The Sun.
London, England, 1822-02-02 00:00:00

STATE OF IRELAND.

The.following is an extract of a letter dated
Cork, Jan. 26 :
", It being too probable that the real state of the south or.
Ireland is not understood in the metropolis, we take the litorty
to lay before you a sketch of it.
" The insurgents consist of a variety of men, acting in con-
cert at the moment,: but influenced by-very different motives;
perhaps they may bp properly classed .under the following
heads-:-lst, The pennyless ; 2d, The disaffected ; 3d, The
superstitious. .Of the first class there are many, who, by the
depression of farming produce, have been reduced from the
-rank of substantial 'yeomanry- to downright indigence. By the
custom of letting lands in perpetuity, or for very long periods"
of years, many farmers were. induced to expend upon build-
ings and improvements their whole property : calculating up-
on a permanent interest in their -farms, which, hoivever, arc now
at rack-rents, or worse. These men fall in readily with any
project likely to embroil the country ; and, by the share of edu-
cation they possess, unaccompanied by correct religions senti-
tments become at once the able and unrestrained promoters of
•
mischief. The second, and least numerous class, consists of
the survivors since the rebellion of 1793, anti their disciples,
whose 'principles are jacobinical. In the open country these
are extremely few ; but in , populous towns, , where sedi-
tious publications find admission, they are also found. Of
this description some, it is said, have left - this city to join the
insurgents upon . the mountains,. 15 or, 20 miles westward.
The third class is a formidable mass of ignorance and bigotry,
diffused through the whole•south •• of Ireland. It consists of
persons who have withstood every attempt to introthice• strip,
tural knowledge ; and . who blindly follow a few fanatical
leaders, 'incited, -like them Selves, by artful predictions of the
overthrow of our Protestant. Church and Constitution. Simi-
lar publications were circulated many, .yesrs ago, and one
such in the year 1817, foretelling' the extirpation of Protestants
to• take place on the following year; a copy of, which was' 'sent
by-our Cummins to Mr.. Vansittart, for the purpose of
being communicated to Government. It is remarkable that
these infatuated devotees•tO Popery have not been Undeceived
by the notorious falsificatiOn •of the prophecies formerly
ploya for their delusion ; and that they are this day quite con-
fident that the Protestant name is on the eve of its final extinc-
tion. The Prelates and upper Clergy of the Itomish Church
hold these things in utter contempt ; and are sufficiently acute
to see then, best security in a steady adherenee, to'. the Govern-
ment, and 'maintenance of strict subordination ; they do not
shut their eyes to the fallen condition of their Spanish brethren.
But what can they do ?. Superstition, pretended. miracles, and
legendary impostures, are most unhappily interwoven into their
ecclesiastical system ; and some of the Clergy; it is to be feared;
countenance abuses to a much:greater. extent than their .publi6
ritual renders necessary. Against there men the prelates dare
not.lift their voices, well knowing that an infallible chinch can.;
not disown thatupon which it- lies once pronounced the-'sen.
tenee of orthodoxy • and that the least attempt to displace
one stone in the edifice would inevitably tend to its total de-
struction. ; -

" I will not pretend that there are no grievances endured
nor that those which affect the country are all beyond lt!gis.
lative remedy. • But we- lcnbw that in' England our grievances
are mistaken. There is an outcry against tithes and laxts ;
but the former were. paid nearly a thousand years ago; and
ever, one hundred' Years ago, were much heavier than at pie-
sea ; for about --fifty or. way years -.since 'the agistment tithe
was abolished by. the
_lrish Parliament ; anti . now no tithe is
paid of calves, larabs, pigs, or any other live stock ; which tithe
was formerly immense • Further, the tithable articles; vi-z.
corn, potatoes, and. hay, are not charged,- as far as our experiL
ence reaches, at any thing like their fall value. Yet it is desir,
able that the Clergy were otherwise paid, for tithe is an impo-
litic tax, and the source of incalculable distress to the consclen--
tious minister, and vexation to the people. With regard to Go-
vernment taxes, our hushandrnen pay none directly ; and the
few indirect ones fall, 'with but one exception; upon luxhries ;
whereas, if our memory .serves rightly, they were subject in
the' poorest hovel to hearth-money, in Charles the Second's
time, and down to reign -of our late Sovereign GeO.
when it was taken off. And at this day our most comfortable.
farmers (having no more thAn six windows) 'do not •contribute
one shilling to the state ; nor, unless they think fit to use to-.
bacco-or liquor, do they even pay an indirecttax—the small one
on shoe-leather alone excepted:,

" Yet, after all this, the clamour about taxes is not grOund..
less ; for, owing to the: absence of our great landed proprietor;i,
the important. -office-of Grand, Juror 'and Justice of Peace is
so often filled by inferior persons, that • jobbing is practised
to a shameful extent, and local charges are laid on without
Mercy. 'When the constable of a barony 'Comes to levy these:
rates, the poor cottier-tenant, neither remembering the-mode of
its. assessment, nor. the uses .to which it is applied,-(sorne of
which are most unjustifiable), considers 'himself oppressed by'
taxes; and, feeling that the levy is made by legal authority,
draws no kind of distinction,. -between • this proceeding, and
the direct act of the Government. Moreover, owing per-
haps to the facts before alluded to, th:tt the country is widowed
of its natural guardians, -thert;is no modern survey of baronies
or townlands ; so that it happens that a farm of 300 acres will'
pay as.muelveounty-end'barOny 'rate as one of 1,200 -acres;
both int qual state of culture, and equally contiguous to the
market, &c. •
_ _

" do that there undoubtedly exists some cause of com-
plaint, and the- prop*: rentedies' ought long ago to' huve.bden
applied. The bulk of our people have but little- interest i*
what you are often made to believe oar seat national geiev-

ante—the inadmissibility of Roman Catholics to certain Ofiiees
of State. . . • .
We must not omit to notice an opinion entertained tir
Some,- and net • withont reason-, that discontents are fontepted;
and the peasantry stirred up toinsurrecdon, by the unprincipled
men -who carry on a-contraband, trade in-.tobacco, Fee.. ;poll
our Western coast ; and by the ProprietorS of unlicensed distil-
leries in riome rent4te parts of the. County of Cork, sylio,it IS
thought, have furriiihed the peasantry with arms- and ammuni-
• don, in order that: the ArMy may be kept in play in the.inte-
rior, and that their nefarious trade may, go on With kss.intei-
ruption. The Smuggling trade has been carried On with an
effrontery unniatched at any farmer period : its agents are ;men
who have made up their minds upon, perjury and .murder alid"
who have nuinberless-Opportunitiet4 of bringing in from Hollao.'
and Francs supplies of military stores, which they may-land in
the deep bays of our western ,coast, where the country is nearly
Uninhabited, as large portions of Bantry Bay, &c., undoubt-
.
'edly are.
• " In the action between the Ride Brigade and the peasantry
On Thursday last, . there were seven of the latter killed, atiout
thirty wounded, and twenty-one prisoners:, An express. has
this inotnent been received of three other skirmishes; upon re-
ceipt of which, General , Sir J. Lambert has a.second tithe set.
4,.itfor the mountains. .Someof • the insurgents advanced last.
night to Lehena,' within two English miles of this city, and:
succeeded in carrying off arms from that place. But, for the
most part, they are miserably armed.
" It is scarcely needful to observe, that the slow process of
the ciVil law would by no means answer in the existing state of
our affairs : it may be wished, however, that the Executive
were strengthened by
.a timely enactment of the Legislature ;
and that we should not be driven too much to bills of indein.-
nity. Our garrisons are so weak, that the very jails; lying close
to the city, are threatened with an attack, anerare quito full.—
This, also, calls for the immediate attention of Government ;
and it is worthy of deliberation, whether the loyal ought not to
be associated as an armed police or guard, for the preservation.
of peace in the city of Co k, (V. The upper ranks of the Mb,
man Catholics, may, we think, be safely united with the 'ro-
testants in these associations, their interest in upholding the
constitution being the same, and their mutual cordiality much
greater than O'er: Of the lower orders we dare not affirin sn
ranch ; the less they are trained to arms, perhaps the better ;
unless, indeed, the militia of the United Kingdom be embo-
died and then, by their interchange, the Irish may be relied
on in Greatßritain,,and the British in Ireland.
If we have trespassed on your patience, we hope you will
ruse-us, when you refnember that the dearest interests of Ire-
land are at stake ; and• that no newspaper will venture to telt
the plain truth, which,- we indulge. a hope, will, through some
channel or other, find its way to those who are able and willing
to apply the remedy."

The following letter, addressed to a Distin-
guished Character in Ireland, has been transmit-
ted to us for publication : •
" DEAR SIR—I was favoured with your letter
of the 22i1 inst this day, and though it is not in
my power to answer your inquiries as to the
prices technically quoted in the districts alluded.
to,• yet I have spared no exertion throughout the.
day to collect information from the most experi.:
enced people in the .mercantile and provision
business, on whom I could depend ; and
on whose information I would myself much
rather•depend, than on the vague quotations of
most Newspapers, which I have often detected
to have been wrong. I think I may, in the ge-
• •
neral view, previous to particular quotatioMl
such as 1 could' Collect,- confidently assure yin,
on the united opinions • of all whom I have-con-
suited, that the circulation of the rumour of scar-
city, much less famine, is a finesse. It is rumour-
ed here, too, that notices were posted in coun-
try places, to prevent country people from bring-
ing in provisions to Cork; and that the convey
ance of corn and potatoes was attempted to be
impeded. This, however, has not succeeded; for
the glut has been actually increased within the
few last days. r
The following are the Cork prices :-
11", neat - Os. Bd. to ls. 3d. per stone.
Oats - Os. 7d. Os. lid.
Barley . Os. Bd. Os. 9d.
Potatoes - Os. 3d. Os. 4d.
Beef - Os. 3d. .7- Os. &l. per lb
Mutton - Os. 3d. Os. 41.
Pork -16 s. Od. 19s. Od. per cwt.
.Flour -14 s. Od. —18 s.. Od.
The, prices in Limerick and. Waterford are pretty closeiy on
this average.
As tO' the 'other country towns, the result of the most gen..!.n..1
inquiries I'ebuld make this (market) day, is that P'otatoe's are
lower in such places than the Cork prices. •
Coal is 245. per ton. •
Turf is ls. per kish.
This I have from a mercantile house which consumes quitn-
tities of it for stamping brands on provision and butter casks ;
and I am instructed to particularize, that each kish is 2 feet
deep.; 2 wide, and 4 low,h.
The districts adjacent to Cork are in a state
of flaming disorganization; and--a rebel camp of
several thousands is formed at Inchigeelagh.
As. to the former part of your letter, I have
only to assure you that•l am glad you have pub-
lished my letters ; and feel happy that any
thing from my pen should deserve the compli-
ment from the Editor of The (Dublin) Antidote
in. the same number."
Cork, January 26. • •

QtIiptTER.LY REVIEW.—In the last Quarterly
Review there, is an elaborate, and certainly in-
teresting article,, on the Novels by the author of
Waverley ; but it affords the following unlucky
specimen of hypercriticism:—

" Before we quit this scene," says the Reviewer, " we must
observe, that it contains an heraldic error, remarkable in itself,
when we consider the • antiquarian knowledge of our author,
and still more from its coincidence witha similar mistake in his
great rival,
,Sir Water:Scott. The Black Knight bears what
Rcbec,:a calls a bar and padlock painted blue, or as Ivanhoe
corrects her, a fetterlock and shackle bolt azure on a 'lick
shield ; that is, azure. upon sable. This, we believe, as colour
upon colour, to be false heraldry. Now on the shield ci Sir
'Walter's Marniion, a falcon,' soared sable on an uzure.fie/d.'
The same fault .reversed. It is a curious addition to the coin-
cidences of these two great writer?., that, with all their,nlinnte
learning on chii:alrous pmnts, they should both have been
guilty of the same oversight."

-The critic evidently flatters himself that he
has made an eNcellent hit. Unfortunately, how-
ever, for the credit of the _Reviewer's rnirrit
learning,: on chivalrous points, Sir Walter and
the Author of Waveiky are neither of theca
guilty of any oversight in this instance. • It is
true„ that heralds do not allow the- placing 'a
colour on a _colour, fur .on fur, or metal on metal,
but though azure is a colour, sable is 'a fur as
the .Reivjewer.roay learn at the Heralds' Oflit'e,
at the nearest furrier's, or at a military, or limey
dress-maker's. X. X.