Essay. (continued 2)

Many intelligent Persons, of all Ranks, complain much of the Want of some Establishment in the Way of a national Bank, to secure popular Credit, and the Kingdom from the various alarming Shocks it is so frequently incident to, on Account of the Failure of particular Banks.

The Nobility and Gentry of Ireland, are Loyalists and Patriots by Principle and Education: They are brave, without Arrogance; gay, without Levity; polite, without Affectation; charitable, without Ostentation; religious, without Formality; affable, without Meanness; generous, without View; and hospitable, without Reserve: In their Converse, easy; in their Dealings just; placable in their Resentments, in [pg 067] their Friendship steady:—They have neither the volatile Airyness of the Frenchman, the stated Gravity of the Spaniard; the supicious Jealousy of the Italian; the forbidding Haughtiness of the German; the saturnine Gloominess of the Flandrican, nor the sordid Parsimony of the Dutchman: In short, they are neither whimsical, splenetic, sullen or capricious:—And, as for Cunning, Craft, or Dissimulation, these are such sorry Guests as never found Shelter in the generous Breast of an Irish Noble or Gentleman; so that, if we consider this Country, with regard to its military Fame, constitutional Wisdom, Learning, Arts, Improvements, and natural Advantages; and above all, the benevolent Temper, charitable and hospitable Disposition of its Inhabitants; it is true, we may find many of more popular Bustle and Eclat, more extensive Commerce, greater Opulence and Pomp; but none of more general, solid, and intrinsick Worth, than Ireland.

I shall conclude with the following Proposition to any one, who may arrogate to himself Praise or Wit, by ridiculing Ireland.

Si quid Novisti rectius istis—

Candidus imperti; Si non, his utere mecum.

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