pleasantry, which never failed to expose the folly of their apprehensions; for he quickly discovered, that they had neither the power nor the inclination to give the government any disturbance. And he even assured both houses of parliament, "that France, which alone encouraged and supported the rash adventurer, had made use of him only as the occasional tool of their politics, and not as the real object of their care. That although

Great Britain had, in the course of this century, been often molested by insurrections at home and invasions from abroad, Ireland had happily and deservedly enjoyed uninterrupted tranquillity." And in short, that this attempt to shake his majesty's throne, would serve to establish it the more firmly, since all Europe must know the unanimous zeal and affection of his subjects, for the defence of his person and government,"

The great goodness and mercy of providence in sending such a governor among us, at that period of suspicion and danger, will be for ever most gratefully remembered by these people. Even their enemies in parliament, at the close of his administration, seem to have, in some measure, retracted their former councils of rigour and severity; for the commons in their address at the end of their session, after mentioning their late unquiet apprehensions, acknowledged, with chearfulness and the utmost gratitude, that the profound tranquillity which, without any extraordinary increase of public expence, the nation, had hitherto enjoyed, was the result of his excellency's wise and vigilant administration; formed

upon the principles, and carried on by the uniform exercise of lenity without remissness, and of firmness without severity."

I promised to make it appear, that no Irish catholic, lay or clerical, was any way engaged in the Scottish rebellion of 1745. I shall now perform my promise. Lord Chief Justice Marlay's charge to the grand juries of the city and county of Dublin, bears honorable testimony to their loyalty. "When posterity read," says he, "that in this age a rebellion was carried on in Great Britain, without the least colour or pretence of oppression, nay, by many who had not even that false pretence of religion to palliate their treason against a prince, one of the best, the most merciful, just, and most generous of our royal line, who has given the fortunes of all criminals, whether forfeited for crimes against the state, or for other offences, to their children or relations (a grace never practised before); who has exposed his person at the head of his armies, in defence of the liberties of his kingdoms, and of Europe; and that Ireland, where much the greatest part of the inhabitants profess a religion, which sometimes has authorised, or at least justified rebellion, not only preserved peace at home, but contributed to restore it among his subjects of Great Britain; will they not believe that the people of Ireland were actuated by something more than their duty and allegiance? will they not be convinced, that they were animated by a generous sense of gratitude, and zeal for their great benefactor, and fully sensible of the happiness of being

blessed by living under the protection of a monarch, who, like the glorious king William, the Henries, and Edwards, his royal predecessors, has himself led his armies to victory, and despised danger in the cause of his people; and one from whom we not only expect, but are assured of, a race of princes, equally eminent for their generosity, prudence and courage."

In the year 1762, upon a debate in the house. of lords upon the expediency of raising five regiments of these catholics, for the service of the king of Portugal, Doctor Stone (then Primate), in answer to some common-place objections against the good faith and loyalty of these people, which were revived with virulence on that occasion, declared publicly in the house of lords, that" in the year 1747, after that rebellion was intirely suppressed, happening to be in England, he had an opportunity of perusing all the papers of the rebels, and their correspondents, which were seized in the custody of Murray, the pretender's secretary; and that, after having spent much time and taken great pains in examining them (not without some share of the then common suspicion, that there might be some private understanding and intercourse between them and the Irish catholics), he could not discover the least trace, hint, or intimation of such intercourse or correspondence in them; or of any of the latter's favouring, abetting, or having been so much as made acquainted with the designs or proceedings of these rebels. And what," he said, " he wondered at most at all was, that in all his re

searches, he had not met with any passage in any of these papers, from which he could infer, that either their Holy Father the Pope, or any of his cardinals, bishops, or other dignitaries of that church; or any of the Irish clergy, had either directly or indirectly, encouraged, aided or approved of, the commencing or carrying on of that rebellion."

That no man should ever doubt of what complexion the spirit actuating the persecutors of the catholic faith, they invited and embraced with open arms, the enemies of Christ and of his church; professing equal contempt for the cross. It was natural enough for the enemies of the faith to associate. Thus the infidel rulers of the French republic, while they laboured with might and main to undermine and abolish the christian faith, naturalized the Jews. Vain was their endeavour. To a land, ruled by wolves and tygers, impoverished even to beggary, by restrictions on industry, exorbitant taxation, and immense tributes to England, the Jews would not come. The circumcized race will never consider any country their home, but that promised them by their prophets. Therefore they are not addicted to the cultivation or purchase of land, subsisting by traffic, and such other means as will always leave them ready to obey the long expected signal of departure for the holy land. They did say, that, among a people purposely impoverished, there was no chance of living; as a beggared population must, by dire necessity, be driven to their wits end, to such shifts as to out-jew the

very Jews. It was the observation of a Jewish rabbi, in Saxony, who entertained me very kindly. On asking him, why there were no synagogues in Ireland? he replied, smiling, be so good as to tell me why, in so fertile a land, and so happily situated for commerce, your people are such poor rogues, that you are greater Jews than ourselves, whence our people could not live among you, But to return to the Irish persecutors, fraternizing with the enemies of Christ. The Irish commons, in the session of 1747, brought heads of a bill into their house, for naturalizing persons professing the Jewish religion; which were committed, agreed to by the house without any amendment, and presented to his grace the lord lieutenant, to be by him transmitted into England. In the session immediately preceding, the same bill was brought into the commons, and carried through without any debate; but it then miscarried either here or in England; as it also did this second time.*

After the departure of the earl of Chesterfield, in the spring of 1746, the kingdom was governed by lords justices till September, when the earl of Harrington arrived. The death of Sir James Sommerville the following year, and of alderman Pearson, representatives for the city, gave occasion to a remarkable contest for members to succeed them, and called forth to public view a character conspicuously distinguished. Strong natural powers, especially when excited to action by public spirit, have rendered men eminent, though

*Currie. Hist. Rev. Civil Wars.