this army. We find Sir Ralph Abercrombie speaking thus: "The
very disgraceful frequency of great crimes and cruelties, and the many
complaints of the conduct of the troops in this kingdom--Ireland--has
too unfortunately proved the army to be in a state of licentiousness
that renders it formidable to everyone except the enemy." Sir Ralph
Abercrombie declared himself so frightened and disgusted at the conduct
of the soldiers that he threw up his commission, and refused the command
of the army.

General Lake, who was sent to take his place, speaks thus: "The state of
the country, and its occupation previous to the insurrection, is not to
be imagined, except by those who witnessed the atrocities of every
description committed by the military,"--and he gives a list of
hangings, burnings and murders.

Finally, we have the testimony of another English soldier, Sir William
Napier, speaking some years later: "What manner of soldiers were these
fellows who were let loose upon the wretched districts, killing, burning
and confiscating every man's property? ... We ourselves were young at
the time; yet, being connected with the army, we were continually among
the soldiers, listening with boyish eagerness to their experiences: and
well remember, with horror, to this day, the tales of lust, of bloodshed
and pillage, and the recital of their foul actions against the miserable
peasantry, which they used to relate."

The insurrection against this misery and violence, which began in May,
1798, and its repression, we may pass over, coming to their political
consequences. It is admitted on all hands that the morality and religion
of England reached their lowest ebb at this very time; we are,
therefore, ready to learn that the Act of Union between England and
Ireland, which followed on the heels of this insurrection, was carried
by unlimited bribery and corruption. The Parliament of Ireland, as we
know, was solely composed of Protestants, the Catholics having neither
the right to sit nor the right to vote; so that the ignominy of this
universal corruption must be borne by the class of English and Scottish
settlers alone.

The curious may read lists of the various bribes paid to secure the
passage of the Act of Union in 1800, the total being about six million
dollars--a much more considerable sum then than now. And it must be
remembered that this entire sum was drawn from the revenues of Ireland,
besides the whole cost of an army numbering