 |
| THE TREATY STONE, LIMERICK.-Whosoever visits "Limerick of the Battles" will observe the large stone, elevated on a pedestal, near the foot of Thomond Bridge. It is the "Treaty Stone," on which Major-General Patrick Sarsfield, Earl of Lucan, on the part of the Irish, and Lieutenant-General Baron de Ginkel, on the part of Willaim III, of England, signed the celebrated capitulation of Oct. 3, 1691, when the Irish army, that had made so gallant a rresistance, marched out with all the honors of war, "drums beating, colors flying and matches lighted" to take service in the armies of France. These brave ment preferred exile and the constant danger of the battlefield to a life of slavery in Ireland, where, for a hundred years after their departure, the terrible penal laws enacted against the Catholics remained in full force. This, too, in flagrant violation of the solemn treaty which guaranteed to them civil and religious liberty. Hence Limerick is also called "The City of the Violated Treaty." The Treaty Stone of Limerick that oft with magic charm. What hewed, in scores, at Fontenoy, King George's cohorts down, Lit up in wrath the Irish heart and nerv'd the Irish arm. But burning thoughts of thee and home- the treaty-riven town? Owing to the Vandalish propensities of the relic demons, the municipal authorities of Limerick were compelled to protect the Treaty Stone, as shown in the sketch. |
 |  |