from the rapid increase of persecution; and that, after all, the effects which the resentment of the Roman Catholics had in creating rebellions had been very much exaggerated.

In support of these two conclusions Mr. Parnell takes a survey of the history of Ireland, from the conquest under Henry to the rebellion under Charles' the First, passing very rapidly over the period which preceded the Reformation, and dwelling principally upon the various rebellions which broke out in Ireland between the Reformation and the grand rebellion in the reign of Charles the First. The celebrated conquest of Ireland by Henry the Second extended only to a very few counties in Leinster; nine-tenths of the whole kingdom were left, as he found them, under the dominion of their native princes. The influence of example was as strong in this as in most other instances; and great numbers of the English settlers who came over under various adven turers resigned their pretensions to superior civilisation, cast off their lower garments, and lapsed into the nudity and barbarism of the Irish. The limit which divided the possessions of the English settler from those of the native Irish was called the pale; and the expressions of inhabitants within the pale and without the pale were the terms by which the two nations were distinguished. It is almost superfluous to state that the most bloody and pernicious warfare was carried on upon the borders-sometimes for something-sometimes for nothing-most commonly for cows. The Irish, over whom the sovereigns of England affected a sort of nominal dominion, were entirely governed by their own laws; and so very little connection had they with the justice of the invading country that it was as lawful to kill an Irishman as it was to kill a badger or a fox. The instances are innumerable where the defendant has pleaded that the deceased was an Irishman, and that therefore defendant had a right to kill him ;-and upon the proof of Hibernicism acquittal followed of course.

When the English army mustered in any great strength the Irish chieftains would do exterior homage to the English Crown; and they very frequently, by this artifice, averted from their country the miseries of invasion: but they remained completely unsubdued till the rebellion which took place in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, of which that politic woman availed herself to the complete subjugation of Ireland. In speaking of the Irish about the reign of Elizabeth, or James the First, we must not draw our comparisons from England, but from New Zealand; they were not civilised men, but savages; and if we reason about their conduct, we must reason of them as savages.

"After reading every account of Irish history (says Mr. Parnell), one great perplexity appears to remain: How does it happen that, from the first invasion of the English till the reign of James I., Ireland seems not to have made the smallest progress in civilisation or wealth?

"That it was divided into a number of small principalities, which waged constant war on each other, or that the appointment of the chieftains was elective, do not appear sufficient reasons, although these are the only ones assigned by those who have been at the trouble of considering the subject: neither are the confiscations of property quite sufficient to account for the effect. There have been great confiscations in other countries, and still they have fcurished; the petty states of Greece were quite analogous to the chiefries (as they were called) in Ireland; and yet they seemed to flourish almost in proportion to their dissensions. Poland felt the bad effects of an elective monarchy more than any other country; and yet in point of civilisation it maintained a very respectable rank among the nations of Europe; but Ireland never, for an instant, made any progress in improvement till the reign of James I.

"It is scarcely credible that, in a climate like that of Ireland, and at a period so far advanced in civilisation as the end of Elizabeth's reign, the greater part of the natives should go naked. Yet this is rendered certain by the testimony of an eyewitness, Fynes Moryson. In the remote parts (he says) where the English laws and manners are unknown, the very chief of the Irish, as well men as women, go naked in the winter time, only having their privy parts covered with a rag of linen, and their bodies with a loose mantle.

This I speak of my own experience; yet remember that a Bohemian baron coming out of Scotland to us by the north parts of the wild Irish, told me in great earnestness that he, coming to the house of O'Kane, a great lord amongst them, was met at the door by sixteen women all naked, excepting their loose mantles, whereof eight or ten were very fair; with which strange sight his eyes being dazzled, they led him into the house, and then sitting down by the fire with crossed legs, like tailors, and so low as could not but offend chaste tyes, desired him to sit down with them. Soon after, O'Kane, the lord of the country, came in all naked, except a loose mantle and shoes, which he put off as soon as he came in; and, entertaining the baron after his best manner in the Latin tongue, desired him to put off his apparel, which he thought to be a burden to him, and to sit naked.

To conclude, men and women at night going to sleep, lie thus naked in a round circle about the fire with their feet towards it. They fold their heads and their upper parts in woollen mantles, first steeped in water to keep them warm; for they say, that woollen cloth wetted preserves heat (as linen wetted preserves cold), when the smoke of their bodies has warmed the woollen cloth.'

"The cause of this extreme poverty, and of its long continuance, we must conclude, arose from the peculiar laws of property which were in force under the Irish dynasties. These laws have been described by most writers as similar to the Kentish custom of gavelkind; and indeed so little attention was paid to the subject, that were it not for the researches of Sir J. Davis, the knowledge of this singular usage would have been entirely lost. "The Brehon law of property, he tells us, was similar to the custom (as the English lawyers term it) of hodge-podge. When any one of the sept died, his lands did not descend to his sons, but were divided among the whole sept: and for this purpose the chief of the sept made a new division of the whole lands belonging to the sept, and gave everyone his part according to seniority. So that no man had a property which could descend to his children; and even during his own life his possession of any particular spot was quite uncertain, being liable to be constantly shuffled and changed by new partitions. The consequence of this was that there was not a house of brick or stone, among the Irish, down to the reign of Henry VII.; not even a garden or orchard, or well-fenced or improved field; neither village or town, or in any respect the least provision for posterity. This monstrous custom, so opposite to the natural feelings of mankind, was probably perpetuated by the policy of the chiefs. In the first place, the power of partitioning being lodged in their hands made them the most absolute of tyrants, being the dispensers of their property as well as of the liberty of their subjects. In the second place, it had the appearance of adding to the number of their savage armies; for, where there was no improvement or tillage, war was pursued as an occupation.

In the early history of Ireland we find several instances of chieftains discountenancing tillage; and so late as Elizabeth's reign, Moryson says that Sir Neal Garve restrained his people from ploughing, that they might assist him to do any mischief.””—(Pp. 98-102.)

These quotations and observations will enable us to state a few plain facts for the recollection of our English readers :-Ist, Ireland was never subdued till the rebellion in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 2nd, For four hundred years before that period the two nations had been almost constantly at war; and, in consequence of this, a deep and irreconcileable hatred existed between the people within and without the pale. 3rd, The Irish, at the accession of Queen Elizabeth, were unquestionably the most barbarous people in Europe. So much for what had happened previous to the reign of Queen Elizabeth; and let any man, who has the most superficial knowledge of human affairs, determine whether national hatred, proceeding from such powerful causes, could possibly have been kept under by the defeat of one single rebellion, whether it would not have been easy to have foreseen, at that period, that a proud, brave, half-savage people, would cherish the memory of their wrongs for centuries to come, and break forth into arms at every period when they were particularly exasperated by oppression, or invited by opportunity. If the Protestant religion had spread in Ireland as it did in England, and if there had never been any difference of faith between the two countries,—can it be believed that the Irish, ill-treated and infamously governed as they have been, would never have made any efforts to shake off the yoke of England? Surely there are causes enough to account for their impatience of that yoke, without endeavouring to inflame the zeal of ignorant people against the Catholic religion, and to make that mode of faith responsible for all the butchery which the Irish and English for these last two centuries have exer

cised upon each other. Everybody, of course, must admit that if to the causes of hatred already specified there be added the additional cause of religious distinction, this last will give greater force (and what is of more consequence to observe, give a name) to the whole aggregate motive. But what Mr. Parnell contends for, and clearly and decisively proves, is that many of those sanguinary scenes attributed to the Catholic religion are to be partly imputed to causes totally disconnected from religion; that the unjust invasion, and the tyrannical, infamous policy of the English are to take their full share of blame with the sophisms and plots of Catholic priests. In the reign of Henry the Eighth, Mr. Parnell shows that feudal submission was readily paid to him by all the Irish chiefs; that the Reformation was received without the slightest opposition; and that the troubles which took place at that period in Ireland are to be entirely attributed to the ambition and injustice of Henry. In the reign of Queen Mary there was no recrimination upon the Protestants; -a striking proof that the bigotry of the Catholic religion had not, at that period, risen to any great height in Ireland. The insurrections of the various Irish princes were as numerous during this reign as they had been in the two preceding reigns;-a circumstance rather difficult of explanation, if, as is commonly believed, the Catholic religion was at that period the mainspring of men's actions.

In the reign of Elizabeth, the Catholic in the pale regularly fought against the Catholic out of the pale. O'Sullivan, a bigoted Papist, reproaches them with doing so. Speaking of the reign of James the First, he says, "And now the eyes even of the English Irish (the Catholics of the pale) were opened; and they cursed their former folly for helping the heretic. The English Government were so sensible of the loyalty of the Irish English Catholics that they entrusted them with the most confidential services. The Earl of Kildare was the principal instrument in waging war against the chieftains of Leix and Offal. William O'Bourge, another Catholic, was created Lord Castle Connel for his eminent services; and MacGully Patrick, a priest, was the state spy. We presume that this wise and manly conduct of Queen Elizabeth was utterly unknown both to the Pastrycook and the Secretary of State, who have published upon the dangers of employing Catholics even against foreign enemies; and in those publications have said a great deal about the wisdom of our ancestors-the usual topic whenever the folly of their descendants is to be defended. To whatever other of our ancestors they may allude, they may spare all compliments to this illustrious Princess, who would certainly have kept the worthy confectioner to the composition of tarts, and most probably furnished him with the productions of the Right Honourable Secretary, as the means of conveying those juicy delicacies to a hungry and discerning public.

In the next two reigns Mr. Parnell shows by what injudicious measures of the English Government the spirit of Catholic opposition was gradually formed; for that it did produce powerful effects at a subsequent period he does not deny; but contends only (as we have before stated) that these effects have been much overrated, and ascribed solely to the Catholic religion, when other causes have at least had an equal agency in bringing them about. He concludes with some general remarks on the dreadful state of Ireland, and the contemptible folly and bigotry of the English ;*-remarks full of truth, of good sense, and of political courage. How melancholy to reflect that there would be still some chance of saving England from the general wreck of empires, but that it may not be saved because one politician will

It would be as well, in future, to say no more of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.

lose two thousand a year by it, and another three thousand-a third a place in reversion, and a fourth a pension for his aunt !-Alas! these are the powerful causes which have always settled the destiny of great kingdoms, and which may level Old England, with all its boasted freedom and boasted wisdom, to the dust. Nor is it the least singular among the political phenomena of the present day, that the sole consideration which seems to influence the unbigoted part of the English people in this great question of Ireland is a regard for the personal feelings of the Monarch. Nothing is said or thought of the enormous risk to which Ireland is exposed,--nothing of the gross injustice with which the Catholics are treated,-nothing of the lucrative apostasy of those from whom they experience this treatment: but the only concern by which we all seem to be agitated is that the King must not be vexed in his old age. We have a great respect for the King; and wish him all the happiness compatible with the happiness of his people; but these are not times to pay foolish compliments to kings, or the sons of kings, or to anybody else: this journal has always preserved its character for courage and honesty; and it shall do so to the last. If the people of this country are solely occupied in considering what is personally agreeable to the King, without considering what is for his permanent good and for the safety of his dominions; if all public men, quitting the common vulgar scramble for emolument, do not concur in conciliating the people of Ireland; if the unfounded alarms and the comparatively trifling interests of the clergy are to supersede the great question of freedom or slavery, it does appear to us quite impossible that so mean and so foolish a people can escape that destruction which is ready to burst upon them ;-a destruction so imminent that it can only be averted by arming all in our defence who would evidently be sharers in our ruin,—and by such a change of system as may save us from the hazard of being ruined by the ignorance and cowardice of any general, by the bigotry or the ambition of any minister, or by the well-meaning scruples of any human being, let his dignity be what it may. These minor and domestic dangers we must endeavour firmly and temperately to avert as we best can; but, at all hazards, we must keep out the destroyer from among us, or perish like wise and brave men in the attempt.

DE LA BROCQUIÈRE'S TRAVELS FROM PALESTINE.
(E. REVIEW, July, 1807.)

The Travels of Bertrandon de la Brocquière, First Esquire-Carver to Philip le Bon, Duke of Burgundy, during the Years 1432, 1433. Translated from the French, by THOMAS JOHNES, Esq.

IN the year 1432, many great lords in the dominions of Burgundy, and holding offices under Duke Philip le Bon, made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Among them was his first esquire-carver La Brocquière, who, having performed many devout pilgrimages in Palestine, returned sick to Jerusalem, and during his convalescence formed the bold scheme of returning to France over land. This led him to traverse the western parts of Asia and Eastern Europe; and during the whole journey, except towards the end of it, he passed through the dominions of the Musselmen. The execution of such a journey, even at this day, would not be without difficulty; and it was then thought to be impossible. It was in vain that his companions attempted to dissuade him; he was obstinate; and, setting out, overcame every obstacle; returned in the course of the year 1433, and presented himself to the Duke in his Saracen dress, and on the horse which had carried him during the whole of his journey. The Duke, after the

DE LA BROCQUIÈRE'S TRAVELS FROM PALESTINE. 89

fashion of great people, conceiving that the glory of his esquire-carver was his own, caused the work to be printed and published.

The following is a brief extract of this valiant person's peregrinations "After performing the customary pilgrimages, we went," says La Brocquière, "to the mountain where Jesus fasted forty days; to Jordan, where he was baptised; to the church of St. Martha, where Lazarus was raised from the dead; to Bethlehem, where he was born; to the birthplace of St. John the Baptist; to the house of Zechariah; and lastly, to the holy cross, where the tree grew that formed the real cross.' From Jerusalem the first gentlemancarver betook himself to Mount Sinai, paying pretty handsomely to the Saracens for that privilege. These infidels do not appear to have ever prevented the Christian pilgrims from indulging their curiosity and devotion in visiting the most interesting evangelical objects in the Holy Land; but after charging a good round price for this gratification, contented themselves with occasionally kicking them and spitting upon them. In his way to Mount Sinai the esquire-carver passed through the Valley of Hebron, where, he tells us, Adam was created; and from thence to Gaza, where they showed him the columns of the building which Samson pulled down, though of the identity of the building the esquire seems to entertain some doubts. At Gaza five of his companions fell sick and returned to Jerusalem. The second day's journey in the desert the carver fell ill also,-returned to Gaza, where he was cured by a Samaritan, and finding his way back to Jerusalem, hired some pleasant lodgings on Mount Sion.

Before he proceeded on his grand expedition over land, he undertook a little expedition to Nazareth, hearing, first of all, divine service at the Cordeliers, and imploring at the tomb of our Lady her protection for his journey. From Jerusalem their first stage was Acre, where they gave up their intended expedition and repaired to Baruth, whence Sir Samson de Lalaing and the author sallied afresh under better auspices to Damascus. He speaks with great pleasure of the valley where Noah built the ark, through which valley he passed in his way to Damascus ; upon entering which town he was knocked down by a Saracen for wearing an ugly hat, -as he probably would be in London for the same offence in the year 1807. At Damascus he informs us the Christians are locked up every night,—as they are in English workhouses, night and day, when they happen to be poor. The greatest misfortune attendant upon this Damascene incarceration is the extreme irregularity with which the doors are opened in the morning, their janitor having no certain hour of quitting his bed. At Damascus he saw the place where St. Paul had a vision. "I saw also," says he, "the stone from which St. George mounted his horse when he went to combat the dragon. It is two feet square; and they say that when formerly the Saracens attempted to carry it away, in spite of all the strength they employed, they could not succeed." After having seen Damascus, he returns with Sir Samson to Baruth; and communicates his intention of returning over land to France to his companions. They state to him the astonishing difficulties he will have to overcome in the execution of so extraordinary a project; but the admirable carver, determined to make no bones, and to cut his way through every obstacle, persists in his scheme, and bids them a final adieu. He is determined, however, not to be baffled in his subordinate expedition to Nazareth; and having now got rid of his timid companions, accomplishes it with ease. We shall here present our readers with an extract from this part of his journal, requesting them to admire the naif manner in which he speaks of the vestiges of ecclesiastical history.

"

Acre, though in a plain of about four leagues in extent, is surrounded on three sides by mountains, and on the fourth by the sea. I made acquaintance there with a Venetian mer.