rained troops of England could be encountered with a
superior weapon.

Meanwhile the lord-lieutenant of Ireland, the Earl of Clarendon, proved
himself a most vigorous governor. He entered into negotiations with the
Orangemen, who were true to the throne to a man. One hundred and fifty
thousand men of that confederacy, and of the Protestants who held their
principles and sympathised with their party, although not enrolled in
the lodges, were ready to take up arms on the side of the government,
and many stand of arms were to be distributed should necessity arise. A
very large distribution was made, and the Orangemen, and vast number
of other Protestants, were ready to turn out at a moment's notice. The
number at the call of the government were quite sufficient, with a small
body of troops as a point of support, to put down any force the disloyal
could bring into the field. How such men as Mitchell, Meagher, O'Brien,
and Duffey could fail to see that, was extraordinary. They still went
on, talking of Ireland as about to "arise in her majesty and shake
off the English yoke," at a time when a million and a half of Irish
Protestants would have preferred any yoke under heaven to that of their
own Roman Catholic countrymen; and while some of the most papal of the
Roman Catholics themselves had no hope in the movement, no confidence in
the leaders, and a strong conviction that any effort against England was
impracticable, and would lead only to a waste of blood. His excellency
displayed such vigour that, early in the spring, two hundred and eighty
thousand persons, comprising the wealth and intelligence of the country,
signed a document expressive of their confidence. His lordship was
keenly alive, also, to the influence of the press, and subsidised
various papers to oppose the Young Irelanders. He did not display as
much caution in this department of his policy as he did vigour and
sagacity in other directions. He hired a man named Birch, who edited a
paper called the _World_, which was very ably conducted. The terms on
which his excellency put himself with Mr. Birch were discreditable to
the government, and the spirit in which he wrote and acted was insulting
to the country, and when his connection with the Castle became known,
the hands of government were weakened by the circumstance.

The negotiations with Rome were productive of more effect than giving
subsidies to the press, for both sections of the anti-union agitation
d