"How often did you see a priest at the head of a mob?-Six or eight times in different situations.

"What was it you saw that convinced you that the priests were heading the mob for mischief?—I saw them heading the mob, and I saw by their signs and signals they were accelerating their movements instead of repressing them.

"What were their movements ?-I saw them winking and nodding at them, and apparently encouraging them.

"You think it perfectly possible they might be winking at them to disperse them?—I do not think that; indeed the whole demeanour was more like exciting; and they could, if they would, have dispersed them at the two bridges.

"Is there any other instance connected with their demeanour ?—Yes; I think their whole appearance was hostile.

"You have told the committee you saw one of those priests winking; did you see any other particular act done by those priests besides the winking-any particular act you can state?—I saw him flourish this way with his hand to the people to come (waving his hand); I saw him do other things that made me think he was rather exciting than retarding them in their operations.

"What was the result of a meeting when the priest headed the mob in that way? It ended in giving a consequence to the mobility, that induced a great number of others that would not to have joined them, and to give a solidity and strength to their party, and give them a character, which in Ireland is every thing.

"Did you remain there the whole of that time?--Yes, I did, till they disper

sed."

Such has been the terror excited by these proceedings that the Protestants are generally quitting Kilkenny, unless forcibly detained by their landlords. The same witness adds

"Have the Protestants in that neigh

"You have written strongly upon the subject of tithe, and in a manner very much calculated to influence the judgment of those who may be influenced, either by your writings or the authority of the writer? I rejoice that any member of the Committee should think so favourably of my writings.

"Do you not think they were very much calculated to move the people? I should be a very unfit person to judge of any production of my own.

"Did it not happen that within your diocese this opposition to tithe first commenced, and to which it has been nearly as yet confined? I think the first opposition to tithe originated in my diocese.-What I wrote got into the newspapers, and through them into the hands of the bulk of the people, and from that period, no doubt, my writings may have contributed very much to the opposition. Instead, however, of endeavouring to exculpate myself from this as matter of blame, I take no small credit to myself for having commenced that opposition, though I regret exceedingly that it is attended with disasters or breaches of the peace.

"In that work did you not express yourself to this effect, that you hoped the opposition of the people to tithes would be as lasting as their love of justice? A very happy form of expression which

1833.]

occurred to me, and which I like exceedingly.

"You published a pastoral letter after this other writing, in which you advise the people, though not to a breach of the peace, yet by every art and ingenuity in their power to prevent the payment of tithes? I advised them to exercise their wit and ingenuity in that way.-Certainly in writing pastorals, I never look to the government as a government. I have always a view to the peace of the country, and the authority of the law. I feel myself totally unconnected with government; and though bound as a subject in duty, to give them any support in my power, my business in society has no reference to them; so that in writing pastorals I look only to the interests of religion, and to the good of the people over whom I am placed Bishop, through the Providence of God."

Dr Doyle adds, and adds truly, that in these famous pastorals, which commenced the insurrection against tithes, he recommended to the people to abstain from violence and outrage. With what success such a recommendation was likely to be attended, we leave those to judge who know the fervid character of the Irish, and can appreciate the justice of the following emphatic statement from that very competent witness, Sir Hussey Vivian.

"In offering an opinion on the state of Ireland, there is one thing I should wish to notice, and that is, the extraordinary carelessness of human life amongst the lower classes. I have endeavoured, as far as possible, to find out whence it arises that men who appear so kind in their dispositions, so grateful for any little kindness bestowed upon them, as the lower class of Irish generally are, should exhibit such little apparent reluctance to I have destroy their fellow creatures. asked the Catholic clergy; I have expressed my astonishment that they, who have such power and influence over the minds of the lower classes, do not prevent it; but neither they nor others I have spoken to on the subject pretend to

account for it.

"Do you not think it may be owing to the abject state in which they exist, which makes their lives of little value?—Yes, I can understand that as applying to themselves, but not as applying to the lives of other persons; it is a most remarkable thing. If you go into their houses, and you are kind to them, they appear grateful beyond measure, and I believe really

We might extend these interesting quotations to any length; but we must forbear, how strongly soever we may be impressed with the conviction that the salvation of Ireland,

possibly the fate of the empire, depends on a general appreciation of the truths they contain.

The value of this testimony will not be duly appreciated, unless it is recollected that it was brought forward by a Whig Committee, and came out in answer to questions put by Whigs, and from witnesses selected by them. The Committee was almost entirely composed of Whigs and Agitators. It embraced Mr Stanley, Sir Henry Parnell, Lord Ebrington, Mr O'Connell, Lord Killeen, Lord Duncannon, the Earl of Ossory, Mr James Grattan, and all the leading gentlemen of the Ministerial party from Ireland. They took the direction in summoning the witnesses, and the labouring oar in conducting the examinations, as must be evident to every one from the questions put, which were generally calculated, and obviously intended, to bring out an answer favourable to the proceedings of government. Yet from their witnesses and their questions has come out the evidence which has now in part been detailed.

Whoever considers these valuable extracts with attention, cannot fail of being impressed with the following truths, which contain the principles on which alone the pacification of Ireland can be effected.

1. That prior to the political agitation which the Whigs and Agitators have raised up of late years for party purposes, and especially to force Catholic Emancipation upon a reluctant legislature, the disturbances of Ireland, how great and distressing soever, had never acquired a political character, or become formidable to the stability of the empire; but arose only from local causes, and discontents owing to the administration of landed property.

2. That when Catholic Emancipation was urged as the great means of overthrowing the Tory administration, the Whigs and Agitators took advantage of the fiery spirit which these local grievances had occasioned, and turned it into the new channel of political discontent; and created a complete organization throughout the Catholic party to the last degree formidable to any regular government.

3. That when it was found that Emancipation was a mere delusion, and no practicable benefit had accrued from it to the people, their discontents and exasperation rapidly increased, and under the guidance of the Agitators, were directed to fresh demands, the extinction of tithes, and the repeal of the Union.

4. That in exciting this new insurrection the people were stimulated by the direct advice and exhortations of their dignified clergy; and proceeded on a system directed, organized, and completed by the Agitators; and that in arraying these unhappy persons in this manner in direct hostility to the government, they are morally responsible for the terrible consequences which have ensued from what they knew of the impetuous passions of the people with whom they had to deal, and their total disregard of human life.

5. That the weakness of Government, in rewarding and patronising the Agitators, and doing nothing to suppress the insurrection in its commencement, have brought it to its present unexampled height, when, by their own admission, sanguinary

measures must be resorted to, and the most violent steps adopted, to stifle a state of anarchy which threatens the empire with dissolution.

6. That the ultimate object of all this disorder and organization is to establish the Catholic religion, divide the church lands, resume the forfeited estates, and massacre the Protestants, or drive them out of the country, and establish a separate government in close alliance with France.

7. That the only chance of preserving the empire from dismemberment, is instantly to put down this atrocious system of agitation, and deprive the Irish for a time of those political rights, which they have shewn themselves unfit to enjoy, and employed only to their own and their neighbours' ruin.

8. That such a system requires a firm and resolute executive, and can never be carried into effect with any chance of success, unless it is based on the cordial co-operation of the Protestants and yeomanry; a body against whom no disorders have been proved; whose interests and affections are identified with those of Great Britain; and whose conduct, under the most trying circumstances, when deserted by the Government, and assailed by the Catholics, has been at once dignified, humane, and heroic.

9. That the Catholic priests have shewn themselves unworthy members of a Christian Church; reckless and audacious agitators, who have not scrupled to set a nation on fire to gratify their spiritual and temporal ambition, and are answerable to God and man for the unnumbered crimes which have been committed, in the frantic career into which they have impelled their flocks, and all the blood which may require to be shed before the restoration of order is effected.

10. That having done this to repress the disorders of Ireland, Government must instantly proceed with some really healing and beneficial measures; and that of these the very first is to remodel the administration of the criminal law; take its execution, in a great measure, out of the hands of the local magistrates, and establish a system of vigorous prosecution by public authorities,

whose operations never are suspended, similar to that which has so long been in operation, with such admirable effects, in the northern part of Great Britain.

The state of things is growing so rapidly worse in Ireland under the anarchy which, under the agitation of their demagogues, and the weakness of their government, has grown up to so extraordinary a height, that the preceding picture, highly coloured as it is, now falls greatly short of the truth. To demonstrate this, we shall transcribe the catalogue of crimes reported to Sir Hussey Vivian in 1830, and contrast them with the list, furnished by Mr Stanley, from the two counties of Queen's and Kilkenny alone, within the last twelve months.*

We are by no means insensible to the many real evils of Ireland, and shall, in succeeding Numbers, examine the causes of the prevailing distress, and the means by which it may be alleviated. Of these, the establishment of poor's laws, and of a vigorous system of government, works calculated to give bread to those who are dispossessed of their farms, and relieve them from the grievous distress to which they are now subjected on such an event, form the most conspicuous. But these are too important subjects to be attempted in this paper.

In the terrible state to which Whig

Murders, Houses Burnt,

Burglaries, Houghing Cattle, Serious Assaults,

agitation, Catholic ambition, and Ministerial weakness, have reduced this unhappy country, there is no opening for hope, which we can see, but in the vigour, patriotism, and courage of the Protestant party, and the admirable organization which they have attained under the direction of the Conservative Society. The names of the founders and leaders of that noble establishment deserve to be enrolled in the records of their country's fame. The able and patriotic Mr George A. Hamilton was the first country gentleman who joined it, and as such richly deserves the eloquent eulogium pronounced on him by Mr Boyton; and his example has been followed now by almost all the patriotic or noble of the land. In their patriotism and energy, is to be found the last sheet-anchor of their distracted country in the tempest of revolution; and we rejoice to find, from the altered tone and intentions of Government on Irish affairs, that they are at length awakened, in words at least, to a sense of the only means which remain for the salvation of the country; and if they once embrace the right feelings, they cannot fail soon to enter into a cordial union with the intrepid party who have so long, and with so little external aid, stemmed the progress of disaster in their country. Edinburgh, Feb. 8, 1833.

32 34

519

36

178

24 Murders.

106 Persons shot at. 35 Houses robbed of Arms, 26 Acts of Incendiarism.

27 Cattle maimed.

116 Houses attacked.

WHEN our dearest interests are risked upon the issue of a "perilous experiment;" when fear and a thrilling sense of insecurity drive cheerfulness from our hearths, and sleep from our beds; and the hope of safety rests upon sacrifice, and therefore unwillingly admitted, and upon breaking asunder the sacred bonds that have linked us to kindred, friends, and country, and we look abroad into the wilderness of the world for an uncertain, and at best an unendeared shelter, it is no wonder if powerless indignation against the authors of the calamity is succeeded by entreaty, and in our despondency of other means, we appeal to the very persons who seem engaged to effect our ruin. The victim in his last agony entreats mercy even at the hands of the merciless assassin. We reason with the unreasonable, and would sway the insane by giving them credit for judgment. Nor is this a time to tax an individual effort with vanity. I feel that it is my home that may be invaded, my property that may be legally plundered; that it is myself may be persecuted, under the popular ban, for my political opinions; that in a revolution that I see more than probable, my own flesh and blood, my children, helpless females, may be worse than destitute though of the class of the people-a proscribed race to be hunted to torture and death by a fiendish rabble. These fears will obtain pity from some, (whose incredulity is a noble eulogy upon our old constitution,) and ridicule or affected contempt from the many. But I cannot shut my eyes to the horrors of the first French Revolution, nor can I possibly exaggerate the miseries suffered by thousands of my own and my children's condition. I know from the history of the world, and particularly of that Revolution, that cruelty is progressive; and that mankind are not aware to what point of savageness and atrocity their own natures are capable of being directed. I am not deceived, because the surface of the earth does not still shew unburied the bones of the thousands massacred in those bloody days, nor be

cause their cities and towns still have the common stir of life in their streets, and the green of tree and herbage is still smiling on their land. External nature does not exhibit the past agonies of the dead. But still the record is written; history remains the monument of the buried, and our admonition; and if it do not shew us such horrid spectacle as the Roman Legions beheld when, six years after the defeat of Varus, they broke in upon the scene of massacre of their countrymen, it will still paint enough to make us shudder, and reflect upon the principles by the practical force of which humanity has been rendered thus ferocious. I know what France-but a few years before, happy France, the land of amenity and cheerfulness — acted, witnessed, and suffered; and I see no charm in the character of England that will protect us if we follow the same principles. I believe the populace of this country may be rendered as cruel, as bloody-minded as the same class were in France. I believe no country has any real protection from the natural violence of man, capable of frightful exaggera tion, but its government, its constitution; and it is to the altered character of our own, that I confess I look with indescribable fears. I am not duped by the late comparative calm after our tempestuous struggle. We wait but as spectators, seated in expectation of the drawing up of the curtain; our deeper interest, the agitation of our passions, will be better exhibited when the action of the important drama, be it tragedy or otherwise, shall commence. My worst apprehensions are still alive within me. Yet would I make an appeal, a last appeal,-I say a last, because I am convinced that the fate of England is in the hands of the present Parliament, and I am convinced from all history, that a further indulgence in democratic principles must overthrow every valued institution, and the very name of our limited monarchy. I appeal to all conjunctively, and to each separate estate of the realm. May they well consider their real position, why they are so