The Drennan Letters
The Drennan Letters. Being a Selection from the Correspondence which passed between William Drennan, M.D., and his Brother- in-Law and Sister, Samuel and Martha MeTier, during the Years 1776.1816. Edited by D. A. Chart, Litt.D. (H.M. Stationery Office, Belfast. 7s. 6d.) THESE letters, brought to light after more than a century from an old family box, are astir with life, witty detail and gossip. Dr. Chart, Deputy Keeper of the Records of Northern Ireland, points out the historical importance of this official publication. William Drennan was one of the founders of the Society of United Irishmen and these letters yield intimate details con- cerning the inner workings of that revolutionary organization. Grattan, Philpot Curran, and insurgents such as Wolfe Tone and Lord Edward Fitzgerald, are among the famous figures who crowd these pages. Drennan, however, was not only a revolutionary, huts poet and medical man too. His account of student days in Edinburgh and of his early struggles as a young physician to gain a practice are of exceptional interest. Martha MeTier writes with zest of Mrs. Siddons, " lottery dinners," and social scandals : her brother sends her news of the latest duel or elopement. Even in 1799, the labour problem had to be faced. Dr. Drennan writes in humorous complaint : " All this work to close a hole in the wall, change the situation of a door, and put up a common fireplace I have a man, paralytic on one side, as a labourer, another old man (saving your presence. with a -rupture) as a carpenter, and a young boy of sixteen as a plasterer and bricklayer. Who are you ? " I am the bricklayer in chief." Why. I thought the person who sets the new grate (for I bought a new one for the parlour and put the one there in the study), I thought he would complete the work.' Oh no, sir, every man to his trade ' ; and I recollected that Adam Smith expatiates much on the division of labour, and though he says it accelerates work, I think it retards mine. And who are you ? ' Sir, I employ the whitewasher of the kitchen and superintend the making of the mortar.' Oh, very right, that is one part of the job." Sir, is not the Union a job, and why ehould not small,tnen have their job as well as great ones ' "
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