isputes with Catholics, Quakers, Socinians, and Deists, and the
seven volumes which his writings fill prove that he was an extremely
able controversialist. His best known work is the famous treatise, _A
Short and Easy Method with the Deists_, published in 1698.

The Irish note, tone, or temper is not conspicuous in any of the
writings so far named unless when it is conspicuous by its absence;
but it appears plainly, for the first time, in Molyneux's _Case of
Ireland being bound by Laws [made] in England Stated_ (1698). William
Molyneux (1656-1698) has always ranked as an Irish patriot. His was
one of the spirits invoked by Grattan in his great speech (1782) on
the occasion on which he carried his celebrated Declaration of
Independence in the Irish parliament. When the English Act of 1698,
which was meant to destroy, and did destroy, the Irish woolen
industry, came before the Irish house of commons for ratification,
Molyneux's was the only voice raised against its adoption. His
protest was followed by the publication of his _Case Stated_, which
is a classic on the general relations between Ireland and England,
and contained arguments so irrefutable that it drove the English
parliament to fury and was by that body ordered to be burned by the
common hangman. It is a remarkable coincidence that Molyneux opens
his argument by laying down in almost identical words the principles
which stand at the beginning of the American Declaration of
Independence.

John Toland (1669-1722) was born near Redcastle, in Co. Derry, and
was at first a Catholic but subsequently became a free-thinker. His
_Christianity not Mysterious_ (1696) marks an epoch in religious
disputes, for it started the deistical controversy which was so
distinctive a feature of the first half of the eighteenth century. It
shared a similar fate to that of the _Case Stated_, though on very
different grounds, and was ordered by the Irish parliament to be
burned by the hangman. Toland wrote many other books, among which are
_Amyntor_ (1699); _Nazarenus_ (1702); _Pantheisticon; History of the
Druids_; and _Hypatia_. All his books show versatility and wide
reading and are characterized by a pointed, vigorous, and aggressive
style.

George Farquhar (1678-1707), a Derry man, and Thomas Southerne
(1660-1746), born near Dublin, were distinguished playwrights, who
began their respective careers in the seventeenth century. Farquhar
left Trinity College, Dublin, as an undergra