The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-01-01 00:00:00

IRELAND AFTER THE DEFEAT AT LIMERICK.

The sails disappeared. The emaciated and broken-hearted
crowd of those whom a stroke more cruel than that of
death had made widows and orphans dispersed to beg their
way home through a wasted land, or to lie down and die by
the roadside of grief and hunger. The exiles departed, to
learn in foreign camps that discipline without which natural
courage is of small avail, and to retrieve on. distant fields of
battle the honour which had been lost by a long series of de-
feats at home. In Ireland there was peace. The domination
of the colonists was absolute. The native population was
tranquil with the ghastly tranquillity of exhaustion and of
despair. There were indeed outrages, robberies, fire-raisingo;
assassinations. But more than a century passed away without
one general insurrection. During that century, two rebel-
lions were raised in Great Britain by the adherents of the
House of Stuart But neither when the elder,Pretender was
crowned at Scone, nor when the younger held .his court at
Holyrood, was the standard of that House set up in Con-
naught or Munster. In 1745, indeed, when the Highlanders
were marching towards London, the Roman Catholics of
Ireland were so quiet that the Lord Lieutenant could, without
the smallest risk, send several regiments across St. George's
Channel to recruit the army of the Duke of Cumberland. Nor
was this submission the effect of content, but of mere stupe- 1
faction and brokenness of heart. The iron had entered into
the soul. The memory of past defeats, the habit of daily en-
during insult and oppression,
i had cowed the spirit of the un-
happy nation. There were indeed Irish Roman Catholics of
great ability, energy, and ambition ; but they were to be
found everywhere except in Ireland, at Versailles and at St.
Ildefonso, in the armies of Frederic and in the armies of,
Maria Theresa. One exile became a Marshal of France.
Another became Prime Minister of Spain. If he had staid in
his native land he would have been regarded as an inferior by
all the ignorant and worthless squireens who, drank the glori-
ous and immortal memory. In his palace at Madrid he had
the pleasure of being assiduously courted by the ambassador of
George 11., and of bidding defiance in high terms to the am-
bassador of George 111. Scattered over all Europe were to be
found brave Irish generals, dexterous Irish diplomatists, Irish
Counts, Irish Barons, Irish Knights of Saint Lewis and of
Saint Leopold, of the White Eagle, and of the Golden Fleece,
who, if they had remained in the house of bondage, could not
have been ensigns of marching regiments or freemen of petty
corporations. These men, the natural chiefs of their race,
having been withdrawn, what remained was utterly helpless
and passive. A rising of the Irishry against the Englishry
was no more to be apprehended than a rising of the women
andichildren against the men,
These quotations must not, however, be taken as
illustrations of the general sentiment which pervades
Macaulay's history. The besetting sin of the author
is the partisan hue which he casts over all actions and
circumstances. Men of his own political opinions are
all heroes, oracles, demigods ; their opponents are
mercenaries, fools, and traitors—physically wretched
and intellectually contemptible. The motives of the
one are pure, disinterested, and patriotic—their actions
the result of wisdom, if successful ; if unsuccessful,
they have been thwarted by a combination of circum-
stances too powerful to be resisted by forethought,
sagacity, or patriotism : of the other, the springs of
action are invariably the most sordid selfishness, and
their guiding principles unreasoning folly or vindictive
recklessness. Their successes are trivial, and entirely
the result of accident. Such a style of composition
may indeed display the capabilities of the orator, and
give indications of poetic fancy, but it is not suited to
the grave dignity of history, and is at variance with
that spirit of truth which confers on historic inquiry
its chief if not its only value. ,A ready dexterity in
the production of glowing, though truthless, pictures,
is an indispensable qualification in the successful par-
tisan, but it is fatal to the effort which seeks a
reputation more lasting than the ephemeral applauses
of the giddy multitude.

Hogg's Instructor. Edinburgh : James Hogg.

The December number of this periodical forms an
admirable closing one for the year. Its contents are,
as usual, varied and interesting, opening with a well-
written essay on the " Writings of W. M. Thackeray."
To appreciate the value of this essay, it is not indis-
pensable to agree with all the conclusions arrived at by
the writer, some of which, indeed, we are decidedly
inclined to question. " The Wonders of the Deep-
Coral and the Coral-makers" is a paper of great
merit, and still greater interest. To the young it is
calculated to be of great value, awakening as it must
do, in the uninformed mind, a lively feeling of the
omnipotence and wisdom of the great Creator of the
universe. The other papers are likewise interesting
and instructive.

VARIETIES.

Ax auctioneer does as he's bid, the postman as he's di-
rected.

T'wan damps trade, as t'grocer said when he wor watterin,
hiz bacca.

WIIT does a donkey like .thistles better than corn ?—Be-
cause he's an ass.

IMPORTANT TO :LADIES.—Just imported, a prime lot of
Bath Chaps, very rich, but not too fat.
A QUESTION FOR NATURALISTS.—Which can smell a rat P
the man who knows the most, or he who has the most nose ?
"THE world," says a French wit, "is peopled with tools.
He who would avoid seeing one must lock himself up alone,
and break his own looking-glass."
HAPPY LAND.—An ingenious youth said he should like to
go to school in Scotland, because he understood it was the
Land of Cakes.—Punch's Almanac.

AN indignant poulterer vehemently denounces Mr. Can-
telo's egg-hatching machine, as " A piece of most detestable
chickenerie."—Punch.

WHAT, is the difference between tacks and tax F—The one
is intended to keeep us up at the heel, while the other tends
to keep us down.

A JOSE OFF HAND.—Why do the police damage a watch
if they find it in the hands of a thief? Because they always
stop it.—Punch.

HINT ON EVENING PARTIES.—A young lady, after danc-
ing all night and several hours longer, will generally find, on
consulting the looking-glass, that the evening's amusement
will not bear the morning's reflection.—Punch's Almanac.

THE DAUDANELLIS.—A consequential young gentleman
was asked in company if he had ever seen the Dardanelles
" Oh, yes," he immediately replied. " I saw them last week at
Mrs. A.'s, and they are really very charming women !"

A TEACHER had been explaining to.his class the points of
the compass. All were drawn up in frant towards the north.
"Now, what is before you, John ?" " The north, sir."
" What is behind you, Tom ?' "My coat tail, sir," said he,
trying at the same time to get a glimpse of it.
SOUTHEY ON STYLE.—" Ours is a noble language, a beauti-
ful language; I can tolerate a Germanism for family sake;
but he who uses a Latin or French phrase where a pure old
English word does as :well, ought to be hung, drawn and
quartered, for high treason against his mother tongue."
NoxreE.—lf the young ladies at No. 10 do not, within four-
and-twenty hours from the publication of this notice, remove
their piano from the wall it now standt against, the old bache-
lor at No. 9 will have an extra-sized brass-knocker fixed on
his side of the partition, and will engage a retired postman to
perform a regular accompaniment to their mtge.—Punch.
REASONS FOR WEARING A MOUSTACHE.—We have been
able to draw up a table of the different reasons for wearing a
moustache. We have questioned not less than 1,000 persons
so adorned, and their answers have helped us to the following
result :—To avoid shaving, 69; to avoid catching cold, 32 ;
to hide their teeth, 5; to take away from a prominent nose, ;
td avoid being taken as an Englishman abroad, 7 ; because
they:are in the army, 6 : because they have been in the army,
221; because Prince Albert does it, 2 ; because it is artistic,
29 ; because you are a singer, 3 ; because yon travel a deal, 17 ;
because you have lived long on the Continent, 3 ; because the
wife likes it, 8 ; because you have weak lungs, 5 ; because it
acts as a respirator, 29; because it is healthy, 77 ; because the
Young ladies admire it, 471 ; because it is considered " the
thing," 10 ; because he chooses, 1. It will be seen from the
above table, that not one person confesses to " Vanity " being
the motive. The majority of persons wear a moustache be-
cause they imagine in their conceit that it becomes them, but
how rarely you meet with a person who has the courage to
admit it P—Punch's Almanac.