the queen, the chancellor set his enemies at defiance, and the oppressed portion of the community enjoyed the defeat of the whigs, and their hu miliation under the superior power of their tory competitors. It is impossible to reflect on the events of a reign so calamitous to Ireland, without indulging at the same instant in the consolation that all this shock. ing and atrocious violation of human right which we have witnessed, is, in the nineteenth century, the object of every man's disgust or indignation ; that the protestant and the presbyterian of the present day, who peruse the sanguinary records which contain the act of their ancestors, are equally anxious to bury them in everlasting oblivion: that the spirit of monopoly, which would grasp at more than it could enjoy, has given way to the mild and Christian principle which sees the greatest advantage in the communication of mutual protection, and the greatest happiness in the promotion of mutual har mony: that the British government, which so long pursued the disastrous and unprofitable policy of dividing Ireland, in order the more effectually to controul it, is disposed to surrender this contemptible principle to the more enlarged and productive principle of equal protection and equal privilege: that such a change should have taken place, and now promises to be the possession of the people who read this compendium, is a cheering subject of congratulation, after all the blood and havoc through which we have waded. We have endeavoured, in this brief chronicle of Ireland's story, to embrace all the great and leading facts which calumny and misrepresentation have so often and so successfully distorted; which have been the subject of so much reproach, and so much exasperation; which have been the natural off spring of bad government, and the natural resource of a persecuted nation. We have endeavoured to vindicate a brave people, in perpetual conflict for its civil and religious liberties, against the black and infamous charges which the hired libeller has elaborately brought against them. We have endeavoured to demonstrate to the English reader, that when Ireland drew the sword of rebellion, she was but following the feelings of human nature, which prompted her to repel the violator of her rights that her rebellions against England were the necessary result of her sufferings, and the feeble, though disastrous struggles of a people, who, under a mild and protecting government, would have contributed to its wealth, its power, and its greatness. The sword of intolerance has at length been sheathed; the bigotry of the sectarian has at length been discouraged; the human mind can now give full rein to its powers with impunity. Uncontrolled by the dictation of a supposed infallibility, every man is suffered to adore his Creator as his conscience directs him; and the profession of a particular creed of Christianity has almost ceased to be a measure of Irish loyalty. The protestant, the presbyterian and the catholic, respect each other's conscientious attachment to the religion of their fathers. The legislator can now discover no cause 342 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. for the loyalty of the subject so strong as the possession of civil and religious liberty. He reads the cruelties of intolerance, in order to avoid their repetition; and draws from the follies of his ancestors the wisest and most beneficial lessons of instruction. We took up our pen with an ardent wish to avenge the insults offered to the character and honour of our country. If the reader shall be of opinion that we have performed the task with zeal and with firmness, we shall triumph in the contemplation of our labours, and congratulate our countrymen on the benefits which may possibly result from them. We have called the Irish reader to the consideration of those causes which were the fruitful sources of Irish misfortune; we have endeavoured to point out to the future politician of our country, the errors of those who are in the tomb; or, as Edmund Burke philosophically observes, we have written under the impression that " NO PEOPLE WILL LOOK FORWARD TO POSTERITY, WHO DO NOT OFTEN LOOK BACKWARD TO THEIR ANCESTORS." THE END. APPENDIX. A Catalogue of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the kingdom of Ireland, at the sitting of the Irish parliament, including those created by the late King James II. after his abdication, according to their respective precedencies, in the year 1689, in which those that were formerly attainted, and those that sat, are distinguished. Note-All that were attainted had outlawries reversed. SIR Alexander Fitton, Kt. Lord Chancellor.-Sat. Dr Michael Boyle, Lord Archbishop of Armagh, and Primate Prot. Boyle, Earl of Cork. Cath. MacDonnel, Earl of Antrim. -Sat. Cath. Nugent, Earl of Westmeath.-Sat, (under age, the right Earl being a Clergyman.) Prot. Ridgway, Earl of Londonderry. Prot. Dillon, Earl of Roscommon. -Sat. Prot. Vaughan, Earl of Carbury. Cath. Plunket, Earl of Fingal. Attainted (a Minor.) Prot. Chichester, Earl of Donegal. Prot. Lambert, Earl of Cavan. Prot. O'Brian, Earl of Inchiquin. Cath. MacCartney, Earl Clancarty. Sat, (under age, attainted, but restored by a clause in the act.) Prot. Boyle, Earl of Orrery. Prot, Coote, Earl of Montrath, Prot. Moore, Earl of Drogheda. Prot. Talbot, Earl of Waterford and Wexford. Cath. Power, Earl of Tyrone,-Sat, a Convert. Prot. Angier, Earl of Longford. Sat. Prot. Forbes, Earl of Granard. Sat. Cath. Dungan, Earl of Limerick. Sat. VISCOUNTS. Cath. Preston, Viscount Gormanstown. Attainted. Cath. Roch, Viscount Fermoy, Attainted. Cath. Butler, Viscount Mountgarret. Sat, Attainted. Prot. Villiers, Viscount Grandison. Prot. Annesly, Viscount Valentia. Cath, Dillon, Viscount Castlelogallen. Sat. Cath. Netterville, Viscount Dowth. Attainted. |