devoted to destruction, and their houses to the flames, the power of the United Irishmen was overthrown by a decisive battle near Vinegar-hill. Accordingly, about the time appointed for public worship, when the Friends met together as usual, numbers of these misguided people, who had been calculating on the possession of power to effect their own cruel ends,-instead of carrying their designs into execution, were actually assembled about the door and windows of the Meeting-house, not as a building doomed with its inmates to destruction, but as a place of safety to themselves; and they remained there till the meeting concluded, and the Friends had withdrawn.

It is not to be supposed that Forrest was the only Meeting where such circumstances occurred of malignant threats appalling to human nature on one side, and of unshaken firmness in the support of religious testimonies on the other.-The members of Cooladine and Enniscorthy Meetings, in the same county, were placed nearly in the same predicament with those of Forrest. They were threatened; and though some of them had to lament the loss of their property and the destruction even of their houses, in the indiscriminate devastation, yet the threats of personal violence to them were found to be impotent, and their lives were providentially preserved.

The United Men told a Friend of Cooladine, that "if the Quakers ever attempted to meet again in the Meeting-house there, it should be burned."

When the town of Enniscorthy was in possession of the Rebels, the time of holding the Monthly Meeting there had arrived; and different members of the particular Meetings composing it, except of Ross, which was then in a state of siege, prepared to attend it. Some came from Ferns, Cooladine, and Balanclay. Although their horses were taken from some Friends on the road, by patroles from the Rebel camp at Vinegar-hill, they were not themselves prevented from pursuing their journey on foot many miles; and they entered Enniscorthy, scarcely knowing whether they would be permitted to go to their Meeting-house or not, and almost doubting whether they should find it standing. They were, however, enabled to hold their meeting for worship; but were much interrupted by persons walking and making a noise in a loft or gallery adjoining, who, after a while, went away. It appeared that these persons came with a malicious

design, but that they were prevented from carrying it into execution. A large hole was observed to have been broken in the ceiling, which, the Friends were told, was made for the purpose of setting the house more readily on fire, but that others of the party interfered to prevent it.

Soon after this Monthly Meeting of Enniscorthy, the Quarterly Meeting for Leinster Province was to be held, in due course, in the same town. As the time approached, it seemed almost impossible, from the appearance of things, that it could be accomplished. Yet many individuals, some from distant places, acting in faith and simplicity of heart, left their homes to attend it, and the way was gradually opened before them. The outward aspect of affairs at the time was, indeed, changed for the United Men had only recently been defeated with great slaughter, and their camp was broken up. Accordingly, several Friends had to pass through heaps of slain on the road, and in some instances were obliged to remove the dead bodies of the Rebels out of the way, that they might not trample on them, to the wonder of the spectators; some of whom exclaimed— "The Quakers must be mad."

It may therefore be noticed, that in the neighbourhood of Cooladine Meeting, the camp of Vinegar-hill, a mile distant, was broken up by the battle which took place there the day before their week-day meeting occurred; and so, way seemed to be opened not only for the attendance of that meeting, but of Leinster Quarterly Meeting at Enniscorthy the day following.

At the latter, the members of the Society who attended, were com. forted together, under an humbling sense of the providential care they had so largely experienced; and, having held their meetings for worship, as well as that for regulating the affairs of the Society, in much quietness, they were favoured to return to their respective habitations in safety.

CHAP. IV.

Of the Trials to which Friends were exposed for refusing to conform to the Ceremonies of the Church of Rome.

A FRIEND of Enniscorthy Meeting, residing a few miles from that town, was made prisoner at his own house, and taken by a number of pikemen to the house of a neighbouring priest with whom he was intimately acquainted. The priest told him, that he must become a Roman Catholic, and be christened; for that no other profession of religion was now to be allowed. At this the Friend was greatly surprised, and said, he had a better opinion of the priest than to suppose he would force men to make a profession of religion in opposition to their consciences. The priest replied, "there was no alternative, either to become a Roman Catholic or to be put to death." The Friend remarked, that "by so doing, they would be only making hypocrites of such as might be induced to comply: and, for his part, that he would choose to suffer, rather than to violate his conscience: that if there was any crime laid to his charge, he was willing to be tried, and on that ground was not afraid to look any of them in the face." The priest, who had every thing ready for baptizing, according to their mode, seemed much disappointed, and brought him out to the pikemen to be taken to Vinegar-hill. The Friend again expostulated with the priest and pikemen together, urging that if there was anything worthy of death laid to his charge, he was willing to undergo a trial. The pikemen, although they seemed much displeased that he would not become a Roman Catholic, acknowledged the justness of his proposal, and, in obedience to the priest, conveyed him to their camp.

A few other Friends were also made prisoners, from different parts of the county, and were taken to the camp at Vinegar-hill, where they underwent a sort of trial: but, nothing being alleged against them, they were set at liberty. Their liberation was not a little remarkable, as many other persons were put to death, against whom no charge of enmity was brought, nor any ground of accusation, except that they were Protestants.

A Friend from Ulster, then on a religious service in that part of the country, was taken prisoner and brought to the camp; and at the time the Rebel army was performing the service of mass, as he could not take any part in their form of worship, they suffered him to remain standing alone, with his head covered, while they were on their knees, during the ceremony.

Many were the instances in which, in some parts of the country, a dark and persecuting spirit displayed itself during the rebellion.

An elderly Friend, the father of a large family, who was in a declining state of health, and whose daughters used to go alone to their meeting at Forrest, as mentioned in page 7, was one, who, from the respectability of his character and his influence in the country, was marked by the Insurgents and their leaders, as a desirable object of their proselytism, in this reign of terror. For as they were decidedly unwilling to take the lives of the Friends, their object was to convert them, by intreaties or by menaces, to their faith.

In the case of this Friend, they laboured at it very assiduously; for if, by any means his conversion could have been accomplished, it is certain that they would have regarded it as a signal triumph. He was urged and threatened: but when the attempt became hopeless, one of the priests told some of the insurgents, after inquiring, "had they not killed him yet?" that "they could not go forward until they had dispatched the old man." One night, about twelve o'clock, a number of them entered his house, and when they had plundered it of what they wished, they snapped a pistol at him several times, seeming to be determined to take his life. After some conderation, they then insisted upon his going with them to their mainguard, which was stationed at a distance. He made an effort to go with them, accompanied by one of his daughters; but, feeling much weakness, and finding himself unable to proceed, he sat down under a tree in his own lawn. After a pause, which they did not seem to understand, they inquired what he had to say?" His reply was, that should they be permitted to take his life, he hoped the Almighty might be pleased to forgive them, and to take him in his mercy." Upon this they were silent, left him, and went quietly away.

A kinsman of this Friend, living in the country not far from him, and only a few miles from the noted Barn of Scullabogue, where a

number of Protestants, men, women, and children, were collected from the neighbouring country, and burnt to death, had also a large family which was exposed to much danger during the disturbances A member of this family (the eldest son), has supplied me with the following authentic narrative of the events that occurred to himself and his relatives during that awful visitation.

"After the removal of the rebels to Carrig-Burn, we were constantly visited in the day-time by armed parties and individuals (proceeding to join the camp) for refreshment; this we could not avoid affording them, as far as lay in our power; it generally consisted of bread and milk, or milk and water. Few of the strangers behaved offensively, and several expressed themselves dissatisfied with the hardships their present employment rendered them subject to. Some of our neighbours, those who had been in habits of receiving little acts of kindness and assistance from us, were those whose dispositions we afterwards found we had most cause to dread. Our horses were about this time all taken from us, but I believe none other of our stock. Our servants, male and female, also left us, save one little faithful girl, who still lives in the family; but she was at length compelled from her fears to leave us. Our visits in the day-time were frequent, as I have noticed, but our nights were generally pased in awful tranquillity. The morning of the day on which the battle of Ross took place, with us was gloomy, and we thought we heard an indistinct rumbling in the air, (the distance is about seven miles,) but we did not then know that the attack on that day was meditated. We had but few visitors, and all seemed darkness and gloom with those we did see; but we at length became in some degree acquainted with the state of things. In the morning my father and I walked up to the corner of our farm, where from a bank we saw the smoke of the Barn of Scullabogue, where the horrid scene had been just acted; but we were not then aware of this awful fact! A neighbour of ours, who was considered rather of superior rank among the farmers, called at the house in the course of the day, and made use of an odd expression, exemplifying the general feelings of his party, namely-If these (meaning the rebels) if these gain the day in Ross, we will dissect every Protestant in Ireland.' Providence was pleased to disappoint those cruel hopes and merciless intentions. Rancorous feelings, however, heightened by