Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
Mary Ann Grant's letters from Ireland (Author: Mary Ann Grant)

Entry 48

TO MISS T—


Loughrea,

June 1805.

My last letter1 would inform my ever dear Mary Ann, that we were on the eve of quitting Tuam, which we regretted very much; I felt a great deal in parting with the amiable family of A.; indeed, it is but justice to say, that the polite attentions of every person in the town were uniform to us; and we received such an interesting account of the archbishop and his family, that we lamented that they did not arrive at the palace, before we bid adieu to Tuam. We have been here some weeks, but do not find it near so pleasant, in point of society, as our last quarters. The country is not quite so dreary; there is a beautiful lake,


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near the town, which is a fine object, and the scenery round it is pleasing. I shall not see you so soon as I hoped; G has been refused leave of absence, in consequence of the state of this country, it seems to cause general alarm, and a second rebellion, it is feared, will be the result of the Catholic Petition being refused, nothing but the military keep the people in any kind of awe; several unpleasant circumstances have taken place in different parts of the country, and a universal tendency to riot seems to evince itself. The most rigid discipline is kept up among the army, and more troops are ordered over. God grant that their power may be able to quell these threatened disturbances; it is fearful to look forward to what may be the consequence, should a rebellion actually take place, and the French take advantage of it to effect a landing; it is generally believed they would experience a too favorable redemption:

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in a case so dreadful, I could be almost tempted to wish for a masculine habit, and proportionable strength to enable me to face the enemy, rather than be left to the mercy of these unhappy, misguided people. I trust, however, that our fears are greater than the danger.

As a slight trait in the character of the lower Irish, and a proof of their disposition to impose, I shall mention two trifling instances. A butcher came, lately, to me, with a kid for sale; I proposed taking a quarter, for which he asked me 4s. 6d.; not knowing the value of the article, but fully aware of the very little dependence that was to be placed on his word, I offered him the half of what he asked, which he took; the woman of the house where we lodged, happening, soon after, to come into the kitchen, observed the meat, and asked me how much I gave for it; upon my telling her, she said, was it possible the man could so grossly impose upon


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me, declaring, that thirteen pence was all that should have been paid for the whole kid. The second instance happened to G., who was better prepared to resist imposition; a man came to sell him a greyhound, for which he asked three guineas, and, after a little altercation, took nine shillings! I could relate many anecdotes of a similar nature, but these will suffice to give you an idea of the lower class of people in this part of the country; they are, however, far from thinking they do wrong; the greater number of them are Roman Catholics; they call Protestants heretics, and to cheat or impose upon them, is, in their opinion, no crime; if asked why they told a falsehood, for the purpose of deception, their answer is, that it was to heretics, and that they would do the same by them. Yet, though these people would practise every art, trick, and chicanery, to impose upon a stranger, particularly if a protestant,

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they possess genuine sentiments of integrity, were they properly cultivated; their priests have great influence over their minds, and they are rarely known to practise any kind of fraud upon them; why is this? because reverence for their sacred order, and the strictest deference for their principles is, from their infancy, instilled into their ductile minds. But it is not the interest of these priests to make virtue the creed of their flock, since the most heinous crimes can be absolved by a sum of money, which is usually proportioned to the circumstances of the offender, and becomes the perquisite of the priest. What inducement is here for virtue? was it practised, the one party would lose the principal profits of his living, while the other could no longer find a palliative for a vicious course of life: I speak only in general terms; that there are, in this country, many worthy characters, who do honor to the sacred

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name they bear, and who strive to form the mind and manners of the people consigned to their care, by the standard of excellence, is beyond a doubt; yet it is also a fact, but too well substantiated, that the greater number mislead the ignorant multitude, who submit themselves entirely to their direction. A person, illiterate in ideas, and penurious in circumstances, confesses to his priest some crime that he has committed; he is not lectured upon the sinfulness of his conduct or, if he is, the proper effect is lost; when he is told, that he can purchase his absolution, to obtain money for that purpose is often difficult, and is it not probable that to remove the difficulty, another crime may be added to the one from which he is to be absolved? Such confidence have they in the power of their priests to grant them absolution, and so much disgrace is attached to the refusal, that when they cannot procure the extorted

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sum, acts of desperation not infrequently ensue; a melancholy instance of this kind happened not long since. A poor widow, and the mother of nine children, was refused absolution for want of a certain sum of money; after vainly trying to procure it, she returned to the priest, and conjured him to take all she could give; he ordered her to quit his presence, and an act of suicide was the consequence! she was found by her neighbours, hanging to one of the beams of her wretched hovel. [gap: extent: three lines] I am glad to hear that Miss H. is rather better, though, indeed, I fear her's is only protracted misery; poor young creature, it must be a hard heart, indeed, that would not feel for her severe sufferings. God bless you, dearest Mary Ann.

Adieu.


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