The services of a regiment in aid of the civil power are so ungrateful that they are better left unrecorded, nor would allusion here be made to those of the Seventeenth but for the coincidence that they have found a place in history. For in the year 1786 began one of those periodic outbreaks of agrarian crime which have so often troubled Ireland, the perpetrators being what are now called moonlighters but were then known as whiteboys or defenders. Of the share taken by the Seventeenth in the suppression of these defenders it is best to say nothing, arduous though the work undoubtedly was. But it was a far more serious matter when, early in April 1793, the “National Guard” of Northern Republicans paraded in their green uniforms at Belfast, undeterred by the suppression of their brethren in Dublin. In March, General Whyte was sent down to compel their submission, the Seventeenth forming part of his force. He thereupon sent four troops of the regiment to disarm the “Guard” of these Republican volunteers. The rest of the story is best told in Mr. Froude’s own words:-- [Sidenote: 1793.] On the evening of the 9th March, a corporal and a private of the 17th, off duty, strolled out of the barracks into the city where they met a crowd of people round a fiddler who was playing _Ça ira_. They told the fiddler to play God save the King. The mob damned the King with all his dirty slaves, and threw a shower of stones at them. The two dragoons, joined by a dozen of their comrades, drew their sabres and “drove the town before them.” Patriot Belfast had decorated its shops with sign-boards representing Republican notables. The soldiers demolished Dumouriez, demolished Mirabeau, demolished the venerable Franklin. The patriots so brave in debate, so eloquent in banquet, ran before half a dozen Englishmen. A hundred and fifty volunteers came out, but retreated into the Exchange and barricaded themselves. The officers of the 17th came up before any one had been seriously hurt, and recalled the men to their quarters. In the morning General Whyte came in from Carrickfergus, went to the volunteer committee room, and said that unless the gentlemen in the Exchange came out and instantly dispersed, he would order the regiment under arms. They obeyed without a word. The dragoons received a reprimand, but not too severe, as the General felt that they had done more good than harm.[8] [Sidenote: 1793.]