For this deplorable, and not deplorable only, but disgraceful and most dangerous state of things, there are causes to be assigned, and remedies, we hope, to be applied. A knowledge of the causes is important toward a knowledge of the remedies: but the great difficulty is to procure a patient hearing to the statement of the malady. We have long had upon us the symptom of that unhappy state-ubi nec vitia pati possumus, nec remedia. To hear that any thing stands in need of amendment, awakens our keenest indignation-and that not against the authors, but the exposers of the mischief. The few who prosper in the present state of things, and the many whom that very state makes dependent on those few, instantly take the alarm; —a general union is formed to crush the unhappy reformer ;and in that wretched state of mental relaxation which makes a people hate all statements, except flattering ones, it does not often fail in its object. But, offensive as the statement may be to many, whom it is least of all desirable to offend, we are bound not to disguise what we conscientiously believe to be the truth; and all history, observation, and reflection, concur to point out THE GOVERNMENT of Ireland as the true cause of the unprecedented miseries under which it has so long suffered. The case indeed falls under a general law, against the evidence or authority of which it is perfectly vain to contend.` The state of any people depends altogether on the circumstances in which they are placed; and Government has a power to modify almost all these circumstances, in such a manner as fully to account for all the variations of character and enjoyment which history or observation can present. The fact, in the present instance, accordingly is, that England having, many years ago, assumed the government of Ireland, has so managed and conducted that subordinate nation, as to have brought it, at last, in a period of unprecedented illumination and universal improvement, to the wretched, barbarous, anarchical, burthensome, and dangerous condition that is attested by the concurrent testimony of every intelligent observer, and has recently been set forth in the acts of her own legislature. The course of this unhappy policy, it may be instructive slightly to sketch. During the four centuries which elapsed from the first nominal subjugation of Ireland, to the time of the reforms which were undertaken by James the First, the country, beyond the city of Dublin, and a few miles around it, known by the name of the English Pale, could not be regarded as in the obedience of England, strong enough to oppress, but infi nitely too feeble and too ignorant to govern. On this subject, we have the testimony of an historian, always cool, and here, at any rate, exempt from prejudice. Most of the English institutions likewise,' (such are the words of the philosophical historian) by which that island was governed, were to the last degree absurd, and such as no state before had ever thought of, for preserving dominion over its conquered provinces. The small army which they maintained in Ireland, the English never supplied regularly with pay; and as no money could be levied on the island, which possessed none, they gave their soldiers the privilege of free quarter upon the natives. But the English carried farther their ill-judged tyranny. Instead of inviting the Irish to adopt the more civilized customs of their conquerors, they even refused, though earnestly solicited, to communicate to them the privileges of their laws; and every where marked them out as aliens, and as ene、 mies. Thrown out of the protection of justice, the natives could find no security but in force; and, flying the neighbourhood of cities, which they could not approach with safety, they sheltered themselves in marshes and forests, from the insolence of their inhuman masters. Being treated like wild beasts, they became such; and, joining the ardour of revenge to their yet untamed barbarity, they grew every day more intractable and more dangerous. By all this imprudent conduct of England, the natives of its dependent state remained in that abject condition, into which the Northern and Western parts of Europe were sunk, before they received civility and slavery from the refined policy and irresistible bravery of Rome. Even at the end of the sixteenth century, when every Christian nation was cultivating, with ardour, every civil art of life, that island, lying in a temperate climate, enjoying a fertile soil, accessible in its situation, possessed of innumerable harbours, was still, notwithstanding these advantages, inhabited by a people whose customs and manners approached nearer those of savages than barbarians. ' * Such, in this instance at least, was that wisdom of our ancestors,' to which implicit conformity is still so peremptorily demanded by those who have private reasons for being pleased with the condition of their descendants. Surely we do owe some compensation to a people whom, for so many ages, we have rendered miserable. But it is still more to the purpose, to consider what we ourselves have suffered by this conduct, and how far the policy of the present time is more beneficial than that of the past. The first memorable result has been fruitful in consequences. The Irish, involved in ignorance and superstition. were not ripo * Hume, Hist. of Elizabeth, p. 395. for that reformation in religion, which produced so important a change in the condition of the sister island. The horrible ⚫ and absurd oppression which the Irish suffered under the English government,' (we again employ the words of Hume), is the cause that the Irish remained Catholics, when Britons became Protestants; and that all the mischiefs, of which that diversity of religion has been the bitter fountain, have been poured upon the two misguided islands.' It is thus that oppression, when its whole course is seen, will generally be found to be its own avenger. It is sufficiently remarkable, that the reforms in Ireland, accomplished by James the First, are the only reforms which, up to this very day, have been undertaken in the spirit of beneficence. The great concessions which have been made during the present reign, have all been extorted at moments of Irish strength and British weakness; have been the fruits, not of our liberality, but of our fears; and have gained for us, with that people, neither credit nor thankfulness. James,' says Hume, frequently boasts of the management of Ireland as his masterpiece;' and we add, that few sovereigns in the work of legislation are entitled, in any country, to equal gratitude and applause. Instead of their own barbarous laws, or customs, James extended to the Irish the benefit of English jurisprudence; took all the natives under his protection; declared them free citizens; ' and proceeded,' says Hume,' to govern them by a regular administration, military as well as civil. A small army was maintained, its discipline inspected, and its pay transmitted from England, in order to keep the soldiers from preying upon the country, as had been usual in former reigns. Circuits were established, justice administered, oppression banished, and crimes and disorders of every kind severely punished; and no authority but that of the king and the law was permitted throughout the kingdom. Such were the arts by which James introduced humanity and justice among a people, who had ever been buried in the most profound barbarism. Noble cares! much superior to the vain and criminal glory of conquests; but requiring ages of perseverance and attention to perfect what had been so happily begun. The care of providing a revenue, and of establishing an absolute power in the hands of the King, distinguished the reign of the first Charles in Ireland; till the weakness of the government in England encouraged the natives, who were joined by the ancient English of the pale, to plan a conspiracy for the to * Hist. vol. 2. p. 342. tal expulsion of the new, or Protestant settlers, from the island.* The settlement of Cromwell was chiefly conspicuous for the extent of the forfeitures, by which the principal part of the landed property was transferred to new possessors. And the Revolution was remarkable for two things; for the devoted attachment with which the Irish adhered to their old sovereign; and for the penal or disabling laws enacted against the Catholics. Till that time, no peculiar privations had distinguished the condition of the Catholic. The Parliament assembled by Strafford was composed of equal numbers of Catholics and Protestants; and it was part of the policy of that able but arbitrary ruler, to exalt the power of the Crown, by balancing the interests and animosities of one of these parties against the other. The bigotry, indeed, of the republicans had appalled them during the civil wars and the usurpation; but the favour which was evidently borne to the ancient religion by the two succeeding princes of the House of Stuart, had raised them once more to the hopes of regaining their ancient supremacy. The fate of England, indeed, might at this period have been very different, if the policy of her great enemy, Louis the Fourteenth, had been as profound as it was ambitious. When James the Second was expelled from England, and found an asylum in Ireland, had the aspiring monarch who undertook his support, af. forded him, as he might easily have done, sufficient means to establish his government in Ireland, without striving to recover the alienated throne of England, the two countries would have been separated into independent and hostile kingdoms; the perpetual weakness and insignificance of England would have been ensured; and France, in all probability, would have met with little to obstruct her in her schemes of universal dominion. The Revolution, the benefits of which to England can scarcely be exaggerated, produced any thing but benefit to unhappy Ireland; for it produced the Popery laws. That these laws were not necessary, is sufficiently proved by the fact, of their not having been previously adopted. If such a measure of severity was necessary for the security of a new and unconfirmed government, it was surely most necessary when that government was most new and most unconfirnied. But it was not till a quarter of a century after the establishment *This subtle ravage,' says Burke, (Letter to Sir H. Langrishe, as above, p. 573.) being carried to the last excess of oppression and insolence under Lord Strafford, it kindled the flames of that rebellion which broke out in 1641.' of that government, that the Popery laws were enacted, and when no inconvenience from the want of them had ever been experienced. Flushed with success, after the victory of the Boyne, and animated with the recollection of recent injuries, it would not have been surprising,' says Mr Young, if the triumphant party had exceeded the bounds of moderation towards the Catholic. But the amazing circumstance is, that the great category of persecuting laws was not framed during the life of that monarch, who wisely was a friend to toleration.'* It was under Goody Anne, the wet-nurse of the church, as she is styled by Horace Walpole, † that this choice parcel of British legislation was manufactured. It was then, after twenty-five years from the event of the Revolution had elapsed, that a domineering faction,' says Burke, ' on a party principle, ventured to disfranchise, without any proof whatsoever of abuse, the greater part of the community.' ‡ With respect to the actual effects of the Popery laws, so much good information has of late years been bestowed upon the public, that this subject, important as it is, need not detain us long. The following memorable passage of Burke, affords a fair and compendious view of their operation. 'The stock of materials by which any nation is rendered flourishing and prosperous, are its industry; its knowledge or skill; its morals; its execution of justice; its courage; and the national union in directing these powers to one point, and making them all centre in the public benefit. Other than these I do not know, and scarcely can conceive any means by which a community can flourish......The penal laws of Ireland destroy not one only, but every one of those inaterials of public prosperity 'S One of the leading and avowed objects of that code, was to disturb the possession, and prevent the acquirement of property by the Catholics. This was to prohibit industry: and the effect has been complete. The Catholics, in the next place, were debarred from education; and, finally, from those stations of influence and splendour, which are the great incitements to great acquirements. Their moral and intellectual degradation followed, as cause is succeeded by effect. This code,' says Burke, was to be noted for its vicious perfection. For I must do it justice; it was a complete system; full of *Tour in Ireland, v. 2. p. 133. + Sce his Letter to the poet Mason, Lord Orford's Works, v. 5. P.551. Letter to Sir H. Langrishe, Burke's Werks, to, v. 3. p. 589. |