, for the double
purpose of mortally wounding his ancient enemy, and of giving, as a
boon to its oppressed inhabitants, that liberty of which he talks so
much and knows so little. Doubtless the sufferings of this _patient_
people have, before now, drawn tears from the sensitive eyes of "the
brother of the sun;" and the "sagacious and enlightened Lin" has
already suggested to his celestial master the propriety of dispatching
some of his invincible war-junks to effect the liberation of the
degraded slaves of the "red and blue devils" who have so cruelly
annoyed him. Every one has heard, and every one talks, of Irish
grievances; but no one seems to know exactly what those grievances
are: their existence appears to be so unquestionable, that to dispute
it is not only useless but almost disreputable; and yet if one venture
to enquire of those who declaim most loudly against them wherein they
consist, they limit themselves to generalities, and quote the admitted
state of the country as proof positive of English injustice and Saxon
misrule.

That the inhabitants of distant countries should believe what they
hear so constantly asserted, cannot be a matter of much surprise; nor
that the enemies of England and of order should credit what it suits
their inclinations to believe; but that those who live close to the
scene of such grievous inflictions--that those who are the
fellow-subjects of the oppressed, and who may be said to be the
instruments whereby those enormities are perpetrated--should take for
granted all they hear stated, without endeavouring to discover the
truth of those assertions or the extent of their own culpability, does
seem to us almost incredible. Yet so it is. Irish grievances are now
in fashion. The most glaring fabrications are swallowed with anxiety
if they only profess to be recitals of Irish sufferings; and the
British people seem ready to yield to the clamours of mendacious and
designing demagogues, measures not only detrimental to the interests
of the country for whose welfare they profess so much anxiety, but
absolutely ruinous to the glory and the power of their own.

We will not stop here to discuss the benefits which we are told would
accrue to the Irish nation from the success of a measure which never
can be carried while Ireland holds loyal subjects, or Britain has an
arm to wield; but we shall at once proceed to ascertain if those
glaring injustices, which make us the world's table-talk, reall