The Sun.
London, England, 1821-10-29 00:00:00

Outhe PRESENT TAtV 'V lII:ELAND

. .
- . [Flto m j oti. x3l uf. 1..] .. • .. . • . • -
, • -We =beg to call the serious attention of our
..
.• •,readers to 'a most important communication, WhiCh we have re-
ceived from Ireland. It will be found highly interesting; as de-
velopingthe real stag, of 'that disturbed country, and the cause-
Of the coma-lotions by which it is agitated ; indeed the interest
it nutst Create IS' greatly .inhreased by.the COrniiirsSion of fresh
outrages, which-have.. taken place since it• iv..S written, and of
. which, we lament to say, there are authentic and distressing
arena:As. -
.....
• 'his with 'equ!'.l grief and astonisbnient;that the Empire haS
Seen' that the visit.of the King, Which was stated-to have had so
Miraculcua an effect in tranquillizing Irelandahas.been mac,
countably followed by the most ekiiaordiniry.bnrst of tumult.;
of.morderous, bloody, treasonable tumult, which•everhis cis-
graced that country. • '
•It seems at first sight hard to reconcile this state. of dis-.
turbanee with all that has been said of the effeet of the
...King's-visit ;,: but, we believe, that the circumstance admits of
an explanation, not only .easy in itself,..but important, and even
satisfactory, in a large and (if we may use The expresiiiM. im-
•••perial consideration of the subject..
esrinai,olne.nt
all
ie
thlasietniff§tyfoyteuarmsst7oila4yrtoiantah:e;
cliairtghe34of baeehnadtilgeo?
and to attribafe to mere political'andparty Causes, the spirit of
.disturbanee„ which seems never.'to be Wholly extinguished -in
this unhappy country. :•• . • , ~, •,, •• •i‘ • . '• .'
Late events contradict this hypothesis, with a force which
:there is no'refutitigl. some of those perSOns who know, or
.who
- , have known Ireland-hes:it, have•been always of opinion that po-
lineal causes could never have exclusively operated:. the rats-
- chiefs coin darned of; that there. was something. in the natioreal.
c',..l.raracter- of the people,' and in the circumstances under which
tne British settlement of this country was effected, which ctil•-•
posed the lower population to restlessness and turbulence; and.
to prefer a life Of aniniation and danger, to the sober, but dull
regularity- of: legalized :society. - - . - • • • •
We will not waste time in inquiring . how far these;disposi=
tionS; may have been created,. or. encouraged. by ancient and.
- • olsolete -modes of government : such modes have Jong ceased.
to aaist„ and for the' last twenty years; at 'least, 'lii-3. man Wh0,1,-.l4pw's
,1,-.14pw's any thing,of Ireland can honestly attribtite.to the aia-•
tem of government, these .harharptia -and, barbarian practiceS:,-
. - which have never been Wholly suppressed, and, which Lave now
, .. .... • .
btitstsnt*O•the violence .ofFs'corifiag,ration. , ..
. The King's visit had„.trn-the•..avowal :if: all - iiiirties, •stilled
,--(if it did not remove), .all
,political dissension a all the ;nen of
the most decided party fe'elings; suspended, we should almost say,
resigned, unpolitical differences ; and, throughout the whole
Island,3here did not existaareurinur of dissension, or even tith
Slightest pretence, for discord. . As far as regards-polities and
party,. no nation -Was-ever before in a state of such entire trail...
quiliity and union. • .-• , ••• .
And it is upon this calm that a thunder-storm has 'burst, 'a , '
Storm of the blackest hue, of tile most furious.v,iolenee, of the
bloodiest cOn'seiptienceS ? Is it then too 'flinch to say that we
must look to. otiier than_what are usually ealled`pialitic-al causes,
for these horrible outrages ? No. diseaao -can ever he. removed
- 'l4- a physician who mistakes its cause ; and we firmly believe,.
that the tranquillization.of Ireland has been mainly impeded
. by the unfounded, and,. in our opinion, absurdnotion, that the
disease is one which the. acts of a government '(in the political
sense of the word) can cure.
The' present . disturbances arise,-• notoriously,: -and -wide, -
niably, "out of questions between landlord and tenant ;
-and -it is. probable that both sides are to blame : some
landloids may perhaps be too exacting,, both. in amount ,of
rent, and in the mock of collection :_ Baia, on the other hand,
it is to be doubted from the experience. of a century, whether
any reasonable concessions on the parts of the landlords would
induce the Idle, the restless, the passionate, • the vindictive pea-
santry, to pay their rents with regularity-or good-will. These
semi-barbarous classes understand: but imperfectly the first
principles of commerce, even in their own peculiar concerns ;
they are always ready
.to do. violence to any of their fellows who
should presume to under-sell them in thellotatoe market, and .
equally ready to commit similar violences upon those who
should not. lower the price of potatoes to what.thest-ambi-dex-
trous economists might think reasonable;. but of questions re-
lating to the soil itself, thjy have no more conception than •a
Chinese has of axating.-
If a landlord or his steward were to be so unreasonable as to
expect his tenants to pay their rents at, quarter-dig, they would
be looked upon in this country as insane,_ and would inevitably
be shot like mad-clogs. If on the expiration of -a lease, a new
tenant should offer a better rent than the-Old one, it would re-
quire the aid of illajor-General Sir John Lambert and his bri-
gade of hussars, to put him in possession, of the farm, and in
about one week, or sooner if the dragoons 'were **drawn, the
stock would be destroyed, and . the ouv•lionses anti 'farm-yard'
burned to the ground. If, however, the flew. tenant ahould be
either.bold, or obstinate enough to disregard these gentle hints,
the progress of no mathematical demonstration is more certain
than that on the first dark night ensuing,. the unhappy intruder
and his family would be personally "assaulted; 'driven- with in-
jury from their burning dwelling, or not ,improbably buried
m its ruins ! . - •

We have at this moment before our eyes, recent instances of
every.stepin this progression of crimes, and we under-state the
enormity, of the transaction by not representing hi:in-tan murder
as the most usual and ordinary mode by which the rioters ex-
press their dissatisfaction ; and even whiNt we are penning this
paragraph, the account of fresh atrocities, all originally arising
out of the lettingand lea Sing of farms, advance in bloody array
in support of our argument.
has been' said sO often that it is generallY believed, that the
absentees are a principal cause of this misery; this is a very
• short-sighted, and at the same time a merely theoretic view of
the subject : no one. could be mad enough to deny,. that the re-
sidence of gentlemen on their own estates has a
.tendency to
keep their tenantry in order and subordination ; btu this effect
must of necessity be limited to one residence ; alandlord can-
.not.be in two places at once,-and if Lord Courtenay were to re-
side in Limerick, lie must of necessity be an absentee from De-
vonshire ; and it does happen, that in this particular case, .
-whiellis at present-so much insistzd upon, the landloid is an
absentee froth England as well as from Ireland. But .nobody
would think of
„Justifying burglary, or niurder, if 'stich enor-
mities were. to occur in Devonshire, on
.accotint, of his Lord-
ship's absence.

It happens, that the estate of Lord Courtenay has been, in'
this instance; particularly the scene of commotion, but it has
not been so exclusively ; all the neighbouring counties, and the
surrounding' estates of resident landlords are equally disturbed.
It is moreover a curious fact, that the north of Ireland, which
is the great seat of absentee property, and in which the propor-
' tion of great resident proprietors is very small, has always been
distinguished for comparative good order and obedience to the
laws, whilst the south of Ireland, from which there arc few
' absentees, and where the resident gentlemen .are as nunier-
ous,as perhaps in any part of England, has not, for the last
fifty years, as we have already said, enjoyedone month of unin-
terrtipteet tranquillity.
It will be very unpopular, (but in telling truth we do not
care about the popularity) to suggest, whaher it may not be
the very reverse of the absentee cause. which prodUces the mis-
chief, 'and whether the resident gentlemen do not exert a inure.
dose And narrow system of renting their lands, than the agent
of the absent proprietor ? The, agent, -though anxious to, do
the beSt for his eMployer, is anxious also to do it With ease and
comfort to himself ; he is, above all, anxious that the landlord
should, receive no complaints from his tenants, and that he
shOuld'see. no arrears in his accounts : these resulta can only be
obtainkl'by a Fostering hand, and by moderate rents ; and, in
short, the. agent acts under a restriction very useful in curbin„
human passions, that of having huh' personal interest in the at-
fair, and being moreover responsible fOr his proceedings.
On'the other hand; the resident proprietor is wholly irrespon-
sible,: in his, view of she subjeet, he owes no 'account of his ma.
nagement to any one ; he knows the exact value of every field :
he writehei its produce, and Caleulates the farmer's profits, and
then,.with a desire, but too innate in human nature in general,
and particularly strong in Irish landlords, he thinks himself
justified in bringing into his own pocket she very greatest sum
that the land is capable of producing.
Let; us not be misunderstood, as pushing this argument to
,she absurd extent, either of
~yeistifying all absenteec, or of ar-
ialiioing'all icsident landlords ; but we use it for t'he limited
purpoct.'of shewin, that, neither in the fact, nor in the theory,
,ii,truftytlo the disturbances in Irelanslcan be in any serious
,4,grep atttit,4i,ej to the absentees.
*4 bye 4 ii were otherwise who could blame an absentee ?
;IMO, that can rern,ove himself from it, will remain in such a
,state ofpociety, where every morning brings- to light souse new
act of atrocity, :Ad every evening closes upon him with the fear
thathe huirSelf isibvui to ben victim ? If, actuated by 'prin.
.ciplea of persoiud hano2tr and of public duty, and undeterred by
the Fate of /Acts, a pUldic.nspirited gentleman Should exert him:
.ailfto apprehend the niurderers, and should happen (as is ge:
-petal!), the easel to be up.succeas6l, he would probably be
nisett only by the burning liks stack-yard, or thohoughing his
cattle ; but, it UnfortUritt4Y fof him", ire should be able to find
the pflenders, he would Kobably, even be,fore they were brought
to justice, be nli;iderca Pw'n aiirenue,cr sktting his table
it the presencegf his 4,11114.
;Cheae.-n:re not f3llCif.,d cases, ,the zna.staere of Mr. Hos.
kirks, the ;ion .40c agent of the Cpurtenay propert&, and the
warder of ."Jr. Lioing, a Magistrate, Afeho had entleavonred to
diver Use per.:orts-gui,lty of the former • outrAge, Otto) the
dratdfu xruth,of the picture .yr p have Arasvh.
W hat. follows is more extraordinary, and altrtest a afflicting.
The oentlemen of tlq. caviar; bd..w,' o a certain degree, under
thin[ tutu icl;rtion ; aome acid the -country, Others, more tins-
ebievons, puKhaSe. security by an, abanchinment'Of ',their duty,
and, ittutead Oa determined and, vigGrous opposition .to such
detestable pr,acticei, a )5-Int,l 91 truce as establielgd wi,th, and

. . . . ~ .
Cession made,. to theaarionymotis andaundiscoVered .mtualerers,
Who, Illre'what we read of the secret hidtherhtiedis of Gernumy,
in the Middle cages, iiiiinelate their victims in all die safetk of
: obscurity, and with all ,the precision tifliglit. ' ' ' •
Mr. Hoskins, the father of the young gentlearlait murdered
(eV eil while the ;Royal presence illuminated the•capital) is clis-
, ,placedi• and trie appointment of iinothei agent at once gratifies
the fnalignity and encourages the audacity .of the murderers.—
' ' 'We'know ndthing of Mr.*Hosliiiig: he may have been a harsh
• -Irian; hat there not only is. no prOof that • he Initi 40, hut-the.re
is abundant evidence that the, same aPirit:. of outrage:and or
blood affects' districts far,, far removed from the sphere of his
influence. i• ' -. ' * • ' •
-We have upon stir table the pravincial parrs for three coun-
ties With-Which Mr.' Hoskins has not the.most remote connec-
tion,: which- a:fford its melancholy ins;ant 2S of similaratfocities.
Without,. ,therefore, admitting; Tiny personal considerations, we
cannot but doubt, first, the - justice, racad,.• next, the policy of
srivin.a this laWless banditti the triumph of air. H oskins's re-
- ?neva at - • . ' '• ' • • '
' . i
ill) °St.
et:4ll;larn aaCertriltst'd:er4 I::::carriages I;c,Gould
if.c'Pi 13ettliih'tusii1Ifttbproperty,',te ss:h
plundering—more;bw,
e. 'lela i3eveeweervi
ilenolisil )I:d.s:urgi
vhsn aSstaapleWeigsn‘e
suspected
Ifoitnat •-rit.resd. ,
lt -einatclercl° . die
ldei:::eitn.
:or ineaft I I:at, w:ydilermi , 7is.iEeslisldien:lime it
insii7ediille-sidi:
s_N:Ystodt'etniihes affectionate btnsethet ''
ortora:nraaettrefiel alarmed
il6Nr. cirenod: °'svvsli
directions;
Qdeia iI
eft lotbeuaC,a:lnto°3t:i. intotut
181—hnn::.: '
ation, aiici. tinging of bells, and,the wortliy committee Were as-
, We-Shall say nothing of the kilikof .examination that was
Hoskins:: ‘Vliat followed.? •inorksed diSturbanecs—more'ex-
, and the conin'ilttee of pacification saw, torcbea,,kindledatthe.
bniiffres for the' arrival, a1-plied by "'frank' and affectionate
,incendiaries to the dWellings of the neighbouring gentry. We
, ishould 'like 100111 Rare a letter, written. by•these gentlemen on-
`the- 9th OrOdtobe ,r • the morning:oler they arrived,
WEich they would have written-a; few daysaftet; the first
Would have been all hope, and the latter all despair. . ' •
i But it is not committees and trustaes alone whatnistake,the
disease, and, of course, the applicabli', remedy. . ,
• • It happened that .a personof 'tlite!nafile of I\ riChael Shang-
nessy, was convicted at our late Assitts of burglary and arson,
ofbeing, in short, one, of the,scilAnditti.: of course, it will be
supposed; that'immediate' and eXCAT` plary justice was'execnted.
!Ilion this wretch 7: no; sti-strong was the poWer of iniiinidation,
that by the desire of:persons whose interest'Pnd Whose 'duty
ongl4, we think, equally to.haye forbidden such a eompromise;
Shaugaiessy is 'mdde a kind of hostage in the handa of the Go-.
e'rntrientaand vie:are officidlly informed, that the'lligli Sheriff
• of. the Cottfitllliasreegived " a third respite for this offender,
,with ;in intimation that Shaugnessy's existence will. _depend
upon peace Tieing' restored to the western part of .the ,coup
try; and that the arms plundered by the 'banditti should be
:restored."
iVe musthiie. observe, that the first object of •thes6 4epreda,
tors is always the acquisition 'of flie-aniis; by which they are to
aceoniplish,their ulterior objects, . • '
Allahis is sufficiently
,lamentable, but what follows is as' ex-
traordinary in another point of view.
. .
~ `.l.yrie gaticions and merciful advice ofthe Government," (such
is the phrase used as to .the condition's. on which the life. of
Shaugnessy should be sparedb,has been " corninunicated"—to
whom do you think?--• td the Rigrt Rev. Dr. Tuohy, the Ro-
i. man. Catholic Bishop cf Lirrierick; for the pulp-die Or being an-
nPnicti !w the Roman Catholic Clergy to• the etingreOtions of
the parishes which are most disturbed. - -
It will be recollected, that 'sortie k'urpriSe was created a Session
or two-ago by-a declaration of the Right-Hon. Mr. Grant, the
Secretary far Ireland, that the • Roman Catholic, Clergy were
the main 'enginei by which the tranquillity of the country•-w as
maintained': 'it 'seems strange that the Mice of a Nation, of a
free people, of so large a-portion .of the British Empire, should
be mainly preserved by Ec-clesiastics, by
.Roman Catholic Ec-
clesiastics,- by men Wholly unconnected with the Government,
and little more than ' tolerated 'by it : it aeems that Mr. :Grant
continues to. be. not only convineeitof the fact,- but satisfied as
to its policy ; for we see that in this, our dreadful. emergency,
the Might Rev. Dr. Tuohy and his Priests are joined in a new-
fashionettcommission of the peace with Sit John Lambert and
his dragoons. - :-; - - * ''
" -'-' '
- We have'the highest respect for the blameless life and-good
disposition of the Roinan Catht;lic Clergy, but-We are afraid
that Mr, Grant's eulogy, knit the confidence with which he en-
trusts them may have a tendency to prove too much, and to
place the characters sr' these Gentlemen in an awkward and
'auspicious point'of view ; for, if, their influence be more power-
ful than the whole moral, political, 'Civil and -Military force of
the Government, and of the Nobilitytand . Gentry of the court-
, try altogether`;' }IOW is it that such a system Of lawlespess-has
been permitted to grow to so dreadful ati 'enormity
Uponzthis delicate part of the•. subject we Are'not 'desirous of
saying more, but.; in truth and candour, we could not say less.
And we are the more eniboldencd to notice it, because,it is so
obvious .as already to have attracted, in a very remarkable I
manner,' the ;attention of the - Public.* -*The. foltoWing para-
graph has already appeared in one of our Provincial Papers:—
" What the Magistracy, the Protestant Clergy, and the (.li-
‘.‘ tholie Priests should do hereafter, it shall be our duty to in-
" dicate. NVe• cannot .persuade 'ourselves, that' if these did
." their duty, and particularly the last,,the scenes that h;ve cast
" upon the county or Limerick such. deep and almost indelible
" disgrace-couldhaveOccurred." *. -* ' *J. * * " The state
of the county imperiously demands a complete and searching.
"view, not only of the conduct of the peaaantry, but of their
•
" civil and spiritual Magistrates.
Without presuming to decide upon the justice of this appeal
to. the Catholic Clergy on general grounds, it must be confessed
that the acceptance of Mr. Grant'spraise ,seems, in fairness, to
render them liable to the blame imputed in the above para-
graph ;.,if, as the Right Honourable Gentleman said, the peace
of inland is in their hands, it Y . qui re s no strain of logic to
prove that the disturbance of' Ireland must be in their hands
also.

We confess, however, that we do. not concur in Mr. Grant's
opinion .; ,miserable . would be the state of Ireland if it were
true; and if, with such civil and military establishments—with
thousands of Magistrates, andken thousand police officerS, the
lives and property of six millions of people, of all Christan sects
and denominations, are to depend upon the secret. exertions
of the "priesthood- of a' single sect ; we sv secret exertions,
becauseme believe that Mr. Grant himself will not asiert, that
the mere public exhortations of the Catholic Clergy have ever
produced any such effect.
We could have rendered this communication much more in-
terestingi and more striking,.by a detail of the circumstances
of horror Which are every minute crowding upon us • and we
could have appealed' to the passions of our readers, Cy.tales of
misery more,touching the most pathetic fables of the no-
velist or the most striking terrors of the drama ; but these facts
are to be found in their plain and unadorned simplicity of. hor-
ror, in all the public newspapers ; 'we wished to confine our-
selves, to such observations as should lead reflecting persons to a
discovery of the. real causes of mischief, which we, from perso-
nai.experienee, and 0 intimate knowledge of the people, pro-
nounce. to be, in the plaCei the' comparative indifference
which the: Irish have, all
,times and under all cir-
cumstances; shewn about shedding fiunian blood, . and the
indistinct, ';and,eindeed, we may say, • barbarian notions of
property,, which the populace possess-,,,in short, have
be6n &sirens- of shoving our readers that the offenders. are
neither, loyalists nor rebels—neither Orangemen nor' United
Iriglnnen—neither an oppressed tenantry- nor misguided fa.
mules. ;• biit simply,
.and . in. two words, Robbers and
Murderers !: - •

What the- consequences of all this confusion are to be, it is
not possibleNto tell ; what, the remedies, is not fur us sug-
gest ;we do% titir duty, a Most painful one—in laying a few of
the facts before the. British' Public; who•are but too ignorant of
the"rearstate of affairs ;' and of invoking the British Ministry to
take s,,telk measures as to their wisdom may seem most proper
'for ensuring to• us on thiS emergency, the'first, the clearest, the
most uecessary,privileges of civilized society; the security of our
persons and tne enjoyment of our properties. Por whatever is
to be.done for our permanent protection, and for the eradication
of the seeds of disorder, we must not look to a-tiovernment, but
to ourselves.
Limerick, 00:' 18, 11121.