tives of their property. Under pretence of a judicial inquiry into defective titles, a system of spoliation was established throughout the whole country, and the possessions of every man placed at the mercy of any creature of the crown, who could detect a flaw or failure in his title." By way of rendering this state process quite impartial, every jury who refused to find a title in the king was fined in the star-chamber and committed to prison. Of course, as we may suppose, juries in general were rather deaf to arguments in favour of the possessor: but, for the honour of human nature, we are glad to subjoin that on some occasions, all personal considerations were merged in the noble principles of justice; the unavailing struggle however only added to the victims those men who had dared conscientiously to vindicate them. In one case, a whole county was swept into the treasury by this process. "In the year 1611 (says Leland) on the seizure of the county of Wexford, when, upon a commission to inquire out his Majesty's title to the county, the jury offered their verdict of ignoramus' to the king's title, the commissioners refused to accept it, and bound the jury to appear before them in the Exchequer court, where, when five of them still refused to find the title in the king, the commissioners committed them to prison!" Captain Rock, upon this subject, has converted a jest of Fielding's into rhyme, which, if the critic should say has not the poet's fire, the historian may vindicate by adding, that it wants his fiction. The Irish had long made a deuce of a clatter, And wrangled, and fought about meum et tuum, Till England stept in and decided the matter, By kindly converting it all into suum. It is a curious fact that this reign, marked, as we see it was, by religious persecution and civil rapine, was yet distinguished by the absence of almost all popular commotion! The annalists are grievously posed to account for this anomaly, and the solutions attempted by some of them, both English and Irish, are ludicrous in the extreme. Mr. O'Halloran de clares that, because King James was a descendant of Milesius, they bore it all in honour of their ancestor ! "Like the Irishman lately, (adds Captain Rock,) who was nearly murdered on St. Patrick's day, but forgave his assailant, for the sake of the Saint!" Sir John Davies on the other hand (he was the King's Attorney-General), takes a different, but certainly not less novel view of the matter. He says that "the multitude, being brayed, as it were in a mortar, with sword, famine, and pestilence together, (a blessed compound!) submitted themselves to the English government, received the laws and magistrates, and most gladly embraced King James's pardon and peace in all parts of the realm with demonstrations of joy and comfort!" Now, that our friends on the other side of the water have been sometimes accused of a little intellectual confusion we are aware, but still it is clear that they must be greatly improved in this respect since the days of Sir John Davies. We would not venture this upon our own authority, but having personally conferred with several Irish gentlemen who have come over here to study the law, they declared, one and all, that there are now very rare instances, at least, in their counties, of persons who consider that "being brayed in a mortar with sword, famine, and pestilence together," is at all contributory to personal comfort. To be sure, we have not asked them what they thought of any of these ingredients separately. Indeed, the Irish are monstrously improved since the Union. To whatever cause this alarming tranquillity is attributable, it seems to have created much dejection in the family of the Rocks-the following fine ode was composed on the occasion, the translation of which is modestly described as by no means conveying the abrupt and bursting energy of the original. RUPES sonant carmina. Virgil. Where art thou, Genius of Riot? Where is thy yell of defiance? Why are the Sheas and O'Shaughnessies quiet? And whither have fled the O'Rourkes and O'Briens? Up from thy slumber, O'Brannigan ! Rouse the Mac Shanes and O'Haggerties! Courage, Sir Corney O'Toole-be a man again Never let Heffernan say "What a brag- Oh! when rebellion's so feasible, NIAL THE GRAND! what the devil are The reign of Charles I. represented in Ireland by the splendid but infamous Strafford, aggravated as far as it was possible the atrocities of James. His government in Ireland was, on a small scale, a perfect model of despotism, combining all the brute coercion of the East with all the refined perfidy and machiavelism of the West, and giving full rein to talents of the noblest breed, in the most unbounded career of oppression and injustice. In one of his letters he asserts, "now the King is as absolute here as any prince in the whole world can be." There was, however, a lustre thrown round the bad acts of this man by " those rare abilities of his, of which (says Lord Digby) God gave him the use, but the Devil the application." We must let Captain Rock himself epitomise the sway of Cromwell-we have not the vanity to think ourselves capable of improving language which patriotism seems to have inspired and genius polished. "As if no possible change of circumstances could exempt this wretched people from suffering, after having been so vigorously persecuted and massacred under the Royal government, as rebels, they were now still more vigorously persecuted and massacred under the parliamentary government, as royalists; and what with the Lords Justices on one side, and Cromwell and Ireton on the other, assisted by a pestilence which was the least cruel enemy of the whole, they were at last reduced to a state very nearly realizing that long-desired object of English policy -their extirpation. Little more indeed was left of the Catholic population than was barely sufficient to give life to the desolate region of Connaught, into which they were now driven like herds of cattle by Cromwell, under the menace of a proclamation, that, all of them who, after that time, should be found in any other part of the kingdom, man, woman, or child, might be killed by any body who saw or met them ;'while their estates, which at that time constituted at least nine tenths of the landed property of the country, were divided among his officers and soldiers, and among those adventurers who had advanced money for the war. Such was Cromwell's way of settling the affairs of Ireland-and, if a nation is to be ruined, this perhaps is as good a way as any. It is at least more humane than the slow, lingering process of exclusion, disappointment, and degradation, by which their hearts are worn out under more specious forms of tyranny." Cromwell was afraid, we suppose, that his Christianity might be suspected if he deviated from the Gospel conduct of his legitimate predecessors; and, to put all suspicion out of the question, he determined to improve on it. He actually set the price of five pounds upon the head of a priest, being the exact sum at which he had previously rated the head of a wolf! Cromwell, who, like the devil, could quote scripture to his purpose, told his troops that they were to treat the Irish as Joshua treated the Canaanites, and accordingly" all the spoils of the cities and the cattle they took for a prey unto themselves, and every man they smote with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them; neither left they any to breathe." Acting, no doubt, upon this scripture principle, he promised the garrison of Drogheda quarter, and, on their surrender, began a massacre which lasted five days! "I wish, (said he, after narrating this exploit to parliament,) that all honest hearts may give the glory of this to God alone, to whom indeed the praise of THIS MERCY belongs."-When the usurpation of Cromwell closed, it was supposed, as a matter of course, that the Irish, who were the last defenders of the Royal cause, would have received their merited remuneration. It would seem however to be really their fate to be equally ill-treated whether they were loyal or rebellious! The very first act of Charles II. on his restoration, was to declare that they had been conquered by his Majesty's protestant subjects (Cromwell, Ireton, and Co.), and that their estates became vested in the crown!!" Thus, (exclaims Lord Clare, in his speech on the Union,) seven millions eight hundred thousand acres of land were set out to a motley crew of English adventurers, civil and military, nearly to the total exclusion of the old inhabitants of the island. And thus, a new colony of new settlers, composed of all the various sects which then infested England-Independents, Anabaptists, Seceders, Brownists, Socinians, Millenarians, and Dissenters of every description, many of them infected with the leaven of democracy, poured into Ireland, and were put into possession of the ancient inheritance of its inhabitants."-The reign of James II. was more disastrous, if possible, to the Irish than any which preceded it, and disastrous solely from their loyalty. James, as is well known, took refuge in Ireland, making in that country his last stand against his son-in-law-or rather his last run from him; for had James stood his ground as he ought, his case would have been far from desperate. But James did not choose to put "his life upon a cast," nor would he stand any "hazard" whatsoever. "Change Kings with us (exclaimed a captain in Sarsfield's regiment,) and we'll fight it over again with you." The Irish Catholics have attached to this monarch a very homely appellation, in consequence of his conduct at the battle of the Boyne. The situation of the Irish at the revolution of 1688 may well be considered by Captain Rock as anomalous. "If they were loyal to the King de jure, they were hanged by the King de facto; and if they escaped with life from the King de facto, it was but to be plundered and proscribed by the King de jure afterwards. Hac gener atque socer coeant mercede su In a manner so summary, prompt, and "Twixt father aud son-in-law matters were settled. "In fact, 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-house; though the news of this event could not possibly have reached the other side of the channel on the same day, and the Lord Lieutenant of King James with an army to enforce obe dience was at that time in actual possession of the government! So little was common sense consulted, or the mere decency of forms observed, by that rapacious spirit which nothing less than the confiscation of the whole island could satisfy." After James's departure the people maintained a brave but ineffectual struggle; it was terminated by the capitulation of Limerick on the faith of articles, by which the Roman Catholics were guaranteed liberty of conscience and security of property. These articles were solemnly ratified under the great seal of England. The wax was not cold, however, when the foundation of the penal code was laid, and acts were passed for disarming the papists-for banishing the regular clergy out of the kingdom-for preventing Catholics from intermarrying with Protestants, and a variety of others which it is revolting to remember, and would be still more so to repeat! This was followed by the additional confiscation of one million, sixty thousand, seven hundred and ninety-two acres! It is stated as a curious fact, that at the time of the capitulation of Limerick, William had actually a proclamation prepared and about to be promulgated, offering to the Catholics the free exercise of their religion, half the church establishment of Ireland, and the moiety of their ancient properties!" This was called (says Leland) the secret proclamation; because, though printed, it was never published, having been suppressed on the first intelligence of the treaty of Limerick." The Catholics, however, have no great cause to regret this suppression, unless they can attach more credit to the naked promise of a King than to his signature, backed by the great seal of England. The conscience which swallowed a treaty would not have been very apt to strain at a proclamation. Captain Rock, however, certainly does seem to attach to King William a character for liberality, for which, in his Irish conduct at least, we confess we do not see the justification. The reason given is contained in this extract from a letter written by him to the Emperor before his expedition to England. "I ought to entreat your Imperial Majesty to be assured, that I will employ all my credit to provide that the Roman Catholics of that country may enjoy liberty of conscience, and be put out of fear of being persecuted on account of their religion." Unfortunately, however, the promises of men out of office, and their practice in it, are very different things, nor can we see any thing in William's conduct to Ire land after his accession to incline us, against the scripture precept, to put "faith in princes." That the Irish Protestants estimate his friendship more highly than the Irish Catholics have any cause to do his faith, appears from the fact that he is to this day the idol of the Orangemen. A standing toast of their lodges (if indeed that can be well called a standing toast which is seldom given until they are unable to stand) is contained in the following very pious and patriotic sentence- Come, my boys-I give you the glorious, pious, and immortal memory of the great and good King William, who saved us from Pope and Popery, James and slavery, wooden shoes and brass money-here, my boys, here's bad luck to the Pope, and a hempen rope to all papists"-(nine times nine on their knees)!!! The reigns of Anne and George I complete the account 1 of Captain Rock's ancestors. This period is lightly passed over, as being chiefly occupied in the perfection of the penal code, which they brought at last to so high a degree of polish as to extort for it from Burke the following no very enviable eulogium "It was truly a machine of wise and elaborate contrivance, and as well fitted for the impoverishment, oppression, and degradation of a people, and the debasement in them of human nature itself, as ever proceeded from the perverted ingenuity of man." The following prayers of petitions, extracted from the journals of the Irish House of Commons, prove how completely Christianity had at that time infused its divine spirit into all classes, how ever humble, of the people. One was presented by the protestant porters of Dublin, against one Darby Ryan, "a captain under the late King James and a papist, notoriously disaffected, who bought up whole cargoes of coals, and employed those of his own persuasion to carry the same to his customers!" Another from the Dublin hackney coachmen prayed the House "that it might be enacted, that none but protestant hackney coachmen might have liberty to keep and drive hackney coaches!" Swift, with inimitable humour, improves upon this by gravely declaring that, if the Dublin cries are allowed to continue "they ought to be only trusted in the hands of protestants, who had given security to the government.” These were followed up by a proposal actually made in the Irish House," which," says Captain Rock, "I know not how to describe, except by saying, that it deserves, perhaps, par excellence, the designation of a penal law, and by referring for the atrocious particulars to Curry, Plowden, and other historians." On the subject of this proposal, which materially interested the Roman Catholic clergy, we cannot possibly be more minute than the delicacy of the Captain has precluded him from being. We may, however, just add, that if it was intended in aid of their canonical vow of celibacy, the "wisdom of our ancestors" never yet devised a measure more pertinent to its purpose. The cabinet of England rejected it with indignation. As Captain Rock, the present autobiographer, was born in the year 1763, on the very day "on which good father Sheehy, the parish priest of Clogheen, was hanged at Clonmell on the testimony of a perjured witness, for a crime of which he was as innocent as the child unborn." tithe matters seemed likely to occupy much of the attention of the family, and as he happened to be a tenth son, it struck his father that the ancient Irish mode of dedicating the tenth child to the service of the church might be revived in his person with considerable propriety. He accordingly had him christened Decimus, and resolved, if his talent lay that way, to bring him up exclusively to the tithe department. Another motive which induced him to this step was, the existence of the following prophecy in the family, to which, like a good catholic, he clung tenaciously in the days of his dejection. As long as Ireland shall pretend, The education of the Captain is ushered in by a chapter on the various public boards and institutions, for the instruction of youth, esta blished by the government in Ireland, which those who wish for much amusing information on that subject would do well to read; they are summed up by the author as one of the means of effectually "benighting, beggaring, and brutalizing the Irish people.' His own immediate tuition was entrusted to one of the indigenous pedagogues of the soil usually denominated "hedge-schoolmasters," from the antiquity of the place in which the academy was held-namely, the open air. Captain Rock thinks his school ought rather to have been denominated a university, because "the little students having first received the rudiments of their education in a ditch, were from thence promoted in due time, to graduate under the hedge." The following humourous account of the abduction of a schoolmaster is given as a custom formerly by no means uncommon-a similar account is indeed to be found in Lady Morgan's Sketches in Ireland. "A few miles from our village, on the other side of the river, there was a schoolmaster of much renown and some Latin, whose pupils we had long envied for their possession of such an instructor, and still more, since we had been deprived of our own. At last, upon consulting with my brother graduates of the hedge, a bold measure was resolved upon, which I had the honour of being appointed leader to carry into effect. One fine moonlight night, crossing the river in full force, we stole upon the slumbers of the unsuspecting schoolmaster, and carrying him off in triumph from his disconsolate disciples, placed him down in the same cabin that had been occupied by the deceased Abecedarian. It is not to be supposed that the transfluvian tyros submitted patiently to this infringement of literary property-on the contrary, the famous war for the rape of Helen was but a skirmish to that which arose on the enlevement of the schoolmaster; and, after alternate victories and defeats on both sides, the contest ended by leaving our party in peaceable possession of the pedagogue, who remained contentedly amongst us many years, to the no small increase of Latin in the neighbourhood. Such, gentle reader, is the unceremonious way in which matters of love, law, and learning are settled among us. Whether the desired object be cattle, young ladies, or schoolmasters, abduction is the process resorted to most commonly." The principal books which these worthy preceptors select as manuals for their young pupils, are given in an accurate catalogue: the reader will not fail to remark, that "Moll Flanders" is amongst them. By the bye, this book seems to be particularly obnoxious to the Roman Catholic clergy-whether it is from their habitual continence we know not, but one and all, they have met and disclaimed poor Moll Flanders!"Come one, come all," however, the authority of Captain Rock is not to be disputed. In whatever odour Moll may now be, it clearly appears that she was once a favouritethis seems the age, however, for great men to forego their predilections. The state of Ireland, from the revolution, till, in fact, the year 1782, is described as one of complete dependence upon England. The Irish parliament was a kind of "chapel of ease to that of Westminster-every bill was subject to the censure of a Privy Council, and the revision of an English Attorney General-in short, the country had as little to do with the proceedings of the legislature, as "a corpse has with the inquest the coroner holds over it." Government, however, was obliged to keep some of the great families in pay, so as to exhibit some decent show of debate and disquisition, but, in time, these "undertakers," as they were called, The Irish term for a protestant or Englishman. |