them of arms. His lordship, with five other gentlemen, immediately collected a force, and proceeded in pursuit of the offenders. They came up with them, but immediately received a volley from the White-boys, who showed such an undaunted countenance, that his lordship's party was compelled to retreat, and was, in its turn, pur

sued.

Notices were everywhere affixed threatening vengeance against all who distrained for rent or tithes, or who purchased what was distrained. These threats were very punctually carried into effect.

In some parts, the acts of outrage were directed exclusively against Protestants. In the neighbourhood of Bandon, for example, several families of that persuasion were obliged to quit their habitations in the country and to take refuge in the town.

Towards the middle of January, notwithstanding the incessant exertions of the magistrates and the military, the spirit of insubordination rose to a still more alarming height. Not a night passed, on which illegal meetings were not held; on which scores of houses were not broken into, and were then always robbed of arms, and most frequently subjected to indiscriminate plunder. The offenders generally assembled in large bodies, and then separating into smaller parties, made simultaneous attacks on various houses. They were often bold enough to commence operations as early as 6 or 7 in the evening; and that, too, in situations, which might have been supposed to have afforded protection to the householders. It was seldom that the soldiers could discover the marauders, or arrive in time enough to prevent or revenge

their outrages. The caution and activity of the White-boys, added to their care in avoiding the public roads, and to their knowledge of the country, enabled them, for the most part, to elude the vigilance of the military patroles, and, though large rewards were offered, the magistrates everywhere complained of the difficulty of obtaining information.

In consequence of the beforementioned memorial of the magistracy a military force had been stationed at Macroom and at Bandon, and orders had been given to move the whole of the 22d regiment into that district. The necessity and the inefficiency of the precautions were alike evinced by an engagement which took place on the 21st of January, between the inhabitants of the hilly district between Bantry and Macroom, and the civil power, aided by a detachment of the 39th regiment. On the preceding evening, lord Bantry had sent to major Carthew, to require the assistance of the military in apprehending of some persons charged with being concerned in the disturbances. The major came with fourteen soldiers, and the whole force assembled, including the constables and tenantry, amounted to fifty-five men. At 5 o'clock in the morning they marched from Bantry, and, about 8 o'clock, having advanced about 10 or 12 miles, they arrived at a glen on the road to Macroom. This glen forms a very strong pass; and lord Bantry, with a number of mounted gentlemen, having been attacked in it a few days before, had with difficulty made good his retreat. Major Carthew, therefore, posted his small force of 14 soldiers upon the heights at the entrance, for the purpose of prevent

ing those in the glen from being assailed in their retreat with stones, from the immensely high cliffs which inclosed it. Lord Bantry, then, accompanied by 35 mounted gentlemen, proceeded through the glen towards Inchegeelah. Scarcely had they entered, when shouts were raised, and horns and bugle horns were heard sounding; and men, appearing in every direction, fired on lord Bantry's party, who, judging the distance too great to use their arms with effect, did not return the fire. One man, advancing towards them with a pike in his hand, asked if they were not captain Rock's men. He was made a prisoner. Lord Bantry contiLord Bantry continued to advance, but, not having found the persons at home, whom he had gone in quest of, he began his retreat. No sooner was this perceived, than a systematic attack upon him was prepared, for the purpose of rescuing the prisoners whom he had taken. The insurgents now appeared in two parties; one of which consisted of two hundred and fifty, or three hundred men, and the other of about sixty. The former had nine muskets with them; the latter only five; the rest were irregularly armed. The larger body took to the heights, in order to cut off the party retiring through the glen; they did not perceive major Carthew's force until they came close to it, when they instantly fired a shot. The major then ordered his men to move forward, and drove them back a considerable distance; but their numbers increasing, and he having observed that they were ascending the mountain above him, he was obliged to retreat; and with some difficulty and hard fighting, succeeded in regaining the pass. The

insurgents were under some sort of discipline; they had a regular bugle, which sounded the advance and retreat; and they fought in so resolute and determined a manner, that the soldiers were forced to expend about twenty-five rounds of ammunition a man, in keeping them in check. One of the soldiers, advancing too far, was surrounded, knocked down, and most barbarously beaten. Some of his comrades endeavoured to bring him off, and for this purpose had placed him on the back of one of them; when the White-boys rushed down upon them in such numbers, that it became necessary to abandon the unfortunate victim to his fate. He was murdered with strokes of sticks and spades. Another party endeavoured, by occupying the glen, to prevent lord Bantry's retreat; but they were soon dislodged.

This affair was succeeded. by others of a similar description.

On the 24th of January a large body of persons attacked the mailcoach passing from Tralee to Cork; and after having killed some of the horses, and wounded the guard, coachman, and a passenger, overturned the coach and obtained possession of the mail. On the receipt of this intelligence, colonel: Mitchell, who commanded at Macroom, proceeded thence with a detachment of troops in the direction of Mill-street, near which place the coach had been attacked. He found there a large body of men partly armed; who made a show of resistance, but upon being attacked by the troops, fled with precipitation; twenty-three pri

soners were secured.

On the same day, two dragoons, dispatched with orders to the officer at Mill-street, were attacked and

wounded on their road. The officer under direction of a magistrate, proceeded with some troops in the direction of Macroom, and met a large force of the insurgents, probably the same which had been encountered by colonel Mitchell. Their number appeared to him to be nearly 5,000; they were armed with weapons of various descriptions, of which muskets formed but an inconsiderable proportion.

On the same day, in the neighbourhood of Charleville, a body of 300 persons, of whom the leader and several others were armed with muskets, effected the rescue of a man (who had been apprehended, and was in charge of a party of police), and compelled the police to retire.

On the 25th, intelligence was conveyed to sir J. Lambert, the commander of the district, that the whole male population, to the north of Bandon, was proceeding to the mountains; and it was ascertained, that the previous night had been employed in assembling the people, and that large bodies had been observed in the morning, on their march in that direction. Colonel Mitchell again marched from Macroom in the direction of Millstreet, where a man, who was conveying the mail, had been that morning attacked and murdered. He found there a body, supposed to amount to 2,000 men, posted on the heights, near the road; of these, about 1,000 descended to attack his detachment, and fired three shots; but on the advance of the troops, they immediately took to flight, leaving 30 prisoners in the hands of the military.

At the same time, a very large body of people assembled in the neighbourhood of Newmarket and

Kanturk, imagining, from the departure of some dragoons who had been stationed there, that the force of infantry remaining would be unequal to resistance.

The rioters approached the town of Newmarket, and occupied the road. A detachment of the 22nd regiment rapidly dislodged them, and secured 3 prisoners.

On the evening of the same day a detachment of the 11th regiment was attacked, on its march from Macroom to Bandon, by a party of 60 men, who followed it for three miles, and took advantage of the enclosures to fire, and to retard the march of the king's troops.

About the same time, the greater part of the population of the northern part of the county of Cork, had also assembled in the mountains. They had in some places made demonstrations of attack, and in others, had committed outrages by day, with increased forces and boldness.

Such was the state of the county of Cork in the beginning of the year. Scenes, the same in kind, though on a minor scale and exhibiting less audacity, presented themselves in many other districts. In Kerry, Tipperary, and Limerick, assassinations were frequent; and houses were everywhere attacked and robbed of arms.

The county of Clare, though not altogether tranquil, was more so, than any other part of Munster, except, perhaps, Waterford. That part of Kilkenny, which bordered on Tipperary, was in a state scarcely less disturbed. The system of threatening tithe proctors was there in full vigour; persons, who enforced tithe processes, were sure to be made the victims of outrage; nor was it possible to obtain information concerning the

offenders. Large bodies of men, armed and mounted, were to be found parading the roads every night, menacing with destruction all who opposed them. The resi dent gentlemen dared not go out after dusk; they were compelled to keep regular guards for their protection, and, indeed, to convert their houses into so many garri

sons.

There were four other counties of Leinster, to which the illegal associations had extended their influence; namely, Kildare, WestMeath, King's-County, and Meath. The county of Dublin, too, was in some measure the scene of their operations. In these districts, however, the combinations, though connected with the conspirators in the South, seem to have had it particularly in view to effect a rise in the rate of wages; and the arm of the law was for the most part powerful enough to prevent them from becoming very formidable.

In Connaught, the disturbances were confined to the counties of Galway and Roscommon.

Ulster had hitherto been tranquil; but some symptoms of disorder had manifested themselves. A meeting was intended to have been held in Tyrone, on the 1st of January. On the 3rd, a large body consisting of some hundreds, mostly armed, crossed the Derry mountains, demanding arms in their way, but without committing any act of violence. Considerable alarm existed also in the county of Down, though no actual outrage had been perpetrated; but some notices against the payment of tithes had been posted up; an unusually great demand for arms had taken place in Belfast; and it was known, that the practice of administering unlawful oaths was

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very prevalent, and that committees had been formed, who were in correspondence with other committees sitting in Dublin. Circumstances like these might reasonably excite alarm in the minds of men, who had before their eyes the excesses that were taking place in Munster.

At this critical time, all who were concerned in the general or local administration of Ireland, appear to have acted with a most praiseworthy energy and diligence. The lord lieutenant was unremit¬ ting in his endeavours to ascertain accurately, by official reports regularly transmitted to him, the actual state of every part of the country; and this industry on his part was doubly advantageous, because it not only enabled him to take with promptitude due measures of precaution, but it likewise operated as a powerful motive to increase the zeal and diligence of the local magistrates. These magistrates and the great body of resident gentlemen seem to have dreaded neither toil nor danger, in their efforts to preserve the public peace; and on all occasions the civil and the military power co-operated most cordially. The magnitude of the evil had roused, even the sluggish into activity; and, perhaps, the excess to which the mischief at this time rose, may prove ultimately a benefit to Ireland, by impressing on the wilder part of her population, a dear-bought lesson, which may teach them for the future, to tremble before the law, to dread the power of the executive, and to look with reverential apprehension to the ministers of justice.

Strange as the outrages which we have described must appear to those, who are accustomed to con

template society only as it exists in England, the wonder will cease, when we consider the character of the population in the Southern provinces of Ireland, and the principles on which social order depends. To establish effectually the reign of law, there must exist in the minds of individuals, an habitual sentiment of implicit obedience to it, and a general inclination throughout the mass of the population to concur in enforcing it. Where this general inclination does not prevail, the power of law must necessarily be precarious because there the offender has abundant facilities for escaping detection or avoiding seizure: he has neither the fear of punishment to deter him, for of punishment there is little chance; nor the dread of the reprobation of those around him, for their habits of thinking do not lead them to view his purposed deed with ab

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horrence. Now the lower Irish population, especially in Munster, were never impressed with an habitual reverence for the laws, nor with those feelings which would urge them to co-operate in enforcing the observance of them. Far, therefore, from there being any thing wonderful in the outrages which they may at any time commit, the true matter of wonder is, that they should ever be completely tranquil. Whether they shall be in a disturbed or in a quiet state, must be a matter of mere accident; according as there, do or do not exist among them circumstances to excite a general wish to resist the laws.

Such circumstances were in operation at the commencement of the present year. In consequence of the fall in the price of agricultural produce, the more opulent

farmers were involved in pecuniary embarrassments; the less opulent could no longer pay their rent or cultivate their land; and the distress, thus produced, necessarily extended itself to the labourers. The relation between the cultivator of the ground, and those who were entitled to any part of the produce of it, whether in the shape of rent or of tithes, now became a natural source of hostility: for the cultivator was no longer able to satisfy the demands to which he was exposed; and, he therefore, very naturally turned round to defy the laws which laid upon him inconvenient obligations, and to trample upon interests which were at variance with his own. There was, indeed, the law to restrain him; but that law had never possessed any moral power over him; he cared for it only, so far as there was physical force to give it effect; and he knew, that, in defying it, he was more likely to meet with the support, than with the opposition of those around him.

The application of civil and military power, may check the progress of actual outrage; or the propensity to violence may be soothed into slumber by the removal of the circumstances, more immediately calling it into action ; but it will be long before the predisposing causes of disorder in Ireland, can be completely eradicated. That cannot be effected, till there grows up a numerous, and opulent middle class, who feel that they have a general interest in submitting, and in making others submit to the law; and till the lower class of the population be distributed into a number of subdivisions with varying habits, so that the feelings, which pervade