6\6 



aDrhcoVs Fit 



practical duties wliioli Christianity en- 

 joins, tiicy expatiated on topics allcigether 

 incompreiicnsible by their ignorant an- 

 ditors, — as the new birth, grace, eU'ction, 

 and tiie niter inefficacy of mere good 

 works to recommend tiiem to the lavoiir 

 ot'tiie Aln)ighty. These doctrines were 

 too sid)tle tor tlieir understandings : tiiey 

 were told that liiey were in a perilous 

 state, while the way by which alone they 

 were inslrncted they conid escajie from 

 it was so t'nil of intricacy and mystery, 

 Ihal they became utterly perplexed, and 

 gave up the pursuit in despair. 



VIEWS 

 IRELAND, 



MORAL, I'OLITIOAL, AND RELIGIOUS. 



BY JOHN O'DUISCOL, ESQ, 



In 2 vols. 8vo. 11. Is. 



[Tlii.sis tlieniostperspiciicionsand Inmiiions 

 view of the Sister Kini;d(iiii which has 

 appeared. The author wiilcs with ho- 

 nesty and lil)eral feelinj,', and his book 

 merits general peru.-al anionj; patiiots 

 of botii countries. It e\liil)its good 

 sense, sound information, and eloquence 

 of diction, in the highest di'giee.J 



IRISH rKOPLt;. 



WE may divide Ireland, generally, 

 into portions, north and sonlh of 

 Dublin, and east and west of the Sliaii- 

 iioh. In liic north arc placed the Scoto- 

 Irish population, !)nsy with llidr niann- 

 factinc, prudent, industrious, and rich ; 

 intelligent, indi'pcndant in their priixi- 

 jjles, and Protestant dissenters in reli- 

 gion. In the south we <ii;d an agrienl- 

 Inral peasantry, purely Irisli, or neaily 

 so, with a gentry of English race, the 

 latter, for the most part, of the churcii 

 of England, the former Roman Catho- 

 lics. Along the line of the < astern coast, 

 stretching from Cork to Didjlin and far- 

 ther northward, we meet a mingled 

 poptdatioii of English and Irish descent. 

 As long as Ireland continued unsettled, 

 there was throughout this exicnt a con- 

 stant influx of adventurers trom every 

 point of the opposite coast of England, 

 Scotland, and Wales. This infusion of 

 ucw blood from the other island produ- 

 ced a new population of a very fine 

 character, but of an unquiet spirit ; 

 fierce almost to savageness, despising 

 the sword as a restraint, regardless of 

 the gibbet, delighting in conflict though 

 liopelcss, and meeting death with un- 

 concern, or with satisfaction, if it bo 

 paid as the price of vengeance. Tliis is 



ws of Ireland. 



a mine, not indeed of gold or silver, but 

 of a more valuable metal, — iron, and of 

 the best quality, capable of the highest 

 l)olish, and lit to be tempered to every 

 great and useful purpose of life. But 

 the mere legislator, the speculator in 

 acts of parliament, will do little here, 

 unless he be preceded by the moral and 

 religious operator. Upon this imi)rac- 

 ticable people, the terrors of the law 

 have failed of effect; nothing less than 

 Gospel heat will fuse these " hearts of 

 sleel." 



Upon the eastern shore of the island, 

 washed by the waters of the Atlaidic, 

 dwell a more unmixed people. These 

 are of old Irish race. They dilTer from 

 their countrymen of the east, in being 

 less turbulent, more patient, and easy to 

 be led ; bearing a great deal of oppression 

 before roused to resistance, frugal, quiet, 

 indolent, and contemplative, passing 

 from melancholy to mirth, pious, and 

 less fit for the business of the worM than 

 the mingletl people behind them. >Vilb 

 less activity of mind, they possess more 

 of the elements of what is called genius, 

 more imagination, more feeling, more 

 thoughtliilness, and tenderness of heart. 



During all tlic distractions of Ireland, 

 this was comparatively a region of peace 

 and tranquillity. It was remote from 

 the scene of the principal action, and 

 was moreover del'cnde<l by the great 

 waters of the Shainion. This mighty 

 river bent Ids huge arm round the rem- 

 nant of Irish race, and repelled the in- 

 vader. If the people abode here ill 

 safety, while the rest of the land was ra- 

 vaged by the civil storm ; if in this (jnarter 

 there are still to be found some gentry 

 of the old Milesian stock, dwelling in 

 peace -upon the estates of their ancestors; 

 they owe it to the Shannon. This was 

 their great protector, and the quiet and 

 security they enjoyed, made this region 

 the depositary of Irish feeling, as it was 

 the refuge of the race. There is some- 

 thing in the serene magnificence of the 

 Shaimon, rolling his long line of waves 

 in splendid conlimiily, and spreading 

 occasionally into vast lakes, and exhibit- 

 ing in the bosom of his great waters a 

 thousand beautilul islets, like the ex- 

 pansions of some mighty mind in the 

 stillness of deep thonglit, or the flowing 

 of a rich imagination, wave tundjling 

 over wave, until at length it displays its 

 fairy formations, sparkling upon a calm 

 and sunny surface. — There is something 

 in the grandeur and solitude of the At- 

 lantic, and in the singularly wild sce- 

 ii< ry of the country w liich these waters 

 enclose. 



