SUPPLEMENTARY NUMBER 



TO TUF. TWENTY-SECOXU VOLUlMF. of the 



MONTHLY MAGAZINIl 



Vol. 22, No. 152.] J/VNUARY 25, I807. [Price Is. 6c1. 



IL\L1'-YEAHLY Iir.TllOSPECT OF DOMESTIC LITERATURE. 



WE veturn, as ufiial, nt our frated 

 ptriod to review tlio |)rooi-efs of 

 ieaniiiig. hi the prcfent hult-year 



Itrs-IORY 



takes its tyrii to be but icantily provided 

 with works of majrnitntlc or priiiKiry irii- 

 portauce ; diouirh it has ixccivcd one or 

 two inoli' welcoixic prc-rciit?. 



" T/if Hifiori/ of Jrc/'intf, from the 

 enrlifi/i Account to the Acconip'ijhtitnt of 

 the Uiiioti zrilJi Great Biifidn in 1801," 

 by i\Ir. Gordon, is, periiops, lei's la- 

 boiirerl mid lei's tiiiiihed than his " llif- 

 tory of the KebeHioii ;" thoiiL'li it entities 

 Jiim to no ordinary confideration. With- 

 out tlatteriug national vanity bv any id'e- 

 Icfs conjfflures on the aboriginal hi'iory 

 of the inhabitants, he fairly confeil'os 

 that, with the exception of a few disii- 

 j:ured and obfcure facts, all is darfcnefs ; 

 and even doubts the cNiltence of St. Pa- 

 trick, the fuppofed apolUc of the coun- 

 try. Tiie ]ieriods of time, he obfer^■cs, 

 \iitli refpect to Irilh tranfactions, niav 

 not inijiroperly be denoiuiiiiited the un- 

 known, the fabulous, the leirendary, and 

 the hiitorical : the iirlt ending about the 

 tinre of the incarnation ; the fecond near 

 the middle of the fifth century ; the 

 third at the Englifli invafion in 1170; 

 and the fourth extending from that event 

 to tlwj prefeiit time. 



*• In the ninth century, we are aiTured, 

 when io many fcminaries «f" this illand were 

 defolated by Danifh depredation, the lionour 

 of Irifti literature was maintained in foreii^n 

 countries by her native ftudents, particularly 

 hy Albinus, Clement, and Johannes Scotus 

 Erigena. The two t'oimer, patronized by the 

 Emperor Charlemagne, became tlie tirft pro- 

 ftlTojs of the univerlities ot" Paris and Pavia. 

 The laft, much favoured in the French court 

 of Charles the BalJ, and altervvards invited 

 into England by Alfred the Great fur a pro- 

 fedorfhip in the univeiTity of Oxford, emi- 

 nent in ftore of reading, brilliancy of wit, 

 and folidity of judgment, was author of fomc 

 works held in high reputation : as, a Trea- 

 tife tie Dk'ifione Kulura-, a Polemical Dif- 

 courfc ag.iinii the Doftrine of TranfublVantia- 

 tions, and a tranliation of the Hicriuliy of 

 Dion)fius the Arcopagite." 



iMoMiiLY 2<Ia<j., No. 15"?. 



•Still, however, tliefe men of literature 

 left us no works on the hil'tory of their 

 country; and it is with fonie furprife we 

 find that even in the middle ages th.e 

 nmials of Ireland are not only detaciicJ 

 and confu-fed, but fcanty even of faCfs. 

 Tlie moll ancient j)icce of Irilh liifiory 

 now extant isof th(.' tenlli century, writ- 

 ten ill veil'e, and called the Vj'uttci- of 

 d'fir'll; the Book of Hoi.th, the Annals 

 of Ti^trnati, and the Annals of Jrinis- 

 fi/lcn, the latter coming down to 1320, 

 are the next prinri))al liiurces : but iu- 

 forniation of a fatisfacfory nature camiot 

 always be extrarted from them. The 

 details of Irilh hiltory, which Imve per- 

 haps the greateft fliare of noveltv in .Vlr. 

 Gordon's work, are thole from the reiga 

 of Henry II. to the reign of Henry \Tif, 

 But to abridge them would be impolti- 

 ble. llotiry II. is reprefentcd to have 

 lubjcticd Irelaiul rather nominally than 

 fubi'iantially. The fcclilc policy which 

 his fucceflors of the Plantagcnet lino pur- 

 fiied, in regard to their home depeu- 

 ilencies, and moi-e elpecially to^vard 

 Ireland, is next difculicd, and blamed 

 with temper. The llatute of Kiikcnnv 

 is partlciilaily noticerl. Fur the I'ublV- 

 r)iient portions of his hiltory, to the ca- 

 pitidation of Limerick, I'llv. Gordon fecms 

 to have been principtdly indebted to the 

 work of Dr. Lehmd. But from that pe- 

 riod to the clofcofhis hiltory, all is ori- 

 ginal ; and we htive oidy to add,,tluit he 

 has performed ;i ufeful talk, with great 

 indultry, great temper, and great abi- 

 lity. 



Annther curious work, though mixed 

 in its characler, is entitled " Illitjlrations 

 of Scoilijh llijion/ ." (jjiiiprifnig a Jour- 

 nal of the Tranfactions in Scotland, dur- 

 ing the contili between the adherents of 

 Queen IMary and thole of her foji, i.n 

 the year.s 1570, 1571, 157',', and 157^, 

 by Jlichard Bauatyni' ; Letters from Sc- 

 cret;u-y IMaitland and the Earl of IMor- 

 tou, 157a; An "Account of the Denth 

 of the Earl of Ifuutly, 1570 ; The' Con- 

 fellion of tile Earl (;f Morton, 1584; anj 

 the JSIutual Agy;r«;flioiii, wf tlic t;ufitend- 

 4 K ' iiijj 



