The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-04-28 00:00:00

MI:7.IOIRS OF CAPTAIN ROCK,
gift CELLIMATEII IRlsll CHIEFTAIN I WITH SONE
ACCOUNT OF lIIS ANCESTORS.

WRITTEN BY lII3ISELF.

[Continued front the British Press of Monday:l
We Vest proceed to the reign of JA m Es 1., when we find
'on still extending her sceptre over the Irish, whose
moral rights were trampled upon by each Monarch in his
turn; they antlered patiently, hut their patience procured
diem no relaxation, and their submission brought them no
senility. This Sovereign had artfully contrived to intimate
that he meant to dispense the blessings of civil liberty with
;an equal band ; but this intimation was thrown out when
the reins of Government were not yet in his hands. No
sooner did he find that he might safely treat Ireland as his
predecessors had treated her, than he not only renounced all
appearance of justice, but audaciously disavowed the very
imputation of it, as though it had been a sort of seandalitin
magsatum ; but we will give the relation in this writer's
own words :
That the theological quibbles of this vain pedant should hare
puzzled the Catholics of Ireland into a belief that he vault to favour
• their religion, is not at all surprising. Ile had also dace them pro.
aims, before his accession to the throne, which they continued
mum loyally to put their trust in, long after he had violated them
all,—at Prince's promise being that kind of convenient talisman,
which may be broken over and over, without, in the least degree,
. !oiling its churl. ,
It is erne King James ore fair notice of his perfidy, and was so
far hontsrer thr,,, some other Princes; for though, like them, he
wailed himself of the discontent and hopes of the Catholics, to
r_nd arms the measures of the reign which had preceded his own,
et did he not, like them, attempt to carry the deceit any further,
OT to keep hopes alive which it was his secret intention to blast ; but
this. by regular Proclamation, announced to his dupes the niis-
take they had been under in having the least reliance upon him :
" Whereof', his Majesty is informed the: his subjects of Ireland
have been deceived by a false report that his Majesty was disposed
to allowthem liberty of conscience and the free choice of a religion :
he hereby dechres to his beloved subjects of Ireland, that he will
not admit any sash liberty of conscience as they were made to ex-
pect by such report," &c. ke
And here, at least, his Majesty kept his word. The exercise of
their religion was strictly forbidden,—their priests were banished,
and severe penalties indicted on such as should harbour or entertain
them. All Catholics were obliged to assist at the Protestant Church
service every Sunday and holiday ; and thus they, who had been
called " imps of Antichrist," &c. for list-ring to a Latin mass
which they did not understand, were now forced to listen to an
English liturgy, which they, being Irish, understood quite as lit-
tle. By a refinement of cruelty, too, Roman Catholics of condition
we appointed hr the state, under the name of Inqiiisitont,
to watch, and inform against Mare of their awn containsiiins who
did not frequent the Protestant churches on thedsys appointed :
and if, through any scruple of pride or conscience, they neglected
or refused this degrading duty, they were heavily fined and con
denined to a long imprisonment.
This was a sorry specimen of the influence of that genainel
and primitive Christianity, to which the Pmtestants were
so outrageously zealous to bring over the whole Catholic
Church. Thank !leaven, the sacred rights of conscience
have come to be much better respected in the present mie ;
but we are still sadly deficient in that enlightened libe-
rality, which should grant to every man the right to think
and reason for himself: There are yet but too many
amongst us who, extraordinary as it may appear, wadi-
cally reject the precept of that Gospel they profess,
which commands us " to call no man sport earth father or
muster." Our conduct is inconsistent, even to insanity.
We enact penal laws in support of a religion which forbids
all Feeney( ion. And the spirit of that Gospel, which
breathes peace and good will towards men, is made the pre-
text for the most rancorous hostility, and the most galling
oppression ! As Englishmen of the nineteenth century,
this spirit is sadly unworthy of us. It is remarkable that
many persons, in all other respects full of candour and be-
nevolence, lose both these virtues, and their temper into the
bargain, when any concession to the Cothoties becomes
the setblss:t of discussion. But why is this ? Surely our
calmer reflection must acknowledge it to be unreasonable;
and our better feelings must admit it to be unjust. 'f lie
Irish have shed their best blood for England ; and the re-
turn we make her is, to despoil her people of their rights,
and to withhold from them the best privileges of that con-
stitution in defence of which they have fought!
_ __ _ . . .

Who can read the following account of the abomina-
tions practise,' towards this ill-fated kingdom, without
stigmatizing the authority which sanctioned them, as the
most execrable of all usurpations?
Under the pretence of a judicial inquiry into defective tides, a
system of spoliation was established throughout the whole country,,
and the possession& of every man placed at the mercy of any (ves-
ture of the Crown, who could detect a flaw or failure in his tenure
—to ensure the certainty of which result, all juries, who refused to
find a tide in the King, were censured in the Castle.cflarnber, and
committad to prison.
In one case a whole county was swept into the treasury by this
process. "In the year 1611, on the seizure of the county of Wex-
ford, when, upon a Commiesion to inquire out his Majesty's title
to the county, the jury offered their verdict of ignommas to the
King's title, the Commissioners refused to accept it, and bound the
jury to appear before them in the Exchequer Court, where, when
live of them still refused to tind the tide in the King, the Commis.
sioners commiued them to prison." With the Caine regard to jus.
tire, six entire counties of Ulster, tinder the pretence of a conspi-
racy, which (for once, In 'relied) did not exist, were forfeited
•• at one swoop" to the Crown.
It would certainly not be quite prudent to try such ex-
periments upon the patience of Ireland in the present day ;
hut certain it is, the wisdom of ow ancestors so contrived
it, that the spirit of rebellion was scarce active multi- all I
this excitement. The historian of the Rocs throws out 1
a conjecture, with his usual shrewdness, as to the cause of
this preteruatural tranquillity, and commemorates it in a
strain of genuine Irish humour.
May it not have been the management of Parliaments (a game
at shich both Court ar.d country were now, for the first time.
learning to play), that a good deal diverted the attention of the
peolde from more violent modes of asserting their rights
1 las experiment, like the beainnings of steam navigation, was
perilous. and accordingly the boiler exploded in the following
reign. But, even at this early period, the use that might be made'
of such a machine against the people was clearly Perceived, and
the first rude essays of our political engineers in this line, if not in-
structive' are at least amusing. Thus, in order to procure a
majority for those penal statutes which were proposed in the frishil
Parliament of 11513,a number of new boroughs were hastily created.'
to which attorneys' clerks and some of the servants of the Lord ,1
Deputy were elected; and when a representation or this grievance,
atomic others, was made to James, his kingly answer was :—‘• It
was never before heard that any good subjects did dispute die K ing's
ltower.in this point. What is it to you whether I make many or
mew boroughs ! My Council may imosider the fitness if I require'
it : but what if I had created forty Noblemen and four hundred
boroughs? The more the merrier, the fewer the better cheer."
Mathematicians (says Rabelais) allow the same horoscope to
princes and to fools, and, however irreverent the notion may be,
there are times when one is inclined to think the mathematicians
right.
The impatience naturally felt by the adherents of the Boor
family at the unusual tranquillity which prevailed during this
period, has been well expressed by one of my ancestors, in a spirited
Irish ode, of which 1 have ventured to translate the opening
stanza,, though without the least hope of being able to give any
adequate idea of the ahruix and bursting energy attic original.
'* R upes savant cartuina."—V mon..
Where art thou, Genius of riot ?
Where is thy yell of defiance ?
Why are the Sheas and O'Sbaughnessies quiet ?
And whither have fled the O'Rourke, and O'Brien' ?
Up from thy -lumbers, O'Branigan!
Rouse the Mac Stumm and O'Haggerties !
Courage, Sir Cooney O'Toole !—be a ma.. again—.
Never let Heffernan say, •• What a braggart 'tie!"
Oh ! When rebellion's so fewiable,
kill:re is the kern would be slinking off?
CON or TIIE RATTLES! what makes you so peaceable?
NIAL. THE anamn! what the devil arc you thinking of?
The gift:ll pact of Eats is equally successful, whether
he tunes his harp to the Loner of the A NOELS or the Lamce-
hair's's of the Rocks. His laughable sten= must have
put the reader in good humour, and in that humour it
were a pity for the present not to leave him.
(To be continued.)

PIT/ONE'S IN Niteroi/vs.—There saw now 53 prisoners
under sentence of death in Newgate, 47 males and 6 fe-
male'. all of %thous were convicted at the two last Old Bai-
ley Sessions. It has been long a matter of serious com-
plaint amongst those who have the superintendence of the
prison, that some reform has not taken place in the tempo-
rary modest disposing of convicts under such circumstances,
Jai :rent as are the degrees of guilt with which they are
chargeable. The 47 males have been in habits cf daily in-
tercourse, This intercourse both prevents the great crimi-
nal from receiving the aid of religion, and tends to confirm
the vouag convict in his vicious course. It is not the duty
of the Sheriff or the gaoler to make any distinction amongst
capital convicts. Until the Recorder's report reaches the
gaol, all under sentence of death are supposed to be posi-
tively appointed to die, as they were told with the usual
solemnity at the bar when judgment was given upon them
from the Bench. It is impossible not to notice the gross
absurdity of the Recorder's solemnly passing sentence of
death upon 30 persons, k 3 of whom are convinced they will
not suKr.