CHAPTER V.

THE REIGN OF GEORGE THE THIRD.

From his Acceffion to the Throne to the Declaration of Irish Independance in 1782..

No prince ever afcended the throne more to the joy and fatsfaction of his

people than our gracious fovereign. Pleafed, faid Junius, with the novelty of a young prince, whofe countenance promised even more than his words, they were loyal to him not only from principle, but paffion. It was not a cold profeffion of allegiance to the first magiftrate, but a partial animated attachment to a favorite prince, the native of their country. In his first fpeech to the British parliament, he faid "born and educated in this country, "I glory in the name of Briton: and the peculiar happiness of my life will ever confift in promoting the welfare of a people, whofe loyalty and warm "affection to me I confider as the greatest and most permanent fecurity of my throne and I doubt not but their steadiness in thofe principles will equal the firmness of my invariable refolution to adhere to and ftrengthen this excellent conftitution in church and ftate; and to maintain the "toleration inviolable. The civil and religious rights of my loving fubjects, are equally dear to me with the most valuable prerogatives of the crown: "and as the fureft foundation of the whole and the beft means to draw down the divine favor on my reign, it is my fixed purpose, to countenance and encourage the practice of true religion and virtue." In these flattering. affurances of the new monarch to the people of Great Britain, Lord Hallifax, then lord lieutenant of Ireland, had it in command to declare to the fifter kingdom, that his fubjects of Ireland, were fully, and in every refpect, comprehended.* Congratulatory addreffes to the throne flowed in from all defcriptions of perfons: amongst which, none were more remarkable than the addreffes from the people called Quakers and the Roman Catholics:

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* Com. Journ. vol. 7. p. 13.

the

the former, contained more moral fentiment and lefs common place flattery, than are ufually contained in fuch addreffes: the latter was ftrongly expreffive of their loyalty: their acknowledgement of paft indulgence, and their earnest confidence of future favor.*

With refpect to the general state of Ireland at this period, the profpect is truly gloomy. It appears from the public accounts, that at Lady Day, 1759, the nation was in credit 65,7741. 4s. 14d.; however the arrears upon the establishments had increased fo confiderably towards the conclusion of that year, that it became neceffary to order 150,000l. to be raised at 4 per cent. upon debentures to be made transferable. This is to be confidered, as the funded debt of Ireland: for the payment of the interest of this fum, certain duties were granted. In the beginning of 1760, his late majesty having ordered a confiderable augmentation of his forces, it became neceffary to recur to another loan to raise the intended levies; and accordingly a vote of credit was paffed by the commons for raifing 300,000l. at 5 per cent. and as it was found difficult to obtain the former loan at 4 per cent. an additional intereft of 1 per cent. was ordered to be given for the 150,000l. before mentioned.†

It

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* These two addreffes are to be feen in the Appendix, No. LXVII.

"The revenue,

The late refpectable and patriotic Hely Hutchinfon, gives the following just account of the national distress on account of the decline of public credit. (Com. Reft. p. 59.) "for the reasons already given, decreased in 1755, fell lower in 1756, and still lower in 1757. "In the last year, the vaunted profperity of Ireland was changed into mifery and diftrefs; the "lower claffes of our people wanted food, the money arifing from the extravagance of the rich was freely applied to alleviate the fufferings of the poor. One of the first steps of the late Duke "of Bedford's adminiftration, and which reflects honour on his memory, was obtaining a king's "letter, dated 31ft of March, 1757, for 20,000l. to be laid out as his grace should think the most "likely to afford the most speedy and effectual relief to his majesty's poor fubjects of this kingdom. "His grace, in his speech from the throne, humanely expreffes his with, that fome method might "be found out to prevent the calamities, that are the confequences of a want of corn, which had "been in part felt the last year, and to which this country had been too often exposed. The Com"mons acknowledge, that thofe calamities had been frequently and were too fenfibly and fatally "experienced in the course of the laft year; thank his grace for his early and charitable atten❝tion to the neceffities of the poor of this country in their late diftreffes, and make use of those "remarkable expreflions, "that they will most chearfully embrace every practicable method to "c promote tillage. They knew that the encouragement of manufactures were the effectual means, " and that these means were not in their power. The ability of the nation was estimated by the

money

It is an unexceptionable axiom, that a diftreffed peafantry argues a corrupt or unwife government: the exceffes therefore of defperate wretchedness are to be immediately fought in the forenefs and irritation of the sufferers: though the efficient caufe of the fuffering must be traced to an higher and lefs refponfible fource. From the acceffion of the Hanover family, the execution of the Popery laws in Ireland had, as far as the perfonal difpofition of the fovereign could influence the conduct of the Irish administration, been foftened and mitigated. The rebellions of 1715 and 1745 had been raised

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money in the treafury, and the penfions on the civil eftablishment, exclufive of French, which

at Lady Day 1755, were 38,0031. 15s. Od. amounted at Lady Day 1757, to 49,2931. 15s. od. "The fame ideas were entertained of the resources of this country in the feffion of 1759. "Great Britain had made extraordinary efforts, and engaged in enormous expences for the pro"tection of the whole empire. This country was in immediate danger of an invafion. Every "Irishman was agreed, that she should affift Great Britain to the utmost of her ability, but this ability was too highly estimated. The nation abounded rather in loyalty than in wealth. Our "brethren in Great Britain had however formed a different opinion, and surveying their own ftrength, were incomplete judges of our weakness. A lord lieutenant of too much virtue and magnanimity to speak what he did not think, takes notice from the throne, of the profperous "ftate of this country, improving daily in its manufactures and commerce. His grace had done "much to bring it to that state, by obtaining for us some of the best laws in our books of statutes. "But this part of the speech was not taken notice of, either in the address to his majesty, or to his grace, from a Houfe of Commons well difpofed to give every mark of duty and refpect, and to pay every compliment confiftent with truth. The event proved the wisdom of their reserve. "The public expences were greatly increased, the penfions on the civil establishments, exclusive of French, at Lady Day, 1759, amounted to 55,4971. 5s. Od.: there was at the fame time a great augmentation of military expence. Six new regiments and a troop were raised in a very short space of time. An unanimous and unlimited addrefs of confidence to his grace, a specifick "vote of credit for 150,000l. which was afterwards provided for in the loan bill of that feffion, a fecond vote of credit in the fame feffion for 300,000l., the raising the rate of intereft paid by government one per cent. and the payment out of the treasury in little more than one year, "of 703,9571. 3s. 1d. were the confequences of those encreased expences. The effects of these "exertions were immediately and feverely felt by the kingdom. These loans could not be supplied by a poor country, without draining the bankers of their cafh; three of the principal "houfes (Clement's, Dawfon's, and Mitchell's,) among them ftopped payment, the three remaining banks in Dublin discounted no paper, and in fact did no business. Public and private "credit, that had been drooping fince the year 1754 had now fallen proftrate. At a general meeting of the merchants of Dublin, in April 1760, with several members of the House of "Commons, the inability of the former to carry on business was universally acknowledged, not "from the want of capital, but from the ftoppage of all paper circulation, and the refusal of the "remaining bankers to discount the bills even of the first houses."

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and fuppreffed, without the flightest tarnish to the loyalty of Ireland;* prone as her enemies ever have been to invent and provoke caufe of perfecution and punishment in that devoted kingdom. In the general rejoicing of the British empire at the defcent of the crown upon a native monarch crowned with early laurels of victory in the wide extent of the war, in which he found his people engaged, Ireland alone was doomed to weep. In the fouthern province of that kingdom great mifery, great foreness, and great difturbances exifted in the loweft clafs of the wretched peafantry. They being chiefly Catholics, religion of courfe was ftupidly and malicioufly faddled with the cause of thefe riots. The infurgents at first committed their outrages at night; and appearing generally in frocks or fhirts were denominated white-boys: they feized arms and horfes, houghed the cattle, levelled the enclofures of commons, turned up new made roads, and perpetrated various other acts of outrage and violence. Thefe unfortunate wretches, as is the cafe in all infurgencies, raised a popular cry against the rapacity and tyranny of their landlords: against the cruel exactions of tythemongers, and against the illegal enclofures of commons.

The only ufeful allufion to paft riots, the only feasonable reflections, that arife out of them, the only fair hiftorical purpose, to which the details of them can be applied, are fuch as tend to their future prevention. The most pointed exhortations to the difcontented mafs, but tend to aggravate whilst their forenefs lafts; little avails it in the moment of fermentation whether their grievances be ideal or real; whether the caufe of their irritation be juft or groundlefs. Few, if any of the deluded multitude will read the history of their own mifconduct in the pages, which fall under the perufal of those, who alone command the efficient means of prevention. Various caufes about this period concurred in reducing this forlorn peafantry to the most abject wretchednefs. An epidemic diforder of the horned cattle had fpread

*It is notorious that when Murray, the Pretender's fecretary, gave up all the letters and papers relative to the laft rebellion in Scotland, a scheme which had been planning and contriving for feven years before, it plainly appeared, that the Jacobite party had no dependence upon or connection or correfpondence with any Roman Catholic in Ireland. The very name of that kingdom not having been once mentioned throughout the whole correfpondence. When in March, 1762, a general faft was ordained by the government for the fuccefs of his majesty's arms, the form of prayer and exhortation to the Roman Catholic congregations in Ireland were as ftaunchly loyal as any of the establishment, as may be seen in the Appendix, No. LXVIII.

from

from Holstein through Holland into England, where it raged for fome years, and confequently raised the prices of beef, cheese, and butter to exorbitancy; hence pafturage became more profitable than tillage; and the whole agriculture of the fouth of Ireland, which had for fome time past flourished under the mild administration of the Popery laws, inftantly ceased; the numerous families, which were fed by the labour of agriculture, were turned adrift without means of fubfiftence. Cottiers being tenants at will were every where difpoffeffed of their feanty holdings, and large tracts of grazing land were fet to wealthy monopolizers,* who, by feeding cattle, required few hands, and paid higher rents. Preffed by need, most of these unfortunate peasants fought fhelter in the neighbouring towns, for the fake of begging that bread which they could no longer earn: and the only piteous refource of the affluent was to fhip off as many as would emigrate to seek maintenance or death in foreign climes. The price then paid for the little labour, that was done, kept not pace with the rife of neceffaries: it exceeded not the wages given in the days of Elizabeth. The landlords demanded extravagant rents from their cottiers, and to reconcile them to their lettings, they allowed them generally a right of common, of which they foon again deprived them by enclosures; the abfolute inability of thefe oppreffed tenants to pay their tythes beside their landlord's rent, made them feel the exaction and levying of them by the proctors, as a grievance infupportable.† Thefe infurrections became

* In the cant of these wretched rioters they were called land-pirates.

+ Confequences have flowed (fays Mr. Young) from these oppreflions, which ought long ago to have put a stop to them. In England we have heard much of White Boys, Steel Boys, Oak Boys, Peep of day Boys, &c. But thefe various infurgents are not to be confounded, for they are very different. The proper distinction in the difcontents of the people is into Protestant and Catholic. All but the White Boys were among the manufacturing Proteftants in the North. The White Boys Catholic labourers in the South. From the best intelligence I could gain, the riots of the manufacturers had no other foundation, but such variations in the manufacture as all fabrics experience, and which they had themselves known and submitted to before. The cafe, however, was different with the White Boys, who, being labouring Catholics, met with all those oppreffions I have described, and would probably have continued in full submission, had not very severe treatment in respect of tithes, united with great speculative rife of rents about the fame time, blown up the flame of refiftance; the atrocious acts they were guilty of made them the object of general indignation; acts were passed for their punishment, which seemed calculated for the meridian of Barbary; this arose to fuch a height, that by one they were to be hanged under circumstances without the common formalities of a trial, which, though repealed the following feffions, marks the spirit of punishment;