thus affembled, that they should foon receive affiftance from France, in order to conquer Ireland. JOHN TWOHY. Sworn' before me this 30th day of March, 1766, JOHN HEWETSON, 8. William Abraham, of Bohereerd in the Queen's county, a farmer, and of the proteftant religion, fwore the following examination before Edward Ledwich, clerk, and justice of peace for faid county, on the twenty-feventh of December, 1774: That a report had prevailed fome time that the white boys intended to carry off examinant the night of the fifteenth inftant; that a party of them, blowing horns, and armed with mufkets, and dreffed in white frocks and fhirts, entered his house, and put him behind one of them on horfeback; that his wife, endeavouring to prevent their doing fo, received a ftroke of a mufket in the small of the back. That before examinant was mounted, they gave him a violent blow in the head with the lock and hammer of a gun, which inflicted a deep wound thereon, and rendered him Rupid and fenfelefs; they carried him off mounted behind one of them, with only his breeches, and a loose great coat on; that in their progrefs, they beat, battered, and abufed him with their guns, and the man behind whom he rode, wounded him severely in the legs with long nails in his heels, commonly called heel fpurs; they carried him ten miles off to a place near Ballyconra, where they held a confultation, whether they fhould cut out his tongue, or pull out his eyes; and at laft agreed to cut off his ears,. which they did with circumftances of great barbarity; that after having administered to him many unlawful oaths, they buried him up to his chin, though mangled in a deplorable way, in a grave lined with furze. No. II. I, A. B. of my own free will and accord, do fwear to be true to one another, will affift one another abroad and at home, and there are none to be admitted without the confent of the committee appointed by the faid body; and they must in all things, be under fubjection to the faid committee committee in all things that are lawful, and not otherwise; and all words and figns to be kept fecret from all that are not concerned, or forfeit this oath; and we are to meet once a month where the committee thinks proper, and we are to spend what is agreeable to the company; and any person giving a lawful reafon for his abfence he is not to be under cenfure; and all perfons entering must be under all rules and regulations appointed by the faid committee; and as in our former oath we are bound to his majesty king George III. and his fucceffors to the crown, fo for this prefent year 1789, we promife faithfully the fame obedience, and alfo while we live fubject to the fame government. RULES TO BE OBSERVED. ift, There is no defender to strike one another upon any account; or if they do, to be excluded the company as long as the committee thinks proper. 2d, There is no perfon to come to the monthly meeting drunk; or if they do, to pay fix-pence, and to be excluded for three months. 3d, There is no perfon on any account to fwear or speak loud in the company; and for every oath they are to pay hat the committee thinks proper. 4th, There is no perfon that formerly belonged to another body (that is to fay, a ftrange body) to be accepted without a line from the body he formerly belonged to. 5th, There is no perfon to let any one know who belongs to their body, but those who went under the obligation. 6th, There is no body of men to go to a challenge without leave of three of the committee at least. 7th, There is no body to get a copy of these without the leave of the grand mafter appointed by the general year's meeting, or deputies appointed by the faid grand mafter, or his committee. 8th, Let no perfon know the words or figns without being concerned; and they are not empowered to give or make known by either words or figns or tokens any that may hereafter come forth, or make it known to any company or body but ourselves, or our body. 9th, There is no defender to make himself known as a defender after being excluded, under fear of perjury; and cach man continuing fix months from this day must find a gun gun and bayonet, with other neceffary accoutrements, or be excluded at the option of the committee. Given under our hands, the Grange committee to the committee of Carrickarnan body of defenders, No. 1, for the county of Louth. We, the committee of No. 18, do certify the bearer, Michael Moor, that he has gone through the rules and obligations of a brother defender; and at his request he defires to be discharged that he may join your body. Given under our hands at Drumbanagher, this 24th day of April, 1789, N. B. Michael Moor's EDWARD BRADLEY, , PATRICK LEES, DANIEL M'GOVERAN, fec. certificate was figned by fiftyone names in addition to the above, who were present and members of lodge No. 18. * + No. III. At a poft-affembly of the right honourable the lord mayor, sheriffs, commons, and citizens of the city of Dublin, held at the Ex bibition-house in William-ftreet, on Tuesday the eleventh day of September, 1792, pursuant to a requifition for the purpose of taking into confideration a letter circulated throughout this city and kingdom, figned, " EDWARD BYRNE:" A copy of faid letter, and alfo of the plan and obfervations mentioned to have been inclofed therein, having been read from a publick print, the affembly unanimously came to the following determination: RESOLVED, THAT a letter be addreffed to the proteftants of Ireland, to the following effect: "COUNTRYMEN This profpectus of the defenders was found by Dr. Allott, dean of Raphoe, and was fent to government in the administration of the marquis of Buckingham. Sobriety, fecrefy, brotherly love, and the accumulation of arms, the leading characteristicks and defigns of all the fubfequent defenders' lodges, were confpicuous in this, "COUNTRYMEN and FRIENDS! "The firm and manly fupport which we received from you when we ftood forward in. defence of the proteftant afcendancy, deferves our warmeft thanks. We hoped that the fenfe of the proteftants of Ireland, declared upon that occafion, would have convinced our Roman catholick fellow fubjects, that the purfuit of political power was for them a vain purfuit: For though the liberal and enlightened mind of the proteftant receives pleafure in feeing the catholick exercife his religion with freedom-enjoy his property in fecurity-and poffefs the highest degree of perfonal liberty, yet experience has taught us, that without the ruin, of the proteftant eftablishment the catholick cannot be allowed the. Imalleft influence in the state. "For more than ten years the prefs has teemed with various writings, intended to prove that Roman catholicks have an equal claim with proteftants to a participation in the exercise of political power in this kingdom; that such a participation would not be injurious to proteftants; that prejudice only prevents proteftants from conceding this claim; and to complete the work, a letter has lately appeared, figned "Edward Byrne," in which the Roman catholicks are inftructed to proceed upon the plan of the French democracy, to elect a reprefentation of their own, to which faid Byrne infinuates that "the proteftants mu bend, as he has affurance from the highest authority." In anfwer to thefe charges, and thefe claims, we fhall in a few lines briefly ftate the cafe of the Proteftants and Roman catholicks of Ireland, in doing which we fhall not endeavour to add to our language any other ornament than the beautiful fimplicity of truth. "One hundred years are just elapfed fince the question was tried upon an appeal to Heaven--whether this country fhould become a popish kingdom, governed by an arbitrary and unconftitutional popifh tyrant, and dependant upon France, or enjoy the bleflings of a free proteftant government-a proteftant monarchy, limited by the conftitutionand an intimate connection with the free empire of Britain? The great ruler of all things decided in favour of our ancestors; he gave them victory, and Ireland became a proteftant nation, enjoying a British constitution. "But the conflict had been neither fhort nor trivial; and fo many and fo great were the efforts made by the Roman The British cabinet had no fufpicion at this time, that fuch another conflict would take place in the year 1798. Roman catholicks in fupport of their popish king and French connections, that our ancestors were obliged in their ewn defence, to deprive them of all political power, which they did by fevere but neceffary restrictive laws. Time draws the veil of oblivion over the virtues as well as the faults of men: In the lapfe of more than fourfcore years, the caufes which induced the neceffity of these laws were almoft forgotten; while the generous proteftant faw with pain his Roman catholick fellow-fubject labouring under reftrictions which, from his peaceable demeanour, then, appeared no longer neceffary; and he could fcarcely refrain from charging his ancestors with too much severity. Seffion after feffion the restrictive laws were rapidly repealed, and the laft feffion of parliament left the Roman catholicks in no wife different from their proteftant fellowfubjects-fave only in the exercife of political power. But be it remembered, that from the moment the proteftant began to make conceffions, the Roman catholick began to extend his claims; at first a very little would have fatisfed him that little, and much more, was granted; more ftill was claimed; and when every thing confiftent with proteftant fafety was conceded, inftead of grateful acknowledgments and declarations of fatisfaction, our ears have been dinned with exclamations of difcontent, the ravings of political clubs, and the declamations of ftate reformers. "But we hope that the great body of the Roman cathoLicks are yet free from the influence of that dangerous spirit which has pervaded the clubs in this city: We hope they will reject Mr. Byrne's counfel, and be grateful for the indulgences they have received from proteftants. To delude them from their tranquillity, they are told by Byrne, that he has "The first authority for afferting this application will "have infinite weight with our gracious fovereign, and « with parliament, if our friends are qualified to declare that it is the universal wish of every catholick in the "nation."-But we truft it is unfounded; were it otherwife, we tell them that the proteftants of Ireland would not be compelled by any authority whatever to abandon that political fituation which their forefathers won with their fwords, and which is therefore their birth-right; or to furrender their religion at the footstool of popery. "Every |