The County and City of Cork Remembrancer; or, Annals of the county and city of Cork, etc

Preface

. The design of the following work was suggested by former i ublications of a similar character ; in 1783 Mr. J. Fitzgerald niblished the first Cork Remembrancer ; in 1792, Mr. A. idwards published the second ; the present attempt is the ird. We believe our city has furnished the only examples ' such compilations. Indeed our predecessors in this path, accompanied their local anecdotes with a general chronicle of the world, which, however, we have rejected from our plan, as being rather inappropriate. Our book is therefore, for the most part, a mere collection of trifling incidents, which occurred in the city and county of Cork ; but frivolous as the facts detailed, may appear to many, they often present more vivid images of other times, than graver details ; similar trifles of our own time find their places in the newspapers, and are allowed to he, at least, amusing ; and although those of other times lose part of their attractions by their remoteness, they yet derive from the same source, an interest of another kind, and may well claim a compiler's labour.

The introductory essay prefixed to the work, is, in a yieat measure, an attempt to deduce important truths from trivial facts. Some of its conclusions will probably be found to have been hastily formed, and many valuable points of view may have been overlooked ; but " non omnia possumus omnes." It is hoped that some interest has been imparted to the subject by the manner in which it has been treated. Subjoined is an appendix of documents, abstracts, lists &c, most of which have, at least, the merit of novelty, and may prove acceptable to some of our readers. SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. Adams, Roger Butt, George, m.d. Cloyne Allen, Henry, Cloyne-house Armstrong, Rev. Dr. Dublin Armstrong, John do. Armstrong, John Strong, do. Atkins, George Carmichae], Andrew, Dublin Carnegie, James, North Esk, 3 copies Carr, Robert, Casey, Mrs. Chatterton, Sir William A. Bart.

Chatterton, J. C. Lieut.-col. 4th D.G. Chatterton, James, Ballinamought Cleary, Simon Auchmuty, Miss, Dublin Barber, Osborne Edward Barry, G. Standish, m.p. Lemlara Bastable, Daniel, Dublin Cogan, James Carr Colburn, John Beamish, George, do. Beamish, Rev. Samuel Beamish, John Newman Connellan, Daniel Coppinger, William R. Corker, Frederick Ware Corker, Thomas Ware Cork Library, Becher, Rich.H. Hedges, Hollybrook Bennett, R. Deputy Recorder of Cork Bennett, William Colburn Berkeley, Major-general, Clifton Berkeley, Robert J. Dublin, 2 copies Besnard, Julius Cæsar Cotter, Rev. John R. Innoshannoii Cotter, Rev. George E. Glenview Cotter, Richard Baily Besnard, John, Jun. Sunday' s-well Bowden, R. W. Cotter, Nelson, K. Dublin Cotter, John, Ashton. Bowen, John, Oakgrove Bradford, William Cotter, George Sackville Cramer, John T. Rathmore Brady, Rev. F. Temple, Bandon Browne, Henry, Youghal Creagh, Michael, Dublin, 3 copies Crofts, Rev. William, Rathpeacon Croly, Daniel Bull, Joshua, Cittadella Bull, James, Crooke, Richard Cummins, Nicholas Curtis, Joseph Lindsay Curtis, M.D. Bullen, John Bushe, the Lord Chief Justice, 2 copies Bushe, Rev. Charles, Castlehaven SUBSCRIBERS' NAltfES.

Good, Charles Davies, Rowland Good, Jonathan Morgan Gould, John Davis, R. G. Drumdiah, Killeagh Davis, Mrs. T. Dublin, 3 copies Daunt, George, Newborough Gould, Edmund Gray, Rev. Rowland D. Landscape Gregg, William Yerling Daunt, William Dawson, William Deane, William Deaves, Thomas Denny, James Haines, Charles Y. M.D. Blackrock Haines, Humphrey Dowdcn, Richard R. Sunday' s-well Dowlin, John Hallaran, Rev. William, Macroom Hallaran, Mrs. do. Dunscombe, Nicholas, Mount Desert Dunscombe, Nicholas Hallaran, J. Charleston, Midleton Hamblin, Daniel Dunscombe, Thomas Shaw Hardy, Simeon It. Dublin Hardy, Charles Hare, William Richard Harris, Captain William Easton, William Edden, R. W. Egan, Rev. John Egan, Carbery Evans, James Harris, William Prittie, Blackrock Harrisson, Alderman Thomas Fuller Harvey, Reuben Haynes, Samuel Evans, Thomas R. Henry, Thomas Elder, Dublin Herrick and Hamblin, Evans, Julius Besnard, M.D. Exham, Richard, Sen.

Hewson, Rev. Maurice, Cloyne Hingston, Rev. J. l.l.d. Cloyne, 2 c. Iliugston, Rev. James, Sans Souci Hingston, Miss, Cloyne Exham, Richard, Jun. Exham, Thomas Eyre, Robt. Hedges, Macroom Castle Hingston, George Cotter Hingston, Francis B. Bandon Hitchcock, William, Dublin Hodder, George, Fountainstowit Hodder, Francis, Ballea Castle Fagan, William, Feltrim Fairtlough, Rev. S. Ayhenagh Glebe Fisher, Denis O'Callaghan Fisher, William Allcrn, Bandon Fitzsimons, Henry Hodder, Mrs. do. Hodder, Peter, Lieut. R.N. Hodder, Michael, Lieut. R.N. Hodder, Edward, Lieut. Foott, William, 2 copies Foree, John Franklin, Denham Franklin, Robert Hodder, John Franks, Thomas, Dublin Furlong, Charles, Fermoy Hodder, George John Hodder, Samuel, Ringabella Hodnett, Thomas Galway, Edward, Dublin Galwey, Edward, Mallow (ialwey, William Hull, Richard E. Lemcon Hunt, James, Aldworth, Mallow Humphreys, Daniel, Midleton Gamble, Michael Garde, Richard Davis, Dublin Garde, John Davis, do.

Jenkins, William, Dublin Johnson, George subscribers' names. Johnson, Thomas Minhear, James Moore, Alexander Morgan, Thomas Johnson, Rev. Benjamin Burton Jones, Henry Jones, Lewis, Donnybrook Morphy, Edward, Tralee Morrogh, Robert, 2 copies Mullins, Thomas, Dublin Murphy, Francis Keleher, William Kist, John Thomas,. Dublin, 2 copies Kift, Mrs. do. Murphy and O'Connor Kift, Thomas, do. Kift, William A. do. Kift, Miss Nash, Rev. William, Barnstead Newman, William G. Dublin Newman, Richard M. T. do. Noblett, Henry Lander, William Lane, Richard James, Dublin Lane, Denny, 2 copies O'Callaghan, Henry, Nadrid O'Callaghan, Denis, Cahirduggan O'Callaghan, William, Dublin O'Connell, John Leahy, Nicholas Leahy, John, Dublin Leslie, Henry J. do. O'Donoghue. R. J. Kilnardrish, 2 c. O'Grady, Jeremiah Leslie, Rev. John, Carew's Wood Leycester, Joseph Orpen, Richard J. T. Dublin Orpen, Basil, Dublin Lindsay, John, Maryville Litchfield, Miss O'Sullivan, Morty Litchfield, John, Factory Hill Lloyd, William J. Dublin Otley, John, Woodfort Long, Mrs. Long, John Parker, Thomas, Carrigrohan Parker, Richard Neville Long, William Parker, Lowe, George Bond, Clogher Lowe, William Parker, William D'Esterre Parks, Edward Madden, D. Owen, Dublin, 2 copies Maginu, Rev John, Castletownroche Martin, Aylmer R. Mayfield Peard, Henry H. Fermoy Perrier, William Lumley Perry, Richard J. Phair, James C. Brooklodye Pollock, John, Youghal Pyne, Rev. John Lawless, Cloyne Pync, Jasper, Ballyvolane Martin, Mrs. do.

Mahony, Dan. Mahony, Martin M'Carthy, Jeremiah M'Carthy, Daniel M'Carthy, Alexander M'Carthy, Eugene Radcliffe, Jonas, Reeves, Richard, Dublin Roe, Thomas Martin, Mrs. Richard, Dublin M'Mullen, John, do. M'O'Boy, Michael Rogers, Robert Rogers, Thomas Rogers Rev. W. Cloyne M'Swiney, Justin Rothe, Rev. R. .Uackleneigh Glebe Royal Cork Institution, Meade, Richard, Dublin Meagher, Daniel Ryder, Rev. J. B. Milward, Henry subscribers' names. Sadleir, Major G. F. Sheriff of Cork Sadleir, Rev. Henry, Bantry Vincent, Nicholas Vincent, Robert, Sheriff of Cork Vincent, Mrs. Robert Salmon, George S. T. C. D. Sampson, Richard, Blackrock Samuels, Henry, Dublin Shaw, Bernard Robert, Monkstown Smith, Rev. J. Aghabollogue Vincent, Miss Vincent, Robert, Jun. Walker, Francis Wallis, Major James, Coi'« Walsh, John Smyth, John, Dublin Spearing, Alderman Andrew Spratt, Richard, Baltidaniel Stanford, John, Dublin Warren, Robert, Castle Warren Webb, Mrs. Webb, John, L.L.D. Stephens, John Welland, Rev. W. Cloyne Welstead, Mrs. Stopford, Rev. W. Abbeyville Sugrue, Francis Wemyss, Captain Tangney, Thomas Thorley, William White, James G. Kilburn White, William Preston White, James Townsend, Samuel P. Garrycloyne Townsend, Edward R. M.D. Windele, J. Townsend, Horatio, Woodside Tracy, Bernard Wise, Henry B. Wise, Thomas, Dublin Wood, George A. do.

Wood, Benjamin Travers, Robert Tuckey, Mrs. Tuckey, Thomas Wood, Attiwell Woodley, Francis Tuckey, Rev. James H. Kinsale Tuckey, John Thomas, 2 copies Tuckey, Mrs. Martha Woodley, Richard, Jun. Woodley, Francis, Leeds Woodroffe, Mrs. Tuckey, Miss M. Mayfteld Tuckey, Charles H. -st.il/. Carlow Twiss, George, Brookdale SUBSCRIBERS OMITTED IN THE FOREGOING LIST. Atkin, John Drew, Hill, James, Youghal, Hoare, Edward, Herkeley, Miss, Midleton, Jennings, Thomas, Betham, Sir Wm., Knt. Dublin, Latouche, Mrs. J. Digges, Dublin Lee, Miss, Cane, Major, Casey, Reeves, Thomas Somerville, Roche, Miss, Chatterton, Thomas, Conroy, Ordnance Survey, Coylc, John, Sainthill, Richard, Spread, Palms Westropp, St. Leger, Antony, Deeble, Benjamin, Foott, Richard, Stavelly, Rev. Robert, Dublin, Gould, Richard, Taylor, John.

ERRATA. Page xii, line 24, for "twenty -four," read "thirty-two." xxiv, line 32, for "comprized," read "comprised." xxiv, line 34, for "English government," read "yoke of English government." xxxi, line 10, for "justiciary," read "justicar." xxxi, line 17,/or "later" read "latter." ■ xxxi, line 35, for " comprizing," read "comprising." x!i, line 29, and page Iii, line 69, for " 1568," read " 15G9." xli, line 31, for " the corporations of Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford," read " cities, towns or boroughs, or to their inhabitants, if situated within their franchises. xlii, line 15, and page lviii, lines 24 & 37, for " 1570," read " 15G9." xlv, line 6, for " 1570," read " 1569." xlvii, line 39, for "forberance," read "forbearance." lvi, line 5, for " his," read " Sidney's." lviii, line 24, for -'fifteen months," read "two years and three months" ■ lxii, line 1, for "compromizing," read "compromising."

Ixviii, line 29, for " to," read " at." lxxxi, line 16, dele the asterisk. lxxxii, line 4, for "possee," read "posse." lxxxiv, line 27, for " Catfort," read "the friary garden." xciii, line 16, for "sects," read "sect." ■ xcix, line 6, for " to," read " at." cv. line 28, for " surprisingly," read "surprisingly." 16, line 26, for " Henry," read " Edward;" — 23, line 29, for " they," read "Barrett " 34, linr30, this paragraph should be inserted under the year 1571, at which time Campion wrote. 41, line 33, for "Clarendon," read "Clarence ." • 80, line 8, for " Becher," read " Brouncker." 91. line 9, for "Penton," read "Fenton." 1- 95, line 22, for '• Knockinass," read " Knockninoss." 132, line 12, for "hung up." read "hang them up." 147, line 11, for "ovens," read "Ovens." 227, line 22, after " assizes," read " at Limerick." 247, line 6, for " Cashel," read " Cahir." 555, line 1, for " Richard," read "Edward." 301. line 37, for " Polrnt," read " Polent." 308, line 33, for " Vandeleur," read " Vandeleuen." 309, line 40, for •• 1679," read " 1670." 313, line 15, for " common's," read " commons.

" 316, in the note,/or "Carew's," read "Carews." 318, line 26, for " Saros," read " Saroo.'1 Irish historical subjects have long laboured under peculiar disadvantages. Our countrymen are not proud of their history. The tumultuary expeditions and treacherous insurrections of their forefathers, prosecuted without steadiness or perseverance, and conducted without prudence or ability, were invariably succeeded by disgrace and discomfiture, and whatever trifling exceptions appear to have occurred, were manifestly accidental, and were soon severely retaliated. In other countries the Irish have proved as efficient soldiers as those of any nation : they fought with uncommon bravery at the battle of Stoke in England, in 1487: those who served under the earl of Montrose, in the reign of Charles the first, were his main support in all his brilliant victories; yet in almost all the contests between the English and Irish in this country, the latter were defeated by very inferior numbers : like the Scotch highlanders in Montrose's army, they had well known retreats at hand, to which they were too ready to retire.

Hence our imaginative countrymen, captivated with the splendid and heroic, and overlooking the solid and the useful, finding in a survey of their authentic history, little that can administer to their pride and vanity, no glorious victory, no signal example of military prowess, no bright spot in the long series of their sanguinary annals, on which the mind, thirsting after glory, can rest with exultation or complacency, are too apt to treat the subject with neglect, and ashamed of the undeniable state of facts, despairing to obtain the admiration of the world, they eagerly seek for a miserable substi tute, its pity and charitable consideration. They descant with earnestness upon the wrongs they have endured, the disadvantages under which they have laboured, and the obstacles which have been opposed to the development of their true national character; and yet their minds are unable to rest without some flattering X support, however feeble and irrational.

Like the drowning man who catches at a straw, our national writers still cling with fond infatuation to their Phœnician origin, and the literary glories of their early monastic seminaries. It is far from our intention to disparage the investigation of our remotest antiquities ; but we cannot help lamenting, that a childish vanity should still urge our antiquarians into an almost exclusive devotion to such subjects, tainting their judgment with credulity, and generating a distaste for the study of later times, in which materials become more abundant and authentic. The distinction of races has long been obliterated by the distinctions of religion. The Roman Catholics of all surnames are perfectly united, and have been intimately blended by inter marriages. It is probable that very few (if an}-) families of pure native blood are in existence.

The proportion also in which the blood of foreigners is diffused among the people is very large. On a glance at the names of the late forty shilling freeholders of some baronies of the county of Cork, the native Irish surnames seemed to preponderate but little. It is unreasonable then any longer to regard the aboriginal race as peculiarly the Irish people : all are descended from Danes and English, as well as from Irish. The invading races brought with them those qualities which established their preeminence in many kingdoms of Europe ; and as a large portion of their blood flows in the veins of perhaps the whole Irish people, the nation generally may well look back with pride, to the steady bravery of these their undoubted ancestors, and the sturdy defence which a few of them in the pale and in the towns maintained for ages, against vastly superior numbers of the Irish, who on the entire were no contemptible foes.

We have no wish to depreciate the native Irish; if they were light, inconstant, and incapable of prosecuting great enterprizes, they were on the other hand, endowed in a superior degree with the more generous and graceful qualities of human nature. Their warm hearts and fine imaginations are a valuable infusion in the general character, and we are convinced that a mixture of both races is capable, after suitable cultivation, of producing a compound more excellent than either. In reality, the history of Ireland, when philosophically studied, possesses an interest of a very peculiar kind. The condition aud relations of the different septs, races, and municipal communities, were most uncommon and unusual ; presenting human nature under a wholly different aspect from any that appears in the history of other nations ; furnishing much information that is very curious and instructive, and many particulars that are highly honorable to the civilized portion of the people, many indications of a noble and uncompromising spirit of liberty, at a time when England was sunk in the most abject political slavery.

It is our purpose in the following pages, to take a comprehensive view of the general nature of the different sections, parties and interests, into which the inhabitants of the county of Cork have from time to time been separated, with occasional references to such events of other parts, as may serve to illustrate our subject, or render more complete our picture of manners and ideas. When the English first arrived in this island, the natives of the county of Cork, as well as of the rest of Ireland, were extremely barbarous, and like other barbarous nations, were continually engaged in local wars and petty quarrels, assassinations and perfidy of all sorts. They were stimulated to outrages by the hopes of pillage and riot, and were led on by chiefs whose constant aim was to exalt themselves at the expense of their neighbours, by every means however savage or dishonorable.

In such a state of society, population was necessarily scanty. To this we may attribute the facility with which the English at first obtained possession of their lands ; for land was little valued at a time when constant depopulations had provided ample room for all parties; and it seems too that the natives did not very keenly resent, nor were much surprized at, that sort of treatment which they were accustomed to experience from one another. The English indeed assumed a right to the whole country, and king Henry II. affected to grant the whole kingdom of Cork, except the city and a tract belonging to the Ostmen of that city, to two great men of the invaders ; but this was more than he could effectually bestow, and the invaders were obliged to compound with the natives, and accept less than one-third of the territory granted.

When four Irish kings at a long subsequent period submitted to Richard II., and consented to receive instruction in manners and civility from an English tutor, they must have been simple as well as barbarous. Their teacher told Froissart that they submitted to the king "more through love and good humour, than by battle or force." The natives were at first most imperfectly armed ; even the inhabitants of walled towns who were of foreign race and more civilized than the Irish, fought -with stones and spades, and were of course, as well as the aborignes, beaten by very inferior numbers of the English. But as the latter did not follow up their first successes with rapidity, the Irish were enabled to attain some improvement in the use of arms, and having gradually encreased in power, contrived to maintain their own laws and barbarous independence throughout a great part of the island, for more than four hundred years.

When the English first arrived here, Dermod M'Carthy was king of Cork or Desmond. His name has descended to our times and is widely diffused, as are indeed most of the Irish surnames of that period, which are mentioned by historians. The Irish were perhaps the only barbarous people who adopted the general use of surnames, and this they did as early as any people of modem Europe. A late writer* indeed with strange ignorance asserts that the native Irish at the present day, use no surnames ; an assertion which might mislead future enquirers, if uncontradicted. The kingdom of Cork, which included parts of the present counties of Waterford and Kerry, was before the arrival of the English divided into twenty-four cantreds. Smith gives rather a confused account of the ancient divisions : in fact they were continually changing.

In the year 1 346, we find mention of the following cantreds in the county of Cork. M'Kill, (Imokilly,) Olethan, Fermoy, Muskridonegan,Kenalech, Kerry, Kynnalbek, Kynnaletherthragh, Obakun, Muscrymytyn, Courblyan, O'Glas syn.d. The names of some of these are manifestly identical with those of some modern baronies. The English settlers adopted the feudal system for their defence, and submitted to the jurisdiction of itinerant justices, for about a century and a half; while the natives, in their quarters, continued * Rees' Cyclopædia— article Surname. Among the Welsh, surnames were not in use at all, even among persons of the highest rank, before the reign of Henry VIII. (1) Rot. Cane. to use the old Irish laws. The prevalence of these laws was never regulated by local boundaries, but by the distinctions of race, which continually fluctuated with the encroachments of both parties.

After the invasion of the Scots under Bruce, the power of the crown declined, and the English lords of the county began to disregard the yoke of government; most of them became open marauders, waged war upon one another, and wasted the country. Coroners were so roughly handled and intimidated, that they refused to execute the duties of their office J'-1 Loyal subjects were unable to derive any profit from their lands : one John Lombard who held the castle of Gynes in this county for the king with thirty plowlands for ever, at the small rent of forty shillings for this large estate, was unable to pay even that small sum, and petitioned the crown, stating that scarcely any tenants could be induced to inhabit the land, by reason of the frequent invasions of English and Irish malefactors and rebels, and that those few who attempted it would pay little or no rent, and were so impoverished by hostile invasions and depredations, that they designed to abandon their holdings.

W The inhabitants of the country parts must have been very san guinary and treacherous, for in the reign of Edward II., the peaceable inhabitants of the city of Cork were invested with power to disarm all strangers entering their city; a right which they found it necessary to enforce strictly, even until the close of the sixteenth century. It was optional with the great men, whether they would be subjects of the king or not. If they formally agreed to submit to the authority of law, they received such protection as the government could afford, otherwise they were left to defend themselves as best they could. Richard oge Barrett having agreed before the lord justice to abide by the law, and his enemies having notwithstanding taken the law into their own hands, and assailed him with force, a mandate was issued by government ordering them to for bear, provided Barrett were ready to abide by the law as he had promised.

W This plainly implied a permission to right themselves by force, in case Barrett should be as lawless as themselves. (1) Rot. Cane. (2) ib. (3) ib To suppress in some degree the disorders of the county, the government promoted a sort of patriarchal system, copied no doubt from the Irish customs ; thus the king granted licence to Gerald Caunton to chastise those of his family for whose good behaviour he would stand security ; and when they afterwards invaded and plundered the loyal men of the county of Cork, he was com manded by government to cause restitution to be made, and to chastise those who were culpable, according to his licence :.'. thus also David Roche was authorized to arrest all insurgents of his surname and lineage, and to imprison and judge them. (V By giving such powers to great men, the government preserved them as allies, and maintained the semblance of its authority.

The important office of sheriff of the county, was usually com mitted to one of the most powerful inhabitants, chiefly of the family of Barry, who in return for the additional power thus conferred on him, was induced to lend his own influence for the collection of the king's revenue, and the support of his nominal superiority against actual insurgents ; but in the enforcement of order amongst the great men themselves, or in the execution of law process, was neither able nor perhaps willing to afford much assistance. In fact, against those who chose to set the law at defiance, the govern ment could only act as a separate power, and make reprisals ; thus Reynaud Caunton having imprisoned Barry and Staunton, two "magnates" of this county, his son and kinsman were seized by government as hostages to induce the enlargement of Barry and Staunton.

(3) We find an instance of a felon committed to the cUst0(ly of a bishop of Cork; (4> from which we may infer that the felon was a powerful man, and that the bishop, from his sacred character, was considered better able to secure his prisoner than the sheriff, who was more liable to be attacked by the felons partizans. However for the better securing the persons of powerful felons of this county, they were frequently placed in the custody of the mayor and bailiffs of the city of Cork, which was a fortified place, secure from attack. W Nevertheless, there were in those times regularly appointed conservators of the peace in the different cantreds of this county : (1) Rot. Cane. (2) ib. (3) ib, (4) ib. (5) ib. part os their duty was to array all able bodied men of their respective cantreds, for the suppression of private wars between the great men, and the punishment of idle soldiers who plundered and murdered through the county. 0) But this was a weak provision and produced no amendment.

The lords of the count)' were gradually weakened by their mutual broils : at last those who were worsted availed themselves of the assistance of the Irish ; and these latter finding the oppor tunity favourable, contrived eventually to expel many of the English and repossess themselves of their lands, but pursued a system of barbarous and bloody warfare, murder, and robbery : and the English who remained, following the same courses, and adopting the laws and customs of the Irish, the whole county was reduced to a state of anarchy. Peculiar hostility was directed against the the loyal and peaceable towns, whose inhabitants, shut up within their walls, their lands wasted, their trade destroyed, were reduced to poverty and almost ruined ; and so desperate was their condition, and so little help did they expect from the king's government, that as a last resource, the people of Cork, Youghal and Kinsale, petitioned the administration, representing their miserable condition, requesting that they might be furnished with competent com manders, and promising that if this request were granted, they would rise at their own expense against the lords and chieftans, and punish their enormities ; but if it should be refused (as they plainly expected,) they threatened to complain to the government in England. * But the English pale, a district of about twenty miles round Dublin, was as much as the government could hold in subjection.

We are accustomed to imagine that the wars with France diverted the attention of England from this country ; but it is likely that under any circumstances, little at that time could have been done * This letter was addressed to the earl of Rutland and Cork, in the reign of Henry IV. Cox suggests that this must have occurred some years later, when the duke of York, who had also the above titles, was chief governor. But it is unlikely that he would be addressed by his inferior titles ; and the person here meant was probably Richard Plantagenet, earl of Rutland and Cork, who lived at the earlier period. (1) Rot. Cane. towards the reduction of Ireland. The English armies were led out by feudal lords, who expected advantages to themselves from war. France was an improved kingdom, where victory might be followed by the submission of a people, civilized, accustomed to the comforts of life, and afraid of a renewal of their calamities ; where valuable estates might be enjoyed, or where at all events plunder and rich ransoms might be hoped for.

Ireland was a country in the lowest state of poverty. The English nation had greatly improved in comfort and civilization since the time of Henry II, and would not be so easily captivated with barbarous regions, as their ancestors in that king's reign ; neither woidd they find the Irish so wholly unacquainted with improved methods of fighting. Nothing could be expected from plunder : the country was so intersected with woods and bogs, and the bodies of the Irish were so hardy and active, that a victory over them was attended with no con siderable result: most of them could escape to inaccessible places: war could neither impoverish nor incommode them; it was their pastime, and though they were not steady in battle, they were ever ready to renew it. This was well known to their English adver saries, who worn out with toil and attacked with diseases, and seeing no advantage to be gained by a continuance of hostilities, were ever ready to accept their faithless submissions ; while they, enjoying themselves in their woods and morasses, would wait for favourable opportunities, and suddenly issue from their retreats, reiterate their outrages, and devastate those lands which the English had spent so much blood and treasure in acquiring.

To reduce the Irish at that time, would have demanded the power of a wealthy and despotic government, which in imitation of the Romans, could establish fortified military stations at small intervals, through the country, keeping them well garrisoned, undergovernors invested with arbitrary and absolute power, and taking care to ensure regular supplies of provisions by the help of a standing army. But the English had no idea of a government founded on any but feudal principles : any other was contrary to the ideas of the times ; and even if it were suggested, it would in the first outlay, have proved far too expensive for the pecuniary resources of those times. If any mode of reducing Ireland to law and order, were deemed at all feasible, there can be no doubt that the imperious spirit of Henry VIII. furnished as he was with power and resources, would have required something more than empty acknowledgments of his superiority.

We cannot argue its feasibility from the success of the first adventurers, for the Irish had not then the use of arms ; nor from the final success of Elizabeth, for many circumstances of the country were then changed ; it was become more accessible by the destruction of woods;1 the inhabitants in many parts were improved in comforts and civilization, and could feel some love of quiet, and some willingness to acquiesce after defeat, as the least of two evils. But notwithstanding these encreased facilities, such were the long duration and enormous expense of these wars, that if the queen could have foreseen them, there can be littledoubt, tbat,rather than encounter them, she would have made almost any concessions to the natives. To form a true idea of the impracticability of the Irish, we should think of the Caffres and Ashantees of the present day, and ask ourselves, whether the whole force of the British empire could bring them to submit to law and order, before the lapse of many generations, and whether it would be worth our while to attempt with them, what the English are blamed for not attempting in Ireland.

It is the fashion also to reproach the English with refusing the benefits of English law to the Irish races. They had however the best reasons for their conduct. Though the Irish may have occasionally shewn a readiness to receive the benefits of English laws, they had no idea of incurring their obligations. This was well known to their opponents, who clearly saw that if men of their ungovernable natures were allowed the advantage of legal forms, their outrages must have gone unpunished : even in civilized communities, martial law, or some sort of summary proceeding is sometimes found expedient; but against the Irish it was of indispensible necessity, for the preservation of existence ; and besides it is a fact that Irishmen found no difficulty in obtaining special grants of the right to use English laws : the rolls of chancery are full of such grants, many of them made to persons of inferior condition.