1 827.] The Newspaper Press of Ireland. 343 



being a needy person, was induced, by the prospect of greater gain, and 

 a promise of a share in the Mail, to undertake the conduct of the new 

 paper. The government was libelled, collectively and individually, in the 

 most gross arid shameless fashion the private history of individuals was set 

 in detail before the public domestic intercourse invaded and no tie held 

 sacred which binds man to man, or society together. Tbis was the system 

 patronised by the Orangemen of Ireland and the dignitaries of the church 

 by law established. To the church and the public functionaries, the Mail 

 is indebted for success. The poor parson contributed the efforts of his 

 pen, the rector his subscription, and the bishop his patronage. The 

 Customs and Excise, the Ordnance and Castle, the police and constabu- 

 lary, were ail put under contribution ; and where the individuals could 

 singly not afford to take the paper, clubs were instituted for the purpose 

 of nourishing discontent against the government, and a salutary hatred of 

 popery, the priests, and the Catholic Association. It is a singular coinci- 

 dence, however, that almost all the diatribes against the Catholic religion 

 were written by persons of that persuasion, or who had formerly belonged 

 to it; and that the editor of the obnoxious journal was himself a Papist! 



Although I differ altogether from the Mail in principle, and abhor the 

 practices it has pursued, yet justice obliges me to confess that many of the 

 articles which have appeared in it were written with spirit and gaiety; 

 and it appears very thoroughly to understand the business of dramatic 

 criticism. It is, however, more than hinted at Dublin, that the light 

 articles to which I have made allusion are the productions of a gentleman 

 holding a high official situation, and receiving a salary of 2,000 per 

 annum from the public purse. Persons not ill-informed add further, that 

 the person at the head of the Irish government is well aware of this 

 fact. 



The Patriot, the organ of the government, is but the wreck of what it 

 once was. Those causes which have contributed to the success of the 

 Mail, have tended to the downfall of the Patriot. All its Protestant 

 readers ceased to subscribe when it became the organ of Lord Wellesley's 

 sentiments. But, in truth, independently of this, the Patriot is a dull 

 paper, and has never recovered the loss which it sustained in the death of 

 Mr. Comerford (a gentleman of the bar), who was formerly the editor. 



Mr. Comerford was a person possessed of rare endowments from nature, 

 improved and matured by cultivation. In early life he had been educated 

 in France, and took the highest honours at the Sorbonne. But the Revo- 

 lution, which changed so many other things, operated powerfully to thwart 

 Mr. Coraerford's original design of entering the Catholic church. He 

 returned to his native land, and renounced Popery for a wig and gown ; 

 for, in these days, a Catholic could not be called to the bar. His success, 

 however, was not commensurate with his expectations, or indeed his 

 deserts ; and he was forced to recur to literature for a livelihood. Hence 

 his connexion with the Patriot, whose columns had been for years adorned 

 with the graceful effusions of his pen. Yet, although Mr. Comerford was 

 in comparative affluence, he was, notwithstanding, an unhappy man, and 

 entertained a presentiment, which threw a shade over the sunshine of his 

 gayest hours that his end would be unbidden and melancholy. This 

 fancy, alas ! was too fatally verified by the fact ; and the vulgar and 

 superstitious, who are the most numerous in every country, did not fail to 

 attribute the fulfilment of the unhappy man's prophecy concerning himself 

 to a just judgment for the abandonment of his early faith. I remember to 



