The National Register.
London, England, 1809-12-17 00:00:00

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1809.

4•l*.g
••_;_a I 4) 40i)
No. 103.

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POLITICAL DItiQUISITION.
*tummy. 9NE lIUNDRED AND ONE.

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1.. ib

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STATE OF IRELAND.

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1. What recollection‘ does the retrospective view of that
unfortunate country awake !—For, the long course of seven
centuries, its history had been en uninterrupted series of
public distractioa and private misery—a disgusting narra-
* iive of petty usurpations and unavailing
,resistance ;—a
hideous, sanguinary drama, in which every successive act
. inspires deeper horror. Vv Ould to God ! we could draw a
• veil over that painful interval ;—that we could consign to
Aternal olilivion the injured and the aggressors; their suf•
feriugs and atrocities. • We might, in that case, begin a
new era, unimbittered by recollections. Confidence, so
necessary in the.present crisis, might' spring up ; and sea-.
timents of reciprocal esteem unite two islands which na.
ture and a system of contracted policy had separated. We
trust there is not one of our readers, who does not perceive
• the advantages of such a union ;—who does not ardently
wish to see it established, and would not make some sa-
crifices to promote its attainment. It would secure more
solid benefit than the conquest of both the Indies. All
the gold, silver, and dianionds of the universe would not
make us a happier, and certainly not a more powerful
people. Our acquisitions in India, sounding as they are in
name," and extensive- in territory, have added nothing-to
the general stock 7of tonal prosperity. 'They have en-
riched,* few individuals ; added some titles to the peerage,s
encrnated the influence of the 'Cron*; tkuLthented. the-
number Of livery servants, equipages, parks, and villas 4
But, in return, they have diminished the comforts,
.and irt•
jured the morals of the people. Are the great masa of the
English population better clad,• lodged and fed; tlo they
enjoy greater political freedom, and their children a more
vsetpl education, since the succession of the East India
•-Company to the Empire of the Moguls ? Certainly not:
.Whersas every acre of bog, that is drained in Ireland ;
every manufacture and school, that are established there ;
• every penal law, which is repeated ; every measure, tend-
ing to conciliate the minds of her hardy, enterprising, anti
ardint population, has a direct and permanent tendency to
promote the power and prosperity of the empire.
As our object, in the present examination, is to coin
ciliate, and not to irritate—as we reprobate every thing
that tends even remotely to foster a spirit of
we will allude, Without harshuesi. and waiiitth, to that
abotiiinftble policy, to 'those exterminating passibas, which
fro sit the closegOf the seveweelah to the middle of the
eighteenth century, rendered the population of Ireland
the most injured, as well as the mast wretched,'upon thfi
facer of the earth. -It is intended asap appeal '
to the
justice, humanity, and, sense of sill Auglish public,

PRio 9d.

favour of the sufferers and their indignation against the
authors. The abhorrence it excites, may prevent the
revival of those abominable prejudices, which, at 'one
time, threatened to convert that fertile province into an
uncultivated waste, and its inhabitants into ferocious sa-
vages,
We - will pass over in silence the circumstances of:a •
a lingering conquest. They excite pain, without con vet-
ing, instruction ; and may be comprised in one sweeping
sentence ;—they consisted in the sanguinary occurrences of
an uninterrupted war of five hundred years between the
natives and the invaders of their property and indent'. NV.'"
ence. The result is known. Success constitutes a people,
rebels or patriots ; and, as the original inhabitants were
unsuccessful, they suffered the penalty of ineffectual re-
sistance ;—the confiscation of their property, and the ft;e..
feiture of their independence. Time, however, that great
decider of strifes, had gradually accommodated their
minds to the change ; and it would have been fortunate
for them had they submitted, in quiescent resignation,
without interfering in the quarrels of their new masters.
The civil war began, and they had the imprudence to de-
clare decidedly in favour of CHARLES the First. 'their.
loyalty to that unfortunate monarch was tremendouily
punished. Caouwet.t.traversed the country with the de:
whiting effect of a pestilence. Death and famine marched
before him., Neither age nor sex were spared ; and the
;PsVporty of. the victims was distributed amongst the minis-
teraof his undistinkuishing vengeance. IRETON completed
whAt his leader had left unaccomplished ; and it his been
computed that one-fifth of the *holm population were
immolated to the rage of thoie ferocious monsters. Oa
the Nestor ton, the sufferers appealed to the justice and
gratitude of CIL% Rlf ES H. ; but that_unfeeling and unprinf
cipted Sovereign afforded them no redress.; and left the.pro-
perty of the loyal adherents of his family in the hands of his
father's murderers. Their unaccountable attachment to the
ST F.WA RT family was not extinguished ev6 by this instance •
of injustice; and they embraced, with their usual arilour,
the fortunes and cause of JAI, ES 11. The result ofthis un- . ,
Successful effort was the expatriation of a very great num7 .
ber of the aboriginal inhabitants, the massacre. of mailv.
'More, and the total•confiscation of the remaining property
they had in their hands. they vitiCthits reduced 'to
11.‘!evel of misery and degradation with the descendants • •, •
'the INCAS, and forced to roam as ontlawes,..er
„cnltivale.• the
?lands belonging to their ancestors, assiatea to the new pro„,,
prittors. The measures of security, axiopted by the hatter, -
were *o;rthy of the ifnteten the hdr.
rors of the, intittlte ih kntilodiked ma_ •• •
lec.i.cliefan4tke• natiies;it, skiPlo4lll, ' Ircikm..
Afterithe ceremony .Ls' mock
lahotia Catholic 'Palest; *teem helmet 4,l•Sheat airy
The congreg4lon'and the piiest;if tho *ere fouitid
1104.trealonabl? act and celobiroor mobs,
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itOrs4h6A*oo.fiNs.- Al*
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NO. 1.R3; '.. # , SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1809. PRICZ W.
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. . . -
."• '' • POLITICAL DISQUISITION. .... favour of the sufferers and their indignation against the
authors. The abhorrence it excites, may prevent the
•: ' . --i . •!: •
• ptIMBE* 91!1.E DUNDRED AND ONE. . revival of those abominable prejudices, which, at one
• - • . ••
. ''!••• ..t- II: ' ' '. ' .: •: 1...410.1. • time, threatened to convert that fertile province into an
. . . , STATE OF IRELAND.
. • uncultivated waste, and its inhabitants into ferocious ea-
, •
.
vacces
1. What recollection‘ does the retrospective view of that 15 9
• • We .will pass over in 'silence the circumstances of:a •
unfortunate country awake !—For, the long course of seven
a lingering conquest. They excite pain, without con ve".
centuries, its history had been an uninterrupted series of
tub instruction ; and may be comprised in one sweeping
'public distraction and private misery—a disgusting narra-
, sentence ;—they consisted in the sanguinary occurrences of
' live of petty usurpations and unavailing
,resistance ;—a
s hideous, sanguinary drama, in which eve an uninterrupted war of five hundred years between the
ursuccessive act
.....
natives NV.
inspires deeper horror. Weuld to God ! we could draw aatives and the invaders of their property and indep
• ....,:i ......... 4t....1 .-...:...e.5, :in. i......,.% I . #1...r. vt.• ea gr. ',AA .4 A...•moi errs •n. ence. The result is known. Success constitutes a people, , •

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