Nothing was more common than for an honest man to lie down rich in flocks and herds acquired by the industry of a long life, and to wake a beggar.

It was however to small purpose that Keating attempted, in the midst of that fearful anarchy, to uphold the supremacy of the law.

Priests and military chiefs appeared on the bench for the purpose of overawing the judge and countenancing the robbers.

One ruffian escaped because no prosecutor dared to appear.
Another declared that he had armed himself in conformity to the orders of his spiritual guide, and to the example of many persons of higher station than himself, whom he saw at that moment in Court.

Two only of the Merry Boys, as they were called, were convicted: the worst criminals escaped; and the Chief justice indignantly told the jurymen that the guilt of the public ruin lay at their door, [151] When such disorder prevailed in Wicklow, it is easy to imagine what must have been the state of districts more barbarous and more remote from the seat of government.