An Essay on the Antient and Modern State of Ireland Part 3

The most convincing and decisive Method of adjudging Causes, being by a comprehensive View and critical Examination of their Effects; of Streams, by a nice Scrutiny and Investigation of their Sources; hence may we, from the shining Characters, and extensive Abilities of our Divines and Barristers, frame a just Idea of the University of _Dublin_, which, for Compa.s.s and Extent of the Sciences, Variety of elegant Arts, found Erudition, and polite Literature therein taught, in the most regular and perspicuous Methods, is equalled by few, excelled by none.

The Students are carefully instructed in the more refined Parts of cla.s.sical Learning; oriental, antient, and modern Languages; Criticism, sacred and profane History, Oratory, Logick, Ethicks, and Metaphysicks; in natural and experimental Philosophy; Anatomy, Botany and Chymistry; the mathematicks, in Theory and Practice; Civil and Canon Laws; Theology, Controversy, and Ecclesiastical History: So that, with a good Capacity, and regular Application, one may depart this University, as completely and happily inst.i.tuted for the honorary Professions of Life, as may be reasonably expected from any Nursery of Learning extant. The obtaining a Fellowship in this University, is a demonstrative Test of comprehensive native Talents, thorough intellectual Cultivation, deep and various learned Acquirements.

The _Newtonian_ Philosophy, the excellent _Boyle_'s experimental Philosophy, and Mr. _Locke_'s Metaphysicks, prevail much in the College of _Dublin_: Which, for Extent, Convenience, Magnificence, and a most sumptuous elegant Library, exceeds any one College in _Europe_. The beautiful Parks belonging to it, seem actually, on a serene Evening, the delightful Vale of _Tempe_, or enchanting Recesses of _Parna.s.sus_, inhabited by all the Muses, all the Graces, with their charming Train.

The Trade of _Ireland_, however in former Times miserably restrained and limited, hath in this happy Reign received considerable Enlargements; such as, the opening several Wooll-Ports; the Bounty on _Irish_ Linens, now our staple Commodity, imported into _Great-Britain_; and the Immunity lately granted of importing thither Beef, b.u.t.ter, Tallow, Candles, Pork, Hides, live Cattle, _&c._ a Privilege that, in its Consequences, must prove of signal Advantage to both Nations; to _this_ especially, as we shall hereby be enabled, upon any occasional Exigency, to supply our protecting Friends, and proportionably stint the Hands of our Enemies, who, (by the Profusion of Wines and spirituous Liquors, annually exported from _France_ to Ireland, in Exchange for our Beef, b.u.t.ter, _&c._ to pa.s.s over the Gluts of Teas and Spirits, _&c._ smuggled thence by the _western_ Runners) have constantly the Balance on their Side. Our Exports, with those already mentioned, consist in a few Cheeses, Salmon and Kelp: But, as our Linens are, without Question, become the vital Spring of _Irish_ Commerce, it is Matter of great Concern and equal Surprize, that the other Provinces do not more _universally_ and _effectually_ follow the lucrative Example of the _North_! since, it is evident, nothing but _equal Industry_ can be wanting to render them _equally flourishing_, The Over-growth of Graziers and Stockmasters, is the strongest Indication that can be of national Waste and Decay, in respect of Inhabitants. What could a Foreigner, travelling among us, particularly in the _western_ Counties, some Summers past, judge of our national Wisdom and Oeconomy? Would he not start even at our Humanity, on seeing the best arable Grounds in the Kingdom, in immense Tracts, wantonly enjoyed by the Cattle of a few petulant Individuals; and at the same Juncture, our high Ways and Streets crowded with Shoals of mendicant fellow-creatures! reduced, through Want of proper Sustenance, to the utmost Distress? Would not a _Frenchman_ for Example, give a Shrug extraordinary, at finding, in every little Inn, _Bourdeaux_ Claret and _Nantz_ Brandy, though, in all Likelihood, not a Morsel of _Irish_ Bread?

It is much to be hoped, That, when the Spirit of Tillage should become more general and active, our Farmers more attentive to the Growth of the best Kinds of Grain, and our Brewers, more attentive to the Rules and Precepts for that Purpose laid down by the Honourable the DUBLIN SOCIETY; we shall have little or no Occasion for that Inundation of _London Porter_; (an heavy, cloudy, intoxicating, ill-flavoured Liquor) that annually overflows this City and other Parts of the Kingdom; as, in the above Case, we may have a sufficient Plenty and Variety of Malt Liquors, our own native Produce, far better than any imported; and, in Case of a Redundancy of Grain, (a Matter not very likely to happen) may, with moderate Care, have Spirituous Liquors of far a more wholesome Nature, exquisite Taste, and delicate Flavour, than those imported at an extraordinary Expence; and but too often adulterated, in the first Concoction.

We have, in several Parts of this Kingdom, (in the Province of _Munster_ especially) a recy, spirituous, fine-flavoured Cyder, very little, if at all, inferior to the best imported White Wines; and a moderate Plenty of grateful Honey-Liquors, which, with our prime Beef, Mutton, Pork, Veal, Lamb, Variety of Fowls, tame and wild; red and fallow Deer; Hares, Rabbits, Pidgeons, Pheasants, Grouse; and Partridge; wild Duck, Plover, Snipe, _&c._ Lake, River, Sh.e.l.l and Sea Fish, of all Kinds; the Produce of the Garden, (Horticulture having of late Years so vastly improved among us, that we now have many curious Plants, Fruits, and Flowers, not only not _known_, but never even _heard of_, in former Times) and _all_ in such Plenty and Perfection, as demonstrate _Ireland_ happier than most other Countries, in regard of the Necessaries and even of the Delicacies of Life; to which may be added, the great Number of our beautiful Lakes, n.o.ble Rivers, pure Fountains, limpid Streams, and Health-restoring mineral Wells.(4) In this Country are bred valuable Horses, for the Draught, Road, and Chace; and for the Course, as high-formed ones, as in any Part of _Europe_; and large horned Cattle, and Sheep in Abundance.

It must afford real Satisfaction to consider the universal and visible Reformation in the Lives and Morals even of our common People, clearly evinced in this, that (thank Heaven) fewer legal Punishments succeed an entire Circuit, in our happy Days, than did a single a.s.size in former Reigns: And, without Question, this Reformation must still rise higher, in Proportion to the Lenity of our worthy Legislature, and wise Indulgence of our landed Men, who must certainly find it more conducive to the Welfare of the State, and to their own Strength, Honour, and Interest, to have their Estates farmed and inhabited by a great Number of honest, laborious improving Families, than wasted by a few Purse-proud Bullock-Brokers, who rarely allow the wretched Herd of an hundred, as much Ground for his own and poor Family's Support, as is equal to that of two Bullocks.

Suppose a Gentleman was to let two thousand Acres of arable Ground to farm; were it not demonstrably more conducive to all the foregoing Motives, to dispose of these to twenty honest, industrious Families, at an hundred Acres each, than to any one Beau-Grazier whatever? From the twenty Tenures, the Landlord may, in any national Shock, raise a considerable Number of effective Hands, and zealous Hearts, for the Service of the Crown, or Defence of his Country; and reap many signal Advantages to the public and private Concernments of Life, not possibly derivable from the anti-social Monopolizers and Forestallers of Farms; who ever fondly attribute their Growth to their own Sagacity and Cleverness, without any the least Grat.i.tude or Obligation to the Land-owner. These Sentiments, it is hoped, will every Day gain more and more Consideration with our wise and beneficent Legislature, n.o.bility and Gentry.

Many intelligent Persons, of all Ranks, complain much of the Want of some Establishment in the Way of a national Bank, to secure popular Credit, and the Kingdom from the various alarming Shocks it is so frequently incident to, on Account of the Failure of particular Banks.

The n.o.bility and Gentry of _Ireland_, are Loyalists and Patriots by Principle and Education: They are brave, without Arrogance; gay, without Levity; polite, without Affectation; charitable, without Ostentation; religious, without Formality; affable, without Meanness; generous, without View; and hospitable, without Reserve: In their Converse, easy; in their Dealings just; placable in their Resentments, in their Friendship steady:-They have neither the volatile Airyness of the _Frenchman_, the stated Gravity of the _Spaniard_; the supicious Jealousy of the _Italian_; the forbidding Haughtiness of the _German_; the saturnine Gloominess of the _Flandrican_, nor the sordid Parsimony of the _Dutchman_: In short, they are neither whimsical, splenetic, sullen or capricious:-And, as for Cunning, Craft, or Dissimulation, these are such sorry Guests as never found Shelter in the generous Breast of an _Irish_ n.o.ble or Gentleman; so that, if we consider this Country, with regard to its military Fame, const.i.tutional Wisdom, Learning, Arts, Improvements, and natural Advantages; and above all, the benevolent Temper, charitable and hospitable Disposition of its Inhabitants; it is true, we may find many of more popular Bustle and Eclat, more extensive Commerce, greater Opulence and Pomp; but none of more general, solid, and intrinsick Worth, than _Ireland_.

I shall conclude with the following Proposition to any one, who may arrogate to himself Praise or Wit, by ridiculing _Ireland_.

_Si quid Novisti rectius istis-_ _Candidus imperti; Si non, his utere mec.u.m._

THE FARMER'S CASE OF THE ROMAN-CATHOLICS OF _IRELAND_.

In a LETTER from a MEMBER of the PROTESTANT CHURCH.

DEAR SIR,

I think myself indebted to any Occasion that restores you to a Friend, whom I feared you had long forgotten. But I confess, at the same Time, that the Pleasure of hearing from you, after a Silence of Several Years, is, in some Measure, damped by the Censure that seems to const.i.tute the chief Intent of your Letter.

You tell me that you lately happened upon some Papers that were ent.i.tled The FARMER's LETTERS, _&c._ which were imputed to me as the Author. And, after some Compliments on Spirit, and Genius, and so forth, in order to palliate, as I suppose, what you purpose to administer, you charge me, by Implication, with Crimes, whose smallest Tendency I should abhor in myself, as in any Man breathing.

You say, favourably enough for your own Disposition, that you have long looked on the _Roman-Catholics_ of these Kingdoms as a discountenanced and pitiable People. That you would choose to allow to others the same Lat.i.tude of Conscience that you like for yourself. That it is not a Part of Humanity to break a Reed already bruised. That such a Treatment would be blameable respecting any Individual; how much more so, in Prejudice of a whole People. That those Papers are pointed with a Keenness of Enmity, for which the Talents, which you are pleased to ascribe, cannot sufficiently apologize. And, that you did not think me capable of exasperating Government and Power against a Set of Men who were already under the Displeasure and Depression of the Law.

These, my dear Friend, are home and heavy Accusations, however tempered by Expressions of Kindness and Affection from the Man whom I sincerely love and respect.

But, if I know any-thing of myself, the Quality, called Ill-nature, is not my Characteristic. I would not exchange one Grain of Good-heart for all the Wit of a _C----d_ or Comprehension of a _P--tt_, independent of their Virtue. And I may say, with great Truth, that an Excess of Humanity hath occasioned all the Misfortunes and Distresses of my Life.

I most solemnly a.s.sure you, that when I wrote those Letters I was in perfect Love and Charity with every _Roman Catholic_ in the Kingdom of _Ireland_. I knew that they were a depressed People. I had long pitied them as such. I was sensible that the Laws, under which they suffered, had been enacted by our Ancestors, when the Impressions of Hostility were fresh and warm, and when Pa.s.sion, if I may venture to say so, co-operated, in some Measure, with Utility and Reason. I will go a Step further. I thought those Laws not severe enough to suppress them as Enemies, nor yet sufficiently favourable to attach them to us as Friends. They were not so cruel as, wholly, to serve for quelling; and yet they had a Poignancy that might tend to provoke. And all this I imputed to the Resentment that was blended with the Humanity of our Ancestors. Their Humanity left to Papists a Power of hurting, while their Resentment abridged the Inducements that might engage them to serve us.

Believe me, Sir, I never was of a cruel or persecuting Disposition. I was grieved to see the Discouragements under which the _Roman Catholics_ of this Kingdom laboured, but these very Discouragements made me fear them the more.

Previous to the Letters, which you censure so warmly, a dangerous Rebellion had broken out in _Scotland_, in consequence of a _French_ Invasion, that was headed by a Popish Pretender to the Throne. Be pleased to remember, (if it is not too mortifying a Recollection for a free-born _Briton_) the Pannic into which all _England_ was struck by a few _Scotch_ Va.s.sals, undisciplined, and unactuated by any Motive of Liberty or Virtue, save the Virtue of being attached to their _Laird_ or their _Leader_.

Millions of _English_, at that Time, sunk in the Down of a long Peace, and enervated by ministerial Corruption and Venality, feared that a Handful of _Highlanders_ would win their Way to _London_, and, at one Stroke, put a Period to the boasted Strength and Grandeur of the _British_ Const.i.tution.

I was astonished at the Apprehensions that _England_ was under from so contemptible an Armament. But I deemed the Case of _Ireland_ to be highly alarming. The _Roman-Catholics_, at that Time, outnumbered us Five to One.

They were disarmed, it is true, but I was not equally sure that they had Reason to be reconciled. As they were not admitted to realize their Fortune, it consisted of ready Money, and that gave ready Power. As they were not permitted to purchase, or accept a Tenure of any valuable Length, Loyalty, perhaps, might induce them to fight for their King; but where was the Stake to impel them to fight for a Country in which they had no _Inheritance_? Without an Interest in Lands, they had little to lose by any Change of Estate. Without a Loan lodged with Government, they had the less to lose by a Change of Const.i.tution.

I cannot conceive how _Religion_, or mere Difference of Opinion, should prove a real Cause of Quarrel among Men; though it often serves as a _Word of War_, or a _Term_ whereby to give Notice for Onset. On the contrary, I had observed that wherever People are united by _Interest_, though of a thousand opposite Sects, Persuasions and Professions, they never fail to join in the Maintenance and Defence of _common Rights_.

I, therefore, did not fear the _Roman Catholics_, as having a different _Religion_, but as having an _Interest_ that was different from the Interest of _Protestants_. Were they a Compound of all the Follies, Absurdities, and Contradictions that ever were generated by Monster-bearing Superst.i.tion, had their Interest bound them to us, I should not have feared their _Fealty_.

But this was not the Case. The _French_ Invasion of _Great Britain_ was headed by a Person who was, by Birth, Education, Principle, and Interest, an Enemy to the Freedom and Rights of a Const.i.tution that was established on the Dispossession of his Ancestors; and he was, consequently, an Enemy to the general Change of Privilege and Property, that ensued on the said Establishment. The said Change, as we all know, was to the Disadvantage of _Roman Catholics_. Had the Invader prevailed, a Change would again have ensued, in their Favour. Men naturally with Success to an Event from whence they propose Benefit; and it is as natural for them to act conformable to those Wishes.

Had _Roman Catholics_ been possessed of an unrestrained Property, along with the other Liberties, Blessings, and Enjoyments, which they derived, in common with us, from the Establishment at the Revolution, no spiritual or temporal Power on Earth could have tempted them to permit, much less to wish, a Change of a Const.i.tution whose Equal they could not find upon Earth.

But as this was very far from being the Fact, I feared that _Interest_ might prove an Incentive to _Desire_; and Desire equally prove an Incentive to _Action_; and, I am not ashamed to confess, that my Expectations were greatly, though happily, disappointed, by the Steadiness of their peaceful and loyal Demeanour on that trying Occasion.

Believe me, my Friend, at the Time that I wrote those Papers, which have given you so much Offence, I looked upon the _Papists_ of this Kingdom, by the Patronage of _France_ and _Spain_, by their Numbers, by their Wealth, and by their Union with each other, to be vastly superior to _Irish Protestants_, in Power; and my Spirit of Opposition rose, in Proportion to my Idea of their Ability. But neither then, before, nor since, did I ever mean to excite any Action, or Intention, against the Weak, or the Oppressed, the Fallen, or the Afflicted.

When _Brutus_ unsheathed the reluctant Sword of Freedom against his Friend, Humanity must suppose that his Heart was wrung with Compunction, while his Country enjoined and impelled the Blow.

But further, Sir, there is a very wide Difference between a _Popish Regency_ and a _Popish People_. The whole Intent and Virulence, as you call it, of my Papers, is pointed and levelled against the _One_, but not a Syllable uttered, from End to End, against the _Other_. A _Popish Regency_, in Temporals alike as in Spirituals, I held to be, by Principle, an arbitrary and oppressive Government; but I held a _Popish People_ to be, of all People, the most amenable and submissive to Rulers, whatever the Form or Nature of that State may be, under which they shall happen to be subjected. And, on this very Account, I dreaded them the more, should they become pa.s.sive Instruments in the Hand of a Papal Dictator.

To apply a sure Test to the Propriety, or Impropriety, of my Apprehensions, at the Period when I wrote the _Farmer's Letters_, let us suppose that no one of the Penal Laws, which were inst.i.tuted during the Reign of her Majesty Queen _Anne_, had yet pa.s.sed into Form, but that Matters had remained in the same Situation, in which the _Monarch_, of _humane_, as well as _glorious Memory_, had left this unhappy People.

Well, what would have been the Consequence? Would _Papists_, in that Case, have been less amenable to the Government, by which they had been favoured, supported, and cherished? Would they have been the forwarder to bring Damage and Destruction on a Country, because their own Interest was connected therewith, and the Fortunes of their Posterity deposited therein? Would they have been the readier to attempt the Overthrow of our beneficent Const.i.tution, because they enjoyed the Privileges and Advantages thereof? No, Sir, no. The Absurdity of the Supposition is inclusive of the Answer. Had this been the Case, the _Farmer's Letters_ would not have existed to have caused the Renewal of our Acquaintance.

I have read and noted many Instances, in free States and Commonwealths, where _Liberty_, when fermented into _Licentiousness_, hath occasioned many partial Struggles for Power, many Broils and Factions, and much Disturbance to the Community. But very few are the Instances of the Insurrection of any People, who have not been goaded thereto by Severity and Oppression. The inoffensive Stag grows formidable when _at __ Bay_.

The Worm turneth not, till it receiveth a Crush.

I forget the Book, though I remember the Pa.s.sage, where a Prince demanded of his favourite Minister, what he should do with a Number of the Commons and n.o.bility, whom he had suppressed and taken Captive in the Act of Rebellion? The Minister answered, _Put them, and their Adherents, instantly to Death_. No, replied the Prince, that were an Act of such Bloodshed and Barbarity, as neither Fear nor Revenge shall persuade me to perpetrate. _Then, grant them all free Pardon_, rejoined the Minister.

How! said the Prince, must Rebellion go altogether unpunished? There is no Medium that can a.s.sure your Safety, answered the Minister; you must either pull this Party wholly up by the Root, so as to leave no Fibre from whence future Enmity may grow; or else, you must change that Enmity into Friendship, by binding their Grat.i.tude to your Person and Interest, with the kindliest of all Connections, that of your Goodness and Favour. _A partial Punishment will be too little for your Safety; a partial Pardon will not be enough._ You must either wholly annihilate their Power, by their _Death_; or derive Strength to yourself, from that Power, by their _Friendship_.

By disarming our Enemies, the utmost we can hope, is, to render them impotent. The Diminution of _their_ Power adds nothing to our _own_.

Repentance is never so permanent or sincere, as when preceded by Pardon; and Favour is, as the polar Attraction, to Inclination. Is there a Man whose Love and Grat.i.tude you desire to engage? Common Sense will direct you to do him a Benefit. Would you bind him to your Service with Hoops of Steel? You must make it his Interest, as well as his Duty, to befriend you.

It is, by no means, my Intention to arraign either the Wisdom or good Policy of our Forefathers. But all Men are, in some Degree, fallible, as well in the congregate, as in the individual; and the Shrewd may err as much, by over-reaching their Aim, as the Ignorant, by falling short, or deviating from it.

But, had a hundred _Pitts_, and a hundred _Cecils_, composed the Senate of our Ancestors, at the Time that those _Penal Laws_ were enacted; had those Laws been ever so wise and so just, so wholesome and necessary, and well suited to the Season; is that a Reason that they should _continue so_ to the End of Time? In a World where nothing is permanent; where Modes, Manners, Principles, and Practice are at a Flux; where Life is uncertain, and all it contains changeable; Nature and Reason will conform to Situation and Circ.u.mstance; and where _Causes_ have ceased, in any Degree, the _Consequences_ ought to cease in the same Proportion.

It is not now with _Rome_ as it was in the Days when Princes held her Steed, and Emperors her Stirrup. The Kings of the Earth have, pretty clearly, resumed her Usurpations and Acquisitions of temporal Dominion. It is not now, as it was when she cried Peace! and it became Peace; or when the Breath of her Mandate kindled the Nations to Battle. Even his _Holiness_ is, now, but a poor limited Prince, pent up within his little _Italian_ Demesne. If some few still acknowledge to hold of his Authority, it is a Homage of Words, and not of Facts; they will not acknowledge to hold of his Power. He is restored to the quiet and unenvied Possession of all the Lordship and Interest he can acquire in Heaven. But the Sceptre, even of his spiritual Dominion upon Earth, is, of late, as I take it, most wonderfully shortened.

Matters are much altered with the ecclesiastical World, even since I wrote the Letters that have roused your Spleen. Whether it be through a Decline of the _Romish_ Religion, in particular; or, possibly, through a Decline of all Religion, in general; the pontifical and episcopal Dictatorship and Authority are wofully fallen, from the Chair of Infallibility, where they had been seated by Opinion. The Sons of the most bigotted Ancestors do now perceive, that Piety and Immorality are not rightly consistent. And even the vulgar and ignorant, among the _Roman_ Laity, would grumble at departing from an Inch of their Property, though the Priest should advise, and the Pope, himself, should enjoin it.

But, Sir, if the Change of Times, and Principles, Situation, and Circ.u.mstances; if the Change of every Cause that produced those penal Laws, have not availed for a Change of _Consequences_; for some Mitigation or Abatement of their Rigour, toward these my unhappy Brethren, the _Roman Catholics of Ireland_: If no Argument, I say, that is taken from Changes, may avail for the Purpose, I will take one from Permanence and Duration itself, that shall strike Light and Conviction to the Eye of every Beholder; that Power may _gainsay_, but cannot _refute_; that Malevolence may _dispute_, but never can _answer_.

About six Generations have now pa.s.sed away, according to the Rates of Purchase and Estimate of the Life of Man, since these People have offended in Word or in Deed. No Riotings have been heard in their Houses, no Complainings in their Streets; they have been silent and harmless as Sheep before their Sheerers. Our Parties, Factions, and Insurrections, as they are merrily stiled in _England_, have been all among ourselves; this People were neither Actors nor Partakers therein. They have offered themselves to our Fleets, and to our Armies; to tend our Persons, to till our Grounds, to hew our Wood, and to draw our Water. Where we admit them to fight for us, they have ever proved valiant; where we admit them to serve us, they are found loving, observant, and faithful. Temptations have come to their Doors and called them forth; the Contagion of Rebellion hath broken out among their Neighbours; they have yet remained quiet, and continued untainted; still loyal to their Sovereign, amenable to Government, and submissive to Law, through a long and trying Succession of about seventy Years, they have scarce appeared to repine in the midst of their Calamities.

When I look back on the querulous and restless Nature of Man: When I trace the human Propensities through the Records of Ages and Nations: In all the Histories of those States who had least Cause of Complaint: Throughout the Commonwealths of _Asia Minor_, the _Archipelago_, the _Grecian Continent_, _Italy_, the Islands of the _Mediterranean_, &c. where the RIGHTS OF NATURE, under Forms of various Inst.i.tution, were a.s.sERTED BY LIBERTY AND GUARDED BY LAW: Where the a.s.sURANCE OF PROPERTY gave most REASON FOR CONTENT: I can find but few Instances of any People who, through such a Length of Time, have continued firm and unshaken, in an uninterrupted Loyalty and Submission to Government.

What then, do we look for further? What Proofs do ye yet require, of Peacefulness and Attachment at the Hands of these our Brethren? Is no Period to be put to their State of Probation? Must they _for ever_ keep out upon _Quarantine_, without Harbour or Hopes of Rest or Reconciliation?

That were hard, indeed.