of this empire; and to point out the measures that seemed to me best calculated to draw forth their energies for the benefit of the state, and their own happiness. There is no country in which the extremes of virtue and vice, of generous and exalted sentiment, of disinterestedness or self-debasement, are so conspicuous and variously displayed, as in Ireland. Yet the mind, or intelligent principle, of the natives, is susceptible of every change and improvement by the powers of education and political circumstances, in a degree not to be surpassed by any people on the globe. In Ireland, man resembles not the dull and insensible Laplander, or the indolent and placid native of an eastern climate: he has a soul that kindles quickly, and a body that poverty cannot conquer, nor labour destroy: to his benefactor he is grateful even to romantic enthusiasm, to his oppressor hostile and vindictive. Notwithstanding that the inhabitants of this island have been for centuries under the nominal influence of British laws, yet few traces of happiness, arising from wise political institutions, are to be found in any part of the country-the original habits and manners of the populace still exist, and in many districts the traveller may fancy that he has gone back into periods of time long past, and is amongst a people whose domestic customs were those of former centuries. We have descriptions and histories of the most distant parts of the globe; our travellers favour us with accounts of the habits, manners, and political institutions of nearly all the nations that have been called into being: but of Ireland, a country under our own government, we have little that is authentic! We know that it is now a part of the British empire, that it is restless and rebellious: we are ignorant, however, that only a minority of the people speak our language, although the country is almost within the range of our own vision. Of the reasons for these events we are unacquainted, and seem careless of being informed on the subject; there is, perhaps, a secret delight in protecting the prescriptive prejudices of our forefathers, in cherishing the same acrimony and continuing those national reflections that feed our own consequence. A government is, to the persons who are subject to its control, as a guardian deity; its powerful but lenient hand ought to rest upon the chaos, and gently, but steadily, bring it into form. The exercise of such a principle is not to be perceived in Ireland: the nation is agitated from every point by contending elements; the furies have long been abroad in the land; and self-interest, aided by power, and encouraged by the insanity of religious persecution, spreads itself like a destroying influence over the country. In the nineteenth century, when the door of knowledge is so widely opened, it is surprising that man is not more emulous of the greatest of all glories, a desire to ameliorate and improve the situation of his species. If man be not to man the object of his greatest regard, he deserves not that pre-eminence which God has conferred upon him over the other animals of the creation; it is by the cultivation of his powers, bodily and mental, that he can most effectually evince his gratitude to the Deity; and he who neglects to aid, or wilfully obstructs the progress of human improvement, is an evil principle operating against his species, and an offender in the eye of Omnipotence. Unlike other nations, where the same ranks in society have the same characteristic distinctions, in Ireland, the corresponding classes in distant parts of the island are as dissimilar as the higher ranks are different from them. This is indicative in a great degree of the neglect of its interests, by those whose duty it is to lead the country to prosperity and happiness. In some places, indeed, we perceive that the people have struggled through the darkness that surrounded them, and are desirous of obtaining knowledge and the arts of civilization. Such a retrospect of the situation of a country, placed by Providence in the most enlightened part of Europe, must awaken reflections no way favourable to its rulers. The garden is, indeed, well stocked, but the valuable plants are buried in weeds of the most noxious qualities. Life is produced to the utmost extent of population, but the use of this superabundance is not apparent. Even mere existence is hardly a blessing; but existence, overwhelmed with poverty, wretchedness, and ignorance, is, to say the most, an equivocal good. The improvement of the reasoning faculties, and the cultivation of science, are the charms of life; and communicate the emulations which give a zest to being, and urge us to social intercourse and social enjoyment. Where a few families arrogate to themselves, not only the power of governing, but a control over the government itself; where a minority, in consequence of the peculiarity of their religious creed, are so unchristian and so evilminded as to keep their countrymen in bondage, the lower classes must deeply feel the injury arising from such events; they are naturally called to the aid of one or other faction, and the most rancorous passions are excited and the most bitter hatreds kept alive. The low state of the mechanical arts and agriculture is a cause of the debasement of the humbler classes; their abject situation, their wretched habitations, their unclothed bodies, their superstitions sink them into submissive slaves, and break down that frame, and that mind, which were given them for nobler purposes than to grovel at the feet of a being like themselves. How much more to be desired is the erect posture of the free man, and the commendation of his free spirit, than the deceitful suppleness and debased acquiescence of him, who is but a remove, in all earthly enjoyments, from the brute, who is at once his domestic companion and his benefactor. It is an axiom in politics that the great majority of a people never rise into insurrection, or become rebels, without sufficient reason; the disaffected few pos sess not the power to increase political hatred to such a degree as to cause a general movement in opposition to the government; this effect can only be produced by a government itself, and this circumstance is the best apology for the people, if not their justification. We natives of England ought to be very circumspect in our condemnation of the principle of resistance to oppression, for of all nations upon earth we have most benefited by the exercise of such right. The reader will discover, throughout the preceding pages, such various gradations of misery as he could not have supposed possible to exist, even among the most barbarous nations. Man is exhibited to his view as oppressed and insulted; he will perceive the hand of tyranny pressing upon him heavily and unsparingly, and find an accumulation of human beings, without any other use than for the accumulation of human wretchedness. He will find him hunted from the vale to the mountain top, to shelter in the rude caverns and rocks, from his brother christian the politically orthodox believer in the humble Author of their common faith. Yet amongst all these evils he will still recognize the genius of the people, like a bright star in a tempestuous and gloomy horizon. A nation never commits felo de se. A whole people cannot causelessly be impelled to brave the mouth of the cannon, or rush upon the bayonet against their rulers; and when such events do take place, and when the voice of complaint does arise from a whole people, let their governors attend to the awful warning, and remember, that it will not be necessary to seek a heavenly-gifted interpreter to expound this HAND-WRITING UPON THE WALL! THE END. GENERAL INDEX OF NAMES AND SUBJECTS. Abbeyleix, description of the domain of, i. 47. Abbot, Mr. his bill for numbering the people, ii. Abbots, conduct of the French, ii. 480. Report on Abercrombie, his motive for declining power, ii. 377. Abreck, king, chose his queen because she excelled Absentees, different lists of, i. 289. Discrimination Abuses in schools, plan for reforming, ii. 414. Acorns, an excellent food for hogs, turkeys, &c. i. 556. Act, proposed, respecting the bogs of Ireland, i. 110. Action, principles of, in man, ii. 383. Adair, account of, i. 71. Road between Limerick Adare, Baron, family name and descent of, ii. 297. Addergoole, phenomenon of the bog of, i. 100. Additional duties, description of the, ii. 247. Admirals, many of the bravest, rise through merit, ii. 572. Admissions of children into the Foundling Hospital, Adowa, observations on the inhabitants of, ii. 682. 679. Advocates, situation of judges and masters of the Ælian, his account of the manner of catching tun- African memoranda, account of Capt. Beaver's, Agent, on the office of, in Ireland, i. 244. Account Agents, on the selection of, i. 297. Character of re- Aghaville, clay found near, i. 114. Agriculture, increase of, improves a climate, i. 166. Agronomy, definition of the word, ii. 304. Note. Air, moisture of the, in Ireland, i. 180. Phenome- Aiton, Mr. on moss earth, i. 87. His Tract on Moss Alabaster, from the cave of Dunmore, i. 127. Alcock, Mr. case of, an instance of influencing votes, Alexander, Mr. prices of articles in Londonderry, Alexander, Emperor of Russia, his sentiments on the 272. Alknever, quarry of sand-stone at, i. 121. Allan, Archbishop, his account of money in 1509, Allegiance, oath of, to be taken by the catholics of Allen, Lough, i. 34. Account of the bog of, 91. Altahoney, spar found in the mountain of, i. 127. Altidore, coast of Britain seen from, i. 56. Amethysts, discovered in the clifts near Kerry-head, Anates. See First Fruits. Ancestorial honours of the catholic aristocracy, 543. Animal matters, manure derived from ascends, Animals, signs exhibited by, denoting changes of Annahill parish, population, ii. 704. Anne, Queen, her aids to the church establish- Annesley, Earl, family name and descent of, ii. 289. Antisana, height of the great plains of, i. 141. |