310 IRELAND. 



state which exhibits the most striking instances both of the virtues 

 and the vices of humanity. 



With respect to the present descendants. of the old Irish, or, as 

 they are termed by the protestantS', the mere Irish, they are general- 

 ly represented as an ignorant, uncivilized, and blundering sort of 

 people. Impatient of abuse and. injury, they are implacable and vio- 

 lent in all their affections : but quick of apprehension, courteous to 

 strangers, and patient of hardship. Though in these respects there 

 is, perhaps, little difference between them and the more uninformed 

 part of their neighbours, yet their barbarisms are more easy to be 

 accounted for, from accidental than natural causes. By far the great- 

 er number of them are papists ; and it is the interest of their priests, 

 who govern them with absolute sway, to keep them in the most pro- 

 found ignorance. They have also laboured under many discourage- 

 ments, which in their own country have prevented the exertion both 

 of their mental and bodily faculties ; but when employed in the ser- 

 vice of foreign princes, they have been distinguished for intrepidity, 

 courage, and fidelity. Many of their surnames have an O, or Mac, 

 placed before them, which signify grandson and son. Formerly the i 

 O was used by their chiefs only, or such as piqued themselves on the 

 antiquity of their families. Their music is the bagpipe, but their 

 tunes are generally of a melancholy strain ; though some of their 

 latest airs are lively, and, when sung by an Irishman, are extremely 

 diverting. The old Irish is generally spoken in the interior parts of 

 the kingdom, where some of the old uncouth customs still prevail, 

 particularly their funeral howlings; but this custom may be traced 

 in many countries of the continent. Their custom of placing a dead 

 corpse before their doors, laid out upon tables, having a plate upon 

 the body to excite the charity of passengers, is practised even in the 

 skirts of Dublin. Their convivial meetings on Sunday aftern&on, 

 with dancing to the bagpipe, and more often quarrelling among them- 

 selves, are offensive to every stranger. But, as we have already ob- 

 served, these customs are chiefly confined to the more unpolished 

 provinces of the kingdom, particularly Connaught ; the common peo- 

 ple there having the least sense of law and government of any in 

 Ireland, while their tyrannical landlords or leaseholders squeeze the 

 poor without mercy.' The common Irish, in their manner of living, 

 seem to resemble the ancient Britons, as described by Roman au- 

 thors, or the present Indian inhabitants of America. Mean huts or 

 cabins built of clay and straw, partitioned in the middle by a wall of 

 the same materials, serve the double purpose of accommodating the 

 family, who live and sleep promiscuously, having their fires of turf 

 in the middle of the floor, with an opening through the roof for a 

 chimney ; the other being occupied by a cow, or such pieces of fur- 

 niture as are not in immediate use. 



Their wealth consists of a cow, sometimes a horse, some poultry, 

 and a spot for potatoes. Coarse bread, potatoes, eggs, milk, and some- 

 times fish, constitute their food ; for, however plentifully the fields may 

 be stocked with cattle, these poor natives seldom taste butchers' 

 meat of any kind. Their children, plump, robust, and hearty, scarce- 

 ly know the use of clothes, and are not ashamed to appear naked in 

 the roads, and gaze upon strangers. 



In this idle and deplorable state, many thousands have been lost to 

 the community, a,nd to themselves, who, if they had but an equal 

 chance with their neighbours, of being instructed in the real princi- 



