Manchester Memoirs, Vol. xlv. (1901), No. 8. 5 



somewhat difficult of access, and existing under a distinct 

 government, it seems to have been regarded as a harbour 

 of refuge for suspicious characters from the four points of 

 the compass. Scotch adventurers, English defaulters, 

 and Irish bankrupts thronged the place from year's end 

 to year's end, and contributed an unrest to the local 

 society which was much disliked by the more permanent 

 residents. The state of war, in which the kingdom then 

 existed, and the general turbulence of the times, made the 

 Isle of Man in reality a kind of No-man's Land, a scene 

 of periodical turmoil and constant hostility. 



It must be remembered, in reading these letters, that 

 we are dealing with a place of not much more than 

 parochial importance, and that, as is the case to-day in small 

 country towns of the same population, both quarrels and 

 scandal were magnified to an absurd extent. Local society 

 had not that wise guidance which made Manchester, Liver- 

 pool, and Norwich at the same period such notable examples 

 of public spirit and elegant culture. The consequence 

 was that the Manx people and their " foreign " residents 

 concentrated most of their attention in quarrelling, and in 

 making each other's weak points the targets for shafts of 

 slander. The author* of the Itinerant describes the Manx 

 character as unamiable, " they are unfriendly, cunning, and 

 avaricious ; yet with all this very devout in their way ; 

 before they go to sea on the most trifling excursion, you 

 see them laid upon their oars, with their hats off, making 

 a long prayer. To finish their character, they are deplor- 

 ably ignorant, ridiculously superstitious, and believers in 

 fairies and second sight." He continues : " The inhabi- 

 tants of Mona are very backward in noticing strangers, 

 yet this can scarcely be called a fault, when we consider 

 the number of unprincipled refugees who fly to the island 

 * S. W. Ryley, the Actor, see Part I. of these Selections. 



