MISCELLANIES. 



a^9 



the laws, which impart more per- 

 sonal freedom, when properly ad- 

 ministered, than any other code of 

 lavvs in existence. If there are 

 any disturbances in the country, 

 the truly loyal man endeavours to 

 appease them. The truly loyal man 

 is peaceful and quiet — he does his 

 utmost to prevent commotion ; and, 

 if he cannot prevent it, he is at his 

 post, ready to perform his duty in 

 the day of peril. But what says 

 the loyal man of another descrip- 

 tion — the mere pretender to loy- 

 alty, ♦♦ I am a loyal man in times 

 of tranquillitj' — I am attached to 

 the present order of things, as far 

 as I can get any good bj- it — I ma- 

 lign every man of a different opi- 

 nion from those whom I serve — I 

 bring my loyalty to market." Such 

 loyalty has bore higher or lower 

 prices, according to the different 

 periods of modern times — he ex- 

 poses it to sale in open market, at 

 all times — seeking continually for 

 a purchaser. Such are the pre- 

 tenders to loyalty, many of whom 

 I have seen ; and incalculable mis- 

 chiefs they perpetrate. It is not 

 their interest that their country 

 should be peaceful — their loyalty is 

 a " sea of troubled waters." 



Gentlemen I have had a long 

 professional experience of the state 

 of this country, travelling two cir- 

 cuits every year ; and I have spoken 

 the result of my professional obser- 

 vations and judicial knowledge — 

 perhaps the sincerity with which I 

 have put forward these observa- 

 tions may excite some displeasure. 

 But I hope they may do some 

 good, and I am pretty indifferent 

 whether they are found disagreea- 

 ble or not ; living a great part of 

 my life in the hurry of professional 

 pursuits, I have employed the mo- 

 ments of my leisure in literary re- 



VoL. LVI. 



tirenjent. Attaclied to no party, I 

 have never mixed with the zealots 

 of either — I have been assailed and 

 calumniated by both. Such is the 

 lot of the man, endeavourmg to 

 do his duty with firmness and sin- 

 cerity. 



Gentlemen, if any of you be dis- 

 posed to think that this address 

 would be better suited to another 

 place and any other occasion ; to 

 such I answer, that I have em- 

 braced the opportunity thus afford- 

 ed to me of addressing you, in 

 order to state what have appeared 

 to me the causes of popular com- 

 motions, and the remedies likely 

 to assuage and prevent them in 

 these several counties where, within 

 these last five years, 1 have borne 

 the King's Commission. I consi- 

 der the present occasion a peculiarly 

 seasonable one for such an address. 

 We approach towards the close of 

 a circuit, whose usual order had 

 been inverted for the purpose of 

 delivering the crowded gaols ; and 

 bringing to speedy trial those men 

 with whom they were filled, and who 

 stood charged with almost every 

 crime known to the criminal code. 

 It seemed to me expedient, if such 

 subjects as I have brought before 

 you were touched upon, to do so in 

 a county profoundly tranquil where 

 no danger could be apprehended, 

 even by the most timid and fasti- 

 dious, of agitating the minds of the 

 peasantry, by a public discussion. 

 Gentlemen, two Bills, of import- 

 ance to the public peace of Ireland, 

 have recently passed both Houses 

 of Parliament, almost, as I believe, 

 without observation ; and certainly 

 without public inquiry into the 

 state of the country. Having form- 

 ed an opinion upon the causes of 

 popular discontents, and public 

 commotions in those counties, 

 2M 



