with the products of the country. There is a bleach
yard also in its vicinity, but since the removal of Mr.
Belton, its original proprietor, I presume the linen
, business in that neighborhood has greatly declined.
There is a good flour mill, two or three breweries, and
an extensive tan-yard in the town, and these, of course,
prove not only a source of wealth to their owners, but
of comfort and provision to a certain proportion of the
laboring poor — the manufacturing of stuffs was also car-
ried on here, in a partial way, by one or two of the in-
habitants — All these, in connection with the military esta-
- blishments, the schools for education, and the influx of
people from the surrounding country, and above all, the
liberal conduct of Lord Charleville to his tenantry, have
brought TuUamore t-o its present opulence and respecta-
bility ; and if Strokestown in the County of Roscommon,
had received the saruG encouragements, thirty or forty
J4i The Irish Tourist.
years since, its buildings, its trade, and even the sur-
rounding neighborhood, would, ere this, have exhibited a
different appearance.
1 kept travelling in a zig zag kind of motion for some
time — now verging toward the city, and then by a kind
of retrogade motion, rebounding back toward Edcnderry,
Phillipstown or TuUamore. At length by some kind of
fatality, I again got fastened within the influence of
Dublin, that great centre of our Irish commercial system;
nor could I, for at least two months, recover that centri-
fugal force, which enabled me to dart from its baneful
sphere, and roll my Tennis, ball, through the pure and
healthful regions of the country — To mend the matter,
the people in those great cities, and in all other places
of fashionable resort, have got a language of their own
— My principles and my education, being rural and old
fashioned, I had no idea in the world, wlien a great man
or great woman said, on delivering them a letter of in-
troduction at their country seat, " I shall be in town next
month, and shall certainly call on your bookseller, and in
the mean time shall shew your prospectus to my friends;"
that this was only a polite manner of getting rid of the
business. A dialogue which I had with a tilled lady of
this class, appearing calculated to place the Ion in a con-
spicuous point of view, I shall here notice it, for the in-
formation of my readers, who have but little knowledge
of the world. I happened to call at this lady's country
scat (whom we shall distinguish by the title of Lady Rattle)
just as her ladyship was preparing to ride out — I pre-
sented her with an introduction from a pious and respect-
able character in her own neighborhood, and one who,
like herself; had the honor of a tilled name, but which,
The Irish Tour^ist. J 5
as the event will shew, was but of little service to the
writer —
Lady llaltle— *' How is Lady A—, (the author of the
inlroductioii) I hope she is well?"
Auiiior thanked her ladyship, and told her, as usual —
, Lady IJattlc — " Do you intend delaying in this neigh-
borhood ?"
Author — *' No madam, am going toward the north,
just now."
. Lady R— " I am going out to ride, at present, but by
all mean* put my name down in your list of subscribers."
Author begged leave, for her Ladyship's information, to
point out the clause in his pi'ospectus, which contained
tlic conditions.
,, Lady Rattle— <' I perceive, but cannot conveniently
give you the subscription now.".
Author — *' No matter, Madam, it will do on my re-
turn from the north."
Lady U. — ".Very well, but in the mean time be sure
you insert me in your list."
Author thanked her ladyship for this mark of her fa-
vour, and inserted her name accordingly On his rc-
lurn from the north, he called again at her ladyship's rc-
' iidcnce in the country, a beautiful place indeed ; saw
ihc housekeeper, but did not alight 3 for her ladyship
â– od part of the family had gone to Dublin, a few days
before — Tiic author having information of her residence
in Dublin, called there soon after, and enquired of the
servant, if his master and lady were at home — was an-
iwcrcd in the ajfirmative — Desired the servant to inform
ihem, the author of the work, to which her ladyship had
lubscribcd ia the country, wiis then in waiting — The
76 The Irish Tourist,
servant delivered the message, and returned for answer,
that his master and lady were not at home — I retired, and .
after transacting some business at that end of the town, «
copied a note, signifying my disappointment at not being
favored with an interview; at the same time begging
leave to enquire, if it was Lady R.'s pleasure to be pub-
lished as a blank subscriber ; a step which I would by no
means take without first consulting her. I sent this note
up, and waited for an answer; upon which I was paid
the principal part of her ladyship's subscription, the
whole, for that time, being a few shillings , and so the
transaction ended. Had I, however, happened to be a
tenant on the estate, perhaps the accompt might
continue open for some years to come ; but as I am not,
I conceive it is closed. And here, I would wish to admo-
iiish the simple and unfashionable reader, not to indulge
himself in severe reflections, on what, he might conceive
to be, the ungenerous conduct of this woman of fashion
— She has, probably, as many good qualities as several
olher persons of /rt?'^z^ne; but it is not the fashion with
every one of this class, to keep their word — to speak
truly what they think — to make a scruple of promising,
what they do not intend to perform, or of performing
what they have promised ; these things being no part of
the creed of fashion (save in the article of gaming, which
has a clause in its favor) hence, no man's, nor no woman's
character, in the great world, suffers by rejecting them, or .
even laughing them to scorn, as the virtues of an old puri-
tanical mechanic, book-worni, or other drudge of crea-
tion, who lives by the great world — It sometim(!bs happens, .
however, that these drudges become tractable disciples of .
the great, imitate their example, and make the great
TJie Irish TourisL Jf
suffer m their turn, by the various impositions which they
pay them back ; and thus the great, of this character^
reap the first fruits of that harvest, of which their corrupt
principles and example are the seed. This may teach the
man of humble condition, not to envy the great their en-
joyment*— if he is a man of principle, and has even a
\ moderate share of the comforts of life ; yea, if he has
( ouly its necessaries, and enjoys them with independence
t and a thankful heart, he is more an object of envy, thar\
^ the poor slave, who, with thousands of acres and a nu-
^ roerouB retinue at his heels, dare neither think, nor speak,
^ Bor act, but as the fashion of the world directs him.
I In the neighborhood of Phillipstown and Edendeiry, I
^ obtained a few subscribers ;. among whom was a Mr.
North, of Coolmount, a civil hospitable man, and a Mr.
Rait, an extensive Scotch farmer, and very useful mem-
'v Ucr of society in that place. I could, not avoid thinking,
\ concerning this gcntlemr.n, that if he had taken as much
paint to introduce Scotch religion, as Scotch agriculture
>' into this country, that the heat of our theological cli-
''â– ^ mate, would have, long sincCy compelled him to return
\ io North Britaiiiy in pursuit of cooler air.
I* In the neighborhood of Kilcock, I was recommended
I to visit Mr. T ^, a clergyman of the establishment,
whose signature and subscription, with those of several
other gentlemen in his immediate vicinity, I soon after
obtained. The principal and most valuable ornament of
W»at place is Mrs. T — • — , wife of the clergyman above
mentioned, whose knowledge of christian divinity, and
bappy talent of expressing it both with her tongue and her
ptn, were qualities as edifying, as they appeared rare
and unusual in tl^ world.
78 • 7%e Irish Tourist
Between Edenderry and Kilcock, and in the neighbor-
hood around, I visited several of the most respectable in-
habitants, and by much the larger number of those I ap-
plied to, had the goodness to honor my publication with
their patronage.
While travelling in this district, an illness which had
been for some time gathering in my head and stomach,
obliged me to take up my residence a night or two ex-
traordinary, at an inn, in a neighboring village. Here
I took some medicine proper for my "complaint, but
with- great difficulty, and not until after long fasting,
could I prevail on my hostess, to accommodate me with j
nourishment suited to my weakness. Thcdecpest spring
of unpalatable feeling on this subject, was an apprehension, \
that, I was indebted for this treatment, to the deformity
of my faith, and to the temerity which had emboldened ,
me to proclaim it. Having exerted my industry to assist '
nature out of this affliction, I embraced the first moments
of returning strength to depart froni this place, and
creeping with difficulty into my saddle, arrived the same
evening at Celbridge, improved in my health and spirits
by an hour or two of gentle exercise in the open air. i
During my trials at this inn, I was furnished with a
new proof of the wisdom and goodness of the great ^
Creator, in the ceconomy of nature — On the day of
my sickness and fast, being weak, I several times
fell into refreshing slumbers — I took notice with gratitude,
that, in the animal ceconomy, a source of nourishment
exists, appointed not only to co-operate with gross sub-
stances in the maintenance of the system \ but when,
from the absence of these, the channels of nature are ne-
cessarily empty, it, as from a mystic store, pours forth ,
The Irish Tounst. 79
its nourishment, and supplies the defect; and hence may
be properly denominated the sick man's secret store.
Oh, great and all-wise Governor !• every thing in nature,
as well as in the plan of redemption, speaks not only thy
power, but thy fatherly attention to the weak and desolate
— Hagar, when in the anguish of thy soul, thou cast thy
* son from thee to perish in the desert ; how well did the
voice of consolation which restored him to. thy bosom,
prove the truth of this parental care.
In the course of my travels through those parts, I
Ijcard of an instance, or rather reiterated proofs of^ that
gothic barbarity, which still continues, in various forms,
to stalk over this. favored, but abused and superstitious
island.
On Sunday morning, June 2nd, 1811, I was informed
by respectable witnesses, that the Methodist meeting-
• )iousc at Maynooth, was broken open, - and, the house
nearly pulled down : that the pulpit and forms u-ere
broken and thrown into the street, with menaces thrown
out, that if rebuilt, they would again be thrown down —
that stones or brick-bats had been thrown at. the preacher
in the public street, and once at a respectable female of
that society — that repeatedly, they have been molested in
their worship, by stones thrown upon, the house while
the congregation was assembled ; and once a large stone
fell near the lady's head above mentioned — That ihe Pre-
sident of the Roman Catholic College, said, he would
give a reward for the discovery of the perpetrators of
these outrages, &c. 1 am aware that there are Ca-
tholics who would abhor this deed 1 am aware, that
there are catholics, who, in every sense of the word, are
good men, and members of society ; but I am aware also of
80 The Irish Tourist.
the effect produced upon the minds of the common people
by such a clause in their catechism as the following : —
" There is no salvation out of the true church, and the
true church is the holy Roman," &c. and by the word
" heretic," sometimes used in their pulpits, and which we
arc at no loss to understand, how the common, yea and
some of the uncommon people too, take it. I fear the
prejudices naturally resulting from these partial doctrines,
will continue more or less to bring forth fruits of mis-
fortune, until the doctrines of universal love, and the
possibility of salvation to all who fear God and work
righteousness, become as conspicuous â– features of
the Catholic Church, as they are now of the reformed ;
and should this ever take place, it will not be,
until something is purged out which now exists, and
something is added which is now wanting; in the in-
terim, good speeches from a Roman Catholic gentleman,
may tend to place his own benevolence in a conspicuous
point of view, but will never eradicate from the minds
of a people trained to prejudice, the source of these dis-
orders. The Quakers, who as the Marquis of Redesdale
justly remarked, do not aspire to posts of honour in the
state, are taught, nevertheless, by their principles, which
have neither sacrament or ceremony, to be charitable to
all* — they are, at all events, not chargeable with public
outrage— The Methodists, in like manner, are not known
to attack the Roman Catholic Chapels, throw stones at
their priests, or otherwise conspire to injure and assault
them — how then shall we account for the difference ? —
* Reader, compare the charity here noticed with the conduct
of some modern Quakers, who, notwithstanding their sancti-.
monious pretensions, have brought ruin upon helpless fiUuiUes,
by their ambitious proj&cts.
The Irish Tourist. 81
The Roman Calholic clergy may perhaps say, that the
poor of their flocks have long been the neglected part
of the community, and hence, it cannot in justice be ex-
pected, that fruits of regularity should be produced from
a wild and uncultivated stock — We could wish with the
utmost linccrity, that, neither the civil power, the land-
lords of those people, nor themselves, who are its ec-
clesiastical rulers, had, by neglect or mismanagement,
suffered this apology to exist : but whatever truth there
may be in it, it can never be deemed a sufficient one,
while we behold fruits of a very different character pro-
duced in the conduct of persons of the same rank in so-
ciety, who come under the doctrine and discipline of the
Methodists, and other religious Protestant sects.
Sunday morning, June the 9th, 181 1, I returned from
a. gentleman's house in the country to the town of Kilcock,
in order to attend the service of the established church,*
* There is good cause to admonish the people of Ireland to
look narrowly into the application, of the taxes levied by vestries
upon the parishes, for the building and repairs of churches —
Whether a debtor and creditor account should be kept with the
treasurers of those parochial funds, and printed copies of their
accompts distributed anually among the parishioners, is a sub-
ject which deserves the consideration of the public — Nothing less
than this will place the public in satisfactory possession of the use
which is-raadeof its own contributions — for people collected in a
vestry or even in a grand jury room, may be too modest to look
narrowly into the state of a treasurer's acconipts,\vhereasifa printed
statement of those accompts was aunually distributed, time
would be aBbrded the people to examine into their accuracy — a.
reasonable public satisfaction, which an honest treasurer would
be proud to give, and nothing less than which, canphcethe peo-
ple in a capacity of deciding whether the burdens imposed upon
Ihcra for public used, are properly or improperly applied— la -a.
1''
82 The Irish Tourist,
but in Kilcock, for the Protestant part of the community,
I found no such thing — On enquiring into the cause, I
was informed,' that, the minister had been for some time
dead, and for about the space of a quarter of a year
past, service had been 07ice performed in that place.
"'My God," cried I to the clerk, ** could not you have
read prayers to the little handful of protestants who live
in this place — the canons of the church are not against
it, and surely their souls are of some value — the Romish
priests do not thus neglect their flocks, but our Pro-
testant bishops have their bread baked." At Edenderry,
in like manner, I heard (before the present incumbent
entered on the parish) a complaint of a similar nature,
from a good woman, who lamented to this eflect, that
she had no church, on Sunday, to send her children to,
if it was only to keep them out of harni's way. Here,
the clergyman, who has since died, being in an ill state
of health, the service had been for some time omitted,
and humanity might require that, a man, with a large
family, dependent for support on the profits of his parish,
should not, by an expensive substitute, be deprived of
this support, I love in my heart a humane action, for
timeofnational calamity like the present^ every mode of giving sa-
tisfaction to the public, should be adopted by public men. Tolls
and market duties, a serious burden also, upon the poor, should
be narrowly inspected. Market juries should be established in
every town, for the inspection of weiglits and measures, a duty
grossly neglected in many places, and for want of attention
to which, the j)opu]ation of many country towns in Ireland,
have been so far injured, particularly in the important article-
of bread, as to be compelled to pay, in the remarkably cheap
spring of 1S15, the sum of cightpencc for two four-penny bricks,
containing about (he same quantity, in weight, as the four-
jiencc halfpenny loaf in the Dublin market !
The Irish Tourist. 83
I have sometimes felt the virtue which flows from it my-
self-T^hut surely, if from a motive of tenderness to an
afflicted family, upon the sickly head of wjiich, the
duties of this parish happened to devolve, his services
were dispensed with for a season, the ample revenue of the
bishop (if it was beneath his lordship's dignity to attend
in person) would be adequate to the expense of pro-
curing a substitute, until the sick man was either re-
stored or dead.
Declining the advice of my landlord's daughter at
Kilcock to attend the service of the Romish chapel in
that place, I called for my horse and rode to Celbridgc,
and there, in the afternoon, assembled with a handful of
the onixcd method ists, who pray for one another in their
mother tongue, (and as Pliny, I think it was, said of the
primitive christians,) sing a hymn to Christ as to their
God — Waited a second time on Mr. Whitelaw of Straffan,
and obtained from him introductions to divers persons of
distinction in the neighborhood of Celbridge, to which
introductions, was indebted, under Providence, for
the sanction of two or. three of the most distinguished
names, which "appeared in the subscriplioa-list of my
first volume.
At Mr. Whitelaw's, I had the pleasure of meeting
with a clergyman of good understanding, who, from
various causes, appeared much prejudiced against me-
thodism as a religious system. I told him, that if any
errors existed in this system, the most likely way, in my
judgment, to remove them, would be, for the clergy of
the establishment, to cultivate a more intimate acquaint-
ance with the ministers and members of that sect — that
this was cvidcntlv their dutv, and in the end would nro-
F 2
84 The Irish Tourist.
bably be for the interests of the church, since the Me-
thodists, for the most part, professing themselves mem-
bers of the establishment, would be open to any observa-
tions which its ministers might offer for improvement —
that, if this duty was neglected by the established clergy,
who at the same time might be seen seduously cultivating
the acquaintance of men, whose principles and practices
were in direct opposition to the gospel, but who had pro-
perty or influence to recommend them to the world — in
vain would the clergy, so long as they thus acted, point
out from the pulpit or the press, the real or supposed
errors of the Methodists. By such proceedings, they
might, indeed, drive the latter from the church, but by
the other conciliating ones alone, they would attach them
to it, and united together, as I have frequently remarked
in conversation, they would form a phalanx, which no-
thing but the call of God to a more perfect state, would
be able to destroy.
In the course of my excursions around Celbridge, I
called once or twice at the house of a Mr. Parvisol, a sub-
scriber to the Tennis-ball : there I saw a curious edifice
called the wonderful barn, which had excited my curio-
sity, from the reports which I had heard concerning it.
It is a body of stone work in the form of a cone or
tower, about sixty feet in height, with four apartments
(from the top to the bottom,) for the reception of corn ;
each apartment being covered in with a stone arch, and
having a brick and mortar floor, and this, and the door
through which you enter, excepted, the residue is com-
posed of solid stone. In the centre of each floor a
square hole has been formed, through which, a rope,
suspended by puliies, is let down from the top to the
T/i€ Irish Tourist, 85
bottom, and thus the corn deposited in tliis great granary,
can, without much trouble, be carried to or removed
from any part. Should you wish to have a view of the
surrounding country, a flight of spiral steps outside the
building, near one hundred in number, will convey you
from the base to the summit ; but this pleasure I could
not enjoy, the weak state of my nerves and spirits, after
the illness which I have lately noticed, preventing. This
barn", if now to be erected, would probably cost two or
three thousand pounds — it is on the Conolly estate, and I
heard was built by the late Mr. Conolly's father.
Here, and in the neighborhood of Leixlip and Lucan,
I obtained the sanction of several of the most respectable
inhabitants — Mrs. Needham, Mrs. Vesey and her daugh-
ter, Mr. Latouche and Colonel Vesey were among the
number. I am indebted to the generous proprietor of
the beautiful seat of St. Catharine's, for his civility on
this occasion, and to Mrs. Needham also, in whose fa-
milies nine copies of my first volume were subscribed
for. Here also, at Newton-hall, the seat of a Mr.
Cannon, I had some satisfactory conversation — This gcn-
llcraan appearing willing to receive and communicate in-
formation, the flying moment which I spent with him
was of course improved.
' In the neighbourhood of Celbridge, I visited a Mr.
Ricky, one of the proprietors of Temple-mills, the
most extensive establishment for the spinning of cotton,
as I have been informed, in this part of the kingdom.
Here about three hundred of -the laboring poor find
employment, and in the happiness which such esiablish-
nients diffuse, surely, every humane heart must feel
interested—Without boasting of my own, I can say
S6 The Irish Tourist'
in truth, that often, when I see a horde of coltoa
spinners or otiier manufacturers go whistling home to
the social meal, or the boys and girls return from it
jocund and gay to their labor, I feel half their^joy.
May such establishments, as instruments of domestic
plenty and social improvement, be multiplied in our
island.
During my excursions in the county of Dublin, I
called at the house of a good natured eccentric, whose
gardens, like their master, are curious and worth seeing.
I was at first told he was not at home, but, upon
paying a second visit, was shewn into a garden, and
desired to seek for him there. Deluded by a voice,
and the appearance of an old man at the other side of
a hedge, I kept rambling up and down for some time
in pursuit of the voice, to no purpose ; but, at length,
the Doctor thinking proper to reveal himself through
some hole or secret passage in the hedge, I expressed
my satisfaction that our hide and go seek was over,
and that I had now the pleasure of beholding him before
me in propria persona ; after which, communicating to
him the object of my visit, I was given to understand, that
he had formed a resolution when a young man at col-
lege never to advance any thing for books beforehand ;
in confirmation of which, he mentioned a kind of agree-
ment that had passed between himself and one of his
friends there, to this effect, viz. " Mind, if you write >
any thing, I shall advance nothing beforehand to you ,
by wa^' of subscription, and if I write any, thing, I
shall not ask any money from ybu until I have givei)
you the book." So the Doctor's resolution being taken
1 crays; up the point, and departed with the insertion Vj
The Irish Tourist- S'^
of his name in my catalogue, with a blajik space for