Page:Irish minstrelsy, vol 2 - Hardiman.djvu/149

Rh describing one of them, who seems to have been a scourge in the country, has the following stanza.—

The wolf howls savagely, but seek his lair, One cub and one alone is nurtured there; The choaking bramble one lone blossom bears. Tell it abroad and let him hope who hears.

The meaning is, that the individual in question, whom the bard has designated as a wolf, from his rapacity and cruelty, had but one son. Hence a hope is held out that the future ravages of the family would not be so great as if there was a numerous brood.

$4$By the "Brickler" was meant Prince James Francis Edward, son of James II. He was so called by the Irish bards, from the many reports industriously spread throughout England at the time of his birth, that he was a supposititious child, and amongst others that he was the son of a Brick-layer.

With every respect for the Protestant Church of Ireland and its ministers, it has been doubted, whether the latter, as a body, really believed the doctrine which they professed. The best proof of conviction in religious opinions is an earnest endeavour to disseminate those opinions in order to bring people over to the truth. This has never been attempted by the Protestant divines in Ireland. On the contrary, every measure which could