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Article THURLOGH, THE MILESIAN. ← Page 3 of 8 →
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Thurlogh, The Milesian.
" The Irish , sir , I maintain , were never defeated by William's troops ; but when their desperate devotion to deposed legitimacy had Minded them to every consideration which personal prudence would sanction , the issue , you will ascertain by consulting the chronicles of the period , was not determined by the valour or superior discipline of the enemy , but by the mistaken clemency of the individual whose cause we had espoused , in deprecating our onset from his ' English subjects . ' The exclamation , of the Irish
themselves , after the engagement was over , viz ., that' if the generals were changed they were ready to fight the battle over again , ' is the best proof that could be wanted of their not having brooked to any overthrow , while the disgust with which they resented the pusillanimity , or rather the criminal partiality of James , is eternized in letters' by the indelible ' Shamusa-Coca . ' As to the treaty of Limerick , I do not conceive that its articles , which were unblushingly disregarded on one side , should be at all obligatory on the other , any more than I could allow that the original bargain made between
Henry II . and a part of this nation , could deserve the sounding denomination of tbe conquest of the whole . " "Well , surely , you will not deny that the Milesians had seized this soil by right of arms and conquest , from an earlier colony ? " " I fear , sir , that by Milesians yon and I will not understand one and the same race . If by such you would intimate the mass of the people who occupied this island immediatel y before the English descent , then , I beg to say , you undoubtedly err—a mistake which has been fostered by the ignorance of our historians , as well as by the degeneracy of our bards , wishing to flatter the vanity of the ascendant powers by ascribing to them the lustre of the Tuath-de-Danaan predecessors . Milesian was but a cognomen which those Tuath-de-Danaans had originated , descriptive of one department of
their feudal institutes , the military ; which last word , be it remarked , whether in its English or Latin garb , is but a direct emanation from the Irish root . Tuath-de-Danaans was the name in which they collectively exulted , as distinguishing them , by way of eminence , as a sacerdotal brotherhood . The Scythians * are the persons whom you contemplate as the Milesians , and whom you would thus confound in identity with the glorious Tuath-de-Danaans . They , it is certain , had wrested the isle from the Tuath-de-Danaans , and are the only persons whom I will allow to have ever
conquered it at all : nor will its character for invincibility lose any thing by this concession , when we remember the length of their tenure , amounting , at this moment , to upwards of three thousand years : and as to the Tuath-de-Danaans whom they deposed , they were so assimilated in language and in manners with themselves , differing only in the forms of their religious ceremonial , that they easily incorporated into one kindred proprietory , the sovereignty alone being transferred , and dis'tinct offices assigned to each , according to the qualifications ofthe respective parties . " " Why , " says the " gude" man , overcome at last by his young disputant ' s argumentation , " you are a most intrepid advocate for the virginity of our
island ; nor can I divest myself of the opinion , that your oratory is somewhat whetted by the recollection of the losses of some who have gone before you . AVill you then be offended if I confess to you my great desire to know whom I have the honour of accosting as my guest ?" Alas ! be knew not what a load of grief sat brooding all this while upon Thurlogh's breast : though he pleaded so energetically the cause of his country , he felt himself distracted by a tumult of agitations , without knowing which way to determine . In this dilemma , a summons from an anxious bridegroom for the clerical services of his host , for the present relieved his embarrassment .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Thurlogh, The Milesian.
" The Irish , sir , I maintain , were never defeated by William's troops ; but when their desperate devotion to deposed legitimacy had Minded them to every consideration which personal prudence would sanction , the issue , you will ascertain by consulting the chronicles of the period , was not determined by the valour or superior discipline of the enemy , but by the mistaken clemency of the individual whose cause we had espoused , in deprecating our onset from his ' English subjects . ' The exclamation , of the Irish
themselves , after the engagement was over , viz ., that' if the generals were changed they were ready to fight the battle over again , ' is the best proof that could be wanted of their not having brooked to any overthrow , while the disgust with which they resented the pusillanimity , or rather the criminal partiality of James , is eternized in letters' by the indelible ' Shamusa-Coca . ' As to the treaty of Limerick , I do not conceive that its articles , which were unblushingly disregarded on one side , should be at all obligatory on the other , any more than I could allow that the original bargain made between
Henry II . and a part of this nation , could deserve the sounding denomination of tbe conquest of the whole . " "Well , surely , you will not deny that the Milesians had seized this soil by right of arms and conquest , from an earlier colony ? " " I fear , sir , that by Milesians yon and I will not understand one and the same race . If by such you would intimate the mass of the people who occupied this island immediatel y before the English descent , then , I beg to say , you undoubtedly err—a mistake which has been fostered by the ignorance of our historians , as well as by the degeneracy of our bards , wishing to flatter the vanity of the ascendant powers by ascribing to them the lustre of the Tuath-de-Danaan predecessors . Milesian was but a cognomen which those Tuath-de-Danaans had originated , descriptive of one department of
their feudal institutes , the military ; which last word , be it remarked , whether in its English or Latin garb , is but a direct emanation from the Irish root . Tuath-de-Danaans was the name in which they collectively exulted , as distinguishing them , by way of eminence , as a sacerdotal brotherhood . The Scythians * are the persons whom you contemplate as the Milesians , and whom you would thus confound in identity with the glorious Tuath-de-Danaans . They , it is certain , had wrested the isle from the Tuath-de-Danaans , and are the only persons whom I will allow to have ever
conquered it at all : nor will its character for invincibility lose any thing by this concession , when we remember the length of their tenure , amounting , at this moment , to upwards of three thousand years : and as to the Tuath-de-Danaans whom they deposed , they were so assimilated in language and in manners with themselves , differing only in the forms of their religious ceremonial , that they easily incorporated into one kindred proprietory , the sovereignty alone being transferred , and dis'tinct offices assigned to each , according to the qualifications ofthe respective parties . " " Why , " says the " gude" man , overcome at last by his young disputant ' s argumentation , " you are a most intrepid advocate for the virginity of our
island ; nor can I divest myself of the opinion , that your oratory is somewhat whetted by the recollection of the losses of some who have gone before you . AVill you then be offended if I confess to you my great desire to know whom I have the honour of accosting as my guest ?" Alas ! be knew not what a load of grief sat brooding all this while upon Thurlogh's breast : though he pleaded so energetically the cause of his country , he felt himself distracted by a tumult of agitations , without knowing which way to determine . In this dilemma , a summons from an anxious bridegroom for the clerical services of his host , for the present relieved his embarrassment .