Henry Brooke

“ Countrymen, of whatsoever Denomination, without Favour or Distinction; for meliorating their proper Estates, or Farms; for excelling in any Production of Nature, or Art; for any Discovery, or Invention, useful to Mankind: A Set of truly honourable, and generous Personages, instructing their Countrymen with clear, yet philosophical Precepts, encouraging them by their Example, and rewarding them from their inexhaustible Bounty! Such, and such unrivalled, is the Illustrious Dublin Society! ”

“ If it is Revenge that we seek, they have, already, suffered enough, not for their own Faults, but for the Hostility of their Forefathers. If we seek our Safety, alone; let us chace them, at once, from Country and Community; or put an End to our domestic Fears, by giving them Cause to defend us.
Indeed, Sir, neither common Sense, nor Sense of any Kind, can possibly suppose, That Acts of Kindness which have been, from the Beginning of the World, the Cement of Friendship to all other People, should prove the reverse to these People alone. ”

“ In this shining Period were Cathedrals and Churches erected, Universities founded and established, Colleges, Seminaries and Schools propagated in many Parts of this Kingdom, which, at the same Time, became a peaceful and hospitable Retreat to religious and learned Men, disturbed on the Continent of Europe, by the frequent Invasions, and cruel Hostilities of the North-men, whose Piracies and Barbarity, even Ireland could not always escape! ”

“ But, surely, such Men and such Things are not to be thought of, in Competition with those, who, by Teaching and Preaching, refine our Morals, instruct our Understandings, inform our Lives, and enlighten our Souls with the celestial Spirit of the Christian Faith; and thereby happily lead us, through this transient and precarious State, to eternal Tranquilly and Bliss. I am not a Preacher; but thus far shall venture: As the Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom, our generally following the heavenly Example of this venerable Society, must be a great Test as well of the one, as the other. ”

“ King James the Second, constrained to abdicate the Throne of England, endeavoured the Preservation of this his Kingdom of Ireland, where his faithful Subjects, (a Remnant of the various and manifold Wastes of foregoing Reigns) considering the thousand Disadvantages they laboured under, made such a Stand as later Ages will look up to with Astonishment! A Parcel of Men, congregated in the utmost Hurry and Confusion, undisciplin'd, unarm'd, uncloathed, unpaid! ”

“ You say, favourably enough for your own Disposition, that you have long looked on the Roman-Catholics of these Kingdoms as a discountenanced and pitiable People. That you would choose to allow to others the same Latitude of Conscience that you like for yourself. That it is not a Part of Humanity to break a Reed already bruised. That such a Treatment would be blameable respecting any Individual; how much more so, in Prejudice of a whole People. That those Papers are pointed with a Keenness of Enmity, for which the Talents, which you are pleased to ascribe, cannot sufficiently apologize. ”

“ I am equally at a Loss to know why a Man should become a standing Jest for his Ignorance in an alien Tongue, almost the constant Fate of our Countrymen in Britain, where, whoever is not smartly expert in the English Language, is immediately denominated a Teague, a Paddy, or I know not what, in the Stile of Derision: At the same Time that the most awkward-tongued Irishman in London speaks English with far more Propriety, and a better Accent, than the smartest British Petit Maitre in Paris doth French. ”

“ Since, where an harmonious Subordination of Rank and Order hath not been duly preserved, even in free Estates, Liberty itself (wisely attempered, the greatest of all social Blessings) hath often, from Abuse and Neglect, sickened into Licentiousness, the immediate lewd Mother of Anarchy! In the visible Creation, the direct Result of infinite Wisdom, the lesser Planets do not interfere with, much less shock or oppose the Motions and Revolutions of the greater; they constantly keep the Distances first prescribed them, and all move regularly to their respective Ends. ”

“ In a Nation, where almost every Gentleman is better acquainted, and more conversant, with the Nature and Circumstances of other Countries than those of his own, the Publication of such Hints as may somewhat contribute to remove so odd an Inattention, and induce those far better qualified to render a Subject so interesting some Justice, will not, I hope, be deemed an Impertinence; in one especially who, by this Essay, however feeble, hath nothing beside the Honour and Advantage of [pg 006] Ireland in View, a Kingdom whereof he is, without Vanity, proud of being a Native. ”

“ The Linen-Hall was erected in Dublin, under as just and nice Regulations as any commercial House in Europe.
The North of Ireland began to wear an Aspect entirely new; and, from being (through Want of Industry, Business, and Tillage) the almost exhausted Nursery of our American Plantations, soon became a populous Scene of Improvement, Traffic, Wealth, and Plenty; and is, at this Day, a well-planted District, considerable for Numbers of well-affected, useful, and industrious Subjects.
Now arose, now shone forth, the ever Honourable Dublin Society; a Society equalled by none. ”

“ Will late Posterity believe, that, in Favour of mercenary Adventurers, who advanced Money to provide for a desperate regicide Army; in Favour of the Officers of this same Army, whom their Ringleader Cromwell, seared as his Conscience was, indulged with no more than temporary Grants of the Estates belonging to the King's most faithful Subjects: Will Posterity, I say, believe, that, in special Favour of such Men, those identical Subjects, the bravest Advocates, as well as the most affectionate undeviating Friends of the Monarchy and Constitution, were for ever deprived of their Properties! ”

“ Fiechry, still extant in the Navarre Library at Paris, the Constitutional Wisdom of Ireland appears in a clear and happy Light: Persons, Things, Actions, and Expressions, were cautiously attended to, by the Laws; Persons, in their Minority, Youth, and Manhood, according to their different Ranks in the State, so as by Care, Education, and Discipline, to render them, some subservient, others useful, some beneficial, and others ornamental thereunto. ”

“ In the Diocese of Dublin existeth a truly pious Society for the Relief and Support of the Widows and Children of the inferior Clergy thereof. It is, indeed, surprizing in a Kingdom, such (thank Heaven) as Ireland is, that the Example of this charitable Society, hath not been universally followed. ”

“ No Riotings have been heard in their Houses, no Complainings in their Streets; they have been silent and harmless as Sheep before their Sheerers. Our Parties, Factions, and Insurrections, as they are merrily stiled in England, have been all among ourselves; this People were neither Actors nor Partakers therein. They have offered themselves to our Fleets, and to our Armies; to tend our Persons, to till our Grounds, to hew our Wood, and to draw our Water. Where we admit them to fight for us, they have ever proved valiant ”

“ When Brutus unsheathed the reluctant Sword of Freedom against his Friend, Humanity must suppose that his Heart was wrung with Compunction, while his Country enjoined and impelled the Blow.
But further, Sir, there is a very wide Difference between a Popish Regency and a Popish People. The whole Intent and Virulence, as you call it, of my Papers, is pointed and levelled against the One, but not a Syllable uttered, from End to End, against the Other. A Popish Regency, in Temporals alike as in Spirituals, I held to be, by Principle, an arbitrary and oppressive Government ”

“ Yet, as Time, publick Spirit, Patriotism (in its highest Conception) and unwearied Diligence, were all collectively essential to the giving Life, Vigour, and Activity, to national Industry and Improvement, so very long in a melancholy State of Languor and Oppression: Not before the present truly glorious Reign, did Hibernia tune her old Harp, now newly strung to universal Harmony and Elegance, and rear her awful Head from the stupid dismal Dozes of Ages ”

“ Had Roman Catholics been possessed of an unrestrained Property, along with the other Liberties, Blessings, and Enjoyments, which they derived, in common with us, from the Establishment at the Revolution, no spiritual or temporal Power on Earth could have tempted them to permit, much less to wish, a Change of a Constitution whose Equal they could not find upon Earth. ”

“ There is no Medium that can assure your Safety, answered the Minister; you must either pull this Party wholly up by the Root, so as to leave no Fibre from whence future Enmity may grow; or else, you must change that Enmity into Friendship, by binding their Gratitude to your Person and Interest, with the kindliest of all Connections, that of your Goodness and Favour. A partial Punishment will be too little for your Safety; a partial Pardon will not be enough. You must either wholly annihilate their Power, by their Death; or derive Strength to yourself, from that Power, by their Friendship. ”

“ And to beseech you not to suffer, that either the Hatred, which an immoderate Zeal swells some bigotted Sectaries with, nor the unlucky Spoils of these poor People, render criminal or miserable the most faithful of your Subjects; to whom their lawful King, as you are, is not the less dear, nor less respected, because of a different Belief from theirs. We propose Nothing to ourselves in this, nor ask any Thing, but what we daily practise (as you may know) towards those of our Subjects who are of the reformed Religion. ”

“ But, had a hundred Pitts, and a hundred Cecils, composed the Senate of our Ancestors, at the Time that those Penal Laws were enacted; had those Laws been ever so wise and so just, so wholesome and necessary, and well suited to the Season; is that a Reason that they should continue so to the End of Time? In a World where nothing is permanent; where Modes, Manners, Principles, and Practice are at a Flux; where Life is uncertain, and all it contains changeable; Nature and Reason will conform to Situation and Circumstance ”

“ But, as our Linens are, without Question, become the vital Spring of Irish Commerce, it is Matter of great Concern and equal Surprize, that the other Provinces do not more universally and effectually follow the lucrative Example of the North! since, it is evident, nothing but equal Industry can be wanting to render them equally flourishing, The Over-growth of Graziers and Stockmasters, is the strongest Indication that can be of national Waste and Decay, in respect of Inhabitants. ”

“ In this happy Reign was incorporated, under the protective Sanction of Royal Bounty, a Society, truly Christian, for the pious Establishment of Protestant Charter-Schools throughout the Kingdom: An Institution far more productive of national Morality, and Reformation, than excommunicative Discipline, or restrictive penal Statutes; since Persuasion and Rewards have ever been, and must ever continue to be, more consistent with the meek and benevolent Temper of true Christianity, more effectual, Apostolic, and Catholic, than Punishments, Persecution, or Sequestrations. ”

“ But a People, who, through a Winter of seventy Years Continuance, have never failed, or forsaken, or given us Cause of Offence, surely merit some Consideration, some grateful and chearing Ray to warm them to a Sense that Protestants are not, by Choice, of a cruel, unforgiving, and malevolent Nature. ”

“ Let us now take a summary View of the Inhabitants of Ireland, in their respective Ranks: And to begin with the Peers: Are they not such Personages, as, by their Munificence, Affability of Manners, Easiness of Comportment, Propriety of Appearance, and Generosity in dealing, reflect true Honour on Nobility; and, [pg 057] Reality, derive their superior Rank, as much from the Pre-eminence of their Virtues, as from the constitutional Dignity of their Titles? ”

“ Then, his Scheme of uniting an Academy, for the sober regular Education of Youth, with a publick Theatre, seemed rather the feverish Delusion of a distempered Brain, and heated Imagination, than the cool deliberate Result of rational Judgment; from which fermented Source, also seem'd directly to flow his avowed Concern for the long lost Art of Oratory among us: Had Mr. Sheridan attended to the Debates of our High Court of Parliament; been frequent in our different Churches, and at the Bars of our Courts of Judicature ”

“ To remunerate the others, the most inveterate and implacable Enemies of EITHER! Doing Good for Evil is a Divine Precept, and certainly includes a most sublime Moral; but rendering Evil for Good, is such a Principle as must carry Horror with it, among savage Nations!
The King of France's immediate Letter, on this Subject, to King Charles the Second, as it reflects Honour on the Memory of those illustrious Sufferers, I therefore take Leave to transcribe in this Place.
* * * * * His Most Christian Majesty's Letter to the King of Great Britain, in Favour of the Roman Catholicks of Ireland. ”

“ I have read and noted many Instances, in free States and Commonwealths, where Liberty, when fermented into Licentiousness, hath occasioned many partial Struggles for Power, many Broils and Factions, and much Disturbance to the Community. But very few are the Instances of the Insurrection of any People, who have not been goaded thereto by Severity and Oppression. ”

“ Patrick wisely foreseeing that whatever Impressions he should make on this august Assembly must have an Influence on the whole Kingdom, and therefore, being supported with invincible Christian Fortitude, resolved not to be absent from a Place where his Presence was so conducive to the Ends of his Holy Ministry.
Never did the Spirit of popular Freedom exert itself more powerfully or harmoniously, than in those truly parliamentary Triennial Conventions of Ireland, where the supreme Monarch, the Provincial Kings, the feudatory Lords, the Nobles, landed Men, Druids, &c. ”