369 



with the comparative immortaUty of print. The liberaUty of exalted 

 minds has flung off the petty prejudices, that brooded Hke the dust 

 upon the records of Ireland ; the wisdom of parliament has chival- 

 rously unlocked them to universal inspection ; the illustrious indivi- 

 dual, who fills (and long may he fill) the throne of these realms, has 

 himself given the glowing example, and his command is at this mo- 

 jnent effectuating for his own library, transcripts of the rarest and 

 most curious annals of Ireland. Much has been done to convince 

 the disbelievers of that country's importance, more indeed than could 

 have been expected in such a welcome interval ; much, however, yet 

 remains to be done, and I am happy to add, there is still a vast body 

 of material inviting the application of industry. In Ireland* there is 

 yet much valuable illustration in " the rolls and journals of parha- 

 ment, the acts and orders of council, the records of state, and the rolls 

 of chancery, as well as in the public and private libraries ;"-f- more 

 especially the MSS. in the respective libraries of Trinity College, 

 of the Royal Irish Academy, and of Saint Sepulchre's ; the remains 

 of the Brehon laws, scattered as they are in the depositories of diffe- 

 rent collectors ; and lastly, the valuable compilations of Mr, Harris, 

 now in the possession of the Dublin Society. In England there is 

 perhaps a much greater number of Irish relics, " in the council and 

 secretaries' offices, in the Museum, and the Tower, in the Bodleian and 

 Lambeth libraries, and in the cabinets of the curious ;"-f- and above 



* Lhuid says (Lond. Philos. Trans. No. 335, Art. 4.) that in his rambles in Ireland, K^ 

 met near Lame a descendant of the bards of the house of O'Neill, from whom " he made an 

 easy purchase of about a dozen ancient MSS. on parchment." And in the same work, (No. 

 336, Art. 3.) he says, " I have picked up in various parts of that kingdom about twenty or 

 thirty Irish manuscripts on parchment." — See also Webb's Analysis of the Antiquities of 

 Ireland, p. 1 15, &c. 



t Warner, vol. i. Pref. p. rii. 



VOL. XVI. 3 B 



