THE CASE OF IRELAND STATED. BY ROBERT HOLMES, ESQ. "The liberty of man in society is, to be under no other legislative power but that established Second Edition, corrected. LOCKE. DUBLIN: JAMES MCGLASHAN, 21, D'OLIER-STREET. JAMES RIDGWAY, PICCADILLY, LONDON. MDCCCXLVII. PREFACE. WHILE the calamity in the failure of the potato crop of the last year, by which Ireland is afflicted, engages the sympathies and alarms the fears of every class, every sect, and every party in the country-while the physical cause of the disaster has been explored in vain, and inquiries have been made upon the subject, to which no sufficient answer has been given-it is impossible that other inquiries must not, at such a time, and under such circumstances, be forced npon the mind-inquiries deeply interesting, but more capable of solution, and to which more satisfactory replies may be returned. be returned. It may be asked, whence has it arisen that, in such a country as Ireland, the present calamity has been sufficient to disorganize the entire frame of society, and to set every sound principle of political economy at defiance? Whence has it come to pass that, while England is illuminated by the glorious light of science, and the more glorious light of liberty-while England is blessed with knowledge, and strength, and power, and wealth, and happiness, Ireland is found still dark and desolate, not suffered to reflect the splendour, and profit by the bounty? In answer to these questions, the writer of the following pages is excited by the crisis to state what appears to him to be truth. He writes not for political party or religious sect-he writes for the country, to which he is bound by birth, by duty, and by affection. DUBLIN, 6th January, 1847. THE CASE OF IRELAND STATED. THE state of Ireland, at a remote period, previous to the introduction of the English power, has been a subject of unmerited panegyric and unmerited abuse. The national vanity which emblazons doubtful pretensions in the splendid colouring of fancy, is not malignant in its origin, and is harmless in its effects; but the deliberate calumny which blackens the character of the injured, in order to justify or palliate the wrongs of the oppressor, deserves the severest reprehension of every friend to humanity and truth. However, Milesian antiquity and Milesian fame are, to the Irishman of the nineteenth century, a barren boast, a melancholy alleviation of injustice inflicted, and insult endured. Literary curiosity may be instructed or amused, and national vanity may be gratified by the real or fancied attainments of primitive independence; but in those events alone, by which his actual condition has been determined and must be affected, is man seriously concerned. The invasion of Ireland, by Henry the Second, is the first era in its annals which merits the deep recollection of the present times, and it is an era which must be remembered long. From |