and subscribes the little produce of his sweat. The miserable dupe, plundered of his scanty earnings, returns to his cottage, and sunk in repose, dreams of nothing but less labour for himself, and more food and raiment for his children! But this innocent man, sir, is, under the guidance of such leaders, the more dangerous, as he is the more innocent. I, therefore, deem it inexpedient to admit such leaders to any share of power; we should be the more careful, sir, in a country where Government seems to be the science of all, and obedience the habit of none. But we are told by Lord Fitzwilliam that these men will rebel if we do not comply. Why, sir, if they will rebel, if their loyalty is so loose a cloak as to be thrown off in every contest for rank and power-let them rebel! Is it not better they should rebel as they are, than we should admit them to draw swords in the presence of the throne itself, and let treason stalk within the walls of parliament."

This extract recals to mind a parody (on well-known lines of Lord Byron's), written by an English parson, whose estimate of the Hibernian nature is no less kindly. Whether his kindliness leads him to deceive himself in any point, it is not needful here to speculate.

KNOW YE THE LAND!

"Know ye the land where the shout and shillelagh
Are emblems of deeds that are done in their clime,
Where kindness long past will but little avail a
Poor landlord who asks for his rent in due time?

Know ye the land where potatoes and whisky

Seem all people want their enjoyments to crown, Where the men are so fierce and the women so frisky,

You'll with fun be knock'd up, or with fists be knock'd
down!

And yet where, despite all their faults, there's a kindness
Which charms, though with cunning and funning it blend;
On your tricks a keen eye, to your failings a blindness,
Which cannot see aught that 's amiss in a friend.
Where, despite all their wrongs, still with hearts true and
loyal,

Yet, children-like, gla'l both to keep and to give,

For all that is right and for all that is royal

They are ready to die, but would much rather live! And yet, what a blight seems to hang o'er her mountains, What a pitiful sorrow to weep from her skies!

What misfortunes now soil and now dry up the fountains, Whence all the fresh springs of her greatness should rise!

Alas for a people so hopelessly trustful,

So slow to see what will be from what has been-
Whose eyes, though so brilliant, are always so dustful—
Whose plains and whose people are always so green!
Know ye this land? Who on earth does not know it
By the strange contradictions its contrasts recal-
The prey of the plotter, the pride of the poet,

The plague of the statesman, the puzzle of all! 'Tis an isle of the ocean, a gem of the sea,

Which wants only freedom from self to be free!"

There are few men, or orders of men, in any country who are capable of exercising so much influence. for good or for ill as the Irish priesthood. Sprung from the ranks of the people, sharing all their instincts and historical and national traditions, deprived of those advantages of citizenship-of-the-world which were enjoyed by their predecessors, who were educated under the refining influences of Douay and St. Omer, looked up to by their flocks with such veneration that (except perhaps where the pocket is seriously affected), they are followed, and their slightest hint obeyed almost as a matter of bounden duty by peasantry on whose lips is ever ready the precept, "Whoso will not obey the Church, let him be unto thee as anathema maranatha," these reverend gentlemen are, unfortunately, ever subject to the temptation to go with the tide of the hour, so that they may be the better able to direct their barque into a course favourable to their Church, and to themselves, rather than to use their vigorous and united efforts to stem the current, and keep the people clear of these shoals and quicksands of class division, disaffection, and lawlessness which have ever acted as a blight upon this unhappy and distracted island. Did they but exert their strength together, and with a will, Ireland might be a peaceful country within a year. Unfortunately, in Irish history, the clerical order has not always signalised itself in the cause of peace. At the Wicklow Assizes in 1689, we find reported in the State Trials an incident illustrative of the state of the country previous to the stirring

events of Derry and the Boyne. Armed multitudes, carrying half pikes (or rapparees) and skeines, were in the habit of driving away whole flocks and droves of cattle, and yet it was difficult to bring any of the depredators to justice, or obtain a conviction. One of these fellows when on his trial, having been taken red-handed with his skeine, protested that the weapon was but a butcher's knife, he being a butcher by trade. "Is that your butcher's knife?" asks the judge (Keatinge). "You are a great villain for carrying such a weapon." "I was ordered to have a skein, my lord," was the reply. "Pray, sir, who ordered you ?" (Prisoner). "The priest of the parish!" Upon which the judge, looking towards two of these rev. gentlemen who sat near, said—“ A priest, gentlemen, is a minister of the Gospel, and his doctrine ought to be peace, for the Gospel is a doctrine of peace!

It is not for priests to arm or animate such villains as you are for mischief!" The prisoner was acquitted for want of sufficient evidence. In pronouncing judgment on two of his accomplices who were convicted, the judge said "It is come to this pass, that a man that loses the better part of his substance, chooses rather to let that and what he has beside go than come and give evidence. And why? Because he is certain to have his house burnt and his throat cut if he appears against them."

In some parts of Ireland Protestants of substance had at this time begun to fly the country. Those of Ulster held consultations for joining together in selfdefence. Parties arose in Down, Donegal, Tyrone, Armagh, and Monaghan, under the direction of such men as Lords Mt. Alexander and Blaney, Sir Arthur Rawdon, of Moira, the Hon. Clotworthy Skeffington, and others. Significant declarations of the objects and motives of their association were made by the Protestants of Antrim and Sligo. "We resolve (said the latter) to adhere to the laws of the land and the Protestant religion . . . . We declare that our taking

up arms is only defensive, and not in the least to invade the lives, liberties, or estates of any of our fellowsubjects, whether Roman Catholics or others, while they demean themselves in peaceable manner to us."

The county councils met at Hillsborough, and formed a general league to protect the interests of the Protestants. Tyrconnell, the Viceroy, seemed at first paralysed with the rapidity and extent of the defensive movement. But he had already despatched Lord Antrim's regiment, consisting of Irishmen and Highlanders, to garrison Londonderry. While the magistrates were hesitating whether they should be admitted or not, eight or nine young 'prentices drew their swords, and having seized the keys of the city, drew up the bridge and locked the gate. The events which followed are too well known to need detailed recapitulation. Derry was relieved on the 30th of July, 1689; the" Boyne was fought on July 1st, 1690, and Limerick capitulated in Sept., 1691."

The history of Irish agitation from that time forward is deserving, just now, of special study and attention.

II.

THE BROKEN TREATY.

WHEN you are in for a row, it is not pleasant to feel that there is an unsound spot in your big stick. If you are fighting a political battle, it is anything but an enjoyable sensation to think that either the champion you are doing your best for, or the allies you are associated with, are not such as you can stand up for with all your heart. Anything dirty is painfully contaminating! You feel as if there was a slur upon you in the mere contact with it, however remotely, and however against your inclination. It discredits a cause, however good that cause. And it affords a weak point in which your opponent can attack you. There should be no weak points in the armour of those who mean to win! Well! If they are there, let them be faced manfully, and not whitened over! It is cowardly to shuffle! The Broken Treaty of Limerick was a dirty business, and no doubt about it! We "swore to our neighbour, and disappointed him," because it would have been "to our own hindrance.” But there is no radical cure for it now. The wrongs of two centuries ago could not now be redressed by direct restitution without creating greater wrongs. To seek out the great great great grandson of an Irish proprietor dispossessed in 1691, and make the holder of a property in 1881 change places with him, would be to ignore the fact that families and individuals rise and fall from other causes than the fortunes of war. Had an O'Donnell or an O'Neill never been dispossessed in favour of a Beresford or a Chichester, the descendants of the former might have “ gone to the bad" from other causes; and had the latter never