248 
The co-cstablishment of all sects is an 
easy process; and would silently, na- 
turally, and without injuring any indi- 
vidual, result from a mere repeal of 
the act of uniformity. It is time that, 
Art. VIL. An Historical Review of the 
Country under Henry II. to its Union with Great Britain. 
Esq. 2 vols. 4to. pp. abt. 2350. 
THE antiquities of Ireland have of- 
tener been commented by credulous than 
by judicious antiquaries ; yet the testi- 
monials adduced from chronicle and 
from language, favour the hypothesis 
of a Phenician or Carthaginian coloni- 
zation, having supplied the main body 
of the early population. It is said that 
the red hair, so common in Scotland, 
results from a-mixture of the Jberian 
and Gothic races; and that its scarcity 
among the native Irish is a proof of the 
superior purity of their descent. Whe- 
ther the first settlers came directly from 
the Mediterranean, or mediately from 
Spain and Portugal, cannot absolutely 
be ascertained ; but as tradition and 
geography favour the latter opinion, it 
may rationally be acquiesced in. 
The state of Ireland, prior to the mis- 
sion of Saint Patrick, no doubt resem- 
bled that of Cornwall and Britany.— 
Like these provinces, it nearly escaped 
_the barbarizing intrusion of Roman ar- 
mies, and preserved something of that 
antient civilization, which from these 
provinces overspread the north, and 
founded the spirit of modern Europe. 
The first traces of heraldry occur in 
the chronicles of the Irish. 
«© The grand epoch of political eminence,” 
says Mr. Plowden, ‘ in the early history of 
the Irish, is the reign of their great and fa- 
vourite monarch Ojlam-Fodlah, who reign- 
ed, according to Keating, about 950 years be- 
fore the Christian era. Under him was 
instituted the great Fes at Teamor or 'Tarah, 
which was in fact a triennal convention of 
the states, or a parliament, the members of 
which consisted of the Druids and other 
learned men, whe represented the people in 
that assembly. Thus the monarch and the 
provincial and other kings, who had the 
executive power in their hands on one side, 
and the philosophers and ae together 
with the deputies of the people, on the other, 
formed the whole of this ancient legislature. 
When this great council was convened, pre- 
vious to their entering upon business, they 
sat down to sumptuous entertainments for 
six days successively. Very minute accounts 
are given by thie Irish annalists of the magni- 
ficeice and order of these entertainments ; 
‘HISTORY, POLITICS, AND STATISTICS. 
laying aside the spirit of dissension, all 
sects should aspire to melt into one 
catholic church, and begin a warmer 
competition of benevolence and a higher 
industry of usefulness. 
State of Ireland, from the Invasion of that 
By Francis PLowpeny, 
from whence we may collect the earliest 
traces of heraldry that occur in history, and 
deduce that partiality for family distinctions, 
which to this day forms 4 strikin 
the Irish natifal characteristic. Jn order 
to preserve order and regularity in the great 
number ‘and variety of the members who 
met together on these occasions, when the 
banquet was ready to be served up, the shield- 
bearers of the princes and other members of 
the convention delivered in their shields and 
targets, which were readily distinguished by 
the coats of arms emblazoned upon them : 
these were arranged by the grand marshal 
and principal herald, and hung upon the 
walls on the right: side of the tables, and 
upon entering the apartments each member 
took his seat under his respective shield or 
target without the slightest disturbance. The 
first six days were spent not in disorderly re- 
velling and excess, but particularly devoted 
to the examination and settlement of the his- 
torical antiquities and annals of the king- 
dom: they were publicly rehearsed and pri- 
vately inspected by a select committee of the 
most learned members. When they had 
passed the approbation of the assembly, they 
were transcribed into the authentic chronicle 
of the nation, which was called the register 
or psalter of Tarah. This singular caution 
to prevent the introduction of any falsity or 
misrepresentation into their national history, 
would have furnished posterity with the most 
authentic and interesting relations of this 
ancient and extraordinary kingdom, had not 
the Danes in their frequent ravages and inya- 
sions of Ireland, during the gth and 10th 
centuries, burntall the books and monuments 
of antiquity that fellin their way. We have 
still more to lament the shameful and fatal 
policy of our ancestors, who, from the first 
invasion of Henry Plantagenet down to the 
reign of James the First, took all possible 
means of art and force to destroy whatever 
writings had by chance or care been preserv~ 
ed from the destructive hands of the Danes. 
They imagined, that the perusal of such 
works kept alive the spirit of the natives, 
and kindled them to rebellion, by reminding 
them of the power, independency,and prowess 
of their ancestors. The public mind upon 
this subject has long been changed : two 
centuries have gone by, since Sir John 
Davis said, that ‘ had this people been grant- 
ed the benefit of the English laws, it would 
go infinitely farther towards securing their 
obedience, than the destruction of all the 
part of - 
