don. Even the gentlemen of landed interest in the county did not exhibit, by any public testimony, a disavowal of these horrid atrocities, until the period of setting the forsaken territory roused them from their slumbers. Then they discovered, to their amazement and dismay, that among the few bidders who appeared, not one was found to offer more for any lot, than about half what was paid for the same before by the Catholic tenant. Then, indeed, and not till then, did the banishment of the Catholics appear alarming. It was seriously alarming to gentlemen, thus in a moment to lose half their incomes; but until this fatal discovery was made, the number of wretched poor, proscribed and violently driven from their homes, deprived of their cabins and their all, was a circumstance unworthy of these gentlemen's notice. To counteract this calamity as much as possible, a numerous meeting of the magistrates of the county of Armagh was held at the special instance of the governor, Lord Viscount Gosford, on the 28th day of December, 1795. To this assemblage, on taking the chair as president, his lordship spoke a pointed address on the occasion; which, together with the proceedings, was published in The Dublin Journal of the 5th of January, 1796.* A circumstantial detail of these occurrences in the north would be inconsistent with my original intention of confining myself, for the present, to the transactions in the county of Wexford; but I have been led into this, I hope excusable digression, in order to account to the reader, in a great measure, for the dreadful impression made on the minds of the people, at a future period, by the rumors, that * See Appendix, No. VII. Orangemen were sworn for the destruction of the Catholics! Were these rumors to be grounded only on Lord Gosford's statement, (too authentic to admit a possibility of denial,) and true only in the extent his lordship has allowed them, with what terrible apprehensions must they fill the minds of a simple, oppressed, and degraded people, such as the Irish peasantry are generally known to have been for ages past? But when it is considered, that the horrid acts themselves have never been disavowed; and the reports of them have rung in the ears of every individual throughout the nation, (perhaps with aggravated circumstances, as it usually happens,) the reflecting reader is referred to his own judgment, to estimate how much the woful tale of the forlorn sufferers, by its reverberation from one end of the island to the other, must affect the mind, alarm the imagination, and inflame the resentments of an irritated, insulted, and violated community. What advantage might not be taken of a ferment thus excited, by designing men-perhaps, too, by the greatest enemies of the people? For such frequently assume the mask of friendship and condolence, and apparently affect counteracting the sinister designs of their minions, in order to accomplish their private views, through a show of popularity. Various, as has been observed, were the descriptions of the disturbers of the public peace in Ulster. Numbers went about in the night, searching houses, and taking away all the arms they could find, without violating any other property. This becoming generally known, the houses were usually opened upon the first summons. This easy mode of admittance was afterwards taken advantage of by common robbers, who at first only assumed the charac ter of disarmers, to come at their prey with less trouble and more certainty. After a continued series of similar circumstances of violence and outrage, arising from a nation's greatest curse, the disunion of its people, but which our limits will not permit us to detail at present, General Lake issued his proclamation for disarming the inhabitants of the north of Ireland, on the 13th of March, 1797; and on the 21st of the same month, Mr. Grattan, after a speech delivered with his usual force of talent and brilliant ability, moved for an inquiry into the causes which produced this proclamation; but his motion was unfortunately rejected. The persecutions in the county of Armagh were so flagrant, and the conduct of many of the magistrates so contrary to law, that applications were made to the Court of King's Bench for attachments against several of them, but a bill of indemnity prevented a judicial investigation of their conduct; and thus they were screened from merited punishment. This total disregard of their grievances, and inattention to their complaints, added to the barbarous outrages afterwards committed by the military in the northern counties, very much exasperated the feelings of the suffering party. They resorted for temporary relief to private sorrow and secret lamentation. In this sad state, bordering on despair, every injured person sympathized with his neighbor in affliction; and their united resentments, like a raging flame, suppressed but not extinguished, were the more likely to burst forth with sudden fury and unexpected violence. It may not be impertinent to remark, that in all cases of popular commotion, an inquiry into the alleged grievances ought to go hand in hand with the measures of rigor and coercion. These two principles are far from being incompatible, and any government acting upon them must be certain of conciliating obedience and affection, respect and attachment. The Earl of Moira, with that dignified humanity which has ever graced his noble character, brought the distresses of Ireland before the British house of lords, on the 22d of November, 1797; when he gave a heart-rending description, in his native strain of elevation, of the savage cruelties practised by the military against the people, and offered, at the moment, to produce at the bar incontrovertible proof of his assertions. He concluded his able statement by moving an address to the sovereign, the principal purport of which was, "humbly hoping that his majesty might be graciously pleased to take into his paternal consideration the disturbed state of Ireland, and to adopt such lenient measures as might appear to his royal wisdom and benignity best calculated to restore tranquillity and excite affection." But sad to tell, his lordship was not 'more fortunate in the British house of lords, than was Mr. Grattan, the preceding March, in the Irish house of commons. Both motions had the same unlucky fate of rejection. On the following day, (the 23d of November,) Mr. Fox made a similar benevolent and patriotic effort, (and who is unacquainted with his powers?) in the British house of commons, but with the like success. He concluded a lucid and animated speech with the following pointed and emphatic quotation from Cicero, which I cannot resist inserting :"Carum esse civibus, benè de republicâ mereri, laudari, coli, diligi, gloriosum est; metui vero et in odio esse, invidiosum, detestabile, imbecillum, caducum:"-To be dear to one's countrymen, to deserve well of the commonweal, to be praised, to be respected, to be beloved, is glorious; but to be feared and encompassed with hatred is invidious, is detestable, is tottering, is ruinous. The appointment of General Sir Ralph Abercromby, on the 12th of December, 1797, to the chief command of the forces in Ireland, gave general satisfaction, and afforded a ray of hope to drooping despondency. The subsequent display of his eminent virtues evinced the justice of favorable expectation. Having been quartered in Ireland through most of his gradations of well-merited promotion, he possessed a perfect local knowledge of the country; and he now resolved in person to visit every district, and thus he made a tour of observation through the whole island. After a strict review of every object worthy of his attention, he published on his return to Dublin general orders to the several military commanders, wherein, after having reprobated the irregularities of the soldiery, he directed the necessary restraint for their disorderly conduct. These orders were issued from the adjutant-general's office, in Dublin, on the 26th of February, 1797.* The Earl of Moira, animated by the same generous motives that always influenced his conduct, made his last effort to avert the impending storm. With this benevolent intention, on the 19th of February, 1798, he moved in the Irish House of Lords, "That an humble address be presented to his excellency the lord-lieutenant, representing, that as parliament hath confided to his excellency extraordinary powers for supporting the laws and defeating any traitorous combinations which may exist in this kingdom, this house feels it, at the same time, its duty, as those powers have not produced the desired effect, to recommend the adoption of such conciliatory measures * See Appendix, No. VIIL |