, 1867-03-22


a cannon to be beched forth a rh ,ss Of horribly
maugled, and bleeding, shapeiess unattcr, has
certainly no claim to civilizstioa. aud her min
ions ought, il they were not all blessed, OF
rather cursed with large store Of ignorance
SAD egotiSm, to hide their helds in shaF1e he.
fore attempting to inyegh against the civiliza
u0n OF a nation Of high born. honorable aud
ehtyalric people, who were recognized, treated
with, and considered as comparatively civi>
tiZed nation when, as before reInArke ed, Britain
was blFbaric colony Of Rome, aud whose iirst
conception tf cisiiEatioa was derived from
their Norman cOneserors. rnat conquest gave
rise to and created the centralized power aad
sent forth the mailed warriors of the feulIl ages
and gave to Norman EnglAnd the Advantages
which she subsequently, enjlyel in point of arm
and dicipiine in her contests with Ireland and
Scoilaud-nations which had derived none of
their political organization or military art from
Rome. The connections which that conquest
Afforded Britain With \ ime, and its absence on
the part Of ireland, determined the future des.
tiny of the two countries. Ireland, after the
dawn Of perfect civilization, sought quiet, and
its people were content to clear the forests and
till the soil, without being disturbed Jy visions
of conquest Of surrounding provinces. Sac had
her own Institutions and political policy, and a
area of territory sufficient FOR the wluts of he.
population. Not SO with Britain. The Norm ,a
element introduced into aud cominslel With the
7 OHOiflc, lOTMcu u race OF inca NhJ were not
content to live hy or adapted 10 the peaceable
pursuits of agriculture, anl they consequently
| gave their uttentOn to arms, Acl PlIEjerins <
| neig hbOriug provinces.
As to whether bouks or manuscripts vere
promulgated before ST. Patrick day, appears
to be elouded by doubt; but it is certain that
| ST. Patrick introduced alphabeis, wiich, while
I they differed somcwhIt, bore strong rcsen-
| blance to the Roman or LItin alphAbets, and
/ confirm tie opinion that they were derived from
/ ROme-but the vernacult- Of the Irish people
| may be said to be an originality. The teaure Of
land in ireland for centuries after the arrival of
St. Patrick, was upon the tribe, OF family sys.
! TEN. la contra djstirc ctiOn to the Teutouic, or
fcu .al system, Ehicd vested TIDE Land in i single
person who was lord of-the soil anI held the
land by what has siHce been denomaated by
law,wrters as i feul4l tenure. Ia Iceland, ali
! the members Of f,miiy, or tribe hii au equal
intert i ~ the land occupied by the whole.
The equality Of rights lIus enjoyed by all, crea-
ted mutual responsibility nal sense of mutu Il
dependence, snl the general wgliare Of the
wHole relOuudrl to the Individual teneft Of
each, and created and cngendered a feeling OF
aigcii N and love for each ether AMI Al atthch>
uent to the sol, 10 wIicA Ia Y were equally in.
tsrr5ieI thIt CJa.l not has. existed uIler the
e er.n mia nnd An.in Norman system of vasSal-
re iga tea i.,l iJsd. TLcs. claim, - land were
h,rrdjta-y, nai descended by Laws framed IN ray
years before the people emerged from that stage
of their history deuOmiuttcd the bLrbLrie period,
aud rugby enforced Sd long A. it was
pr .ctiau3ie u eIf' f'rco sch Il procedure. Bat
whcn the population became tIo great to sub
,ist upou tAc Ian Is which jdey held in IminI m
tary were CON m,.cliel tn srgreg Ite II portion y!
their nImbyr. and crowd them iutO the forests.
T.is give rise 10 inicrutl S:r.ie, aHd, perhaps,
laid &C to'.aIi;Isa Il of that bittrr spirit whch,
even At lais ~. i f-it hJ Oae ? frtlot of the
I,llnI against other ppsuJns, ari the f.cl that
certain triDcs aud f.milies retained possession
Of i'm proved and valuable lands, while others
were forced 10 seek homes eljeT here, or ay u
consideration, rent, to those in possession,
probably gave rise u those two classes, land
lords aud tenants. which, have ever, since ex>
listed, but which relationship appears from the
carly history Of ireland to have been urkhown
for at least twenty centuries AFTER tie ErSt settle.
meut or the copary.
But tina con. clsstne to pass over many inter,
estiag events in the history of I'eito.l, aud
now come to the>lirst iIvLsipn by the Norm os,
or inhabitants of Britain, which occurred y. ID.
ll60.
hubert FIz Stephen. with 3ol men, disem-
bAIkcd in Nay, at a place called Binnow, near
the present town of Wexford He was joined
the next day by $40 more men, under comm md
of Maurice de Peudegrdst and permot Nc
Marrough, traitor to his country, who
had previously been expelled, AMI who
had some time afterwards received letters
Patent frop: ueury II. Of England, authorizing
him - invIde ireland, and who found in Richard
lie Clure, commonly called "Sirong5 Jw' from
his skill with the cross bowl fitting tool to
lin him 10 his nefLrious designs of laying waste
MA native country. They proceeded to Law siege
To the town Of Wexford, the inhabitants of which
plAce were DAnOlrsh. The asSault was repulsed
with heavy loss to the English, aud at night the
Irish stili'held the town. Next morning, through
the interposilion of the clergy, the people prom.
iseI to swear allegiance to Dermot as their
ereign, aud they were pdrlOnel and the siege of
the town raised. Eldcric was then principal
King OF IrelauP, but it does not appear as though
he regarded thi iayasion of sulficientimportAac
to pay any Atteatiol whatever u it, regarding
it as a quarrel between two rival princes, and
that Strongbow anI Others from England had
been brought in as mercenares to assist one
clan, as had been the custom of different clans,
though usually Danish or Welsh soldiers were
employed. And it appears as though Roderic
must have reg irded Strongbow and his confel-
crates such, anl that they would depart as
soon as Dermot WAS re-eStabllshcd in the posts
tion from winch he had been expelled ty the
opposing c.au of D Rourke. But his mistake
latAl to the liberty of Ireland. Never did
national calamity son mighty and deporabie pro-
| coed from commentators more contemptible
and puuy than did the .first occupation of Ire>
I land by the English. As for RJderic, he disi
played neither that foresight, prudence, bravery
or regard for the interest of his country, which
he is by some authors credited with and through
cut the whole OF this fatal crisis Of his country
showed himself at least an imbecle, il not IN
absolute traitor. DermJt, emboldeueI BY bis
success, was no longer content to continue ia
the subordinate position Of provincial prince of
Leinster but set up claim to the sovereignty
of Ireland, which he grounded on the right of
an ancestor. Ia this pretenslon he was encour-
aged by the emissaries of Britain, led on By die
unscrupulous Strongbow. That hcarllS5s wretch,
who was serving his muster Derm )nt under
promise that, if successful in destroying the
| city Of Waterford, he should have Dermonts
diughter, Eva, in marriage, proceeded to raise
an army in Wales, and, az advance, sent
Raymond lie Gros to erect Notifications near
1 Waterford, WHICH he proceeded TO do. The cit
izens of Waterford sent a force to dislOdge
him, but failed, and large number OF
those sent were sI,n, and seventy Of the
| principal citizsas cIPt8rsd. Blrge sums OF
naaey were offered as rapsOm for them,
but the Inhuman English, tor the purpose,
of striking terror into the Irish. brutaily mas