TO THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF CHARLEMONT. MY LORD, THE name of CHARLEMONT belongs to a brilliant period in Ireland's history, when England, unable to protect the people she had enslaved, told them to protect themselves, and the slaves forged their broken fetters into swords. That was the glorious time when Ireland, Minerva-like, sprang completely armed from the wrong-headed Jupiter. That period was partly the result of, and not far removed from the time and circumstances of which the historic portion of this story treats, and therefore I dedicate it to the worthy successor of the General-in-Chief of the IRISH VOLUNTeers. Your Lordship's family has ever stood by Ireland in the worst of times, and left a noble example that devoted patriotism is not inconsistent with spotless loyalty to the Sovereign. " A false outcry has too often been raised against Ireland, that she will never be quiet:"-let any one, in a candid spirit, look to her history, past and present, and he will admit that no country so misgoverned could enjoy tranquillity. If her history were better known in the land that rules her destinies, I think more of justice would accrue to her in public opinion; and therefore have the humble efforts of my pen been directed to sprinkle a few grains of instructive fact through the following fiction, hoping thus to coax the reader into a sense of even tardy justice to a country and a people amongst the finest in the world. However much I may have failed in this object, I am sure your Lordship will give me credit for the honesty of the intention; and therefore, with the warmest expression of admiration for your Lordship's patriotic spirit, I commend my work to your notice, and dedicate it to your merits. IF any reader should think the title of my book an odd one, and mutter to himself, "£ S. D. !-£ S. D. !—what does that mean?" -to him I beg, in Irish fashion, to answer by putting another question, "What does it not mean ?" These Roman initials for Pounds Shillings and Pence, have a more extended meaning than could be treated of in a Preface,-a deeper hold upon human affections than many would like to own. There is magic in this triumvirate of letters, which, representing money, governs the world.-Youth and beauty are slaves to age and ugliness, by £ S. D. Valour and good faith are beaten by cowardice and treachery, through £ S. D. Wars have begun, and peaces have been bought, through £ S. D. National rights and national wrongs have been based on £ S. D. Where lies the root of most senatorial questions ?-In £ S. D. The aspirations which stir our souls, under the name of ambition, are too often but the illuminated letters, £ S. D. In short, the golden fleece is branded with £ S. D. In placing Irish Heirs and £ S. D. in juxta-position, I have made an alliance quite in the spirit of a work of fiction, for, unfortunately, the Pounds Shillings and Pence are not, in reality, the invariable concomitants in Irish Heirships. Irish Heirs too often find themselves in the position of that particular one once described. to an inquiring traveller by his Hibernian guide, who said that Mister So-and-So" was heir to five thousand a-year-that was spent." B |