The sept of Melachlin, the ruling Irish family of Meath, were at this time invaded by one of the most ancient English settlers, called Petit, from whom the family of the marquis of Lansdown flow. The sept rose in arms; and Desmond having supported the claims of Petit, the neighbouring clans flew to the relief of Melachlin, routed the army of the deputy, and took the latter prisoner, with most of his distinguished followers. The earl of Desmond fell into the hands of an honourable enemy; and, as if mortified by the generous treatment he experienced, it was during his administration we find the most cruel and fiend-like enmity manifested towards the native Irish. Desmond being restored to his government by the generosity of an enemy who despised his power, did not provide against the dangers which threatened the English interests on all sides of the pale. The sept of O'Brien issued from the south, crossed the Shannon, and expelled the English settlers of Munster. They peaceably negociated with the native Irish in Leinster, Argial, and Breffny, (or Cavan) and hung over the English pale with dreadful denunciations. The Irish chieftains were content with forcing the common enemy to the disgraceful payment of tribute; and, as usual, retired within their respective territories, without striking at the root of the sufferings of their country, Such mortifying defeats and indignities exposed Desmond to much obloquy, and afforded peculiar triumph to his enemies.

The bishop of Meath charges Desmond with oppression and extortion, and both parties send forward their respective representations to the British monarch. The Irish parliament address the king in favour of Desmond, and implore his majesty to give no credence to any accusers of the earl. With such honorable testimonials, Desmond presents himself before Edward, silences the accusation of his opponents, and returns to Ireland to indulge a thoughtless triumph over his enemies.

1

In 1465, we find this deputy, with his catholic parliament of the pale, enacting laws which at once excite our indignation and our ridicule; sanguinary and absurd, impotent and furious-the offspring of folly and malignity. The torments they give birth to, turn on the inventor; and the catholic English colony will hereafter be seen suffering in property and in person from those very laws that were directed by them against the devoted Irish. They passed an act setting a price upon the heads of Milesians going from, or coming into, any part of the pale, if he or they be not in company with an Englishman of good repute, wearing English apparel. They also passed an act that every Irishman living among the English settlers, shall change their sirnames, speak English, and wear English apparel. They enacted that no ship or other vessel of any foreign country shall go for fish to Irish counties. What spirit prompted this infernal confederacy against the laws of God and humanity? Was it religion or superstition? No. Was it because the Irish were a barbarous nation? No; this cannot be urged by such legislators.-Why did this catholic pale thus endeavour to make the humane and tender, savage and ferocious-the hospitable Irishman, the merciless barbarian? The Irish reader will immediately answer-because England so ordered it; because the monopoly of the pale which she either wickedly or foolishly cherished, was insatiable for Irish blood, and should be gratified. Could a protestant parliament enact laws more barbarous than these we have quoted by a catholic parliament? Certainly not; but a protestant parliament has followed the footsteps of this catholic parliament, and has obeyed the instructions of England with equal fidelity.

Irishmen should never confound the errors of their countrymen with the crimes of England, nor contend with each other when the prolific source of all Ireland's wrongs stands before them. Yet Mr. Leland writes of this parliament, that “the statutes it passed were particularly calculated not only for the defence of the pale, but for the re

T

fining the manners of its inhabitants, and forming them by the English model." Mr. Leland's idea of refinement is somewhat singular, if it can only be brought about by the establishment of principles which tear from the human breast the finest feelings of our nature, proclaim war against our neighbour, and level humanity with the beast of the field, or the fowl of the air.

The deputy, Desmond, who thus refined the manners of the Irish, shortly after his honorable labors, was brought to the block by his enemies. Kildare repaired to the British monarch, and made such representations as restored the family of the Geraldines to their ancient power and authority. The Irish parliament co-operate with Kildare in visiting on the enemies of his house the most merciless vengeance. The temporary revolution effected in England by the earl of Warwick, restoring Henry VI. to the throne, left Kildare undisturbed in the government of the English colony. "The measures he adopted," says Mr. Taaffe, “for the defence of the pale, demonstrate the nullity of its resources, and that it was not power, but will, the ancient proprietors wanted, to pluck that deleterious thorn out of their side."

The reader will find but little entertainment in perusing the detail of the family quarrels of the Butlers and Fitzgeralds. A native of England is appointed deputy by Edward IV. without consulting the colonists. He was opposed and disowned; Kildare kept the lieutenancy; Keating, governor of the castle, refused him entrance; Kildare formed an alliance with Con O'Nial of the north, which fixed and established his influence, and made it almost imperative on the British monarch to retain him as deputy. He continued viceroy during the reigns of Edward V. and Richard III. a period which affords no subject to the historian worthy of record. We read the same round of internal feuds and animosities, terminating in civil war and blood, and the same scenes of violence to perpetuate and extend the English interests, without regard to the obligations of justice, of humanity, or religion.

THE

HISTORY OF IRELAND.

Henry VII.

A.D.

1480.

THE triumphs of Henry VII. over the house of York, were heard in Ireland with feelings of deep and sincere regret. The vices of Richard III. were unknown and unexperienced, and the virtues of his ancestor lived in the grateful recollection of the Irish nation. It would be reasonably expected, that the policy of the conqueror would have suggested the expediency of placing in the administration of his Irish government the partizans of the house of Lancaster; but, whether from fear, or from a more profound policy, he continued the friends of the house of York in the enjoyment of all the honors and emoluments of the viceregal administration. He reposed confidence in the earl of Kildare as lord lieutenant, and the brother of the earl as his Irish chancellor. Rowland, lord Portlester, another zealous Yorkist, continued treasurer, with all the old officers of state, and former privy council, Were we to form an opinion of the motive which actuated Henry to preserve the ministers of York in the administration of Ireland, we should be inclined to conclude that the formidable power of the English lords of the pale, who were devoted to the

interests of the house of York, could more easily be gained over by the affected confidence of the monarch, than restrained or put down by the violence of his jealousy or the terror of his arms.

The desperate resistance of Keating, the prior of Kilmainham, to the appointment of Lumley, who was selected by Henry to succeed him in his ecclesiastical dignities, fully demonstrates the strength of the York party in Ireland. Keating ordered Lumley to be seized and thrown into prison, in opposition to the threats of Henry. The earl of Kildare governed in Ireland without any restraint, even from the rivalship or jealousy of the great barons of the colony. Desmond slumbered in the lazy pride of rude magnificence, he boasted of his exemption from the labors of legislation, and left the administration of the colony to the sole direction of Kildare. In England, the British monarch manifested the most relentless and unforgiving spirit against the house of York. The young earl of Warwick, son of the unhappy duke of Clarence, was committed to close custody; the daughter of Edward was treated with coldness and neglect by her husband, Henry; and the friends of the Yorkists were pursued on all sides by attainders, forfeitures, and confiscations.

The widow of Edward IV. could no longer repress her indignation at the treatment of her daughter, the relentless persecutions of her friends, and the unwearied spirit with which Henry insulted the feelings of the family. She secretly consulted with his enemies, and industriously encouraged the disposition to disaffection throughout the kingdom.

Henry having received information from Ireland, which excited his apprehensions of the fidelity of Kildare, he summoned the latter to repair to his court; who artfully evaded the royal mandate, by a parliamentary representation of the dangers to be incurred by his absence from the administration of Irish affairs. At length the suspicions