canning1 and be-,castlereagh1 such a
 body of men as  this out of their      
common rights1 and their common sense8  
,mr4 ,george  ,canning may laugh and    
joke at the idea of ,protestant bailiffs

 ravishing  ,catholic ladies1 under the 
#ith clause of the ,sunset ,bill2 but if
 some  better remedy be not applied to  
the distractions of ,ireland than the   
jocularity of ,mr4 ,canning1 they will  
soon put an end to his pension1 and  to 
the pension of those 8near and dear     
relatives10 for whose eating1  drinking1
 washing1 and clothing1 every man in the
 ,united ,kingdoms now  pays his        
two-pence or three-pence a year4  ,you  
may call these  observations coarse1 if 
you please2 but ,i have no idea that the
 ,sophias  and ,carolines of any man    
breathing are to eat national veal1 to  
drink  public tea1 to wear ,treasury    
ribands1 and then that we are to be told
  that it is coarse to animadvert upon  
this pitiful and eleemosynary           
splendour4  ,if this is right1 why not  
mention it8  ,if it is wrong1 why       
should not he who enjoys the ease of    
supporting his sisters in this  manner  
bear the shame of it8  ,everybody seems 
hitherto to have spared a  man who never

 spares anybody4    ,as for the enormous
 wax candles1 and superstitious         
mummeries1 and painted  jackets of the  
,catholic priests1 ,i fear them not4    
,tell me that the world  will return    
again under the influence of the        
smallpox2 that ,lord  ,castlereagh will 
hereafter oppose the power of the       
,court2 that ,lord  ,howick and ,mr4    
,grattan will do each of them a mean and
 dishonourable  action2 that anybody who
 has heard ,lord ,redesdale speak once  
will  knowingly and willingly hear him  
again2 that ,lord ,eldon has assented to
  the fact of two and two making four1  
without shedding tears1 or  expressing  
the smallest doubt or scruple2 tell me  
any other thing absurd  or incredible1  
but1 for the love of common sense1 let  
me hear no more of  the danger to be    
apprehended from the general diffusion  
of ,popery4  ,it is  too absurd to be   
reasoned upon2 every man feels it is    
nonsense when he  hears it stated1 and  
so does every man while he is stating   

it4    ,i cannot imagine why the friends
 to the ,church ,establishment should   
enter  in such a horror of seeing the   
doors of ,parliament flung open to the  
,catholics1 and view so passively the   
enjoyment of that right by the          
,presbyterians and by every other       
species of ,dissenter4  ,in their       
tenets1  in their ,church ,government1  
in the nature of their endowments1 the  
,dissenters are infinitely more distant 
from the ,church of ,england than  the  
,catholics are2 yet the ,dissenters have
 never been excluded from  ,parliament4 
,there are #de members in one ,house1   
and #af in the other1 who  always are   
,dissenters4  ,there is no law which    
would prevent every member  of the      
,lords and ,commons from being          
,dissenters4  ,the ,catholics could not 
bring into ,parliament half the number  
of the ,scotch members2 and yet one     
exclusion is of such immense importance1
 because it has taken place2 and  the   
other no human being thinks of1 because 

no one is accustomed to it4  ,i have    
often thought1 if the wisdom of our     
ancestors had excluded all  persons with
 red hair from the ,house of ,commons1  
of the throes and  convulsions it would 
occasion to restore them to their       
natural rights4  ,what mobs and riots   
would it produce6  ,to what infinite    
abuse and obloquy  would the capillary  
patriot be exposed2 what wormwood would 
distil from  ,mr4 ,perceval1 what froth 
would drop from ,mr4 ,canning2 how 7,i  
will not say  my1 but our ,lord         
,hawkesbury1 for he belongs to us       
all7--how our ,lord  ,hawkesbury would  
work away about the hair of ,king       
,william and ,lord  ,somers1 and the    
authors of the great and glorious       
,revolution2 how ,lord  ,eldon would    
appeal to the ,deity and his own        
virtues1 and to the hair of  his        
children3 some would say that red-haired
 men were superstitious2 some  would    
prove they were atheists2 they would be 
petitioned against as the  friends of   

slavery1 and the advocates for revolt2  
in short1 such a  corruptor of the heart
 and understanding is the spirit of     
persecution1  that these unfortunate    
people 7conspired against by their      
fellow-subjects  of every complexion71  
if they did not emigrate to countries   
where hair of  another colour was       
persecuted1 would be driven to the      
falsehood of  perukes1 or the hypocrisy 
of the ,tricosian fluid4    ,as for the 
dangers of the ,church 7in spite of the 
staggering events which  have lately    
taken place71 ,i have not yet entirely  
lost my confidence in  the power of     
common sense1 and ,i believe the ,church
 to be in no danger at  all2 but if it  
is1 that danger is not from the         
,catholics1 but from the  ,methodists1  
and from that patent ,christianity which
 has been for some  time manufacturing  
at ,clapham1 to the prejudice of the old
 and admirable  article prepared by the 
,church4  ,i would counsel my lords the 
,bishops to  keep their eyes upon that  

holy village1 and its vicinity2 they    
will find  there a zeal in making       
converts far superior to anything which 
exists  among the ,catholics2 a contempt
 for the great mass of ,english clergy1 
much more rooted and profound2 and a    
regular fund to purchase livings for    
those groaning and garrulous gentlemen  
whom they denominate 7by a  standing    
sarcasm against the regular ,church7    
,gospel preachers and vital  clergymen4 
,i am too firm a believer in the general
 propriety and  respectability of the   
,english clergy1 to believe they have   
much to fear  either from old nonsense  
or from new2 but if the ,church must be 
supposed  to be in danger1 ,i prefer    
that nonsense which is grown half       
venerable  from time1 the force of which
 ,i have already tried and baffled1     
which at  least has some excuse in the  
dark and ignorant ages in which it      
originated4  ,the religious enthusiasm  
manufactured by living men before  my   
own eyes disgusts my understanding as   

much1 influences my imagination  not at 
all1 and excites my apprehensions much  
more4    ,i may have seemed to you to   
treat the situation of public affairs   
with  some degree of levity2 but ,i feel
 it deeply1 and with nightly and daily  
anguish2 because ,i know ,ireland2 ,i   
have known it all my life2 ,i love it1  
and ,i foresee the crisis to which it   
will soon be exposed4  ,who can doubt   
but that ,ireland will experience       
ultimately from ,france a treatment to  
which the conduct they have experienced 
from ,england is the love of a  parent1 
or a brother8  ,who can doubt but that  
five years after he has got  hold of the
 country1 ,ireland will be tossed away  
by ,bonaparte as a  present to some one 
of his ruffian generals1 who will knock 
the head of  ,mr4 ,keogh against the    
head of ,cardinal ,troy1 shoot twenty of
 the most  noisy blockheads of the      
,roman persuasion1 wash his pug-dogs in 
holy  water1 and confiscate the salt    
butter of the ,milesian republic to the 

last tub8  ,but what matters this8 or   
who is wise enough in ,ireland to  heed 
it8 or when had common sense much       
influence with my poor dear ,irish8     
,mr4 ,perceval does not know the ,irish2
 but ,i know them1 and ,i know that at  
every rash and mad hazard they will     
break the ,union1 revenge their  wounded
 pride and their insulted religion1 and 
fling themselves into the  open arms of 
,france1 sure of dying in the embrace4  
,and now1 what means  have you of       
guarding against this coming evil1 upon 
which the future  happiness or misery of
 every ,englishman depends8  ,have you a
 single ally  in the whole world8  ,is  
there a vulnerable point in the ,french 
empire  where the astonishing resources 
of that people can be attracted and     
employed8  ,have you a ministry wise    
enough to comprehend the danger1  manly 
enough to believe unpleasant            
intelligence1 honest enough to state    
their apprehensions at the peril of     
their places8  ,is there anywhere the   

slightest disposition to join any       
measure of love1 or conciliation1 or    
hope1 with that dreadful bill which the 
distractions of ,ireland have  rendered 
necessary8  ,at the very moment that the
 last ,monarchy in ,europe  has fallen1 
are we not governed by a man of         
pleasantry1 and a man of  theology8  ,in
 the six hundredth year of our empire   
over ,ireland1 have we  any memorial of 
ancient kindness to refer to8 any       
people1 any zeal1 any  country on which 
we can depend8  ,have we any hope1 but  
in the winds of  heaven and the tides of
 the sea8 any prayer to prefer to the   
,irish1 but  that they should forget and
 forgive their oppressors1 who1 in the  
very  moment that they are calling upon 
them for their exertions1 solemnly      
assure them that the oppression shall   
still remain8    ,abraham1 farewell6    
,if ,i have tired you1 remember how     
often you have  tired me and others4  ,i
 do not think we really differ in       
politics so much  as you suppose2 or at 

least1 if we do1 that difference is in  
the means1  and not in the end4  ,we    
both love the ,constitution1 respect the
 ,king1 and  abhor the ,french4  ,but   
though you love the ,constitution1 you  
would  perpetuate the abuses which have 
been engrafted upon it2 though you      
respect the ,king1 you would confirm his
 scruples against the ,catholics2       
though you abhor the ,french1 you would 
open to them the conquest of  ,ireland4 
,my method of respecting my sovereign is
 by protecting his  honour1 his empire1 
and his lasting happiness2 ,i evince my 
love of the  ,constitution by making it 
the guardian of all men's rights and the
 source  of their freedom2 and ,i prove 
my abhorrence of the ,french1 by uniting
  against them the disciples of every   
church in the only remaining nation  in 
,europe4  ,as for the men of whom ,i    
have been compelled in this age of      
mediocrity to say so much1 they cannot  
of themselves be worth a moment's       
consideration1 to you1 to me1 or to     

anybody4  ,in a year after their death  
they will be forgotten as completely as 
if they had never been2 and are  now of 
no further importance than as they are  
the mere vehicles of  carrying into     
effect the common-place and mischievous 
prejudices of the  times in which they  
live4        ,,letter ,,vi4      ,,dear 
,,abraham1--,what amuses me the most is 
to hear of the indulgences  which the   
,catholics have received1 and their     
exorbitance in not being  satisfied with
 those indulgences3 now if you complain 
to me that a man is  obtrusive and      
shameless in his requests1 and that it  
is impossible to  bring him to reason1  
,i must first of all hear the whole of  
your conduct  towards him2 for you may  
have taken from him so much in the first
  instance that1 in spite of a long     
series of restitution1 a vast latitude  
for petition may still remain behind4   
,there is a village1 no matter where1 in
 which the inhabitants1 on one day  in  
the year1 sit down to a dinner prepared 

at the common expense3 by an            
extraordinary piece of tyranny1 which   
,lord ,hawkesbury would call the  wisdom
 of the village ancestors1 the          
inhabitants of three of the streets1    
about a hundred years ago1 seized upon  
the inhabitants of the fourth  street1  
bound them hand and foot1 laid them upon
 their backs1 and  compelled them to    
look on while the rest were stuffing    
themselves with  beef and beer2 the next
 year the inhabitants of the persecuted 
street1  though they contributed an     
equal quota of the expense1 were treated
  precisely in the same manner4  ,the   
tyranny grew into a custom2 and1 as  the
 manner of our nature is1 it was        
considered as the most sacred of all    
duties to keep these poor fellows       
without their annual dinner4  ,the      
village was so tenacious of this        
practice1 that nothing could induce them
  to resign it2 every enemy to it was   
looked upon as a disbeliever in  ,divine
 ,providence1 and any nefarious         

churchwarden who wished to succeed  in  
his election had nothing to do but to   
represent his antagonist as an          
abolitionist1 in order to frustrate his 
ambition1 endanger his life1 and  throw 
the village into a state of the most    
dreadful commotion4  ,by  degrees1      
however1 the obnoxious street grew to be
 so well peopled1 and  its inhabitants  
so firmly united1 that their oppressors1
 more afraid of  injustice1 were more   
disposed to be just4  ,at the next      
dinner they are  unbound1 the year after
 allowed to sit upright1 then a bit of  
bread and a  glass of water2 till at    
last1 after a long series of            
concessions1 they  are emboldened to    
ask1 in pretty plain terms1 that they   
may be allowed to  sit down at the      
bottom of the table1 and to fill their  
bellies as well as  the rest4           
,forthwith a general cry of shame and   
scandal3 8,ten years ago1  were you not 
laid upon your backs8  ,don't you       
remember what a great thing  you thought

 it to get a piece of bread8  ,how      
thankful you were for cheese  parings8  
,have you forgotten that memorable era1 
when the lord of the  manor interfered  
to obtain for you a slice of the public 
pudding8  ,and  now1 with an audacity   
only equalled by your ingratitude1 you  
have the  impudence to ask for knives   
and forks1 and to request1 in terms too 
plain  to be mistaken1 that you may sit 
down to table with the rest1 and be     
indulged even with beef and beer3 there 
are not more than half a dozen  dishes  
which we have reserved for ourselves2   
the rest has been thrown  open to you in
 the utmost profusion2 you have         
potatoes1 and carrots1 suet  dumplings1 
sops in the pan1 and delicious toast and
 water in incredible  quantities4       
,beef1 mutton1 lamb1 pork1 and veal are 
ours2 and if you were  not the most     
restless and dissatisfied of human      
beings1 you would never  think of       
aspiring to enjoy them40    ,is not     
this1 my dainty ,abraham1 the very      

nonsense and the very insult  which is  
talked to and practised upon the        
,catholics8  ,you are surprised  that   
men who have tasted of partial justice  
should ask for perfect  justice2 that he
 who has been robbed of coat and cloak  
will not be  contented with the         
restitution of one of his garments4  ,he
 would be a  very lazy blockhead if he  
were content1 and ,i 7who1 though an    
inhabitant  of the village1 have        
preserved1 thank ,god1 some sense of    
justice7 most  earnestly counsel these  
half-fed claimants to persevere in their
 just  demands1 till they are admitted  
to a more complete share of a dinner for
  which they pay as much as the others2 
and if they see a little attenuated     
lawyer squabbling at the head of their  
opponents1 let them desire him to  empty
 his pockets1 and to pull out all the   
pieces of duck1 fowl1 and  pudding which
 he has filched from the public feast1  
to carry home to his  wife and children4
    ,you parade a great deal upon the   

vast concessions made by this country to
  the ,irish before the ,union4  ,i deny
 that any voluntary concession was  ever
 made by ,england to ,ireland4  ,what   
did ,ireland ever ask that was  granted8
  ,what did she ever demand that was not
 refused8  ,how did she get  her ,mutiny
 ,bill--a limited ,parliament--a repeal 
of ,poyning's ,law--a  constitution8    
,not by the concessions of ,england1 but
 by her fears4  ,when  ,ireland asked   
for all these things upon her knees1 her
 petitions were  rejected with          
,percevalism and contempt2 when she     
demanded them with the  voice of #fj1jjj
 armed men1 they were granted with every
 mark of  consternation and dismay4     
,ask of ,lord ,auckland the fatal       
consequences of  trifling with such a   
people as the ,irish4  ,he himself was  
the organ of  these refusals4  ,as      
secretary to the ,lord ,lieutenant1 the 
insolence and  the tyranny of this      
country passed through his hands4  ,ask 
him if he  remembers the consequences4  

,ask him if he has forgotten that       
memorable  evening when he came down    
booted and mantled to the ,house of     
,commons1  when he told the ,house he   
was about to set off for ,ireland that  
night1  and declared before ,god1 if he 
did not carry with him a compliance with
  all their demands1 ,ireland was for   
ever lost to this country4  ,the        
present generation have forgotten this2 
but ,i have not forgotten it2 and  ,i   
know1 hasty and undignified as the      
submission of ,england then was1 that   
,lord ,auckland was right1 that the     
delay of a single day might very        
probably have separated the two peoples 
for ever4  ,the terms submission  and   
fear are galling terms when applied from
 the lesser nation to the  greater2 but 
it is the plain historical truth1 it is 
the natural  consequence of injustice1  
it is the predicament in which every    
country  places itself which leaves such
 a mass of hatred and discontent by its 
side4  ,no empire is powerful enough to 

endure it2 it would exhaust the         
strength of ,china1 and sink it with all
 its mandarins and tea-kettles to  the  
bottom of the deep4  ,by refusing them  
justice now when you are strong  enough 
to refuse them anything more than       
justice1 you will act over  again1 with 
the ,catholics1 the same scene of mean  
and precipitate  submission which       
disgraced you before ,america1 and      
before the volunteers  of ,ireland4  ,we
 shall live to hear the ,hampstead      
,protestant pronouncing  such           
extravagant panegyrics upon holy water1 
and paying such fulsome  compliments to 
the thumbs and offals of departed       
saints1 that parties  will change       
sentiments1 and ,lord ,henry ,petty and 
,sam ,whitbread take a  spell at ,no    
,popery4  ,the wisdom of ,mr4 ,fox was  
alike employed in teaching  his country 
justice when ,ireland was weak1 and     
dignity when ,ireland was  strong4  ,we 
are fast pacing round the same miserable
 circle of ruin and  imbecility4  ,alas6

 where is our guide8    ,you say that   
,ireland is a millstone about our necks2
 that it would be  better for us if     
,ireland were sunk at the bottom of the 
sea2 that the  ,irish are a nation of   
irreclaimable savages and barbarians4   
,how often  have ,i heard these         
sentiments fall from the plump and      
thoughtless squire1  and from the       
thriving ,english shopkeeper1 who has   
never felt the rod of  an ,orange master
 upon his back4  ,ireland a millstone   
about your neck6  ,why is it not a stone
 of ,ajax in your hand8  ,i agree with  
you most  cordially that1 governed as   
,ireland now is1 it would be a vast     
accession  of strength if the waves of  
the sea were to rise and engulf her     
to-morrow4  ,at this moment1 opposed as 
we are to all the world1 the            
annihilation of one of the most fertile 
islands on the face of the globe1       
containing five millions of human       
creatures1 would be one of the most     
solid advantages which could happen to  

this country4  ,i doubt very much1  in  
spite of all the just abuse which has   
been lavished upon ,bonaparte1  whether 
there is any one of his conquered       
countries the blotting out of  which    
would be as beneficial to him as the    
destruction of ,ireland would  be to us3
 of countries ,i speak differing in     
language from the ,french1  little      
habituated to their intercourse1 and    
inflamed with all the  resentments of a 
recently-conquered people4  ,why will   
you attribute the  turbulence of our    
people to any cause but the right--to   
any cause but your  own scandalous      
oppression8  ,if you tie your horse up  
to a gate1 and beat  him cruelly1 is he 
vicious because he kicks you8  ,if you  
have plagued and  worried a mastiff dog 
for years1 is he mad because he flies at
 you  whenever he sees you8  ,hatred is 
an active1 troublesome passion4  ,depend
  upon it1 whole nations have always    
some reason for their hatred4  ,before  
you refer the turbulence of the ,irish  

to incurable defects in their           
character1 tell me if you have treated  
them as friends and equals8  ,have  you 
protected their commerce8  ,have you    
respected their religion8  ,have  you   
been as anxious for their freedom as    
your own8  ,nothing of all this4  ,what 
then8  ,why you have confiscated the    
territorial surface of the  country     
twice over3 you have massacred and      
exported her inhabitants3 you  have     
deprived four-fifths of them of every   
civil privilege3 you have at  every     
period made her commerce and            
manufactures slavishly subordinate to   
your own3 and yet the hatred which the  
,irish bear to you is the result of  an 
original turbulence of character1 and of
 a primitive1 obdurate  wildness1       
utterly incapable of civilisation4  ,the
 embroidered inanities  and the         
sixth-form effusions of ,mr4 ,canning   
are really not powerful  enough to make 
me believe this2 nor is there any       
authority on earth  7always excepting   

the ,dean of ,christ ,church7 which     
could make it credible  to me4  ,i am   
sick of ,mr4 ,canning4  ,there is not a 
8ha'porth of bread to  all this sugar   
and sack40  ,i love not the cretaceous  
and incredible  countenance of his      
colleague4  ,the only opinion in which  
,i agree with  these two gentlemen is   
that which they entertain of each other4
  ,i am  sure that the insolence of ,mr4
 ,pitt1 and the unbalanced accounts of  
,melville1 were far better than the     
perils of this new ignorance3--         
,nonne fuit satis1 ristes ,amaryllidis  
iras      ,atque superba pati fastidia8 
nonne ,menalcan8      ,quamvis ille     
niger8    ,in the midst of the most     
profound peace1 the secret articles of  
the  ,treaty of ,tilsit1 in which the   
destruction of ,ireland is resolved     
upon1  induce you to rob the ,danes of  
their fleet4  ,after the expedition     
sailed  comes the ,treaty of ,tilsit1   
containing no article1 public or        
private1  alluding to ,ireland4  ,the   

state of the world1 you tell me1        
justified us  in doing this4  ,just     
,god6 do we think only of the state of  
the world when  there is an opportunity 
for robbery1 for murder1 and for        
plunder2 and do  we forget the state of 
the world when we are called upon to be 
wise1 and  good1 and just8  ,does the   
state of the world never remind us that 
we have  four millions of subjects whose
 injuries we ought to atone for1 and    
whose  affections we ought to           
conciliate8  ,does the state of the     
world never  warn us to lay aside our   
infernal bigotry1 and to arm every man  
who  acknowledges a ,god1 and can grasp 
a sword8  ,did it never occur to this   
administration that they might          
virtuously get hold of a force ten times
  greater than the force of the ,danish 
fleet8  ,was there no other way of      
protecting ,ireland but by bringing     
eternal shame upon ,great ,britain1 and 
by making the earth a den of robbers8   
,see what the men whom you have         

supplanted would have done4  ,they would
 have rendered the invasion of  ,ireland
 impossible1 by restoring to the        
,catholics their long-lost rights3  they
 would have acted in such a manner that 
the ,french would neither have  wished  
for invasion nor dared to attempt it3   
they would have increased  the permanent
 strength of the country while they     
preserved its reputation  unsullied4    
,nothing of this kind your friends have 
done1 because they are  solemnly pledged
 to do nothing of this kind2 because1 to
 tolerate all  religions1 and to        
equalise civil rights to all sects1 is  
to oppose some  of the worst passions of
 our nature--to plunder and to oppress  
is to  gratify them all4  ,they wanted  
the huzzas of mobs1 and they have for   
ever  blasted the fame of ,england to   
obtain them4  ,were the fleets of       
,holland1  ,france1 and ,spain destroyed
 by larceny8  ,you resisted the power of
 #aej  sail of the line by sheer        
courage1 and violated every principle of

 morals  from the dread of fifteen      
hulks1 while the expedition itself cost 
you  three times more than the value of 
the larcenous matter brought away4  ,the
 ,french trample on the laws of ,god and
 man1 not for old cordage1 but  for     
kingdoms1 and always take care to be    
well paid for their crimes4  ,we        
contrive1 under the present             
administration1 to unite moral with     
intellectual deficiency1 and to grow    
weaker and worse by the same action4    
,if they had any evidence of the        
intended hostility of the ,danes1 why   
was  it not produced8  ,why have the    
nations of ,europe been allowed to feel 
an  indignation against this country    
beyond the reach of all subsequent      
information8  ,are these times1 do you  
imagine1 when we can trifle with a  year
 of universal hatred1 dally with the    
curses of ,europe1 and then  regain a   
lost character at pleasure1 by the      
parliamentary perspirations  of the     
,foreign ,secretary1 or the solemn      

asseverations of the pecuniary  ,rose8  
,believe me1 ,abraham1 it is not under  
such ministers as these that  the       
dexterity of honest ,englishmen will    
ever equal the dexterity of  ,french    
knaves2 it is not in their presence that
 the serpent of ,moses will  ever       
swallow up the serpents of the magician4
    ,lord ,hawkesbury says that nothing 
is to be granted to the ,catholics from 
fear4  ,what6 not even justice8  ,why   
not8  ,there are four millions of       
disaffected people within twenty miles  
of your own coast4  ,i fairly  confess  
that the dread which ,i have of their   
physical power is with me a  very strong
 motive for listening to their claims4  
,to talk of not acting  from fear1 is   
mere parliamentary cant4  ,from what    
motive but fear1 ,i  should be glad to  
know1 have all the improvements in our  
constitution  proceeded8  ,i question if
 any justice has ever been done to large
 masses  of mankind from any other      
motive4  ,by what other motives can the 

plunderers of the ,baltic suppose       
nations to be governed in their         
intercourse with each other8  ,if ,i    
say1 ,give this people what they ask    
because it is just1 do you think ,i     
should get ten people to listen to me8  
,would not the lesser of the two        
,jenkinsons be the first to treat me    
with  contempt8  ,the only true way to  
make the mass of mankind see the beauty 
of justice is by showing to them1 in    
pretty plain terms1 the consequences  of
 injustice4  ,if any body of ,french    
troops land in ,ireland1 the whole      
population of that country will rise    
against you to a man1 and you could  not
 possibly survive such an event three   
years4  ,such1 from the bottom of  my   
soul1 do ,i believe to be the present   
state of that country2 and so far  does 
it appear to me to be impolitic and     
unstatesman-like to concede  anything to
 such a danger1 that if the ,catholics1 
in addition to their  present just      
demands1 were to petition for the       

perpetual removal of the  said ,lord    
,hawkesbury from his ,majesty's         
councils1 ,i think1 whatever might  be  
the effect upon the destinies of        
,europe1 and however it might retard    
our own individual destruction1 that the
 prayer of the petition should be       
instantly complied with4  ,canning's    
crocodile tears should not move me2  the
 hoops of the maids of honour should not
 hide him4  ,i would tear him  from the 
banisters of the back stairs1 and plunge
 him in the fishy fumes  of the dirtiest
 of all his ,cinque ,ports4             
,,letter ,,vii4      ,,dear             
,,abraham1--,in the correspondence which
 is passing between us1 you are         
perpetually alluding to the ,foreign    
,secretary2 and in answer to the        
dangers of ,ireland1 which ,i am        
pressing upon your notice1 you have     
nothing to urge but the confidence which
 you repose in the discretion and  sound
 sense of this gentleman4  ,i can only  
say1 that ,i have listened to  him long 

and often with the greatest attention2  
,i have used every  exertion in my power
 to take a fair measure of him1 and it  
appears to me  impossible to hear him   
upon any arduous topic without          
perceiving that he  is eminently        
deficient in those solid and serious    
qualities upon which1  and upon which   
alone1 the confidence of a great country
 can properly  repose4  ,he sweats and  
labours1 and works for sense1 and ,mr4  
,ellis seems  always to think it is     
coming1 but it does not come2 the       
machine can't  draw up what is not to be
 found in the spring2 ,providence has   
made him a  light1 jesting1             
paragraph-writing man1 and that he will 
remain to his  dying day4  ,when he is  
jocular he is strong1 when he is serious
 he is  like ,samson in a wig2 any      
ordinary person is a match for him3 a   
song1 an  ironical letter1 a burlesque  
ode1 an attack in the newspaper upon    
,nicoll's eye1 a smart speech of twenty 
minutes1 full of gross                  

misrepresentations and clever turns1    
excellent language1 a spirited  manner1 
lucky quotation1 success in provoking   
dull men1 some half  information picked 
up in ,pall ,mall in the morning2 these 
are your  friend's natural weapons2 all 
these things he can do3 here ,i allow   
him to  be truly great2 nay1 ,i will be 
just1 and go still further1 if he would 
confine himself to these things1 and    
consider the facete and the  playful to 
be the basis of his character1 he would1
 for that species of  man1 be           
universally regarded as a person of a   
very good understanding2  call him a    
legislator1 a reasoner1 and the         
conductor of the affairs of a  great    
nation1 and it seems to me as absurd as 
if a butterfly were to  teach bees to   
make honey4  ,that he is an             
extraordinary writer of small  poetry1  
and a diner out of the highest lustre1  
,i do most readily admit4  ,after       
,george ,selwyn1 and perhaps ,tickell1  
there has been no such man for  this    

half-century4  ,the ,foreign ,secretary 
is a gentleman1 a respectable  as well  
as a highly agreeable man in private    
life2 but you may as well  feed me with 
decayed potatoes as console me for the  
miseries of ,ireland  by the resources  
of his sense and his discretion4  ,it is
 only the  public situation which this  
gentleman holds which entitles me or    
induces  me to say so much about him4   
,he is a fly in amber1 nobody cares     
about  the fly2 the only question is1   
,how the devil did it get there8  ,nor  
do ,i  attack him for the love of glory1
 but from the love of utility1 as a     
burgomaster hunts a rat in a ,dutch     
dyke1 for fear it should flood a        
province4    ,the friends of the        
,catholic question are1 ,i observe1     
extremely  embarrassed in arguing when  
they come to the loyalty of the ,irish  
,catholics4  ,as for me1 ,i shall go    
straight forward to my object1 and      
state what ,i have no manner of doubt1  
from an intimate knowledge of  ,ireland1

 to be the plain truth4  ,of the great  
,roman ,catholic proprietors1  and of   
the ,catholic prelates1 there may be a  
few1 and but a few1 who  would follow   
the fortunes of ,england at all events3 
there is another set  of men who1       
thoroughly detesting this country1 have 
too much property and  too much         
character to lose1 not to wait for some 
very favourable event  before they show 
themselves2 but the great mass of       
,catholic population1  upon the         
slightest appearance of a ,french force 
in that country1 would  rise upon you to
 a man4  ,it is the most mistaken policy
 to conceal the  plain truth4  ,there is
 no loyalty among the ,catholics3 they  
detest you as  their worst oppressors1  
and they will continue to detest you    
till you  remove the cause of their     
hatred4  ,it is in your power in six    
months'  time to produce a total        
revolution of opinions among this       
people2 and in  some future letter ,i   
will show you that this is clearly the  

case4  ,at  present1 see what a dreadful
 in state ,ireland is in4  ,the common  
toast  among the low ,irish is1 the     
feast of the passover4  ,some allusion  
to  ,bonaparte1 in a play lately acted  
at ,dublin1 produced thunders of        
applause from the pit and the galleries2
 and a politician should not be         
inattentive to the public feelings      
expressed in theatres4  ,mr4 ,perceval  
thinks he has disarmed the ,irish3 he   
has no more disarmed the ,irish than  he
 has resigned a shilling of his own     
public emoluments4  ,an ,irish  peasant 
fills the barrel of his gun full of tow 
dipped in oil1 butters up  the lock1    
buries it in a bog1 and allows the      
,orange bloodhound to ransack  his      
cottage at pleasure4  ,be just and kind 
to the ,irish1 and you will  indeed     
disarm them2 rescue them from the       
degraded servitude in which they  are   
held by a handful of their own          
countrymen1 and you will add four       
millions of brave and affectionate men  

to your strength4  ,nightly visits1     
,protestant inspectors1 licenses to     
possess a pistol1 or a knife and fork1  
the odious vigour of the evangelical    
,perceval--acts of ,parliament1 drawn   
up by some ,english attorney1 to save   
you from the hatred of four millions  of
 people--the guarding yourselves from   
universal disaffection by a  police2 a  
confidence in the little cunning of ,bow
 ,street1 when you might  rest your     
security upon the eternal basis of the  
best feelings3 this is  the meanness and
 madness to which nations are reduced   
when they lose  sight of the first      
elements of justice1 without which a    
country can be no  more secure than it  
can be healthy without air4  ,i sicken  
at such policy  and such men4  ,the fact
 is1 the ,ministers know nothing about  
the present  state of ,ireland2 ,mr4    
,perceval sees a few clergymen1 ,lord   
,castlereagh a  few general officers1   
who take care1 of course1 to report what
 is  pleasant rather than what is true4 

,as for the joyous and lepid consul1  he
 jokes upon neutral flags and frauds1   
jokes upon ,irish rebels1 jokes  upon   
northern and western and southern foes1 
and gives himself no trouble  upon any  
subject2 nor is the mediocrity of the   
idolatrous deputy of the  slightest use4
  ,dissolved in grins1 he reads no      
memorials upon the state  of ,ireland1  
listens to no reports1 asks no          
questions1 and is the        8,bourn    
from whom no traveller returns40    ,the
 danger of an immediate insurrection is 
now1 ,i believe1 blown over4  ,you have 
so strong an army in ,ireland1 and the  
,irish are become so much  more cunning 
from the last insurrection1 that you may
 perhaps be  tolerably secure just at   
present from that evil3 but are you     
secure from  the efforts which the      
,french may make to throw a body of     
troops into  ,ireland8 and do you       
consider that event to be difficult and 
improbable8  ,from ,brest ,harbour to   
,cape ,st4 ,vincent1 you have above     

three thousand  miles of hostile sea    
coast1 and twelve or fourteen harbours  
quite capable  of containing a          
sufficient force for the powerful       
invasion of ,ireland4  ,the nearest of  
these harbours is not two days' sail    
from the southern  coast of ,ireland1   
with a fair leading wind2 and the       
furthest not ten4  ,five ships of the   
line1 for so very short a passage1 might
 carry five or  six thousand troops with
 cannon and ammunition2 and ,ireland    
presents to  their attack a southern    
coast of more than #ejj miles1 abounding
 in deep  bays1 admirable harbours1 and 
disaffected inhabitants4  ,your         
blockading  ships may be forced to come 
home for provisions and repairs1 or they
 may  be blown off in a gale of wind and
 compelled to bear away for their own   
coast2 and you will observe that the    
very same wind which locks you up in    
the ,british ,channel1 when you are got 
there1 is evidently favourable for  the 
invasion of ,ireland4  ,and yet this is 

called ,government1 and the  people     
huzza ,mr4 ,perceval for continuing to  
expose his country day after  day to    
such tremendous perils as these2 cursing
 the men who would have  given up a     
question in theology to have saved us   
from such a risk4  ,the  ,british empire
 at this moment is in the state of a    
peach-blossom--if the  wind blows gently
 from one quarter1 it survives2 if      
furiously from the  other1 it perishes4 
,a stiff breeze may set in from the     
north1 the  ,rochefort squadron will be 
taken1 and the ,minister will be the    
most holy  of men3 if it comes from some
 other point1 ,ireland is gone2 we curse
  ourselves as a set of monastic madmen1
 and call out for the unavailing        
satisfaction of ,mr4 ,perceval's head4  
,such a state of political existence  is
 scarcely credible3 it is the action of 
a mad young fool standing upon  one     
foot1 and peeping down the crater of    
,mount tna1 not the conduct of a  wise  
and sober people deciding upon their    

best and dearest interests3 and  in the 
name1 the much-injured name1 of heaven1 
what is it all for that we  expose      
ourselves to these dangers8  ,is it that
 we may sell more muslin8  ,is it that  
we may acquire more territory8  ,is it  
that we may strengthen  what we have    
already acquired8  ,no2 nothing of all  
this2 but that one set  of ,irishmen may
 torture another set of ,irishmen--that 
,sir ,phelim  ,o',callaghan may continue
 to whip ,sir ,toby ,m',tackle1 his next
 door  neighbour1 and continue to ravish
 his ,catholic daughters2 and these are 
the measures which the honest and       
consistent ,secretary supports2 and this
  is the ,secretary whose genius in the 
estimation of ,brother ,abraham is to   
extinguish the genius of ,bonaparte4    
,pompey was killed by a slave1  ,goliath
 smitten by a stripling1 ,pyrrhus died  
by the hand of a woman2  tremble1 thou  
great ,gaul1 from whose head an armed   
,minerva leaps forth in  the hour of    
danger2 tremble1 thou scourge of ,god1 a

 pleasant man is come  out against thee1
 and thou shalt be laid low by a joker  
of jokes1 and he  shall talk his        
pleasant talk against thee1 and thou    
shalt be no more6    ,you tell me1 in   
spite of all this parade of sea-coast1  
,bonaparte has  neither ships nor       
sailors3 but this is a mistake4  ,he has
 not ships and  sailors to contest the  
empire of the seas with ,great ,britain1
 but there  remains quite sufficient of 
the navies of ,france1 ,spain1 ,holland1
 and  ,denmark1 for these short         
excursions and invasions4  ,do you      
think1 too1  that ,bonaparte does not   
add to his navy every year8  ,do you    
suppose1 with  all ,europe at his feet1 
that he can find any difficulty in      
obtaining  timber1 and that money will  
not procure for him any quantity of     
naval  stores he may want8  ,the mere   
machine1 the empty ship1 he can build as
  well1 and as quickly1 as you can2 and 
though he may not find enough of        
practised sailors to man large          

fighting-fleets--it is not possible to  
conceive that he can want sailors for   
such sort of purposes as ,i have        
stated4  ,he is at present the despotic 
monarch of above twenty thousand  miles 
of sea-coast1 and yet you suppose he    
cannot procure sailors for the  invasion
 of ,ireland4  ,believe1 if you please1 
that such a fleet met at  sea by any    
number of our ships at all comparable to
 them in point of  force1 would be      
immediately taken1 let it be so2 ,i     
count nothing upon  their power of      
resistance1 only upon their power of    
escaping unobserved4  ,if experience has
 taught us anything1 it is the          
impossibility of  perpetual blockades4  
,the instances are innumerable1 during  
the course of  this war1 where whole    
fleets have sailed in and out of        
harbour1 in spite  of every vigilance   
used to prevent it4  ,i shall only      
mention those cases  where ,ireland is  
concerned4  ,in ,december1 #agif1 seven 
ships of the line1  and ten transports1 

reached ,bantry ,bay from ,brest1       
without having seen an  ,english ship in
 their passage4  ,it blew a storm when  
they were off shore1  and therefore     
,england still continues to be an       
independent kingdom4  ,you  will observe
 that at the very time the ,french fleet
 sailed out of ,brest  ,harbour1        
,admiral ,colpoys was cruising off there
 with a powerful squadron1  and still1  
from the particular circumstances of the
 weather1 found it  impossible to       
prevent the ,french from coming out4    
,during the time that  ,admiral ,colpoys
 was cruising off ,brest1 ,admiral      
,richery1 with six ships  of the line1  
passed him1 and got safe into the       
harbour4  ,at the very  moment when the 
,french squadron was lying in ,bantry   
,bay1 ,lord ,bridport  with his fleet   
was locked up by a foul wind in the     
,channel1 and for  several days could   
not stir to the assistance of ,ireland4 
,admiral  ,colpoys1 totally unable to   
find the ,french fleet1 came home4      

,lord  ,bridport1 at the change of the  
wind1 cruised for them in vain1 and they
  got safe back to ,brest1 without      
having seen a single one of those       
floating bulwarks1 the possession of    
which we believe will enable us with    
impunity to set justice and common sense
 at defiance4    ,such is the miserable 
and precarious state of an anemocracy1  
of a people  who put their trust in     
hurricanes1 and are governed by wind4   
,in ,august1  #agih1 three forty-gun    
frigates landed #a1ajj men under        
,humbert1 making the  passage from      
,rochelle to ,killala without seeing any
 ,english ship4  ,in  ,october of the   
same year1 four ,french frigates        
anchored in ,killala ,bay  with #b1jjj  
troops2 and though they did not land    
their troops1 they  returned to ,france 
in safety4  ,in the same month1 a       
line-of-battle ship1  eight stout       
frigates1 and a brig1 all full of troops
 and stores1 reached  the coast of      
,ireland1 and were fortunately1 in sight

 of land1 destroyed1  after an obstinate
 engagement1 by ,sir ,john ,warren4     
,if you despise the little troop which1 
in these numerous experiments1 did  make
 good its landing1 take with you1 if you
 please1 this prcis of its  exploits3   
eleven hundred men1 commanded by a      
soldier raised from the  ranks1 put to  
rout a select army of #f1jjj men1       
commanded by ,general ,lake1  seized    
their ordnance1 ammunition1 and stores1 
advanced #aej miles into a  country     
containing an armed force of #aej1jjj   
men1 and at last surrendered  to the    
,viceroy1 an experienced general1       
gravely and cautiously advancing  at the
 head of all his chivalry and of an     
immense army to oppose him4  ,you must  
excuse these details about ,ireland1 but
 it appears to me to be  of all other   
subjects the most important4  ,if we    
conciliate ,ireland1 we  can do nothing 
amiss2 if we do not1 we can do nothing  
well4  ,if ,ireland  was friendly1 we   
might equally set at defiance the       

talents of ,bonaparte  and the blunders 
of his rival1 ,mr4 ,canning2 we could   
then support the  ruinous and silly     
bustle of our useless expeditions1 and  
the almost  incredible ignorance of our 
commercial orders in council4  ,let the 
present administration give up but this 
one point1 and there is nothing  which  
,i would not consent to grant them4     
,mr4 ,perceval shall have full  liberty 
to insult the tomb of ,mr4 ,fox1 and to 
torment every eminent  ,dissenter in    
,great ,britain2 ,lord ,camden shall    
have large boxes of plums2  ,mr4 ,rose  
receive permission to prefix to his name
 the appellative of  virtuous2 and to   
the ,viscount ,castlereagh a round sum  
of ready money  shall be well and truly 
paid into his hand4  ,lastly1 what      
remains to ,mr4  ,george ,canning1 but  
that he ride up and down ,pall ,mall    
glorious upon a  white horse1 and that  
they cry out before him1 ,thus shall it 
be done to  the statesman who hath      
written 8,the ,needy ,knife-,grinder10  

and the ,german  play8  ,adieu only for 
the present2 you shall soon hear from me
 again2 it  is a subject upon which ,i  
cannot long be silent4          ,,letter
 ,,viii4      ,,nothing can be more     
erroneous than to suppose that ,ireland 
is not bigger  than the ,isle of ,wight1
 or of more consequence than ,guernsey  
or ,jersey2  and yet ,i am almost       
inclined to believe1 from the general   
supineness  which prevails here         
respecting the dangerous state of that  
country1 that  such is the rank which it
 holds in our statistical tables4  ,i   
have been  writing to you a great deal  
about ,ireland1 and perhaps it may be of
 some  use to state to you concisely the
 nature and resources of the country    
which has been the subject of our long  
and strange correspondence4  ,there     
were returned1 as ,i have before        
observed1 to the hearth tax in #agia1   
#gja1ajb houses1 which ,mr4 ,newenham   
shows from unquestionable documents to  
be nearly #hj1jjj below the real number 

of houses in that country4  ,there  are 
#bg1deg square ,english miles in        
,ireland1 and more than five millions   
of people4    ,by the last survey it    
appears that the inhabited houses in    
,england and  ,wales amount to          
#a1egd1ijb1 and the population to       
#i1cdc1egh1 which gives  an average of  
#e4hge to each house1 in a country where
 the density of  population is certainly
 less considerable than in ,ireland4    
,it is  commonly supposed that          
two-fifths of the army and navy are     
,irishmen1 at  periods when political   
disaffection does not avert the         
,catholics from the  service4  ,the     
current value of ,irish exports in #ahjg
 was #i1cad1hed #ags4  #g;d42 a state of
 commerce about equal to the commerce of
 ,england in the  middle of the reign of
 ,george ,,ii4  ,the tonnage of ships   
entered inward  and cleared outward in  
the trade of ,ireland1 in #ahjg1        
amounted to  #a1efg1dcj tons4  ,the     
quantity of home spirits exported       

amounted to #aj1bhd  gallons in #agif1  
and to #icj1hjj gallons in #ahjd4  ,of  
the exports which ,i  have stated1      
provisions amounted to four millions1   
and linen to about  four millions and a 
half4  ,there was exported from         
,ireland1 upon an  average of two years 
ending in ,january1 #ahjd1 #eia1bgd     
barrels of barley1  oats1 and wheat2 and
 by weight #iaj1hdh cwts4 of flour1     
oatmeal1 barley1  oats1 and wheat4  ,the
 amount of butter exported in #ahjd1    
from ,ireland1  was worth1 in money1    
#a1gjd1fhj sterling4  ,the importation  
of ale and  beer1 from the immense      
manufactures now carrying on of these   
articles1  was diminished to #c1bji     
barrels1 in the year #ahjd1 from        
#aaa1ibj barrels1  which was the average
 importation per annum1 taking from     
three years  ending in #agib2 and at    
present there is an export trade of     
porter4  ,on an  average of three years1
 ending ,march1 #aghc1 there were       
imported into  ,ireland1 of cotton wool1

 #c1cbf cwts41 of cotton yarn1 #e1dje   
lbs42 but on  an average of three years1
 ending ,january1 #ahjc1 there were     
imported1 of  the first article1 #ac1aei
 cwts41 and of the latter1 #fbh1djf lbs4
  ,it is  impossible to conceive any    
manufacture more flourishing4  ,the     
export of  linen has increased in       
,ireland from #ag1ggf1hfb yards1 the    
average in  #aggj1 to #dc1ecd1iga yards1
 the amount in #ahje4  ,the tillage of  
,ireland  has more than trebled within  
the last twenty-one years4  ,the        
importation  of coals has increased from
 #bcj1jjj tons in #aghc1 to #dag1jcj in 
#ahjd2 of  tobacco1 from #c1dei1hfa lbs4
 in #aghc1 to #f1faa1edc in #ahjd2 of   
tea1 from  #a1gjc1hee lbs4 in #aghc1 to 
#c1ceh1bef in #ahjd2 of sugar1 from     
#adc1aag  cwts4 in #aghb1 to #cji1jgf in
 #ahjd4  ,ireland now supports a funded 
debt of  above #fd millions1 and it is  
computed that more than three millions' 
of  money are annually remitted to      
,irish absentees resident in this       

country4  ,in ,mr4 ,foster's report1 of 
#ajj folio pages1 presented to the      
,house of  ,commons in the year #ahjf1  
the total expenditure of ,ireland is    
stated at  #i1gfj1jac4  ,ireland has    
increased about two-thirds in its       
population  within twenty-five years1   
and yet1 and in about the same space of 
time1  its exports of beef1 bullocks1   
cows1 pork1 swine1 butter1 wheat1       
barley1  and oats1 collectively taken1  
have doubled2 and this1 in spite of two 
years' famine1 and the presence of an   
immense army1 that is always at  hand to
 guard the most valuable appanage of our
 empire from joining our  most          
inveterate enemies4  ,ireland has the   
greatest possible facilities  for       
carrying on commerce with the whole of  
,europe4  ,it contains1 within a        
circuit of #gej miles1 #ff secure       
harbours1 and presents a western        
frontier  against ,great ,britain1      
reaching from the ,firth of ,clyde north
 to the  ,bristol ,channel south1 and   

varying in distance from #bj to #ajj    
miles2 so  that the subjugation of      
,ireland would compel us to guard with  
ships and  soldiers a new line of coast1
 certainly amounting1 with all its      
sinuosities1 to more than #gjj miles--an
 addition of polemics1 in our  present  
state of hostility with all the world1  
which must highly gratify  the          
vigorists1 and give them an ample       
opportunity of displaying that  foolish 
energy upon which their claims to       
distinction are founded4  ,such  is the 
country which the ,right ,reverend the  
,chancellor of the ,exchequer  would    
drive into the arms of ,france1 and for 
the conciliation of which we  are       
requested to wait1 as if it were one of 
those sinecure places which  were given 
to ,mr4 ,perceval snarling at the       
breast1 and which cannot be  abolished  
till his decease4    ,how sincerely and 
fervently have ,i often wished that the 
,emperor of the  ,french had thought as 
,mr4 ,spencer ,perceval does upon the   

subject of  government2 that he had     
entertained doubts and scruples upon the
  propriety of admitting the            
,protestants to an equality of rights   
with the  ,catholics1 and that he had   
left in the middle of his empire these  
vigorous seeds of hatred and            
disaffection6  ,but the world was never 
yet  conquered by a blockhead4  ,one of 
the very first measures we saw him      
recurring to was the complete           
establishment of religious liberty3 if  
his  subjects fought and paid as he     
pleased1 he allowed them to believe as  
they pleased3 the moment ,i saw this1 my
 best hopes were lost4  ,i  perceived in
 a moment the kind of man we had to do  
with4  ,i was well  aware of the        
miserable ignorance and folly of this   
country upon the  subject of toleration2
 and every year has been adding to the  
success of  that game1 which it was     
clear he had the will and the ability to
 play  against us4    ,you say          
,bonaparte is not in earnest upon the   

subject of religion1 and  that this is  
the cause of his tolerant spirit2 but is
 it possible you can  intend to give us 
such dreadful and unamiable notions of  
religion4  ,are  we to understand that  
the moment a man is sincere he is       
narrow-minded2  that persecution is the 
child of belief2 and that a desire to   
leave all  men in the quiet and         
unpunished exercise of their own creed  
can only  exist in the mind of an       
infidel8  ,thank ,god6 ,i know many men 
whose  principles are as firm as they   
are expanded1 who cling tenaciously to  
their own modification of the ,christian
 faith1 without the slightest           
disposition to force that modification  
upon other people4  ,if ,bonaparte  is  
liberal in subjects of religion because 
he has no religion1 is this a  reason   
why we should be illiberal because we   
are ,christians8  ,if he owes  this     
excellent quality to a vice1 is that any
 reason why we may not owe  it to a     
virtue8  ,toleration is a great good1   

and a good to be imitated1  let it come 
from whom it will4  ,if a sceptic is    
tolerant1 it only shows  that he is not 
foolish in practice as well as erroneous
 in theory4  ,if a  religious man is    
tolerant1 it evinces that he is         
religious from thought  and inquiry1    
because he exhibits in his conduct one  
of the most beautiful  and important    
consequences of a religious mind--an    
inviolable charity to  all the honest   
varieties of human opinion4    ,lord    
,sidmouth1 and all the anti-,catholic   
people1 little foresee that they  will  
hereafter be the sport of the antiquary2
 that their prophecies of  ruin and     
destruction from ,catholic emancipation 
will be clapped into the  notes of some 
quaint history1 and be matter of        
pleasantry even to the  sedulous        
housewife and the rural dean4  ,there is
 always a copious supply  of ,lord      
,sidmouths in the world2 nor is there   
one single source of human  happiness   
against which they have not uttered the 

most lugubrious  predictions4  ,turnpike
 roads1 navigable canals1 inoculation1  
hops1  tobacco1 the ,reformation1 the   
,revolution--there are always a set of  
worthy  and moderately-gifted men1 who  
bawl out death and ruin upon every      
valuable change which the varying aspect
 of human affairs absolutely and        
imperiously requires4  ,i have often    
thought that it would be extremely      
useful to make a collection of the      
hatred and abuse that all those  changes
 have experienced1 which are now        
admitted to be marked  improvements in  
our condition4  ,such a history might   
make folly a little  more modest1 and   
suspicious of its own decisions4        
,ireland1 you say1 since the ,union is  
to be considered as a part of the  whole
 kingdom2 and therefore1 however        
,catholics may predominate in that      
particular spot1 yet1 taking the whole  
empire together1 they are to be         
considered as a much more insignificant 
quota of the population4  ,consider them

 in what light you please1 as part of   
the whole1 or by  themselves1 or in what
 manner may be most consentaneous to the
 devices of  your holy mind--,i say in a
 very few words1 if you do not relieve  
these  people from the civil            
incapacities to which they are exposed1 
you will  lose them2 or you must employ 
great strength and much treasure in     
watching over them4  ,in the present    
state of the world you can afford to  do
 neither the one nor the other4  ,having
 stated this1 ,i shall leave you  to be 
ruined1 ,puffendorf in hand 7as ,mr4    
,secretary ,canning says71 and to  lose 
,ireland1 just as you have found out    
what proportion the aggrieved  people   
should bear to the whole population     
before their calamities meet  with      
redress4  ,as for your parallel cases1  
,i am no more afraid of  deciding upon  
them than ,i am upon their prototype4   
,if ever any one  heresy should so far  
spread itself over the principality of  
,wales that  the ,established ,church   

were left in a minority of one to four2 
if you had  subjected these heretics to 
very severe civil privations2 if the    
consequence of such privations were a   
universal state of disaffection  among  
that caseous and wrathful people2 and if
 at the same time you were  at war with 
all the world1 how can you doubt for a  
moment that ,i would  instantly restore 
them to a state of the most complete    
civil liberty8  ,what matters it under  
what name you put the same case8        
,common sense is  not changed by        
appellations4  ,i have said how ,i would
 act to ,ireland1 and  ,i would act so  
to all the world4    ,i admit that1 to a
 certain degree1 the ,government will   
lose the  affections of the ,orangemen  
by emancipating the ,catholics2 much    
less1  however1 at present1 than three  
years past4  ,the few men1 who have     
ill-treated the whole crew1 live in     
constant terror that the oppressed      
people will rise upon them and carry the
 ship into ,brest3--they begin to  find 

that it is a very tiresome thing to     
sleep every night with cocked  pistols  
under their pillows1 and to breakfast1  
dine1 and sup with drawn  hangers4      
,they suspect that the privilege of     
beating and kicking the rest  of the    
sailors is hardly worth all this        
anxiety1 and that if the ship  does ever
 fall into the hands of the disaffected1
 all the cruelties which  they have     
experienced will be thoroughly          
remembered and amply repaid4  ,to  a    
short period of disaffection among the  
,orangemen ,i confess ,i should not     
much object3 my love of poetical justice
 does carry me as far as that2  one     
summer's whipping1 only one3 the        
thumb-screw for a short season2 a       
little light easy torturing between     
,ladyday and ,michaelmas2 a short       
specimen of ,mr4 ,perceval's rigour4  ,i
 have malice enough to ask this  slight 
atonement for the groans and shrieks of 
the poor ,catholics1  unheard by any    
human tribunal1 but registered by the   

,angel of ,god against  their           
,protestant and enlightened oppressors4 
,besides1 if you who count ten so often 
can count five1 you must perceive  that 
it is better to have four friends and   
one enemy than four enemies  and one    
friend2 and the more violent the hatred 
of the ,orangemen1 the  more certain the
 reconciliation of the ,catholics4  ,the
 disaffection of  the ,orangemen will be
 the ,irish rainbow3 when ,i see it ,i  
shall be sure  that the storm is over4  
,if these incapacities1 from which the  
,catholics ask to be relieved1 were  to 
the mass of them only a mere feeling of 
pride1 and if the question  were        
respecting the attainment of privileges 
which could be of importance  only to   
the highest of the sect1 ,i should still
 say that the pride of the  mass was    
very naturally wounded by the           
degradation of their superiors4         
,indignity to ,george ,rose would be    
felt by the smallest nummary gentleman  
in the king's employ2 and ,mr4 ,john    

,bannister could not be indifferent to  
anything which happened to ,mr4         
,canning4  ,but the truth is1 it is a   
most  egregious mistake to suppose that 
the ,catholics are contending merely for
  the fringes and feathers of their     
chiefs4  ,i will give you a list in my  
next ,letter of those privations which  
are represented to be of no  consequence
 to anybody but ,lord ,fingal1 and some 
twenty or thirty of the  principal      
persons of their sect4  ,in the         
meantime1 adieu1 and be wise4           
,,letter ,,ix4      ,,dear              
,,abraham1--,no ,catholic can be chief  
,governor or ,governor of this  kingdom1
 ,chancellor or ,keeper of the ,great   
,seal1 ,lord ,high ,treasurer1  ,chief  
of any of the ,courts of ,justice1      
,chancellor of the ,exchequer1  ,puisne 
,judge1 ,judge in the ,admiralty1       
,master of the ,rolls1 ,secretary of    
,state1 ,keeper of the ,privy ,seal1    
,vice-,treasurer or his ,deputy1 ,teller
 or  ,cashier of ,exchequer1 ,auditor or

 ,general1 ,governor or ,custos         
,rotulorum of  ,counties1 ,chief        
,governor's ,secretary1 ,privy          
,councillor1 ,king's ,counsel1          
,serjeant1 ,attorney1                   
,solicitor-,general1 ,master in         
,chancery1 ,provost or  ,fellow of      
,trinity ,college1 ,dublin1             
,postmaster-,general1 ,master and       
,lieutenant-,general of ,ordnance1      
,commander-in-,chief1 ,general on the   
,staff1  ,sheriff1 ,sub-,sheriff1       
,mayor1 ,bailiff1 ,recorder1 ,burgess1  
or any other  officer in a ,city1 or a  
,corporation4  ,no ,catholic can be     
guardian to a  ,protestant1 and no      
priest guardian at all2 no ,catholic can
 be a  gamekeeper1 or have for sale1 or 
otherwise1 any arms or warlike stores2  
no ,catholic can present to a living1   
unless he choose to turn ,jew in  order 
to obtain that privilege2 the pecuniary 
qualification of ,catholic  jurors is   
made higher than that of ,protestants1  
and no relaxation of the  ancient       

rigorous code is permitted1 unless to   
those who shall take an  oath prescribed
 by #ac and #ad ,george ,,iii4  ,now if 
this is not picking the  plums out of   
the pudding and leaving the mere batter 
to the ,catholics1 ,i  know not what is4
  ,if it were merely the ,privy         
,council1 it would be 7,i  allow7       
nothing but a point of honour for which 
the mass of ,catholics were  contending1
 the honour of being chief-mourners or  
pall-bearers to the  country2 but surely
 no man will contend that every         
barrister may not  speculate upon the   
possibility of being a ,puisne ,judge2  
and that every  shopkeeper must not feel
 himself injured by his exclusion from  
borough  offices4    ,one of the        
greatest practical evils which the      
,catholics suffer in ,ireland  is their 
exclusion from the offices of ,sheriff  
and ,deputy ,sheriff4  ,nobody who is   
unacquainted with ,ireland can conceive 
the obstacles which  this opposes to the
 fair administration of justice4  ,the  

formation of  juries is now entirely in 
the hands of the ,protestants2 the      
lives1  liberties1 and properties of the
 ,catholics in the hands of the juries2 
and this is the arrangement for the     
administration of justice in a  country 
where religious prejudices are inflamed 
to the greatest degree of  animosity6   
,in this country1 if a man be a         
foreigner1 if he sell  slippers1 and    
sealing wax1 and artificial flowers1 we 
are so tender of  human life that we    
take care half the number of persons who
 are to decide  upon his fate should be 
men of similar prejudices and feelings  
with  himself3 but a poor ,catholic in  
,ireland may be tried by twelve         
,percevals1  and destroyed according to 
the manner of that gentleman in the name
 of  the ,lord1 and with all the        
insulting forms of justice4  ,i do not  
go the  length of saying that deliberate
 and wilful injustice is done4  ,i have 
no  doubt that the ,orange ,deputy      
,sheriff thinks it would be a most      

unpardonable breach of his duty if he   
did not summon a ,protestant panel4  ,i 
can easily believe that the ,protestant 
panel may conduct themselves  very      
conscientiously in hanging the gentlemen
 of the crucifix2 but ,i  blame the law 
which does not guard the ,catholic      
against the probable  tenor of those    
feelings which must unconsciously       
influence the judgments  of mankind4  ,i
 detest that state of society which     
extends unequal degrees  of protection  
to different creeds and persuasions2 and
 ,i cannot describe  to you the contempt
 ,i feel for a man who1 calling himself 
a statesman1  defends a system which    
fills the heart of every ,irishman with 
treason1  and makes his allegiance      
prudence1 not choice4    ,i request to  
know if the vestry taxes in ,ireland are
 a mere matter of  romantic feeling     
which can affect only the ,earl of      
,fingal8  ,in a parish  where there are 
four thousand ,catholics and fifty      
,protestants1 the  ,protestants may meet

 together in a vestry meeting at which  
no ,catholic  has the right to vote1 and
 tax all the lands in the parish #as4   
#f;d4 per  acre1 or in the pound1 ,i    
forget which1 for the repairs of the    
church--and  how has the necessity of   
these repairs been ascertained8  ,a     
,protestant  plumber has discovered that
 it wants new leading2 a ,protestant    
carpenter  is convinced the timbers are 
not sound2 and the glazier who hates    
holy  water 7as an accoucheur hates     
celibacy1 because he gets nothing by it7
 is  employed to put in new sashes4     
,the grand juries in ,ireland are the   
great scene of jobbing4  ,they have a   
power of making a county rate to a      
considerable extent for roads1  bridges1
 and other objects of general           
accommodation4  8,you suffer the  road  
to be brought through my park1 and ,i   
will have the bridge  constructed in a  
situation where it will make a beautiful
 object to your  house4  ,you do my job1
 and ,i will do yours40  ,these are the 

sweet and  interesting subjects which   
occasionally occupy ,milesian gentlemen 
while  they are attendant upon this     
grand inquest of justice4  ,but there is
 a  religion1 it seems1 even in jobs2   
and it will be highly gratifying to ,mr4
  ,perceval to learn that no man in     
,ireland who believes in seven          
sacraments  can carry a public road1 or 
bridge1 one yard out of the direction   
most  beneficial to the public1 and that
 nobody can cheat the public who does   
not expound the ,scriptures in the      
purest and most orthodox manner4  ,this 
will give pleasure to ,mr4 ,perceval3   
but1 from his unfairness upon these     
topics ,i appeal to the justice and the 
proper feelings of ,mr4 ,huskisson4  ,i 
ask him if the human mind can experience
 a more dreadful sensation than  to see 
its own jobs refused1 and the jobs of   
another religion perpetually            
succeeding8  ,i ask him his opinion of a
 jobless faith1 of a creed which  dooms 
a man through life to a lean and        

plunderless integrity4  ,he knows  that 
human nature cannot and will not bear   
it2 and if we were to paint a  political
 ,tartarus1 it would be an endless      
series of snug expectations  and cruel  
disappointments4  ,these are a few of   
many dreadful  inconveniences which the 
,catholics of all ranks suffer from the 
laws by  which they are at present      
oppressed4  ,besides1 look at human     
nature3 what  is the history of all     
professions8  ,joel is to be brought up 
to the bar3  has ,mrs4 ,plymley the     
slightest doubt of his being            
,chancellor8  ,do not his  two          
shrivelled aunts live in the certainty  
of seeing him in that  situation1 and of
 cutting out with their own hands his   
equity  habiliments8  ,and ,i could name
 a certain minister of the ,gospel who  
does  not1 in the bottom of his heart1  
much differ from these opinions4  ,do   
you  think that the fathers and mothers 
of the holy ,catholic ,church are not as
  absurd as ,protestant papas and       

mammas8  ,the probability ,i admit to   
be1 in  each particular case1 that the  
sweet little blockhead will in fact     
never  get a brief2--but ,i will venture
 to say1 there is not a parent from the 
,giant's ,causeway to ,bantry ,bay who  
does not conceive that his child is  the
 unfortunate victim of the exclusion1   
and that nothing short of  positive law 
could prevent his own dear1 pre-eminent 
,paddy from rising to  the highest      
honours of the ,state4  ,so with the    
army and parliament2 in  fact1 few are  
excluded2 but1 in imagination1 all3 you 
keep twenty or  thirty ,catholics out1  
and you lose the affections of four     
millions2 and1  let me tell you1 that   
recent circumstances have by no means   
tended to  diminish in the minds of men 
that hope of elevation beyond their own 
rank  which is so congenial to our      
nature3 from pleading for ,john ,roe to 
taxing  ,john ,bull1 from jesting for   
,mr4 ,pitt and writing in the           
,anti-,jacobin1  to managing the affairs

 of ,europe--these are leaps which seem 
to justify  the fondest dreams of       
mothers and of aunts4    ,i do not say  
that the disabilities to which the      
,catholics are exposed  amount to such  
intolerable grievances1 that the        
strength and industry of  a nation are  
overwhelmed by them3 the increasing     
prosperity of ,ireland  fully           
demonstrates to the contrary4  ,but ,i  
repeat again1 what ,i have  often stated
 in the course of our correspondence1   
that your laws against  the ,catholics  
are exactly in that state in which you  
have neither the  benefits of rigour nor
 of liberality3 every law which         
prevented the  ,catholic from gaining   
strength and wealth is repealed2 every  
law which  can irritate remains2 if you 
were determined to insult the           
,catholics1 you  should have kept them  
weak2 if you resolved to give them      
strength1 you  should have ceased to    
insult them--at present your conduct is 
pure1  unadulterated folly4    ,lord    

,hawkesbury says1 8,we heard nothing    
about the ,catholics till we began  to  
mitigate the laws against them2 when we 
relieved them in part from  this        
oppression they began to be             
disaffected40  ,this is very true2 but  
it  proves just what ,i have said1 that 
you have either done too much or too    
little2 and as there lives not1 ,i hope1
 upon earth1 so depraved a  courtier    
that he would load the ,catholics with  
their ancient chains1 what  absurdity it
 is1 then1 not to render their          
dispositions friendly1 when  you leave  
their arms and legs free6    ,you know1 
and many ,englishmen know1 what passes  
in ,china2 but nobody  knows or cares   
what passes in ,ireland4  ,at the       
beginning of the present  reign no      
,catholic could realise property1 or    
carry on any business2 they  were       
absolutely annihilated1 had had no more 
agency in the country than  so many     
trees4  ,they were like ,lord           
,mulgrave's eloquence and ,lord         

,camden's wit2 the legislative bodies   
did not know of their existence4  ,for  
these twenty-five years last past the   
,catholics have been engaged in         
commerce2 within that period the        
commerce of ,ireland has doubled--there 
are four ,catholics at work for one     
,protestant1 and eight ,catholics at    
work for one ,episcopalian4  ,of course1
 the proportion which ,catholic  wealth 
bears to ,protestant wealth is every    
year altering rapidly in  favour of the 
,catholics4  ,i have already told you   
what their purchases of  land were the  
last year3 since that period ,i have    
been at some pains to  find out the     
actual state of the ,catholic wealth3 it
 is impossible upon  such a subject to  
arrive at complete accuracy2 but ,i have
 good reason to  believe that there are 
at present #b1jjj ,catholics in         
,ireland1 possessing  an income of #ejj 
and upwards1 many of these with incomes 
of one1 two1  three1 and four thousand1 
and some amounting to fifteen and twenty

  thousand per annum3--and this is the  
kingdom1 and these the people1 for      
whose conciliation we are to wait       
,heaven knows when1 and ,lord           
,hawkesbury  why6  ,as for me1 ,i never 
think of the situation of ,ireland      
without  feeling the same necessity for 
immediate interference as ,i should do  
if ,i  saw blood flowing from a great   
artery4  ,i rush towards it with the    
instinctive rapidity of a man desirous  
of preventing death1 and have no  other 
feeling but that in a few seconds the   
patient may be no more4    ,i could not 
help smiling1 in the times of ,no       
,popery1 to witness the loyal           
indignation of many persons at the      
attempt made by the last ministry to  do
 something for the relief of ,ireland4  
,the general cry in the country  was1   
that they would not see their beloved   
,monarch used ill in his old  age1 and  
that they would stand by him to the last
 drop of their blood4  ,i  respect good 
feelings1 however erroneous be the      

occasions on which they  display        
themselves2 and therefore ,i saw in all 
this as much to admire as  to blame4    
,it was a species of affection1 however1
 which reminded me very  forcibly of the
 attachment displayed by the servants of
 the ,russian  ambassador at the        
beginning of the last century4  ,his    
,excellency happened  to fall down in a 
kind of apoplectic fit1 when he was     
paying a morning  visit in the house of 
an acquaintance4  ,the confusion was of 
course very  great1 and messengers were 
despatched in every direction to find a 
surgeon3 who1 upon his arrival1 declared
 that his ,excellency must be           
immediately blooded1 and prepared       
himself forthwith to perform the        
operation3 the barbarous servants of the
 embassy1 who were there in great       
numbers1 no sooner saw the surgeon      
prepared to wound the arm of their      
master with a sharp1 shining instrument1
 than they drew their swords1 put       
themselves in an attitude of defence1   

and swore in pure ,sclavonic1 8that     
they would murder any man who attempted 
to do him the slightest injury3  he had 
been a very good master to them1 and    
they would not desert him in  his       
misfortunes1 or suffer his blood to be  
shed while he was off his  guard1 and   
incapable of defending himself40  ,by   
good fortune1 the  secretary arrived    
about this period of the dispute1 and   
his ,excellency1  relieved from         
superfluous blood and perilous          
affection1 was1 after much  difficulty1 
restored to life4    ,there is an       
argument brought forward with some      
appearance of plausibility  in the      
,house of ,commons1 which certainly     
merits an answer3 ,you know that  the   
,catholics now vote for members of      
parliament in ,ireland1 and that  they  
outnumber the ,protestants in a very    
great proportion2 if you allow          
,catholics to sit in parliament1        
religion will be found to influence     
votes  more than property1 and the      

greater part of the #ajj ,irish members 
who are  returned to parliament will be 
,catholics4  ,add to these the ,catholic
  members who are returned in ,england1 
and you will have a phalanx of          
heretical strength which every minister 
will be compelled to respect1 and       
occasionally to conciliate by           
concessions incompatible with the       
interests  of the ,protestant ,church4  
,the fact is1 however1 that you are at  
this  moment subjected to every danger  
of this kind which you can possibly     
apprehend hereafter4  ,if the spiritual 
interests of the voters are more        
powerful than their temporal interests1 
they can bind down their                
representatives to support any measures 
favourable to the ,catholic  religion1  
and they can change the objects of their
 choice till they have  found           
,protestant members 7as they easily may 
do7 perfectly obedient to  their wishes4
  ,if the superior possessions of the   
,protestants prevent the  ,catholics    

from uniting for a common political     
object1 then the danger you  fear cannot
 exist3 if zeal1 on the contrary1 gets  
the better of acres1  then the danger at
 present exists1 from the right of      
voting already given  to the ,catholics1
 and it will not be increased by        
allowing them to sit in  parliament4    
,there are1 as nearly as ,i can         
recollect1 thirty seats in  ,ireland for
 cities and counties1 where the         
,protestants are the most  numerous1 and
 where the members returned must of     
course be ,protestants4  ,in the other  
seventy representations the wealth of   
the ,protestants is  opposed to the     
number of the ,catholics2 and if all the
 seventy members  returned were of the  
,catholic persuasion1 they must still   
plot the  destruction of our religion in
 the midst of #ehh ,protestants4  ,such 
terrors would disgrace a cook-maid1 or a
 toothless aunt--when they fall  from   
the lips of bearded and senatorial men1 
they are nauseous1  antiperistaltic1 and

 emetical4    ,how can you for a moment 
doubt of the rapid effects which would  
be  produced by the emancipation8  ,in  
the first place1 to my certain          
knowledge the ,catholics have long since
 expressed to his ,majesty's  ,ministers
 their perfect readiness to vest in his 
,majesty1 either with  the consent of   
the ,pope1 or without it if it cannot be
 obtained1 the  nomination of the       
,catholic prelacy4  ,the ,catholic      
prelacy in ,ireland  consists of        
twenty-six bishops and the warden of    
,galway1 a dignitary  enjoying ,catholic
 jurisdiction4  ,the number of ,roman   
,catholic priests in  ,ireland exceeds  
one thousand4  ,the expenses of his     
peculiar worship are1  to a substantial 
farmer or mechanic1 five shillings per  
annum2 to a  labourer 7where he is not  
entirely excused7 one shilling per      
annum2 this  includes the contribution  
of the whole family1 and for this the   
priest is  bound to attend them when    
sick1 and to confess them when they     

apply to  him2 he is also to keep his   
chapel in order1 to celebrate divine    
service1  and to preach on ,sundays and 
holydays4    ,in the northern district a
 priest gains from #cj to #ej2 in the   
other  parts of ,ireland from #fj to #ij
 per annum4  ,the best paid ,catholic   
bishops receive about #djj per annum2   
the others from #cjj to #cej4  ,my  plan
 is very simple3 ,i would have #cjj     
,catholic parishes at #ajj per  annum1  
#cjj at #bjj per annum1 and #djj at #cjj
 per annum2 this1 for the  whole        
thousand parishes1 would amount to      
#aij1jjj4  ,to the prelacy ,i  would    
allot #bj1jjj in unequal proportions1   
from #a1jjj to #ejj2 and ,i  would      
appropriate #dj1jjj more for the support
 of ,catholic schools1 and  the repairs 
of ,catholic churches2 the whole amount 
of which sum is  #bej1jjj1 about the    
expense of three days of one of our     
genuine1 good  ,english just and        
necessary wars4  ,the clergy should all 
receive their  salaries at the ,bank of 

,ireland1 and ,i would place the whole  
patronage in  the hands of the ,crown4  
,now1 ,i appeal to any human being1     
except ,spencer  ,perceval1 ,esq41 of   
the parish of ,hampstead1 what the      
disaffection of a  clergy would amount  
to1 gaping after this graduated bounty  
of the ,crown1  and whether ,ignatius   
,loyala himself1 if he were a living    
blockhead  instead of a dead saint1     
could withstand the temptation of       
bouncing from  #ajj a year at ,sligo1 to
 #cjj in ,tipperary8  ,this is the      
miserable sum of  money for which the   
merchants and landowners and nobility of
 ,england are  exposing themselves to   
the tremendous peril of losing ,ireland4
  ,the  sinecure places of the ,roses   
and the ,percevals1 and the 8dear and   
near  relations10 put up to auction at  
thirty years' purchase1 would almost    
amount to the money4    ,i admit that   
nothing can be more reasonable than to  
expect that a  ,catholic priest should  
starve to death1 genteelly and          

pleasantly1 for the  good of the        
,protestant religion2 but is it equally 
reasonable to expect  that he should do 
so for the ,protestant pews1 and        
,protestant brick and  mortar8  ,on an  
,irish ,sabbath1 the bell of a neat     
parish church often  summons to church  
only the parson and an occasionally     
conforming clerk2  while1 two hundred   
yards off1 a thousand ,catholics are    
huddled together  in a miserable hovel1 
and pelted by all the storms of heaven4 
,can  anything be more distressing than 
to see a venerable man pouring forth    
sublime truths in tattered breeches1 and
 depending for his food upon the  little
 offal he gets from his parishioners8   
,i venerate a human being who  starves  
for his principles1 let them be what    
they may2 but starving for  anything is 
not at all to the taste of the          
honourable flagellants3 strict          
principles1 and good pay1 is the motto  
of ,mr4 ,perceval3 the one he keeps  in 
great measure for the faults of his     

enemies1 the other for himself4         
,there are parishes in ,connaught in    
which a ,protestant was never settled   
nor even seen4  ,in that province in    
,munster1 and in parts of ,leinster1    
the entire peasantry for sixty miles are
 ,catholics2 in these tracts the        
churches are frequently shut for want of
 a congregation1 or opened to an        
assemblage of from six to twenty        
persons4  ,of what ,protestants there   
are  in ,ireland1 the greatest part are 
gathered together in ,ulster1 or they   
live in towns4  ,in the country of the  
other three provinces the ,catholics    
see no other religion but their own1 and
 are at the least as fifteen to  one    
,protestant4  ,in the diocese of ,tuam  
they are sixty to one2 in the  parish of
 ,st4 ,mulins1 diocese of ,leghlin1     
there are four thousand  ,catholics and 
one ,protestant2 in the town of         
,grasgenamana1 in the county  of        
,kilkenny1 there are between four and   
five hundred ,catholic houses1 and      

three ,protestant houses4  ,in the      
parish of ,allen1 county ,kildare1 there
  is no ,protestant1 though it is very  
populous4  ,in the parish of ,arlesin1  
,queen's ,county1 the proportion is one 
hundred to one4  ,in the whole  county  
of ,kilkenny1 by actual enumeration1 it 
is seventeen to one2 in the  diocese of 
,kilmacduagh1 province of ,connaught1   
fifty-two to one1 by  ditto4  ,these ,i 
give you as a few specimens of the      
present state of  ,ireland2 and yet     
there are men impudent and ignorant     
enough to contend  that such evils      
require no remedy1 and that mild family 
man who dwelleth  in ,hampstead can find
 none but the cautery and the knife4    
--8,omne per ignem      ,excoquitur     
vitium40    ,i cannot describe the      
horror and disgust which ,i felt at     
hearing ,mr4  ,perceval call upon the   
then ,ministry for measures of vigour in
 ,ireland4  ,if ,i lived at ,hampstead  
upon stewed meats and claret2 if ,i     
walked to  church every ,sunday before  

eleven young gentlemen of my own        
begetting1  with their faces washed1 and
 their hair pleasingly combed2 if the   
,almighty had blessed me with every     
earthly comfort--how awfully would ,i   
pause before ,i sent forth the flame and
 the sword over the cabins of the  poor1
 brave1 generous1 open-hearted peasants 
of ,ireland6  ,how easy it is  to shed  
human blood2 how easy it is to persuade 
ourselves that it is our  duty to do so1
 and that the decision has cost us a    
severe struggle2 how  much in all ages  
have wounds and shrieks and tears been  
the cheap and  vulgar resources of the  
rulers of mankind2 how difficult and how
 noble it  is to govern in kindness and 
to found an empire upon the everlasting 
basis of justice and affection6  ,but   
what do men call vigour8  ,to let  loose
 hussars and to bring up artillery1 to  
govern with lighted matches1  and to    
cut1 and push1 and prime2 ,i call this  
not vigour1 but the sloth  of cruelty   
and ignorance4  ,the vigour ,i love     

consists in finding out  wherein        
subjects are aggrieved1 in relieving    
them1 in studying the temper  and genius
 of a people1 in consulting their       
prejudices1 in selecting  proper persons
 to lead and manage them1 in the        
laborious1 watchful1 and  difficult task
 of increasing public happiness by      
allaying each particular  discontent4   
,in this way ,hoche pacified ,la        
,vende--and in this way only  will      
,ireland ever be subdued4  ,but this1 in
 the eyes of ,mr4 ,perceval1 is         
imbecility and meanness4  ,houses are   
not broken open1 women are not          
insulted1 the people seem all to be     
happy2 they are not rode over by        
horses1 and cut by whips4  ,do you call 
this vigour8  ,is this government8      
,,letter ,x4  ,,and ,,last4      ,,you  
must observe that all ,i have said of   
the effects which will be  produced by  
giving salaries to the ,catholic clergy1
 only proceeds upon  the supposition    
that the emanciptaion of the laity is   

effected3--without  that1 ,i am sure    
there is not a clergyman in ,ireland who
 would receive a  shilling from         
government2 he could not do so1 without 
an entire loss of  credit among the     
members of his own persuasion4    ,what 
you say of the moderation of the ,irish 
,protestant clergy in  collecting       
tithes1 is1 ,i believe1 strictly true4  
,instead of collecting  what the law    
enables them to collect1 ,i believe they
 seldom or ever  collect more than      
two-thirds2 and ,i entirely agree with  
you1 that the  abolition of agistment   
tithe in ,ireland by a vote of the      
,irish ,house of  ,commons1 and without 
any remuneration to the ,church1 was a  
most  scandalous and ,jacobinical       
measure4  ,i do not blame the ,irish    
clergy2 but  ,i submit to your common   
sense1 if it be possible to explain to  
an ,irish  peasant upon what principle  
of justice1 or common sense1 he is to   
pay  every tenth potato in his little   
garden to a clergyman in whose religion 

nobody believes for twenty miles around 
him1 and who has nothing to  preach to  
but bare walls8  ,it is true1 if the    
tithes are bought up1 the  cottager must
 pay more rent to his landlord2 but the 
same thing done in  the shape of rent is
 less odious than when it is done in the
 shape of  tithe4  ,i do not want to    
take a shilling out of the pockets of   
the  clergy1 but to leave the substance 
of things1 and to change their names4   
,i cannot see the slightest reason why  
the ,irish labourer is to be  relieved  
from the real onus1 or from anything    
else but the name of tithe4  ,at present
 he rents only nine-tenths of the       
produce of the land1 which is  all that 
belongs to the owner2 this he has at the
 market price2 if the  landowner        
purchase the other tenth of the ,church1
 of course he has a  right to make a    
correspondent advance upon his tenant4  
,i very much doubt1 if you were to lay  
open all civil offices to the           
,catholics1 and to grant salaries to    

their clergy1 in the manner ,i have     
stated1 if the ,catholic laity would    
give themselves much trouble about  the 
advance of their ,church2 for they would
 pay the same tithes under one  system  
that they do under another4  ,if you    
were to bring the ,catholics  into the  
daylight of the world1 to the high      
situations of the army1 the  navy1 and  
the bar1 numbers of them would come over
 to the ,established  ,church1 and do as
 other people do2 instead of that1 you  
set a mark of  infamy upon them1 rouse  
every passion of our nature in favour of
 their  creed1 and then wonder that men 
are blind to the follies of the         
,catholic  religion4  ,there are hardly 
any instances of old and rich families  
among  the ,protestant ,dissenters3 when
 a man keeps a coach1 and lives in good 
company1 he comes to church1 and gets   
ashamed of the meeting-house2 if  this  
is not the case with the father1 it is  
almost always the case with  the son4   
,these things would never be so if the  

,dissenters were in  practice as much   
excluded from all the concerns of civil 
life as the  ,catholics are4  ,if a rich
 young ,catholic were in ,parliament1 he
 would  belong to ,white's and to       
,brookes's1 would keep race-horses1     
would walk up  and down ,pall ,mall1 be 
exonerated of his ready money and his   
constitution1 become as totally devoid  
of morality1 honesty1 knowledge1  and   
civility as ,protestant loungers in     
,pall ,mall1 and return home with a     
supreme contempt for ,father ,o',leary  
and ,father ,o',callaghan4  ,i am       
astonished at the madness of the        
,catholic clergy in not perceiving that 
,catholic emancipation is ,catholic     
infidelity2 that to entangle their      
people in the intrigues of a ,protestant
 parliament1 and a ,protestant  court1  
is to ensure the loss of every man of   
fashion and consequence in  their       
community4  ,the true receipt for       
preserving their religion1 is ,mr4      
,perceval's receipt for destroying it3  

it is to deprive every rich  ,catholic  
of all the objects of secular ambition1 
to separate him from the  ,protestant1  
and to shut him up in his castle with   
priests and relics4    ,we are told1 in 
answer to all our arguments1 that this  
is not a fit  period--that a period of  
universal war is not the proper time for
  dangerous innovations in the          
constitution3 this is as much as to say1
  that the worst time for making friends
 is the period when you have made  many 
enemies2 that it is the greatest of all 
errors to stop when you are  breathless1
 and to lie down when you are fatigued4 
,of one thing ,i am  quite certain3 if  
the safety of ,europe is once completely
 restored1 the  ,catholics may for ever 
bid adieu to the slightest probability  
of  effecting their object4  ,such men  
as hang about a court not only are deaf 
to the suggestions of mere justice1 but 
they despise justice2 they detest  the  
word right2 the only word which rouses  
them is peril2 where they  can oppress  

with impunity1 they oppress for ever1   
and call it loyalty and  wisdom4    ,i  
am so far from conceiving the legitimate
 strength of the ,crown would be        
diminished by these abolitions of civil 
incapacities in consequence of          
religious opinions1 that my only        
objection to the increase of religious  
freedom is1 that it would operate as a  
diminution of political freedom2  the   
power of the ,crown is so overbearing at
 this period1 that almost the  only     
steady opposers of its fatal influence  
are men disgusted by  religious         
intolerance4  ,our establishments are so
 enormous1 and so  utterly              
disproportioned to our population1 that 
every second or third man  you meet in  
society gains something from the public2
 my brother the  commissioner1--my      
nephew the police justice1--purveyor of 
small beer to the  army in              
,ireland1--clerk of the mouth1--yeoman  
to the left hand1--these are  the       
obstacles which common sense and justice

 have now to overcome4  ,add  to this   
that the ,king1 old and infirm1 excites 
a principle of very  amiable generosity 
in his favour2 that he has led a good1  
moral1 and  religious life1 equally     
removed from profligacy and             
methodistical  hypocrisy2 that he has   
been a good husband1 a good father1 and 
a good  master2 that he dresses plain1  
loves hunting and farming1 fates the    
,french1 and is in all his opinions and 
habits1 quite ,english3--these  feelings
 are heightened by the present situation
 of the world1 and the  yet unexploded  
clamour of ,jacobinism4  ,in short1 from
 the various sources  of interest1      
personal regard1 and national taste1    
such a tempest of  loyalty has set in   
upon the people that the #dgth          
proposition in ,euclid  might now be    
voted down with as much ease as any     
proposition in politics2  and therefore 
if ,lord ,hawkesbury hates the abstract 
truths of science as  much as he hates  
concrete truth in human affairs1 now is 

his time for  getting rid of the        
multiplication table1 and passing a vote
 of censure  upon the pretensions of the
 hypotenuse4  ,such is the history of   
,english  parties at this moment3 you   
cannot seriously suppose that the people
 care  for such men as ,lord            
,hawkesbury1 ,mr4 ,canning1 and ,mr4    
,perceval on their  own account2 you    
cannot really believe them to be so     
degraded as to look  to their safety    
from a man who proposes to subdue       
,europe by keeping it  without ,jesuit's
 ,bark4  ,the people at present have one
 passion1 and but  one--        8,a     
,jove principium1 ,jovis omnia plena40  
,they care no more for the ministers ,i 
have mentioned1 than they do for  those 
sturdy royalists who for #fj per annum  
stand behind his ,majesty's  carriage1  
arrayed in scarlet and in gold4  ,if the
 present ministers  opposed the ,court  
instead of flattering it1 they would not
 command twenty  votes4    ,do not      
imagine by these observations that ,i am

 not loyal2 without joining  in the     
common cant of the best of kings1 ,i    
respect the ,king most  sincerely as a  
good man4  ,his religion is better than 
the religion of ,mr4  ,perceval1 his old
 morality very superior to the old      
morality of ,mr4  ,canning1 and ,i am   
quite certain he has a safer            
understanding than both of  them put    
together4  ,loyalty within the bounds of
 reason and moderation is  one of the   
great instruments of human happiness2   
but the love of the king  may easily    
become more strong than the love of the 
kingdom1 and we may  lose sight of the  
public welfare in our exaggerated       
admiration of him who  is appointed to  
reign only for its promotion and        
support4  ,i detest  ,jacobinism2 and if
 ,i am doomed to be a slave at all1 ,i  
would rather be  the slave of a king    
than a cobbler4  ,god save the ,king1   
you say1 warms  your heart like the     
sound of a trumpet4  ,i cannot make use 
of so violent  a metaphor2 but ,i am    

delighted to hear it1 when it is the cry
 of genuine  affection2 ,i am delighted 
to hear it when they hail not only the  
individual man1 but the outward and     
living sign of all ,english blessings4  
,these are noble feelings1 and the heart
 of every good man must go with  them2  
but ,god save the ,king1 in these times1
 too often means ,god save my  pension  
and my place1 ,god give my sisters an   
allowance out of the privy  purse--make 
me clerk of the irons1 let me survey the
 meltings1 let me live  upon the fruits 
of other men's industry1 and fatten upon
 the plunder of  the public4    ,what is
 it possible to say to such a man as the
 ,gentleman of ,hampstead1  who really  
believes it feasible to convert the four
 million ,irish  ,catholics to the      
,protestant religion1 and considers this
 as the best  remedy for the disturbed  
state of ,ireland8  ,it is not possible 
to answer  such a man with arguments2 we
 must come out against him with beads   
and a  cowl1 and push him into an       

hermitage4  ,it is really such trash1   
that it  is an abuse of the privilege of
 reasoning to reply to it4  ,such a     
project  is well worthy the statesman   
who would bring the ,french to reason by
  keeping them without rhubarb1 and     
exhibit to mankind the awful spectacle  
of a nation deprived of neutral salts4  
,this is not the dream of a wild        
apothecary indulging in his own opium2  
this is not the distempered fancy  of a 
pounder of drugs1 delirious from        
smallness of profits2 but it is the     
sober1 deliberate1 and systematic scheme
 of a man to whom the public  safety is 
intrusted1 and whose appointment is     
considered by many as a  masterpiece of 
political sagacity4  ,what a sublime    
thought1 that no purge  can now be taken
 between the ,weser and the ,garonne2   
that the bustling  pestle is still1 the 
canorous mortar mute1 and the bowels of 
mankind  locked up for fourteen degrees 
of latitude6  ,when1 ,i should be       
curious to  know1 were all the powers of

 crudity and flatulence fully explained 
to  his ,majesty's ministers8  ,at what 
period was this great plan of conquest  
and constipation fully developed8  ,in  
whose mind was the idea of  destroying  
the pride and the plasters of ,france   
first engendered8  ,without castor oil  
they might for some months1 to be sure1 
have carried  on a lingering war6 but   
can they do without bark8  ,will the    
people live  under a government where   
antimonial powders cannot be procured8  
,will  they bear the loss of mercury8   
8,there's the rub40  ,depend upon it1   
the  absence of the materia medica will 
soon bring them to their senses1 and    
the cry of ,bourbon and bolus burst     
forth from the ,baltic to the           
,mediterranean4    ,you ask me for any  
precedent in our history where the oath 
of supremacy  has been dispensed with4  
,it was dispensed with to the ,catholics
 of  ,canada in #aggd4  ,they are only  
required to take a simple oath of       
allegiance4  ,the same1 ,i believe1 was 

the case in ,corsica4  ,the reason of   
such exemption was obvious2 you could   
not possibly have retained either  of   
these countries without it4  ,and what  
did it signify1 whether you  retained   
them or not8  ,in cases where you might 
have been foolish without  peril you    
were wise2 when nonsense and bigotry    
threaten you with  destruction1 it is   
impossible to bring you back to the     
alphabet of  justice and common sense4  
,if men are to be fools1 ,i would rather
 they  were fools in little matters than
 in great2 dulness turned up with       
temerity is a livery all the worse for  
the facings2 and the most  tremendous of
 all things is the magnanimity of the   
dunce4    ,it is not by any means       
necessary1 as you contend1 to repeal the
 ,test ,act  if you give relief to the  
,catholic3 what the ,catholics ask for  
is to be  put on a footing with the     
,protestant ,dissenters1 which would be 
done by  repealing that part of the law 
which compels them to take the oath of  

supremacy and to make the declaration   
against transubstantiation3 they  would 
then come into ,parliament as all other 
,dissenters are allowed to  do1 and the 
penal laws to which they were exposed   
for taking office would  be suspended   
every year1 as they have been for this  
half century past  towards ,protestant  
,dissenters4  ,perhaps1 after all1 this 
is the best  method--to continue the    
persecuting law1 and to suspend it every
 year--a  method which1 while it        
effectually destroys the persecution    
itself1  leaves to the great mass of    
mankind the exquisite gratification of  
supposing that they are enjoying some   
advantage from which a particular  class
 of their fellow creatures are excluded4
  ,we manage the ,corporation  and ,test
 ,acts at present much in the same      
manner as if we were to  persuade parish
 boys who had been in the habit of      
beating an ass to spare  the animal1 and
 beat the skin of an ass stuffed with   
straw2 this would  preserve the         

semblance of tormenting without the     
reality1 and keep boy  and beast in good
 humour4    ,how can you imagine that a 
provision for the ,catholic clergy      
affects the  #eth article of the ,union8
  ,surely ,i am preserving the          
,protestant ,church  in ,ireland if ,i  
put it in a better condition than that  
in which it now  is4  ,a tithe proctor  
in ,ireland collects his tithes with a  
blunderbuss1  and carries his tenth     
hay-cock by storm1 sword in hand3 to    
give him equal  value in a more pacific 
shape cannot1 ,i should imagine1 be     
considered as  injurious to the ,church 
of ,ireland2 and what right has that    
,church to  complain if ,parliament     
chooses to fix upon the empire the      
burden of  supporting a double          
ecclesiastical establishment8  ,are the 
revenues of  the ,irish ,protestant     
clergy in the slightest degree injured  
by such  provision8  ,on the contrary1  
is it possible to confer a more serious 
benefit upon that ,church than by       

quieting and contenting those who are at
  work for its destruction8    ,it is   
impossible to think of the affairs of   
,ireland without being  forcibly struck 
with the parallel of ,hungary4  ,of her 
seven millions of  inhabitants1 one half
 were ,protestants1 ,calvinists1 and    
,lutherans1 many  of the ,greek ,church1
 and many ,jews3 such was the state of  
their religious  dissensions that       
,mahomet had often been called in to the
 aid of ,calvin1  and the crescent often
 glittered on the walls of ,buda and    
,presburg4  ,at  last1 in #agia1 during 
the most violent crisis of disturbance1 
a ,diet was  called1 and by a great     
majority of voices a decree was passed1 
which  secured to all the contending    
sects the fullest and freest exercise of
  religious worship and education2      
ordained--let it be heard in            
,hampstead--that churches and chapels   
should be erected for all on the most   
perfectly equal terms2 that the         
,protestants of both confessions should 

depend upon their spiritual superiors   
alone2 liberated them from swearing  by 
the usual oath1 8the ,holy ,virgin      
,mary1 the saints1 and chosen of ,god20 
and then the decree adds1 8that public  
offices and honours1 high or  low1 great
 or small1 shall be given to            
natural-born ,hungarians who  deserve   
well of their country1 and possess the  
other qualifications1  let their        
religion be what it may40  ,such was the
 line of policy  pursued in a ,diet     
consisting of four hundred members1 in a
 state whose  form of government        
approaches nearer to our own than any   
other1 having a  ,roman ,catholic       
establishment of great wealth and power1
 and under the  influence of one of the 
most bigoted ,catholic ,courts in       
,europe4  ,this  measure has now the    
experience of eighteen years in its     
favour2 it has  undergone a trial of    
fourteen years of revolution such as the
 world never  witnessed1 and more than  
equal to a century less convulsed3 ,what

 have  been its effects8  ,when the     
,french advanced like a torrent within a
 few  days' march of ,vienna1 the       
,hungarians rose in a mass2 they formed 
what  they called the sacred            
insurrection1 to defend their sovereign1
 their  rights and liberties1 now common
 to all2 and the apprehension of their  
approach dictated to the reluctant      
,bonaparte the immediate signature of   
the treaty of ,leoben4  ,the ,romish    
hierarchy of ,hungary exists in all  its
 former splendour and opulence2 never   
has the slightest attempt been  made to 
diminish it2 and those revolutionary    
principles1 to which so  large a portion
 of civilised ,europe has been          
sacrificed1 have here failed  in making 
the smallest successful inroad4    ,the 
whole history of this proceeding of the 
,hungarian ,diet is so  extraordinary1  
and such an admirable comment upon the  
,protestantism of  ,mr4 ,spencer        
,perceval1 that ,i must compel you to   
read a few short extracts  from the law 

itself3--8,the ,protestants of both     
confessions shall1 in  religious        
matters1 depend upon their own spiritual
 superiors alone4  ,the  ,protestants   
may likewise retain their trivial and   
grammar schools4  ,the  ,church dues    
which the ,protestants have hitherto    
paid to the ,catholic  parish priests1  
schoolmasters1 or other such officers1  
either in money1  productions1 or       
labour1 shall in future entirely cease1 
and after three  months from the        
publishing of this law1 be no more      
anywhere demanded4  ,in  the building or
 repairing of churches1                 
parsonage-houses1 and schools1 the      
,protestants are not obliged to assist  
the ,catholics with labour1 nor the     
,catholics the ,protestants4  ,the pious
 foundations and donations of the       
,protestants which already exist1 or    
which in future may be made for their   
churches1 ministers1 schools and        
students1 hospitals1 orphan houses1 and 
poor1 cannot be taken from them under   

any pretext1 nor yet the care of  them2 
but rather the unimpeded administration 
shall be intrusted to those  from among 
them to whom it legally belongs1 and    
those foundations which  may have been  
taken from them under the last          
government shall be returned  to them   
without delay4  ,all affairs of marriage
 of the ,protestants are  left to their 
own consistories2 all landlords and     
masters of families1  under the penalty 
of public prosecution1 are ordered not  
to prevent their  subjects and servants1
 whether they be ,catholic or           
,protestant1 from the  observance of the
 festivals and ceremonies of their      
religion10 etc4 etc4  etc4--,by what    
strange chances are mankind influenced6 
,a little ,catholic  barrister of       
,vienna might have raised the cry of ,no
 ,protestantism1 and  ,hungary would    
have panted for the arrival of a ,french
 army as much as  ,ireland does at this 
moment2 arms would have been searched   
for2 ,lutheran  and ,calvinist houses   

entered in the dead of the night2 and   
the strength  of ,austria exhausted in  
guarding a country from which1 under the
 present  liberal system1 she may expect
 in the moment of danger the most       
powerful  aid3 and let it be remembered 
that this memorable example of political
  wisdom took place at a period when    
many great monarchies were yet          
unconquered in ,europe2 in a country    
where the two religious parties were    
equal in number2 and where it is        
impossible to suppose indifference in   
the party which relinquished its        
exclusive privileges4  ,under all these 
circumstances the measure was carried in
 the ,hungarian ,diet by a majority  of 
#bhj to #abj4  ,in a few weeks we shall 
see every concession denied to  the     
,catholics by a much larger majority of 
,protestants1 at a moment when  every   
other power is subjugated but ourselves1
 and in a country where the  oppressed  
are four times as numerous as their     
oppressors4  ,so much for  the wisdom of

 our ancestors--so much for the         
nineteenth century--so much  for the    
superiority of the ,english over all the
 nations of the ,continent4    ,are you 
not sensible1 let me ask you1 of the    
absurdity of trusting the  lowest       
,catholics with offices correspondent to
 their situation in life1  and of       
denying such privileges to the higher4  
,a ,catholic may serve in  the militia1 
but a ,catholic cannot come into        
,parliament2 in the latter  case you    
suspect combination1 and in the former  
case you suspect no  combination2 you   
deliberately arm ten or twenty thousand 
of the lowest of  the ,catholic people2 
and the moment you come to a class of   
men whose  education1 honour1 and       
talents seem to render all mischief less
 probable1  then you see the danger of  
employing a ,catholic1 and cling to your
  investigating tests and disabling     
laws4  ,if you tell me you have enough  
of members of ,parliament and not enough
 of militia without the ,catholics1  ,i 

beg leave to remind you that1 by        
employing the physical force of any     
sect at the same time when you leave    
them in a state of utter  disaffection1 
you are not adding strength to your     
armies1 but weakness  and ruin4  ,if you
 want the vigour of their common people1
 you must not  disgrace their nobility  
and insult their priesthood4    ,i      
thought that the terror of the ,pope had
 been confined to the limits of  the    
nursery1 and merely employed as a means 
to induce young master to  enter into   
his small-clothes with greater speed and
 to eat his breakfast  with greater     
attention to decorum4  ,for these       
purposes the name of the  ,pope is      
admirable2 but why push it beyond8  ,why
 not leave to ,lord  ,hawkesbury all    
further enumeration of the ,pope's      
powers8  ,for a whole  century you have 
been exposed to the enmity of ,france1  
and your  succession was disputed in two
 rebellions3 what could the ,pope do at 
the  period when there was a serious    

struggle whether ,england should be     
,protestant or ,catholic1 and when the  
issue was completely doubtful8  ,could  
the ,pope induce the ,irish to rise in  
#agae8  ,could he induce them to  rise  
in #agde8  ,you had no ,catholic enemy  
when half this island was in  arms2 and 
what did the ,pope attempt in the last  
rebellion in ,ireland8  ,but if he had  
as much power over the minds of the     
,irish as ,mr4  ,wilberforce has over   
the mind of a young ,methodist converted
 the  preceding quarter1 is this a      
reason why we are to disgust men who may
 be  acted upon in such a manner by a   
foreign power8 or is it not an          
additional reason why we should raise up
 every barrier of affection and         
kindness against the mischief of foreign
 influence8  ,but the true answer  is1  
the mischief does not exist4  ,gog and  
,magog have produced as much  influence 
upon human affairs as the ,pope has done
 for this half century  past2 and by    
spoiling him of his possessions1 and    

degrading him in the  eyes of all       
,europe1 ,bonaparte has not taken quite 
the proper method of  increasing his    
influence4    ,but why not a ,catholic  
king as well as a ,catholic member of   
,parliament1  or of the                 
,cabinet8--,because it is probable that 
the one would be  mischievous and the   
other not4  ,a ,catholic king might     
struggle against  the ,protestantism of 
the country1 and if the struggle were   
not successful  it would at least be    
dangerous2 but the efforts of any other 
,catholic  would be quite insignificant1
 and his hope of success so small1 that 
it  is quite improbable the effort would
 ever be made3 my argument is1 that  in 
so ,protestant a country as ,great      
,britain1 the character of her          
parliaments and her cabinet could not be
 changed by the few ,catholics who      
would ever find their way to the one or 
the other4  ,but the power of the       
,crown is immeasurably greater than the 
power which the ,catholics could  obtain

 from any other species of authority in 
the state2 and it does not  follow      
because the lesser degree of power is   
innocent that the greater  should be so 
too4  ,as for the stress you lay upon   
the danger of a  ,catholic chancellor1  
,i have not the least hesitation in     
saying that his  appointment would not  
do a ten thousandth part of the mischief
 to the  ,english ,church that might be 
done by a ,methodistical chancellor of  
the  true ,clapham breed2 and ,i request
 to know if it is really so very        
necessary that a chancellor should be of
 the religion of the ,church of         
,england1 how many chancellors you have 
had within the last century who  have   
been bred up in the ,presbyterian       
religion8  ,and again1 how many you     
have had who notoriously have been      
without any religion at all8    ,why are
 you to suppose that eligibility and    
election are the same thing1  and that  
all the cabinet will be ,catholics      
whenever all the cabinet  may be        

,catholics8  ,you have a right1 you say1
 to suppose an extreme  case1 and to    
argue upon it--so have ,i3 and ,i will  
suppose that the hundred  ,irish members
 will one day come down in a body and   
pass a law compelling  the ,king to     
reside in ,dublin4  ,i will suppose that
 the ,scotch members1 by  a similar     
stratagem1 will lay ,england under a    
large contribution of meal  and sulphur3
 no measure is without objection if you 
sweep the whole  horizon for danger2 it 
is not sufficient to tell me of what may
 happen1  but you must show me a        
rational probability that it will       
happen3 after  all1 ,i might1 contrary  
to my real opinion1 admit all your      
dangers to  exist2 it is enough for me  
to contend that all other dangers taken 
together are not equal to the danger of 
losing ,ireland from disaffection  and  
invasion4    ,i am astonished to see    
you1 and many good and well-meaning     
clergymen  beside you1 painting the     
,catholics in such detestable colours2  

two-thirds1 at least1 of ,europe are    
,catholics--they are ,christians1 though
  mistaken ,christians2 how can ,i      
possibly admit that any sect of         
,christians1 and1 above all1 that the   
oldest and the most numerous sect of    
,christians are incapable of fulfilling 
the common duties and relations of      
life3 though ,i do differ from them in  
many particulars1 ,god forbid ,i  should
 give such a handle to infidelity1 and  
subscribe to such blasphemy  against our
 common religion8    ,do you think      
mankind never change their opinions     
without formally  expressing and        
confessing that change8  ,when you quote
 the decisions of  ancient ,catholic    
councils1 are you prepared to defend all
 the decrees of  ,english convocations  
and universities since the reign of     
,queen ,elizabeth8  ,i could soon make  
you sick of your uncandid industry      
against the  ,catholics1 and bring you  
to allow that it is better to forget    
times past1  and to judge and be judged 

by present opinions and present         
practice4    ,i must beg to be excused  
from explaining and refuting all the    
mistakes  about the ,catholics made by  
my ,lord ,redesdale2 and ,i must do that
  nobleman the justice to say1 that he  
has been treated with great  disrespect4
  ,could anything be more indecent than 
to make it a morning  lounge in ,dublin 
to call upon his ,lordship1 and to cram 
him with  ,arabian-night stories about  
the ,catholics8  ,is this proper        
behaviour to  the representative of     
,majesty1 the child of ,themis1 and the 
keeper of the  conscience in ,west      
,britain8  ,whoever reads the ,letters  
of the ,catholic  ,bishops1 in the      
appendix to ,sir ,john ,hippesly's very 
sensible book1 will  see to what an     
excess this practice must have been     
carried with the  pleasing and          
,protestant nobleman whose name ,i have 
mentioned1 and from  thence ,i wish you 
to receive your answer about            
excommunication1 and all  the trash     

which is talked against the ,catholics4 
,a sort of notion has1 by some means or 
another1 crept into the world that      
difference of religion would render men 
unfit to perform together the  offices  
of common and civil life3 that ,brother 
,wood and ,brother ,grose  could not    
travel together the same circuit if they
 differed in creed1 nor  ,cockell and   
,mingay be engaged in the same cause1 if
 ,cockell was a  ,catholic and ,mingay a
 ,muggletonian4  ,it is supposed that   
,huskisson and  ,sir ,harry ,englefield 
would squabble behind the ,speaker's    
chair about the  council of ,lateran1   
and many a turnpike bill miscarry by the
 sarcastical  controversies of ,mr4     
,hawkins ,brown and ,sir ,john          
,throckmorton upon the  real presence4  
,i wish ,i could see some of these      
symptoms of earnestness  upon the       
subject of religion2 but it really seems
 to me that1 in the  present state of   
society1 men no more think about        
inquiring concerning  each other's faith

 than they do concerning the colour of  
each other's  skins4  ,there may have   
been times in ,england when the quarter 
sessions  would have been disturbed by  
theological polemics2 but now1 after a  
,catholic justice had once been seen on 
the bench1 and it had been clearly      
ascertained that he spoke ,english1 had 
no tail1 only a single row of  teeth1   
and that he loved port wine--after all  
the scandalous and infamous  reports of 
his physical conformation had been      
clearly proved to be  false--he would be
 reckoned a jolly fellow1 and very      
superior in flavour  to a sly           
,presbyterian4  ,nothing1 in fact1 can  
be more uncandid and  unphilosophical   
than to say that a man has a tail1      
because you cannot  agree within him    
upon religious subjects2 it appears to  
be ludicrous3 but  ,i am convinced it   
has done infinite mischief to the       
,catholics1 and made a  very serious    
impression upon the minds of many       
gentlemen of large landed  property4    

,in talking of the impossibility of     
,catholic and ,protestant living        
together with equal privilege under the 
same government1 do you forget  the     
,cantons of ,switzerland8  ,you might   
have seen there a ,protestant           
congregation going into a church which  
had just been quitted by a  ,catholic   
congregation2 and ,i will venture to say
 that the ,swiss ,catholics  were more  
bigoted to their religion than any      
people in the whole world4  ,did the    
kings of ,prussia ever refuse to employ 
a ,catholic8  ,would  ,frederick the    
,great have rejected an able man on this
 account8  ,we have  seen ,prince       
,czartorinski1 a ,catholic ,secretary of
 ,state in ,russia2 in  former times a  
,greek patriarch and an apostolic vicar 
acted together in  the most perfect     
harmony in ,venice2 and we have seen the
 ,emperor of  ,germany in modern times  
intrusting the care of his person and   
the command  of his guard to a          
,protestant ,prince1 ,frederick of      

,wittenberg4  ,but what  are all these  
things to ,mr4 ,perceval8  ,he has      
looked at human nature from  the top of 
,hampstead ,hill1 and has not a thought 
beyond the little sphere  of his own    
vision4  8,the snail10 say the ,hindoos1
 8sees nothing but his  own shell1 and  
thinks it the grandest palace in the    
universe40    ,i now take a final leave 
of this subject of ,ireland2 the only   
difficulty  in discussing it is a want  
of resistance1 a want of something      
difficult  to unravel1 and something    
dark to illumine4  ,to agitate such a   
question  is to beat the air with a     
club1 and cut down gnats with a         
scimitar2 it is  a prostitution of      
industry1 and a waste of strength4  ,if 
a man say1 ,i  have a good place1 and ,i
 do not choose to lose it1 this mode of 
arguing  upon the ,catholic question ,i 
can well understand2 but that any human 
being with an understanding two degrees 
elevated above that of an  ,anabaptist  
preacher1 should conscientiously contend

 for the expediency  and propriety of   
leaving the ,irish ,catholics in their  
present state1 and  of subjecting us to 
such tremendous peril in the present    
condition of the  world1 it is utterly  
out of my power to conceive4  ,such a   
measure as the  ,catholic question is   
entirely beyond the common game of      
politics2 it is a  measure in which all 
parties ought to acquiesce1 in order to 
preserve the  place where and the stake 
for which they play4  ,if ,ireland is   
gone1 where  are jobs8 where are        
reversions8 where is my brother ,lord   
,arden8 where are  my dear and near     
relations8  ,the game is up1 and the    
,speaker of the house  of ,commons will 
be sent as a present to the menagerie at
 ,paris4  ,we talk  of waiting from     
particular considerations1 as if        
centuries of joy and  prosperity were   
before us3 in the next ten years our    
fate must be  decided2 we shall know1   
long before that period1 whether we can 
bear up  against the miseries by which  

we are threatened or not2 and yet1 in   
the  very midst of our crisis1 we are   
enjoined to abstain from the most       
certain means of increasing our         
strength1 and advised to wait for the   
remedy till the disease is removed by   
death or health4  ,and now1 instead  of 
the plain and manly policy of increasing
 unanimity at home1 by  equalising      
rights and privileges1 what is the      
ignorant1 arrogant1 and  wicked system  
which has been pursued8  ,such a career 
of madness and of  folly was1 ,i        
believe1 never run in so short a period4
  ,the vigour of the  ministry is like  
the vigour of a grave-digger--the tomb  
becomes more ready  and more wide for   
every effort which they make4  ,there is
 nothing which  it is worth while either
 to take or to retain1 and a constant   
train of  ruinous expeditions have been 
kept up4  ,every ,englishman felt proud 
of  the integrity of his country2 the   
character of the country is lost for    
ever4  ,it is of the utmost consequence 

to a commercial people at war with  the 
greatest part of ,europe1 that there    
should be a free entry of  neutrals into
 the enemy's ports2 the neutrals who    
earned our manufactures  we have not    
only excluded1 but we have compelled    
them to declare war  against us4  ,it   
was our interest to make a good peace1  
or convince our  own people that it     
could not be obtained2 we have not made 
a peace1 and  we have convinced the     
people of nothing but of the arrogance  
of the  ,foreign ,secretary3 and all    
this has taken place in the short space 
of a  year1 because a ,king's ,bench    
barrister and a writer of epigrams1     
turned  into ,ministers of ,state1 were 
determined to show country gentlemen    
that  the late administration had no    
vigour4  ,in the meantime commerce      
stands  still1 manufactures perish1     
,ireland is more and more irritated1    
,india is  threatened1 fresh taxes are  
accumulated upon the wretched people1   
the war  is carried on without it being 

possible to conceive any one single     
object  which a rational being can      
propose to himself by its continuation2 
and in  the midst of this unparalleled  
insanity we are told that the ,continent
 is  to be reconquered by the want of   
rhubarb and plums4  ,a better spirit    
than  exists in the ,english people     
never existed in any people in the      
world3 it  has been misdirected1 and    
squandered upon party purposes in the   
most  degrading and scandalous manner2  
they have been led to believe that they 
were benefiting the commerce of ,england
 by destroying the commerce of          
,america1 that they were defending their
 ,sovereign by perpetuating the  bigoted
 oppression of their fellow-subjects2   
their rulers and their  guides have told
 them that they would equal the vigour  
of ,france by  equalling her atrocity2  
and they have gone on wasting that      
opulence1  patience1 and courage1 which1
 if husbanded by prudent and moderate   
counsels1 might have proved the         

salvation of mankind4  ,the same policy 
of  turning the good qualities of       
,englishmen to their own destruction1   
which  made ,mr4 ,pitt omnipotent1      
continues his power to those who        
resemble him  only in his vices2        
advantage is taken of the loyalty of    
,englishmen to  make them meanly        
submissive2 their piety is turned into  
persecution1  their courage into useless
 and obstinate contention2 they are     
plundered  because they are ready to    
pay1 and soothed into asinine stupidity 
because  they are full of virtuous      
patience4  ,if ,england must perish at  
last1 so  let it be3 that event is in   
the hands of ,god2 we must dry up our   
tears  and submit4  ,but that ,england  
should perish swindling and stealing2   
that  it should perish waging war       
against lazar houses and hospitals2 that
 it  should perish persecuting with     
monastic bigotry2 that it should calmly 
give itself up to be ruined by the      
flashy arrogance of one man1 and the    

narrow fanaticism of another2 these     
events are within the power of human    
beings1 and ,i did not think that the   
magnanimity of ,englishmen would ever   
stoop to such degradations4             
,longum ,vale6                          
,,peter ,,plymley4          ,,historical
 ,,apology ,,for ,,the ,,irish          
,,catholics4      ,historical ,apology  
for ,the ,irish ,catholics4  ,by        
,,william ,,parnell1  ,esquire4         
,fitzpatrick1 ,dublin4  #ahjg4          
99 99 99 99 99    ,,if ever a nation    
exhibited symptoms of downright madness1
 or utter  stupidity1 we conceive these 
symptoms may be easily recognised in the
  conduct of this country upon the      
,catholic question4  ,a man has a wound 
in  his great toe1 and a violent and    
perilous fever at the same time2 and he 
refuses to take the medicines for the   
fever because it will disconcert  the   
toe6  ,the mournful and folly-stricken  
blockhead forgets that his toe  cannot  
survive him2 that if he dies1 there can 

be no digital life apart  from him3 yet 
he lingers and fondles over this last   
part of his body1  soothing it madly    
with little plasters1 and anile         
fomentations1 while the  neglected fever
 rages in his entrails1 and burns away  
his whole life4  ,if  the comparatively 
little questions of ,establishment are  
all that this  country is capable of    
discussing or regarding1 for ,god's sake
 let us  remember that the foreign      
conquest1 which destroys all1 destroys  
this  beloved toe also4  ,pass over     
freedom1 industry1 and science--and look
  upon this great empire1 by which we   
are about to be swallowed up1 only as   
it affects the manner of collecting     
tithes1 and of reading the              
liturgy--still1 if all goes1 these must 
go too2 and even1 for their  interests1 
it is worth while to conciliate         
,ireland1 to avert the  hostility1 and  
to employ the strength of the ,catholic 
population4  ,we  plead the question as 
the sincerest friends to the            

,establishment2--as  wishing to it all  
the prosperity and duration its warmest 
advocates can  desire1--but remembering 
always what these advocates seem to     
forget1 that  the ,establishment cannot 
be threatened by any danger so great as 
the  perdition of the kingdom in which  
it is established4    ,we are truly glad
 to agree so entirely with ,mr4 ,parnell
 upon this great  question2 we admire   
his way of thinking1 and most cordially 
recommend his  work to the attention of 
the public4  ,the general conclusion    
which he  attempts to prove is this3    
that religious sentiment1 however       
perverted by  bigotry or fanaticism1 has
 always a tendency to moderation2 that  
it  seldom assumes any great portion of 
activity or enthusiasm1 except from     
novelty of opinion1 or from opposition1 
contumely1 and persecution1 when        
novelty ceases2 that a ,government has  
little to fear from any religious  sect1
 except while that sect is new4  ,give a
 ,government only time1 and1  provided  

it has the good sense to treat folly    
with forbearance1 it must  ultimately   
prevail4  ,when1 therefore1 a sect is   
found1 after a lapse of  years1 to be   
ill-disposed to the ,government1 we may 
be certain that  ,government has widened
 its separation by marked distinctions1 
roused its  resentment by contumely1 or 
supported its enthusiasm by persecution4
    ,the particular conclusion ,mr4     
,parnell attempts to prove is1 that the 
,catholic religion in ,ireland had sunk 
into torpor and inactivity1 till        
,government roused it with the lash3    
that even then1 from the respect and    
attachment which men are always inclined
 to show towards government1  there     
still remained a large body of loyal    
,catholics2 that these only  decreased  
in number from the rapid increase of    
persecution2 and that1  after all1 the  
effects which the resentment of the     
,roman ,catholics had in  creating      
rebellions had been very much           
exaggerated4    ,in support of these two

 conclusions1 ,mr4 ,parnell takes a     
survey of the  history of ,ireland1 from
 the conquest under ,henry to the       
rebellion under  ,charles ,i41 passing  
very rapidly over the period which      
preceded the  ,reformation1 and dwelling
 principally upon the various rebellions
 which  broke out in ,ireland between   
the ,reformation and the grand rebellion
 in  the reign of ,charles ,i4  ,the    
celebrated conquest of ,ireland by      
,henry ,,ii4  extended only to a very   
few counties in ,leinster2 nine-tenths  
of the  whole kingdom were left1 as he  
found them1 under the dominion of their 
native princes4  ,the influence of      
example was as strong in this as in     
most other instances2 and great numbers 
of the ,english settlers who came  over 
under various adventures resigned their 
pretensions to superior  civilisation1  
cast off their lower garments1 and      
lapsed into the nudity  and barbarism of
 the ,irish4  ,the limit which divided  
the possessions of  the ,english settler

 from those of the native ,irish was    
called the pale2  and the expressions of
 inhabitants within the pale1 and       
without the  pale1 were the terms by    
which the two nations were              
distinguished4  ,it is  almost          
superfluous to state1 that the most     
bloody and pernicious warfare  was      
carried on upon the borders--sometimes  
for something1 sometimes for            
nothing--most commonly for cows4  ,the  
,irish1 over whom the sovereigns of     
,england affected a sort of nominal     
dominion1 were entirely governed by     
their own laws1 and so very little      
connection had they with the justice  of
 the invading country1 that it was as   
lawful to kill an ,irishman as it  was  
to kill a badger or a fox4  ,the        
instances are innumerable1 where the    
defendant has pleaded that the deceased 
was an ,irishman1 and that  therefore   
defendant had a right to kill him--and  
upon the proof of  ,hibernicism1        
acquittal followed of course4    ,when  

the ,english army mustered in any great 
strength1 the ,irish  chieftains would  
do exterior homage to the ,english      
,crown2 and they very  frequently1 by   
this artifice1 averted from their       
country the miseries of  invasion3 but  
they remained completely unsubdued1 till
 the rebellion  which took place in the 
reign of ,queen ,elizabeth1 of which    
that politic  woman availed herself to  
the complete subjugation of ,ireland4   
,in  speaking of the ,irish about the   
reign of ,elizabeth or ,james ,i41 we   
must  not draw our comparisons from     
,england1 but from ,new ,zealand2 they  
were  not civilised men1 but savages2   
and if we reason about their conduct1 we
  must reason of them as savages4       
8,after reading every account of ,irish 
history10 says ,mr4 ,parnell1      8one 
great perplexity appears to remain3 ,how
 does it happen1 that1      from the    
first invasion of the ,english till the 
reign of ,james ,i41      ,ireland seems
 not to have made the smallest progress 

in civilisation      or wealth8         
8,that it was divided into a number of  
small principalities1 which      waged  
constant war on each other--or that the 
appointment of the      chieftains was  
elective--do not appear sufficient      
reasons1 although      these are the    
only ones assigned by those who have    
been at the      trouble of considering 
the subject3 neither are the            
confiscations of      property quite    
sufficient to account for the effect4   
,there have been      great             
confiscations in other countries1 and   
still they have      flourished2 the    
petty states of ,greece were quite      
analogous to the      chiefries1 as they
 were called1 in ,ireland2 and yet they 
seemed to      flourish almost in       
proportion to their dissensions4        
,poland felt the      bad effects of an 
elective monarchy more than any other   
country2 and      yet1 in point of      
civilisation1 it maintained a very      
respectable rank      among the nations 

of ,europe2 but ,ireland never1 for an  
instant1 made      any progress in      
improvement1 till the reign of ,james   
,i4        8,it is scarcely credible1   
that in a climate like that of ,ireland1
 and      at a period so far advanced in
 civilisation as the end of ,elizabeth's
      reign1 the greater part of the    
natives should go naked4  ,yet this is  
rendered certain by the testimony of an 
eye-witness1 ,fynes ,moryson4      #8,in
 the remote parts1' he says1 #8where the
 ,english laws and manners      are     
unknown1 the very chief of the ,irish1  
as well men as women1 go      naked in  
the winter time1 only having their privy
 parts covered with      a rag of linen1
 and their bodies with a loose mantle4  
,this ,i speak      of my own           
experience2 yet remember that a         
,bohemian baron coming out      of      
,scotland to us by the north parts of   
the wild ,irish1 told me in      great  
earnestness1 that he1 coming to the     
house of ,o',kane1 a great      lord    

amongst them1 was met at the door by    
sixteen women1 all naked1      excepting
 their loose mantles1 whereof eight or  
ten were very fair2      with which     
strange sight his eyes being dazzled1   
they led him into      the house1 and   
then sitting down by the fire1 with     
crossed legs1 like      tailors1 and so 
low as could not but offend chaste eyes1
 desired him      to sit down with them4
  ,soon after1 ,o',kane1 the lord of the
 country1      came in all naked1 except
 a loose mantle and shoes1 which he put 
off      as soon as he came in2 and1    
entertaining the ,baron after his best  
manner in the ,latin tongue1 desired him
 to put off his apparel1 which      he  
thought to be a burden to him1 and to   
sit naked4        8#8,to conclude1 men  
and women at night going to sleep1 he   
thus naked      in a round circle about 
the fire1 with their feet towards it4   
,they      fold their heads and their   
upper parts in woollen mantles1 first   
steeped in water to keep them warm2 for 

they say1 that woollen cloth1           
wetted1 preserves heat 7as linen1       
wetted1 preserves cold71 when the       
smoke of their bodies has warmed the    
woollen cloth4'        8,the cause of   
this extreme poverty1 and of its long   
continuance1 we      must conclude1     
arose from the peculiar laws of property
 which were in      force under the     
,irish dynasties4  ,these laws have been
 described by      most writers as      
similar to the ,kentish custom of       
gavelkind2 and1      indeed1 so little  
attention was paid to the subject1 that 
were it not      for the researches of  
,sir ,j4 ,davis1 the knowledge of this  
singular      usage would have been     
entirely lost4        8,the ,brehon law 
of property1 he tells us1 was similar to
 the custom      7as the ,english       
lawyers term it7 of hodge-podge4  ,when 
any one of the      sept died1 his lands
 did not descend to his sons1 but were  
divided      among the whole sept3 and1 
for this purpose1 the chief of the sept 

made a new division of the whole lands  
belonging to the sept1 and      gave    
every one his part according to         
seniority4  ,so that no man had a       
property which could descend to his     
children2 and even during his own       
life his possession of any particular   
spot was quite uncertain1 being         
liable to be constantly shuffled and    
changed by new partitions4  ,the        
consequence of this was that there was  
not a house of brick or stone      among
 the ,irish down to the reign of ,henry 
,,vii42 not even a garden or            
orchard1 or well-fenced or improved     
field2 neither village or town1      or 
in any respect the least provision for  
posterity4  ,this monstrous      custom1
 so opposite to the natural feelings of 
mankind1 was probably      perpetuated  
by the policy of the chiefs4  ,in the   
first place the      power of           
partitioning being lodged in their      
hands1 made them the most      absolute 
of tyrants1 being the dispensers of the 

property as well as      of the liberty 
of their subjects4  ,in the second      
place1 it had the      appearance of    
adding to the number of their savage    
armies2 for where      there was no     
improvement or tillage1 war was pursued 
as an      occupation4        8,in the  
early history of ,ireland1 we find      
several instances of      chieftains    
discountenancing tillage2 and so late as
 ,elizabeth's      reign1 ,moryson says1
 that #8,sir ,neal ,garve restrained his
 people from      ploughing1 that they  
might assist him to do any              
mischief4'0--7pp4      #ii-ajb74        
,these quotations and observations will 
enable us to state a few plain  facts   
for the recollection of our ,english    
readers3--#ast1 ,ireland was never      
subdued till the rebellion in the reign 
of ,queen ,elizabeth4  #bnd1 ,for  four 
hundred years before that period the two
 nations had been almost  constantly at 
war2 and in consequence of this1 a deep 
and irreconcilable  hatred existed      

between the people within and without   
the pale4  #crd1 ,the  ,irish1 at the   
accession of ,queen ,elizabeth1 were    
unquestionably the most  barbarous      
people in ,europe4  ,so much for what   
had happened previous to  the reign of  
,queen ,elizabeth2 and let any man1 who 
has the most  superficial knowledge of  
human affairs1 determine whether        
national  hatred1 proceeding from such  
powerful causes1 could possibly have    
been  kept under by the defeat of one   
single rebellion--whether it would not  
have been easy to have foreseen1 at that
 period1 that a proud1 brave1           
half-savage people1 would cherish the   
memory of their wrongs for  centuries to
 come1 and break forth into arms at     
every period when they  were            
particularly exasperated by oppression1 
or invited by opportunity4  ,if the     
,protestant religion had spread in      
,ireland as it did in ,england1  and if 
there had never been any difference of  
faith between the two  countries--can it

 be believed that the ,irish1           
ill-treated and infamously  governed as 
they have been1 would never have made   
any efforts to shake  off the yoke of   
,england8  ,surely there are causes     
enough to account for  their impatience 
of that yoke1 without endeavouring to   
inflame the zeal  of ignorant people    
against the ,catholic religion1 and to  
make that mode  of faith responsible for
 all the butchery which the ,irish and  
,english for  these last two centuries  
have exercised upon each other4         
,everybody1 of  course1 must admit1 that
 if to the causes of hatred already     
specified  there be added the additional
 cause of religious distinction1 this   
last  will give greater force 7and what 
is of more consequence to observe1 give 
a name7 to the whole aggregate motive4  
,but what ,mr4 ,parnell contends  for1  
and clearly and decisively proves1 is   
that many of those sanguinary  scenes   
attributed to the ,catholic religion are
 to be partly imputed to  causes totally

 disconnected from religion2 that the   
unjust invasion1 and  the tyrannical1   
infamous policy of the ,english1 are to 
take their full  share of blame with the
 sophisms and plots of ,catholic        
priests4  ,in the  reign of ,henry      
,,viii41 ,mr4 ,parnell shows that feudal
 submission was  readily paid to him by 
all the ,irish chiefs2 that the         
,reformation was  received without the  
slightest opposition2 and that the      
troubles which  took place at that      
period in ,ireland are to be entirely   
attributed to the  ambition and         
injustice of ,henry4  ,in the reign of  
,queen ,mary there was no  recrimination
 upon the ,protestants--a striking proof
 that the bigotry of  the ,catholic     
religion had not at that period risen to
 any great height in  ,ireland4  ,the   
insurrections of the various ,irish     
princes were as numerous  during this   
reign as they had been in the two       
preceding reigns--a  circumstance rather
 difficult of explanation1 if1 as is    

commonly  believed1 the ,catholic       
religion was at that period the         
main-spring of  men's actions4    ,in   
the reign of ,elizabeth1 the ,catholic  
in the pale regularly fought  against   
the ,catholic out of the pale4          
,o',sullivan1 a bigoted ,papist1        
reproaches them with doing so4          
,speaking of the reign of ,james ,i41 he
  says1 8,and now the eyes even of the  
,english ,irish 7the ,catholics of the  
pale7 were opened2 and they cursed their
 former folly for helping the  heretic40
  ,the ,english ,government were so     
sensible of the loyalty of the  ,irish  
,english ,catholics that they entrusted 
them with the most  confidential        
services4  ,the ,earl of ,kildare was   
the principal instrument  in waging war 
against the chieftains of ,leix and     
,offal4  ,william  ,o',bourge1 another  
,catholic1 was created ,lord ,castle    
,connel for his  eminent services2 and  
,mac,gully ,patrick1 a priest1 was the  
,state spy4  ,we  presume that this wise

 and manly conduct of ,queen ,elizabeth 
was utterly  unknown both to the        
,pastrycook and the ,secretary of       
,state1 who have  published upon the    
dangers of employing ,catholics even    
against foreign  enemies2 and in those  
publications have said a great deal     
about the  wisdom of our ancestors--the 
usual topic whenever the folly of their 
descendants is to be defended4  ,to     
whatever other of our ancestors they    
may allude1 they may spare all          
compliments to this illustrious         
,princess1  who would certainly have    
kept the worthy confectioner to the     
composition  of tarts1 and most probably
 furnished him with the productions of  
the  ,right ,honourable ,secretary as   
the means of conveying those juicy      
delicacies to a hungry and discerning   
public4    ,in the next two reigns1 ,mr4
 ,parnell shows by what injudicious     
measures of  the ,english ,government   
the spirit of ,catholic opposition was  
gradually  formed2 for that it did      

produce powerful effects at a subsequent
 period  he does not deny2 but contends 
only 7as we have before stated7 that    
these  effects have been much overrated1
 and ascribed solely to the ,catholic   
religion when other causes have at least
 had an equal agency in bringing  them  
about4  ,he concludes with some general 
remarks on the dreadful state  of       
,ireland1 and the contemptible folly and
 bigotry of the ,english--remarks  full 
of truth1 of good sense1 and of         
political courage4  ,how melancholy  to 
reflect1 that there would be still some 
chance of saving ,england from  the     
general wreck of empires1 but that it   
may not be saved1 because one           
politician will lose two thousand a year
 by it1 and another three  thousand--a  
third a place in reversion1 and a fourth
 a pension for his  aunt6  ,alas6 these 
are the powerful causes which have      
always settled the  destiny of great    
kingdoms1 and which may level ,old      
,england1 with all its  boasted freedom1

 and boasted wisdom1 to the dust4  ,nor 
is it the least  singular1 among the    
political phenomena of the present day1 
that the sole  consideration which seems
 to influence the unbigoted part of the 
,english  people1 in this great question
 of ,ireland1 is a regard for the       
personal  feelings of the ,monarch4     
,nothing is said or thought of the      
enormous risk  to which ,ireland is     
exposed--nothing of the gross injustice 
with which the  ,catholics are          
treated--nothing of the lucrative       
apostasy of those from  whom they       
experience this treatment3 but the only 
concern by which we all  seem to be     
agitated is1 that the ,king must not be 
vexed in his old age4  ,we have a great 
respect for the ,king2 and wish him all 
the happiness  compatible with the      
happiness of his people4  ,but these are
 not times to  pay foolish compliments  
to kings1 or the sons of kings1 or to   
anybody  else2 this journal 7the        
,edinburgh ,review7 has always preserved

 its  character for courage and honesty2
 and it shall do so to the last4  ,if   
the people of this country are solely   
occupied in considering what is         
personally agreeable to the ,king1      
without considering what is for his     
permanent good1 and for the safety of   
his dominions2 if all public men1       
quitting the common vulgar scramble for 
emolument1 do not concur in             
conciliating the people of ,ireland2 if 
the unfounded alarms1 and the           
comparatively trifling interests of the 
clergy1 are to supersede the  great     
question of freedom or slavery1 it does 
appear to us quite  impossible that so  
mean and so foolish a people can escape 
that  destruction which is ready to     
burst upon them--a destruction so       
imminent  that it can only be averted by
 arming all in our defence who would    
evidently be sharers in our ruin--and by
 such a change of system as may  save us
 from the hazard of being ruined by the 
ignorance and cowardice of  any general1

 by the bigotry or the ambition of any  
minister1 or by the  well-meaning       
scruples of any human being1 let his    
dignity be what it may4  ,these minor   
and domestic dangers we must endeavour  
firmly and temperately  to avert as we  
best can2 but at all hazards we must    
keep out the  destroyer from among us1  
or perish like wise and brave men in the
  attempt4          ,,ireland ,,and     
,,england4      #a4  ,whitelaw's        
,history of the ,city of ,dublin4 #dto4 
,cadell and ,davies4    #b4             
,observations on the ,state of ,ireland1
 principally directed to its            
,agriculture and ,rural ,population2 in 
a ,series of ,letters written on a      
,tour through that ,country4  ,in #b    
vols4  ,by ,j4 ,c4 ,,curwen1 ,esq41     
,m4,p4  ,london1 #ahah4    #c4          
,gamble's ,views of ,society in         
,ireland4                               
99 99 99 99 99    ,,these are all the   
late publications that treat of ,irish  
interests in  general1 and none of them 

are of first-rate importance4  ,mr4     
,gamble's  8,travels in ,ireland0 are of
 a very ordinary description1 low scenes
 and  low humour making up the principal
 part of the narrative4  ,there are     
readers1 however1 whom it will amuse2   
and the reading market becomes more  and
 more extensive1 and embraces a greater 
variety of persons every day4  ,mr4     
,whitelaw's 8,history of ,dublin0 is a  
book of great accuracy and  research1   
highly creditable to the industry1 good 
sense1 and benevolence  of its author4  
,of the 8,travels0 of ,mr4 ,christian   
,curwen we hardly know  what to say4    
,he is bold and honest in his politics1 
a great enemy to  abuses1 vapid in his  
levity and pleasantry1 and infinitely   
too much  inclined to declaim upon      
commonplace topics of morality and      
benevolence4  ,but1 with these          
drawbacks1 the book is not ill-written1 
and may be  advantageously read by those
 who are desirous of information upon   
the  present state of ,ireland4    ,so  

great and so long has been the          
misgovernment of that country1 that we  
verily believe the empire would be much 
stronger if everything was open  sea    
between ,england and the ,atlantic1 and 
if skates and cod-fish swam  over the   
fair land of ,ulster4  ,such jobbing1   
such profligacy1 so much  direct tyranny
 and oppression1 such an abuse of ,god's
 gifts1 such a  profanation of ,god's   
name for the purposes of bigotry and    
party spirit1  cannot be exceeded in the
 history of civilised ,europe1 and will 
long  remain a monument of infamy and   
shame to ,england4  ,but it will be more
  useful to suppress the indignation    
which the very name of ,ireland         
inspires1 and to consider impartially   
those causes which have marred this     
fair portion of the creation1 and kept  
it wild and savage in the midst of      
improving ,europe4    ,the great        
misfortune of ,ireland is that the mass 
of the people have been  given up for a 
century to a handful of ,protestants1 by

 whom they have  been treated as        
,helots1 and subjected to every species 
of persecution  and disgrace4  ,the     
sufferings of the ,catholics have been  
so loudly  chanted in the very streets1 
that it is almost needless to remind our
  readers that1 during the reigns of    
,george ,i4 and ,george ,,ii41 the      
,irish  ,roman ,catholics were disabled 
from holding any civil or military      
office1  from voting at elections1 from 
admission into corporations1 from       
practising law or physic4  ,a younger   
brother1 by turning ,protestant1  might 
deprive his elder brother of his        
birthright2 by the same process he      
might force his father1 under the name  
of a liberal provision1 to yield  up to 
him a part of his landed property2 and1 
if an eldest son1 he might1  in the same
 way1 reduce his father's fee-simple to 
a life-estate4  ,a  ,papist was disabled
 from purchasing freehold lands1 and    
even from holding  long leases2 and any 
person might take his ,catholic         

neighbour's house by  paying #e for it4 
,if the child of a ,catholic father     
turned ,protestant he  was taken away   
from his father and put into the hands  
of a ,protestant  relation4  ,no ,papist
 could purchase a freehold or lease for 
more than  thirty years1 or inherit from
 an intestate ,protestant1 nor from an  
intestate ,catholic1 nor dwell in       
,limerick or ,galway1 nor hold an       
advowson1 nor buy an annuity for life4  
#ej was given for discovering a  ,popish
 archbishop1 #cj for a ,popish          
clergyman1 and #ajs4 for a              
schoolmaster4  ,no one was allowed to be
 trustee for ,catholics2 no  ,catholic  
was allowed to take more than two       
apprentices2 no ,papist to be           
solicitor1 sheriff1 or to serve on      
,grand ,juries4  ,horses of ,papists    
might  be seized for the militia1 for   
which militia ,papists were to pay      
double1  and to find ,protestant        
substitutes4  ,papists were prohibited  
from being  present at vestries1 or from

 being high or petty constables3 and1   
when  resident in towns1 they were      
compelled to find ,protestant watchmen4 
,barristers and solicitors marrying     
,catholics were exposed to the          
penalties of ,catholics4  ,persons      
plundered by privateers during a war    
with any ,popish prince were reimbursed 
by a levy on the ,catholic  inhabitants 
where they lived4  ,all ,popish priests 
celebrating marriages  contrary to #ab  
,geo4 ,i41 cap #c1 were to be hanged6   
,the greater part of these incapacities 
are removed1 though many of a very      
serious and oppressive nature still     
remain4  ,but the grand misfortune is   
that the spirit which these oppressive  
laws engendered remains4  ,the          
,protestant still looks upon the        
,catholic as a degraded being4  ,the    
,catholic does not yet consider himself 
upon an equality with his former  tyrant
 and taskmaster4  ,that religious hatred
 which required all the  prohibiting    
vigilance of the law for its restraint  

has found in the law  its strongest     
support2 and the spirit which the law   
first exasperated and  embittered       
continues to act long after the original
 stimulus is  withdrawn4  ,the law which
 prevented ,catholics from serving on   
,grand  ,juries is repealed2 but        
,catholics are not called upon ,grand   
,juries in the  proportion in which they
 are entitled by their rank and fortune4
  ,the  ,duke of ,bedford did all he    
could to give them the benefit of those 
laws  which are already passed in their 
favour4  ,but power is seldom entrusted 
in this country to one of the ,duke of  
,bedford's liberality1 and  everything  
has fallen back in the hands of his     
successors into the  ancient division of
 the privileged and degraded castes4    
,we do not mean  to cast any reflection 
upon the present ,secretary for         
,ireland1 whom we  believe to be upon   
this subject a very liberal politician1 
and on all  subjects an honourable and  
excellent man4  ,the ,government under  

which he  serves allows him to indulge  
in a little harmless liberality2 but it 
is  perfectly understood that nothing is
 intended to be done for the            
,catholics2 that no loaves and fishes   
will be lost by indulgence in           
,protestant insolence and tyranny2 and1 
therefore1 among the generality of      
,irish ,protestants1 insolence1 tyranny1
 and exclusion continue to operate4     
,however eligible the ,catholic may be1 
he is not elected2 whatever  barriers   
may be thrown down1 he does not advance 
a step4  ,he was first  kept out by law2
 he is now kept out by opinion and      
habit4  ,they have been  so long in     
chains that nobody believes they are    
capable of using their  hands and feet4 
,it is not1 however1 the only or the    
worst misfortune of the ,catholics  that
 the relaxations of the law are hitherto
 of little benefit to them2  the law is 
not yet sufficiently relaxed4  ,a       
,catholic1 as everybody knows1  cannot  
be made sheriff2 cannot be in           

parliament2 cannot be a director of  the
 ,irish ,bank2 cannot fill the great    
departments of the law1 the army1  and  
the navy2 is cut off from all the high  
objects of human ambition1 and  treated 
as a marked and degraded person4    ,the
 common admission now is that the       
,catholics are to the ,protestants in   
,ireland as about four to one1 of which 
,protestants not more than one  half    
belong to the ,church of ,ireland4      
,this1 then1 is one of the most         
striking features in the state of       
,ireland4  ,that the great mass of the  
population is completely subjugated and 
overawed by a handful of  comparatively 
recent settlers1 in whom all the power  
and patronage of the  country is vested1
 who have been reluctantly compelled to 
desist from  still greater abuses of    
authority1 and who look with trembling  
apprehension to the increasing          
liberality of the parliament and the    
country towards these unfortunate       
persons whom they have always looked    

upon as their property and their prey4  
,whatever evils may result from these   
proportions between the oppressor  and  
oppressed--to whatever dangers a country
 so situated may be considered  to be   
exposed1 these evils and dangers are    
rapidly increasing in ,ireland4  ,the   
proportion of ,catholics to ,protestants
 is infinitely greater now than  it was 
thirty years ago1 and is becoming more  
and more favourable to the  former4  ,by
 a return made to the ,irish ,house of  
,lords in #agcb the  proportion of      
,catholics to ,protestants was not two  
to one4  ,it is now 7as  we have already
 observed7 four to one2 and the causes  
which have thus  altered the proportions
 in favour of the ,catholics are        
sufficiently  obvious to any one        
acquainted with the state of ,ireland4  
,the ,roman  ,catholic priest resides2  
his income entirely depends upon the    
number of  his flock2 and he must exert 
himself or he starves4  ,there is some  
chance  of success1 therefore1 in his   

efforts to convert2 but the ,protestant 
clergyman1 if he were equally eager1 has
 little or no probability of  persuading
 so much larger a proportion of the     
population to come over to  his ,church4
  ,the ,catholic clergyman belongs to a 
religion that has always  been more     
desirous of gaining proselytes than the 
,protestant ,church2 and  he is animated
 by a sense of injury and a desire of   
revenge4  ,another  reason for the      
disproportionate increase of ,catholics 
is that the  ,catholics will marry upon 
means which the ,protestant considers as
  insufficient for marriage4  ,a few    
potatoes and a shed of turf are all     
that ,luther has left for the ,romanist2
 and1 when the latter gets these1  he   
instantly begins upon the great ,irish  
manufacture of children4  ,but a        
,protestant belongs to the sect that    
eats the fine flour and heaves the  bran
 to others2 he must have comforts1 and  
he does not marry till he gets  them4   
,he would be ashamed if he were seen    

living as a ,catholic lives4  ,this is  
the principal reason why the            
,protestants who remain attached to     
their ,church do not increase so fast as
 the ,catholics4  ,but in common  minds1
 daily scenes1 the example of the       
majority1 the power of imitation1       
decide their habits1 religious as well  
as civil4  ,a ,protestant labourer  who 
works among ,catholics soon learns to   
think and act and talk as they  do2 he  
is not proof against the eternal        
panegyric which he hears of  ,father    
,o',leary4  ,his ,protestantism is      
rubbed away1 and he goes at last1  after
 some little resistance1 to the chapel  
where he sees everybody else  going4    
,these eight ,catholics not only hate   
the ninth man1 the ,protestant of the   
,establishment1 for the unjust          
privileges he enjoys--not only remember 
that  the lands of their father were    
given to his father--but they find      
themselves forced to pay for the support
 of his religion4  ,in the  wretched    

state of poverty in which the lower     
orders of ,irish are plunged1  it is not
 without considerable effort that they  
can pay the few shillings  necessary for
 the support of their ,catholic priest2 
and when this is  effected1 a tenth of  
the potatoes in the garden are to be set
 out for the  support of a persuasion1  
the introduction of which into ,ireland 
they  consider as the great cause of    
their political inferiority1 and all    
their  manifold wretchedness4  ,in      
,england a labourer can procure constant
  employment1 or he can1 at the worst1  
obtain relief from his parish4  ,whether
 tithe operates as a tax upon him1 is   
known only to the political  economist3 
if he does pay it1 he does not know that
 he pays it1 and the  burden of         
supporting the ,clergy is at least kept 
out of his view4  ,but in  ,ireland1 the
 only method in which a poor man lives  
is by taking a small  portion of land in
 which he can grow potatoes3 seven or   
eight months out  of twelve1 in many    

parts of ,ireland1 there is no constant 
employment of  the poor2 and the potato 
farm is all that shelters them from     
absolute  famine4  ,if the ,pope were to
 come in person1 seize upon every tenth 
potato1 the poor peasant would scarcely 
endure it4  ,with what patience1  then1 
can he see it tossed into the cart of   
the heretic rector1 who has a  church   
without a congregation1 and a revenue   
without duties8  ,we do not  say whether
 these things are right or wrong1       
whether they want a remedy  at all1 or  
what remedy they want2 but we paint them
 in those colours in  which they appear 
to the eye of poverty and ignorance1    
without saying  whether those colours   
are false or true4  ,nor is the case at 
all  comparable to that of ,dissenters  
paying tithe in ,england2 which case is 
precisely the reverse of what happens in
 ,ireland1 for it is the  contribution  
of a very small minority to the religion
 of a very large  majority2 and the     
numbers on either side make all the     

difference in the  argument4  ,to       
exasperate the poor ,catholic still     
more1 the rich graziers  of the parish1 
or the squire in his parish1 pay no     
tithe at all for their  grass land4     
,agistment tithe is abolished in        
,ireland1 and the burthen of  supporting
 two ,churches seems to devolve upon the
 poorer ,catholics1  struggling with    
plough and spade in small scraps of     
dearly-rented land4  ,tithes seem to be 
collected in a more harsh manner than   
they are  collected in ,england4  ,the  
minute sub-divisions of land in         
,ireland--the  little connection which  
the ,protestant clergyman commonly has  
with the  ,catholic population of his   
parish--have made the introduction of   
tithe  proctors very general1 sometimes 
as the agent of the clergyman1 sometimes
  as the lessee or middleman between the
 clergyman and the cultivator of  the   
land1 but1 in either case1 practised1   
dexterous estimators of tithe4  ,the    
,english clergymen in general are far   

from exacting the whole of what  is due 
to them1 but sacrifice a little to the  
love of popularity or to  the dread of  
odium4  ,a system of tithe-proctors     
established all over  ,england 7as it is
 in ,ireland71 would produce general    
disgust and  alienation from the        
,established ,church4        8,during   
the administration of ,lord ,halifax10  
says ,mr4 ,hardy1 in      quoting the   
opinion of ,lord ,charlemont upon tithes
 paid by ,catholics1      8,ireland was 
dangerously disturbed in its southern   
and northern      regions4  ,in the     
south principally1 in the counties of   
,kilkenny1      ,limerick1 ,cork1 and   
,tipperary1 the ,white ,boys now made   
their first      appearance2 those      
,white ,boys who have ever since        
occasionally      disturbed the public  
tranquillity1 without any rational      
method having      been as yet pursued  
to eradicate this disgraceful evil4     
,when we      consider that the very    
same district has been for the long     

space of      seven-and-twenty years    
liable to frequent returns of the same  
disorder into which it has continually  
relapsed1 in spite of all the           
violent remedies from time to time      
administered by our political           
quacks1 we cannot doubt but that some   
real1 peculiar1 and topical      cause  
must exist1 and yet neither the removal1
 nor even the      investigation of this
 cause1 has ever once been seriously    
attempted4      ,laws of the most       
sanguinary and unconstitutional nature  
have been      enacted2 the country has 
been disgraced and exasperated by       
frequent      and bloody executions2 and
 the gibbet1 that perpetual resource of 
weak and cruel legislators1 has groaned 
under the multitude of      starving    
criminals2 yet1 while the cause is      
suffered to exist1 the      effects will
 ever follow4  ,the amputation of limbs 
will never      eradicate a prurient    
humour1 which must be sought in its     
source and      there remedied40        

8,i wish10 continues ,mr4 ,wakefield1   
8for the sake of humanity and for       
the honour of the ,irish character1 that
 the gentlemen of that country          
would take this matter into their       
serious consideration4  ,let them       
only for a moment place themselves in   
the situation of the      half-famished 
cotter1 surrounded by a wretched family 
clamorous for      food1 and judge what 
his feelings must be when he sees the   
tenth part      of the produce of his   
potato garden exposed at harvest time to
 public      cant1 or if he have given a
 promissory note for the payment of a   
certain sum of money to compensate for  
such tithe when it becomes      due1 to 
hear the heart-rending cries of his     
offspring clinging round      him1 and  
lamenting for the milk of which they are
 deprived by the      cows being driven 
to the pound to be sold to discharge the
 debt4      ,such accounts are not the  
creations of fancy2 the facts do exist1 
and      are but too common in ,ireland4

  ,were one of them transferred to      
canvas by the hand of genius1 and       
exhibited to ,english humanity1 that    
heart must be callous indeed that could 
refuse its sympathy4  ,i have      seen 
the cow1 the favourite cow1 driven away1
 accompanied by the      sighs1 the     
tears1 and the imprecations of a whole  
family1 who were      paddling after1   
through wet and dirt1 to take their last
 affectionate      farewell of this     
their only friend and benefactor at the 
pound gate4      ,i have heard with     
emotions which ,i can scarcely describe1
 deep curses      repeated from village 
to village as the cavalcade proceeded4  
,i have      witnessed the group pass   
the domain walls of the opulent grazier1
      whose numerous herds were cropping
 the most luxuriant pastures1 while     
he was secure from any demand for the   
tithe of their food1 looking on         
with the most unfeeling                 
indifference40--,ibid41 p4 #dhf4    ,in 
,munster1 where tithe of potatoes is    

exacted1 risings against the  system    
have constantly occurred during the last
 forty years4  ,in ,ulster1  where no   
such tithe is required1 these           
insurrections are unknown4  ,the  double
 ,church which ,ireland supports1 and   
that painful visible  contribution      
towards it which the poor ,irishman is  
compelled to make from  his miserable   
pittance1 is one great cause of those   
never-ending  insurrections1 burnings1  
murders1 and robberies1 which have laid 
waste  that ill-fated country for so    
many years4  ,the unfortunate           
consequence of  the civil disabilities1 
and the ,church payments under which the
 ,catholics  labour1 is a rooted        
antipathy to this country4  ,they hate  
the ,english  ,government from          
historical recollection1 actual         
suffering1 and  disappointed hope1 and  
till they are better treated they will  
continue to  hate it4  ,at this moment1 
in a period of the most profound peace1 
there  are twenty-five thousand of the  

best disciplined and best appointed     
troops in the world in ,ireland1 with   
bayonets fixed1 presented arms1 and  in 
the attitude of present war3 nor is     
there a man too much--nor would         
,ireland be tenable without them4  ,when
 it was necessary last year 7or  thought
 necessary7 to put down the children of 
reform1 we were forced to  make a new   
levy of troops in this country2 not a   
man could be spared from  ,ireland4     
,the moment they had embarked1          
,peep-of-,day ,boys1 ,heart-of-,oak     
,boys1 ,twelve-o'-clock ,boys1          
,heart-of-,flint ,boys1 and all the     
bloody  boyhood of the ,bog of ,allen1  
would have proceeded to the ancient work
 of  riot1 rapine1 and disaffection4    
,ireland1 in short1 till her wrongs are 
redressed and a more liberal policy is  
adopted towards her1 will always  be a  
cause of anxiety and suspicion to this  
country1 and in some moment  of our     
weakness and depression1 will forcibly  
extort what she would now  receive with 

gratitude and exultation4    ,ireland is
 situated close to another island of    
greater size1 speaking the  same        
language1 very superior in civilisation1
 and the seat of government4  ,the      
consequence of this is the emigration of
 the richest and most  powerful part of 
the community--a vast drain of          
wealth--and the absence of  all that    
wholesome influence which the           
representatives of ancient  families1   
residing upon their estates1 produce    
upon their tenantry and  dependents4    
,can any man imagine that the scenes    
which have been acted in  ,ireland1     
within these last twenty years1 would   
have taken place1 if such  vast         
proprietors as the ,duke of ,devonshire1
 the ,marquis of ,hertford1 the         
,marquis of ,lansdowne1 ,earl           
,fitzwilliam1 and many other men of     
equal  wealth1 had been in the constant 
habit of residing upon their ,irish as  
they are upon their ,english estates8   
,is it of no consequence to the  order  

and the civilisation of a large         
district1 whether the great mansion  is 
inhabited by an insignificant1 perhaps a
 mischievous attorney1 in the  shape of 
agent1 or whether the first and greatest
 men of the ,united  ,kingdoms1 after   
the business of ,parliament is over1    
come with their  friends and families1  
to exercise hospitality1 to spend large 
revenues1  to diffuse information1 and  
to improve manners8  ,this evil is a    
very  serious one to ,ireland2 and1 as  
far as we see1 incurable4  ,for if the  
present large estates were1 by the      
dilapidation of families1 to be broken  
to pieces and sold1 others equally great
 would1 in the free circulation  of     
property1 speedily accumulate2 and the  
moment any possessor arrived at  a      
certain pitch of fortune1 he would      
probably choose to reside in the  better
 country--near the ,parliament1 or the  
,court4    ,this absence of great       
proprietors in ,ireland necessarily     
brings with it1  or if not necessarily1 

has actually brought with it1 the       
employment of  the middlemen1 which     
forms one other standing and regular    
,irish  grievance4  ,we are well aware  
of all that can be said in defence of   
middlemen2 that they stand between the  
little farmer and the great  proprietor 
as the shopkeeper does between the      
manufacturer and consumer2  and1 in     
fact1 by their intervention1 save time1 
and therefore expense4  ,this may be    
true enough in the abstract2 but the    
particular nature of  land must be      
attended to4  ,the object of the man who
 makes cloth is to  sell his cloth at   
the present market1 for as high a price 
as he can  obtain4  ,if that price is   
too high1 it soon falls2 but no injury  
is done  to his machinery by the        
superior price he has enjoyed for a     
season--he is  just as able to produce  
cloth with it1 as if the profits he     
enjoyed had  always been equally        
moderate2 he has no fear1 therefore1 of 
the  middleman1 or of any species of    

moral machinery which may help to obtain
  for him the greatest present prices4  
,the same would be the feeling of  any  
one who let out a steam-engine1 or any  
other machine1 for the  purposes of     
manufacture2 he would naturally take the
 highest price he  could get2 for he    
might either let his machine for a price
 proportionate  to the work it did1 or  
the repairs1 estimable with the greatest
  precision1 might be thrown upon the   
tenant2 in short1 he could hardly ask   
any rent too high for his machine which 
a responsible person would give2        
dilapidation would be so visible1 and so
 calculable in such instances1  that any
 secondary lease1 or subletting1 would  
be rather an increase of  security than 
a source of alarm4  ,any evil from such 
a practice would be  improbable         
measurable1 and remediable4  ,in land1  
on the contrary1 the  object is not to  
get the highest prices absolutely1 but  
to get the  highest prices which will   
not injure the machine4  ,one tenant may

 offer  and pay double the rent of      
another1 and in a few years leave the   
land in  a state which will effectually 
bar all future offers of tenancy4  ,it  
is  of no use to fill a lease full of   
clauses and covenants2 a tenant who     
pays more than he ought to pay1 or who  
pays even to the last farthing  which he
 ought to pay1 will rob the land1 and   
injure the machine1 in  spite of all the
 attorneys in ,england4  ,he will rob it
 even if he means  to remain upon       
it--driven on by present distress1 and  
anxious to put off  the day of          
defalcation and arrear4  ,the damage is 
often difficult of  detection--not      
easily calculated1 not easily to be     
proved2 such for which  juries          
7themselves perhaps farmers7 will not   
willingly give sufficient  compensation4
  ,and if this be true in ,england1 it  
is much more strikingly  true in        
,ireland1 where it is extremely         
difficult to obtain verdicts for        
breaches of covenant in leases4    ,the 

only method1 then1 of guarding the      
machine from real injury1 is by  giving 
to the actual occupier such advantage in
 his contract1 that he is  unwilling to 
give it up--that he has a real interest 
in retaining it1 and  is not driven by  
the distresses of the present moment to 
destroy the  future productiveness of   
the soil4  ,any rent which the landlord 
accepts  more than this1 or any system  
by which more rent than this is         
obtained1  is to borrow money upon the  
most usurious and profligate            
interest--to  increase the revenue of   
the present day by the absolute ruin of 
the  property4  ,such is the effect     
produced by a middleman2 he gives high  
prices that he may obtain higher from   
the occupier2 more is paid by the       
actual occupier than is consistent with 
the safety and preservation of  the     
machine2 the land is run out1 and1 in   
the end1 that maximum of rent  we have  
described is not obtained2 and not only 
is the property injured  by such a      

system1 but in ,ireland the most        
shocking consequences ensue  from it4   
,there is little manufacture in         
,ireland2 the price of labour is  low1  
the demand for labour irregular4  ,if a 
poor man be driven1 by  distress of     
rent1 from his potato garden1 he has no 
other resource--all is  lost3 he will do
 the impossible 7as the ,french say7 to 
retain it2  subscribe any bond1 and     
promise any rent4  ,the middleman has no
 character  to lose2 and he knew1 when  
he took up the occupation1 that it was  
one  with which pity had nothing to do4 
,on he drives2 and backward the poor    
peasant recedes1 loses something at     
every step1 till he comes to the very   
brink of despair2 and then he recoils   
and murders his oppressor1 and is a     
,white ,boy or a ,right ,boy2--the      
soldier shoots him1 and the judge hangs 
him4    ,in the debate which took place 
in the ,irish ,house of ,commons1 upon  
the  ,bill for preventing tumultuous    
risings and assemblies1 on the #cast of 

,january1 #aghg1 the ,attorney-,general 
submitted to the ,house the following   
narrative of facts4        8,the        
commencement10 said he1 8was in one or  
two parishes in the      county of      
,kerry2 and they proceeded thus4  ,the  
people assembled in a      ,catholic    
chapel1 and there took an oath to obey  
the laws of ,captain      ,right1 and to
 starve the clergy4  ,they then         
proceeded to the next      parishes on  
the following ,sunday1 and there swore  
the people in the      same manner2 with
 this addition1 that they 7the people   
last sworn7      should on the ensuing  
,sunday proceed to the chapels of their 
next      neighbouring parishes and     
swear the inhabitants of those parishes 
in      like manner4  ,proceeding in    
this manner1 they very soon went through
      the province of ,munster4  ,the   
first object was the reformation of     
tithes4  ,they swore not to give more   
than a certain price per acre1      not 
to assist or allow them to be assisted  

in drawing the tithe1 and      to permit
 no proctor4  ,they next took upon them 
to prevent the      collection of parish
 cesses1 next to nominate parish clerks1
 and in      some cases curates1 to say 
what church should or should not be     
repaired1 and in one case to threaten   
that they would burn a new      church  
if the old one were not given for a     
mass-house4  ,at last      they         
proceeded to regulate the price of      
lands1 to raise the price of            
labour1 and to oppose the collection of 
the hearth-money and other      taxes4  
,bodies of #e1jjj of them have been seen
 to march through the      country      
unarmed1 and1 if met by any magistrate1 
they never offered      the smallest    
rudeness or offence2 on the contrary1   
they had allowed      persons charged   
with crimes to be taken from amongst    
them by the      magistrate alone1      
unaided by any force4        8,the      
,attorney-,general said he was well     
acquainted with the province      of    

,munster1 and that it was impossible for
 human wretchedness to      exceed that 
of the peasantry of that province4  ,the
 unhappy      tenantry were ground to   
powder by relentless landlords2 that1   
far      from being able to give the    
clergy their just dues1 they had not    
food      or raiment for themselves--the
 landlord grasped the whole2 and sorry  
was he to add that1 not satisfied with  
the present extortion1 some             
landlords had been so base as to        
instigate the insurgents to rob the     
clergy of their tithes1 not in order to 
alleviate the distresses of      the    
tenantry1 but that they might add the   
clergy's share to the cruel             
rack-rents they already paid4  ,the poor
 people of ,munster lived in a      more
 abject state of poverty than human     
nature could be supposed      equal to  
bear40--8,grattan's ,speeches10 vol4 i41
 p4 #bib4    ,we are not1 of course1 in 
such a discussion to be governed by     
names4  ,a  middleman might be tied up  

by the strongest legal restriction1 as  
to the  price he was to exact from the  
under-tenants1 and then he would be no  
more pernicious to the estate than a    
steward4  ,a steward might be  protected
 in exactions as severe as the most     
rapacious middleman2 and  then1 of      
course1 it would be the same thing under
 another name4  ,the  practice to which 
we object is the too common method in   
,ireland of  extorting the last farthing
 which the tenant is willing to give for
 land  rather than quit it3 and the     
machinery by which such practice is     
carried  into effect is that of the     
middleman4  ,it is not only that it     
ruins the  land2 it ruins the people    
also4  ,they are made so poor--brought  
so near  the ground--that they can sink 
no lower2 and burst out at last into all
  the acts of desperation and revenge   
for which ,ireland is so notorious4     
,men who have money in their pockets1   
and find that they are improving in     
their circumstances1 don't do these     

things4  ,opulence1 or the hope of      
opulence or comfort1 is the parent of   
decency1 order1 and submission to  the  
laws4  ,a landlord in ,ireland          
understands the luxury of carriages and 
horses1 but has no relish for the       
greater luxury of surrounding himself   
with a moral and grateful tenantry4     
,the absent proprietor looks only to    
revenue1 and cares nothing for the      
disorder and degradation of a country   
which he never means to visit4  ,there  
are very honourable exceptions to  this 
charge3 but there are too many living   
instances that it is just4  ,the        
rapacity of the ,irish landlord induces 
him to allow of the extreme  division of
 his lands4  ,when the daughter marries1
 a little portion of  the little farm is
 broken off--another corner for         
,patrick1 and another for  ,dermot--till
 the land is broken into sections1 upon 
one of which an  ,english cow could not 
stand4  ,twenty mansions of misery are  
thus reared  instead of one4  ,a louder 

cry of oppression is lifted up to       
heaven1 and  fresh enemies to the       
,english name and power are multiplied  
on the earth4  ,the ,irish gentleman1   
too1 extremely desirous of political    
influence1  multiplying freeholds1 and  
splitting votes2 and this propensity    
tends of  course to increase the        
miserable redundance of living beings1  
under which  ,ireland is groaning4      
,among the manifold wretchedness to     
which the poor  ,irish tenant is liable1
 we must not pass over the practice of  
driving for  rent4  ,a lets land to ,b1 
who lets it to ,c1 who lets it again to 
,d4  ,d  pays ,c his rent1 and ,c pays  
,b4  ,but if ,b fails to pay ,a1 the    
cattle of ,b1  ,c1 ,d are all driven to 
the pound1 and after the interval of a  
few days  sold by auction4  ,a general  
driving of this kind very frequently    
leads to  a bloody insurrection4  ,it   
may be ranked among the classical       
grievances  of ,ireland4    ,potatoes   
enter for a great deal into the present 

condition of ,ireland4  ,they are much  
cheaper than wheat2 and it is so easy to
 rear a family upon  them1 that there is
 no cheek to population from the        
difficulty of  procuring food4  ,the    
population therefore goes on with a     
rapidity  approaching almost to that of 
new countries1 and in a much greater    
ratio  than the improving agriculture   
and manufacturers of the country can    
find  employment for it4  ,all degrees  
of all nations begin with living in     
pig-styes4  ,the king or the priest     
first gets out of them2 then the  noble1
 then the pauper2 in proportion as each 
class becomes more and more  opulent4   
,better tastes arise from better        
circumstances2 and the luxury  of one   
period is the wretchedness and poverty  
of another4  ,english  peasants1 in the 
time of ,henry ,,vii41 were lodged as   
badly as ,irish  peasants now are2 but  
the population was limited by the       
difficulty of  procuring a corn         
subsistence4  ,the improvements of this 

kingdom were more  rapid2 the price of  
labour rose2 and with it the luxury and 
comfort of  the peasant1 who is now     
decently lodged and clothed1 and who    
would think  himself in the last stage  
of wretchedness if he had nothing but an
 iron  pot in a turf house1 and plenty  
of potatoes in it4  ,the use of the     
potato  was introduced into ,ireland    
when the wretched accommodation of her  
own  peasantry bore some proportion to  
the state of those accommodations all   
over ,europe4  ,but they have increased 
their population so fast1 and1 in       
conjunction with the oppressive         
government of ,ireland retarding        
improvement1 have kept the price of     
labour so low1 that the ,irish poor     
have never been able to emerge from     
their mud cabins1 or to acquire any     
taste for cleanliness and decency of    
appearance4  ,mr4 ,curwen has the       
following description of ,irish         
cottages3--        8,these mansions of  
miserable existence1 for so they may    

truly be      described1 conformably to 
our general estimation of those         
indispensable comforts requisite to     
constitute the happiness of             
rational beings1 are most commonly      
composed of two rooms on the      ground
 floor1 a most appropriate term1 for    
they are literally on the      earth1   
the surface of which is not unfrequently
 reduced a foot or      more to save the
 expense of so much outward walling4    
,the one is a      refectory1 the other 
the dormitory4  ,the furniture of the   
former1 if      the owner ranks in the  
upper part of the scale of scantiness1  
will      consist of a kitchen dresser1 
well provided and highly decorated with 
crockery--not less apparently the pride 
of the husband than the result      of  
female vanity in the wife3 which1 with a
 table1 a chest1 a few      stools1 and 
an iron pot1 complete the catalogue of  
conveniences      generally found as    
belonging to the cabin3 while a         
spinning-wheel1      furnished by the   

,linen ,board1 and a loom1 ornament     
vacant spaces that      otherwise would 
remain unfurnished4  ,in fitting up the 
latter1 which      cannot on any        
occasion or by any display add a feather
 to the weight      or importance       
expected to be excited by the appearance
 of the former1      the inventory is   
limited to one1 and sometimes two beds1 
serving for      the repose of the whole
 family6  ,however downy these may be to
 limbs      impatient for rest1 their   
coverings appear to be very slight1 and 
the      whole of the apartment created 
reflections of a very painful nature4   
,under such privations1 with a wet mud  
floor and a roof in tatters1      how   
idle the search for comforts60--,curwen1
 i41 pp4 #aab1 #aac4    ,to this extract
 we shall add one more on the same      
subject4        8,the gigantic figure1  
bareheaded before me1 had a beard that  
would      not have disgraced an ancient
 ,israelite--he was without shoes or    
stockings--and almost a                 

sans-culotte--with a coat1 or rather a  
jacket1      that appeared as if the    
first blast of wind would tear it to    
tatters4      ,though his garb was thus 
tattered1 he had a manly commanding     
countenance4  ,i asked permission to see
 the inside of his cabin1 to      which 
,i received his most courteous assent4  
,on stooping to enter at      the door  
,i was stopped1 and found that          
permission from another was             
necessary before ,i could be admitted4  
,a pig1 which was fastened to a         
stake driven into the floor1 with length
 of rope sufficient to permit      him  
the enjoyment of sun and air1 demanded  
some courtesy1 which ,i      showed him1
 and was suffered to enter4  ,the wife  
was engaged in      boiling thread1 and 
by her side1 near the fire1 a lovely    
infant was      sleeping1 without any   
covering1 on a bare board4  ,whether the
 fire      gave additional glow to the  
countenance of the babe1 or that ,nature
      impressed on its unconscious cheek

 a blush that the lot of man should     
be exposed to such privations1 ,i will  
not decide2 but if the cause be         
referable to the latter1 it was in      
perfect unison with my own              
feelings4  ,two or three other children 
crowded round the mother3 on      their 
rosy countenances health seemed         
established in spite of filth      and  
ragged garments4  ,the dress of the poor
 woman was barely      sufficient to    
satisfy decency4  ,her countenance bore 
the expression      of a set melancholy1
 tinctured with an appearance of ill    
health4  ,the      hovel1 which did not 
exceed twelve or fifteen feet in length 
and ten      in breadth1 was half       
obscured by smoke--chimney or window ,i 
saw none2      the door served the      
various purposes of an inlet to light   
and the      outlet to smoke4  ,the     
furniture consisted of two stools1 an   
iron pot1      and a spinning-wheel1    
while a sack stuffed with straw1 and a  
single      blanket laid on planks1     

served as a bed for the repose of the   
whole      family4  ,need ,i attempt to 
describe my sensations8  ,the statement 
alone cannot fail of conveying to a mind
 like yours an adequate idea      of    
them--,i could not long remain a witness
 to this acme of human      misery4  ,as
 ,i left the deplorable habitation the  
mistress followed me      to repeat her 
thanks for the trifle ,i had bestowed4  
,this gave me an      opportunity of    
observing her person more particularly4 
,she was a      tall figure1 her        
countenance composed of interesting     
features1 and      with every appearance
 of having once been handsome4          
8,unwilling to quit the village without 
first satisfying myself      whether    
what ,i had seen was a solitary instance
 or a sample of its      general state1 
or whether the extremity of poverty ,i  
had just beheld      had arisen from    
peculiar improvidence and want of       
management in one      wretched family1 
,i went into an adjoining habitation1   

where ,i found a      poor old woman of 
eighty1 whose miserable existence was   
painfully      continued by the         
maintenance of her granddaughter4       
,their condition1      if possible1 was 
more deplorable40--,curwen1 i41 pp4     
#aha-ahc4    ,this wretchedness1 of     
which all strangers who visit ,ireland  
are so  sensible1 proceeds certainly in 
great measure from their accidental use 
of a food so cheap1 that it encourages  
population to an extraordinary  degree1 
lowers the price of labour1 and leaves  
the multitudes which it  calls into     
existence almost destitute of everything
 but food4  ,many more  live in         
consequence of the introduction of      
potatoes2 but all live in  greater      
wretchedness4  ,in the progress of      
population1 the potato must of  course  
become at last as difficult to be       
procured as any other food2 and  then   
let the political economist calculate   
what the immensity and  wretchedness of 
a people must be1 where the further     

progress of  population is checked by   
the difficulty of procuring potatoes4   
,the consequence of the long            
mismanagement and oppression of         
,ireland1 and  of the singular          
circumstances in which it is placed1 is1
 that it is a  semi-barbarous           
country--more shame to those who have   
thus ill-treated a  fine country and a  
fine people2 but it is part of the      
present case of  ,ireland4  ,the        
barbarism of ,ireland is evinced by the 
frequency and  ferocity of duels--the   
hereditary clannish feuds of the common 
people and  the fights to which they    
give birth--the atrocious cruelties     
practised in  the insurrections of the  
common people--and their proneness to   
insurrection4  ,the lower ,irish live in
 a state of greater wretchedness  than  
any other people in ,europe inhabiting  
so fine a soil and climate4  ,it is     
difficult1 often impossible1 to execute 
the processes of law4  ,in  cases where 
gentlemen are concerned1 it is often not

 even attempted4  ,the  conduct of      
under-sheriffs is often very corrupt4   
,we are afraid the  magistracy of       
,ireland is very inferior to that of    
this country2 the  spirit of jobbing and
 bribery is very widely diffused1 and   
upon occasions  when the utmost purity  
prevails in the sister kingdom4         
,military force is  necessary all over  
the country1 and often for the most     
common and just  operations of          
,government4  ,the behaviour of the     
higher to the lower  orders is much less
 gentle and decent than in ,england4    
,blows from  superiors to inferiors are 
more frequent1 and the punishment for   
such  aggression more doubtful4  ,the   
word gentleman seems1 in ,ireland1 to   
put  an end to most processes at law4   
,arrest a gentleman666--take out a      
warrant against a gentleman--are modes  
of operation not very common in the     
administration of ,irish justice4  ,if a
 man strike the meanest peasant in      
,england1 he is either knocked down in  

his turn1 or immediately taken  before a
 magistrate4  ,it is impossible to live 
in ,ireland without  perceiving the     
various points in which it is inferior  
in civilisation4  ,want of unity in     
feeling and interest among the          
people--irritability1  violence1 and    
revenge--want of comfort and cleanliness
 in the lower  orders--habitual         
disobedience to the law--want of        
confidence in  magistrates--corruption1 
venality1 the perpetual necessity of    
recurring to  military force--all carry 
back the observer to that remote and    
early  condition of mankind1 which an   
,englishman can learn only in the pages 
of  the antiquary or the historian4  ,we
 do not draw this picture for censure   
but for truth4  ,we admire the          
,irish--feel the most sincere pity for  
the  state of ,ireland--and think the   
conduct of the ,english to that country 
to  have been a system of atrocious     
cruelty and contemptible meanness4      
,with  such a climate1 such a soil1 and 

such a people1 the inferiority of       
,ireland to the rest of ,europe is      
directly chargeable to the long         
wickedness of the ,english ,government4 
,a direct consequence of the present    
uncivilised state of ,ireland is1 that  
very little ,english capital travels    
there4  ,the man who deals in           
steam-engines1 and warps and woofs1 is  
naturally alarmed by ,peep-of-,day      
,boys1 and nocturnal ,carders2 his      
object is to buy and sell as quickly and
  quietly as he can1 and he will        
naturally bear high taxes and rivalry in
  ,england1 or emigrate to any part of  
the ,continent1 or to ,america1 rather  
than plunge into the tumult of ,irish   
politics and passions4  ,there is       
nothing which ,ireland wants more than  
large manufacturing towns to take  off  
its superfluous population4  ,but       
internal peace must come first1 and     
then the arts of peace will follow4     
,the foreign manufacturer will hardly   
think of embarking his capital where he 

cannot be sure that his existence  is   
safe4  ,another check to the            
manufacturing greatness of ,ireland is  
the  scarcity1 not of coal1 but of good 
coal1 cheaply raised--an article in     
which 7in spite of papers in the ,irish 
,transactions7 they are lamentably      
inferior to the ,english4    ,another   
consequence from some of the causes we  
have stated is the extreme  idleness of 
the ,irish labourer4  ,there is nothing 
of the value of which  the ,irish seem  
to have so little notion as that of     
time4  ,they scratch1  pick1 dawdle1    
stare1 gape1 and do anything but strive 
and wrestle with  the task before them4 
,the most ludicrous of all human objects
 is an  ,irishman ploughing4  ,a        
gigantic figure--a seven-foot machine   
for turning  potatoes in human          
nature--wrapt up in an immense          
great-coat1 and urging on  two starved  
ponies1 with dreadful imprecations and  
uplifted shillala4  ,the ,irish crow    
discerns a coming perquisite1 and is not

 inattentive to  the proceedings of the 
steeds4  ,the furrow which is to be the 
depository  of the future crop is not   
unlike1 either in depth or regularity1  
to those  domestic furrows which the    
nails of the meek and much-injured wife 
plough1 in some family quarrel1 upon the
 cheeks of the deservedly  punished     
husband4  ,the weeds seem to fall       
contentedly1 knowing that they  have    
fulfilled their destiny1 and left behind
 them1 for the resurrection  of the     
ensuing spring1 an abundant and healthy 
progeny4  ,the whole is a  scene of     
idleness1 laziness1 and poverty1 of     
which it is impossible1 in  this active 
and enterprising country1 to form the   
most distant  conception2 but strongly  
indicative of habits1 whether secondary 
or  original1 which will long present a 
powerful impediment to the  improvement 
of ,ireland4    ,the ,irish character   
contributes something to retard the     
improvements of  that country4  ,the    
,irishman has many good qualities3 he is

 brave1 witty1  generous1 eloquent1     
hospitable1 and open-hearted2 but he is 
vain1  ostentatious1 extravagant1 and   
fond of display1 light in counsel1      
deficient in perseverance1 without skill
 in private or public economy1 an       
enjoyer1 not an acquirer--one who       
despises the slow and patient           
virtues--who wants the superstructure   
without the foundation1 the result      
without the previous operation1 the oak 
without the acorn and the three  hundred
 years of expectation4  ,the ,irish are 
irascible1 prone to debt and  to fight1 
and very impatient of the restraints of 
law4  ,such a people are  not likely to 
keep their eyes steadily upon the main  
chance like the  ,scotch or the ,dutch4 
,england strove very hard at one period 
to compel  the ,scotch to pay a double  
,church1 but ,sawney took his pen and   
ink1 and  finding what a sum it amounted
 to became furious and drew his sword4  
,god  forbid the ,irishman should do the
 same6  ,the remedy now would be worse  

than the disease2 but if the oppressions
 of ,england had been more  steadily    
resisted a century ago1 ,ireland would  
not have been the scene of  poverty1    
misery1 and distress which it now is4   
,the ,catholic religion1 among other    
causes1 contributes to the  backwardness
 and barbarism of ,ireland4  ,its       
debasing superstition1  childish        
ceremonies1 and the profound submission 
to the priesthood which  it teaches1 all
 tend to darken men's minds1 to impede  
the progress of  knowledge and inquiry1 
and to prevent ,ireland from becoming as
 free1 as  powerful1 and as rich as the 
sister kingdom4  ,though sincere friends
 to  ,catholic emancipation1 we are no  
advocates for the ,catholic religion4   
,we  should be very glad to see a       
general conversion to ,protestantism    
among  the ,irish1 but we do not think  
that violence1 privations1 and          
incapacities1 are the proper methods of 
making proselytes4    ,such1 then1 is   
,ireland at this period--a land more    

barbarous than the rest  of ,europe1    
because it has been worse treated and   
more cruelly oppressed4  ,many of the   
incapacities and privations to which the
 ,catholics were  exposed have been     
removed by law1 but in such instances   
they are still  incapacitated and       
deprived by custom4  ,many cruel and    
oppressive laws are  still enforced     
against them4  ,a tenth part of the     
population engrosses  all the honours of
 the country2 the other nine pay a tenth
 of the product  of the earth for the   
support of a religion in which they do  
not believe4  ,there is little capital  
in the country4  ,the great and rich men
 are  called by business1 or allured by 
pleasure1 into ,england2 their estates  
are given up to factors1 and the utmost 
farthing of rent extorted from  the     
poor1 who1 if they give up the land1    
cannot get employment in  manufactures1 
or regular employment in husbandry4     
,the common people use  a sort of food  
so very cheap that they can rear        

families who cannot  procure employment1
 and who have little more of the        
comforts of life than  food4  ,the      
,irish are light-minded--want of        
employment has made them idle2  they are
 irritable and brave1 have a keen       
remembrance of the past wrongs  they    
have suffered1 and the present wrongs   
they are suffering from  ,england4  ,the
 consequence of all this is1 eternal    
riot and insurrection1  a whole army of 
soldiers in time of profound peace1 and 
general rebellion  whenever ,england is 
busy with her other enemies or off her  
guard6  ,and  thus it will be1 while the
 same causes continue to operate1 for   
ages to  come1 and worse and worse as   
the rapidly increasing population of the
  ,catholics becomes more and more      
numerous4    ,the remedies are time and 
justice1 and that justice consists in   
repealing  all laws which make any      
distinction between the two religions2  
in placing  over the government of      
,ireland1 not the stupid1 amiable1 and  

insignificant noblemen who have too     
often been sent there1 but men who  feel
 deeply the wrongs of ,ireland1 and who 
have an ardent wish to heal  them2 who  
will take care that ,catholics1 when    
eligible1 shall be elected2  who will   
share the patronage of ,ireland         
proportionally among the two  parties1  
and give to just and liberal laws the   
same vigour of execution  which has     
hitherto been reserved only for decrees 
of tyranny1 and the  enactments of      
oppression4  ,the injustice and hardship
 of supporting two  ,churches must be   
put out of sight1 if it cannot or ought 
not to be cured4  ,the political        
economist1 the moralist1 and the        
satirist1 must combine to  teach        
moderation and superintendence to the   
great ,irish proprietors4  ,public talk 
and clamour may do something for the    
poor ,irish1 as it did  for the slaves  
in the ,west ,indies4  ,ireland will    
become more quiet under  such treatment1
 and then more rich1 more comfortable1  

and more civilised2  and the horrid     
spectacle of folly and tyranny1 which it
 at present  exhibits1 may in time be   
removed from the eyes of ,europe4       
,there are two eminent ,irishmen now in 
the ,house of ,commons--,lord           
,castlereagh and ,mr4 ,canning--who will
 subscribe to the justness of every     
syllable we have said upon this subject1
 and who have it in their power1  by    
making it the condition of their        
remaining in office1 to liberate  their 
native country1 and raise it to its just
 rank among the nations of  the earth4  
,yet the ,court buys them over1 year    
after year1 by the pomp  and perquisites
 of office2 and year after year they    
come into the ,house  of ,commons1      
feeling deeply1 and describing          
powerfully1 the injuries of  five       
millions of their countrymen--and       
continue members of a government  that  
inflicts those evils1 under the pitiful 
delusion that it is not a  ,cabinet     
,question1 as if the scratchings and    

quarrellings of ,kings and  ,queens     
could alone cement politicians together 
in indissoluble unity1  while the fate  
and torture of one-third of the empire  
might be  complimented away from one    
minister to another1 without the        
smallest  breach in their ,cabinet      
alliance4  ,politicians1 at least honest
  politicians1 should be very flexible  
and accommodating in little things1     
very rigid and inflexible in great      
things4  ,and is this not a great       
thing8  ,who has painted it in finer and
 more commanding eloquence than  ,mr4   
,canning8  ,who has taken a more        
sensible and statesmanlike view of our  
miserable and cruel policy than ,lord   
,castlereagh8  ,you would think1 to     
hear them1 that the same planet could   
not contain them and the oppressors  of 
their country--perhaps not the same     
solar system4  ,yet for money1  claret1 
and patronage1 they lend their          
countenance1 assistance1 and  friendship
 to the ,ministers who are the stern and

 inflexible enemies to  the emancipation
 of ,ireland6    ,thank ,god that all is
 not profligacy and corruption in the   
history of  that devoted people--and    
that the name of ,irishman does not     
always carry  with it the idea of the   
oppressor or the oppressed--the         
plunderer or the  plundered--the tyrant 
or the slave6  ,great men hallow a whole
 people1 and  lift up all who live in   
their time4  ,what ,irishman does not   
feel proud  that he has lived in the    
days of ,,grattan8 who has not turned to
 him for  comfort1 from the false       
friends and open enemies of ,ireland8   
who did not  remember him in the days of
 its burnings and wastings and murders8 
,no  ,government ever dismayed him--the 
world could not bribe him--he thought   
only of ,ireland--lived for no other    
object--dedicated to her his beautiful  
fancy1 his elegant wit1 his manly       
courage1 and all the splendour of his   
astonishing eloquence4  ,he was so born 
and so gifted that poetry1  forensic    

skill1 elegant literature1 and all the  
highest attainments of  human genius    
were within his reach2 but he thought   
the noblest occupation  of a man was to 
make other men happy and free2 and in   
that straight line  he went on for fifty
 years1 without one side-look1 without  
one yielding  thought1 without one      
motive in his heart which he might not  
have laid  open to the view of ,god and 
man4  ,he is gone6--but there is not a  
single  day of his honest life of which 
every good ,irishman would not be more  
proud than of the whole political       
existence of his countrymen--the annual 
deserters and betrayers of their native 
land4          ,,moore',s ,,captain     
,,rock4      ,memoirs of ,captain ,rock1
 the celebrated ,irish ,chieftain2 with 
some  ,account of his ,ancestors4       
,written by ,himself4  ,fourth ,edition4
  #abmo4  ,london1 #ahbd4               
99 99 99 99 99    ,,this agreeable and  
witty book is generally supposed to have
 been written  by ,mr4 ,thomas ,moore1 a

 gentleman of small stature1 but full of
 genius1  and a steady friend of all    
that is honourable and just4  ,he has   
here  borrowed the name of a celebrated 
,irish leader1 to typify that spirit of 
violence and insurrection which is      
necessarily generated by systematic     
oppression1 and rudely avenges its      
crimes2 and the picture he has drawn  of
 its prevalence in that unhappy country 
is at once piteous and  frightful4  ,its
 effect in exciting our horror and      
indignation is in the  long run         
increased1 we think--though at first it 
may seem counteracted--by  the tone of  
levity1 and even jocularity1 under which
 he has chosen to  veil the deep sarcasm
 and substantial terrors of his story4  
,we smile at  first1 and are amused1 and
 wonder1 as we proceed1 that the        
humorous  narrative should produce      
conviction and pity--shame1 abhorrence1 
and  despair4    ,england seems to have 
treated ,ireland much in the same way as
 ,mrs4  ,brownrigg treated her          

apprentice--for which ,mrs4 ,brownrigg  
is hanged in  the first volume of the   
,newgate ,calendar4  ,upon the whole1 we
 think the  apprentice is better off    
than the ,irishman2 as ,mrs4 ,brownrigg 
merely  starves and beats her1 without  
any attempt to prohibit her from going  
to  any shop1 or praying at any church  
her apprentice might select3 and once   
or twice1 if we remember rightly1       
,brownrigg appears to have felt some    
compassion4  ,not so ,old ,england1 who 
indulges rather in a steady  baseness1  
uniform brutality1 and unrelenting      
oppression4    ,let us select from this 
entertaining little book a short history
 of dear  ,ireland1 such as even some   
profligate idle member of the ,house of 
,commons1 voting as his master bids him1
 may perchance throw his eye upon1  and 
reflect for a moment upon the iniquity  
to which he lends his support4    ,for  
some centuries after the reign of ,henry
 ,,ii41 the ,irish were killed  like    
game1 by persons qualified or           

unqualified4  ,whether dogs were used   
does not appear quite certain1 though it
 is probable they were1 spaniels  as    
well as pointers2 and that1 after a     
regular point by ,basto1 well  backed by
 ,ponto and ,csar1 ,mr4 ,o',donnel or   
,mr4 ,o',leary bolted from the  thicket1
 and were bagged by the ,english        
sportsman4  ,with ,henry ,,ii4 came  in 
tithes1 to which1 in all probability1   
about one million of lives may  have    
been sacrificed in ,ireland4  ,in the   
reign of ,edward ,i4 the ,irish who     
were settled near the ,english requested
 that the benefit of the ,english  laws 
might be extended to them2 but the      
remonstrance of the barons with  the    
hesitating king was in substance this3  
8,you have made us a present of  these  
wild gentlemen1 and we particularly     
request that no measures may be  adopted
 to check us in that full range of      
tyranny and oppression in which  we     
consider the value of such a gift to    
consist4  ,you might as well give  us   

sheep1 and prevent us from shearing the 
wool1 or roasting the meat40  ,this     
reasoning prevailed1 and the ,irish were
 kept to their barbarism1 and  the      
barons preserved their dive stock4      
8,read #8,orange faction' 7says ,captain
 ,rock7 here and you have the           
wisdom of our rulers1 at the end of near
 six centuries1 in statu      quo4  ,the
 grand periodic year of the stoics1 at  
the close of which      everything was  
to begin again1 and the same events to  
be all reacted      in the same order1  
is1 on a miniature scale1 represented in
 the      history of the ,english       
,government in ,ireland1 every          
succeeding      century being but a new 
revolution of the same follies1 the same
      crimes1 and the same turbulence   
that disgraced the former4  ,but #8,vive
      l'ennemi6' say ,i3 whoever may    
suffer by such measures1 ,captain ,rock1
      at least1 will prosper4           
8,and such was the result at the period 
of which ,i am speaking4  ,the          

rejection of a petition1 so humble and  
so reasonable1 was followed1      as a  
matter of course1 by one of those daring
 rebellions into which      the revenge 
of an insulted people naturally breaks  
forth4  ,the      ,m',cartys1 the       
,o',briens1 and the other ,macs and     
,o's1 who have been      kept on the    
alert by similar causes ever since1 flew
 to arms under      the command of a    
chieftain of my family2 and1 as the     
proffered      handle of the sword had  
been rejected1 made their inexorable    
masters at least feel its edge40--7pp4  
#bc-be47    ,fifty years afterwards the 
same request was renewed and refused4   
,up  again rose ,mac and ,o1 a just and 
necessary war ensued2 and after the     
usual murders1 the usual chains were    
replaced upon the ,irishry4  ,all       
,irishmen were excluded from every      
species of office4  ,it was high treason
  to marry with the ,irish blood1 and   
highly penal to receive the ,irish into 
religious houses4  ,war was waged also  

against their ,thomas ,moores1 ,samuel  
,rogerses1 and ,walter ,scotts1 who went
 about the country harping and  singing 
against ,english oppression4  ,no such  
turbulent guests were to be  received4  
,the plan of making them poets-laureate1
 or converting them to  loyalty by      
pensions of #ajj per annum1 had not then
 been thought of4  ,they debarred the   
,irish even from the pleasure of running
 away1 and fixed  them to the soil like 
negroes4        8,i have thus selected10
 says the historian of ,rock1 8cursorily
 and at      random1 a few features of  
the reigns preceding the ,reformation1  
in      order to show what good use was 
made of those three or four hundred     
years in attaching the ,irish people to 
their ,english governors2 and      by   
what a gentle course of alternatives    
they were prepared for the              
inoculation of a new religion1 which was
 now about to be attempted      upon    
them by the same skilful and friendly   
hands4        8,henry ,,vii4 appears to 

have been the first monarch to whom it  
occurred1 that matters were not managed 
exactly as they ought in this      part 
of his dominions2 and we find him--with 
a simplicity which is      still fresh  
and youthful among our                  
rulers--expressing his surprise         
that his subjects of this land should be
 so prone to faction and      rebellion1
 and that so little advantage had been  
hitherto derived      from the          
acquisitions of his predecessor1        
notwithstanding the      fruitfulness   
and natural advantages of ,ireland4     
,surprising1 indeed1      that a policy1
 such as we have been describing1 should
 not have      converted the whole      
country into a perfect ,atlantis of     
happiness--should not have made it like 
the imaginary island of ,sir            
,thomas ,more1 where #8tota insula velut
 una familia est6'--most      stubborn1 
truly1 and ungrateful1 must that people 
be1 upon whom1 up      to the very hour 
in which ,i write1 such a long and      

unvarying course      of penal laws1    
confiscations1 and ,insurrection ,acts  
has been tried1      without making them
 in the least degree in love with their 
rulers4        8,heloise tells her      
tutor1 ,abelard1 that the correction    
which he      inflicted upon her only   
served to increase the ardour of her    
affection for him2 but bayonets and hemp
 are no such #8amoris      stimuli4'    
,one more characteristic anecdote of    
those times and ,i      have done4  ,at 
the battle of ,knocktow1 in the reign of
 ,henry ,,vii41      when that          
remarkable man1 the ,earl of ,kildare1  
assisted by the great      ,o',neal and 
other ,irish chiefs1 gained a victory   
over ,clanricard of      ,connaught1    
most important to the ,english          
,government1 ,lord      ,gormanstown1   
after the battle1 in the first insolence
 of success1      said1 turning to the  
,earl of ,kildare1 #8,we have now       
slaughtered our      enemies1 but1 to   
complete the good deed1 we must proceed 

yet further1      and--cut the throats  
of those ,irish of our own party6'  ,who
 can wonder      that the ,rock family  
were active in those times80--7pp4 #cc1 
#ce47    ,henry ,,viii4 persisted in all
 these outrages1 and aggravated them by 
insulting the prejudices of the people4 
,england is almost the only  country in 
the world 7even at present7 where there 
is not some favourite  religious sport1 
where absurd lies1 little bits of cloth1
 feathers1 rusty  nails1 splinters1 and 
other invaluable relics1 are treasured  
up1 and in  defence of which the whole  
population are willing to turn out and  
perish  as one man4  ,such was the      
shrine of ,st4 ,kieran1 the whole       
treasures of  which the satellites of   
that corpulent tyrant turned out into   
the street1  pillaged the sacred church 
of ,clonmacnoise1 scattered the holy    
nonsense  of the priests to the winds1  
and burnt the real and venerable crosier
 of  ,st4 ,patrick1 fresh from the      
silversmith's shop1 and formed of the   

most  costly materials4  ,modern princes
 change the uniform of regiments2 ,henry
  changed the religion of kingdoms1 and 
was determined that the belief of  the  
,irish should undergo a radical and     
,protestant conversion4  ,with what     
success this attempt was made1 the      
present state of ,ireland is sufficient 
evidence4    8,be not dismayed10 said   
,elizabeth1 on hearing that ,o',neal    
meditated some  designs against her     
government2 8tell my friends1 if he     
arise1 it will  turn to their           
advantage--there will be estates for    
those who want40  ,soon after this      
prophetic speech1 ,munster was destroyed
 by famine and the  sword1 and near     
#fjj1jjj acres forfeited to the crown1  
and distributed  among ,englishmen4     
,sir ,walter ,raleigh 7the virtuous and 
good7 butchered  the garrison of        
,limerick in cold blood1 after ,lord    
,deputy ,gray had  selected #gjj to be  
hanged4  ,there were1 during the reign  
of ,elizabeth1  three invasions of      

,ireland by the ,spaniards1 produced    
principally by the  absurd measures of  
this princess for the reformation of its
 religion4  ,the ,catholic clergy1 in   
consequence of these measures1 abandoned
 their  cures1 the churches fell to     
ruin1 and the people were left without  
any  means of instruction4  ,add to     
these circumstances the murder of       
,m',mahon1  the imprisonment of         
,o',toole and ,o',dogherty1 and the     
kidnapping of  ,o',donnel--all truly    
,anglo-,hibernian proceedings4  ,the    
execution of the  laws was rendered     
detestable and intolerable by the       
queen's officers of  justice4  ,the     
spirit raised by these transactions1    
besides innumerable  smaller            
insurrections gave rise to the great    
wars of ,desmond and ,hugh  ,o',neal2   
which1 after they had worn out the      
ablest generals1 discomfited  the       
choicest troops1 exhausted the treasure1
 and embarrassed the  operations of     
,elizabeth1 were terminated by the      

destruction of these two  ancient       
families1 and by the confiscation of    
more than half the  territorial surface 
of the island4  ,the last two years of  
,o',neal's wars  cost ,elizabeth        
#adj1jjj per annum1 though the whole    
revenue of ,england at  that period fell
 considerably short of #ejj1jjj4        
,essex1 after the  destruction of       
,norris1 led into ,ireland an army of   
above #bj1jjj men1  which was totally   
baffled and destroyed by ,tyrone1 within
 two years of  their landing4  ,such was
 the importance of ,irish rebellions two
 centuries  before the time in which we 
live4  ,sir ,g4 ,carew attempted to     
assassinate  the ,lugan ,earl--,mountjoy
 compelled the ,irish rebels to massacre
 each  other4  ,in the course of a few  
months #c1jjj men were starved to death 
in  ,tyrone4  ,sir ,arthur ,chichester1 
,sir ,richard ,manson1 and other        
commanders1  saw three children feeding 
on the flesh of their dead mother4      
,such were  the golden days of good     

,queen ,bess6    ,by the rebellions of  
,dogherty1 in the reign of ,james ,i41  
six northern  counties were confiscated1
 amounting to #ejj1jjj acres4  ,in the  
same  manner1 #fd1jjj acres were        
confiscated in ,athlone4  ,the whole of 
his  confiscations amount to nearly a   
million acres2 and if ,leland means     
plantation acres1 they constitute a     
twelfth of the whole kingdom  according 
to ,newenham1 and a tenth according to  
,sir ,w4 ,petty4  ,the most  shocking   
and scandalous action in the reign of   
,james1 was his attack upon  the whole  
property of the province of ,connaught1 
which he would have  effected1 if he had
 not been bought off by a sum greater   
than he hoped to  gain by his iniquity1 
besides the luxury of confiscation4     
,the ,irish1  during the reign of ,james
 ,i41 suffered under the double evils of
 a  licentious soldiery and a religious 
persecution4    ,charles ,i4 took a     
bribe of #abj1jjj from his ,irish       
subjects1 to grant  them what in those  

days were called ,graces1 but in these  
days would be  denominated the ,elements
 of ,justice4  ,the money was paid1 but 
the graces  were never granted4  ,one of
 these graces was curious enough3 8,that
 the  clergy were not to be permitted to
 keep henceforward any private prisons  
of their own1 but delinquents were to be
 committed to the public jails40  ,the  
idea of a rector1 with his own private  
jail full of ,dissenters1 is  the most  
ludicrous piece of tyranny we ever heard
 of4  ,the troops in the  beginning of  
,charles's reign were supported by the  
weekly fines levied  upon the ,catholics
 for non-attendance upon established    
worship4  ,the  ,archbishop of ,dublin  
went himself at the head of a file of   
musketeers1 to  disperse a ,catholic    
congregation in ,dublin--which object he
 effected after  a considerable skirmish
 with the priests4  8,the favourite     
object0 7says  ,dr4 ,leland1 a          
,protestant clergyman1 and dignitary of 
the ,irish ,church7  8of the ,irish     

,government and the ,english            
,parliament1 was the utter              
extermination of all the ,catholic      
inhabitants of ,ireland40  ,the great   
rebellion took place in this reign1 and 
,ireland was one scene of blood  and    
cruelty and confiscation4    ,cromwell  
began his career in ,ireland by         
massacring for five days the  garrison  
of ,drogheda1 to whom quarter had been  
promised4  ,two millions  and a half of 
acres were confiscated4  ,whole towns   
were put up in lots1  and sold4  ,the   
,catholics were banished from           
three-fourths of the kingdom1  and      
confined to ,connaught4  ,after a       
certain day1 every ,catholic found out  
of ,connaught was to be punished with   
death4  ,fleetwood complains  peevishly 
8that the people do not transport       
readily10 but adds1 8it is  doubtless a 
work in which the ,lord will appear40   
,ten thousand ,irish  were sent as      
recruits to the ,spanish army4          
8,such was ,cromwell's way of settling  

the affairs of ,ireland2 and if      a  
nation is to be ruined1 this method is1 
perhaps1 as good as any4      ,it is1 at
 least1 more humane than the slow1      
lingering process of      exclusion1    
disappointment1 and degradation1 by     
which their hearts are      worn out    
under more specious forms of tyranny2   
and that talent of      despatch which  
,molire attributes to one of his        
physicians is no      ordinary merit in 
a practitioner like ,cromwell3--8,c'est 
un homme      expditif1 qui aime        
depcher ses malades2 et quand on        
mourir1      cela se fait avec lui le   
plus vite du monde40  ,a certain        
military      ,duke1 who complains that 
,ireland is but half conquered1 would1  
no      doubt1 upon an emergency1 try   
his hand in the same line of practice1  
and1 like that #8stern hero' ,mirmillo1 
in the ,dispensary1        8,while      
others meanly take whole months to slay1
      ,despatch the grateful patient in 
a day60        8,among other amiable    

enactments against the ,catholics at    
this period1      the price of five     
pounds was set on the head of a ,romish 
priest1      being exactly the same sum 
offered by the same legislators for the 
head of a wolf4  ,the ,athenians1 we are
 told1 encouraged the      destruction  
of wolves by a similar reward 7five     
drachms72 but it does      not appear   
that these heathens bought up the heads 
of priests at the      same rate1 such  
zeal in the cause of religion being     
reserved for      times of ,christianity
 and ,protestantism40--7pp4 #ig-ii47    
,nothing can show more strongly the     
light in which the ,irish were held by  
,cromwell than the correspondence with  
,henry ,cromwell respecting the         
peopling of ,jamaica from ,ireland4     
,secretary ,thurloe sends to ,henry1 the
  ,lord ,deputy in ,ireland1 to inform  
him that 8a stock of ,irish girls and   
,irish young men are wanting for the    
peopling of ,jamaica40  ,the answer of  
,henry ,cromwell is as                  

follows3--8,concerning the supply of    
young men1  although we must use force  
in taking them up1 yet it being so much 
for  their own good1 and likely to be of
 so great advantage to the public1 it   
is not the least doubted but that you   
may have such a number of them as  you  
may think fit to make use of on this    
account4    8,i shall not need repeat   
anything respecting the girls1 not      
doubting to  answer your expectations to
 the full in that2 and ,i think it might
 be  of like advantage to your affairs  
there and ours here if you should think 
fit to send #a1ejj or #b1jjj boys to the
 place above mentioned4  ,we can  well  
spare them2 and who knows but that it   
may be the means of making  them        
,englishmen--,i mean1 rather1           
,christians8  ,as for the girls1 ,i     
suppose  you will make provisions of    
clothes1 and other accommodations for   
them40  ,upon this1 ,thurloe informs    
,henry ,cromwell that the council have  
voted  #d1jjj girls1 and as many boys1  

to go to ,jamaica4    ,every ,catholic  
priest found in ,ireland was hanged1 and
 five pounds paid  to the informer4     
8,about the years #afeb and #afec10 says
 ,colonel ,lawrence1 in his ,interests  
of ,ireland1 8the plague and famine had 
so swept away whole counties1  that a   
man might travel twenty or thirty miles 
and not see a living  creature1 either  
man1 or beast1 or bird1 they being all  
dead1 or had  quitted those desolate    
places4  ,our soldiers would tell       
stories of the  places where they saw   
smoke--it was so rare to see either     
smoke by day or  fire or candle by      
night40  ,in this manner did the ,irish 
live and die  under ,cromwell1 suffering
 by the sword1 famine1 pestilence1 and  
persecution1 beholding the confiscation 
of a kingdom and the banishment  of a   
race4  8,so that there perished10 says  
,sir ,w4 ,petty1 8in the year  #afda1   
#fej1jjj human beings1 whose bloods     
somebody must atone for to ,god  and the
 ,king60    ,in the reign of ,charles   

,,ii41 by the ,act of ,settlement1 four 
millions and  a half of acres were for  
ever taken from the ,irish4  8,this     
country10 says  the ,earl of ,essex1    
,lord ,lieutenant in #afge1 8has been   
perpetually rent  and torn since his    
,majesty's restoration4  ,i can compare 
it to nothing  better than the flinging 
the reward on the death of a deer among 
the pack  of hounds1 where every one    
pulls and tears where he can for        
himself40  ,all wool grown in ,ireland  
was1 by ,act of ,parliament1 compelled  
to be sold  to ,england2 and ,irish     
cattle were excluded from ,england4     
,the ,english1  however1 were pleased to
 accept #cj1jjj head of cattle1 sent as 
a gift  from ,ireland to the sufferers  
in the great fire6 and the first day of 
the  ,sessions1 after this act of       
munificence1 the ,parliament passed     
fresh acts  of exclusion against the    
productions of that country4    8,among 
the many anomalous situations in which  
the ,irish have been placed1  by those  

#8marriage vows1 false as dicers'       
oaths1' which bind their  country to    
,england1 the dilemma in which they     
found themselves at the  ,revolution was
 not the less perplexing or cruel4  ,if 
they were loyal to  the ,king de jure1  
they were hanged by the ,king de facto2 
and if they  escaped with life from the 
,king de facto1 it was but to be        
plundered  and proscribed by the ,king  
de jure afterwards4        8#8,hac gener
 atque socer coeant mercede             
suorum4'--,,virgil4        8#8,in a     
manner so summary1 prompt1 and high     
mettled1      ,twixt father and         
son-in-law matters were settled4'       
8,in fact1 most of the outlawries in    
,ireland were for treason committed  the
 very day on which the ,prince and      
,princess of ,orange accepted the  crown
 in the ,banqueting-house2 though the   
news of this event could not  possibly  
have reached the other side of the      
,channel on the same day1 and  the      
,lord-,lieutenant of ,king ,james1 with 

an army to enforce obedience1 was  at   
that time in actual possession of the   
government1 so little was common  sense 
consulted1 or the mere decency of forms 
observed1 by that rapacious  spirit1    
which nothing less than the confiscation
 of the whole island  could satisfy2 and
 which having1 in the reign of ,james   
,i4 and at the  ,restoration1 despoiled 
the natives of no less than ten millions
 six  hundred and thirty-six thousand   
eight hundred and thirty-seven acres1   
now  added to its plunder one million   
sixty thousand seven hundred and        
ninety-two acres more1 being the amount 
altogether 7according to ,lord  ,clare's
 calculation7 of the whole superficial  
contents of the island6        8,thus1  
not only had all ,ireland suffered      
confiscation in the course      of this 
century1 but no inconsiderable portion  
of it had been twice      and even      
thrice confiscated4  ,well might ,lord  
,clare say1 #8that the      situation of
 the ,irish nation1 at the ,revolution1 

stands unparalleled      in the history 
of the inhabited world4'0  7pp4         
#aaa-aac47    ,by the ,articles of      
,limerick1 the ,irish were promised the 
free exercise of  their religion2 but   
from that period to the year #aghh1     
every year  produced some fresh penalty 
against that religion1 some liberty was 
abridged1 some right impaired1 or some  
suffering increased4  ,by acts in  ,king
 ,william's reign1 they were prevented  
from being solicitors4  ,no  ,catholic  
was allowed to marry a ,protestant2 and 
any ,catholic who sent a  son to        
,catholic countries for education was to
 forfeit all his lands4  ,in  the reign 
of ,queen ,anne1 any son of a ,catholic 
who chose to turn  ,protestant got      
possession of the father's estate4  ,no 
,papist was allowed  to purchase        
freehold property1 or to take a lease   
for more than thirty  years4  ,if a     
,protestant dies intestate1 the estate  
is to go to the next  ,protestant heir1 
though all to the tenth generation      

should be ,catholic4  ,in the same      
manner1 if a ,catholic dies intestate1  
his estate is to go to  the next        
,protestant4  ,no ,papist is to dwell in
 ,limerick or ,galway4  ,no  ,papist is 
to take an annuity for life4  ,the widow
 of a ,papist turning  ,protestant to   
have a portion of the chattels of       
deceased in spite of any  will4  ,every 
,papist teaching schools to be presented
 as a regular ,popish  convict4  ,prices
 of catching ,catholic priests1 from    
#ejs4 to #aj1  according to rank4       
,papists are to answer all questions    
respecting other  ,papists1 or to be    
committed to jail for twelve months4    
,no trust to be  undertaken for         
,papists4  ,no ,papist to be on ,grand  
,juries4  ,some notion  may be formed of
 the spirit of those times1 from an     
order of the ,house of  ,commons1 8that 
the ,sergeant-at-,arms should take into 
custody all ,papists  that should       
presume to come into the gallery60      
7,commons' ,journal1  vol4 iii41 fol4   

#igf47  ,during this reign the ,english 
,parliament  legislated as absolutely   
for ,ireland as they do now for         
,rutlandshire1 an  evil not to be       
complained of1 if they had done it as   
justly4  ,in the  reign of ,george ,i41 
the horses of ,papists were seized for  
the militia1  and rode by ,protestants2 
towards which the ,catholics paid       
double1 and  were compelled to find     
,protestant substitutes4  ,they were    
prohibited from  voting at vestries1 or 
being high or petty constables4  ,an act
 of the  ,english ,parliament in this   
reign opens as follows3--8,whereas      
attempts have  been lately made to shake
 off the subjection of ,ireland to the  
,imperial  ,crown of these realms1 be it
 enacted10 etc4 etc4  ,in the reign of  
,george  ,,ii4 four-sixths of the       
population were cut off from the right  
of voting  at elections by the necessity
 under which they were placed of taking 
the  oath of supremacy4  ,barristers and
 solicitors marrying ,catholics are     

exposed to all the penalties of         
,catholics4  ,persons robbed by         
privateers  during a war with a         
,catholic ,state are to be indemnified  
by a levy on the  ,catholic inhabitants 
of the neighbourhood4  ,all marriages   
between  ,catholics and ,protestants are
 annulled4  ,all ,popish priests        
celebrating  them are to be hanged4     
8,this system0 7says ,arthur ,young7    
8has no other  tendency than that of    
driving out of the kingdom all the      
personal wealth  of the ,catholics1 and 
extinguishing their industry within it2 
and the  face of the country1 every     
object which presents itself to         
travellers1  tells him how effectually  
this has been done40--,young's ,tour in 
,ireland1  vol4 ii41 p4 #dh4            
99 99 99 99 99    ,such is the history  
of ,ireland--for we are now at our own  
times2 and the  only remaining question 
is1 whether the system of improvement   
and  conciliation begun in the reign of 
,george ,,iii4 shall be pursued1 and the

  remaining incapacities of the         
,catholics removed1 or all these        
concessions  be made insignificant by an
 adherence to that spirit of            
proscription  which they professed to   
abolish8  ,looking to the sense and     
reason of the  thing1 and to the        
ordinary working of humanity and        
justice1 when  assisted1 as they are    
here1 by self-interest and worldly      
policy1 it might  seem absurd to doubt  
of the result4  ,but looking to the     
facts and the  persons by which we are  
now surrounded1 we are constrained to   
say that we  greatly fear that these    
incapacities never will be removed till 
they are  removed by fear4  ,what else1 
indeed1 can we expect when we see them  
opposed by such enlightened men as ,mr4 
,peel--faintly assisted by men of  such 
admirable genius as ,mr4 ,canning--when 
,royal ,dukes consider it as a          
compliment to the memory of their father
 to continue this miserable  system of  
bigotry and exclusion1 when men act     

ignominiously and  contemptibly on this 
question1 who do so on no other         
question1 when  almost the only persons 
zealously opposed to this general       
baseness and  fatuity are a few ,whigs  
and ,reviewers1 or here and there a     
virtuous poet  like ,mr4 ,moore8  ,we   
repeat again1 that the measure never    
will be effected  but by fear4  ,in the 
midst of one of our just and necessary  
wars1 the  ,irish ,catholics will compel
 this country to grant them a great deal
 more  than they at present require or  
even contemplate4  ,we regret most      
severely the protraction of the disease1
 and the danger of the remedy2  but in  
this way it is that human affairs are   
carried on6    ,we are sorry we have    
nothing for which to praise             
,administration on the  subject of the  
,catholic question1 but it is but       
justice to say1 that they  have been    
very zealous and active in detecting    
fiscal abuses in ,ireland1  in improving
 mercantile regulations1 and in         

detecting ,irish jobs4  ,the  commission
 on which ,mr4 ,wallace presided has    
been of the greatest  possible utility1 
and does infinite credit to the         
,government4  ,the name  of ,mr4        
,wallace in any commission has now      
become a pledge to the public  that     
there is a real intention to investigate
 and correct abuse4  ,he  stands in the 
singular predicament of being equally   
trusted by the rulers  and the ruled4   
,it is a new era in ,government when    
such men are called  into action2 and if
 there were not proclaimed and fatal    
limits to that  ministerial liberality1 
which1 so far as it goes1 we welcome    
without a  grudge and praise without a  
sneer1 we might yet hope that1 for the  
sake  of mere consistency1 they might be
 led to falsify our forebodings4  ,but  
alas6 there are motives more immediate1 
and therefore irresistible2 and  the    
time is not yet come when it will be    
believed easier to govern  ,ireland by  
the love of the many than by the power  

of the few1 when the  paltry and        
dangerous machinery of bigoted faction  
and prostituted  patronage may be       
dispensed with1 and the vessel of the   
,state be propelled  by the natural     
current of popular interests and the    
breath of popular  applause4  ,in the   
meantime1 we cannot resist the          
temptation of gracing  our conclusion   
with the following beautiful passage1 in
 which the author  alludes to the hopes 
that were raised at another great era of
 partial  concession and liberality1    
that of the revolution of #aghb1 when1  
also1  benefits were conferred which    
proved abortive because they were       
incomplete1 and balm poured into the    
wound1 where the envenomed shaft was    
yet left to rankle4        8,and here10 
says the gallant ,captain ,rock1 8as the
 free confession of      weakness       
constitutes the chief charm and use of  
biography1 ,i will      candidly own    
that the dawn of prosperity and concord 
which ,i now saw      breaking over the 

fortunes of my country1 so dazzled and  
deceived my      youthful eyes1 and so  
unsettled every hereditary notion of    
what ,i      owed to my name and family1
 that--shall ,i confess it--,i even     
hailed      with pleasure the prospects 
of peace and freedom that seemed opening
      around me2 nay1 was ready1 in the 
boyish enthusiasm of the moment1 to     
sacrifice all my own personal interest  
in all future riots and      rebellions 
to the one bright1 seducing object of my
 country's liberty      and repose4     
8,when ,i contemplated such a man as the
 venerable ,charlemont1 whose           
nobility was to the people like a fort  
over a valley1 elevated above      them 
solely for their defence2 who introduced
 the polish of the      courtier into   
the camp of the freeman1 and served his 
country with      all that pure         
,platonic devotion which a true knight  
in the time of      chivalry proffered  
to his mistress2 when ,i listened to the
 eloquence      of ,grattan1 the very   

music of freedom1 her first fresh matin 
song1      after a long night of        
slavery1 degradation1 and sorrow2 when  
,i saw      the bright offerings which  
he brought to the shrine of his         
country--wisdom1 genius1 courage1 and   
patience1 invigorated and               
embellished by all those social and     
domestic virtues1 without which      the
 loftiest talents stand isolated in the 
moral waste around them1      like the  
pillars of ,palmyra towering in a       
wilderness6--when ,i      reflected on  
all this1 it not only disheartened me   
for the mission of      discord which ,i
 had undertaken1 but made me secretly   
hope that it      might be rendered     
unnecessary2 and that a country which   
could produce      such men and achieve 
such a revolution1 might yet--in spite  
of the      joint efforts of the        
,government and my family--take her rank
 in the      scale of nations1 and be   
happy6        8,my father1 however1 who 
saw the momentary dazzle by which ,i was

      affected1 soon drew me out of this
 false light of hope in which ,i lay    
basking1 and set the truth before me in 
a way but too convincing and            
ominous4  #8,be not deceived1 boy1' he  
would say1 #8by the fallacious          
appearances before you4  ,eminently     
great and good as is the man to         
whom ,ireland owes this short era of    
glory1 our work1 believe me1      will  
last longer than his4  ,we have a power 
on our side that 8will      not         
willingly let us die20 and1 long after  
,grattan shall have      disappeared    
from earth like that arrow shot into the
 clouds by      ,alcestes1 effecting    
nothing1 but leaving a long train of    
light behind      him1 the family of the
 ,,rocks will continue to flourish in   
all their      native glory1 upheld by  
the ever-watchful care of the           
,legislature1      and fostered by that 
8nursing-mother of ,liberty10 the       
,church4'0