twenty pence or two shillings from every one that passed the Seas On the twenty fifth Day of March the King knighted four Irish Kings 1395. Selden tit hon 842. and some other great Lords whereof Mr Selden out of Froisart gives the following Account Four Kings of several Provinces in Ireland that submitted themselves to Richard II were put under the Care of Henry Castile an English Gentleman who spake Irish well in order to prepare them for Knighthood by the Kings Command he informed them of the English Manners in Diet Apparel and the like He asked them If they were willing to take the Order which the King of England would give them according to the Customs of England France and other Countries They answered They were Knights already and that the Order they had taken was enough for them and that they were made Knights in Ireland when they were seven Years Old and that every King makes his Son Knight and if the Father be dead the next of Kin does it and that the manner is thus The new Knight at his making runs with slender Lances against a Shield set upon a Stake in a Meadow and the more Lances he thus breaks the more Honour continues with his Dignity But Mr. Castile told them They should receive a Knighthood with more State in the Church and afterwards being perswaded and instructed especially by the Earl of Ormond they did receive Knighthood at Christ-Church Dublin after their Vigils performed in the same Church and a Mass heard and some others were knighted with them but the four Kings in Robes agreeable to their State sate that Day with King Richard at the Table And so Davit 202. when the King had supplied the Courts of Justice with able Men particularly with Sir William Hankford Chief Justice who was afterwards Chief Justice of England and done his Endeavor to establish a Civil Plantation in the Mountains of Wicklow he returned to England about Midsummer 1394. as I suppose for on the fourth of July 1394 Roger Mortimer Earl of March was sworn Lord Lieutenant Pryn. 294. And not long after the aforesaid excellent Ordinances of 31 Edw. 3. were ratified revived and exemplified and sent into Ireland to be more duly observed than hitherto they had been But the Scene was changed and the Irish despising the weak Forces the King had left behind him began to lay aside their Mask of Humility and to make Incursions into the Borders of the Pale Nevertheless the English were not daunted their Valour supplyed what was wanting in their Number Cambd. particularly Sir Thomas de Burgh and Walter de Birmingham with their Forces slew six hundred of the Irish and their Captain Mac Con and the Lord Lieutenant and the Earl of Ormond wasted the County of Wicklow and took O Birnes House whereupon the Lord Lieutenant made seven Knights But this Victory was much overballanced by the Loss of forty principal Englishmen slain by the O Tools on Ascension-day and not long after by the Death of the Lord Lieutenant himself who was slain at Kenlis in Ossory by the O Birnes on the twentieth of July 1398. And thereupon Roger Gray was chosen Lord Justice 1398. pro tempore until the King sent over his half Brother Thomas Holland Duke of Surry Lord Lieutenant 1398. who landed at Dublin the seventh of October 1398. but did not long continue in that Office before the King pretending a Resolution to revenge the Death of his Cousin and Heir the Earl of March who was slain by the Irish as aforesaid He left the Government of England in the Hands of his Vnkle the Duke of York And on the first Day of June Richard 1399. King of England landed at Waterford with a good Army which he marched to Dublin through the wast Countries of Murroughs Kinshelaghs Cavenaghs Birns and Tooles but the Army was much distressed for want of Victuals and Carriages in those Deserts so that he performed no memorable Exploit save that he cut and cleared the Paces in the Cavenaghs Country and knighted Henry the Duke of Lancaster's Son afterwards Henry V for his briskness against the Irish On the sixth of June being the Friday after the King's arrival Jenico de Artois his faithful Gascoign slew two hundred Irish at Ford in Kenlis in the County of Kildare And the next Day the Citizens of Dublin made Incursions into Wicklow and killed thirty three Irishmen and took eighty Prisoners And on the twenty sixth of June the King came to Dublin and received the Submission of many Irish Lords But whilst he was consulting how to proceed he received the unwelcome News of the Duke of Lancaster's Progress in England whereupon he imprisoned his and the Duke of Glocester's Sons in the Castle of Trym and though he sent the Earl of Salisbury before him to gather an Army in Wales yet the King followed after so slowly that the Army was disperst before he arrived in England with which Misfortune his Courage fell so that on Michaelmass day he tamely surrendred the Crown and gave a just occasion for this true Remark Baker 152. That never any Man who had used a Kingdom with such Violence gave it over with such Patience He was afterwards deposed by Parliament and several Articles exhibited against him one of which was That he forced divers Religious Persons in England to give Horses Arms and Carts towards the Irish Expedition And another was That he carryed into Ireland the Treasure Reliques and other Jewels of the Crown which were used to be kept in the King's Coffers from all Hazard The King created Edward Plantagenet Earl of Cork in the twentieth Year of his Reign And the same Year gave a Licence under the Privy Seal to William Lord Courcy to buy a Ship to pass and repass to and from England And in this Reign happened this famous Case One Thomas a Clerk in England obtained a Judgment at Westminster against Robert Wickford afterwards Archbishop of Dublin and upon Affidavit That the Defendant lived in Ireland and had Goods and Lands there and the Sheriffs Return That he had no Lands nor Goods in England the Plaintiff had a Writ against the said Archbishop in haec verba IDeo vobis mandamus quod de terris catallis ejusdem Roberti Lib. M. jam Archiepiscopi in Terra nostra Hiberniae fieri facias praedict decem libras illas habeatis coram c. This Archbishop died anno 1390 so that this Writ must issue before that time THE REIGN OF HENRY IV. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND HENRY Duke of Lancaster eldest Son of the famous John of Gaunt fourth Son of King Edward the Third upon the Resignation of King Richard procured him to be deposed in Parliament and himself to be elected King and the Crown to be entailed on him and the Heirs of his Body His Claim was as Heir to Henry III but finding that
Resumption of all the Grants made by the Crown since the last day of the Reign of King Edward the Second Lib. G. except some Particulars mentioned in the Act and another Act Rot. Parl. c. 41. attaints the Earl of Kildare and his Brother James for High Treason for corresponding with O Hanlon and seizing the Castle of Caterlogh for extorting Coyn and Livery and for treating with the King of Scotland however he was afterward acquitted in England and received into favour and perhaps there was another Act to dissolve the Fraternity of S. George for it is certain that about this time that Brotherhood fell and so I have done with this Famous Parliament when I have told you that it is a Mistake in the Printed Statute-Book to place it anno 1495 because it is manifest That November 1494 was in the tenth Year of this King's Reign It is scarce worth mentioning Ware 43. That during this Parliament the Lord Deputy made another Expedition into Vlster because the Irish fled into their Fastnesses so that he reaped but small Fruit for his Journey In his Absence he left a Commission with the Chanchellor to continue adjourn prorogue or dissolve the Parliament as he saw cause About this time Cormock mac Teige mac Carthy of Muskry 1495. was basely murdered by his Brother Owen Ancestor of the Mac Carthyes of Cloghroe and was buried in the Abby of Kilcrea which he himself had founded But let us return to Perkin Werbeck who set sail from Flanders with about six hundred Men and arrived on the Coast of Kent but he found ill treatment there for one hundred and sixty of his Men were taken Prisoners and afterwards executed Thence he sailed to Ireland where he staid some time in Munster probably at Cork but finding the Irish unable to give him any considerable Assistance and fearing the Forces of the Lord Deputy he went thence into Scotland and by that King's Consent married the Earl of Huntly's Daughter who was nearly related to the Crown of Scotland The King of Scots did invade England in favour of Perkin but finding that none of the English came to assist the Impostor he wasted Northumberland and returned And thus Sir Edward Poynings drove Perkin out of Ireland and suppressed his Abettors and established many good Laws which though for the present they extended no further than the Pale yet their Effect and Influence increased and inlarged as fast as the King's Authority did so that those Statutes are at this day in full force over all the Kingdom And the King finding Ireland in so quiet a condition recalled the Lord Deputy and for his good Service made him Knight of the Garter And in his place appointed Henry Dean 1495. Bishop of Bangor Chancellor of Ireland and afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury 1496. to be Lord Justice and on the twenty sixth of April William Ratcliff was made Vice-Treasurer and John Pimp Treasurer at War and on the twenty fifth of June the Lord Delvin was made General for defence of the Pale and in July Octavianus Archbishop of Armagh held a Synod at Droghedah the Acts whereof are not to be found and in August Hugh O Donel being returned out of Scotland encountred and defeated O Connor near Sligo Whereupon he besieged the Castle of Sligo but without Success for being frightned with the News of the Approach of the Burks of Clanrickard he raised the Siege and retired in hast towards Tyrconnel But Burk was not so satisfied but burnt and destroyed all the adjacent Territories that belonged to O Donel's Partisans But the Earl of Kildare was still kept in Prison in England for Grief whereof his Countess died The Earl was accused of burning the Church of Cashel and many Witnesses were ready to prove it when contrary to all their Expectations he readily confessed the Fact and swore by Jesus That he would never have done it but that he thought the Archbishop was in it Which being uttered with a bluntless peculiar to this Lord did exceedingly work upon the King for whilst the Earl did so earnestly urge that for his Excuse which was the greatest Aggravation of his Crime the King easily perceived That a Person of that Natural Simplicity and Plainness could not be guilty of those Finesses and Intrigues that were objected against him It is reported of this Earl That he desired the King to permit him to have Council to manage his Cause since he was altogether unqualified to deal with such cunning Knaves as his Adversaries The King told him He should have what Counsel he would choose and that it concerned him to get Counsel that were very good for that he doubted his Cause was very bad The Earl replied That he would pitch upon the best Counsel in England Who is that said the King Marry even your Majesty quoth the Earl Whereat the King laughed But nevertheless he so requited Kildare for his Complement that when the Adversary concluded his Oration That all Ireland could not govern this Man the King took that occasion to make reply That therefore he was the fittest Man to govern Ireland Ware 49. And so for his Jest-sake made him Lord Lieutenant of that Kingdom by his Letters Patent of the sixth of August and restored him to his Honour and Estate Nevertheless the King kept the Earls eldest Son Girald as Hostage of the Father's Fidelity which proved to be a matter of Caution rather than of Necessity for no body could behave himself with more Loyalty to his Prince nor more Vigor against the Irish than the Earl of Kildare did from henceforward But to proceed Girald Earl of Kildare 1496. being made Lord Lieutenant in a short time after he had received the Sword marched towards Thomond against O Brian he went through the City of Limerick and took the Castle of Feyback from Finin Mac nâ—marra and afterwards took and rased the Castle of Ballyniti or Ballynice and so returned to Dublin and was reconciled to the Archbishop of Armagh to their mutual Ease and Quiet and to the great Advantage of Publick Affairs which often suffer especially in Ireland by the private Animosities of the Grandees But the Bishop of Bangor was recalled into England and Walter Archbishop of Dublin was made Lord Chancellor in his stead This good Archbishop in a Synod at Dublin anno 1492 procured a Pension for a Divinity-Reader there to be paid by him and his Suffragans and their Successors for ever And it is reported of him That being present when a famous Orator made a most eloquent Speech to the King his Majesty asked the Archbishop How he liked the Oration The good old Man replied That he saw no other Fault in it but Flattery As God shall love me quoth the King That is the very Fault I my self espied The King by advice of the Lord Lieutenant resolved to pardon those great Men that had been concerned with Perkin Warbeck lest Despair might induce
in many other high Regards 't is Expedition alone that can answer the Anxieties which England must be in for Your Majesty's Absence And seeing Your Majesty will leave behind that Great Pledge Your Royal Consort and our most Gracious Queen Your Majesty will not want Your own Anxieties also for a speedy Return But that it may be with such Laurels as may bring Terror to France with Triumph to Your own Kingdoms and a happy Restitution of Your poor Protestant Subjects of Ireland to their Native Homes is the most fervent Prayer of GREAT SIR Your Majesty's most Dutiful most Loyal and most Devoted Subject and Servant R. COX TO THE READER YOU have here a History of great Variety and much Intrigue It takes in a large Space of Time of above Fifty Years and begins at the End of one War and ends with the Close of another The long Interval between these Two Periods being almost Forty years was spent in a profound Peace the short Commotion of O Dogharty only excepted and in promoting all those Blessings of Plenty and Good Laws which the Industry of the English could accomplish But the subsequent Part of the Time was according to Bishop Usher's Prophetical Sermon Preach'd Anno 1601. turn'd into a Scene of Blood Treachery and Desolation which overturned all The Roots of that so great Cruelty and Universal Defection are already hinted at in the Preface of my Former Part by those Differences there set forth of Nation Interest and Religion Upon King James his Accession to the Crown the Irish were surfeited with War so that all things in that Kingdom had a tendency to Peace And tho' a Rumor spread abroad and believ'd by the Irish That the King was of their Religion put some of the principal Towns into a Commotion yet the Diligence and Expedition of the Lord Deputy did soon appease that Storm and reduce the Disobedient to their Duty And tho' the natural Inclination of that King to Peace was a great Temptation to the Irish to try their Fortune with him in a War and accordingly the Lords Tyrone and Tyrconell and Sir Cahir O Dogharty attempted it yet the Rebels were always baffled in their Undertakings by the Diligence Wisdom and Courage of those to whom the King entrusted his Irish Affairs And indeed both King James the First and King Charles the First did take a particular Care to put the Government of Ireland into such Hands as were worthy of it and underwent the Administration thereof with Advantage to that Kingdom and Honor to themselves The First was the Lord Montjoy whom King James found Deputy and soon after made Lord Lieutenant This Lord was thought in England to be a better Courtier than a Soldier but when he came to Ireland he proved the best Soldier that Kingdom had seen in many Years It was he that found out the true Way of making War with the Irish For being well supplied with Necessaries from England he plainly saw that if he could attack them at a time when they wanted all Conveniences to keep the Field he could meet with very little or no Resistance and therefore he supplied his Frontier Garisons with Men and Provisions and they by their frequent Excursions did such Execution on the Persons and Estates of the Irish that by One Winters War he reduc'd them to the Necessity of eating one another and forced their Ringleader the Earl of Tyrone to submit to his Mercy and so made an end of that Rebellion His Successor or rather Deputy Sir George Cary was Treasurer at Wars and a worthy Gentleman but nothing of extraordinary moment hapned during his Government The next was Sir Arthur Chichester afterwards Lord of Belfast one well experienc'd in the Affairs of Ireland whereof he held the Chief Government for Eleven Years He was a good Soldier and a true Englishman and did Three great Things towards a Reformation The First was his Management of the most stubborn Parliament that ever was in that Kingdom which nevertheless he prevail'd with to Attaint the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconell Sir Cahir O Dogharty and others and to make an Act of Recognition and to give the King a Subsidy And the Second was the Plantation of the Forfeitâ—d Estates in Ulster which he very much influenc'd and promoted And the Third was the Reviving and Restoring the Circuits for Judges of Assize in both the Provinces of Conaught and Munster The Lords Justices Doctor Jones Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor and Sir Richard Wingfield were Men Famous in their respective Faculties and are Founders of the Noble Families of the Earl of Ranelagh and Viscount Powerscourt And Sir John Denham Lord Chief Justice was not less Renowned than either of Them by reason of his great Learning in his Profession to which the Crown owes the first Advancement of that Considerable Branch of the Revenue arising by the Customs in Ireland The next Lord Deputy was Sir Oliver Saint John afterwards Viscount Grandison a Person Nobly descended and of a generous Temper He had given great Proof of his Courage and Conduct at the Battel of Kinsale and was not inferior to any of his Predecessors in a sincere Concern for the Protestant Religion and the Good of the Kingdom but he hapned in an ill time as did also his Successor the Worthy Lord Falkland whilst the Spanish Match was in agitation So that both these brave Men by the Clamour of the Irish and the prevailing Power of their Popish Enemies came away in Disgrace But their Innocence being afterwards vindicated as it was this Affront was in some measure atton'd for by the subsequent Favour of the King The Lords Justices that received the Sword from the Lord Falkland were the Viscount Loftus of Ely Lord Chancellor one of great Parts and Merit and the Noble Earl of Cork Lord High Treasurer who was one of the most extraordinary Persons either That or any other Age hath produced with respect to the great and just Acquisitions of Estate that he made and the Publick Works that he began and finished for the advancement of the English Interest and the Protestant Religion in Ireland as Churches Alms-Houses Free-Schools Bridges Castles and * Lismore Tallow Cloghnakilty Iniâ—keen Castletown Bandon which last Place cost him 14000 l. Townsâ— Insomuch that when Cromwel saw these prodigious Improvements which he little expected to find in Ireland he declared That if there had been an Earl of Cork in every Province it would have been impossible for the Irish to have rais'd a Rebellion And whilst he was carrying on these solid Works he lived in his Family at a Rate of Plenty that exceeded those who consumed great Estates in the lavish ways of ill-ordered Excess His †God's Providence is my Inheritance Motto shews from whence he derived all his Blessings the greatest of which was the Numerous and Noble * Earl of Burlington and Cork Viscount Kinalmeky Earl of Orrery Viscount Shannon Robert
Name of THE CASE OF TENURES and was excellently reported in Print by Baron Barry afterwards Lord Chief Justice of Ireland and Baron of Sautry This Grand Inquisition was counted so great a Master-piece of the Lord Deputies and so beneficial to the King and advantagious to the English Interest That some Persons who went to England to complain of it were there not only discountenanced but imprison'd and afterwards sent back to be dealt by as the Lord Deputy should think fit which it seems produced their Submission And not long after the Lord Deputy having first received Orders to Grant the Impropriations belonging to the King to the use of the Clergy and to Grant to Trinity Colledge near Dublin Lands equal in value to the Pension they had from the Crown of 388 l. 15 s. per Annum went to England to give his Majesty a Triumphant Account of his glorious Successes in Ireland which he performed to Admiration First to the King in a private Audience and afterwards publickly at the Council-board He there told the King and Council That he had found the Irish Exchequer of Paper but he had made it of Treasure and that he had not only improv'd the Patrimony of the Church of Ireland but had also brought it to be Conformable to that of England both in Doctrine and Government by the Acceptance of the Thirty Nine Articles there That before his going to Ireland the Lord Justices wrote That the Expence exceeded the Income 24000 l. per Annum and they had no ways to raise it but by the Levying Nine pence a Sunday on Papists for not coming to Church but that now it was far otherwise without that Persecution And he advis'd That the Army should rather be encreased than diminshed it being an excellent Minister and Assistant in Execution of the Kings Writs and the great Peace-maker between the British and the Natives and the best security of past and future Plantations That by the Statutes of Wills and Uses there will more advantage arise to the Crown of England than by the six Subsidies because thereby the insant Heirs of all great Families in the Kingdom will unavoidably come under the Guardianship of the King whereby they will be bred Protestants and of what Consequence this Superintendency is doth in part appear in the Person of the Earl of Ormond formerly the Kings Ward who if bred under the Wing of his own Parents had been of the same Affections and Religion with his other Brothers and Sisters whereas he is now a firm Protestant and like to prove a great and able Servant to the Crown and a great Assistant as well in inviting others to be of his Religion as in the Civil Government it being certain That no People are more apt to be of the Religion of their great Lords than the Irish are That by the Statute of fraudulent Conveyances the Irish are prevented in their cunning Disigns by secret and sleeping Conveyancies so that the King will have his Forfeitures and Wardships and the English be encouraged to purchase of them That before his time the Pirates infested the very Harbours and a Ship was fired by them in the Port of Dublin in sight of his Majesties Castle and the Pirates were robbing the Ship two days together without opposition the Reason was because our Sea-guard for want of Money did not come till August before which time the mischief was done but now they are well Paid and come in March and that now the Exportation is double to what is imported into the Kingdom That he discourag'd Woollen and encourag'd the Linen Manufacture and had sow'd 1000 l. worth of Holland-Flax Seed and set up six or seven Looms and doubts not Success because the Irish can under-sell France or Holland Twenty per Cent. And then he laments That the English of Ireland are treated as Aliens First In the Imposition of 4 s. per Tun on Coal Secondly In the Prohibition to transport Horses or Mares hence without excessive Custom Thirdly In the Imposition of 3 s. and 4 d. per Head for every live Beast exported thence and afterwards he procur'd a Privy Seal to supersede these pro tempore Lastly That tho' he was represented more like a Basha of Buda than the Minister of a Pious Christian King yet severity was not natural to him but assumed because it was necessary for the Restoration of a Despoyled Crown Church and People from the Claws of those that had been used to the Paths of an uncontroled Liberty and Oppression But to proceed ADAM LOFTUS Viscount ELY 1636. Sir CHRISTOPHER WANDESFORD Master of the Rolls were Sworn Lords Justices on the 3d. day of July 1636. and immediately some Fryars notwithstanding the former Proclamation had a publick Meeting and passed unpunish'd for the Lord Deputy wrote over That he held it not convenient to rub upon that Sore till they were provided for a thorough Cure These Lords Justices had Orders to call upon Corporations for a return of their pretended Priviledges to issue Money to finish the Fort of Galway to suspend the Lord Courcyes Pension to quicken the Admeasurement in Conaught and not to let any Soldiers be Transported But on the 23d of November THOMAS Viscount WENTWORTH returned Lord Deputy and then the aforesaid Case of Tenures was argued but the Judgment That the Letters Patent were void Husbands Collections 2 Part 245. did so Alarm the whole Nation that it was found necessary to delay the Execution for a time and afterwards Anno 1640. on private Conference with the Irish Committee then in England for it was not made an Article amongst the Grievances publickly complain'd of the King quitted the benefit and advantage thereof and so the vast Expence of this Grand Office and Inquisition which amounted to at least 10000 l. was in effect lost and this terrifying Bug-bear did not add one Acre to the Possessions of the Crown nor one English Plantation to the Kingdom as was at first design'd In the Year 1636 1636. John Atherton was preferred to the Bishoprick of Waterford and Lismore by a Symoniacal Contrivance as was believed says the Writer of Bishop Bedells Life pag. 144. but that is not probable because that Bishoprick was then so Poor that it was too small a Temptation to so great a Sin it is more likely that being a bustling Man of active Parts and a bold Spirit he was thought a fit Instrument of State to promote some Designs that were then on Foot and as proper for the Recovery of the ancient Possessions of his See as any Body that could be pitcht upon and accordingly we find him a fierce Adversary to the Earl of Cork and a severe Prosecutor of the Bishop of Killalla which last nevertheless lived to be his Successor And tho' Atherton did answer the Expectation of his Benefactors for a time yet his Tragical end by the hands of the Common Executioner on the 5th of December 1640. for a Crime
the same in the latter Day will be most severely required at our Hands You have our well-beloved Son in Christ advertis'd and signified unto us That you will enter into the Land and Realm of Ireland to the end to bring them to Obedience unto Law and under your Subjection and to root out from among them their foul Sins and Wickedness as also to yield and pay yearly out of every House a yearly Pension of one Penny to S. Peter and besides also will defend and keep the Rites of those Churches whole and inviolate We therefore well allowing and favouring this your godly Disposition and commendable Affection do accept ratifie and Assent unto this your Petition and do grant That you for the dilating of God's Church the Punishment of Sin the Reforming of Manners planting of Virtue and the increasing of Christian Religion do enter to possess that Land and there to execute according to your Wisdom whatsoever shall be for the Honour of God and the Safety of the Realm And further also we do strictly charge and require That all the People of that Land do with all Humbleness Dutifulness and Honour receive and accept you as their Liege Lord and Sovereign reserving and excepting the Right of Holy Church to be inviolably preserved as also the yearly Pension of Peter-Pence out of every House which we require to be truly answered to S. Peter and to the Church of Rome If therefore you do mind to bring your Godly Purpose to effect endeavour to travail to reform the People to some better Order and Trade of Life and that also by your self and by such others as you shall think meet true and honest in their Life Manners and Conversation to the end the Church of God may be beautified the True Christian Religion sowed and planted and all other things done that by any means shall or may be to God's Honour and Salvation of Men's Souls whereby you may in the end receive of God's Hands the Reward of Everlasting Life and also in the mean time and in this Life carry a Glorious Fame and an Honourable Report among all Nations Together with this Bull the Pope sent King Henry a Gold-Ring as a Token of Investiture and somtime after a succeeding Pope Alexander III confirmed the former Grant by the following Breve ALexander the Bishop Hanmer 141. the Servant of the Servants of God to his dearly beloved Son the Noble King of England greeting Grace and Apostolick Benediction Forasmuch as things given and granted upon good Reason by our Predecessors are to be well allowed of ratified and confirmed we well considering and pondering the Grant and Priviledge for and concerning the Dominion of the Land of Ireland to Vs appertaining and lately given by Adrian our Predecessor We following his Steps do in like manner Confirm Ratifie and Allow the same reserving and saving to S. Peter and to the Church of Rome the yearly Pension of one Peny out of every House as well in England as in Ireland provided also that the Barbarous People of Ireland by your means be Reformed and Recovered from that filthy Life and abominable Conversation that as in Name so in Life and Manners they may be Christians and that as that Rude and Disordered Church being by you reformed the whole Nation may also with the Profession of the Name be in Acts and Deeds Followers of the same But saith Rossus of Warwick and he was no Protestant The King of England is not bound to rely on the Pope's Grant for Ireland Speed 472. nor yet to pay that Tax because he had a Precedent Claim to that Kingdom by hereditary Right Others object against these Bulls in another manner and particularly Philip O Sullevan who says They are void for many Reasons First Because they were obtained on false Suggestions and the Infallible Popes were deceived in their Grants Secondly That Regal or Sovereign Power is not granted by them but only that the Kings of England should be Lieutenants or Deputies to the Pope and Collectors of his Peter-Pence Thirdly That they were on a twofold Condition of paying Tribute and converting the People which not being performed the Bulls are void But because it is scarce credible that any Subject should be so Malicious against his Prince you shall have it in his own Words Rex hoc Decretum impetravit falsa Narrans ut ex ipso Decreto ego colligo pag. 59. Non Dominum Hiberniae sed Praefectum causa colligendi Tributi Ecclesiastici pag. 59. b. And again pag. 60. Non ut Rex aut Dominus Hiberniae sed ut a Pontifice Praefectus sic ego accepi ut Exactor Collector Pecunâ—ae quae ad Sedem Apostolicam pertinebat pag. 61. Ac mihi quidem rem totam sollicita Mentis acie contemplanti nihil Juris esse penes Anglos videtur For besides says he their Title was founded in Adultery meaning Dermond Mac Morough's they have exercised Fraud and Cruelty against the Catholicks that entertained them kindly and the very Temples have not escaped them Hinc igitur nemo ignorabit Hiberniam non Jure sed Injuria Narratione minime vera Sullevan 61. fuisse ab Anglis primo obtenta pag. 61. b. Nor can any Body believe says he that the Pope ever design'd so great an Injustice as to deprive the Irish Kings of their Birth-right Ibid. 62. and give it to Strangers And then he tells us That Laurence O Toole Archbishop of Dublin did obtain of the Pope a Bull to deprive the English King of his Government in Ireland but he dyed in his Return in France and is since canonized But says he supposing the Popes Grant at first were good yet 't is forfeited by Breach of Condition since the English did neither propogate Religion nor pay the Peter-Pence Postea omni Jure plane exciderunt Conditiones a Papa dictas constitutasque transgressi Nam Pensionem Divi Petri de medio sustulerunt nullam certam Religionem nullam firmam Fidem habent pro Deo Ventrem Voluntatem Libidinem colunt By this and the Approbation this Scandalous and Lying Treatise met with in Spain and the Repetition of the same things by divers others in their bitter Libels on the English People and Government and particularly by the Author of Analecta Hiberniae it is manifest that there are some Enemies of the Crown of England so malicious and unjust that they would make use of the most frivolous Pretences in the World to wrest the Kingdom of Ireland from the Dominion of the English Kings But as God Almighty has hitherto even many times to a Miracle protected the British Interest in Ireland so I doubt not unless we are wanting to our own Preservation but that he will continue that Noble Island under the Jurisdiction of the Crown of England for ever In the mean time though we lay no stress on the Popes Bulls yet because they are Argumenta ad Hominem and
if valid are a good Title against Mr. Sullevan and his Abettors I will therefore endeavour to Rescue them from his Objections And as to the first though misinformation or false Suggestion may avoid the Grant of a Prince to his Subjects yet that Rule does not hold between Princes else all Contracts Leagues and Treaties in the World would be avoided on slight Pretences of being misinformed in one Point or other Besides the Pope Alexander III. after some Years Experience and full information of the English Conduct and Proceedings in Ireland gave a new Bull of Confirmation as aforesaid Hanmer 141. And says the Book of Houth he besought the Devil to take all those that gainsaid the Kings Title to Ireland but after all the Suggestions were no other but that the Country was Barbarous and needed Reformation which was so true that the Irish Historians themselves do frequently confess it As to the Second the very Bull mentions That the King shall be their Liege Lord and Sovereign And Henry II was accordingly received as King by the Clergy Nobility and People and both he and his Successors had always the Title of Sovereign Lords and did continually exercise and enjoy Monarchical Authority and Royal Jurisdiction in Ireland Daviâ— 2. 4 Inst 357. under the Name and Stile of Lords And Vrban III granted Power to the King to appoint which of his Sons he pleased King of Ireland Moreover Henry VIII by all the Kingdom in Parliament was acknowledged and declared King of Ireland Which Pope Paul IV considering he officiously erected Ireland into a Kingdom Council of Trent 367. and granted it to Queen Mary that so it might seem as if she derived that Title from him or his Authority which she had before by a better Right As to the Third The Peter-Pence which are but a sort of Proxies propter Beati Petri visitationem and must of Necessity determine with the Jurisdiction of the Visitor which is long since banished out of his Majesties Dominions are mentioned by way of Reservation and not by way of Condition and are to be paid by the People and not by the King And the Reformation of the Irish is proposed by way of Direction and Advice and doth not make the Bull Conditional Besides Conversion is the effect of Grace and the Act of God for which no Man can undertake and therefore such a Condition would be Impossible and Void However the English have heartily endeavoured to Reform that People and to bring that Noble Country into a general Practice of True Religion and Civility and though we do not boast much of our Success hitherto yet now that it is likely better and more effectual Methods will be used than heretofore we do not doubt but that they will produce suitable Effects But I have spent too much time about these paltry Bulls and therefore I will leave them and proceed to the solid and legal Titles which the Crown of England hath to the Kingdom of Ireland and the first is that of Descent from Eva Daughter of Dermond Mac Morough who was actually King of Leinster and whose Ancestors were Monarchs of Ireland The second is by lawful Conquest in a just War The third is by many solemn Oaths Compacts and Submissions of the Princes Nobility Gentry and People of Ireland The fourth is by several Statutes and Acts of Recognition And the last which alone were sufficient is by above five hundred years Prescription But two Things are to be wondred at Isti Reges non fuerunt ordinati solemnitate alicujus Ordinis nec Vnctionis Sacramento nec jure haereditario vel aliqua propâ—ietatis successione sed vi armis quilibet regnum suum obtinuit Davis 16. First That the Irish who never observed the Right of Succession but dethroned and succeeded one another by force as they were able sometimes the Posterity of Hiber sometimes of Herimon and sometimes the Issue of Ithy getting into the Monarchy should yet complain of Force in others or that Rotherick O Connor who drove Dermond out of Leinster should think it unreasonable that Dermond should drive him out of Connaugh assoon as he could The Second is That any body in Ireland should dispute the English Title to that Island after they and their Ancestors for above five hundred years have been born and bred under the Allegiance of the Kings of England But that which is most strange is Burks Butlers Breminghams Barryes Roch Condon Power Fitzgirald c. That four parts in five of the Inhabitants in Ireland are of English Extraction and have setled there since the Conquest and by vertue of it and yet many of them are so blinded with an ignorant Zeal for Popery that they have endeavoured to cut the Bough they stand on and have Associated with Mr. Sullevan and his Complices to destroy the English Government of Ireland and have been frequently in Rebellions to that purpose not without expressing Inveteracy against the English Name and Nation and all for want of duly considering that thereby they made way for their own Extirpation since the old Irish who say the Country was given them by God would if they had power no more endure the first Conquerors than the last Settlement Sale of Ireland nor allow the Title of the Fitzgiralds the Butlers and the Burks any more than that of the Boyles the Coots or the Clotworthyes I must yet continue this Digression to give an Account of the Complaints that are made against the English Government of Ireland and they are these First That the English profan'd the Churches and Sacred Places and instances Philip of Worcester and Hugh Tyrrel who took a Brass Pan from the Priests of Down and Gerald Earl of Kildare who burnt the Church of Cashel and put it off with a Jest That he would not have done it but that he thought the Archbishop was in it Secondly That Offices of Profit and Places of Trust were mostly given to Englishmen Thirdly That they suffer none of the Potentates to sit in Parliament but such as are qualified by the English Law and therefore the Parliaments are void Vnde deducitur omnia Parliamenta Regum Britannorum authoritate coacta in Hibernia deincepsque more pristino celebranda prorsus inita infirma injusta violenta esse says my Author Fourthly That Benefit of Law is not given but to the Quinque Sanguines so that the Irish are as it were Outlaws in their own Countrey and may be slain as Enemies Lastly The Irish were perswaded to surrender their Estates on promise to re-grant them in a better and more legal Form whereas really they were cheated and the King reserved a Tenure to himself and gave the Irishman only the Possessions and Profits And for these and other Injuries says Mr. Sullevan pag. 61. the English Kings could never enjoy Ireland quietly but were disturbed with many and almost continual Rebellions Little did this Objector think that his
Ophaly till he made him consent to accept of worse situated Land in lieu of it He made his Nephew Walter Almain a corrupt beggarly Fellow says Cambrensis Seneschal of Wexford and Waterford who received Bribes from Mac Morough of Kensile to prejudice the Fitz-Geralds and so Mercenary was Fitz-Adelm himself that the Irish flock'd unto him as to a Fair to buy their Demands At last having neither done Honour to the King nor Good to the Country he was revok'd and in his Room the King appointed Hugh de Lacy 1179. Lord Justice of Ireland to whom Robert le Poer the King's Marshal Governour of Waterford and Wexford was made Coadjutor Counsellor or assistant The King Lib. G. Lamb. at a Parliament held at Oxford anno 1177 had given the Kingdom of Cork The Patent from the River next Lismore running between that and Cork i.e. the River Bride to Knock-Brandon near the Shenin and so to the Sea unto Cogan and Fitz-Stephens Tenendum of him and his Son John per sexaginta feoda militaria except the City of Cork and the Cantred adjoyning which was the Eastmens He also gave the Kingdom of Limerick to the Brothers and Nephew of Richard Earl of Cornwal but they finding they could not get Possession in a little Time surrendred their unprofitable Grant Whereupon the King bestowed it upon Philip de Broase to be held of the King and his Son John by sixty Knights Fees and the City and a Cantred adjoyning were likewise excepted out of this Grant These three Adventurers joyned their Forces together and came to Waterford in November and so coasted it to Cork where they were kindly received by Richard de Londres the Governour Cogan and Fitz-Stephens agreed with Mac Carthy and the Irish Gentry That they should hold four and twenty Cantreds paying a small yearly Rent and of the seven Cantreds near Cork Cogan had the four Southern and Fitz-Stephens the three that were on the East-side of the City The Kingdom of Cork being thus setled they marched with Broase to Limerick with sixty Gentlemen one hundred and fifty Horse and a smart Party of Foot As soon as the Citizens perceived them they set the Town on Fire at which desperate Barbarity Broase was so offended that he could not be prevailed upon by any Arguments to settle there or to have any thing to do with such Rash and Heathenish People and therefore they returned to Cork which for some Time after Cogan and Fitz-Stephens joyntly and happily governed This Kingdom of Cork descended to Daughters Hooker 46. Hanmer 158. Brady 369. and so came by Marriage to Robert de Carew and Patrick de Courcy about the twentieth Year of the Reign of Henry III. Courcy's part of it was afterwards subdvided among many Daughters who were Heirs General of that Family so that a very small Proportion of it remains with the Heir-Male of that Name who was anciently Baron of Ringrone but now has the Title of Lord Baron of Kingsale As for the Carews they were Marquesses of Cork and built the Castles of Ardtully Dunkeran and Down Marque but they removed out of Ireland in the Time of the Civil Wars between York and Lancaster and others intruded into their Possessions and Estate and keep them to this Day except what they have sold or forfeited About this Time Sir Thomas de Clare obtained a Grant of Thomond Davis 122. as Otho de Grandison did of Typerary and Robert le Poer of Waterford and William Fitz-Adelm also got a large Proportion of Connaugh But it is time to return to the valiant John de Courcy Brady 368. who was engaged in Vriel on this Occasion he had sent into England for Victuals Ammunition and other Necessaries the Ship by Stress of Weather was driven into a Creek called Torshead O Hanlon and his Followers immediately came on Board the Vessel and murdered all that were in it and seized on the Cargo As soon as Courcy had Notice of this Misfortune he drew his Men together being above a thousand and marched towards the Newry on the Way he received Advice That the Irish were encamped near Dundalk in a great Body to the Number of seven thousand Courcy sent a Fryer to them and instructed him to tell them That there were great Forces arrived at Drogheda from England and that they were very near them and to justifie this Story the English did march with the greatest Shew and Appearance they could make and made a great Shout wherewith the Enemy was so daunted that they fled towards the River in great Confusion but the Tide being in many were drowned and more were slain However O Hanlon and the greatest part of his Army got over the River but the Frier guided the English over a Ford so that they came to a second Encounter wherein the Irish were so desperate That the English Foot were forced to retire but the Valiant Sir Armorick came in seasonably to their Rescue and persuaded them to rally and to make another Charge which they performed so briskly that the Irish were obliged to withdraw to the Fews as the English also did to Dundalk neither Party much boasting of the Victory because the Slaughter was great on both sides About this time two Cardinals come to England to invite the English and Irish Bishops to the Council of Lateran There went from hence Lawrence Archbishop of Dublin Catholicus Archbishop of Tuam and others but all of them first swore Not to procure any Damage to the King or his Dominions Sullevan Which Oath Lawrence did not very religiously observe for he not only spoke vehemently in the Council against the King's Administration of Affairs in Ireland but as the Irish say he obtained a Bull of Revocation from the Pope annulling the former Bulls granted to the King But this is not probable because no such Bull is extant and if there were it would be void but it is certain he was an inveterate Enemy to the English and gave them all the Opposition and Disquiet he could However he was reputed a very Holy Man being zealously addicted to the Superstitious Devotion Hanmer 163. so that he was canonized by Pope Honorius III. This is recorded of him That he was so grateful to the See of Rome for his Pall or so great an abhorrer of Immodesty that he refused to absolve the Priests convicted of that Sin insomuch that he sent one hundred and forty of them to Rome to pay for their Absolution there But it is time to return to the Lord Justice Lacy who govern'd very well and built many Castles in convenient Places and particularly Castle-Dermond Leighlin Leix Delvin 1180. Carlow Tullaghphelim and Kilka and Courcy was no less diligent in raising that kind of Fortification in Vlster However Lacy had given just Cause of Jealousie by marrying the Daughter of Rotherick King of Connaught whereupon his Enemis impeached him suggesting that he confederated with the Irish
take any notice of Ireland and therefore we take no further notice of him than to give this brief Account of the Reason of our Silence in that Particular Hugh de Lacy was made Lord Justice of Ireland as aforesaid And as soon as he arrived he sent Imperious Letters to Courcy to discharge him of his Command and behaved himself so insolently that all was in Disorder Which the Irish perceiving and also that the King of England was preparing for a Voyage to the Holy Land they thought this an happy Opportunity to extirpate the English to which End they had a General Meeting and resolved unanimously to fall upon them Hanmer 169. and in order to it they entred into a League or Association and solemnly swore First To be true to one another and to the common Cause Secondly Never to yield any Obedience to the English again Ibid 162. And to begin the Business they fell upon Roger Poer Governour of Leighlin and barbarously murdered him and most of the Garrison Cormock O Connor Son of Rotherick King of Connaught commonly called Crove Darig because his Hand was red was the chief of the Conspirators he was an Active Valiant Gentleman and of so great Reputation that he was able to assemble twenty thousand Men of his own and the Confederates with which Army he designed first to clear Connaught then Vlster and afterwards the whole Kingdom In the mean Time Courcy Lord of Connaught and Earl of Vlster considering that he should have no Aid nor Help from the Lord Justice endeavoured to strengthen himself the best he could and to that End sent for his Brother S. Lawrence who made more Haste than good Speed for he came away with thirty Horse and two hundred Foot and at Knockmoy in the County of Galway fell into an Ambush the King of Connaught had laid for him and tho' they fought so valiantly that they killed one thousand Irish Men yet the Issue was That this small Army was totally destroyed not one escaping And tho' O Connor in Remembrance and Ostentation of this Victory did there build the Abbey de Colle Victoriae yet when he had well considered the prodigious Valour of that Handful of Men and his own Loss he thought himself necessitated to sue to Lacy for Peace which he soon obtained upon reasonable Conditions About this Time Robin Hood and Litle John were Famous Robbers in England but their Company being dispersed and Robin Hood taken Litle John fled to Dublin and shot an Arrow from Dublin-Bridge to the litle Hill in Oxman-Town thence called Litle John's Shot He was called Litle John Ironically for he was not less than fourteen Foot long believe it who will Hector Boetius affirms The Hole of his Huckle Bone was so big that he could thrust his Hand through it He fled from Dublin to Scotland where he dyed This Year Isabel 1189. only Daughter of Strongbow by Eva Prencess of Leinster was married to William Lord Maxfield Earl Marshal of England He was a great Favourite to King Richard and at his Coronation carried the Regal Scepter whereon was a Cross of Gold He was afterward by King John Hanmer 177. created Earl of Pembrook and had five Sons who were successively Earls and all died without Issue and he had five Daughters among whom his Estate was divided viz. to Joan the County of Waxford to Matilda the County of Caterlough to Isabel the County of Kilkenny to Sybilla the County of Kildare and to Eva the Mannor of Downmass in Leix now the Queen's County in all which they exercised Palatine Jurisdiction Of this Family Thomas Mills in his Catalogue of Honour gives this Account That Richard Earl of Chepstow was nick-named Strongbow because of his exceeding Strength so that he drew an traordinary Srong Bow his Arms were so long that he could stand upright and with the Palms of his Hands touch his Knees That his Daughter Isabel was fourteen Years a Ward to Henry II That her Husband William Earl Marshal was created Earl of Pembrook 27 May 1199 and that she dyed anno 1221 and was buried at Tintern Abbey and that he dyed 16 March 1219. They had five Sons and five Daughters William married Elianor Sister of Henry III and died the sixth of April 1231. Richard died the sixteenth of April 1234. Gilbert married Margaret Daughter of William King of Scotland 1235 and died by a fall from his Horse the twenty eighth of May 1242. Walter died 1245 in Wales and Anselm died the same Month viz the twenty first of December Maud successively married Hugh Earl of Norfolk William Earl of Warren and Walier Lord Dunstanvil Joan married Warren Lord Montchensy the richest Baron in England Isabel married Gilbert Earl of Glocester and afterwards Richard Earl of Cornwal King of the Romans Sybil married William Earl of Ferrers and Darby and Eve married William de Brees Lord of Brecknock and Partition was made between these Noble Coparceners at Woodstock Lib. G. May 3. 31 Hen. 3. About this Time 1190. viz. Anno 1190 the City of Dublin was burnt by Accident 1191. so that it was almost totally destroyed and the Kingdom was governed by William Petit Burlace 11. who held it a very short Time before William Earl of Pembrook and Earl Marshal of England came over Lord Justice or Governour of Ireland he was the third of the Temporal Assistants King Richard had left to the Bishop of Ely for the Government of England he was a Valiant Man and had a great Estate in Ireland 1191. and therefore was thought the fittest Governour for that Country in this Critical Time whilst King Richard was Prisoner in Austria and Earl John was engaged in Troublesome and Ambitious Designs in England In the Year 1194. the Reliques of S. Malachy Bishop of Clareval Cambden 151. were brought into Ireland and with great Reverence and Devotion deposited in the Abby of Mellifont and other the Monasteries of the Cistersian Order It seems the Reputation or Power of this Noble Governour was sufficient to keep Ireland quiet 1197. for we read of little or no Disturbance there during his Time which was about six Years And then he resign'd to Hanno de valois a Gentleman of Suffolk Lord Justice of Ireland who continued in that Government until the Death of King Richard which happened at Chalons in France on the sixth Day of April anno 1199. John Earl of Moreton and Lord of Ireland did on the Death of King Richard without Title ascend the Throne of England Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury was a great assistant to this Usurpation he told the People That John had the Crown by Election which the King did not then gain-say it being no fit Time to dispute the MANNER so he had the THING he aimed at but the Right was in his Nephew Arthur whom he afterwards got into his Hands and caused him him to be murdered as was at that Time generally reported
the first and third Year of his Reign he did confirm them and in the eleventh Year he sent the following Writ which I recite at large because I find it curtail'd both in Calvin's Case and my Lord Cooks first Institutes 141. b. And what else King Henry did in this Matter shall be mentioned in the Account of his Reign REX Lib. GGG c. Baronibus militibus aliis libere tenentibus Lageniae salutem c. Satis ut credimus vestra audivit discretio quod cum bonae Memoriae Johannes quondam Rex Angliae pater noster venit in Hiberniam ipse duxit secum viros discretos legis peritos quorum communi consilio ad instantiam Hibernensium statuit praecepit Leges Anglicanas teneri in Hibernia ita quod leges easdem in scriptis redactas reliquit sub Sigillo suo ad Scaccar Dublin Cum igitur Consuetudo Lex Angliae fuerit quod si aliquis desponsaverit aliquam mulierem sive viduam sive aliam haereditatem habentem ipse postmodum ex ea prolem suscitaverit cujus clamor auditus fuerit infra quatuor parietes idem vir si supervixerit ipsam Vxorem suam habebit tota vita sua custodiam Haereditatis Vxoris suae licet ea forte habuerit Haeredem de primo viro suo qui fuerit plenae aetatis vobis mandamus injungentes quatenus in loquela quae est in Cur. Wilm Com. Maresc inter Mauritium Fitz-Gerrald petent Galfridum de Marisco Justiciarium nostrum Hiberniae tenentem vel in alia loquela quae fuerit in casu praedicto nullo modo justitiam in contrar facere presumatis Teste Rege apud W. decim Decemb. And thus King John having exceeding well acquitted himself in Ireland and thereby in a great measure attoned for Miscarriages of his former Voyage he departed thence on the thirtieth Day of August 1210. having first appointed John Gray Bishop of Norwich Lord Justice who kept the Kingdom in so good Order that he was able to spare three hundred Foot besides Horse 1211. to aid the King in France where they did good Service and yet most of them safely returned to Ireland About this Time happened the famous Story of John de Courcy 1212. which I will give you in the very Words of Hanmer because he expresses it much better than it is in Cambden's Annals Not long after Hanmer 184. there fell some Difference between John King of England and Philip King of France for the Right of some Fort in Normandy who to avoid the shedding of Christian Blood agreed of each Side to put it to a Combat Of King Philip's part there was a French-man in Readiness King John upon the sudden wist not what to do for a Champion to encounter with him at length one attending upon his Person enformed him That there was one Courcy in the Tower of London the only Man in his Dominions if he would undertake it to answer the Challenge King John joyful of this sent the first yea the second and third Time promising large Rewards and rich Gifts and that it stood him upon as far as the Honour of his Crown and Kingdom did reach to make good the Combat Courcy answered very frowardly the which was taken in good Part in regard of the urgent Necessity That he would never fight for him neither for any such as he was That he was not worthy to have one Drop of Blood spilt for him That he was not able to requite him the Wrongs he had done him neither to restore him the Hearts-Ease he had bereav'd him of Yet notwithstanding all the Premises he was willing and would with all Expedition be ready to venture his Life in Defence of the Crown and his Country Whereupon it was agreed He should be dyeted apparelled and armed to his Content and that his own Sword should be brought him out of Ireland The Day came the Place appointed the Lists provided the Scaffolds set up the Princes with their Nobility of each Side with thousands in Expectation forth comes the French Champion gave a turn and rests him in his Tent They sent for Courcy who all this while was trussing of himself about with strong Points and answered the Messengers That if any of their Company were to go to such a Banquet he would make no great haste However forth he comes gave a Turn and went into his Tent. When the Trumpets sounded to Battle forth came the Combitants and viewed each other Courcy beheld him with a wonderful stern Countenance and passed by The French-man not liking his grim Look the strong Proportion and Feature of his Person stalked still along and when the Trumpets sounded the last Charge Courcy drew out his Sword and the French-man ran away and conveyed himself to Spain Whereupon they sounded Victory the People clapt their Hands and cast up their Caps King Philip desired King John That Courcy might be called before them to shew some Part of his Strength and Manhood by a Blow upon a Helmet it was agreed a Stake was set in the Ground and a Shirt of Male and a Helmet thereon Courcy drew his Sword looked wonderful sternly upon the Princes cleft the Helmet Shirt of Mail and the Stake so far in that none could pull it out but himself Then the Princes demanded of him What he meant to look so sowerly upon them His answer was If he had missed his Blow upon the Block he would have cut off both the Kings Heads All that he said was taken in good Part and King John discharged him of all his Troubles gave him great Gifts and restored him to his former Possessions in Ireland It is written further That hereupon he sailed into England came to Westchester offered himself to the Sea and was put back again fifteen times by contrary Winds which rose upon a sudden to the English Shore And in the Book of Houth it is delivered That upon every Repulse the Night following he was admonished in a Vision Not to attempt the Seas for to sail into Ireland and that he should never set Foot upon any Land there and withal that the Reason was yielded thus Courcy thou hast done very ill for thou hast pulled down the Master and set up the Servant for he had translated the Cathedral Church and the Prebendaries of the Blessed Trinity in Dune into an Abbey of Black Monks brought thither from Chester and consecrated the same to the Honour of S. Patrick Whereupon remembring himself That he had done very ill in taking the Name from God and giving it to a Creature he gave Sentence upon himself That he was worthily punished and immediately he altered his Course went into France and there died But 't is Time to return to our Lord Justice who was sent for into England and ordered to leave the Government in the Hands of Henry de Londres Archbishop of Dublin Lord Justice July 23. he had
publickly opposed the King's Alienation or Resignation of his Dominions to the Pope 1213. He governed the Kingdom very well but at the end of two Years he went to Rome either to solicit Aid for the King against the Barons or to be present at a General Council He left Geofry de Marisco 1215. Lord Keeper of Ireland to whom nevertheless Sir Edmond Butler was Assistant or Coadjutor It was about this Time the Citizens of Dublin obtained a Licence to build a Bridge over the Liffy where they pleased And not long after they also got a Fee-Farm of the City of Dublin from the King at a certain Rent but I take that to have been anno 1217. and if so the King here meant must be Henry III. It seems these Times were very Quiet for I find no mention of any War or Rebellion except some small Stirs in Connaught which were not so Great or Considerable as that the Particulars should be transmitted to posterity In the mean Time William Earl Marshal who came to Ireland anno 1207. was employed in building his Castle of Kilkenny and the Abbey of Black-Fryers there He also incorporated that Town by the Name of Sovereign Burgesses and Communalty and granted them a Privilege to be quit of Toll Lastage and Pontage and all other Customs throughout Leinster and afterwards went to England And thus stood the Government of Ireland during the Life of King John who died at Newark the nineteenth Day of October 1216. 1216. THE REIGN OF HENRY III. King of England And LORD of IRELAND c. HENRY the Third not then Ten years old succeeded his Deceased Father in all his Titles and Estates 1216. and in the presence of the Popes Legate William Earl Marshal and others he was declared King and Crowned at Glocester by the Bishops of Winchester and Bath and at the same time he did Homage to Pope Innocent and the Church of Rome Brady 522. for the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and swore to pay yearly the Thousand Marks which his Father had promised to the Holy See William Earl Marshal who was also Earl of Pembrook was Protector of the King and Kingdom Ib. 523. and by Proclamation encouraged the Nobility Gentry and other the Kings Subjects to continue faithful to him which they were the more easily perswaded to because Lewis Prince of France and his Party began to decline and were solemnly excommunicated or rather the same Excommunication was published and denounced every Sunday and Holy-Day There likewise issued a Writ to the Kings Subjects in Ireland in haec verba REX Archiepiscopis Prin 250. Episcopis Abbatibus Comitibus Baronibus Militibus libere tenentibus omnibus fidelibus suis per Hibern constitutis Salutem Fidelitatem vestram in Domino commendantes quam Domino Patri nostro semper exhibuistis nobis estis diebus nostris exhibituri Volumus quod in signum Fidelitatis vestrae tam praeclarae tam insignis libertatibus Regno nostro Angl. Ã Patre nostro nobis concessis de gratia nostra dono in Regno nostro Hibern gaudeatis vos vestri Haeredes in perpetuum quas distincte in Scriptum redactas de communi consilio omnium fidelium nostrorum vobis mittimus signatas Sigillis Domini nostri G. Apostolicae Sedis Legati fidelis nostri Com. W. Maresc Rectoris nostri Regni nostri quia Sigillum nondum habuimus easdem processu temporis de majori Consilio proprio Sigillo signaturi Teste apud Glouc. 6 die Februar And the Entry on the Roll is Homines Hiberniae habent libertates Angliae And another Writ Brady Append. 143. under the Test of the Earl Marshal was sent to Hugh de Lacy to invite his Return in this Writ which runs in the Name of the King his Majesty condescends to expostulate with Lacy that he the King ought not to be blamed for his Fathers unkindness to Lacy and assures him that he shall have Restitution and Protection if he would come back and upon Receipt of it Lacy did readily comply with the Kings Desire Geofry de Marisco continued Lord Justice or Governor of Ireland Burlace 15. to whom on the 16th of April following Henry de Londres was added as Assistant or Co-adjutor at least in Ecclesiastical Matters 1217. and for the Reformation of the Church The King sent a Writ to the Lord Justice giving him thanks for his faithful Service to the deceased King John and desiring that he would persevere in the like to himself especially during his Monority when he stood in need of the Lord Justices assistance and advice Prin Hist H. 3. fol. 38. and requires him to take the Oath of Fealty of the Nobility of Ireland and all others that are obliged thereto and assures them they shall enjoy the same Liberties in Ireland as he hath granted to his Subjects in England There was also another Writ sent to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal to assist the Lord Justice in the Kings Service And there was yet another Writ for a thousand Bacons Lib. GGG Lambeth two Ship-load of Corn and a Ship-load of Oats Mandatum est Justiciario Hiberniae quid mittet in Angliam mille Bacones duas Navatas Frumenti unam Navatam Aveni So that England must not deny but that it has at some time been beholden to us About this time William Earl Marshal incorporated the Town of Calan and gave it the following Charter COncessi Burgensibus meis de Calan omnimodas Libertates quas decet Burgenses habere mihi licet conferre viz. quod nullus Burgensis trahatur in causam vel respondeat de ullo placito quod proveniat infra Metas Burgi in Castello Lib. in Lambeth vel alibi nisi in hundredo villae exceptis placitis quae sunt de hominibus hospitii mei Concessi etiam eisdem Burgensibus Matrimonium contrahere sibi filiis filiabus viduis sine licentia Dominorum suorum nisi forte forinseca tenementa teneant de me in capite extra Burgum Lucas de Netervil was chosen by the Chapter Archbishop of Armagh 1217. and went to the King for Confirmation but could not obtain it Ware de Fresul 17. because the Election was made without the Kings License Whereupon the Monks compounded with the King for three hundred Marks of Silver and three of Gold and so they took out a Conge de esâ—ier and repeated the Election and then Netervil was consecrated by Langton Archbishop of Canterbury About this Time viz. 2 Hen. 3. the King wrote to Ireland for Aid to pay off a Debt due from him to Lewis Son of the King of France Soon after Henry de Londres was by Pope Honorius the Third made Legate of Ireland and held a Synod at Dublin which made many good Canons But the Lord Justice had displeased the King by his male-administration of Affairs in Ireland or perhaps had
Elizabeth the Seventh Daughter of K. Edw. the First and was at the Parliament at Northampton Created Earl of Ormond And yet I have seen a Patent Dated 6 Edw. 3. Lib. G. Lambeth and exemplified 38 Edw. 3. Whereby James Butler is Created Earl of Ormond and Ten Pound per annum out of the Fee-Farm of Waterford granted to him for Creation-Money And now the Lord William Burk and Arnold Poer returned into Ireland and a Parliament was call'd at Dublin to compleat the Reconciliation between them on the one side and the Butlers Geraldines and Birminghams on the other which it seems was begun at the aforesaid Parliament at Northampton and now effected at this Parliament in Ireland Whereupon the Earl of Vlster made a great Feast in the Castle of Dublin and the next day after the Lord Maurice Fitz-Thomas did the like at St. Patricks-Church although it was in the time of Lent But a strange Accident fell out at this Parliament for the Lord Justice was forc'd to purge himself of Heresie Camb. 182. which the Bishop of Ossory laid to his Charge because he had abetted one Sir Arnold Poer whom the Bishop had condemned of certain Heretical Opinions But the Lord Justice made appear that the Bishops Proceedings were partial and unjust in favour of a Kinsman of the Bishops who began the Quarrel with Poer and that therefore he the Justice supported the Cause of the Oppressed and so after a very solemn Purgation the Lord Justice was acquitted and declared a true Son of the Church whereupon he made a great Feast for all Comers Nevertheless the unfortunate Poer who had been taken by the Kings Writ De Excommunicato capiendo grounded on the Bishops Certificate died in Prison before this Matter was fully adjusted and his Carcass was a long time kept above ground and unburied because he died unassoiled Sir John Darcy 1329. Lord Justice in whose time Macoghegan of Meath and other Irishmen of Leinster O Bryan of Thomond and his Confederates in Munster broke out into Rebellion and yet this common Calamity could not unite the English although their own Experience had taught them and frequent Instances have convinced the succeeding Ages since that the English never suffered any great Loss or Calamity in Ireland but by Civil Dissentions and Disagreement amongst themselves June 10. 1329. when the Earl of Louth and many other of the Birminghams Talbot of Malahide and an hundred and sixty Englishmen were murdered by the Treachery of their own Countreymen the Savages Davis 135. Gernons c. at Balibragan in Vrgile and when the Barryes and Roches in Munster did as much for James Fitz-Robert Keating the Lord Philip Hodnet Fragm 10. and Hugh Condon with an hundred and forty of their Followers what wonder is it if Macoghegan defeated the Lord Thomas Butler and others August 8. near Molingar to their loss of an hundred and forty of their Men Or if Sir Simon Genevil lost seventy six of his Soldiers in Carbry in the County of Kildare or if Brian O Bryan ravaged over all the Country and burnt the Towns of Athessel and Typerary However Holingsh 70. the Irish grew so Insolent and Outragious upon these small Victories that they shewed but little regard to God or Man In the Church of Freinston they found about fourscore People at their Devotions Cambden ad annum it seems the miserable Wretches well acquainted with the cruelty of these ungovernable Soldiers did not expect to escape their Fury 1331. and therefore made it their only Petition to save the Life of the Priest Lib. P. Lamb. but these Ruffians were deaf to all Supplications for Mercy the Priest was the first Man they wounded and after they had spurned the Host with their Feet they compleated their Sacrilege by burning the Church Priest People and all Nor did they regard the Ecclesiastical Censures nor the Pope's Interdict which afterwards issued against them on the contrary in all their Actions they manifested an entire contempt both of Ethicks and Christianity so that one would think the Poet prophesied of these Men when he said Nulla fides pietasve viris qui castra sequuntur But Pride will have a fall and Providence will certainly triumph over the Wickedness of Men in a proper Season and commonly Methods unexpected whereof this unruly Multitude is one Instance For the Men of Wexford by their imminent Ruine rendred desperat entertain'd a Skirmish with this formidable Rabble Cambd. 185. and had the good Luck to kill four hundred of them and the rest surprized with a pannick Fear on this unexpected Defeat ran away in such a confused and hudling manner that most of them were drowned in the River Slane and have left a just Occasion for this true Remark That huffing and insolent Men are always Cowards and if this be true any where in the World it is true in Ireland Camb. 183. Sir Philip Stanton had the ill Luck to be slain by the Irish and Sir Henry Traherne by the Means of Onolan was surprized in his own House at Kilbeg But in Revenge of it the Earl of Ormond burnt Foghird in Onolan's Country and the Lord Justice prosecuted the O Birnes so effectually that after the Slaughter of some of the best of them they were forced to submit But the Lord Justice finding himself too weak to deal with such a vast number of Rebels as were now in Arms in all parts of the Kingdom he invited Maurice afterwards Earl of Desmond to take the Field and promised him the King's Pay January 1329 Maurice came accordingly with a very considerable Army Fragment 9. and advanced against the Onolans he routed them and burnt their Country so that they were forced to submit and give Hostages He did the like to the O Morroughs and took the Castle of Ley from the O Dempsâ—es But the Lord Justice was not ablâ— to pay so great an Army being near ten thousand Men 〈◊〉 therefore he was fain to connive at their extorting Coyn anâ— Livery which now was first practised by the English But the Irish had used that barbarous Oppression long before and perhaps from the beginning as appears by the fourth Constitution of the Synod of Cashel Ante pag. 23. I have seen the Copy of a Patent Lib. CCC dated March 1. 3. Edw. 3. Lambeth constituting the Earl of Ormond Lord Lieutenant of Ireland but I find nothing more of it any where else But the same Year Typerary was made a Palatinate The Irish had again petitioned the King for a general Liberty to use the English Laws Davis 103. whereupon the King sent a Writ to the Lord Justice 22 Aug. to consult the Parliament in Ireland 2 Edw. 3. and to advise him of their Opinions in that Matter And by another Writ of the same Date the King orders the Justice and the Chancellor to supervise the Exchequer twice every
Officer under the King that entred very poor could in one Year heap up more Wealth than Men of great Estates in many Years And III. How it chanced since they were all called Lords of their own that the Sovereign Lord of them all was never the richer for them The King who knew what they aimed at was very unwilling to restore the Lands and Jurisdictions he had resumed and therefore tryed all other ways to reform the Kingdom and please the People He turned out many of his Judges and Officers that were most obnoxious particularly Elias de Ashbourn whose Estate he caused to be seized Thomas de Montepessulano and Henry Baggott Judges of the Common Pleas He sent a Writ to the Lord Deputy to certifie the Qualities Services Fees Number and Behaviour of his Officers in Ireland He ordered that all Pardons or Suspensions of the King's Debts that were by green Wax or otherwise except Pardons or Releases under the great Seal should be vacated and the Debts levyed He also commanded the Lord Justice Darcy or his Deputy to employ no others in any considerable Office than such Englishmen as had Estates in England and to turn out all that were not so qualified And also enjoyned him not to alien or grant any of the King's Lands until he be fully informed of the Circumstances by Inquisition And whereas the Treasurer of the Exchequer did claim a Privilege to dispose of any Sum under one hundred Shillings toties quoties as he pleased without Voucher or Account the King supersedes that evil Custom and orders him to account for what is past since the beginning of his Reign and to issue no more Mony without the Presence or Consent of the Lord Justice Lord Chancellor and Council And whereas the Treasurer used to name Sheriffs that Nomination is conferred on the Chief Governour and Chancellor and Council who are enjoyned to put in Persons fit for the Office And whereas the Treasurer for Rewards used to forbear the King's Debts so that many of them were lost that Practice is also prohibited for the future And the Treasurer is ordered Not to receive the King's Mony in his Chamber or elsewhere privately but only in the publick Office The King also sent a Writ to be certified of the Particulars which were seized by virtue of the aforesaid Writ of Resumption And John Darcy Senior had an Order to have his Part of those Lands restored The Lord Justice the Deputy and the Chancellor or any two of them were authorized to supervise and regulate the Exchequer And yet all this and whatever else the King could do did not quiet the Kingdom until there was a general Restitution of these resumed Estates which was done 26 Edw. 3. And it must not be forgot that Walter Archbishop of Ardmagh Pryn 277. being in the time of Edw. 2. advanced to that See by the Popes Provision wherein were some Clauses prejudicial to the Crown the King refused to restore the Temporalities unto him until he had renounced all Clauses in the Pope's Bulls prejudicial to the King or his Kingdoms and engaged to pay a Fine of one thousand Crowns for that Misdemeanour but the Archbishop died before the Fine was paid And about this time Process issued to levy the same on the Temporalities of his Successor but it was irregular and illegal and therefore the King superseded that Process and directed that it should be levyed of the Heirs or Executors of the said Walter And about this time John Larch Prior of the Hospital of S. John of Jerusalem in Ireland and Mr. Thomas Wogan were sent to the King by the Prelates Earls Barons and Commons of Ireland with a long Catalogue of the Grievances of those Times to be seen at large together with the King's Answer in Mr. Pryns Animadversions 279. But Whether these Agents were sent from the Parliament at Dublin or the discontented Assembly at Kilkenny non constatâ— But 't is certain that not long after the Lord Justice was removed and Sir Ralph Vfford came over Lord Justice 1334. he married the Countess Dowager of Vlster and was a grave severe Man and the likeliest Person of that Age to reduce the Seditious to their Duty however the Irish and the old English speak very hardly of him and after they had given him the worst Character imaginable they add That there was a continual Tempest in Ireland from the time of his landing to the Day of his Death Camb. 189. 'T is certain they hated him so that in Sight of the People and at noon-day he was robbed of his Cloaths Mony Plate and Horses by Mac Cartane at Emerdullin no Body endeavouring to help or rescue him nevertheless he afterwards raised the Men of Vrgile and gained the Pass and entred Vlster On the twenty fourth of November the King and Parliament at Notingham made Ordinances for the Reformation of Ireland which are the same mentioned already 17 Edw. 2. ante pag. 112. which is there mistaken for 17 Edw. 3. as I suppose for though both my Lord Cook and Mr. Pryn quote 17 Edw. 2. yet I rather believe both their Books are misprinted than that the same Ordinances should be repeated at the same Place and in the same Year of both Kings But however that be my Lord Cook adds this Clause Volumus praecipimus quod Nostra Terrae nostrae negotia praesertim majora ardua per Peritos Conciliarios ac Praelatos 4 Inst 350 351. Magnates quosdam de discretioribus Hominibus i.e. the Commons in Parliamentis tractentur disâ—utiantur terminentur Vide postea ad annum 1357. And this he says does regulate the Parliaments of Ireland according to the Institution of England for before this time the great Meetings in Ireland were rather general Assemblies of the Great Men than properly Parliaments I find it asserted in the Argument of a Case about the Precedency of the Lord of Kerry before the Lord of Slane 12 Jac. 1. that the first regular Parliament in Ireland was held anno 12 Edw. 3. but I do not find any other Authority that there was any Parliament held that Year at all Certainly the greatest Assembly that was at any time in either of these King's Reigns at Parliament was anno 1302. being 30 Edw. 〈◊〉 the Number upon the Parliament Roll amounting to no less than one hundred fifty six The Parliament 8 Edw. 2. was nevertheless more considerable because of the Quality of the Persons for there were the four Archbishops ten Bishops the Abbot of S. Thomas the Prior of Kilmainham and the Dean and Chapter of Dublin There were also many Irish Lords as O Hanlon Duke i.e. Dux Captain or Chief of Orry O Donel Duke of Tyrconnel O Neal Duke of Tyrone c. and almost all the English Nobility in Ireland Others make a distinction between Grand and Petit Parliaments Lib. M. Lambetâ— the former were properly Parliaments and in them the
York Second Son of Edward the Fourth to whom the Crown did really belong if he were living and this Perkin did personate him so well that there remains some doubt to this day whether he were an Impostor or not but supposing he was it was cunningly contrived to let him first appear in Portugal as a Child that had in a skulking manner fled from the Cruelty of his usurping Unkle besides Portugal was a Place with which the Duchess of Burgundy had not much Correspondence and therefore it could not be suspected that she had a hand in the Cheat but however that be young Perkin set Sail from Lisbon and arrived safely at Cork where he was kindly received by the Citizens and particularly by John Walters an eminent Merchant of Cork who probably was then Mayor and whose Apprentice Perkin had been as they say he wrote Letters to the Earls of Kildare and Desmond for their Assistance against King Henry but before he received their Answers he received Letters from the French King inviting him thither and so to France he went and was royally received and entertained until that King made Peace with King Henry and then Perkin made a seasonable Retreat into Flanders where he was exceeding welcome to his supposed Aunt the Duchess of Burgundy and there we will leave him for a while and return to our â—ord Deputy He held a Parliament at Dublin 1493. on Friday after Midsummer which it seems vacated some Indictments and Inquisitions that had formerly been made to the prejudice of this Lord Deputy by the Means of the Lord Portlester and now the Tables being turn'd and the Votaries of the House of Lancaster at Helm the Lord Portlester himself was questioned in the Exchequer for the miss-management of his Office of Treasurer This Parliament did also repeal a former Act made against the City of Waterford and restored that City to all its ancient Liberties and Priviledges and it is probable that there was also an Act of Parliament now made for the general Resumption of all the Crown Lands that were alienated or granted away since the first year of King Henry the Sixth but none of the Acts of this Parliament are Printed except one for the cleansing of the Water-Course in St. Patrick-street in Dublin and so this Parliament being dissolved in August the Lord Deputy on the sixth of September following resigned to Robert Preston Viscount Gormanstown Lord Deputy to the Duke of Bedford who it seems had not Commission to call a Parliament nevertheless he did call one which met at Drogheda and made several Statutes which were absolutely void for the Defect aforesaid however they were expresly repeal'd by 10 Hen. 7. cap. 23. And these farther Reasons were given for it 1. That the Lord Lieutenant had surrendred his Patent before the Summons And 2. Because the Parliamentary Summons did not issue to all the Shires but to four Shires only On the Twelfth of September this Lord Deputy called several of the Nobility to Trim where they subscribed Articles for the Peace of the Kingdom viz. That no man should make War without the Deputies Consent and that several Extortions and Tributes that were used and demanded should be abrogated and suppressed and that Murderers Thieves and Vagabonds should be punished c. There were present at this Assembly Alexander Plunket L. Chancellor Girald Earl of Kildare the Bishops of Meath Kildare the Lords of Slane Delvin Killeen Houth Trimletston and Dunsany c. And they gave Recognizanse and Hostages for the observation of those Articles and after this he called the Parliament aforesaid In October the late Lord Deputy Fitz-Symons went into England to give the King a full Account as well of his own Government as of the present State of the Kingdom of Ireland and not long after viz. in November following the Earl of Kildare hearing he was impeach'd in England went also thither to justifie himself before the King but the L. Deputy leaving the Government in the Hands of his Son followed the Earl to England and by the Assistance of Sir James Ormond Lord Treasurer of Ireland he so far prevailed that Kildare's Justification was rejected and himself sent over Prisoner to Ireland to the end the Matter might be more fully examined upon the place 1494. by Sir Edward Poynings Knight of the Garter Lord Deputy whose chief Errand was to suppress the Abettors of Perkin Warbeck he came over the thirteenth of September and immediately made great Alterations amongst the Ministers of State Henry Dean Bishop of Bangor he constituted Lord Chancellor Sir Hugh Conway was appointed Treasurer Thomas Bouring was made Chief Justice of the Kings Bench as John Topcliff was of the Common Pleas and Walter Ever was made Chief Baron of the Exchequer all which were Englishmen born and good Lawyers and were sworn of the Privy Council of Ireland This Deputy brought over with him about one thousand Souldiers and resolved to invade Vlster to pursue some of Perkins's Friends that fled thither it is strange he should use the Earl of Kildare's assistance in this Expedition however together they went accompanied with Sir James Ormond who had resigned the Office of High Treasurer they did great Execution on the Irish and harass'd the Territories of O Hanlon and Mac Genis and others It was suggested That Kildare did secretly treat and conspire with O Hanlon to destroy the Lord Deputy for which he was Attainted as shall be shewn hereafter but it seems he was innocent of that Matter not only because O Hanlon cleared him upon Oath two years after but also because he was acquitted in England upon full hearing before the King Nevertheless Kildare's Brother did at this time seize on the Castle of Caterlogh whereupon the Lord Deputy was necessitated to clap up a sort of a Peace with O Hanlon and Macgenis and so having taken their Oaths and Hostages he immediately marched to Caterlogh which after ten days Siege 1494. was surrendred unto him And so in November on Monday before the Feast of St. Andrew sate that famous Parliament at Drogheda which Enacted I. That the Treasurer might appoint his under-Officers here as is used in England and shall account once a year here before the Barons of the Exchequer and such of the Council as the Lord Deputy shall appoint and the same Accounts to be certified into England and finally determined and setled there II. That no Minister of Justice viz. The Chancellor Treasurer Judges Clerk or Master of the Rolls nor any Officer Accomptant shall have their Places but during the King's Pleasure III. An Act adnulling a Prescription which Traytors and Rebels claimed in Ireland The Reason of this Act was because Richard Duke of York at his last being in Ireland did Cause an Act to be made That Ireland should be a Sanctuary for Refugees and that it should be Treason to disturb any body there by any Writ Privy Seal or other Matter from England and
of an Incestuous Marriage so directly against the Law of God that no Power on Earth could dispense with it Dr. Burnet's Hist Reform 131. And that Marriage was judicially nulled and made void ab initio by the Divorce pronounced between the Parties by the Archbishop of Canterbury so that by consequence the Issue was bastardiz'd and rendred Illegitimate And II. Because the Crown was entailed upon Queen Elizabeth by Name by the Irish Statute of 28 Hen. 8. cap. 2. as hath been already observed and that Statute was not repealed in Ireland to that time It would be a lame Answer to the first Objection to insist upon the English Statute of 35 H. 8. which gave that King Power to dispose of the Crown by his Will for besides what some will alledg against Bills of Exclusion in general every Body will oppose that wild and unjust Method of Exclusion that has no regard to the Faults of the Party rejected nor to the Merits of the Person to be advanced but Exposes the Right of an Innocent to the Figary of an humersom Man Moreover it is a high Point to delegate the Legislative Power in an Instance of that Importance and if allowed would at once destroy all hereditary Right It is necessary therefore that we have recourse to something more solid and which really was the true Reason and it was this That Mary having gained Possession of the Throne in a Hurry by the Surprize and Confusion of the People in general the Easiness and Credulity of the Suffolk-men in particular and the Envy some bore to the Duke of Suffolk and the Malice others entertained against the Duke of Northumberland the Protestants did believe themselves obliged by the Laws of God and Man to obey the Queen de facto and to acquiesce in the Government that was actually over them and therefore the Clergy and the best and holiest of the Protestant Party chose rather to be Refugees and beg their Bread abroad than to be mutinous and disloyal at Home It is not to be doubted but that they did consult and throughly examine both the Laws of God and the Laws of the Land in that Particular and found by both Sanctions that it was not the Duty of the Subject to dispute the Title of the Prince in Possession this were to make the Rabble Judges of the Rights of Princes and to erect a Judicature above the Legislative Power and to introduce an Appeal from the Parliament to the People As to the First viz. The Law of God nothing was more plain than that a Christian peaceable Temper was commanded in General and a Submission to the King de facto in Particular and the Reason is Because the Power that is is of God for Caesar had no Right especially over the Jewish State but both Augustus and Tiberius were Usurpers and yet it was to them that our Saviour and the Apostles preached Obedience and commanded us To render the things that were Caesars And as to the second viz. The Law of the Land it has no regard to any other than the King de facto it is he that is only King within the Statute of Edward the Third of Treasons it is he only that by the Laws of England can grant Pardons Call and Dissolve Parliaments and Confirm their Acts In a Word It is he only that can do all Acts of Government and he is the Person who can and ought to give Protection to the Subjects and consequently is to have Allegiance from them the King de facto can punish Treasons committed against his Predecessor and his Rightful Successor may punish Treasons done against him and the Reason is Because it is the same continuation of the Regal Government and the Person is not regarded in Law any longer than it is cloathed with the Politick Capacity For the Relation that is between King and Subject Protection and Allegiance is reciprocal and the Obligation is mutual as it is betwixt Husband and Wife and therefore whensoever a King totally ceaseth the Exercise of his Royal Office he is dead in his Politick Capacity with which the Relation is and the Subject is at Liberty ad alia vota convolanda to the Successor and whether this happens by Force or Consent is no more to the purpose than it is whether a Man's first Wife was murdered or dyed of a Fever So that it is Plain That Possession of the Throne by the consent of the two Houses of Parliament does give a Right in reference to the Subject and therefore the Words King de jure are but terms of Art as Ens Rationis among the Logicians to signifie an Imaginary Notion they had no other name for and if this were not so there could be no Peace upon Earth since there is not a Crown in Europe to which there are not several plausible Pretenders whose Claims have many warm and furious Abettors and perhaps it would be very difficult for any man to define what Prescription is sufficient to give more Title to a Throne than is gained by the quiet Possession thereof The Case of Henry the Seventh hath been already mentioned wherein the Judges resolved That the Possession of the Crown and of the Regal Government cleared him of all Incapacities Defects and Attainders whatsoever It is necessary to add That the Preservation of the Community is the End and Design of all Laws and that the greatest Solecism that can be in the OEconomy of a Kingdom is to suspend the Government though but for a Moment And in Truth the whole Society would perish by a very short Interval wherein every Man might do what seems good in his own Eyes It is for this Reason there is no interregnum in England And therefore there always is a King to whom the English Subject owes Allegiance exclusively of all others and that can be no other than the King de facto who is trusted by the Law with the executive Power thereof and who alone doth or can give the People actual Protection If it were needful this might be farther urged because every Man is represented in Parliament and their Act is the Act of every individual Person and it is beyond controversie That every one is obliged to obey the Authority himself has owned and consented to And as to the second Objection it is easily answered That Ireland is a subordinate Kingdom to England and part of its Dominions and therefore whoever is King of England is ipso facto King of Ireland as much as of the Isle of Sheppy or of the Isle of Wight and it was so at Common Law and it is explained to be so by the Irish Statute of 28 Hen. 8. cap. 1. wherein it is enacted That the King and his Successors Kings of England shall be Kings of Ireland and that Kingdom is by the same Act united and knit to the Imperial Crown of England And therefore it follows That Ireland must submit to such disposal of the Crown as
whereupon he this Examinant came to Connaught on Wednesday night last and finding the said Hugh come to Dublin followed him thither he came hither about Six of the Clock this Evening and forthwith went to the Lodging of the said Hugh to the House near the Boot in Oxmantown and there he found the said Hugh and came with the said Hugh into the Town near the Pillory to the Lodging of the Lord Mac-Guire where they found not the Lord within and there they drank a Cup of Beer and then went back again to the said Hugh's Lodging He saith that at the Lord Mac-Guire's Lodging the said Hugh told him that there were and would be this Night great Numbers of Noblemen and Gentlemen of the Irish Papists from all parts of the Kingdom in this Town who with himself had determined to take the Castle of Dublin and to possess themselves of all his Majesties Ammunition there to Morrow Morning being Saturday and that they intended first to Batter the Chimneys of the said Town and if the Citizens would not yield then to Batter down the Houses and so to cut off all the Protestants that would not joyn with them He further saith That he the said Hugh told him that the Irish had prepared men in all parts of the Kingdom to destroy all the English Inhabiting there to Morrow Morning by Ten of the Clock and that in all the Sea-Ports and other Towns in the Kingdom all the Protestants should be killed that night and that all the Posts that could be could not prevent it And farther saith That he moved the said Hugh to forbear executing of that business and to discover it to the State for saving of his own Estate who said he could not help it but said that they did owe their Allegiance to the King and would pay him all his Rights But that they did this for the Tyrannical Government that was over them and to imitate Scotland who had got a Priviledge by that course And he further saith that when he was with the said Hugh in his Lodging the said Hugh swore that he should not go out of his Lodging that Night but told him he should go with him the next Morning to the Castle and said if this matter were discovered somebody should die for it Whereupon this Examinant fained some necessity for his Easement went down out of the Chamber and left his Sword in Pawn and the said Hugh sent his Man down with him and when this Examinant came down into the Yard and finding an opportunity he this Examinant leaped over a Wall and Two Pales and so came to the Lord Justice Parsons October 22. 1641. Owen O Conally William Parsons Thomas Rotheram Robert Meredith Appendix III. A Copy of a Letter directed to the Lord Viscount Costilough from the Rebels of the County of Longford in Ireland which he presented to the State in their behalf Nov. 10. 1641. Our very Good Lord OUr Allyance unto your Lordships Ancestors and your self and the tryal of your and their performance of Trust unto their Friends in their greatest Adversity encourageth us and engageth your Honour to our fruition of your future Favours the fixion of our confidence in you before any of the Peers and Privy Counsellors of the Kingdom doubleth this obligation Your Lordship may therefore be pleased to acquaint the Lords Justices and Councel to be imparted unto his Sacred Majesty with our Grievances and the causes thereof the Reading of which we most humbly pray and the Manner of it First The Papists in the Neighbouring Counties are severely Punished and their Miseries might serve as Beacons unto us to look unto our own when our Neighbours Houses are on Fire And we and other Papists are and ever will be as Loyal Subjects as any in the Kings Dominions for manifestation whereof we send herein inclosed an Oath solemnly taken by us which as it receiv'd indelible impression in our Hearts shall be Sign'd with our Hand and Seal'd with our Blood Secondly There is an Incapacity in the Papists of Honour and the Immunities of true Subjects the Royal marks of Distributive Justice and a disfavour in the Commutative which raised Strangers and Foreigners above those whose Valour and Vertue was Invincible when the old Families of the English and the major part of us the meer Irish did Swim in Blood to serve the Crown of England and when Offices should call Men of Worth Men without Worth and Merit obtain them Thirdly The Statute of 2 Eliz. of force in this Kingdom against us and they of our Religion doth not a little disanimate us and the rest Fourthly The avoidance of Grants of our Lands and Liberties by Quirks and Quiddities of the Law without reflecting upon the Kings Royal and real intention for confirming our Estates his Broad Seal being the Pawn betwixt his Majesty and his People Fifthly The Restraint of Purchase in the meer Irish of Lands in the Escheated Counties and the taint and blemish of them and their Posterities doth more discontent them than that Plantation Rule for they are brought to that Exigent of Poverty in these late times that they must be Sellers and not Buyers of Land And we conceive and humbly offer to your Lordships consideration principiis obsta that in the beginning of this Commotion your Lordship as it is Hereditary for you will be a Physitian to cure this Disease in us and by our examples it will doubtless beget the like auspicious success in all other parts of the Kingdom for we are of opinion it is one Sickness and one Pharmach will suffice Sublata causa tollitur effectus and it will be recorded that you will do Service unto God King and Country and for salving every the aforesaid Sores your Lordship is to be an humble Suitor in our behalf and of the rest of the Papists that out of the abundance of his Majesties Clemency there may be an Act of Oblivion and general Pardon without Restitution or account of Goods taken in the time of this Commotion a Liberty of our Religion a Repeal of all Statutes formerly made to the contrary and not by Proclamation but Parliamentary way a Charter-free Denizen in ample manner for meer Irish all which in succeeding Ages will prove an Union to all his Majesties Dominions instead of Division a Comfort in Desolation and a Happiness in perpetuity for an imminent Calamity And this being granted there will be all things Quae sunt Caesaris Caesari and quae sunt Dei Deo and it was by the Poet written though he be prophane in other matters yet in this Prophetically Divisum Imperium cum Jove Caesar habet All which for this present we leave to your Honourable care and we will as we ever did and do remain Your very humble and assured ever to be Commanded Hugh mac Gillernow Farral James Farral Bryan Farral Readagh Farral Edmond mac Cael Farral John Farral in Carbuy Garret Farrel Lisagh mac Conel Farral
Bryan mac William Farral John mac Edmond Farral John Farral Roger mac Bryne Farral Barnaby Farral James mac Teig Faral his Mark. Morgan mac Carbry Farral Donough mac Carbry Farral Richard mac Conel Farral William mac James Farral James Farral Taghna mac Rory Farral Cormack mac Rory Farral Conock mac Bryne Farral Readagh mac Lisagh Farral Connor oge mac Connor Farral Edmond mac Connor Farral Cahel mac Bryne Farral Appendix IV. A Letter from the Lords Justices and Council to King Charles the First to prevent a Peace with the Irish May it please your Most Excellent Majesty WE your Majesties Justices on the 30 th of January last Receiv'd your Majesties Letter of the 11 th of the same We being then in Council at this Board which Letters we then immediately communicated to the Council as we always do in all matters of Importance concerning your Majesties Affairs here By those Letters your Majesty declared that you had sent a Commission to our very good Lord the Lord Marquess of Ormond and others Authorizing them to receive in Writing what the Petitioners Catholicks of Ireland mentioned in those Letters would say or propound and to return the same to your Majesty And by the same Letters your Majesty Commanded us your Justices to give those Commissioners our best assistance and furtherance as there shall be occasion wherein as in all things else we have always done and shall ever do we shall most readily obey your Majesties Royal Commands with all humble Duty and Submission having nothing more in our Care and Endeavours in these perplexed times than to advance your Service and to preserve your Soveraign Rights and Interests here where so dangerous Attempts have of late been made against them by so Aniversal a Conspiracy of the Papists of this Kingdom We do with much Joy of heart Comfort our selves to see your Majesties gracious inclination to hear your Subjects whatsoever they be in themselves and as therein we behold your goodness so we to whose Care and Circumspection your Majesty hath committed the great Trust of this your Kingdom cannot but esteem it a great breach of Duty and Faith in us to be silent in such things as may give light in this important business and which cannot come to your Majesties knowledge but by your Ministers These Petitioners do affirm That they had recourse to Arms for Preservation of your Royal Rights and Prerogatives which if it were true we should be subject to the full Tax of Treachery if we should not with all Zeal and hearty Affection have joined with them And if that had been the true ground of their entring into quarrel with us it should cost little Mony or Blood to the Kingdom of England to reconcile us They well know that before this Rebellion in the Parliament held here and formerly we opposed them several times where we found them vehemently labour to abridge those Prerogatives and antient Rights of the Crown here and to derogate from your Royal Authority in many Parts thereof as by particulars will appear But we must upon full observation of their Courses and Actions since the First breaking out of this unnatural Rebellion unfeignedly affirm That they do but take up this for an excuse of their most odious breach of Faith and Duty to your Most Sacred Majesty their inward intent being as since hath appeared to deprive your Majesty of all those Prerogatives they spake of and even of your Crown and Kingdom resolving also to destroy and extirpate out of this Island as well the true Protestant Religion as also your Majesties most Loyal Brittish Subjects whom they hate chiefly because they Religiously love your Majesty and your Children and in that love were such leaders of them in all their late seeming Acts of Bounty and Duty towards your Majesty as without shameful bewraying their evil hearts they could not shun the same whereat they often shewed much reluctancy as appeared in reducing the subsidies and other things In Vlster where the Rebellion first broke forth it is testified upon Oath by a Gentleman that was a Prisoner amongst the Rebels that he heard one of the Rebels a man of Note amongst them say That if he had your Majesty where he than spake that he would flea you quick but they would have the Kingdom and their will of you Others there said that they had a King of their own in Ireland Others said that they would have an Irish King and regarded not King Charles the King of England Others that they had a new King and had Commission from him for what they did Others that Sir Phelim O Neal should be their King and that they would give a great sum of Mony to have King Charles his Head these Speeches were uttered in several Counties in that Province and by several Parties also those in Vlster devis'd false Prophesies and dispers'd and publish'd them and amongst others things so devis'd by them one Prophesie is said to be that Tyrone or Sir Phelim O Neal should drive your Majesty with your whole Posterity out of England and that You and your Posterity shall be hereafter Profugi in terra aliena in aeternum to which Phelim O Neal Regal Attributes have been given by some of the Rebels and he hath written in a Regal Stile and did Seal Letters with a Seal whereon there was a Regal Crown which we have seen When the Rebellious Lords and Gentry of the Pale and Leinster and after them those of Munster and Conaugh and the Irish in Leinster rose in Rebellion who appeared not in Arms until those in the Pale brake out those in the Pale declared to Assault your Majesties Castle and City of Dublin where reside your Officers of State and where are the Ensigns and Ornaments of your Royal Authority and Soveraignty here and all the Records of your Revenues and Interest which they purposed to Seize and by holding that Place to take away the means for arrival of English here other than by main force to which intent they Assembled in great numbers near this City within two or three Miles round about it having then also strongly Besieg'd your Majesties Port Town of Droghe da as a step to the gaining of this City presuming all this while that no succour should come out of England and all this done not only by the barbarous Rebels of Vlster but also by the degenerate ungrateful Lords and Gentry of the Pale and when by Gods blessing and your Majesties tender care of the remanant of your poor People left yet undestroyed in sending Forces hither we were enabled by your Majesties Forces to beat off those Multitudes and to raise the Siege of Drogheda then as well the Old English as the Irish all Papists and now Rebels which drew themselves farther off and finding that they had not so ready a way to rent the Kingdom out of your Majesties hands as they at first supposed they then found it necessary to fall
even this was sent to the Lord Lieutenant and His Majesties Directions were prayed therein and the like was done by a Paper of Grievances sent by the Lord Mountgarret to the Earl of Ormand at the same time and in August 1642. the Remonstrants sent to the Earl of Ormond a Petition directed to His Majesty which accordingly the Lords Justices transmitted to him That the Lords Justices did endeavour to stop the spreading of the Rebellion and to reduce the Rebels to Obedience by fair means Viz. by their Proclamations of 23 d. of October and 1 st of November promising Mercy to all that should desist from force by imploying a Committee of Parliament to treat with them but they scornfully rejected the Message and contemptuously tore the Committees Letter and the Order of Parliament and by imploying Doctor Cale and some of their own Clergy to treat with them whom they likewise abused and by authorizing the Lord Moor and afterwards Sir Richard Barnwall and Patrick Barnwall to perswade them to Submission and by giving Commissions to the Lord Gormanstown and other of the Remonstrants but whilst they found Success they were deaf to all Perswasions and now that they are baffled they forge Causes of Complaint so that His Majesty is not misinformed nor the Remonstrants unjustly traduced nor misrepresented to the King To the first Article they say that it is too general and generally untrue that Popery is a New Religion midwived into the World by the Council of Trent which ended 1563 and therefore could not be professed by the Remonstrants nor their Ancestors for 1300 Years that the Irish were at first Protestants as Bishop Vsher hath proved at large and in Henry the Eight's Reign were averse to the Papal Usurpations and consented to Laws to suppress them and generally came to Church until 13 Eliz. some of them flew off upon the Bull of Piut V. and 30 Eliz. upon the Arrival of some Spaniards shipwrackt on the Coast of Ireland the Apostasie became more common however the Recâ—sancy of coming to Church was not general until about the middle of King James his Reign But however that be this is certain that the Papists were so far from being persecuted that all Laws against them were suspended and they enjoyed a Connivance little differing from a Toleration so that even their Ecclesiastical Heirarchy publickly executed their Functions and the Clergy swarmed to that Degree that Paul Harris wrote to Pope Vrban 8ht That it was as difficult to number the Friers in Dublin as to reckon the Frogs in the second Plague of Egypt That notwithstanding the Statute of 2 Eliz. there have been ten chief Judges successively and all the inferior Judges of Irish Birth and Education that the first English Judge that came over after that Statute was Sir Robert Gardiner 29 Eliz. That several Irish Papists had commands in the Queen's Army and were Governors of Counties as the Earl of Thomond Clanrickard c. And even now at the Time of the Insurrection Papists were admitted to be High Sheriffs of Counties Justices of Peace Magistrates of Corporations Marshals upon Occasion Councellors at Law Doctors of Physick Clerks Attornies and Sollicitors c. so that none go abroad but for their Improvement as the Gentry of all Countries do or to Seminaries to become Clergymen And these Popish Natives have had their share of His Majesties Favour in dispensing of Honour several of them having been made Lords Baronets and Knights and such as were capable of it by Conformity and Education were preferred in the Church and even those that were unfit for it and were Papists were nevertheless upon an external and partial Conformity only continued in their Spiritual Dignities by Queen Elizabeth notwithstanding the Statute of 2 Eliz. Their Nobility had all the respect and priviledge which good manners and the Law gives to their Quality and by the industry and improvements of their English Tenants lived more Regularly Plentifully and Gentilely than any of their Ancestors ever did or could and that the Popish Youth were never denied admittance into any Free-School nor into the University nor any Question made about their Religion only when they come to be Graduates they must then conform to the Laws of the Land and the Statutes of the Colledge and the Answerers think that the Remonstrants have small reason to complain whilst they enjoy those Liberties and Favours which are denied to the Popish Natives of England who though less in number are much superior to the Remonstrants in Quality Loyalty and Riches But if the Laws of the Land do exclude Recusants from Offices of Trust and Honour they ought to have patience till his Majesty shall think fit to consent to a Repeal of them nay if their Oppressions were without Law their proper Remedy were by Supplication and Petition to the King and not by Murther Rebellion and Depredation To the Second they say it is an aspersion on the King for the ill choice of his Officers and is so undutiful that no Person of Honour will appear in it it was devised by the Popish Clergy and the Jesuited Lawyers who are the Firebrands of these horrible Flames which have almost consumed the Kingdom and it is notoriously false for the chief Government hath been placed either in Men of Nobility or great Estate or in Men of great Merit and in a high Station none of which ever built their Fortune on the Ruine of the Kings Subjects but some of them have been undone by the unjust clamour of the Irish who never endure long any English Governor that endeavours their legal obedience to the Crown So that of One and Twenty chief Governours successively Thirty Privy Councellors Twelve chief Judges and several inferior Judges sent out of England since the Statute of 2 Eliz. not one of them left any Estate there nor were enriched by that Service and even the Earl of Strafford paid great Sums of Mony for what he bought there whereas such of the Natives of that Kingdom as were Judges have left great and visible estates whereby it will appear who built most upon the Ruines of the Natives That the Natives became suspected and odious in England not by any scandals cast upon them but by their degeneracy and frequent Rebellions whereby Ireland whilst managed by them was always in disorder and so poor that it was a continual charge to England whereas since the management of it by English the dependancy of the People is placed in the Crown Legal Properties are secured the Irish pernicious Customs abolished Civility introduced the Kingdom improved so that it was better able to give Ten Subsidies now than one in former times Trade and Commerce increased the Revenue advanced from 8000 to 85000 l. per Annum the Laws duly administred Religion propagated the Army maintained without oppressing the Subject and a Navy kept to guard the Coasts the People are grown Rich and Numerous the breed of Cattle bettered and
contribution was worth And the Subsidies were not only First proposed by the Protestants but would never have been consented to by the Papists if they had not found the number of the Protestant Members sufficient to out-vote them and therefore when several of the Protestants were absent with the new Army near Carrigfergus and upon several pretences excluded and Popish Members chosen in their Room so that the Popish Party was most numerous Then the Subsidies which before were One and Forty Thousand Pound apiece were by them reduced to Twelve Thousand Two Hundred Pound apiece whereby the forwardness they boast of sufficiently appears to be untrue And as to Proportion the Protestants besides what the Clergy contributed paid above a Third part of the whole and how it was disposed of appears by the Accounts of the Officers and very much contrary to what the Remonstrants have scandalously suggested And if they were as well devoted to the Crown as the Protestants are his Majesty would soon reap considerable profit out of so fruitful and Flourishing a Kingdom to be disposed of as he should think fit To the 6 th that there was an absolute necessity of Disbanding the new Army there being neither Victuals nor Mony left for them and the charge being too great upon the Kingdom as the Remonstrants declared in Parliament when they were moved to contribute towards it however the Lords Justices did not Disband them without his Majesties Warrant for it and they had also the Kings approbation when it was done And now the Reason is manifest why some of the Remonstrants who were engaged in the Conspiracy were so loath to have that Army disbanded viz. because they saw themselves disappointed of such a help and those Arms with a more full hand to execute their Bloody Design upon the Protestants wherein many of that Army concurred and for the same reason they opposed the Transportation of any of those Forces to Spain and the Priests disswaded the Soldiers from going else certainly they would not be backward to rid the Country of those loose Idle Men nor to assist a Catholick Prince of whom soon after they implored Aid against his Majesty But they had another use of those Soldiers in prospect and which is since executed on the Protestants to the full and their fiction that one of the Earl of Strafford's Servants had threatned to blow them up whereupon a Committee was appointed to search under the Parliament House for Powder was only a Trick to discover the Stores for when they found none there they continued their importunity to see where the Magazine was and were discontented at the denial As for the Chimera of bringing Ten Thousand Scots to force the Papists to change Religion and the Speech that Ireland would never be well without a Rebellion to the end the Natives might be Extirpated it is no wonder the Remonstrants whose thoughts were full of Extirpations which they have too fully effected should think the like designed by others but that it is incredible that the Persons named whose Estates are in Ireland and Families are setled there should disturb that Peace they have so long endeavoured to Establish or should desire a Rebellion which would be doubtfull in Success but certain in Desolation And in like manner ridiculous is the Story of Wagers the truth of which is that at the Sheriffs Table at Wexford Assizes a Protestant proposed to a Papist that he would give him Five Pounds and the other should give him Fifty Pounds for it if he did not come to Church within a Twelve Month whereat the Papist not understanding the Joke seemed surprized and protested he would not come to Church within that time why then says a Third Person you will lose the Fifty Pound for it is to be paid if you dont whereat the Jest was understood and it became matter of laughter there though it be one of the Grievances here pickt up to stuff this Remonstrance and one of the Grounds to justifie their bloody Rebellion The Position that Ireland if named is obliged by an English Parliament affects the Protestants as much as the Papists of that Kingdom however it ought to be decided by Arguments and not by Arms Nor should the Resolution of that Point be written in the Blood of so many murthered Innocents but how the Remonstrants should before their Rebellion have notice of any Intention or Protestation of the Parliament of England to introduce a Law for extirpation of Popery is very unaccountable because the Vote that did pass was subsequent to the Insurrections of the Irish and in Detestation of their inhuman Cruelties Nor in truth were the Irish afraid of any Hardships from the English who lived amongst them even with such kindness and confidence as hath proved fatal to the whole party And though now they pretend that the Priviledges of Parliament are violated by sending for a Sitting Member to answer an Impeachment in England yet when that Point was debated in the Case of Sir George Ratcliff who craved the Aid and Protection of the House then one of these Remonstrants could advise the House to take no notice of it lest any variance should arise between the two Parliaments but when the Protestant was sent over then indeed they instructed their Committee to sollice and settle that Point for the future To the seventh the readiness in His Majesty to hear their Grievances which they confess should have obliged them to Loyalty and Obedience to him and at least Neighbourlike Demeanour to his Subjects and not to scandalize His Majesty through his Ministers by false Accusations against them for the Lords Justices did neither hinder the going of the Irish Committee to England nor send any after them to cross or impede their Design nor in any Case misinform His Majesty But on the contrary when they received a Commission dated the 4 th of January 1640 to continue ptorogue or determine the Parliament as they thought fit they believing that the Parliament designed the general good of the Kingdom not only continued it but also gave it all the Countenance they could So that a Noble Peer moved in the Lord's House That it might be recorded to remain to Posterity That the Lords Justices had always ohearfully received their Requests and Messages and wers ready to comply with them and since the Remonstrants by His Majesties Order had view of all the Private Letters if they could have found any such misinformation as they complained of they would have instanced it to His Majesty and not give him Suppositions for Gertainties And as to the Power of Judicature of the House of Lords in Cases Capital His Majesty wrote to know whether there were any Presidents of it and the Lords Justices having consulted the Upper House returned a true Answer that none were to be found nor do the Remonstrants regard that Power but at that Juncture their party being prevalent they thought they had an Opportunity to get
The humble Petition of divers of your Majesties Protestant Subjects in your Kingdom of Ireland as well Commanders of your Majesties Army here as others whose Names are subscribed in the behalf of themselves and others your Protestant Subjects in this your Kingdom and to manifest by all good ways and means the Truths thereof in every particular and to solicite the obtaining the humble Desires therein requested and to refel and disprove the Untruths of the scandalous Aspersions laid by the confederate Roman Catholicks c. of Ireland upon the most gracious Governments of our most Royal late Sovereign Queen Elizaheth and King James of ever Blessed Memory and also of our most gracious and dread Sovereign King Charles and also the extream Falshoods by the said confederate Roman Catholicks published and imposed upon by His Majesties said Protestant Subjects of this Realm 2. And also to offer unto His Majesties Royal and most tender Consideration the barbarous Usage Inhumanity cruel Tortures and bloody Murthers committed and done upon His Majesties Protstant Subjects ☞ in the several parts of the Kingdom without Provocation and that commonly after Quarter given Passes Promises and Oaths for security or safe Convoy especially in that glorious Plantation of King James of ever Blessed Memory in the Province of Vlster which terrible Effusion of innocent Blood crieth to Almighty God and His Sacred Majesty for Justice 3. In like manner to present unto His Sacred Majesty the true and entire Faith and Allegiance of His Majesties Protestant Subjects of this Kingdom unto his Royal Person Crown and Dignity their cheerful and constant Acknowledgment of his Supremacy in all Causes and over all Persons their Universal Obedience to all his Laws and gracious Government and their continual Desires and Endeavours even to the uttermost hazard of their Lives and Fortunes for the preservation of all his Rights and just Prerogatives and to present to His Majesty in what Estate and Condition the Kingdom was in at the Time of the breaking out of this horrid Rebellion 4. And most humbly to desire the Preservation and Establishment of the true Protestant Religion in this Realm and the Suppression of Popery according to the Laws and Statutes to that End established 5. Most humbly to desire His Sacred Majesty that the great Losses of his Protestant Subjects now utterly ruined by the Rebellion of the said confederate Roman Catholicks c. may be repaired in such manner and measure as his Highness in his Princely Wisdom shall think fit whereby His Majesties said Protestant Subjects may be enabled to subsist and reinhabit in the said Kingdom 6. Most humbly to present to His Sacred Majesty all other things that may conduce to the Glory of God to the Advancement of the true Protestant Religion according to the Laws the Honour and Profit of His Majesty the just Prerogatives of his Crown the Preservation of the Laws and just Liberties of the Subject the securing of this Kingdom to His Majesty and His Royal Posterity and future Safety to His Majesties Protestant Subjects in their Religion Lives and Fortunes that they may no longer nor hereafter be liable to such and the like Evils and Destructions on them committed as they have now suffered from those who fell upon them spilt their Blood and destroyed their Estates unprovoked and even when they lived together in full Peace 7. And for avoiding mistakes that you present or propound nothing to His Majesty but what shall be first well debated amongst your selves and maturely considered of and agreed upon in writing by the major part of you and subscribed with your hands 8. That from time to time you give an Accompt of your proceedings unto those who are here appointed to negotiate this Affair Which said Instructions being read the Protestant Petitioners were required to withdraw who after debate had on the Instructions at the Council-board were called in again and exceptions were taken to the first second third fourth and sixth Articles of the Instructions and they were told by the Lords of the Council That they could nor would not recommend them as the Instructions were now drawn and while the third Article of the Instructions remained in respect that they knew that there were many Protestants in the Province of Vlster in Ireland that were not obedient to His Majesties Laws and the Lord Chancellor moved that these words in the second Article aforementioned might be omitted out of the Instructions viz. commonly committed after Quarter given Passes Promises and Oaths for security of safe Convoy especially in that glorious Plantation of King James of ever Blessed Memory in the Province of Ulster which effusion of innocent Blood crieth to Almighty God and His Sacred Majesty for Justice And the Lord Lieutenant and Council further gave the Protestant Petitioners the particulars in writing which they would have added and omitted in the said Instructions otherwise they would not recommend the Protestant Agents nor the Cause to His Majesty And thereupon the Protestant Petitioners consented to the Alteration of their Instructions as hereafter followeth In the second Article of the first Instruction Quarter given is left out In the former part of the third Article these words are left out Viz. In like manner to present unto His Sacred Majesty the true and entire Faith and Allegiance of His Majesties Protestant Subjects of this Kingdom unto His Royal Person Crown and Dignity their cheerful and constant Acknowledgment of his Supremacy in all Causes and over all Persons their Vniversal Obedience to all his Laws and gracious Government and their continued Desires and Endeavours even to the uttermost hazard of their Lives and Fortunes for the Preservation of all his Rights and just Prerogatives In the fourth is added in Doctrine and Discipline In the sixth is added and Statutes in this Kingdom established and now of force Appendix XXIII The Propositions of the Confederate Irish Agents at Oxford and the Answer of the Protestant Irish Agents thereunto 1. Prop. THAT all Acts made against the Professors of the Roman Catholick Faith whereby any Restraint Penalty Mulct or Incapacity may be laid upon any Roman Catholicks within the Kingdom of Ireland may be repealed and the said Catholicks to be allowed the Freedom of the Roman Catholick Religion Answ To the first we say that this hath been the pretence of almost all those who have entred into Rebellion in the Kingdom of Ireland at any time since the Reformation of Religion there which was setled by Acts of Parliament above eighty Years since and hath wrought good effects ever since for the Peace and Welfare both of the Church and Kingdom there and of the Church and Kingdom of England and Protestant party throughout all Christendom and so hath been found wholsome and necessary by long experience and the repealing of rhose Laws will set up Popery again both in Jurisdiction Profession and Practice as that was before the said Reformation and introduce among other
Irish Rebels and finding how they are in all likelihood in danger to be overborn by the power and potency of their said Adversaries do in all humility beseech your Lordships first to call to mind that his Majesty hath by his Royal assent unto an Act of Parliament obliged himself not to grant any Pardon or terms of Peace to the aforesaid Rebels without the consent of his Parliament of England and accordingly that your Lordships would not suffer any part of his Majesties Honour to be betrayed to calumny in assenting to such packed terms of Peace as they have already contrived to draw your Lordships unto without the consent of the said Parliament of England and without admitting your Petitioners to a free and full debate of the cause whereby they may vindicate his Majesty and themselves from that unnatural aspersion which the Irish would maliciously fasten on them by making the one the fauter and the other the occasion of their Rebellion And that the matter may not be carryed with such indulgency towards them as that to extenuate their real enormities your Petitioners must be made guilty of imaginary crimes and undergo a heavier censure for demanding Justice than they for perpetrating all their Treasons and that their Lives Fortunes and Posterities and which is dearest their Religion may not be sold or sacrificed to the malice of the Irish Papists or if this lawful favour shall be denied them that they may have leave to protest against any such fatal and destructive conclusions as are in hand to be made with the aforesaid Irish Rebels without consent of the King and Parliament or your Petitioners privity and that their fictious pretences of assisting his Majesty wherewith they have too long already abused himself and his Ministers on purpose to protract the War in England may not be a sufficient wile to delude your Lordships any longer but that your Petitioners and not Persons disaffected to their Religion and Nation now to be preserved or ruined may be heard to plead in this cause before any Judgment be given therein and that the Examples of their former and frequent breaches of the Cessation yet unrepaired may be accounted a reasonable caution to your Lordships to expect little better observation of any Peace that shall abridge them of their devilish designs And your Petioners shall ever Pray for your Lordships increase of Honour and Happiness Signed by the Lord Broghill the Magistrates of Cork Kinsale Youghall and Bandonbridge and above Three Hundred other Persons Append. XXVI The Articles between Sir Knelme Digby and the Pope Articles to be sent to the Lord Rimucini to be put in Execution in Ireland with Power to add to and take from them according to the present State of Affairs and as need shall be which will be better understood there upon the place 1. THAT the King of Great Britain do effectually grant in the Kingdom of Ireland the free and publick Use of the Roman Catholick Religion allowing the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy to be restored to the Catholicks with all the Churches and Revenues according to the Custom of the said Religion And as to the Monasteries pretended to have been released to the Possessors by Cardinal Pool Legate in the Time of Queen Mary that it be debated in a free Parliament in Ireland what may or can be done in that Point as likewise touching the three Bishopricks that of Dublin and the other two which are in the Hands of the Heretick Protestants under the Obedience of the King 2. That he annul and repeal all the Penal Laws and others whatsoever made aginst the said Catholicks on the Account of their Religion from the beginning of the Defection of Henry the Eighth to this Day 3. That for the better establishing the free and publick Exercise of the Catholick Religion and to add more Force and Security to the Repeal of the said Laws the King do call a Parliament in Ireland independent on that of England 4. That the Government of the Kingdom of Ireland and the principal Offices there be put into the Hands of the Catholicks and that Catholicks be made capable and promoted to Offices Honours and Degrees in that Kingdom in like manner as the Protestants have been till this Time 5. That the King do put into the Hands of the Irish Catholicks or at least such English Catholicks as the Supream Council of Ireland shall approve of the Town of Dublin and the other two which are held in his Name in Ireland 6. That he join his Forces with those of the Irish to drive the Scots and Parliamentarians out of Ireland 7. This being performed by the King and what else may in Ireland be added or altered in these Articles by the Lord Rimucini His Holiness is willing to pay to the Queen of Great Britain a Hundred Thousand Crowns of Roman Money 8. That the said King do repeal all the Laws made against the Catholicks of England and particularly the two Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance so as they may enjoy their Revenues Honours Liberties and Priviledges as other the Gentlemen of that Kingdom do so that their being Catholicks shall be no manner of prejudice to them and that in the first Parliament or other Settlement of the Affairs of England His Majesty do approve and confirm the aforesaid Repeal and in the mean Time that they do actually enjoy all manner of Equality with the Protestants 9. That an Agreement be made between the King and the Supream Council of Ireland to transport into England a Body of an Army of Twelve Thousand Foot under Irish Commanders and Officers to whom shall be joyned Three Thousand or at least Two Thousand Five Hundred English Horse under Catholick Commanders upon such Conditions to be adjusted between them concerning the Government of the Army the Ports of their Landing and Places of Security as shall be adjudged just and convenient 10. When the said Forces shall be entred into England and joyned together in any Place His Holiness will pay the first Year a Hundred Thousand Crowns of Roman Money by a Monthly Proportion the same to be continued the second and third Year as â—â—is Forces shall stand and according to the Advantage that shall â—e made by the said Army 11. And lastly because the first six Articles may speedily be put in Execution His Holiness will expect the performance of them in six Months from the Date of these Presents and as to the Eighth and Ninth that require perhaps longer Time he will stay four Months more besides the Six beyond which he will not be tyed to this present Promise At Rome the 30 th Day of November 1645. Append. XXVII The Articles made by the Earl of Glamorgan WHereas much time hath been spent in meetings and debates betwixt His Excellency James Lord Marquess of Ormond Lord Lieutenant and General Governour of His Majesties Kingdom of Ireland Commissioner to His most Excellent Majesty Charles by the Grace of God King of
Preston's Oath I Swear and Protest that I will adhere to the present Vnion of the Confederate Roman Catholicks that reject the Peace lately agreed and proclaimed at Dublin and will do nothing by Word Deed Writing Advice or otherwise to the prejudice of that Vnion and will to the uttermost of my Power advance and farther the good and preservation of it and of His Majesties Rights and the Priviledges of Free-born Subjects to the Natives of this Kingdom So help me God Appen XXXIII The Marquess of Clanrickard's Engagement on the renewal of the Peace of 1646. UPON the Engagement and Protestation of the Generals Nobility and Officers of the Confederate Catholick Forces hereunto annexed I Vlick Marquess of Clanrickard do on my part solemnly bind and engage my self unto them by the Reputation and Honour of a Peer and by the sacred Protestation upon the Faith of a Catholick in the Presence of Almighty God that I will procure the ensuing Undertakings to be made good unto them within such convenient time as Securities of that Nature which are to be fetcht from beyond Seas can be well procured or failing therein to unite my self to their party and never to sever from them and their Interests till I have secured them unto them First that there shall be a revocation by Act of Parliament of all the Laws in force within this Kingdom in as much as shall concern any Penalty Inhibition or Restraint upon Catholicks for the free Exercise of their Religion Secondly that they shall not be disturbed in the Enjoyment of their Churches or any others Ecclesiastical Possessions which were in their hands at the Publication of the last Peace until that matter with other referred already receive a Settlement upon a Declaration of His Majesties gracious intentions in a free Parliament held in this Kingdom His Majesty being a in free Condition himself And I do further engage my self never to consent to any thing that may bring them in hazard of being dispossessed and never to sever from them till I see them so secur'd therein either by Concession or by their Trust and Power from His Majesty in the Armies and Garrisons of this Kingdom as to put them out of all danger of being dispossessed of them And I do further engage my self that forthwith there shall be a Catholick Lieutenant-General of all the Forces of the Kingdom invested by His Majesties Authority that the Generals or either of them signing to the said Engagement shall be forthwith invested by His Majesties Authority with principal Commands worthy of them in the standing Army of this Kingdom and likewise in some important Garrison now under His Majesties Obedience and that a considerable Number of the Confederate Catholick Forces shall immediately be drawn into all the chief Garrisons under His Majesties Obedience And I do further assure proportionable Advantages to such of any other Armies in this Kingdom as shall in like manner submit uuto the Peace and His Majesties Authority That for security of as many of these particulars as shall not forthwith be performed and made good unto them by the Lord Marquess of Ormond I will procure them the King's Hand the Queens and Prince of Wales's Engagement and an Engagement of the Crown of France to see the same performed unto them and farther for their Assurance that my Lord Lieutenant shall engage himself punctually to observe such free Commands as he shall receive from His Majesty to the Advantage of the Catholicks of this Kingdom or during the King's want of Freedom from the Queen and Prince of Wales or such as shall be signified unto him to the samâ— effect to be the King 's positive Pleasure by the Lord Digby as principal Secretary of State and further that whilst the King shall be in an unfree Condition he will not obey any Orders which shall be procured from His Majesty by advantage of His Majesties want of Freedom to the Prejudice of what is undertaken And lastly I do protest that I shall never esteem my self discharged from this Engagement by any Power or Authority whatsoever Provided on both parts that this Engagement and Undertaking be not understood or extended to debar or hinder His Majesties Catholick Subjects of this Kingdom from the benefit of any further Graces and Favours which His Majesty may be graciously induced to concede unto them upon the Queens Mediation or any other Treaty abroad And I do farther engage my self to employ my utmost Endeavours and Power by way of Petition Solicitation and Perswasion to His Majesty to afford all the Subjects of this Kingdom that shall appear to have been injured in their Estates Redress in the next free Parliament I do also further undertake that all Persons joyning or that shall joyn in the present Engagement shall be included in the Act of Oblivion promised in the Articles of Peace for any Acts done by them since the Publication of the said Peace unto the Date of the said Engagement Dated November the Nineteenth 1646. Clanrickard Appen XXXIV The Engagement of General Preston and his Officers to the Lord Lieutenant WE the Generals Nobility and Officers of the Confederate Catholick Forces do solemnly bind and engage our selves by the Honour and Reputation of Gentlemen and Soldiers and by the sacred Protestation upon the Faith of Catholicks in the Presence of Almighty God both for our selves and as much as in us lies for all Persons that are or shall be under our Comand that we will from the Date hereof forward submit and conform our selves entirely and sincerely to the Peace concluded and proclaimed by His Majesties Lieutenant with such additional Concessions and Securities as the Right Honourable Vlick Lord Marquess of Clanrickard hath undertaken to procure and secure to us in such manner and upon such terms as is expressed in his Lordship's Undertakings and Protestation of the same Date hereunto annexed and signed by himself And we upon his Lordship's Undertaking engage our selves by the Bond of Honour and Conscience abovesaid to yield entire Obedience to His Majesties Lieutenant General and General Governour of this Kingdom and to all deriving Authority from them by Commission to command us in our several Degrees And that according to such Orders as we shall receive from them faithfully to serve His Majesty against all his Enemies or Rebels as well within this Kingdom as in any other part of his Dominions and against all Persons that shall not joyn with us upon these Terms in submission to the Peace of this Kingdom and to His Majesties Authority And we do further engage our selves under the said solemn Bonds that we will never either directly or indirectly make use of any Advantage or Power wherewith we shall be intrusted to the obliging of His Majesty or His Ministers by any kind of force to grant unto us any thing beyond the said Marquess of Clanrickard's undertaking but shall wholly rely upon His Majesties own free Goodness for what further Graces and
REX ET REGINA BEATI HONI · SOIT · QVI · MAL · Y · PENSE · R. White scul Printed for Ioseph Watts in S t Pauls Church Yard HIBERNIA ANGLICANA OR THE HISTORY OF IRELAND From the Conquest thereof by the ENGLISH To this Present Time WITH An Introductory Discourse touching the Ancient State of that Kingdom and a New and Exact Map of the same PART I. By RICHARD COX Esq Recorder of Kingsale Ardua res est vetustis novitatem dare obsoletis nitorem obscuris lucem dubiis fidem Plin. Attamen audendum est veritas investiganda quam si non omnino Assequeremur tamen propius ad eam quam nunc sumus tandem perveniemus LONDON Printed by H. Clark for Ioseph Watts at the Angel in St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCLXXXIX TO THEIR Most Excellent Majesties WILLIAM AND MARY By the Grace of God King and Queen OF England Scotland France and Ireland Defenders of the Faith c. May it please Your Majesties I Should not presume to lay this Treatise at Your Royal Feet but that it concerns a Noble Kingdom which is one of the most considerable Branches of Your Mighty Empire It is of great Advantage to it that it is a Subordinate Kingdom to the Crown of England for it is from that Royal Fountain that the Streams of Justice Peace Civility Riches and all other Improvements have been derived to it Campion 15. so that the Irish are as Campion says beholding to God for being conquered Davis 2. And yet Ireland has been so blind in this Great Point of its true Interest that the Natives have managed almost a continual War with the English ever since the first Conquest thereof so that it has cost Your Royal Predecessors an unspeakable Mass of Blood and Treasure to preserve it in due Obedience But no Cost can be too great where the Prize is of such Value and whoever considers the Situation Ports Plenty and other Advantages of Ireland will confess That it must be retained at what rate soever because if it should come into an Enemy's Hands England would find it impossible to flourish and perhaps difficult to subsist without it To demonstrate this Assertion it is enough to say That Ireland lies in the Line of Trade and that all the English Vessels that sail to the East West and South must as it were run the Gauntlet between the Harbours of Brest and Baltimore And I might add That the Irish Wool being transported would soon ruine the English-Clothing-Manufacture Hence it is that all your Majesties Predecessors have kept close to this Fundamental Maxim Of retaining Ireland inseparablely united to the Crown of England And though King Henry II may seem to deviate from this Rule by giving the Kingdom to his Son John yet this is to be said for him That he thought the Interest and Expectations his Son had in England would be security enough against his Defection and the rather because he could not then keep Ireland without continual Aids and Supplies from hence However this very Example was thought so dangerous that Ireland was never given away since that time except once by Henry the Third and then only to the Prince who was his Heir apparent and on this express Condition Ita quod non separetur a Corona Angliae I do not mention that unaccountable Patent to Robert de Vere Earl of Oxford and Duke of Ireland not only because there was a Tenure by Homage reserved so that it was not a total Alienation and because it was but for Life and cum mixto Imperio but chiefly because it never took effect so that it was but Vmbratilis Honor cito evanuit But it is needless to tell your Majesties That Ireland must not be separated from England or to solicit your speedy Reduction of that Kingdom since the loss of it is incompatible with Your Glory and to suffer the Ruin of four hundred thousand Irish Protestants meerly for their adherence to Your Majesties and their Religion is inconsistent with your Goodness But in Truth the Recovery of Ireland was not proper for Your Majesty's Undertaking until it became difficult beyond the Hopes of others any Body can do easie things but it is Your Majesty's peculiar Talent to atchieve what all the rest of the World think Impossible Your Majesty did so in buoying up a sinking State and restoring it to a more Glorious Condition than ever it was in before And Your Majesty did so again in retrieving from Ruine two expiring Kingdoms that were at their last Gasp and the Recovery of the third is all that remains to consummate your Glory and make You the Darling both of Fame and of Fortune And when that is done Madam the bright Example of your Majesty's Virtue and Piety will influence that degenerate Nation to such a degree of Reformation and Religion as will restore that Kindgdom to its ancient Appellation and Ireland will again be called Insula Sacra That Your Majesty's Glorious Designs for the Advantage of England and the Recovery of Ireland for the Propagation of the Protestant Religion and for the Good of Mankind may be blessed with Success suitable to Your Majesty's Generous and Pious Intentions And that Your Majesties long and happy Reign here may be crowned with Everlasting Happiness hereafter shall be the fervent as well as daily Prayers of May it please Your Majesties Your Majesties most Dutiful most Loyal and most devoted Subject R. COX TO THE READER SInce Ireland is reckoned among the Principal Islands in the World and deserves to be esteemed so whether you consider the Situation of the Country the Number and Goodness of its Harbours the Fruitfulness of the Soil or the Temperature of the Climate it is strange that this Noble Kingdom and the Affairs of it should find no room in History but remain so very obscure that not only the Inhabitants know little or nothing of what has passed in their own Country but even England a Learned and Inquisitive Nation skilful beyond comparison in the Histories of all other Countries is nevertheless but very imperfectly informed in the Story of Ireland though it be a Kingdom subordinate to England and of the highest importance to it This could never be so if there were extant any compleat or coherent History of that Kingdom which indeed there is not those relating to the Times before the Conquest being Fabulous and those since but Scraps and Fragments As for those Histories that treat of the Times before the English-Conquest Doctor Keating's is the best and is exceedingly applauded by some that did and others that did not know better Prospect in Pref. 13. Peter Walsh thinks 't is the only compleat History that we have of all the Invasions Conquests Changes Monarchs Wars and other considerable Matters of that truly ancient Kingdom But after all it is no more than an ill-digested Heap of very silly Fictions And P. W's Prospect which is in effect the Epitomy
Soldier because he had English Bisket in his Pocket Sullevan 67 O Sullevan tels us that from 1168. to the Apostacy of Henry VIII the English though Catholicks by continual Tyranny and Rapine destroyed the Discipline of Church and State and fol. 67. that the English were Irreligious Inconstant and Heretical being in Dioclesian's Persecution Apostates afterwards Arians then Pelagians then Heathens then Idolaters then Murderers of S. Thomas of Becket and then Protestants in a Word wherever they dare do it they do not spare to asperse the English Nation and Government with most Malicious and Opprobrious Accusations and whoever considers That the Bishop of Clogher did so purge his Ulster-Army that he would not suffer any Papist to be in it that was of English Extraction and the Advice of Mr. Mahony in his Disputatio Apologetica Not to make a Priest of English Race nor to trust any that are so Whoever I say considers this and the true Reasons of it will easily be convinced That the Old English and the Old Irish will one Time or other split upon the old indelible National Antipathy As to the second viz. Interest it concerns the Irish and the Old English both of which have Inteterests incompatible with the New English For when the English Lords usurped Irish Arbitrary Power as aforesaid and the Commons being made Vassals to their Lords and holding their Properties but precariously fell naturally into Licentiousness to the Ruine of the Commonwealth The Duke of Clarence in the Reign of Edward III thought to cure this Malady by resuming those Palatinate Jurisdictions and other great Priviledges those English Lords had so enlarged and abused whereupon the Earl of Desmond broached the distinction between the English of Blood and the English of Birth and the former did not only confederate together but also brought in the Irish to their Assistance and Gosip'd Foster'd Married and Incorporated with them so that the Government was obliged to relax their intended Severity and to let these old Englishmen lord it as they pleased till a better Opportunity should be offered for the intended Resumption However from henceforward the Old English and Irish kept a Correspondence and upon the Reformation became more firmly united by the common tye of Religion and under Pretence of defending Religion and their usurped Jurisdictions they were found together in many Rebellions and their Estates confiscated and given to the new English so that they are united in a common Interest to recover their forfeited Estates if they can and when that is done the Irish have their particular Interest apart to recover their old Estates from the first Conquerors or Intruders As for the third viz. Religion I need not explain the Irreconcilable Antipathy that is between the Roman Catholick Religion and Heresie or between true Religion and Idolatry the Differences of Nation and Interest may be suspended lessned ay buried and annihilated but there is no Reconciliation to be made between God and Mammon This great concern has so silenced all the rest that at this Day we know no difference of Nation but what is expressed by Papist and Protestant if the most Ancient Natural Irish-Man be a Protestant no Man takes him for other than an English-Man and if a Cockny be a Papist he is reckoned in Ireland as much an Irish-man as if he was born on Slevelogher the Earls of Insiquin and Castlehaven are Examples hereof the one being of the best and ancientest Family in Ireland was yet the beloved General of an English Army and the other being the second Baron of England was Commander of the Irish Forces There is also another Difference in Religion between the Episcoparians and the Dissenters which last are branched into several Sects but it is not at all or very little taken notice of in Ireland because they do really manage this Affair more prudently than some other more celebrated Nations and sacrifice these petty Fewds to the common Interest of opposing Popery And that these Distinctions may appear to be neither trivial nor meerly Notional it will be necessary to give Instances of these several Factions in the late Irish Wars and first there was an Army of all meer Irish not an English Papist among them commanded by the Bishop of Clogher and another of meer English all Papists under General Preston And secondly There was an Army of Old English and Irish under the Lords Mountgarrat Taaf c. and an Army of New English commanded by the Earls of Ormond Insiquin c. And thirdly there was an Army of Papists under the Nuntio and an Army of Protestants commanded by the Marquess of Ormond But how stand these great Differences at this Day Why truly worse than ever for as to the first Whereas the Old English were heretofore on the British side in all National Quarrels they are now so infatuated and degenerated that they do not only take part with the Irish but call themselves Natives in distinction from the New English against whom they are at present as inveterate as the Original Irish though perhaps Time may open their Eyes and rectifie that Error And as to the Second whereas at Queen Elizabeth's Death the Protestants had not above a fourth part of the Kingdom the Escheats in Ulster in King James his time and the Act of Settlement since has given them two fourths more so that now they have three Quarters of the whole and thereby more Irish are disobliged than were formerly and their Loss is greater and consequently their Interest to regain it is larger and more pressing than it was in former Times As to the third viz. Religion it 's certain the Papists were never so enraged at the Northern Pestilent Heresie as of late they have been and the Folly Insolence and Cruelty of these last seven Years has justly rendred Popery more odious than ever to the Protestants But was there no way to secure Ireland without Sanguinary Laws and Inhuman Persecutions Yes sure if People would in time have set themselves to repair the State of Ireland as the Jews under Nehemiah did to re-edifie the Walls of Jerusalem viz. every one build over against his own House the Matter had been easily and quietly accomplished for the formidable Bulk of Irish Papists were for the most part Servants or Tenants to Protestants and of their breeding up and if the English would have sacrificed a little sordid Profit to the Publick Good and have countenanced and indulged Protestant Servants and Tenants instead of Papists a very few Years would have put themselves and their Religion out of Danger But at this Day the Provocations are carried so high and the Irish have abused the English to that degree of Barbarity and Ingratitude that it will be hard to perswade the Protestants to trust them again or to live neighbourly with the many more Nevertheless since Extirpations are Cruelty in the Abstract and odious to Human Nature there must be a Method found out to
the Romans in the time of Celebrating the Feast of Easter until the Southern Part conformed in the Time of Pope Honorius the First and the Northern about forty Years after and that both sides pretended to Miracles and were sainted particularly Bishop Aidan Finan and S. Collumkille all which opposed the Roman Usage in this Matter this Party were called Quartodecimans and were so abhorred by their Adversaries that they re-ordained all that were consecrated by them and sprinkled the Churches with exorcized Water and rebaptized all that desired it and it seems the others were as angry with them and shunned their Company and Communion He shews That about the Year 843 the British See appealed to Constantinople for Instructions in this Matter which City it seems was then counted as oraculous as Rome But it seems to me That the Pelagian Heresie which raged over all Ireland as well as England is a Proof beyond Reply That the Irish did not believe or consult the Pope as an Infallible Oracle of Truth because it is the highest contradiction that can be nay 't is impossible to believe a Man Infallible and yet not to believe what he says Lastly when he has refuted the Pope's Pretences to a Temporal Dominion in Ireland and has asserted Polydore Virgil to be the Inventer of that Concession pretended to be made by the Irish on their Conversion quod nota postea pag. 2 he asserts That Ireland is a very ancient Kingdom and introduces the English Ambassador at the Council of Constance speaking after this manner It is well known That according to Albertus Magnus and Bartholomaeus in his Book de Proprietatibus rerum the whole World being divided into three Parts viz. Asia Africk and Europe Europe is divided into four Kingdoms namely the Roman for the first the Constantinopolitan for the second the third the Kingdom of Ireland which is translated unto the English and the fourth the Kindgom of Spain Whereby it appeareth That the King of England and his Kingdom are of the more Eminent Ancient Kings and Kingdoms of Europe which Prerogative the Kingdom of France is not said to obtain But whatever the Religion of the Irish was formerly it is certain that at this Day it is rather a Custom than a Dogma and is no more than Ignorant Superstition not one in a hundred of the Common People know any thing of even the most essential Articles of the Creed but having resigned their Faith to their Priest they believe every silly Story he tells them And as the Primate Vsher observes tho they are slow of Heart to believe Saving Truth of God delivered by the Prophets and Apostles yet they with all greediness imbrace and with a most strange kind of Credulity entertain those lying Legends wherewith their Monks and Fryers in these later Days have polluted the Religion and Lives of our Antient Saints The Christian Names of the Irish are as in England Hugh Mahoone i. e. Matthew Teige i. e. Tymothy Dermond i. e. Jeremy Cnoghor i. e. Cornelius Cormuck i. e. Charles Art i. e. Arthur Donal i. e. Daniel Goron i. e. Jeofry Magheesh i. e. Moses and their Sir-names which were assumed in the Time of Bryan Borah are as in Wales taken from the Christian Name of the Ancestor with an O which is as much as ap in Welsh or de in Latin or Mac i. e. Fitz or Son placed before it so his Son was called O Bryan and his Daughter Sarah being married to one Mahown her Son was called Mac Mahown so Carah Mac Seerbraghah was Father of the Mac Carahs or Mac Cartyes but this Distinction is observed That only the Chief of the Sept is called Mac Carty or O Bryan or the like and every other Person of the Family is called by his Christian Name as Philip O Sullevan Teige Mac Carthy c. but there is scarce one noted Man among them but has some Nickname or other as Moyle Fune Fadda Lader Buy Buckah Mauntah c. The Habit of an Irishman was a Mantle and Trowses and of an Irishwoman a Mantle and Petticoat both had Broges something thinner than Pumps on their Feet and the Man had a Cappeen and the Woman a Kercher on their Heads their Shifts were died in Saffron to save washing and contained 13 or 14 Yards of Cloath so that a Law was made against that Extravagancy These Mantles were like Cloaks only instead of a Cape they had a vast quantity of Thrums or yarn-Fring so that when the Mantle was put up close to the Nape of the Neck as they usually wore them the Fring hung down near a foot long Mr. Spencer p. 37. gives too Satyrical a Character of this Garment That it is a fit House for an Outlaw a meet Bed for a Rebel and an apt Cloak for a Thief The Irish Musick was either a Harp which is the Arms of the Kingdom and makes an excellent Sound if it be skilfully touched or a Bagpipe which is a squealing Engine fit only for a Bear-Garden nevertheless they are much used at Irish Burials to encrease the Noyse and encourage the Women to Cry and follow the Corps for there is nothing coveted more by the Friends of the deceased than to have abundance of Company at the Burial and a great Cry for the Defunct which they think argues That he was a Person of Figure and Merit and was well-beloved in his Country therefore they bury their Dead with great Ululations or Allelews after the Egyptian manner and hire Women to encrease the Cry And I my self have often seen strange Women come into the Crowd at a Funeral and set up the Cry or Allagone for a Quarter of a Mile together and then enquire of some of the Company Who it is that is Dead And hence arose the Proverb To weep Irish i. e. to cry without concern When I say That the Irish rode Horses without Saddles and afterwards even to our own Days used Padds or Pillions without Stirrops no Body must be so foolish to think That this is a Disgrace to the Nation since I affirm the same thing of the Ancient Britans and that they also used many of the same Customs with the Irish and some more barbarous than any of theirs but what I aim at is to shew That the Irish did continue in their Barbarity Poverty and Ignorance until the English Conquest and that all the Improvement themselves or their Country received and their great difference between their Manners and Conditions now and then is to be ascribed to the English Government under which they have lived far happier than ever they did under the Tyranny of their own Lords Nor must any Body so interpret me as if I included all the Irish Gentry in the general Character of the Rudeness Ignorance and Barbarity of that Nation since many of them have in all Ages and some to my own Knowledge attained to great Perfections in Civility Arts and Arms and I do avouch that even
Conclusion had destroyed three of his Objections for if the Irish were in almost continual Rebellions as he says and is true how could he expect they should enjoy Offices sit in Parliaments or have Benefit of the Kings Laws But the weakness of these Objections will yet more plainly appear by the following Answers To the First the Instances are few and it is bad Logick to draw general Consequences from the Actions of two or three particular Men especially such as so bitterly reflect on a Government or Nation besides all these three were Papists and their Sacrilege does not concern the Protestant Government of Ireland which is what Mr. Sullevan design'd to asperse To the Second If this Author had consulted the Ecclesiastical Catalogue he would have found that the Natives had more than their share of Bishopricks and Arch-Bishopricks and that to the ruine of most of the Sees and in the Military List he might have found the Baron of Dungannon Neal Garuff Macguire O Connor and many more who had Pay or Pension and yet it is so far from being criminal to prefer the Colony before the Native to Offices of Trust and Profit in a conquered Country that it is a necessary Duty to do it Ne Victi Victoribus Legem darent at most this Partiality is but in matters of Favour so that there is no wrong and 't is founded on good Law and sound Policy But what would this Objecter and his Companions say if they should see a Popish Governor in Ireland against all Law and Policy to make it criminal to be an Englishman and a cause of deprivation to profess the Religion by Law established To the Third Several of the Irish Potentates did sit in former Parliaments and particularly in the Parliaments of the 8th of Edw. 2. O Hanlon O Neal O Donnel Macgenis O Cahon Mac Mahon and many more Irish Lords were present but since the Parliaments are better regulated 't is true that none are suffered to sit in the House of Lords but such as are Lords of Parliament by Law viz. by Writ or Patent but 't is as true that the principal men of the Irish have or had Titles that qualifie them to sit there as O Neal Earl of Tyrone O Donel Earl of Tyrconnel O Bryan Earl of Thomond Mac Carthy Earl of Clancarthy O Bryan Earl of Insiquin The Lords Macguire Clare Glanmalira and Dungannon Kavenagh Baron of Balion O Carol Baron of Ely and many more To the Fourth Since the Irish would not admit their Countries to be made Shire-Ground nor suffer Sheriffs to exercise any Authority in them so that they were not amesnable to the Kings Laws but were governed by their own Brehon Laws so that the English could have no Justice against them nor could the King punish Murder without sending an Army to do it there was no reason they should have the Benefit of that Law they would not submit to And this I take to be the true Reason why it was denied them Davis 6. 'T is true they often Petitioned for the Liberty to be Plaintiffs but they would not at the same time put themselves in a condition to be Defendants nor come within the Jurisdiction of the Kings Courts but by starts and for their benefit and therefore assoon as the Kingdom was throughly subdued and reduced into Shires so that the Kings Writ did run throughout the Realm the Irish had also an equal Benefit of the Law and were received into the Condition of Subjects So that this Objection has been long since quite taken away As to the Fifth They were not so ignorant but that they knew the necessity of leaving a Tenure in the King besides there was some small Reservation or Crown-Rent reserv'd by Contract or Agreement in every Patent and therefore they did not expect it as free as they surrendred it however they got well enough by the bargain for in lieu of a precarious Estate for Life at most they got legal Titles of Inheritance by the Kings Grants and certainly they had little reason to complain whilst as our Author confesses they enjoy'd both the Profits and the Possession But let us return to King Henry the Second who found work enough in France and was advised by his Mother Maud the Empress and others at a great Council held on that occasion Speed at Winchester to postpone his Irish Designs until he could meet with a more favourable opportunity which not long after hapned For Dermond Mac Murrough King of Leinster Regan having forced O Neale O Mlaghalin and O Caroll to give him Hostages grew so insolent at these successes that he became oppressive to his Subjects and injurious to his Neighbours more especially by the Rape of the Wife of Orourk King of Brehny 1167. who was Daughter of O Mlaghlin King of Meath Stanihurst whereupon he was invaded by his Enemies Cambrensis and abandoned by his Subjects and Tributaries particularly by Morough O Borne Hasculphus Mac Turkil Governor of Dublin and Daniel Prince of Ossory and after many Disasters 1168. was forced to quit his Country and betake himself to the King of England for Assistance He was accompanied by his Trusty Servant Auliff O Kinade and sixty others and safely arrived at Bristol where he was generously entertain'd at S. Austin's Abbey by Robert Fitzharding Regan M. S. and so having refresh'd himself and Servants he went forward on his Voyage to Aquitain where the King then resided He appeared before the King in a most shabby Habit 1169. says Friar Clin Stanihurst 6â— suitable to the wretched condition of an Exile He fell at his Majesties feet and emphatically bewail'd his own Miseries and Misfortunes He represented the Malice of his Neighbours and the Treachery of his pretended Friends and the Rebellion of his Subjects in proper and lively Expressions he suggested that Kings were then most like Gods when they exercised themselves in succouring the Distressed and that the Fame of King Henry's Magnificence and Generosity had induced him to that Address for his Majesties Protection Assistance But the King being engaged in France could not aid him personally however being mov'd with Dermond's cunning Speeches submissive Deportment Hooker 1. he pitied his Misfortunes entertain'd him kindly and gave him some Presents and then took his Oath of Allegiance and gave him the following Patent HEnry Stainhurst 66. King of England Duke of Normandy and Aquitain Earl of Anjou c. Vnto all his Subjects English Normans Welsh and Scots and to all Nations and People being his Subjects Greeting Whereas Dermond Prince of Leinster most wrongfully as he informeth banished out of his one Country hath craved our Aid Therefore for asmuch as we have received him into our Protection Grace and Favour whosoever within our Realm subject to our Commands will Aid and Help him whom we have embraced as our Trusty Friend for the Recovery of his Land let him be
Fastnesses of that Country at a Place called the Earls Pace he was briskly assaulted by O Rian and his Followers but O Rian being slain by an Arrow shot at him by Nichol the Monk the rest were easily scattered and many of them slain It was here that Strongbow's only Son a Youth about seventeen Years old frighted with the Number and Ululations of the Irish run away from the Battle and made towards Dublin but being informed of his Fathers Victory he joyfully came back to congratulate that Success but the severe General having first reproach'd him with Cowardize caused him to be immediately executed by cutting him off in the Middle with a Sword so great an Abhorrence had they of Dastardliness in those Days that in imitation of the Old Romans they punish'd it with a Severity which how commendable soever it may be in a General was nevertheless unnatural in a Father The Tomb both of Father and Son is yet to be seen in the Body of Christ-Church in Dublin whereon formerly was this bald Epitaph alluding to this Story Nate ingrate Hanmer 147. mihi pugnanti Terga dedisti Non mihi sed Genti Regno quoque Terga dedisti When Strongbow came near Wexford he received the ill News of Fitz-Stephens his Misfortune as also that the Irish had burnt Wexford and were retired to the Island Begory or Betherni and were resolved to kill Fitz-Stephens if they were farther pursued Wherefore he turned aside towards Waterford and march'd to that City where he met Hervy who was returned with Letters from the King wherein the Earl was ordered immediately to repair into England Strongbow presently obeyed and met the King at Newnham near Glocester on his Journey towards Ireland with an Army The Earl behaved himself so dutifully that the King was soon appeased for Strongbow did not only renew his Fealty but did also surrender to the King the City of Dublin and two Cantreds adjoyning and all Forts and Towns bordering on the Sea And on the other side the King was contented that the Earl should enjoy all the rest to him and his Heirs to be held of his Majesty and his Successors and so they marched by Severn-side through South Wales to Pembrook August 1172. and at length embarqu'd at Milford Haven In the mean time O Rorick and the King of Meath took Advantage of Strongbow's Absence in England and Reymond's at Waterford and with their united Forces besieged Dublin But Miles Cogan had the Courage to sally and the Good Fortune to defeat them with the Slaughter of Orourk's Son and many of his Followers On the eighteenth of October Regan M. S. King Henry arrived at Waterford with four hundred Knights and four thousand Soldiers The People of Wexford came with the first to make their court and complimented him with their Prisoner Fitz-Stephens whom the King continued in Prison and smartly chid him for invading Ireland without his Majesties special Licence But this was but a piece of King-craft to ingratiate with the Irish and to get the City of Wexford which Fitz-Stephens was forc'd to part with and to make his humble Submission and then at the King 's second coming to Waterford he was restored to his Liberty and the rest of his Estate To the King at Waterford came Dermond Mac Carthy King of Cork and voluntarily submitted and swore Allegiance He also agreed to pay a certain annual Tribute which being done the King marched to Lismore and thence to Cashel near which on the Banks of the Shure came Daniel O Bryan Prince of Limerick who in like manner submitted and swore Allegiance Whereupon Garrisons were sent to Cork and Limerick and the King returned to Waterford In like manner submitted Daniel Prince of Ossory O Phelin Prince of Decyes and all the great Men of Munster And the King gave each of them a Present and to all of them gracious and kind Reception All the Archbishops Brady 360. Bishops and Abbots of Ireland came unto the King of England at Waterford and received him as King and Lord of Ireland and sware Fealty to him and his Heirs and from every Archbishop and Bishop he received a Chart by which they acknowledged and constituted him King and submitted unto him and his Heirs as their Kings for ever And according to their Example the foresaid Kings and Princes received him as King and Lord of Ireland and became his Men and swore Fealty to him and his Heirs against all Men. These Charters were transcrib'd and the King sent the Transcripts to Pope Alexander who confirm'd by Apostolick Authority to him and his Heirs the Kingdom of Ireland according to the Form of those Charters as aforesaid The King left Robert Fitz-Barnard and his Houshold at Waterford and marched to Dublin through Ossory by the way he received the Submissions of the Prince of Ossory O Carol O Rurk O Chadess O Toole and several others but Rotherick the Monarch came no nearer than the Shannon-Side where Hugh de Lacy and William Fzadeline by Commission received his Oath of Allegiance and agreeed with him for a Tribute and as the rest did he likewise gave Hostages for his Performance so that there was no Prince or great Man in any part of Ireland except Vlster but by his Deputies or in Person did submit to the King Then did the King command to assemble a Synod at Cashel whereunto the Archbishop of Armagh consented afterwards though by reason of his great Age he was not present at the Synod Where after Christmas appeared Christianus Bishop of Lismore the Pope's Legate Donagh Archbishop of Cashel Laurence Archbishop of Dublin and Catholicus Archbishop of Tuum with their Suffragans and Fellow Bishops with divers Abbots Archdeacons Priors Deans and other Prelates And the King sent thither Ralph Abbot of Buldewais Ralph Archdeacon of Landaff Nicholas the Chaplain and divers other good Clerks and they made these following Canons First Cambrensis cap. 35. It is Decreed That all Good Faithful and Christian People throughout Ireland should forbear and shun to marry with their near Kinsfolk and Cousins and marry with such as lawfully they should do Secondarily That Children shall be Catechiz'd without the Church Door and Baptiz'd in the Font appointed in the Churches for the same Thirdly That every Christian Body do Faithfully and Truly pay yearly the Tithes of his Cattle Corn and other his Increase and Profits to the Church or Parish where he is a Parishioner Fourthly That all the Church-Lands and Possessions throughout all Ireland shall be free from all Secular Exactions and Impositions and especially that no Lords Earls or Noblemen nor their Children nor Family shall extort or take any Coyn and Livery Cosheryes nor Cuddyes nor any other like Custom from thenceforth in or upon any of the Church-Lands and Territories And likewise That they nor no other Person do henceforth exact out of the said Church-Lands Old Wicked and Detestable Customs of Coyn and Livery
at any Alarm Maurice Fitz Girald as soon as he discover'd O Mlaghlin's Design gave the Signal to Griffith but before he could come up the Irish had kill'd Lacy's Interpreter who interposed to save his Master and had his Arm cut off for his Pains Lacy himself was twice knockt down but Griffith being come he soon ended this Skirmish by the Death of O Mlaghlin whose Head he cut off and sent it into England But Lacy being unable to manage the Kingdom and the King being so perplexed with the Rebellion of his Sons that he could not personally attend the Irish Affairs it was necessary to send for Strongbow into Normandy where the King was and to give him the Government of Ireland Strongbow being sent for did readily wait on the King and being made acquainted with his Majesties Intentions he made it his Request That to avoid Envy and Jealousie Reymond le Gross might be his Colleague in the Government The King replyed That Reymond should be joyned with him as an Assistant but not in Commission And so having express'd much Confidence in the Earl he gave him the City of Wexford and the Castle of Wicklow and sent him to his Government Richard Earl of Chepstow commonly call'd Strongbow Chief Governour or Lord Justice of Ireland at his arrival there found all things in Disorder many of the Irish actually revolted and all of them confederated to shake off the English Yoke the Army also was Mutinous for want of Pay and the Generals Hervy and Reymond were at odds Immediately he put the Army under the Conduct of Reymond 1174. who led them into Ophaly where they met with good Prey Thence he advanced to Lismore and spoiled both the Town and the Country and so by the Sea-side he marched towards Waterford At Dungarvan he found thirteen Boats which he seized and loaded with Prey and Plunder But being detained there a long time by contrary Winds the People of Cork found means to fit out thirty two Barques and manfully assaulted the English in their Boats nevertheless the English Bows and Arrows prevailed and the Corcagians were defeated and their Admiral Gilbert mac Turger slain Whereupon the English under their Admiral Adam de Hereford sailed triumphantly into Waterford Dermond mac Carthy King of Cork came with his Forces by Land to countenance the aforesaid Attempt of the Corcagians by Sea and to seize on the English Boats if perhaps they should be forced ashore as he expected but Reymond met him and gave him such a Brush that he got a Prey of four thousand Cows by the Bargain and brought them safe to Waterford But whilst Reymond was thus busied in Munster he received Advice of the Death of his Father William Fitz-Girald which obliged him to take a Voyage into Wales to get Possession of the Inheritance descended to him By this Accident the Command of the Army fell to Hervy and abundance of Trouble and Misfortune hapned to the Earl For it was not long before Hervy perswaded the Earl to an Exploit 1175. somewhere about Cashel and in order to it to send for more Forces from Dublin but Donald Prince of Ossory having Notice of it surpriz'd them in their March and fell upon them in Ossory where he slew four Gentlemen and four hundred Soldiers being of that sort of the Citizens of Dublin which were called Easterlings With this great Victory the Irish were elevated beyond measure and fansied They had now got a favourable Opportunity to extipate the English And to that End they armed every where and even those Irish whom he had most obliged and those also from whom he had Oaths and Pledges did nevertheless joyn with the rest in this General Conspiracy Rotherick with a mighty Army passed the River Shenin and Burnt and Prey'd the Country even to the Walls of Dublin And Strongbow was coopt up in Waterford in continual Fear of a Massacre thereâ— In this miserable Condition he sent to Reymond into Wales desiring him to hasten over and promised him the Fair Basilia Strongbow's Sister as the Reward of his Expedition Reymond made all possible Hast and with thirty Gentlemen an hundred Horsemen three hundred Archers and Footmen and in twenty Barques arrived at Waterford very seasonably for the Citizens were then conspiring the Murder of the English which by this Accident was postponed for a Time Immediately the Earl Reymond and the Army march'd to Wexford and soon after the Citizens of Waterford murdered the Governour Pursel and butcher'd all the English Men Women and Children except such as saved themselves in Reginalds Tower But they manfully kept that Tower and afterwards regained the City and forced the Citizens to submit to hard Conditions Strongbow and the Army being at Wexford Reymond was married to the Fair Basilia and had with her Idrone Glascarig Fothard and the Constableship of Leinster But in the midst of their Jollity they received Information That Rotherick had invaded Leinster wherefore the next Day they marched towards Dublin But Rotherick at the News of their Approach retreated and Reymond caused the ruined Castles to be repaired particularly the Castle of Trim and so hoped that he might now enjoy his Beautiful Spouse in quiet But the Prince of Limerick was resolved to follow his Blow and continued in open Defiance so that Reymond was forced to march to him September 1176. with twenty six Gentlemen three hundred Archers and three hundred Horsemen David Walsh forded or rather swam the River of Shenin into the Island of Limerick whom by Reymond's Persuasion and Example the rest followed October 1. and took that City and after plundering it they left a Garrison in it under Meyler of S. Davids consisting of fifty Gentlemen two hundred Horse and two hundred Archers and returned Hervey of Mount-Morris by his Letters to the King had suggested That Reymond intended to keep Limerick for himself and that he and Strongbow would monopolize Ireland and several other Falsities which so moved the King's Jealousie that he sent over Robert Power Osbert of Hereford William Bending and Adam of Germeny whereof two were to bring over Reymond and the other two to stay and watch the Earl In the mean Time Letters came from Limerick importing That the Garrison was in Distress besieged by Daniel O Bryan Whereupon it was resolved as well by Strongbow as by the new Messengers That Reymond must undertake to relieve it Wherefore taking with him eighty Gentlemen two hundred Horse and three hundred Archers with some Irish under Morough of Kensile and Donold of Ossory he marches towards Limerick but O Bryan not willing to fight with the Army and Garrison at once raises his Siege and marches towards Cashel 1177. and by plashing the Trees and trenching his Camp he made it as strong as he could It was pleasant to behold the Prince of Ossory who was O Bryans Mortal Foe to tell the English That they must fight valiantly and be Victors or He
to raise a Monarchy for himself Whereupon he was recalled and the Government committed unto John Constable of Cheshire May 1181. Baron of Halton-Castle and Richard de Peach Lord Bishop of Coventry Lords Justices of Ireland But they continued in that Dignity but three Months for Lacy behaved himself with that Discretion and Modesty and gave the King such Satisfaction in all Matters objected against him That Hugh de Lacy August 1181. Lord Justice was again sent over with Robert of Shrewsbury a Clergy-man his Assistant and about the same time the famous Courcy also returned being Dignified with the Titles of Lord of Connaught and Earl of Vlster and accompanied with his Brother S. Laurence There were some who reported That these two fought a successful Battle with the Irish Brady 367. at the Bridge of Ivora near the Hill of Hoath where the Valour of S. Laurence was so conspicuous that it got him both the Land and Title of Hoath which last continues to this Day in his Name and Family We left Cogan and Fitz-Stephens in the peaceable Enjoyment of their Kingdom of Cork but we shall not find them so for Cogan and young Fitz-Stephens at the Persuasion and Invitation of one Mac Tirid made a Journey to Lismore to treat with the Men of Waterford about some Controversies that were between them they were to lodge at Mac Tirid's House but he perfidiously took his Opportunity and unexpectedly fell upon them and murdered them and five of their Company Immediately the whole Country was up in Arms and conspired a general Rebellion Donald More in Curraugh Mac Carthy whom the Irish still called King of Cork got his Forces together and laid Siege to the City not doubting but that he had now a favourable Opportunity to expel the English thence The Poor Old Fitz-Stephens was in a sad Condition distressed by Enemies without and Suspicions of Traytors within he had no Hopes of Relief or Assistance saving only from Reymond le Gross who lay at Wexford to him a Messenger was sent and without Delay put to Sea with twenty Gentlemen and one hundred Archers and entred the River of Cork whereupon the Enemy dispersed and all was set at Rights again Nevertheless as soon as the King heard of the aforesaid Treachery he sent Richard Cogan Philip Barry Giraldus Cambrensis and a Good Party of Horse and Foot to help Fitz-Stephens by their Assistance the City and Kingdom of Cork were kept in Quiet for some Time but the Old Fitz-Stephens had but little Benefit of it for being much broken with Age and Misfortunes he first lost his Senses and not long afterwards his Life But Lacy the Lord Justice was again become suspected for as he grew Great his Enemies grew Envious and the King Jealous so that he was once more sent for and Philip of Worcester September 1184. Lord Justice or Governour of Ireland came over with a smart Party of Horse and Foot he also brought with him Hugh Tirrel a Man of ill Report He was not long in the Government before he seized on the Lands of O Cathesie to the King's Use though Lacy had formerly sold them He also went a Circuit to visit the Garisons and in March came to Armagh where he exacted from the Clergy a great Sum of Mony thence he went to Down and so to Dublin loaden both with Curses and Extortions Tirrel took a Brewing-Pan from the poor Priests at Armagh and carried it to Down but the House where he lay was burnt and so were also the Horses in the Stable so that he was fain to leave the Pan for want of Carriage and Philip had a severe fit of the Gripes like to cost him his Life both which Punishments they say were miraculously inflicted upon them for their Sacrilege In July came over John Comin Archbishop of Dublin to prepare for the King 's youngest Son John Earl of Moreton to whom the Kingdom of Ireland was assigned towards his Portion Brady 369. Some say that he was made King of Ireland at the Parliament held at Oxford 4 Inst 360. anno 1177. his Father having obtained Licence from the Pope to make which of his Sons he pleased King thereof saving to the See of Rome the Peter-pence and the rest of its Rights And it seems Pope Vrban the Third sent Cardinal Octavianus and Hugo de Nunant his Legates to crown John King of Ireland and by them sent him a Crown of Peacocks Feathers But King Henry better considered of that matter and either because he would not seem to derive his Son's Title from the Pope or because he was loath to trust his Son with that Royal Stile having already suffered by the like Indulgence to his eldest Son or because he saw it Inconvenient and Illegal to separate Ireland from the Crown of England It is certain he found means to carry the Legates with him into Normandy and thereby prevented that once designed Coronation So that the Impression of the Great Seal of Ireland was no more than this Johannes Filius Regis Angliae Speed 478. Domini Hiberniae Earl John was then about twelve Years old when on Wednesday in Easter-week 1185. anno 1185 with about four hundred Gentlemen most Normans some Clerks and particularly Giraldus Cambrensis and a great Company of others he took Shipping at Milford-Haven being accompanied to the very Ship by Randulph Glanvile principal Counseller of the King and Kingdom and Justiciary of England The Irish Potentates flock'd to their new Prince but their Trouses and Mantles their Glibbs and Behaviour were derided by the Normans who used them scurrilously one pats the Irish Prince on the Pate another pulls him by the Mantle a third pricks him in the Breech with a Pin a fourth shuts the Door upon his Heels every Body abuses them Wherefore away they get as fast as they can and every-where publish'd the Ill Usage they received at Court Rotherick O Conner Mac Carthy and O Bryan were then preparing for their Journey but upon this News they better considered it and confederated to raise a general Rebellion There were many Reasons why Earl John's Voyage to Ireland was not successful The Superstitious People observ'd That he had not pay'd his Devotions at S. Davids before he imbarqued and attributed it to that Others blamed him and his Followers more for their Rude and Ungenteel Abuse of the Irish Lords and Gentlemen Others imputed all to the Debauchery of the Soldiers who by the example of their Captains were grown Idle and Insolent Wherein they were the more indulged because they were ill paid To these may be added the Litigiousness of the Natives in Towns and Cities who were perpetually wrangling with and suing such new Inhabitants as came to settle among them But there was a greater Cause than all these which arose from the different Interests then in Ireland which inâ—luenced the Normans English Welch and the Natives The Normans were most in
Favour and consequently luxurious they always followed the Court and hated to be put in Frontier Garrisons or Places of Danger They were says Cambrensis great Talkers Boasters and Swearers very Proud and Contemners of all others greedy of Places of Places of Honour and Profit but backward in undertaking any hazardous and dangerous Action or performing any Service that might deserve them Moreover many of the English and Welch were dispossest of their best and safest Castles to make Room for the Normans and forc'd to take others in Exchange on the Frontiers by which means they were impoverish'd and discourag'd Add to this That several of the faithful Irish who had submitted to the English Government and lived within their Quarters and thereby became acquainted with the English Conversations Humors Strength Policies Seats and Habitations were likewise dispossess'd to make Room for the Normans and thereby forced to revolt to the Irish and became the most Dangerous of all the Enemies as being most Knowing and most Provok'd And thus it came to pass that after Earl John had wasted his Army in small and unprofitable Skirmishes and had staid eight months and done no other Good than that he built the Castle of Tybrach perhaps Typerary Lismore and Ardfinin the King sent for him and his Beardless Counsellors and in his Room substituted John de Courcy Earl of Vlster Lord Lieutenant of Ireland he brought over with him about four hundred Volunteers 1185. September And soon after his arrival he made a Progress into Munster and Connaught to put those Countries in order but it seems he fell into an Ambush or had some Skirmish with the Irish for it is said That he lost twelve Knights in his Return from Connaught 1186. On Midsummer-day the Prime of Limerick slew four Knights and a great part of the Garrison of Ardfinin And soon after by a Slight drew that Garrison into an Ambush by exposing a Prey to their View which they thought to have taken but he fell upon them and surprized and slew most of them But the Irish had not so good luck in Meath where they of Kenally had made Incursions and taken a Prey for William Petit rescued the Prey defeated them with great Slaughter and sent an hundred of their Heads to Dublin Old Lacy was now busie building his Castle of Derwath and himself working with a Pick-ax for Diversion when one of the malicious and ungrateful Workmen took the Opportunity whilst he was stooping Cambden 151. and with another Pick-Ax knock'd out his Brains And it seems there was an Insurrection thereupon for it is said That Courcy and Young Lacy revenged the Murder and reduced all things to quiet But it seems afterwards there grew some Distast between Courcy and Lacy so that Lacy who was the better Courtier supplanted Courcy who was the better Soldier and got himself into his Room This Courcy came from Stoke-courcy commonly call'd Stogussy in the County of Somerset I find that Robert de Courcy was made a Baron at Westminster 33 Henry 1. but whether he was the Ancestor of this Family I will not determine This Earl of Vlster had a natural Son John Lord of Kilbarrock and Raheny who was murdered by the Lacyes so that it is the Brother of this Earl John that was the Ancestor of the Noble Family of Courcy Lord Baron of Kingsale In the mean time King Henry died in Normandy on the sixth Day of July 1189. He was so well pleased with the Conquest of Ireland Davis 11. that he placed the Title of Lord of Ireland in his Royal Style before his Hereditary Estates of Normandy and Aquitain Baron Finglas M. S. And yet that Country was at that Time so inconsiderable or so little improv'd that there were not five Castles or Piles for Defence of Irish building in the whole Kingdom Dublin Cork and Waterford were built by the Easterlings and all the rest have been built since the Reduction of Ireland This King was both Wise and Valiant he was also Generous to the highest Degree so that he deserved to be ranked among the bravest Princes of that or any other Age and perhaps had made as great a Figure in History as any of them if the Undutifulness of Becket and the Rebellion of his own Sons had not interrupted his Designs However there are some who will never forgive him the Conquest of Ireland and therefore do load his Memory with many Malicious Aspersions equally Ridiculous and False Polichronicon l. 7. c. 21. They say his Grandmother could not endure the Mass and that her Husband ordered four Knights to hold her by Force whilst the Priest was celebrating but in spight of them she flew out of the Window with two of her Sons and was never seen after And that 't is no Wonder they that come of the Devil should go to the Devil And that King Henry's Embassador urging the King's Son to have Peace with his Father was answered That it was Natural to their Brood to hate one another That Henry was a Bastard and that S. Bernard the Abbot prophesied of him That from the Devil he came and to the Devil he should go That his Father had gelded a Bishop and that himself had murdered S. Thomas of Canterbury That his Father had Carnal Knowledge of Henry's Queen Elianor and abundance more of such silly Stuff THE REIGN OF John Earl of Moreton LORD of IRELAND Afterwards King of England Duke of Normandy c. RICHARD I 1189. for his Valour Sirnamed Ceur de Lyon by unquestionable Right Succeeded his Father on the Throne of England and was crowned at Westminster the third Day of September 1189 but his Style was no more than Speed 482. Rex Anglor dux Normannor Acquitan comes Andegavor For John Earl of Moreton youngest Son of the deceased King by virtue of the aforesaid Donation at the Parliament at Oxford anno 1177 succeeded his Father in the Sovereignty of Ireland And therefore we find the Pope's Legate had Commission to exercise Jurisdiction in Anglia Davis 19. Wallia illis Hiberniae partibus in quibus Johanes Comes Moretonii potestatem habet dominium For tho' it be a Fundamental Maxim of State That Ireland must not be separated from the Crown of England And tho' it be also an undoubted Maxim of Law That the King cannot alien any part of his Dominions yet neither of these were thought to be transgressed by the aforesaid Donation because it was made to the King's Son whose Interest and Expectations in England were thought to be sufficient Security for his Good Behaviour What Controulment Earl John might have met with in the Soveraignty of Ireland if the King Richard had been at Leisure to inspect that Matter is incertain But it is manifest That the King was so taken up with his Voyage to the Holy Land and so embarassed by the unfortunate Consequences of it that he never did
Annum for the other two parts saving and reserving to the King two Cantreds with the Inhabitants and liberty of building Castles therein The King liked the Proposal well enough and communicated it to the Lord Justice and referr'd it to him adding That it would do well if the Lord Justice could squeeze a Fine of four hundred Marks from the King of Connaught together with a yearly Tribute of Cows 1208. to supply such Castles as should be built in those Cantreds Hugh de Lacy was made Lord Deputy upon the Lord Justice his going to England and soon after viz. the Eighth of November the King by Patent Dated at Woodstock whereunto Meyler Fitz-Henry Lord Justice is Witness did confirm to William Fitz Philip Barry the three Cantreds of Olethan Muskry Dunegan and Killedy which Fitz Stephens had given his Father in the Kingdom of Cork 4 Inst 359. to be held of the King by Ten Knights Fees Lib. GGG and he also granted to William Marshal the Marshalship of Ireland in Fee as also the Cantred of Kilkenny About this time Jeofry Morison or Mac Moris was troublesome in Munster wherefore the Lord Deputy invaded Typerary Hanmer 186. and took Thurles he also took Castlemeyler and demolished it but the Irish say he lost more men in this Expedition than he brought back And now the King finding many Complaints of Thieves Tories and Robbers which were become a Nusance in Ireland sent the following Writ for their expulsion REX Meyler Prin 250. fil Henr. Justic Hiberniae c. omnibus aliis Baron fidelibus suis Hibern c. Sciatis quod ad voluntatem consilium dilectorum fidelium nostrorum Com. W. Maresc Walteri de Lacy aliorum Baronum nostrorum Hibern qui nobiscum fuerunt in Angl. per consilium fidelium nostror Angl. volumus statuimus quod Latrones Hibern expellantur de Terra nostra Hibern quod ipsi receptores eorum deducantur secundum Legem Angl. ideo vobis mandamus quod ita fieri faciatis in hujus rei testimonium has Literas nostras Patent vobis mittimus Teste Meipso apud Southhampt 23 Die Martii But Lacy was so elevated with the aforesaid Victories how dear soever they were bought that he look'd on all below him with Contempt and became so impatient of Competition that he was outragious against all his Enemies and particularly against John de Courcy Lord of Raheny and Kilbarrock Natural Son of the great John de Courcy whom the Lacies basely and barbarously caused to be murdered whereupon great Stirs and Dissatisfactions arose in Ireland even among the British Temple 6. whereof the Irish made their advantage Hanmer 187. and under pretence of being burdened with Taxes there was a general Defection throughout all the Realm Dublin was inhabited mostly by a Colony of Bristol Men 1209. and it was customary with them for love of Sport and Air to walk abroad toward Cullenwood every Easter-Monday but now being unarmed they were surprized by the Mountaneers of Wicklow the Birnes and Tooles c. who murdered three hundred of the Citizens wherefore that Day is ever since called Black Monday and for a long time after was solemnly observed by the Mayor Sheriffs and Citizens of Dublin in a brave and splendid manner and to supply this Loss the City of Bristol sent a new Colony to replenish Dublin But the King as well to secure his goverment from the ambition of Lacy whereof he grew exceeding jealous as also to suppress the Rebellion of the Irish found it necessary to make a Voyage to that Countrey and therefore with a considerable Army he sailed thither and on the Eighth Day of June landed at Waterford 1210. where O Neal and above Twenty other Irish Potentates came and made their humble Submissions and did Homage and Fealty unto him The Lacies conscious of their Demerits durst not abide the Arrival of the King but secretly fled into France where in Disguise they served the Abbot of St. Taurin in the quality of Gardeners till their unskilfulness manifested they were not educated in that way which gave the Abbot some suspicion of them and that led him into so strict an Enquiry that to satisfie the Abbot they were obliged to discover the Truth Speed 508. The good man did so sympathize with their Misfortunes and pitied their Distress that he effectually interceded with the King for their Pardon which at length he obtain'd Walter paying for Meath 2500 and Hugh for Vlster 4000 Marks Cattalus or rather Carolus O Conner alias Crovederg the Valiant and Active King of Connaught was the only Man of Note that opposed King John but he was an unequal Match for the King of England Cambden 152. and therefore was easily subdued and taken Prisoner Wherefore the King having no more of Military Matters to execute in Ireland seriously set himself to mend the Civil State of that unfortunate Country and first he caused Money to be Coyned ad Pondus Nummi Angliae and made it currant in both Kingdoms by his Proclamation which was the first Sterling Money that was Coyned in Ireland Lib. M. 25. and this done he set himself to establish the English Laws in that Kingdom For though King Henry had done as much to introduce the English Laws there as that Season and other Circumstances would permit yet partly for want of Sheriffs and the Distribution of the Kingdom into Counties but chiefly because of the unsetledness of the Country and the rebellious humour of the Irish it could not at that time be fully effected Wherefore King John to supply those Defects as far as he was able divided Leinster and Munster the only part he had in quiet and actual possession into the Counties of Dublin Kildare Meath Vriel Caterlogh Kilkenny Wexford Waterford Cork Limerick Typerary and Kerry and appointed Sheriffs and other Officers for them after the manner of England He also caused an Abstract of the English Laws and Customs to be drawn in writing Inst 141. b. 4 Inst 349. whereunto he affixed his Seal and left it in the Exchequer in Dublin and by general consent in Parliament and at the instance of the Irish he ordained that the English Laws and Customs should thenceforward be observed in Ireland Temple 6. and in order to it he erected Courts of Judicature at Dublin But the Brehon Law and the other Irish Customs indulged more to the Tyrannie of the great Men and yet did not hold the Commons to a strict and regular Discipline as the Laws of England did and therefore the very English were so corrupted by ill Example that the English Laws were not regarded nor had in Estimation as they ought but were look'd upon both by the Irish and degenerate English Davis 90. lib. M. as a Yoke of Bondage so that Henry III was necessitated oftentimes to enjoyn the Observation of them In
undertaken the Crusado I cannot determine which but for the one reason or the other he was removed and Henry de Londres Archbishop of Dublin April 23. 1219. was made Lord Justice and continued so for five years he was nick-named Scorchvillein Holingsh 32. by the Irish because they said he burnt his Tenants Leases and other Writings which they brought to shew him but this silly Story is not to be believ'd of so Learned a Man and so good a Governour as every body allows this Archbishop to have been especially since it is not denied but that he suffered all his Tenants to enjoy their Farms even according to their Claims It was this Lord Justice that built the Castle of Dublin anno 1220. 1220. And about the same time died at London William Earl Marshal Protector of the King and his Kingdoms Some Irish Antiquary was so silly to think he was call'd Marshal quas◠Mars his Seneschal for he was indeed a very warlike Man He was succeeded by his Son William against whom the Bishop of Fernes complained to the King That his Father had disseis'd the Church of two Mannors for which reason he was excommunicated and so died The King commanded the Bishop to go to the Earls Tomb and to absolve him and promis'd that he would endeavour his Satisfaction Hanmer 176. Whereupon the Bishop accompanied with the King went to the Grave and said O William that here liest wrapped in the Bonds of Excommunication if what thou hast injuriously taken be restored by the King or thy Heir or thy Friends with competent satisfaction I absolve thee otherwise I ratifie the Sentence that being wrapped in thy Sins thou maist remain damned in Hell for ever The King was dissatisfied with the rigour of the Bishop but could not prevail with the young Earl to part with any thing of his Estate wherefore the Bishop confirm'd his Curse and it brought no small Veneration to the Clergy that this Earl and his four Brethren died without Issue which the Superstitious People thought to be the Effect of that Execration The young Earl Marshal had great Contests with Hugh de Lacy Earl of Vlster 1221. so that Meath was wonderfully harass'd between them Trim was also besieged and reduced to an ill condition but it had the good Fortune to escape this Brush Hanmer 189. and to have a strong Castle built soon after to prevent the like Calamities for the future 6 Hen. 3. About this time Davis 15. 123. the King granted to O Brian King of Thomond the Country of Thomond habendum during the Kings Minority rendring an hundred and thirty Marks per annum which is the only Grant made by the Crown of England to any meer Irishman to that time except that to the King of Connaught And before this Davis 124. viz. 3 H. 3. Richard de Burgo for one thousand pound obtained a Grant of all Connaught to him and his Heirs after the Death of the then King of that Country The Lord Justice who was also Archbishop and Legate did in his Spiritual Capacity too much encroach on the Temporal Jurisdiction and therefore upon the Complaint of the Citizens of Dublin Aug. 9. 7 H. 3. he had a notable increpatory Writ sent to him 1222. which is to be found in Prin's Animadversions on the fourth Instit 251. And at the same time the King sent another Writ to the Justice to redress a Nusance to the Harbour and Citizens of Dublin Prin 251. according to the Law of England I find some Reasons to believe that the Lord Justice Londres was sent for to England anno 1220 and his Room supplied by Geofry de Marisco till his Return Octob. 28. the same Year but however that be it is certain that after this Justice had govern'd Ireland five Years he was removed And most probably was succeeded by 〈…〉 William Earl Marshal 1224. Lord Justice In whose Time in May 8 Hen. 3. Lacy was so effectually pursued that he was forced to submit and the same Year was pardoned About the same Time the King prohibited Appeals to be made to the Pope Lib. Z. Z. and by his Letter to the Archbishop of Armagh Lamb. 19. severely reprimanded him for sending to the Pope about Causes Ecclesiastick The King in the fifth Year of his Reign had granted to the Citizens of Dublin towards walling their City three Pence out of every Sack of Wool six Pence for every Last of Hides and two Pence out of every Barrel of Wine sold in their City 1225. and now 9 Hen. 3. he gave them fifty Marks in Mony to the same purpose On the tenth Day of June 10 Hen. 3. A Writ was sent to the Lord Justice to seize on the Country of Connaught forfeited by O Connor 1226. and to deliver it to Richard de Burgh at the Rent of three hundred Marks for the first five Years and afterwards of five hundred Pound per annum except five choice Cantreds near Athlone which I suppose were designed for the Conveniency and Support of that Garrison But on the first Day of August 10 Hen. 3. Geofry de Marisco was made Lord Justice and had a Sallary of five hundred Marks payable out of the Exchequer granted unto him It is probable That soon after his Arrival his Predecessor William Earl Marshal repaired to Court to give the King an Account of his Administration And the Irish were forward to take Advantage of his Absence and the ill Posture of the King's Affairs in Ireland and therefore to make the best Use they could of this Opportunity they made so general a Confederacy that their Army amounted to twenty thousand Men Sperantes says my Author se posse omne genus Anglorum ab Hiberniae finibus exterminare But all this Ostentation came to nothing and this numerous Rabble were without much Difficulty defeated by Hugh de Lacy and Richard de Burgh and their Followers And the Irish General O Connor King of Connaught was taken Prisoner The King Lib. GGG in the fifth Year of his Reign wrote to all the Ports of Ireland Lambeth To make some Gallies in their respective Havens for the Defence and Security of him and his Kingdom of Ireland And in the tenth Year of his Reign he prevailed with the Pope to write to the Irish Bishops to give him a Subsidy 1227. And now the eleventh Year of his Reign the Pope did write to the Clergy To give Subsidiary Aid to the King Which it seems was effectual for I find this Entry on the Roll. 11 Henric. 3. Rex habuit auxilium de Hibernia And the same Year the Lord Justice received a Writ To aid the Episcopal Excommunication with the Secular Arm as was usual in England which is to be found at large Prin's Animadversions Prin 252. 252 and bears Date the eighteenth of January And there was also a Writ or Charter enjoyning
the Observation of the English Laws in Ireland which I have already recited in the Reign of King John Hubert de Burgo or Burgh Chief Justice of England and Earl of Kent Splem Gloss 340. was made Earl of Connaught and Lord Justice of Ireland during Life and because he could not personally attend he deputed Richard de Burgo Lord Justice or Deputy to whom the King sent the following Writ March 10. 1227. for establishing the English Laws in Ireland REX dilecto sideli suo Ricardo de Burgo Justiciario suo Hiberniae Prin. 252. salutem Mandamus vobis firmiter praecipientes quatenus certo die loco faciatis venire coram vobis Archiepiscopos Episcopos Abbates Priores Comites Barones Milites libere tenentes Balivos singulorum Comitatuum coram eis publice legi faciatis Cartam Domini J. Regis Patris nostri cui Sigillum suum appensum est quam fieri fecit jurari à Magnatibus Hiberniae de Legibus Consuetudinibus Anglorum observandis in Hibernia praecipiatis eis ex parte nostra quod Leges illas ad Consuetudines in Carta praedict ' contentas de cetero firmiter teneant observent Et hoc idem per singulos Comitatus Hiberniae clamari faciatis teneri prohibentes firmiter ex parte nostra Forisfacturam nostram ne quis contra hoc Mandatum nostrum venire praesumat ' Eo excepto quod nec de Morte nec de Catallis Hibernensium occisorum nihil statuatur ex parte nostra citra quindecem dies à die Sancti Michaelis anno regni nostri duodecimo super quo respectum dedimus Magnatibus nostris Hibern ' usque ad terminum praedict Teste meipso apud Westmonast oct die Maii anno regni nostri duodecimo And at the same Time he received two Writs about the Debts due from the King to the late Lord Justice Archbishop Londres Burlace 20 21. and a third Writ to pay him an hundred Pound per annum out of the Rent of the City of Limerick and fifty Pound per ann out of the Rent of Dublin But this Justice did not continue long in the Government for his Patron Hubert de Burgh falling into the King's Displeasure both the one and the other were remov'd And Maurice Fitz-Gerald was made Lord Justice 1229. In whose Time viz. 14 Hen. 3. happened the great Case of Coparceners to decide which the King sent over by way of Writ what in the printed Statues is called Statutum Hiberniae And tho' the Lord Justice is there named Girald yet it is by Mistake for Girald Fitz-Maurice who was the Lord Justice's Father died anno 1205. And there is another Mistake in that Statute for it is said to be made 24 Regis whereas the Year 1229. could be but the fourteenth Year of his Reign Now came over Stephen the Pope's Chaplain to demand the Tenths of all Moveables to support the Holy See against the Efforts of Frederick the Emperour Hanmer 191. It was so hard a Tax in Ireland that they were fain to part with not only their Cadows and Aquavitae but also with their Chalices and Altar-Cloaths Not long after died William Earl Marshal Prince or Lord of Leinster 1231. who anno 1223 gave a new Charter to his Town of Kilkenny he was buried in the Choire of the Friers Preachers at Kilkenny and was succeeded in his Estates and Titles by his Brother Richard On the second Day of September 1232. the Lord Justice returned out of England but when he went thither or who was Deputy in his Absence non constat On the seventh of April 1233 Holingshead 27. say some but I think 1234 the English and the O Connors c. had a Battle on the Curragh of Kildare 1234. wherein Richard Earl Marshal Prince of Leinster had very foul Play from those of his own Side so that he was there mortally wounded and died in five Days after To atone for this the Lord Justice who went into England to satisfie the King in that Matter offered to build a Monastery and endow it liberally to pray for the Soul of Earl Richard Hanmer 195. And so at length by the intercession of the King and the importunate Entreaties of the Nobility Gilbert Earl Marshal and the Lord Justice were reconciled 1235. It seems the Alarm was very great on Earl Richard's Death for the King to Comfort and Quiet the Citizens of Dublin assured them by his Writ That he summon'd the Great Men of England Pryn 253. to consult about the Safety of England and Ireland and that their Determinations should be speedily communicated to them at Dublin From whence Mr. Pryn observes That the Laws and Ordinances of the King and Parliament of England did bind Ireland in those Days But it seems that about this Time the Spiritual Courts did encroach too much on the Temporal Jurisdiction 1233. and therefore the King sent over the following Writ REX Co. Lit. 141. Comitibus Baronibus Militibus liberis Hominibus omnibus aliis de Terra Hibern ' salutem Quia manifeste esse dignoscitur contra Coronam Dignitatem nostram Consuetudines Leges Regni nostri Angl ' quas bonae memoriae Dominis Johannes Rex Pater noster de communi omnium de Hibern ' consensu teneri statuit in Terra illa quod placita teneantur in curia Christianitatis de advocationibus Ecclesiarum Capellarum vel de laico feodo vel de catallis quae non sunt de Testamento vel Matrimonio vobis mandamus prohibentes quatenus hujusmodi placita in curia Christianitatis nullatenus sequi presumatis in manifestum Dignitatis Coronae nostrae prejudicium scituri pro certo quod si feceritis dedimus in Mandatis Justiciario nostro Hiberniae statutae curiae nostra in Anglia contra transgressiones hujus Mandati nostri cum justicia procedat quod nostrum est exsequatur Teste Rege 28 Octobr. Decimo oct Regni nostri c. mandatum est Justiciario Hibern per literas clausas quod predictas Literas Patentes publice legi teneri faciat In the Year 1234 died Walter Lacy Lord of Meath without Issue Male so that his great Estate was divided between his two Daughters viz. Margaret married to the Lord Theobald Verdon and Matilda married to Geofry Geneville Whilst the Lord Justice was in England the King of Connaught exhibited a grievous Complaint against John de Burgo That he had entred his Country with Forces Hanmer 195. and wasted the same with Fire and Sword humbly beseeching his Majesty to do him Justice and to bridle such rash Attempts Alledging That he was a loyal Subject and payed for his Kingdom an annual Pension Davis 123. amounting in all from his first Subjection to five thousand Marks and desired the King That he would rid him of that base
Upstart or new-comer 1235. that sought to disinherit him Whereupon the King immediately ordered the Lord Justice To pluck up by the Root the Fruitless Plant which Hubert de Burgo whilst he was in Ruff had planted in those Parts that it might bud no more The King also wrote to the Nobility of Ireland That they should banish the said John and establish the King of Connaught in his Kingdom who returned very well satisfied with the Princely Favours he received at the Court of England It seems that in the Lord Justices Absence there was some Disorder among the Irish Doctor Hanmer says they rebelled but the speedy return of the Lord Justice probably gave a Check to their Intentions And to the End there might be a free Commerce between both Kingdoms the King sent over the following Writ REX Pryn. 253. dilecto fidelio suo Mauritio fili Giraldi Justiciario suo Hiberniae 19. Hen. 3. salutem Vestra non ignorare debet discretio quod dignum est id volumus quod Terra nostra Angliae Terra nostra Hiberniae communes sint ad invicem quod homines nostri Angliae Hiberniae hinc inde negotiari possunt ad comodum emendationem Terrarum praedictarum Et ideo vobis mandamus Quod homines de Terra Hiberniae volentes emere blada in Hibernia ducenda in Angliam in nulla impediatis vel impediri permittatis quin libere sine impedimento id facere possunt Teste Rege apud Westm 2. die Jun. Et vide ibidem de Galeis i.e. Gallies or Ships de Hibernia in Angliam mittendis to aid the King There being some Dispute in Ireland about the Law in Case of Bastardy 1236. the King sent this Writ to the Lord Justice and the Archbishop to observe the Statute of Merton in those Cases HEnricus Dei Gratia Rex Angliae Pyrn 253. c. venerabili Patri L. eadem gratia Archiepiscopo Dublin dilecto fideli suo M. fil Geraldi Justic suo Hiberniae salutem Accedens nuper ad curiam nostram Georgius de Laffidel nobis ex parte vestra supplicavit ut vobis scire faceremus quid juris sit secundum confuetudinem Angliae in casibus subscriptis viz. Cum contingat filium alicujus Nobilis natum ex matrimonio movere questionem fratri suo in fornicatione ante matrimonium de eadem matre progenito super paterna haereditate Item si contingat quod frater natus ante matrimonium defendendo dicat se esse ligitimum utrum in tali casu mittendus sit ad forum Ecclesiasticum Item fi mittendus sit in qua forma c. Item si contingit quod natus ante matrimonium fecerit homagium suum de terris suis post decessum patris sui ratione homagii sic facti vocaverit Dominum suum ad Warrantum quid juris sit de illa vocatione si warrantizare debeat aut velit sponte utrum duellum possit esse de jure inter natum ex matrimonio dominum warrantizantem cum inter ipsos fratres esse non possit Ad haec etiam vobis significamus de primo capitulo Quod si natus ante matrimonium cui movetur questio cognoscat se natum esse ante matrimonium nec petere potest haereditatem nec petitam retinere secundum Angl. consuetudinem Nec talis si dicat se natum esse post mittendus ad cur Christianitatis eo quod clerus talem habet pro legitimo Cum autem de casu illo anno preterito tractatum esset coram venerabili Patre Archiepiscopo Cantuariensi Coepiscopis suis Magnatibus nostris Angl. scilicet utrum inquisitio de tali nato deberet fieri in cur nostra vel in cur Christianitatis tandem predict Archiepiscopus Episcopi petierunt sibi dare potestatem inquirendi Postea vero processu temporis quia in forma Brevis nostri eis super hoc transmissi contentum fuit quod respondere deberent Vtrum talis natus esset ante matrimonium vel post videntes hoc esse contrarium legibus suis noluerunt ad hoc respondere sed reliquerunt nobis cur nostrae hoc inquirendum terminandum nondum provisum est in cur nostra sub qua forma hoc debeat inquiri vel per sacramentum 12 Jurat vel per probationem à partibus producendam Item de Domino si debet warrantizare tenenti contra fratrem suum vobis respondemus quod non eo quod tam natus post Matrimonium quam ante uno eodem jure utuntur Dominus in captione homagii potius circumventus fuit quam ratione astrictus Nec esse poterit duellum inter eos predicta ratione preterea quia Dominus tenetur plus warantizare petenti nato post matrimonium quam tenenti nato ante matrimonium hiis igitur intellectis secundum quod predictum est in partibus vestris faciatis Teste Rege apud Mortelac 9 die Maii. And he also sent this other Writ the same Time REX dilecto fideli suo Maur. fil Girald Justic suo Hibern salutem Monstravit nobis lator presentium quod ipse nuper in curia nostra coram Justic nostris ad hoc per vos nuper constitutis in Hibern recuperasset seisinan suam versus quendam hominem de libero tenemento suo idem adversarius suus postea de eodem tenemento iterum ipsum disseisivit ideo vobis mittimus sub sigillo nostro constitutionem nuper factam intellige Merton c. 3. coram nobis Magnatibus nostris Angl. de predicto casu similiter de aliis articulis ad emendationem Regn nostr Mandantes quatenus de Concilio venerabilis Patris L. Dublin Archiepisc constitutionem illam in curia nostra Hibern Legi de cetero firmiter observari facias secundum eadem predicto querenti plenam justiciam exhiberi faciatis Teste Rege ut supra King Henry kept his Christmas at Winchester 1239. anno 1239. where the Servants of Gilbert Earl Marshal were as they thought affronted not being suffered to enter into the King's Court with their Tip staves whereupon the Earl complained to the King but received an unexpected cross Answer whereat he was distasted to that degree that he left the Court and perhaps never afterwards came near it for the next Year he was slain by a Fall from his Horse 1240. at a Turnament at Hereford In the same Year Petrus de Supino came from Pope Gregory into Ireland with an Authentick Papal Mandate requiring under pain of Excommunication and other Censures Ecclesiastical Hanmer 196. the Twentieth part of the whole Land besides donatives and private Gratuities to the maintenance of his War against Frederick the Emperor where he extorted saith Matthew Paris a thousand and five hundred Marks and above saith Florilegus at which time also one Petrus Pubeus intitled the
them to secure the Peace of the Nation And sent them farther private Instructions by Robert Waspail who carried those Letters to whom he commanded them to give Credit And not long after the Lord Justice was removed and David Barry the worthy Ancestor of the Noble Family of Barrymore was made Lord Justice 1267. he so managed the Giraldines that he took from them the Castle of Sligo and all their Lands in Connaught and thereby put an End to those Wars and Differences that were between them and the Burks And in his Time the Friers Preachers were setled at Ross Kilkenny and Clonmel Sir Robert de Vfford was made Lord Justice of Ireland 1268. and began to build the Castle of Roscomon In his Time Cnoghor O Brian of Thomond was slain i.e. murdered by Dermònd mac Monard and Maurice Fitz-Girald not of Desmond as the Annals say but Son of Maurice Lord Justice anno 1272 was drowned between Ireland and Wales And about this Time came over a Writ from the King to levy Aurum Reginae for Elianor the Prince's Wife as was used in England which you may read at large 4 Inst 357. On which I will make but this one Remark That if the Sovereignty of Ireland were in the Prince how comes the King to send the Writ But it will evidently appear by the following Writ That the Prince had not the Sovereignty of that Kingdom CVm Rex per Cartam suam concessit Edvardo 52 Hen. 3. primogenito suo Terram suam Hiberniae cum pertinentiis Lib. GGG c. habendum sibi haeredibus suis Lambeth ita quod non separetur a Corona Angliae idem Edvardus sine Licentia Regis alienationes quorundam terrarum tenementorum spectantium ad Terram praedictam fecerit contra tenorem feofamenti Regis quod idem rex sustinere voluit ideo nunc dedit potestatem mandatum nepoti suo filio Regis Alemani the Son of Richard Earl of Cornwal King of the Romans revocandi omnia maneria terras tenementa quae dictus Edvardus filius Regis sic alienavit post feofamentum praedict c. Richard de Excester 1269. Lord Justice In whose time Othobon the Pope's Legate made excellent Constitutions at London He made a more firm Peace and Reconciliation between the Burks and Giraldines And not long after died and Sir James Audly 1270. or de Aldethel was made Lord Justice and had a very unfortunate Government of it for the Irish were every where troublesome Fragm M. S. Quasi omnes Hiberni guerraverunt omnes munitiones Fortifications in Ophaly praeter Castrum de Lega Ley destructi sunt Anglici inde expulsi magna strages utriusque nationis facta est in Connacia The Irish burn'd spoil'd destroyed and slew as well Magistrates as others and the King of Connaught in plain Field defeated Walter Burk Hanmer 202. Earl of Vlster and killed a great number of Nobles and Knights and particularly the Lords Richard and John Verdon and a great Famine and Pestilence the natural Consequences of War spread over all Ireland and sorely afflicted the whole Kingdom The Castles of Aldleck Roscomon and Scheligah perhaps Sligo were destroyed Nevertheless the Pope without Regard to these Universal Calamities required the Tiths of all Spiritual Promotions for three Years to maintain his Wars against a Christian King viz. of Arragon and tho' the People murmured and their Poverty and Misery pleaded loudly for them yet the rapacious Nuntio would not go empty away On the 23 of June 1272. the Lord Justice was killed by a fall from his Horse in Thomond and Maurice Fitz-Maurice Fitz-Girald was made Lord Justice 1272. and so continued till the sixteenth Day of November at which time the King died in Peace and full of Days in his Palace at London having reigned longer than any King since the Conquest viz. six and fifty Years c. THE REIGN OF EDWARD I. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND EDWARD the First from the Talness of his Person Nicknamed Long-shanks succeeded his Deceased Father in all his Dominions on the 16th Day of November 1272 but he being at that time absent in the Holy Land the Nobility took care to keep all quiet until his Return and then on the 15th Day of August 1274. he was Crowned by Robert Archbishop of Canterbury Maurice Fitz-Maurice Fitz-Girald continued Lord Justice and to him Ware de pres 34. and to Hugh Bishop of Meath Lord Treasurer and to John de Sandford Escheator was a Writ sent December 7. 1272 Commissioning them to receive the Oaths of Fealty and Allegiance to the new King of all the Nobility Gentry and Commons of Ireland And the Lord Justice had another Writ of the same Date to proclaim the Kings Peace and to preserve it wherein 't is said That the King is willing and able by Gods Help to defend and do Justice to his People great and small And the Government of England being informed Prin. 256. That Avelina Countess of Vlster and Widow of Walter de Burgo had been endowed illegally both as to Quantity and Quality a Writ issued in the Kings Name to the Seneschal of Vlster to rectifie that Matter according to the Law and Usage of England In the mean time the Irish took advantage of the Kings absence from England and thought it an opportune Season to rebel 1273. they destroyed the Castle of Roscomon Aldleek Scheligath and Randon and found means to corrupt some of the Lord Justice Followers whereby he was betrayed into their hands in Ophaly and there taken and imprisoned whereupon Walter Genevil newly returned from the Holy Land was sent over Lord Justice Octob. 1273. to him a Writ was sent not to molest the Archbishop of Cashel for any Debts due from him to the King till his Majesties Return to England The Islanders and Red-shank Scots made a sudden incursion into Ireland and burnt several Towns and Villages killing Man 1274. Woman and Child most inhumanely and got away with vast Booty before the Country could get together or put themselves in a posture to prevent or resist this unexpected Torrent but not long after Richard de Burgo and Sir Eustace le Poer served them in their kind and entred the Islands and burnt their Cabbins and Cottages slew all they met with and smoakt out those that had hid themselves in Caves after the same manner that is used in smoaking a Fox out of his Earth Rosâ—omon-Castle was once again repaired 1275. or rather reedified and Mortagh a strong Tory being taken Prisoner by Sir Walter le Faunt was executed but the Lord Justice being recalled Sir Robert de Vfford was made Lord Justice 1276. in whose time Thomas de Clare Son of the Earl of Glocester came into Ireland and married Juliana Daughter of Maurice Fitz-Maurice Fitz-Girald though some say it was anno 1274. There is little
Justice was so vigilant that before the end of August the Rebels were dispersed and their Captain William mac Balthar was taken and hanged In the midst of these Disturbances John Decer Mayor of Dublin who had some time before built the Bridge over the Liffy Ibid. 166. near S. Wolstons and the Chappel of our Lady at the Friers Minors and had also repaired the Church of the Friers Preachers and every Friday feasted the Friars at his own Cost did now build the high Pipe in Dublin But the Lord Justice being sent for into England to give an Account there of the miserable State of Ireland substituted William Burk August 1308. Custos Warden or Deputy of Ireland He was Ancestor of many Noble Families and particularly of the Lords Castleconel and Leitrim In his time the Irish burnt Athy and Richard Talon was murthered by Maurice de Condon Cambden 166. and Candon was served in the same kind by the Roches and Odo mac Cathol O Connor slew Odo King of Conaught But in March following Peirce de Gaveston an insolent Frenchman was by the Nobility of England in Parliament banished that Kingdom whereupon the King to make this Exile of his Favorite as easie as he could gave him the Government of Ireland and assigned to him the Revenue and Royal Profits of that Realm so that thither he came with a great Retinue and he behaved himself so well that he broke and subdued the Rebels in the Mountains near Dublin He slew Dermond O Dempsy a great Irish Captain at Tully he marched into Munster and subdued O Brian in Thomond he rebuilt the new Castle of Mackingham in the Kevins Country and repaired the Castle of Kevin and cut and cleansed the Paces between that and Glendelough he was exceedingly beloved of the Soldiers both for his Liberality and Valour and might have done much Good there if he had staid longer Nevertheless he could not brook Richard Earl of Vlster who was the greatest Lord in Ireland This Earl as it were to nose Gaveston did at Whitsontide keep a great Feast at Trim Camb. 166. and dub'd two of the Lacies Knights and marched as far as Tredagh to encounter the Lord Lieutenant but on better Advertisement he returnd But the King impatient of Gaveston's longer Absence recalled him on the twenty third of June and sent in his Room Sir John Wogan 1309. Lord Justice M. S. Fragm and in October following the Noble Lord 4. says 1308 Roger Mortimer came over with his Wife Heiress of Meath and had quiet Possession of that Country the Grand-father Sir Geofry Genevil entring into a Monastery On the second of February Sir Arnold Poer slew Sir John Bonevil at Arstol but it was found to be in his own Defence Cambded 167. And in the same February there was a Parliament held at Kilkenny before the Earl of Ulster and the Lord Justice according to the Custom and Usage of those times which appeased many Civil Discords and enacted many good Laws which Mr. Pryn says Pryn 259. were printed in Bolton's Edition of the Irish Statutes 1621. And he reckons this to be the first Parliament that was held in Ireland except that of Henry II aforesaid but without question he is mistaken And it seems Pryn 259. That in the beginning of the next Year or the latter end of this there was another Parliament or Assembly of the great Men at Kildare where Poer was acquitted of the Death of Bonevil About this time Wheat was sold for twenty Shillings the Erane Cambded 167. and the Bakers were drawn on Hurdles through the Streets of Dublin for their Knavery In the Year 1310. Richard de Havering who under Pretence of the Popes Provision 1310. had assumed the Title of Arch bishop of Dublin and enjoyed all the Profits of that See without Consecration for four Years and upward was so terrified by a Dream that he resigned his Bishoprick to the Pope that gave it him Ware de praesul 111. And though Alexander Bricknor had the better in the Election the seventeenth of March 1610. yet John Lech by the Power and Favour of the King enjoyed the Bishoprick and begun the Controversie with Rowland Jorse Archbishop of Armagh about elevating his Crosier in the Province of Leinster and managed it so dextrously or rather so violently Hook 65. that he forced the Primate to fly by Night in his Pontificals from Howth to the Priory of Grace Dieu and thence chased him out of the Diocess or rather Province of Dublin and in the same year the Judges of the Court of Kings Bench were reduced to the number of Three The Year 1311 was troublesome enough 1311. for Frag. 4. in May Richard Earl of Vlster invaded Thomond Davis 134. and marched up to Bunratty where Richard de Clare met and defeated him and took him the Lord William Burk and others of his Kindred Prisoners and slew John de Lacy and many more of the Earls Followers and in November following the same Richad de Clare defeated the Irish and slew Six hundred Galloglasses Nor were the Civil Discords less amongst the Irish for Donough O Bryan was murdered by his own Men in Thomond and John Mac O Hedan was slain by O Molmoy and William Roch was murdered by a Tory However the Birnes and Tools were numerous enough to invade Taslagard and Rathcanle and to terrifie Dublin by lurking up and down the Woods of Glendelory Nor could the State suppress them because Robert Verdon began a Riot in Vrgile and was so powerful that he defeated the Lord Justice and his small Army 1312. July 7. 1312. but afterwards upon better consideration he voluntarily submitted himself to the Kings Mercy whereupon the Lord Justice went for England and left in his stead Sir Edmond Butler 1312. Lord Deputy who being now at leisure to deal with the Birnes and Tools he manag'd that Affair so well that he soon forc'd them to submit and then sent his Father-in-Law the Lord John Fitz Thomas afterwards Earl of Kildare General into Munster who at Adare Knighted Nicholas Fitz Maurice afterwards Lord of Kerry and others This Year was famous for two mighty Marriages of Maurice afterwards Earl of Desmond and Thomas Fitz John afterwards Second Earl of Kildare to the two Daughters of the Earl of Vlster But these Rejoycings were soon over 1313. and the Misfortunes of the English in Scotland drew on a Scotch Invasion of Ireland At first the Scots only sent some Boats to prey the Costs of Vlster which were well resisted but before the year was out Edward Bruce came in Person he forc'd and rob'd the Castle of Man and took the Lord O Donel Prisoner it seems he retir'd again to collect a greater Army and the Deputy after he had on Michaelmas day made one and thirty Knights in the Castle of Dublin 1314. and had taken the best care he could
Whitsontide Prin 263. that Earl first taking an Oath on the Sacrament neither by himself his Friends or Followers to grieve those of Dublin for his Apprehension To all these Misfortunes was added that of a prodigious Dearth Wheat was sold for three and twenty Shillings the Cronoge Lib. P. Lambeth Oats six Shillings and Wine eighteen pence a Quart and other things proportionably so that many died for want The Lord Justice 1317. about Whitsontide marched to Tredagh and thence to Trim and sent for the Lacies who not only refused to come but murdered the worthy Messenger Sir Hugh Crofts but the Lord Justice soon revenged that Affront for he wasted the Lands and seized on the Goods of the Lacies slew many of their Men and drove themselves into Connaught and proclaim'd them Traytors and so return'd to Dublin by the way of Tredagh The Lord Justice had now leisure to assail O Fervil Cambd. whom he soon forced to submit as did also soon after O Birne tho' not till there was â—irst a Battle between the Lord Justice and the Irish of Omayle wherein the Irish were worsted In October the Archbales or Aspoles submitted to the Earl of Kildare and gave Hostages of their good Behaviour and in February Sir Hugh Canon Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas was murdered by Andrew Brimingham between the Naas and Castlemartin The Pope by his Bulls commanded a two years Truce betwixt the English and Scots but Bruce whose Quarters probably were so destroyed that they could not afford him subsistance refused to consent thereunto For about this time the Irish of Vlster were reduced to so great want that they took dead Folk out of their Graves Cambden and boyl'd their Flesh in their Skulls so that by reason of Famine and Sickness there escaped but three hundred of ten thousand men which were in Arms which my Author says was a Judgment on them for eating Flesh in Lent and other Wickednesses Not were the Men of Connaught in a mnch better condition for there happened a Feud between two of the Irish Princes there which occasioned the Slaughter of four thousand of their Followers On Shrove-Sunday the Lord Justice kept a great Feast in the Castle of Dublin and dubbed John Mortimer and four others Knights After Easter the Lord Justice received Command to repair to the King but before he went he had the bad News that the Lord Richard de Clare Sir Henry Capel Sir Thomas de Naas 1318. and two of the Cantons and fourscore others were slain by O Bryan and Macarthy on the 5th of May. This Lord Justice caused John de Lacy to be press'd to Death at Trim because he would not plead to the Indictment against him and then a Month after Easter he went for England being a thousand pound in debt to the Citizens of Dublin and he left in his room William Fitz-John 1318. Archbishop of Cashel Governor of Ireland in whose time great Plenty was again in that Kingdom and which was very strange new Bread was to be had on St. James's Day which was made of New Wheat of the same years growth Alexander Bicknor who was confirm'd Archbishop of Dublin was also sent over Lord Justice He landed at Youghal the 7th of October and soon after Bruce with about three thousand Men came to the Fagher within two Miles of Dundalk The Lord John Brimingham whom the Justice made General with many brave Captains and one thousand three hundred and twenty four good Souldiers marcht from Dublin to encounter him Cambd. 178. and they managed the Conflict so valiantly that they slew Bruce and two thousand of his Men On Calixâ—us Day and the General carried his Head to the King and was therefore made Earl of Louth and had twenty pound per annum Selden Titles of Honour Creation-Money and the Mannor of Athird granted to him Et sic per dextram Dei manus communis Populi liberatur populus Dei à servitute machinata praecogitata Lib. rub Scac. Dub. and so ended the Scotch Government in Ireland It is observable that the Primate of Armagb was at this Battel and came purposely to absolve bless and encourage the Royalists and it ought not to be forgot that a valiant Captain John Maupas was so resolute to destroy the usurping Prince that he rushed into the Battel with that Design and was after the Fight found dead stretcht on the dead Body of Bruce Roger Mortimer 1319. Lord Justice return'd from England and about Allhallontide the Pope sent over Bulls to excommunicate Bruce at every Mass The Towns of Atheisel and Plebs were burnt by John Fitz-Thomas Nappagh and the Bridges of Leighlin and Kilcullen were in this or the following year built by Maurice Jake Cannon of Kildare but it was not long before the Lord Justice made another Voyage to England and left in his room Thomas Fitz-John Fitz-Girald 1320. Earl of Kildare in whose time Bicknor Archbishop of Dublin obtained Bulls from Pope John 22th to erect an University at Dublin and St. Patrick's Church was appointed to be the publick place of their Exercise and it is observable that the King granted to this Earl of Kildare Lib. GGG Quod possit recipere ad Legem Angliae omnes homines Hibernos Tenentes suos qui ad eandem venire voluerunt Nor must it be forgotten 1319. That Pope John the 22th did by his Bull 12 Ed. 2. acquit and discharge the Crown of England from the Tribute or Peterâ— pence Lib. ZZ Lameth claim'd by the Holy See out of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland On the Ninth Day of May 1321. the People of Leinster and Meath gave a great Overthrow to the O Connors at Balibogan Frag. 7. and the Earl of Carrick died about the same time at London and was buried at Gauran not far from Kilkenny and not long after John Bermingham 1321. Earl of Louth was made Lord Justice Rex concessit Johanni Comiti Louth Officium Justiciarii Regis Hibern cum Castris aliis Pertinentiis 14 Ed. 2 par 2. Pat. in Tur. Lond. durante beneplacito Percipiendum per annum ad Scaccarium Regis Dublin 500 Marcas pro quibus Officium illud Terram custodiet erit ipse unus de viginti hominibus ad Arma cum tot equis coopertis continue durante custodio supradict The King on the Third of April 1322. in the 15th Year of his Reign wrote to the Lord Justice to meet him at Carlisle in Octab. Trin. following with three hundred Men at Arms a thousand Hoblers and six thousand Footmen armed with a Keton Lib. Lambeth a Sallet and Gloves of Mayl to serve against the Scots besides three hundred Men at Arms which Richard de Burgo Earl of Vlster had for his own share undertaken to conduct and though the English suffered a Defeat by O Nolan so that
175. In like manner did one of the Cavenaghs serve Carew about the Barony of Idrone and if I thought that no Body else would ever be served so hereafter I would have omitted this Remark In those Days there was small Respect paid to the Sabbath Fragm M. S. 4. in Ireland for the Markets were in several Places kept on Sundays but at Carlow the Market was about this time changed to another Day In England the sixth Penny of the Goods of Lay-men Baker 117. through England Ireland and Wales was granted to the King but how it was levied here non constat It appears by the Writ mentioned Pryn 263. that the denized Irish would not punish Felony with Death and therefore that Writ enjoyns them that are 14 Edw. 2. and them that shall be denized for the future to submit to the English Laws in that particular which confirms my former Observation That the Irish were fond of the Benefit of the English Laws but were very averse from the Penalties of them And by another Writ recited Pryn 263. it appears That Common Pleas were held before the chief Governour and because the Parties were poor and could not prosecute their Writ of Error in England according to Law the King did aâ—thorize the new Governour to examine the former Judgment and to reverse it if he found just cause c. And lastly we find a Writ which was sent to John Earl of Louth Pryn 264. whilst he was Lord Justice authorizing him to remove all such insufficient Persons as his Predecessor Mortimer had put into Office in that Kingdom which is a notable President worthy Imitation in all Places and Ages THE REIGN OF EDWARD III. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND EDWARD the Third upon the Resignation of his Father was proclaimed King the twenty fifth day of January 1327. and Crowned the first day of February following 1327. and being but fifteen years old had twelve Governors of him and the Kingdom appointed but they were but Ciphers and only had the bare Name of Governors whilst Mortimer and the Queen-Mother usurp'd and exercis'd the Power As for Ireland Thomas Fitz-John Earl of Kildare was made Lord Justice and Letters were sent to the Great Men of Ireland by Name to swear Fealty to the new King and to continue their Loyalty as they had done to his Predecessors And in his Time Adam Duff of the Family of O Toole in the County of Wicklow was burnt at Hoggin-Green in Dublin for Heresie or rather for most horrid Blasphemy for he denied the Trinity and the Incarnation of our Blessed Saviour c. And because it may be pleasant and useful to a curious Reader Lib. H. Lambeth I will give you a short Account of the Great Officers and others of Ireland and their Salaries as they were 1 Ed. 3. Earl of Kildare Lord Justice 500 Lib. Roger Outlaw Chancellor 040 Lib. Elias de Ashborne Justice for holding Pleas before the Justice and Council of Ireland 040 Lib. Roger de Werthorp Justice Itinerant 040 Mar. A Second Justice Itinerant Nicholas Falstoff Chief Justice of the Bench 040 Lib. John de Granset Second Justice 040 Mar. Roger de Preston Third Justice John Battalk Custos Brevium Rot. de Banc. 005 Lib. John Garnon Narrator Domini Regis 005 Lib. Simon Fitz-Richard Secundus Narrator 005 Mar. Richard Mayning Kings Sergeant 005 Mar. Robert Poer Treasurer 040 Lib. Thomas de Monte Pessulano Chancellor of the Exchequer 010 Lib. Roger de Birthorp Chief Baron 010 Lib. The Second Baron 010 Lib. Two Chamberlains of Exchequer 010 Lib. Remembrancer 010 Lib. A Summoner 004 Mar. Two Ingrossers of the Rolls in Term-time five pence per diem The Treasurers Clerk five pence per diem whilst the Exchequer is open Usher of the Chequer three half pence per diem A Chaplain of the Castle fifty Shillings per annum For Wax two Shillings Note a pound of Wax cost nine pence It was a common thing for the Great Men of Ireland as well Irish as English upon private Quarrels to make War one with another and sometimes upon very slight occasions an Instance whereof happened at this time Fragm 8. for Maurice Fitz-Thomas afterwards Earl of Desmond being disgusted with the Lord Arnold Poer for calling him Rimer did associate with the Butlers and Birminghams as Poer did with the Burks and began a War Davis 134. says it was Kildare that had like to have been fatal to the Burks and the Poers many of them were slain and more of them driven into Connaught and their Lands were burnt and preyed In vain did the Lord Justice interpose in this bloody Quarrel he appointed a Day to hear both Parties but the Lord Arnold Poer was so far from attending the issue of such a Meeting as well knowing that he was the first Aggressor and therefore the unlucky Causer of all those Calamities and Desolations that ensued that he fled to Waterford and thence into England The Army of the Fitz-Giralds and their Confederates was mightily increased in expectation of a greater resistance than they found but assoon as they understood that Poer was fled they executed their Revenge upon the Lands of their Enemies which had been to that time left undestroyed Cambden 181 They grew so formidable even to the Cities and Towns that they fortified and provided against them but upon notice of this the Confederates immediately sent word to the Lord Justice that they design'd no prejudice to the King or his Towns but had assembled to revenge themselves of their Enemies and that they were ready to appear before him at Kilkenny to clear themselves And accordingly in Lent they did meet at Kilkenny with the Lord Justice and the Kings Council 1327. and humbly crav'd a Charter of Peace or Pardon whereon the Lord Justice took time to advise But the Irish of Leinster hoped to advantage themselves of these Commotions and therefore set up Donald Mac Art Mac Morough of the Family of Mac Morough formerly Kings of Leinster for their King It seems he led his Army within two Miles of Dublin but he was defeated and taken Prisoner by Sir Henry Traherne and Walter de Valle who had one hundred and ten pounds reward for their pains and many of the Irish were slain but Mac Morough in January 1329. escaped out of the Castle of Dublin by help of a Rope sent him by Adam Nangle for which Fact Nangle was afterwards condemned and hang'd In the mean time the Lord Justice died at Minooth on Easter-Tuesday and Roger Outlaw Prior of Kilmainham Lord Chancellor was made Lord Justice in whose time David O Tool a strong Thief who had been taken Prisoner by the Lord John Wellesly the Lent before was this Summer condemned and executed at Dublin At this time in the Second Year of this Reign the Noble James Butler married the Earl of Hereford's Daughter Bakâ— which he had by
Quod Justic nec aliquis alius Minister de caetero det alicui custodiam vel maritagium alicujus haeredis ad regem pertinentis nec pardonet debita Regis seu fines amerciamenta vel catalla forisfacta sed quod Justiciarii alii Ministri hujusmodi custodias maritagia vendant aliud comodum Regis inde fac juxta discretiones suas Item Quod Vic. Coronatores de caetero eligantur per Communitates Comit. non alio modo quod catalla forisfacta remaneant in custodia Villar Item Quod Justic seu aliquis alius Minister non recipiet aliquem magnatem in pleg vel manucaptor versus Dominum regem nisi quatenus pro commodo Regis viderint faciendum Item Quod Justic obsides pro conservatione pacis sive liberatos in carceris Domini Regis fac salvo custodire ad sumptus suos proprios quod si ipsi qui posuerunt hujusmodi obsides conditiones conventiones quas fecerunt non observent Justic faciant Judicium de hujusmodi obsidibus Item Quod Justic seu aliquis Magnus Hibern non concedat protectiones alicui contra pacem Regis existent Item Quod nullus Minister Regis de caetero recipiatur in pleg vel manucaptorem versus Dominum Regem Item Quod fines de vaccis de caetero pro redemptione non capiantur sed denarii Item Quod Treuga capta capienda inter Anglicos Hibernicos de caetero observetur quod neutra pars damnum alteri durante hujusmodi Treuga inferat si fecerit pro felone habeatur Item Quod nullus ut lagatus in Gildabili receptetur infra libertates nec e converso inde fiat Ordinatio per Justic alios Ministros Dominos libertatum Item Quod Vic. alii Ministri computent quolibet anno semel ad minus si comode fieri poterit Item Quod Seneschallus alicujus Domini in Hibern non ponatur in aliquo Officio Regis Item Quod Thes vel aliquis alius Minister Regis ubi ipse intendere non potest supervideat quolibet anno castra Regis statum eorundem quod emendare fac defectus eorundem Item Quod vic in Turnis quae faciunt de Brevibus Domini Regis ponant nomina sua ita quod quilibet Vic. de exitibus forisfacturis aliis proficuis quae requiruntur sub nomine Vic. oneretur ad Scac. pro tempore suo proprio Item Quod extranei non assignentur Collectores Custumorum Regis sed Burgenses Villarum ubi tales Custumae colligi debent assignentur ad eas colligendas hoc fiat de potentioribus discretiorbus Item Quod Justic fac inquirere quolibet anno de Ministris Domini Regis eorum factis quod puniat delinquentes pert concilium avisamentum Canc. Thes aliorum de concilio Regis amoveat insufficientes Item Quod nullus manuteneat neo ducat Kernes nec Gentes vocat Idle men nisi in Marchis suis propriis ad custus eorundem nec faciat prizas Item Quod omnes Ministri Regis qui tenentur ad computandum non habent Terras seu Tenementa sufficientia in Hibernia invenient manucaptionem in Hibern ad respondendum Regi de compotis suis ibidem Item Quod habentes Terras Tenementa in Hibernia tam religiosi quam alii praemuniantur quod resideant in iisdem si sint in Marchis vel alibi vel ponent sufficientem Custodiam pro conservatione pacis in iisdem citra Fest S. Petri ad vincula prox futur si non fecerint quod Rex in eorum defectum Terras Tenementa illa in manum suam capiet de sufficiente custodia eorundem ordinabit Item Quod nullus cujuscunque status seu conditionis manuteneaâ— foveat nec defendat Hibernicos seu alium quemcunque contra pacem Domini Regis insurgentem si aliquis sic fecerit inde convictus fuerit pro Felone habebitur c. And at the same time the King sent another Writ Prin 269. commanding them to observe the Law of England in case of wardships without regard to the Custom or Usage of Ireland In July the Irish razed the Castle of Bunratty to the ground but in lieu of that 1332. the English on the 8th of August took the Castle of Arcklow and re-edified it They had also the good fortune to defeat the O Bryans Mac Carthyes and other Irish in Munster and to kill a great many of their Men and they also took the Castle of Coolmore The Irish Hostages that were kept at Limerick and Nenagh made notable Attempts to surprize and seize both those Castles and they pursued the Project so far as to get both of them into their possession but the English were resolved to regain them which they perform'd in a very short time and the Hostages at Limerick were put to death for their Treachery and those at Nenagh were still kept in durance But the O Tools of Leinster made a more successful Attempt on the Town of Newcastle in the County of Wicklow for they not only took it but also burnt it In the mean time Cottons Rec. 9. at the English Parliament holden in September principally for the Affairs of Ireland and the Kings Expedition thither it was fully agreed that the King should pass to Ireland in person Ibid. 10. and that in the mean time a Power should be sent to that Country and Commandment was given that all such as have Lands there should repair thither for defence of that Kingdom and that all such Learned in the Law as shall be sent as Justices or otherwise to serve in Ireland shall have no Excuse and that Search be made amongst all the Kings Records to see what hath been done for the Amendment of the Irish Lib. Z Z. And soon after a Writ was sent to William de Burgo and others to attend the King to consult of his Voyage to Ireland but because the time of year did not serve for the Kings Voyage nothing more was done than that the Lord Justice was recalled in November and in February after came over Sir John Darcy Lord Justice to whom the King gave the Mannors of Louth and Ballyogany which Simon Earl of Eu had forfeited by adhering to the French King Soon after his coming the Birminghams took a Prey of two thousand Cows from the O Connors in the County of Sligo But this small Success was quickly over-ballanced by a great Misfortue 1333. for William Burk Earl of Vlster was on the 6th of June basely murdered by his own perfidious Servants at Carigfergus whereupon his Wife and only Daughter sailed to England the Daughter was afterwards Married to the Duke of Clarence and had one only Daughter who was Wife to Roger Mortimer Earl of March and Lord of Trim And from her the Earldom of Vlster and Lordship of Connaught came by descent to be
annexed to the Crown But two of the Burks seized upon most part of the Estate and divided it between them and knowing they could not hold it by the Law of England they confederated with the Irish and changed their Language Apparel Customs and Manners Nay their very Names were altered into those of Mac William Eighter and Mac William Oughter and by these means they have made a shift to keep some part of that mighty Estate for many score years The Lord Justice to revenge the Murder of the Earl of Vlster which made a great noise in Ireland call'd a Parliament by whose advice he went by Sea to Carigfergus on the first of July and by help of the Country People he destroyed the Murderers and their Abettors and thence with his Army he sailed into Scotland where he did very good Service But the Parliament sitting in England Cottons Rec. the 15th of March it was there resolved That because the Kings Affairs required him in France his Irish Voyage should be postpon'd for a year so as Aid might be sent in the mean time but it seems that the Scots so allarm'd him in the North that he performed neither the one nor the other Voyage And though both Houses apart advised the King to send Supplies of Men and Money to Ireland and gave him one Disme and one Fifteenth to that purpose yet I do not find that any considerable Recruits were sent thither but instead of that a Commission was sent to treat with the Rebels Prin 270. Whilst the Lord Justice was beyond Seas the Government was managed by Thomas de Burgh Lord Treasurer but it was not long before Darcy return'd with honour and releas'd Walter de Birmingham out of Prison in February following and soon after Sir Simon Archdeacon and others were slain by the Irish in Leinster Ibid. And the young Lord Roch prevail'd with the King to reduce to ten pounds a Fine of two hundred Marks impos'd on his Father for absenting himself from the Parliaments of 20 Edw. 2. and 2 Edw. 3. to both which he was summoned Maurice Fitz-Girald broke his Leg by a Fall from his Horse and was thereby hindred from repairing to England as he had promised and designed 1335. but now being recovered he went thither and was well received by the King and created Earl of Desmond 1336. 9 Ed. 3. On the 9th of August the English gave the Irishmen a great Defeat in Connaught Campion 88. and with the loss of one man slew ten thousand of their enemies and not long after the Lord Justice was removed and Sir John Charleton came over Lord Justice 1337. and brought with him his Brother Thomas Bishop of Hereford Lord Chancellor John Rice or ap Rees Lord Treasurer and two hundred Welsh Soldiers he called a Parliament at Dublin to which the Archbishop of Armagh designed to come Pryn. 409. and in order to it made great Preparations at S. Mary Abby but the Archbishop of Dublin would not permit him to advance his Cross in that Diocess till the King sent his Writs as well to the Archbishop as to the Corporation of Dublin not to molest the Primate Thomas Charleton 1338. Bishop of Hereford Governour of Ireland he caused Sir Eustace Poer and Sir John Poer to be imprisoned in the Castle of Dublin on the third Day of February And this Winter there was so great Frost and Snow from the second Day of December to the tenth Day of February that they Plaid Danced and roasted Fish on the Ice upon the River of Liffy And now again 1339. were all the Irish in Arms especially in Munster but the Earl of Desmond so well managed Matters there that he slew one thousand two hundred Men in Kerry and took Nicholas Fitz-Maurice Lord of Kerry Prisoner and kept him in Durance till he died Cambden 187. because he had joyned with the Irish against the King and the Earl Nor had the Earl of Kildare worse Success in Leinster for he pursued the O Dempsies so close that many of them were drowned in the River Barrow and the greatest Booty that ever was taken in that Country was brought by the Lord Justice and the English from Idrone in the County of Caterlogh about the latter end of February and in April following the Lord Justice being sent for to England resigned to Roger Outlaw 1340. Prior of Kilmainham Lord Justice he died the February following and by the Kings Patent constituted John Lord Darcy L. Justice during Life but he came not afterwards into Ireland but in May following sent over Sir John Morris 1341. Lord Deputy to whom the Inhabitants of Ireland did not pay that respect which was due to his Character for the English Irish were how grown so proud that they disdain'd to be under the authority of a Knight And therefore to mortifie them it was resolved to make a general Resumption of all Lands Liberties Signiories and Jurisdictions which this King or his Father had granted in Ireland QVia plures excessivae Donationes Terrarum Tenement 15 E. 3. m. 14 Libertatum in Terra Hibern ad minus veracem subdolem suggestionem potentium quam per Ed. 2. quam per Regem nunâ— facta sunt c. Rex delusorias hujusmodi Machinationes volens elidere de concilio peritorum sibi assistent omnes donationes Terrarum Tenement Libertat praedict duxit 〈◊〉 c. quousque de meritis personarum ac de causis conditionibus donationum praedict fuerit informat ideo Mandâ—â— est Justiâ— regni Hibern quod omnia Terras Ienementa c. praedict perdict Reges Justic aut locum tenentes suos quibuscunque personis fact seisire facias c. It cannot be expressed what Fewds Davis 138. that it was by good advice Heart-burnings and Dissatisfactions this one unadvised Act did create it was the rise and occasion of a distinction between the English of Blood and the English of Birth which had like to be fatal to the whole Kingdom Pryn. 272. all the old English were disobliged by this procedure and without their assistance the King could not keep much less enlarge his Interest in Ireland To qualifie this Matter and to allay these Heats 1342. a Parliament was summoned to meet at Dublin in October but the Earl of Desmond and other Great Men of that Faction openly refused to come and on the contrary they confederated with the Corporations and some Cities and the rest of the Male-contents and without consulting the Government they appointed a General Assembly at Kilkenny in November following and there they did accordingly meet and the Lord Justice had not Power to hinder them nor did he dare to come to them This Assembly sent Messengers to the King with their Complaints couched in these three Queries I. How a Realm of War could be governed by a Man unskilful in all war-like Service II. How an
Deputy who held that Place and discharg'd it worthily until Sir Thomas Rokeby 1353. Lord Justice returned he brought with him ten men at Arms and twenty Archers which were allowed him by the King over and above the ordinary Retinue of twenty Men. About this time lived Sir Robert Savage a very considerable Gentleman in Vlster who began to fortifie his dwelling House with strong Walls and Bulwarks but his Son derided the Fathers Providence and Caution affirming that a Castle of Bones was better than a Castle of Stones and thereupon the old Gentleman put a stop to his Building It hapned that this brave Man with his Neighbors and Followers were to set out against a numerous Rabble of Irish that had made Incursions into their Territories And he gave Orders to provide plenty of good Cheer against his return but one of the Company reprov'd him for doing so alledging that he could not tell but the Enemy might eat what he should provide to whom the valiant old Gentleman replied That he hoped better from their Courage Camb. 193. but that if it should happen that his very Enemies should come to his House he should be asham'd if they should find it void of good Cheer The Event was suitable to the Bravery of the Undertaking Old Savage had the killing of three thousand of the Irish near Antrim and return'd joyfully home to Supper But let us return to the Lord Justice of whom it is recorded that he us'd to say That he would rather eat his Meat in wooden Dishes and pay Gold and Silver for it than to eat in Golden Dishes and make wooden Payment However on the 20th day of July 1355. he did resign to Maurice Fitz-Girald 1355. Earl of Desmond Lord Justice he obtained so much favour in England Lib. M. that he had this Office granted to him for Life which expired the 25th day of January he was so just a man that he spared not his very Relations when they were criminal And about this time the Barons of the Exchequer were reduced to Three Lib. CCC 10. 29 Ed. 3. and John de Pembrook Chancellor of the Exchequer was made the third Baron Sir Thomas Rokeby 1356. Lord Justice returned again to Ireland and held a Parliament at Kilkenny at which many good Laws were enacted In his time a Memorable Writ was sent to the Lord Justice and Chancellor reciting That whereas the Subject found great difficulty to get Restitution according to Law of such Lands as were at any time seized into the Kings Hands Prin. 286. 29 Ed. 3. And whereas they refused in Parliaments here to take cognizance of erronious Proceedings in the Kings Courts but put the Subject to the trouble and charge of prosecuting a Writ of Error in England the King orders amendment and Reformation in both those Cases And not long after this worthy Lord Justice died at the Castle of Kilkea and was succeeded by Almaricus de Sancto Amando 1337. Lord Justice in whose time a great Controversie happened between the Archbishop of Armagh and the Regulars but at length by the favour of the Pope the Friers got the better of the Bishop To this Lord Justice the King sent a Writ or Commission Prin 294. authorizing him with the Advice of the Chancellor and Treasurer to give a special Pardon to as many English or Irish as he shall think fit for all Crimes except Treason Moreover for the better instruction of the People and because of the Non-residence of their Pastors Ibid. the King by his Sovereign Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Authoriz'd and Licenc'd the Archbishop of Dublin to constitute perpetual Vicars in all Benefices and Prebendaries belonging to his Archbishoprick and of the Kings Patronage with certain proportions of greater and lesser Tithes and other Profits to those who should reside upon them But which was more than all this the King by advice of his Council made most excellent Ordinances in England for the better Government of the Church and State of Ireland and the maintenance of the good Laws and Statutes of England there established they are to be found at large in Prins Animadversions on the 4th Instit pag. 287. and therefore are omitted here being very long though also very good only this must be observed that the Clause formerly quoted ad annum 1344 out of the 4th Instit is by my Lord Cooke mistaken both as to Time and Form as to the Time it was not 17 Edw. 3. as he says but it was 31 Edw. 3. And as to the Form it is thus VOlumus praecipimus quod Nostra ipsius terrae Negotiâ—a praesertim majora ardua in Conciliis per peritos Conciliarios nostros ac Praelatos Magnates quosdam de discretioribus probioribus hominibus de partibus vicinis ubi ipsa Concilia teneri contigerit propter hoc evocandos In Parliamentis vero per ipsos Conciliarios nostros ac Praelatos Proceres aliosque de Terra praedict prout Mos exigit secundum Justitiam Legem Consuetudinem Rationem tractentur c. But to return James 1359. Earl of Ormond Lord Justice was commonly stiled The Noble Earl because he was of the Royal Blood being great Grand-son to King Edward the first In his time 34 Edw. 3. the King ordered Proclamation to be made in Ireland That no Meer Irishman should be Mayor Bayliff or Officer of any Town within the English Dominion i.e. the Pale nor be advanced to any Ecclesiasâ—â—cal Benefice or Promotion 35 Edw. 3. but the next Year the King by his Writ explains the former Proclamation Pryn 296. and orders that it shall not extend to any Irish Clerks who have done him Service or are Loyal to him But it seems that the Lord Justice was sent for into England and until his Return Maurice Fitz-Girald March 30. Earl of Kildare was constituted Lord Justice 1360. by Patent under the Great Seal of Ireland he was to have the usual Sallary of five hundred pound per annum maintaining thereout Ninteen Horsemen besides himself but he did not continue long in this Station before James Earl of Ormond March 15. Lord Justice return'd and the King intending to send his Son to Ireland 1357. with a good Force summoned the Duchess of Norfolk and all other Noble and Gentle Men and Women that held Lands in Ireland to appear in Person or by Proxy 4 Instit. Pryn 296. before him and his Council to advise concerning the Defence of Ireland and to repair to that Kingdom in Person with all the Forces they could raise by a certain Day or to send their sufficient Deputies to assist the Kings Son in Defence of the Country And the same Day issued a Writ or Proclamation prohibiting the transporting of any Corn or Victuals out of Ireland on pain of Forfeiture and another Proclamation or Writ to seize all the Lands or Tenements purchased
Pound six Shillings and eight Pence per annum Lib. G. and obtained an Order from the King and Council That all those who had Lands in Ireland should repair thither or send sufficient Men in their Room to defend the Country on Pain of forfeiting their Estates Nevertheless this Lord Justice was so far from subduing the Irish that he confessed he could never get access to know their Countries or Habitations and yet he had spent more time in the Service of Ireland than any Englishman then living So finding he could do no good he resigned to James Earl of Ormond July 24. 1376 Lord Justice In whose time the Counties Cities and Burroughs of Ireland sent Commissioners to the King to Treat and Advise about the Affairs of that Kingdom and not to the English Parliament as some have mistaken it Pryn. 305. And the King did Issue a Writ to the Lord Justice and the Chancellor requiring them to levy the reasonable Expences of these Commissioners from the respective Places that chose them by Writ under the great Seal of Ireland And accordingly John Draper who served for Cork had a particular Mandate to the Mayor and Bayliffs of that City to pay him his reasonable Expences as aforesaid It will not be unuseful to recite this Lord Justice his Commission because the Reader will thereby perceive what Authority he had and will also note the Difference between this brief Commission and the prolix Forms that are now used REX omnibus ad quos Ibid. c. Salutem Sciatis quod commisimus dilecto consanguineo nostro Jacobo le Bottiler Comiti de Ormond officium Justic nostr Hibern Terram nostram Hibern cum Castris aliis pertinentiis suis custodiend quamdiu nobis placuerit percipiend per ann ad Scac. nostrum Hibern quamdiu in Officio illo sic steterit quingent libras pro quibus Officium illud terram custodiet erit se vicessimus de hominibus ad arma cum tot equis coopertis continue durante commissione supradicta c. But by a subsequent Patent the sixth of August he had Power to Pardon all Offences generally or to particular Persons and by consent of the Council to remove or displace any Officer those made by Patent under the great Seal only excepted Ibid. 307. And by another Writ of the same date the former Commission was explained not to extend to the Pardon of any Prelate or Earl for any Offence punishable by loss of Life Member Lands or Goods And the same time Alexander Bishop of Ossory was made Treasurer of Ireland and a Guard of six Men at Arms and twelve Archers at the King's Pay allowed him I have seen a Copy of a Commission to Maurice Fitz-Thomas Lib. G. 13. Earl of Kildare to govern Ireland till Sir William Windsor's return it bore date the sixteenth of February 50 Edw. 3. and Stephen Bishop of Meath was appointed to oversee Munster but because I find no other mention of his being in the Government about this time I have therefore omitted to name him as Lord Justice And so we are come to the twenty first Day of June 1377. 1377. on which Day this victorious King died at Shene in Surry in the sixty fourth Year of his Age and of his Reign the one and fiftieth Lib. M. His Revenue in Ireland did not exceed ten thousand Pound per annum though the Medium be taken from the best seven Years of his Reign THE REIGN OF RICARD II. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND RICHARD the Second only Son of Edward commonly called the Black Prince Eldest Son of King Edward the Third was by his Grandfather declared to be his Heir and lawful Successor and accordingly succeeded him in the Throne on the 21st of June and was Crowned at Westminster the 16th of July following 1377. His tender Age being but eleven years old required a Protector and because it seemed dangerous to commit that great Authority and Power to a single Person it was given to the Kings Unkles the Duke of Lancaster and the Earl of Cambridge and others who thought fit to continue in the Government of Ireland James Earl of Ormond Lord Justice he kept the Kingdom in as good order as those dangerous and troublesom Times would admit of Baker 141. for both the French and the Scots took advantage of the Kings Infancy to disquiet his Dominions but especially the Realm of England This Lord Justice according to the Usage in those days held Pleas of the Crown Lib. G. Lambeth and Gaol-delivery at the Naas on Monday after Valentines Day 1378. and not long after surrendred to Alexander Balscot Bishop of Ossory Lord Justice who continued in the Government until November following Lib. G. and then gave place to John de Bromwick 1379. Lord Justice in whose time Beauchamp Earl of Warwick was by the Parliament of England made sole Protector of the King and Kingdom And then was made that first Act or Ordinance against Absentees Lib. M. Lambeth 138. by the Assent and Advice of the Lords and Nobles of England Davis 38. 199 being in Parliament Whereby it is Ordained That all that have Lands 4th Instit. 356 360. Rents or Offices in Ireland shall return thither but if they have reasonable cause to absent that then they shall send sufficient Deputies to defend their Castles and Estates or contribute two Thirds of the yearly value towards the defence thereof but that Students and those in the Kings Service and those absent for reasonable Cause by Licence under the Great Seal of England shall be excused for one Third of the yearly Profit of their Estates This Act was confirmed afterwards Lib. F. 19 Edw. 4. and by vertue hereof the Mannor of Ballymaclo in Meath was seiz'd into the Kings Hands for the absence of William de Carew but was the next year restor'd to him on his Petition Prin 308. Septemb. 27. 1380. And it is to be remembred That this Act was occasioned by a Petition from Ireland and that it is mentioned in the Body of the Act that the Loss of Ireland would be a Disinherison to the King and his Crown of England Ibid. At the same Parliament at Westminster there was another Irish Petition for Mine and Coigne which I take to be a Liberty to dig Mines and a Mint to coyn Money For the Kings Answer is That for six years to come every one may dig in his own Grounds for any Mineral whatsoever even Gold and Silver paying the Ninth part thereof to the King and sending the rest to the Kings Mint at Divelin for the Coynage of which they shall pay the usual Rates but must transport none to any place except England on pain of forseiting it if it be seized or the Value if he be convict of it unless the Party had special Licence under the Great Seal of
England There was also another Petition for a free intercourse of Trade between Ireland and Portugal Ibid. whereunto the King gave a Gracious Answer And it seems that the State of England was intent upon the Recovery and Improvement of Ireland for Sir Nicholas Dagworth was sent thither to survey the Possessions of the Crown Davis 201 and to call the Officers of the Irish Revenue to account and the more to humour the Irish who thiink themselves disgraced when ignoble Men are put in the highest Authority over them Edmond Mortimer Earl of March and Vlster Jan. 24. 1380. was sent over Lord Lieutenant Sometime before he came viz. in Jun. 1380. the French and Spanish Gallies which did much Mischief on the Coasts of Ireland were by the English Fleet forced to retire into the Harbour of Kinsale where they were assailed and vanquished by the English and Irish so that their Chief Captains were taken Paâ—ata Hiberniae 360. and four hundred of the Enemies slain there were also taken four of their Barges and one Ballenget and one and twenty English Prizes were recovered I cannot find but that Ireland was pretty quiet during the Government of this Lord Lieutenant which did not continue very long for he died at St. Dominicks Abby near Cork on the 26th of December 1381. and the next day John Cotton then Dean of St. Patricks Ware de Praesulibus 28. and Lord Chancellor afterwards Achbishop of Armagh was chosen and sworn Sord Justice 1381 in the Convent of Preaching Friars at Cork Pryn 309. but it seems he did not long exercise that Office for in Mr. Prins Animadversions on the 4th Institut we find a Writ Dated the 29th Day of March anno 1382. viz. 5 R. 2. Directed to Roger Mortimer Earl of March Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whereby he is directed to call a Parliament there for the good Government of that Country and the support of the Kings great Charge and Expence but it is probable that this young Lord could not manage that unruly Kingdom and therefore Philip de Courtny the Kings Cousin was sent over Lord Lieutenant 1383. he had a great Estate in Ireland and therefore was the fitter for that Government He came over on good terms for he had a Patent to hold that Office for ten years nevertheless he behaved himself so ill Lib. M. Lamb. that he was not only superseded but also was arrested whilst he was Lord Lieutenant and afterwards grievously punished for the wrongs and oppressions he had done in Ireland Davis 201. In his time hapned a great Mortality called the Fourth Pestilence and upon the removal of him the Government of Ireland was given to the great Favourite of that Age Robert de Vere Earl of Oxford afterwards Marquess of Dublin Decemb. 1384. and Duke of Ireland Lord Lieutenant The English Parliament to get rid of him gave him a Debt of thirty thousand Marks due from the French King upon condition that after Easter he should pass into Ireland to recover the Lands the King had given him there he had five hundred Men at Arms at twelve pence per diem and a thousand Archers at six pence apiece a day appointed him for two years super conquestum illius Terrae He was trusted with the whole Dominion of the Realm during his Life without paying any thing therefore or making any Account for it He had Power to pass all Writs under his own Test and to place and displace all Officers how great soever even the Chancellor Treasurer Admiral c. and to name his own Deputy and all other Ministers And it seems that he had afterwards a larger Patent 4th Instit 357 9 Rich. 2. whereby the King granted him Totam Terram Dominium Hiberniae Insulas eidem Terrae adjacentes ac omnia Castra Comitatus Burgos Villas Portus Maris c. una cum Homagiis Obedientiis Vassallis Servitiis Recognitionibus Praelatorum Comitum Baronum c. cum Regaliis Regalitatibus Libertatibus c. omnibus aliis qnae ad Regaliam Nostram pertinent cum Mero Mixto Imperio adeo plene integre perfecte sicut Nos ea tenuimus habuimus tenuerunt habuerunt Progenitorum nostrorum aliqui ullis unquam temporibus retroactis Tenendum per Homagium Ligeum tantum c. But that which is most strange is That those illegal Letters Patents should be authorized by Parliament Assensâ— Praelatorum Ducum aliorum Procerum Communitatis nostri Angliae in Parliamento but nullum violentum est perpetuum novus iste insolitus umbratilis honor cito evanuit But it is time to return to the great Minion the Earl of Oxford who came as far as Wales and the King with him but they could not be perswaded to part and therefore this Lord Lieutenant never went to Ireland but deputed Sir John Stanly 1385. Lord Deputy in whose time the Bridge of Dublin fell and at the Parliament held at Westminster Roger Mortimer Earl of March Son of Philippa Daughter of Lionel Duke of Clarence Third Son of Edward the Third was established and soon after proclaimed Heir Apparent to the Crown and yet he was but Heir Presumptive but this Lord Justice was sent for and Alexander de Balscot April 26. alias Petit 1387. Bishop of Meath who had been Treasurer and Chancellor did execute the Office of Lord Justice until the return of Sir John Stanly 1389. Lord Deputy to the aforesaid Earl of Oxford Lib. D. Lambeth to him O Neal and his Sons made an humble Submission in Writing wherein they renounced the Bonaught of Vlster they also promised Allegiance and gave Oaths and Hostages for the performance thereof And it is to be noted 1390. That almost in every Parliament of this Reign held in England the King did desire Aid from them for the carrying on the War in Ireland But at length the English Parliament did so vigorously prosecute the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland that he was forced to fly beyond Seas and not long after died miserably at Brussels and thereupon James Earl of Ormond July 25. was made Lord Justice and the Archbishop of Dublin was constituted Lord Chancellor 1392. This Lord Justice beat the Mac Moyns at Tascoffin in the County of Kilkenny and slew six hundred of them And now the State of England began to think seriously of the Recovery of Ireland and finding that that Country was poor and almost depopulated by the mighty Concourse of Irish into England whereby the Kings Revenue was decayed and the Power of the Irish Rebels increased it was thought fit to revive the Law against Absentees and to issue a Proclamation requiring all those whose Habitations were in that Kingdom to repair home Also some Recruits of Men and Money were sent to Ireland and the King had by Indenture agreed with Thomas Duke of Glocester to be Lord Lieutenant of
that Land and to go personally thither and an Army was design'd for him and he was created Duke of Ireland in order to that Expedition and notwithstanding all this on the twenty third of July 1393. the King sent him a Letter to stop his Voyage because his Majesty intended to go to that Kingdom in person For the King was netled with an Answer his Ambassadors received in Germany when they were solliciting for the Imperial Crown that they did not think him fit to be their Emperor who could not keep what his Ancestors had gain'd in France nor rule his insolent Subjects in England nor tame his rebellious Vassals in Ireland and therefore partly to vindicate his Reputation and partly to divert the Melancholy which had seiz'd him on the Death of his Wife he undertook a Royal Voyage to Ireland with four thousand Men at Arms and thirty thousand Archers under S. Edwards Banner It seems that Sir Thomas Scroop was sent before him to prepare for the Kings Reception for I find him named Lord Justice on the 26th of April 1394. 1394. But however that be it is certain that on the Second Day of October Richard the Second King of England Landed at Waterford with a mighty Army whereof he made but small use for the Irish betook themselves to their old Stratagems of feigned and crafty Submissions wherewith they had deluded and abused King Henry the Second and King John in former times However Mowbray Earl of Notingham and Marshal of England had a special Commission to receive the Homage and Oaths of Fidelity of all the Irish of Leinster by vertue whereof Girald O Birne Donald O Nolan Malachias O Morough Rory oge O More Arthur Mac Morough Morough O Connor and others made their humble submission by an Interpreter in the open Field at Baligory near Carlow on the 16th of February They did Homage in solemn manner and made their Oaths of Fidelity to the Earl Marshal laying aside their Girdles Skeins and Caps and falling down at his Feet upon their Knees which being performed the Marshal gave each of them Osculum Pacis Moreover they were bound by several Indentures upon great Penalties to be paid to the Apostolick Chamber viz. O Birne twenty thousand Marks O Nolan ten thousand pounds c. not only to continue Loyal Subjects but that by a certain day prefix'd they and all their Sword-men should clearly relinquish and give up unto the King and his Successors all the Lands and possessions which they held in Leinster and taking with them only their moveable Goods should serve him in his Wars against his other Rebels In consideration whereof the King was to give them Pay and Pensions during their Lives and to bestow the inheritance of all such Lands upon them as they should recover from the Rebels in any other part of the Realm And thereupon a Pension of eighty Marks per annum was granted to Art Mac Murrough Chief of the Cavenaghs which was continued to his Posterity till the time of Henry the Eighth although they did nothing for it But the King having received Letters from O Neal wherein he stiles himself Prince of the Irishry in Vlster and yet acknowledgeth the King to be his Sovereign Lord and Dominus perpetuus Hiberniae removed to Drogheda to take the Submissions of the Irish of Vlster Thither came to him O Neal O Hanlon O Donel Mac Mahon and others who with the like humility and ceremony as aforesaid performed their Homage and Fealty to the Kings own Person in these or the like Words mutatis mutandis Ego Nelanus O Neal Senior tam pro meipso quam pro filiis meis tota Natione mea Parentelis meis pro omnibus Subditis meis devenio Ligeus Homo vester c. And in the Indenture between O Neal and the King he is bound not only to remain faithful to the Crown of England but also to restore the Bonaught of Vlster to the Earl of Vlster as of right belonging to that Earldom and amongst other things usurped by the O Neals These Indentures and Submissions with many more of the same kind for there was not a Chieftain or Head of an Irish Sept but submitted himself in one Form or other the King himself caused to be enrolled and testified by a Notary Publick and with his own hands delivered the Enrolments to the Bishop of Salisbury who on the 25th of June delivered to the Court of Exchequer two Hanapers one containing thirty nine and the other thirty six Instruments which were all there recorded or enrolled so that they have been carefully preserved and are now to be found in the Remembrancers Office and the Copies of them all are to be seen at Lambeth Libro D. In the mean time Lib. G. Lambeth on the first of February the King wrote a Letter to his Unkle the Duke of York who it seems was his Deputy in England signifying that there were three sorts of People in Ireland viz. Irish Savages or Enemies Irish Rebels and English Subjects and that perhaps the Rebels had cause and provocation to do as they have done and that therefore he has given them Truce till Easter and designs to pardon them generally and concludes with a Desire of his Advice in this Particular The Duke and the Council on the 19th of March return an Answer Lib. M. That they had formerly given their Opinion to prosecute the Rebels but that his Majesty being on the Place best knew what was fit to be done and that they did not mislike his Intention provided the Rebels did pay some considerable Fines towards the Charge of the Kings Voyage and also took out their particular Pardons within a limited Time Lib. G. and not long after finding that the King had accepted the Irish Submissions and valued himself upon the Atchievement they send him a congratulatory Letter and humbly pray his Majesty to return to England Several of the Irish Historians one of them misleading another say that the King did call a Parliament at Christmas and about Shrovetide return'd to England but as I am sure he did not return in many Weeks after Shrovetide so I believe he held no other Parliament in Ireland at this time than that there being a great Concourse of the Chief Men of the Land to Dublin to attend the King it is probable the King consulted with them about the publick Affairs and that they complained to his Majesty of such Grievances as needed to be redress'd Lib. G. and particularly That whereas the Chancery us'd to pay into the Exchequer two thousand Marks per annum for the Great Seal besides defraying the Charge of that Court it now hardly pays its own Officers their Salaries because Grants for which the Parties formerly paid an hundred pound are now made for ten shillings and Secondly That James Cotenham Deputy Admiral of Ireland to the Earl of Rutland committed great Abuses and exacted a Tribute of
pain of loss of Life Lands and Goods that never any of them do make War upon another without Licence or Commandment of you my Lord Deputy and the Kings Council for the utter destruction of these parts is that only cause and once all the Irishmen and the Kings Enemies were driven into a great Vally called Glanehought betwixt two great Mountains called Maccorte or the Leprous Island and there they lived long and many years with their White-Meat till at the last these English Lords fell at variance among themselves and then the weakest part took certain Irishmen to take his part and so vanquished his Enemy and thus fell the English Lords at variance among themselves till the Irishmen were stronger than they and drave them away and now have the whole Country under them but that the Lord Roch the Lord Courcy and the Lord Barry only remain with the least part of their Ancestors Possessions and young Barry is there upon the Kings Portion paying his Grace never a penny of Rent wherefore We the Kings poor Subjects of the City of Cork Kinsale and Youghal desire your Lordship to send hither two good Justices to see this Matter ordered and some English Captains with twenty Englishmen that may be Captains over us all and we will rise with them to redress these Enormities all at our own Costs and if you do not we be all cast away and then farewel Munster for ever and if you will not come nor send we will send over to our Liege Lord the King and complain on you all However I will not pretend to be exact in the timing of this Letter This Lord Lieutenant had a Son born at Dublin well known afterwards by the Name of George Duke of Clarence to whom the Earls of Ormond and Desmond were Godfathers and thereupon Desmond grew so insolent and haughty that his Oppressions were the chief Cause of the aforesaid Letter from Cork but it is probable that the Lord Lieutenant return'd to England and left James Earl of Ormond afterward Earl of Wiltshire 1451. and Lord Treasurer of England Lord Deputy in whose time Sir John Talbot was made Lord Chancellor of Ireland and it seems Complaint was made against him because he put in a Deputy in his room absque Regis licentia Lib. CCC This Lord Deputy was made Lord Lieutenant and went for England leaving John Mey Archbishop of Armagh Lord Deputy 1453. wherewith the Government of England being dissatisfied a Writ was sent to the Earl of Ormond commanding him Quod circa praemissis intenderet I suppose the Reason might be because there was a Necessity for the Presence of a Military Governour of Power and Authority in that Kingdom to repel the daily Incursions of the Irish into the Pale and therefore Ormond not being willing to come over the Government was committed to Thomas Earl of Kildare 1454. Lord Deputy who held it only until the arrival of Sir Edward Fitz-Eustace Lord Deputy to the Duke of York Who held a Parliament in Dublin at which it was enacted I. That all Statutes against Provisors in England or Ireland should be held in Force II. That Inquests before Coroners shall be discharged after a second Verdict that they do not know the Felon III. That no Appeals shall be to England except for Treason against the King's Person and in all false Appeals the Plaintif shall pay Damages and twenty Pound and one hundred Shillings Fine In the mean time the Duke of York in England obtained a famous Victory over the King's Forces at S. Albans where the Duke of Somerset was slain and the King himself was wounded in the Neck and afterwards on the ninth of July he was made Protector of the King's Person by Parliament And in Ireland Thomas Earl of Kildare was Lord Deputy to the Duke of York 1455. and held a Parliament at Dublin wherein it was enacted I. That no Exigents nor Outlawries be made by Commissioners II. That the Recorder of Dublin and Drogheda shall have but two Pence for every Plaint III. That every Man shall answer for his Sons and waged Men. IV. An Act about Escheators V. That a Parliament should be held every Year And he held another Parliament at the Naas Lib. M. 48. Friday after All Saints which enacted I. That all Strangers pay forty Pence per Pound Custom for transporting Silver II. That every Man shall answer for his Sons except in Cases Capital III. That no Person not amesnable to Law shall distrain without Licence on pain of forfeiting his Title And he held another Parliament at Dublin Friday after the Purification at which it was established I. That Beneficed Persons should reside II. That the Inhabitants to enclose the Village might remove the High-way forty Perch Richard Duke of York 1459. upon the Revolt of Andrew Trollop and the Callicians broke up his Army and fled first to Wales and afterwards to Ireland where he was kindly received and by his Deputy the Earl of Kildare he held a Parliament at Dublin the third of February which enacted That Warrants to the Chancellor bear the Date of the Delivery and that the Patents be of the same Date or else be void And the same Day twelve month he held another Parliament at Drogheda 1460. wherein it was enacted That no Man should sue in the Exchequer but a Minister of that Court on pain of ten Pound This Duke and his Abettors were in a Parliament at Coventry declared Traytors and thereupon the Earl of March came to his Father into Ireland and soon after returned to Calice and thence invaded England at Sandwich and on the ninth of July he fought and defeated the King at Northampton and took him Prisoner whereupon the Duke of York went to England and called a Parliament in the King's Name and in that Parliament boldly claimed his Title and so it was enacted That King Henry should keep the Crown during his Life and the Duke should be declared Heir apparent and in case of Opposition or farther Bustle about it should have present Possession But not long after the Duke was defeated and slain at the Battle of Wakefield This Duke behaved himself exceeding well in Ireland he appeased the Tumults there and erected Castles on the Borders of Louth Meath and Kildare to stop the Irish Incursions and was so well esteemed in that Kingdom that Multitudes of the Irish Subjects attended him into England to pursue his Claim to the Crown Nevertheless the Publick Revenue was but very low because the whole Kingdom was in Possession of the Irish except the Pale and some few Places on the Sea-Coast in Vlster and even that was so far from being quiet that they were fain to buy their Peace by yearly Pensions to the Irish and to pay Tribute and Contributions to them for Protection which nevertheless was but very ill observed to the English It cannot be expected I should give the Reader an exact
BROTHERHOOD of St. George But to proceed William Sherwood 1475. Bishop of Meath was Lord Deputy to the Duke of Clarence he held a Parliament at Dublin Friday after the Feast of St. Margaret which makes it Treason to bring Bulls or Apostiles from Rome and orders the Lords of Parliament to wear Robes on pain of one hundred Shillings and enjoyns the Barons of the Exchequer to wear their Habits in Term-time and Enacts That if any Englishman be damnified by an Irishman not amesnable to Law he may reprize himself upon the whole Sept or Nation And that it shall be Felony to take a Distress contrary to Common Law which was a very necessary Act in those Times and is the only Act of this Parliament that is printed and though it be an English Case yet it may be useful in other Countries and therefore we will mention That George Nevil Duke of Bedford was this Year degraded 4th Instit. 355. because he had not any Estate left to support the Dignity Henry 1478. Lord Grey of Ruthen Lord Deputy held a Parliament a Drogheda which repeal'd all the Acts of the aforesaid Parliament of 12 Edw. 4. and then he resigned to Sir Robert Preston Lib. G. Lord Deputy who on the 7th of August was created Viscount Gormanston but he held the Government but a little time before he surrendred to Girald Earl of Kildare Lord Deputy he held a Parliament at Naas Friday after the Feast of St. Petronilla which Enacted 1478. 1. That Distresses taken for Rent might be sold And 2. That Non-Residents might be chosen Parliament-men 1480. but on the twelfth of August the Earl of Kildare was made Deputy to the Kings Son Richard Duke of York for four years from the fifth of May following Lib. M. by the Dukes Patent under the Kings Privy Seal quod nota and the Earl by Indenture with the King did Covenant to keep the Realm surely and safely to his power and was to have eighty Archers on Horse-back and forty other Horsemen called Spears and six hundred pound per annum to maintain them and if the Irish Revenue cannot pay it it shall be sent out of England This Lord Deputy held another Parliament on Monday after the Translation of St. Thomas at which it was Ordained 1. That no Hawks should be carried out of the Kingdom without great Custom And 2. That the Pale should have no correspondence with the Irish and it seems this Parliament Naturaliz'd Con O Neal Davis 93â— who had married the Lord Deputy's Daughter What the incomparable Spencer in his View of Ireland relates of the Duke of Clarence and Moroughen Ranagh O Brian is not to be placed in the Reign of Edward the Fourth because George Duke of Clarence was never actually in Ireland whilst he was Lord Lieutenant of that Kingdom but always managed that Province by Deputies and therefore I suppose that what Spencer has related will better suit with the Government of Lionel Duke of Clarence in the Reign of Edward the Third who did indeed marry the Heiress of Vlster and performed the other Atchievements Mr. Spencer writes of It was in this Kings Reign that the Jubile which before was every Fiftieth Year was by Pope Sixtus the Fourth brought to be every five and twentieth year and that the Primacy of Scotland was setled upon the Archbishop of St. Andrews And thus stood the Government of Ireland during the Reign of King Edward the Fourth who between the French King the troublesome Earl of Warwick the discontented Lords and the Attempts of the Wife and Friends of Henry the Sixth found so much work at home that Ireland was in a manner neglected and left to the Protection of the Fraternity of St. George when on the ninth Day of April 1483 the King died in the two and fortieth Year of his Age and of his Reign the three and twentieth THE REIGN OF RICHARD III. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND UPon the Death of King Edward his Son the Prince of Wales being then at Ludlow was Proclaimed King by the Name of Edward the Fifth and in his way to London was perswaded by the means of his Unkle the Duke of Glocester to dismiss great part of his Guards as well to save the Charge as to avoid giving Cause of Suspicion and Reasons of Jealousie to such as doubted that so numerous an Attendance was entertain'd upon Designs prejudicial to them And so having luckily mounted this first step to the Throne the Duke of Glocester proceeded to confederate with the Duke of Buckingham and the Lord Hastings and by their assistance he first seized on the Earl Rivers and others of the Kings Relations and Friends and then got the King himself into his power and brought him to London using a thousand Artifices to make the People believe that the Queen-Mothers Kindred designed the extirpation of the Ancient Nobility the Slavery of the People and the Ruine of the Kingdom This Duke of Glocester wheedled or bribed to that degree that he was chosen Protector by the unanimous Consent of the Council and afterwards got the Kings Brother out of Sanctuary at Westminster and under specious Pretences of their Security both the Princes were conveyed to the Tower of London in a most pompous and splendid manner and there they were afterwards murdered by the Appointment if not by the Hands of their Unkle King Richard took upon him the Regal Office on the 18th day of June 1483. and before the Murder of his Nephews and he was Crowned together with his Queen on the 6th day of July 1483. and being very busie in England to establish the Crown he had usurped he did not think it advisable to make any Alterations in Ireland but continued in that Government Gerald Earl of Kildare Lord Deputy to Edward the Kings Son who held a Parliament at Dublin wherein it was Enacted That the Mayor and Bayliffs of Waterford might go in Pilgrimage to St. James of Compostella in Spain leaving sufficient Deputies to govern that City in their absence 2. That the Corporation of Ross might reprize themselves against Robbers and that no Persons should alien their Free-hold in Ross to a Foreigner without the Licence of the Portriff and Council of that Town but these being private Acts are not Printed It seems that the next Year the Earl of Kildare as Deputy to the Earl of Lincoln 1484. Lord Lieutenant did hold another Parliament at Dublin wherein six private Acts only were made and not long after conven'd another Parliament at Trim which either did nothing at all or nothing worth mentioning but a subsequent Parliament at Dublin gave a Subsidy of Thirteen shillings and four pence out of every Plow-Land to the Deputy towards his Charges in the Service he did against the Irish wherein O Connor it seems was a Partner or Co-adjutor for he also had ten Groats out of every Plow-Land in Meath for
this he did because he was then in Rebellion against Henry the Sixth and to encourage his Partizans to repair to him in Ireland and by vertue of this Act he Executed William Overy Esq who was Servant to the Earl of Ormond And now the Abettors of Lambert Symnel and Perkin Warbeck which are the Lads mentioned in the new Statute excused themselves upon the aforesaid Act and therefore it was now repealed and all Receivers and Maintainers of Traytors are by this Act made guilty of Treason and Obedience is commanded to be paid to the Great Seal and Privy Seal of England and to Letters Missive under the Kings Signet IV. The Famous Statute commonly called Poyning's Act That no Parliament should for the future be holden in Ireland until the Chief Governor and Council do first certifie the King under the Great Seal of that Land as well the Causes and Considerations as the Acts they design to pass and till the same be approv'd by the King and Council and a Licence thereupon do issue from the King to summon a Parliament and that all Parliaments hereafter holden in other manner be void and of none effect And it is to be noted That this Act was by the Statutes of 28 Hen. 8. c. 4. c. 20. suspended as to that Parliament and by the Statute of 3 4. Philip and Mary it is very excellently and at large explained and by the Statute of 11 Eliz. c. 1. Poyning's Act was again suspended or superseded as to that Parliament in confidence that their most worthy Governour Sir Henry Sydny would not pass any Bills prejudicial to the Queen or the Kingdom but because they had not the same Assurance of their future Governours they did upon second thoughts and in another Session make a Law 11 Eliz. c. 8. That no Bill should for the future be certified into England for the Repeal of Poyning's Act until first such Bill should be approved of by the Majority of both Houses of Parliament in Ireland nevertheless whenever it shall happen that the English and Protestant Interest in Ireland shall overtop its Enemies and make a Majority in Parliamentary Assemblies that Act of Poyning's which was made only to help the English when too weak for the Irish will be obsolete and useless when the Irish Popish Interest becomes inconsiderable V. That all the Statutes against Provisors made in England or Ireland be put in execution here VI. That no Citizen or Townsman receive Livery or Wages from any Nobleman or Gentleman neither engage themselves by Indenture or otherwise to any Lord or Gentleman on pain of being disfranchis'd and expell'd the Corporation and the chief Magistrate to forfeit Twenty Pounds if he fail to punish the Transgressors of this Law and that no Lord or Gentleman shall retain any other but his Officers and Menial Servants on pain of Twenty Pounds VII That none be Aldermen Jurors or Free-men in any Town but such as have been Apprentices or constant Inhabitants there and that no man be Mayor but one known to be Loyal nor no Lord or other be made privy to their Consultations except their Recorder on pain of an hundred Marks and all their By-Laws contrary to the Kings Prerogative and Jurisdiction to be void and that this Act be recorded in every Corporation VIII That the Statutes of Kilkenny be confirm'd and executed except those about the Irish Language and riding on Saddles IX That the Subjects keep Bows and Arrows X. That the Captains of Marches do present the Names of their Retinue by Indenture that they may answer for their Defaults and that it be Felony to succour or willingly suffer Rebels or Enemies to pass and re-pass the Marches and that every Proprietor of Land in the Marches do reside thereon or appoint a sufficient Deputy to do so on pain of losing his Estate during his Absence and that all People near the Marches from Sixteen to Sixty be ready on warning in their best defensible Array to defend the same XI That no man compound for the Death or Murder of his Friend or Relation nor revenge it but according to Law XII That no man keep Fire-Arms after Proclamation on pain of Twenty Pounds XIII That it be Treason to stir up the Irishry to make War on the English or any body to make war against the chief Governour of Ireland XIV That one of the Realm of England be Constable of the Castle of Dublin and the like of Trim Lexlip Athlone Wicklow Green-Castle Carlingford Castlefergus repeal'd 11 Car. 1. c. 6. And hence arose the vulgar Error That no man can be Lord Lieutenant of Ireland but an Englishman born XV. An Act about the Records of Vlster Conaught and Trim. XVI That the Lords appear in their Robes every Parliament on pain of one hundred Shillings XVII That no man shall make Peace or War without the Consent of the Chief Governour on pain of one hundred Pounds c. for it is to be noted that before this time every Lord made War or Peace as he pleased without Pay or Commission XVIII That no man take Money or Horsemeat by colour of Gift Reward or otherwise by reason of any Menace and if he do the Giver is to forfeit an hundred Shillings unless he complains seasonably and the Taker is to suffer the Punishment appointed for the Takers of Coyn and Livery XIX That the Souldier shall pay three halfpence a Meal and his Man a Penny and a Penny for six Field-sheaves of Oats and Litter according and whoever refuses to quarter Souldiers at this Rate forfeits twelve pence a time unless he be a Man of twenty Marks Estate per annum and except Cities and Corporate Towns XX. That the Words Cromabo and Butlerabo and such like Words of Faction be abolished XXI That wilful Murder be High Treason XXII That all the Statutes late made in England concerning or belonging to the Publick Weal be henceforth good and effectual in Ireland And XXIII That the Statutes made by the Lord Gormanstown aforesaid he repeal'd and null There were many other Statutes made at this Parliament Lib. D. although they are not Printed Davis 171. One was That the King should have a Subsidy of twenty six shillings and eight pence out of every sixscore Acres of Arable Land in lieu of Purveyance which it seems was together with Coyn and Livery supprest by that Act Rot. Parl. c. 4. And another Act gave Power to the Lord Treasurer to govern the Kingdom on the Death or Surrender of the Chief Governor until the Kings Pleasure were known There was also an Act made in favour of the Knights of St. John's of Jerusalem to resume all their Possessions alienated by Prior Keating or his Predecessor Thomas Talbot and to restore the Jewels and Reliques they had pawn'd to depose the Preceptors they had placed in the Commanderies and that no man but an Englishman should be Prior for the future Another Act made a general
And so having wasted that Country he marched into Tyrone where he took and burnt the Castle of Dungannon and preyed and burnt all the Country thereabouts But the Citizens of Dublin had not so good luck for a Company of them thinking that the very Name of the King's Forces could obtain Victories over the Irish made an Incursion into Imaly but being as we say Fresh-Water Soldiers upon the Slaughter of a few of them the rest were frightned back to their Shops The Winter this Year was exceeding Cold and the Ice strong enough to bear all manner of Carriages which is very unusual in Ireland And this Winter Queen Mary was born whose Superstitious Zeal proved as extream Hot as the Weather was Cold. The Fortune and Victories of the Lord Deputy influenced the Irish to be quiet this Year and the Reputation of the Government was somewhat augmented by the Honourable Peace which the King made with the French 1518. in September which was afterwards proclaimed in Dublin In the mean time Ware 54. places this Anno 1597. but is mistaken great were the Dissentions in Ireland between Sir James Ormond a Man of great Courage and Reputation and Sir Pierce Butler a valiant Gentleman about the Earldom of Ormond the former was a Natural Son of John by some called Earl of Ormond elder Brother of Thomas the last Earl and the other was Son of Sir James Butler Son of Sir Edmund Son of Sir Richard Butler who was Brother to James the Fifth Earl of Ormond so that Pierce his Grandfather Sir Edmond was Cozen German to the Deceased Earl Thomas Hereby it appears that the Right to that Earldom was in Sir Pierce who had married the Lady Margaret Fitz-Girald the Lord Deputies Sister nevertheless Sir James having formerly been Lord Treasurer and a very popular Man and probably the Manager of this Estate for his Unkle Thomas who always resided in England by the help of the Tenants got into possession and by the same assistance and his own vigor he kept what he had got without allowing any thing to the right Heir towards his maintenance whereby that Noble Pair Sir Pierce and his Wife were reduced to great extremity It is scarce credible that Persons of that Quality and so well allied should be forced to lurk in Woods and want a Bottle of Wine for their Refreshment Holingsh 84. and yet Stanyhurst reports a formal Story That the Lady Margaret Fitz-Girald Wife of Sir Pierce Butler being great with Child complained to her Husband and their Servant James White that she could no longer live on Milk and therefore earnestly desired them to get her some Wine whereto Sir Pierce replied That she should have Wine enough within twenty four hours or feed alone on Milk for him and immediately he went away with his Page to lie in wait for his Competitor whom he met the next day riding with six Horsemen Attendants between Drumore and Kilkenny March 17. and upon a sudden Sir Pierce rushed in upon him and kill'd him with his Spear and thenceforward enjoyed the Estate in quiet This Year Rokeby Archbishop of Dublin who was likewise Lord Chancellor held a Provincial Synod at Dublin the Canons whereof are to be found in the Registry of the Bishop of Clogker And this Year or the next Art O Neal invaded and wasted O Dogherty's Island of Inisowen in the County of Donegal The Enemies of the Earl of Kildare had the last year done what they could underhand to disgrace him in England but he had so well defended himself by his Friends there 1519. that their Design was ineffectual wherefore they address'd themselves to Cardinal Wolsey and by his means procur'd Kildare to be recalled to answer Articles exhibited against him for Male-administration First Ware 98. That he had enriched himself and Followers by the King's Revenue and Land Secondly That he had Alliance and Correspondence with several Irish he had the King's Leave to substitute a Deputy so he appointed Sir Thomas Fitz-Girald of Lackagh a Knight of his own Family Lord Justice in the mean time Kildare marries in England with Elizabeth Grey Daughter of the Marquess of Dorset by whose means he got favour in England and was dismiss'd but Cardinal Wolsey suggesting the King had neglected Ireland too long and that some worthy man ought to be sent over that was impartial to any Faction or Party and was able to keep them not only more peaceable amongst themselves but also more serviceable to the King to the end that the Blood and Vigor which else would be spent in their Civil Dissentions might be opposed to the common Enemy he procured to be sent into Ireland Thomas Howard Earl of Surrey Lord Admiral of England Wales and Ireland Knight of the Garter Lord Lieutenant 1520. he came over the Wednesday before Whitsontide with an hundred of the Guards and a thousand others Horse and Foot by this the Cardinal obtained a double Advantage first In disappointing his Enemy the Earl of Kildare of the Government of Ireland and secondly In removing the Earl of Surry from the Court of England where he was a great Favourite On Whitsunday the Lord Lieutenant was alarum'd with a Report That Con Buckah O Neal who by Popular Election succeeded his Brother Art had invaded Meath with four thousand Horse and twelve thousand Foot says Paulus Jovius but falsly Surry was in haste to encounter the Rebel not doubting but that the Victory would be an honourable and happy Omen of his future Government and therefore adding to his small Army such of the Militia called The Risings out of City and Country as he could get on so short warning he marched to Slane but O Neal was frightned with the Name of this General and retir'd so fast that the Lord Lieutenant could neither find him nor his Army but not long after O Neal sent Letters to implore Pardon which was granted him on promise of future Obedience On the sixth of September the Lord Lieutenant wrote to the Cardinal That some Soldiers had seized on a Boat with design to be Pyrates but being prevented and apprehended they continued in Gaol because they could not be capitally punished by the Common Law and he had no Clause of Martial Law in his Commission as indeed he had not nor of conferring Knighthood which is strange and the better to ingratiate with the Cardinal he added That the Earl of Kildare will be found guilty of sending Letters to O Carol to raise a Rebellion and that if Kildare should be suffered to come to Ireland the whole Kingdom will be undone and he concludes That there is so great a Scarcity and Dearth in Ireland that the Soldier cannot live on four pence a day and therefore desires that a penny a day may be added to their Pay In October Lib. CCC the King wrote to the Lord Lieutenant That there will never be a thorough Reformation in Ireland until all
days But go too suppose he never be had What is Kildare to blame for it more than my good Brother of Ossory who notwithstanding his high Promises having also the Kings Power is yet content to bring him in at leisure Cannot the Earl of Desmond shift but I must be of Council Cannot he hide him except I wink If he be close am I his Mate If he be befriended am I a Traytor This is a doughty kind of Accusation which they urge against me wherein they are gravell'd and mir'd at my first denial You would not see him say they Who made them so familiar with mine Eye-sight Or when was the Earl within my view Or who stood by when I let him slip Or where are the Tokens of my wilful Hoodwink But you sent him word to beware of you Who was the Messenger Where are the Letters Convince my Negatives see how loose this idle Gear hangeth together Desmond is not taken well you are in fault Why Because you are Who proveth it No body What Conjectures So it seemeth To whom To your Enemies Who told it them They will swear it What other Ground None Will they swear it my Lord Why then of like they know it either they have my hand to shew or can bring forth the Messenger or were present at a Conference or privy to Desmond or some body bewrayed it to them or they themselves were my Carriers or Vicegerents therein Which of these Parts will they chuse For I know them too well To reckon my self convict by their bare Words or heedless Sayings or frantick Oaths were but meer Mockery My Letters were soon read were any such Writing extant my Servants and Friends are ready to be sifted Of my Cozen Desmond they may lie loudly since no man here can well contrary them Touching my self I never noted in them so much Wit or so fast Faith that I would have gaged on their silence the Life of a good Hound much less mine own I doubt not may it please your Honours to oppose them how they came to the knowledge of these Matters which they are so ready to depose but you shall find their Tongues chained to another mans Trencher and as it were Knights of the Post suborn'd to say swear and stare the utmost they can as those that pass not what they say nor with what face they say it so they say no truth But on the other side it grieveth me That your good Grace whom I take to be wise and sharp and who of your blessed disposition wisheth me well should be so far gone in crediting these corrupt Informers that abuse the ignorance of your State and Countrey to my peril Little know you my Lord how necessary it is not only for the Governor but also for every Nobleman in Ireland to hamper the uncivil Neighbors at discretion wherein if they waited for Process of Law and had not those Lives and Lands you speak of within their reach they might hap to lose their own Lives and Lands without Law You hear of a Case as it were in a Dream and feel not the smart that vexeth us In England there is not a mean Subject that dare extend his hand to fillip a Peer of the Realm In Ireland except the Lord have Cunning to his Strength and Strength to save his Crown and sufficient Authority to take Thieves and Varlets when they stir he shall find them swarm so fast that it will be too late to call for Justice If you will have our Service take effect you must not tie us always to those judicial Proceedings wherewith your Realm thanked be God is inured Touching my Kingdom I know not what your Lordship should mean thereby If your Grace imagine that a Kingdom consisteth in serving God in obeying the Prince in governing with Love the Commonwealth in supporting Subjects in suppressing Rebels in executing Justice in bridling blind Affections I would be willing to be invested with so Vertuous and Royal a Name but if therefore you term me a King in that you are perswaded that I repine at the Government of my Sovereign or wink at Malefactors or oppress civil Livers I utterly disclaim that odious Term marvelling greatly that one of your Graces profound Wisdom would seem to appropriate so sacred a Name to so wicked a thing But howsoever it be my Lord I would you and I had changed Kingdoms but for one Month I would trust to gather up more Crumbs in that space than twice the Revenues of my poor Earldom But you are well and warm and so hold you and upbraid not me with such an odious Term. I slumber in a hard Cabin when you sleep in a soft Bed of Down I serve under the King's Cope of Heaven when you are served under a Canopy I drink Water out of my Skull when you drink Wine out of Golden Cups my Courser is train'd to the Field when your Jennet is taught to Amble when you are Graced and Belorded and Crouched and Kneeled unto then find I small Grace with our Irish Borderers except I cut them off by the Knees Hereupon the Cardinal finding that Kildare was no Fool adjourned the Cause till farther Proof could be produced however being fretted at this Speech he remanded the Earl to the Tower contrary to the Opinion of most of the Council Speed 775. it seems he was afterwards Bayl'd on the Recognizance of the Duke of Norfolk and was again imprisoned upon some Light the Cardinal had gotten of the Message to O Neal and O Connor which Kildare had sent by his Daughter the Lady Slane It is reported That whilst the Earl and the Lieutenant of the Tower were at Play together at Slide-groat a Mandate was sent by the Cardinal to execute Kildare the next day Whereupon he changing Countenance the Earl swore by S. Bride That there was some mad Game in that Scroll but fall how it will this Throw is for a huddle says he Speed 775. And being told of the Contents of the Letter he desired the Lieutenant to know the King's Pleasure therein which he did and the King was surpriz'd at the thing for he knew nothing of it and to controll the Sawciness of the Priest as he phrased it gave the Lieutenant his Signet for a Countermand whereat the Cardinal stormed But it seems to me that this Story is a meer Fiction because I find not one Word of Kildare's Trial and it is not credible that they would execute a Man of his Quality before he was legally Tried and Condemned Afterwards this Earl was again enlarged out of Prison on very considerable Bayl viz. the Marchioness Dowager of Dorset Ware 119. the Marquess of Dorset the Lords Fitz-Walter and Mountjoy the Bishop of S. Asaph Richard Lord Grey John Lord Grey Leonard Lord Grey Sir Henry Gilford Sir John Zouch and John Abbot of Vale-Royal and was not long after restored to the King's Favour When the Earl of Kildare went to England
Kingdom and concludes with Commendations of the Lord Grey and desires he may be Lord Deputy and have Orders to call a Parliament What that Letter mentions of O Neal has reference to a Treaty between the Lord Deputy and him for when he understood that the Lord Deputy design'd an Expedition against him into the North to prevent it he desired a Parly and on the first of July by his Agent Gillaspick O Donel he concluded an Agreement with the Lord Deputy which afterwards was confirmed by Con O Neal himself at Drogheda on the twenty fifth of the same Month. In the mean time the Lord Deputy finding that Fitz-Girald had retired to Munster sent after him the Lord Grey Sir William Brereton and others who had several Skirmishes with his Party wherein nothing was got but Blows whereupon Brereton's Advice on the one side and Fitz Girald's Necessity on the other side produced a Parly the effect whereof was That Fitz-Girald surrendred to the Lord Grey and rode with him to Dubliu By the Lord Deputy's Letter to the King of August 24. he acquaints his Majesty That Fitz Girald and O Connor had submitted the former without any Condition or Promise of Life Lands or Goods and that he intends to send him over by the Lord Grey whilst himself in person goes to assist O Donel against his Son Manus But the Council by their Letter from the Camp to the King of the 27th of August inform his Majesty That O Connor an Abettor of Fitz-Girald's has given Hostages to abide the King's Pleasure and that Fitz-Firald submitted on the encouragements they gave him to expect Pardon for his Life That the Lord Grey is going with him leaving the Lord Butler in his room and they desire the King to thank the Lord Grey for his good Service Nevertheless others say That Fitz-Girald was by the Lord Grey absolutely promised his Pardon but if it was so it was more than he had Comission for and therefore no regard was given to that Pretence but the King being implacably enraged at this dangerous Rebellion caused Fitz-Girald to be arrested in the way to Windsor and afterwards viz. Febr. 3. 1537. he and five of his Unkles were executed at Tyburn although three of them had for a long time opposed their Nephews Extravagancies And thus ended a Rebellion Lib. CCC 85. which cost the King twenty thousand some say forty thousand Pound At which great Expence the King was so disturb'd that he called this Victory a new Conquest and put the Question to his Council how Ireland should be managed to bear the charge of its own Preservation and whether by Act of Parliament every mans Estate should not be made liable to contribute its proportion or whether by vertue of this Conquest the King might not seize on all the Estates in that Kingdom Temporal and Spiritual By a Letter from Stephen ap Harry who was afterward a great man with the Lord Grey of the sixth of October from Waterford directed to Mr. Thomas Cromwel Secretary of State he informs his Honour That the Lord Leonard Grey was gone to England with Fitz Girald and that the Lord James Butler marched to Clonmel where his Lordships Brother-in-Law Garret Mac Shane who could not speak one Word of English met him That thence they marched to Dungarvan which surrendred unto him and thence to Youghal where he had a Gallon of Gascoyn Wine for four pence and thence to Cork where the Lord Barry made great Complaints of Cormock Oge of Muskry and Mac Carty Riagh the former was willing to submit to the Award of the State but Mac Carty Riagh answered That what he got by the Sword he would keep by the Sword The like Controversie was between James Grandson of Thomas last Earl of Desmond and Sir John Brother of that Earl the young man offered to go to England and to submit to his Majesties Pleasure but Sir John said He scorned to contest with a Boy That they marched thence to Mallow and so to Kilmallock and thence to Lymerick where the Lord Butler's Brother-in-law O Brians Son desired Aid against his Father and Unkle and that the Lord Butler would besiege Carrigonel but he could not do it for want of Artillery and therefore marched to Cashel and thence to Clonmel having worthily behav'd himself all this Journey It seems the Lord Deputy had sollicited for the King's leave to return to England by reason of his Age and Infirmities but the King in his Answer thanked him for the taking Fitz-Girald but wished it had been done in another manner viz. by force and tells him That he must continue in the Government of Ireland notwithstanding his Age and Sickness and orders a Parliament to be called as â—â—on as conveniently might be but it is probable that soon after those Letters arrived the Lord Deputy died at Kilmainham in the latter end of December and was honourably buried in St. Patrick's Church And thereupon the Council chose Leonard Lord Grey 1535. Lord Deputy who was but newly returned from England and probably did not bring over so much Treasure as the Army both expected and needed and therefore the Souldiers mutined in January and thereupon the King by his Letter of the twenty fifth of February desires to know who were the Ringleaders of it and orders that as many of the Army as can be spared may be disbanded Lib. H. To which Letter the Lord Deputy and Council return'd for Answer That after the imprisonment of Fitz-Girald they had disbanded five hundred men but that his Unkles being at that time out and the Earl of Desmond O Brian and O Connor linked in a Confederacy it was no proper time then to dismiss any more but that they have now borrowed four hundred Pounds Irish and therewith have disbanded two hundred and fifty Foot and fifty Horse That the Revenue of the Kingdom was but five thousand Pounds per annum whereof a thousand Pound was then insolvent they advise the King to grant a Pardon to the County of Kildare to the end the People of that County may return to their Habitations and they advise That the Kings Lands may be set for a Term of one and twenty years and that a Mint may be erected in Ireland and none but Sterling Money be currant and thereby every Mark of the King's Revenue will be a Pound But I must interrupt the Series of this Discourse to give the Reader an Account of the miraculous preservation of one of the remaining Branches of the Noble Family of Kildare a Child of thirteen years old Brother of the Lord Thomas and Son of the deceased Earl who happened to be sick of the Small Pox at Donoare in the County of Kildare when his Unkles were apprehended whereupon his careful Tutor Thomas Leverouse afterwards Bishop of Kildare had the Child wrapt up warm and in a Cleef or Basket conveyed him into Offaly and after he was recovered he travelled into Thomond
and Language and not to forestal the Markets of Limerick nor correspond with the Irish And so we come to the Parliament which began at Dublin on the first Day of May and on the last Day of that Month was adjourned to Kilkenny and did there sit the twenty fifth Day of July and on the twenty first was adjourned to Cashel and on the twenty eighth was from Cashel adjourned to Limerick and there it sat on the second of August and continued until the nineteenth and then was adjourned to Dublin to meet the fifteenth Day of September and so after several Prorogations it was finally dissolved the twentyeth Day of December 1537 and enacted as followeth I. The Attainder of the Earl of Kildare and his Complices This Act recites all their Treasons and Retrospects to the eighth Day of July 20 Hen. 8. II. The Parliament reciting That Ireland is appending and belonging to the Crown of England doth make void and nullifie the King's Marriage with the Princess Katharine his Brother's Wife and doth ratifie the Divorce judicially made between them by the Archbishop of Canterbury It also confirms the King's Marriage with Anne Bullen and prohibits Marriage within the Levitical Degrees and orders that Persons so married shall be divorced and their Children after such Divorce shall be illegitimate Then it entails the Crown on the King's Heir Males by Queen Anne and for want of such to his Heirs Males by any other Wife and for want of such to the King's Heirs Female by Queen Anne and particularizes the Princess Elizabeth and the Heirs of her Body c. And that it shall be Treason to Write or Act against the aforesaid Marriage or the Settlement of the Crown and Misprision of Treason to speak against either of those things and deprives the Offenders of Benefit of Sanctuary it makes the Queen and such Counsellors as the King shall appoint Guardians of the Infant King or Queen if it so happen till their respective Ages of sixteen if a Queen and eighteen if a King and prescribes an Oath for the Observation of this Settlement to be taken by the Subject and makes it Misprision of Treason to refuse it III. The Act of Absentees recites the Inconveniences that have happened by reason of the Absence of those that have Estates in Ireland and then vests in the King the Honours and Estates of the Duke of Norfolk the Lord Berkly the Earl of Waterford and Shrewsbury the Heirs General of the Earl of Ormond the Abbot of Furnes the Abbot of S. Augustins of Bristol the Prior of Christ-Church of Canterbury the Prior of Lanthony the Prior of Cartinel the Abbot of Kentesham the Abbot of Osny the Abbot of Bath and the Master of S. Thomas of Dacres 4 Inst 354. And it was resolved anno 1612. That the Earl of Shrewsbury did lose the Title of Earl of Waterford and Viscount Dungarvan by this Statute Nevertheless he had a very good Recompence in England for his Losses in Ireland And it is not unworthy our Remembrance How this Statute came to be made and the Occasion was thus The King being inclined to make Mr. Ailmer who was then Lord Chief justice of the Common Pleas Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench the Earl of Shrewsbury at the instance of some of his Tenants in Waterford or Wexford opposed his Preferment alledging That Ailmer was a silly fellow and unfit for such a Place whereupon the King repremanded the Lord Cromwel for recommending such a Coxcomb to him the Lord Cromwel begs the King to discourse with Ailmer assuring his Majesty That he was misinformed The King consented and Ailmer being come the King asked the true reason of the Decay of Ireland Ailmer Answered That it was because the Estated Men who used to Reside and Defend their own Estates and countenance their Tenants did now generally dwell in England and left Ireland a Prey to the Natives But that if his Majesty would oblige the Estated Men to Residence or seize their Estates to his own use he would soon find a Reformation The King tickled with this Advice gave Ailmer Thanks and assured him Care should be taken of it next Parliament IV. A Suspension or Repeal of Poyning's Act pro hac Vice V. That the King his Heirs and Successors be Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of Ireland and shall have Power to reform redress c. Heresies Errors and Offences c. And that his Commissioners shall take no Proxies for their Visitations but convenient Meat Drink and Lodging on pain of four times the value VI. That there shall be no Appeals to Rome on Pain of Premunire and that the Chancellor with the Consent of the two Chief Justices the Master of the Rolls and the Vice-Treasurer or any two of them may assign Delegates to Hear and Determine all Appeals to the Chief Governour VII An Act against slandering the King or Queen or their Title c. And that those guilty of High Treason shall not have the Benefit of Sanctuary and that Treasons committed beyond Seas may be tried in Ireland and that all Estates of Inheritance ergo Estates Tail shall be forfeited for High-Treason VIII That the Clergy shall pay Annates or First-Fruits i.e. a Years Profit and shall pay or compound before Possession The Chancellor Master of the Rolls and Vice-Treasurer or any two of them whereof the Vice-Treasurer to be one or any others commissioned by the King may compound and give Instalments That the Bonds for First-Fruits shall have the Effect of Bonds of the Staple and eight Pence to be paid for a Bond and four Pence for an Acquittance and no more IX An Act to vest in the King Sir Walter Delahide's Lands in Carbry in the County of Kildare X. That if the Robber or Felon be found Guilty upon an Indictment by means or Prosecution of the Party robbed that then he shall have Restitution as if it had been done upon an Appeal XI An Act to suppress all Tributes Pensions and Irish Exactions claimed by the Irish from Towns or Persons for Protection XII An Act against the Pope to suppress his Usurpations and that it shall be Premunire to defend or assert his usurped Authority or Jurisdiction and that all Persons Ecclesiastical or Lay That have Office or Benefice c. shall take the Oath of Supremacy mentioned in the Act and the Refusal of that Oath shall be Treason It seems there was much Difficulty to get this Act and the former Act for the King's Supremacy to pass both Houses many of the Clergy opposing them stifly until the Archbishop Brown made the following Speech which being well sconded by Justice Brabazon so startled the rest that at length both Bills passed The Archbishop's Speech was thus My Lords and Gentry of his Majesty's Kingdom of Ireland BEhold your Obedience to your King is the observing of your Lord and Saviour Christ Bish Brown's Life 7. for He that High-Priest of our
the Ordinances already mentioned The Seventh Article is That if any of their Followers break the Peace they will prosecute and pursue him till he make amends And the Eighth is That they will not exact any Black Rents for the future from the Inhabitants of Cork Youghal or Kingsale And it seems that about this time Commissioners were appointed in every Province to decide the Controversies instead of Brehons viz. in Connaught the Bishops of Tuam and Clonfert and the Captains Wakely and Ovington in Munster the Bishops of Cork and Waterford and the Mayors of Cork and Youghal and in Vlster the Archbishop of Armagh and Lord of Louth And it is to be noted Davis 215. That these Submissions were so universally made all over the Kingdom that there was not a Lord or Chieftain of any note in Ireland but submitted in this or the like Form for they made no scruple to renounce the Pope when once they had resolved to obey the King And by these Means the Kingdom was so quiet and there was so great a Prospect of a Settlement that several of the Principal Lords of the Irish took Patents for their Estates and desired Titles of Honour according to the Law of England which hitherto they had despised But alass Ireland is an unfortunate Country that cannot be happy any considerable time and notwithstanding these dawnings of Felicity it must expect nothing but War and Desolation and this fourth general Submission of the Irish will be as vain and ineffectual as the other three and will manifest to the World That that Kingdom is not to be governed by Kindness but by Force But let us not anticipate our Misery by dreadful Prognostications of War but rather enquire into the management of Affairs during the short interval of Peace And first we shall find the great O Neal in September sailing toward England accompanied with the Bishop of Clogher and attended with many Gentlemen his Followers He came to the King at Greenwich where he was well received and having surrendred his Estate to the King and covenanted 1. To renounce the Name of O Neal. 2. That he he and his Followers should use English Habit Language and Manners 3. That their Children should learn English 4. That they should build Houses and husband their Land in English manner 5. That they should obey English Laws and not Cess their Tenants nor keep more Gallowglasses than the Lord Deputy allows And 6. That they should answer all general Hostings as those of the Pale do and shall not succour any of the King's Enemies On the first of October his Estate was regranted to him by Patent and he was created Earl of Tyrone for Life with remainder to his Son Matthew who for the present was made Baron of Dunganon in Tayl and two of his Followers Denis and Art Mac Genis were knighted and the Bishop of Clogher was confirmed and the Earl after his return was on the seventh Day of May sworn one of the Privy Council of Ireland In like manner the Earl of Desmond pursuant to his Promise repaired into England where he was graciously received and having made his Submission he returned with Orders likewise to be of the Privy Council In the mean time the Lord Deputy on the twenty fourth Day of May made an Order of Agreement between the Macgenis's and did the like between the O Carols on the second of July And on the fourth of July the O Birnes did submit by Indenture and granted the Town and Castle of Wicklow to the King and also surrendred to his Majesty the Castle of Mac Eningham and all spiritual Livings in their Possession Lib. D. They also covenanted to find one hundred and twenty Gallowglasses and their Servants for three Months when the Counties of Carlow and Kildare do so and twelve Horse and twenty four Foot at every Hosting and to raise their whole Force and keep them three days on any emergency And it is allowed by the Deputy that O Birn shall have twenty four Kerns called Kerne Tee for this year at the Charge of the Country as is usual wherewith he promises to aid the Sheriff and if O Birn misbehave himself the Lord Deputy may give the Kerns next year to whom he pleases And 't is agreed That no body shall keep Idlers but in his own House and concludes Quod si posthac ad morem Hibernicorum resilierit vel cum Hibernicis aliis susurraverit confederaverit vel consentierit impedire vel obstare Reformationi Hiberniae quam Dominus Rex intendit that then they will forfeit all And it seems that at the same time they proposed to have their Country made a County Davis 104. by the Name of the County of Wicklow and that in consideration thereof they would divide it into eight Plow-Lands and pay ten Groats per annum for ever to the King out of each Plow-Land On the 19th of November Thomas Butler was made Baron of Cahir and in the beginning of the next year Maurice O Bryan 1534. and Vlick Burk induced by the Example and Success of the Earl of Tyrone went to wait upon the King in England and having made their Submissions and surrendred their Estates O Brian obtained a Grant of all his Lands in Thomond and all the Abbies and Patronage of Benefices in the King's Gift within his Precincts to him and his Heirs Males and he was made Baron of Insiquine to him and his Heirs and Created Earl of Thomond for Life with a remainder to Donough O Bryan and his Heirs for ever who for the present was made Baron of Ibracane but whether this Donough were Nephew or Natural Son of the Earl's is not very plain This Lord of Ibrahcan had also an Annuity of twenty Pounds per annum granted to him in Tail and the Abby of Insula Canonicorum and half the Abby of Clare and the King bore the Earl of Thomond's Charges and gave him an Order to be of the Privy Council As for Vlick Burk he had likewise his Charges born and was Created Earl of Clanrickard and his Estate was regranted to him and the Abbies and Patronage of all Benefices within his Precincts The Cocquets of Galway were excepted in the Patent but in lieu of them the Earl had a Pension of thirty Pound per annum and the third part of the First-Fruits and the Abby of Via Nova or Confert And about the same time the Lord of Upper Ossory obtain'd a Grant for Fairs and Markets and the House of the Friars at Haghevo and the Monastery of Hackmacart and to each of these four Noblemen Davis 219. viz. the Earls of Desmond Tyrone Thomond and Clanrickard the King gave a House and a Parcel of Land near Dublin to encourage them to make their Appearance frequently at Court And it is to be noted Council Book of Ireland fol. 73. That many times the chief Governors of Ireland instead of Risings out and
they procur'd as good a Bed-fellow for the Ambassador though she was of meaner Quality this Liquorish Harlot unfortunately met with a small Bottle of choice Balm valued at two thousand Crowns which was given to the Bishop by Solyman the Magnificent when he was Ambassador in Turky she was invited by its Odour to try its Relish and it seems liked it so well that she licked it all out whereat the Bishop grew so outragious and loud that he discovered his Debauchery frightned the Woman away and made sport for the Irishmen and his own Servants After this the Bishop met with O Neal and the Titular Primate Robert Wachop in a secret place and heard the Overâ—ures of them and their Confederates and it is not to be doubted but they came to an Agreement because the Bishop soon after went to Rome but being unable to separate the Pope from the Interests of the Emperor this Negotiation had no effect In the mean time two of the Cavenaghs viz. Cahir Mac Art of Polmonty and Girald Mac Cahir of Garochil had fierce Contests about their Territory at length it came to a Battel as it were by consent and about an hundred on each side were slain but Cahir Mac Art had the better of it and finally obtain'd that Signiory But the Exchequer being empty the Lord Deputy designed to levy a Tax upon the People but the Earl of Ormond would by no means suffer that 〈…〉 whereupon the difference grew so high between him and the Lord Deputy that at last it came to mutual Impeachments whereupon both of them were sent for to England and by the King's Mediation were reconciled whilst the ambodexter Allen was imprison'd in the Fleet and deprived of the Great Seal and Sir Thomas Cusack was made Lord Keeper and not long after viz. about the twenty eighth day of October the Earl of Ormond and thirty five of his Servants were poyson'd at a Feast at Ely-House in Holborn so that he and sixteen of them died but whether this hapned by Accident or Mistake or were done designedly could not be discovered Sir William Brabazon was sworn Lord Justice on the first of April 1546. although his Patent bore Date the sixteenth of February Ware 174. In his time hapned a strange and unnatural Action for Bryan Lord of Upper Ossory sent his own Son Teige Prisoner to Dublin where he was executed and in July Patrick O More and Bryan O Connor with joint Forces invaded the County of Kildare and burnt Athy but the Lord Justice immediately pursued them and leaving a Garrison at Athy he marched into Offaly and made a Fort at Dingen now Philipstown and forced O Connor to fly into Connaught But the Necessities of the State obliged the King to Coyn Brass or mixt Moneys and to make it currant in Ireland by Proclamation to the great dissatisfaction of all the People especially the Soldiers and about the same time Edward Basnet Dean of St. Patrick's in Dublin and the Chapter after some Reluctancy surrendred their Possessions to the King Three Things are observable in the Letters during this King's Reign 1. None of them do mention either the Year of our Lord or the Year of the King's Reign though all of them do take notice of the Day of the Month whereby this Part of the History was so perplex'd and confus'd that I will not promise that I have always guess'd the time aright though I have used my utmost diligence and endeavours to do so 2. All the Letters of this Reign conclude thus So knoweth God to whom we pray for your Graccs Prosperity or to that effect but these Words So knoweth God are always in although in the subsequent Words there is some Variation according to the Fancy of the Writer 3. Most of the Letters from the great Irish Lords even some of English Extraction are subscribed with a Mark very few of thembeing able to write their Names Sir Anthony Saintleger Lord Deputy returned on the sixteenth day of December with Sir Richard Read who was made Lord Chancellor in the room of Cusack and Cusack was made Master of the Rolls And thus stood the Government of Ireland during the Reign of King Henry the Eighth who Died on the twenty eighth day of January in the thirty eighth Year of his Reign and of his Age the fifty sixth THE REIGN OF EDWARD VI. KING OF England France AND IRELAND EDWARD 1546. the Sixth of that Name since the Norman Conquest was born at Hampton Court on the twelfth Day of October 1537. and succeeded his Father in the tenth Year of his Age on the twenty eighth Day of January 1546. and on the first of February Edward Seymour who was the King's Unkle by the Mother was made Protector of the King and Kingdoms and was afterwards created Duke of Somerset and on the twentieth Day of February the King was crowned at Westminster with great Solemnity Sir Anthony Saintleger continued in the Government of Ireland Ware 177. at first by the name of Lord Justice and afterwards by the Title of Lord Deputy and he proclaimed the new King on the twenty sixth Day of February 1547. and not long after Sir Richard Read was made first Lord Keeper and afterwards Lord Chancellor and the Earl of Desmond was constituted Lord Treasurer of Ireland on the twenty ninth Day of March and on the seventh Day of April the Privy Council was sworn viz. Sir Richard Read Chancellor George Archbishop of Dublin Edward Bishop of Meath Sir William Brabazon Vice-Treasurer Sir Girald Ailmer Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench Sir Thomas Luttrel Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas James Bath Esq Lord chief Baron of the Exchequer Sir Thomas Cusack Master of the Rolls and Thomas Houth Esq one of the Judges of the King's Bench to whom afterwards others were added But the O Birnes took advantage of the Change of the Government and hoping that the Infancy of the King would occasion Disturbances in the State they began to be very unruly and troublesome insomuch that the Lord Deputy was necessitated to invade their Country he pursued them so close that he slew their Captain and drove themselves into the Woods and Fastnesses He also took two of the Fitz-Giralds who had formerly been Proscribed and now joyned with O Toole and he brought them and other Prisoners to Dublin where they were executed Nor were Patrick O More and Brian O Connor less forward than the rest but briskly invaded the County of Kildare and loaded themselves with Prey and Plunder but the Lord Deputy came seasonably to intercept them and having killed two hundred of the Rebels upon the Place the rest of them with their light-footed Captains fairly ran away But the Government of England wisely considering the fickle Inclinations of the Irish and the danger of a general Defection of that Nation from a Protestant King seasonably provided for that Kingdom so that Edward Bellingham with the
proved disadvantagious to the State and that lenity to the Irish Rebels has produced no other Effects than that it has encouraged them to relapse and others to follow their Example And of this Shane O Neal affords us one Instance for notwithstanding this Submission it was not long before he rebelled again and Rory O Connor and Donough O Connor followed the same Copy for though they submitted at Dingen and put in Hostages for their Loyalty yet they rebelled once more and therefore were on the twenty fifth Day of February proclaimed Traytors and at length were slain and their Country wasted 1557. In like manner William Odare O Carol was made Governour of Ely O Carol under certain Conditions one of which was To send a certain number of Soldiers to every Hosting but this Condescention and Kindness could not oblige him but that the ungrateful Traytor rebelled next Year and was routed and Thady O Carol was put in his Place And so we are come to the Parliament which began the nineteenth day of June and on the second day of July was adjourned to the tenth day of November to Limerick and then was adjourned to the first day of March to Drogheda but the Lord Deputy who by the Death of his Father was Earl of Sussex went to England on the fourth day of December and not returning before the first day of March the Parliament by his Absence became dissolved It seems that besides the Statutes that are in Print this Parliament enacted 1. That the Queen was Legitimate 2. That the Royal Power was vested in her 3. That her Issue should inherit the Crown and Kingdoms of England and Ireland 4. That Heresies should be punished and three Statutes to that effect were revived 5. That all Acts against the Pope made since 20 Hen. 8. be repealed 6. That the Grants made by Archbishop Brown be void and cap. 12. that First-Fruits be released But afterwards by the Act of the second of Elizabeth cap. 1. the Act of Repeal was repealed and the revived Statutes against Heresie were suppressed the Jurisdiction of the Pope was abolished and cap. 3. the First-Fruits and twentieth Part were restored to the Crown There was also an Act to give the Queen a Subsidy of thirteen Shillings and four Pence out of every Plow-land for ten Years And another to make it Treason to introduce or receive armed Scots into Ireland or to marry with a Scot without Licence under the great Seal The printed Acts of this Parliament are I. For the Disposition of Leix and Offaly II. For making the King's County and Queens County Shire-Ground and entituling their Majesties thereunto III. For making other Counties into Shire-Ground IV. To explain Poynings Act that new Bills whilst the Irish Parliament sits may be transmitted into England for Approbation as well as if they had been sent before the Parliament met V. That Labourers or Cottiers shall not buy Horses more than is absolutely necessary VI. That the Owners of stolen Goods using their best Endeavours to prosecute the Felon shall be reprized out of the Felons Goods if they cannot get their own again VII That no Body shall make Aquavitae without Licence under the great Seal except Noblemen Gentlemen and Freemen of Towns that send Members to Parliament And it is to be noted That this Act which was designed to spare Corn and prevent a Dearth was necessary at that time Yet now the Kingdom is better improved and consequently abounds in Corn this Act though not repealed is become obsolete and a quite contrary Act viz. To encourage the Making and Exportation of Aquavitae would tend very much to the Advantage of Ireland In July the Lord Deputy made an Expedition against the O Maddens whose Country called Silanchia now the Barony of Longford in the County of Galway was last Year on the Murder of John O Madden divided between Malachy Modhar and the Murderer Brasil Duff the Deputy sent a Summons to the Castle of Melik but the valiant Warders not only boasted how stoutly they would defend it but also believing that every Summons was an Affront and as it were a Suspicion of their Courage they assured the Herald That it should not be safe for him to come with any more such Messages to them It is hardly credible That after all this Ostentation these Men of War should desert the Castle the very next Night however they certainly did so and the Lord Deputy placed a Garrison in it and returned On the tenth of August the Lord Deputy advanced into Vlster Ware 220. being accompanied by the Lords of Kildare Ormond Baltinglass Delvin Dnnboyne and Dunsany his Design was against the Scots but they sheltered themselves in the Woods and Bogs so that he did them no other Mischief than that he took some Preys however some of them were thereby perswaded to submit and Daniel Mac Conel and Richard Mac Guilliam received the Honour of Knighthood On the twenty second Day of October the Lord Deputy made another Journey into Vlster And on the twenty fourth day he came to Dundalk and on the twenty fifth he took a Prey and came to Armagh the Rebels still flying before him on the twenty seventh he burnt Armagh except the Church and marched to Newry and so on the thirtieth day of the same Month returned to Dublin And being ordered to attend the Queen in England he first obliged O Carol O Molloy Macgehogan O Doyne Mac Coughlan the two O Maddens and Fylemy Duff to gives Hostages of their Good Behaviour And then on the fourth of December he set sail for England leaving Hugh Curvin 1557. Lord Chancellor and Sir Henry Sydny Treasurer at Wars Lords Justices by Patent dated at Westminster the twelfth of November after they were censed and sprinkled with Holy Water and Mass was celebrated they were sworn at Christ-Church on Sunday the fifth of December and received the Sword from Sir John Stanly the Marshal with whom it was left to that Purpose and they continued in their Office until Sir Henry Sydny Ware 222. Lord Justice was sworn on the sixth of February by the Queen's Command and by virtue of a Commission bearing date the eighteenth day of January he attacked Arthur O Molloy Chief of Fercalia who was brewing new Treasons and favoured and cherished those that were in Rebellion But the Lord Deputy did soon over-run his Country and made Theobald O Molloy Governour thereof and took his Son for a Hostage of the Father's Fidelity and then by Cess in the Pale the Deputy furnished the Forts of Maryburgh and Philipsburgh with Victuals and returned to Dublin where he made Proclamation That no Corn should be carried out of the Pale In the mean time Shane O Neal invaded Tyrconnel designing to reduce it to the former Tribute and Dependance it paid to his House Calvagh O Donel being too weak to resist by Force betook himself to his Politicks and made an Essay by Night on the
amounting to many thousand Pounds All which her excessive Expences and continual Cares she made the less Account of so that her Realm and Subjects of Ireland might be preserved defended and governed Lastly Notwithstanding her Majesty might have made better Choice of many others who were better able to hold her Place in this Realm both for Honour Wisdom and Experience yet her Pleasure was now to cast this heavy Charge and Burden upon him Which he was the more unwilling to take upon him because the greater the Charge was the more unable and weak he was to sustain the same nevertheless being in good hope and well promised of her Highnesses Favour and Countenance in his well-doings and having his Confidence in them her Highnesses Counsellors assciated to him to join Aid and assist him in this Government he was and is the more ready to take the Sword in Hand in hope that this his Government shall be to the Glory of God the Honour of her Majesty the Benefit of the Commonwealth and the Preservation of the whole Realm and People of the same And so making his earnest Request to the said Lords present for their conjoyning with him and the aiding and assisting of him in this her Majesties Service he made an end of his Speech This Lord Deputy brought with him Instructions Signed by the Queen on the Fifth day of October 1565 and were to this Effect First That a Privy Council be named and established and sworn before the Lord Deputy as is usual and he was directed to consult and use their Advice and they were to respect and reverence his Quality and both to conspire the Good of the Realm Secondly Hooker 111. That Religion and Knowledge of the Scriptures should be propagated and encouraged by Doctrine Example c. And the Church-Lands and Estates preserved from Waste and Alienation Thirdly That the Law be administred uprightly and insufficient Judges and Officers removed and a Sheriff placed in every County Fourthly That the Army be kept orderly not oppressing the Subject that Musters be once a Month and Enquiry made whether the Soldiers be Englishmen or not and how paid Fifthly That Care be taken of the Revenues of the Crown The Privy Council being sworn they consulted the State of the Kingdom which they found in this miserable condition The Pale was over-run with Thieves and Robbers the Countriman so poor that he had neither Horse Arms nor Victuals for himself and the Souldier so beggarly that they could not live without oppressing the Subject for want of Discipline they were grown insolent loose and idle and which rendred them suspected to the State they were allied by Marriage to the Irish and intimate with them in Conversation Leenster was harrass'd by the Tools Birns Kinshelaghs O Morroghs Cavenaghs and O Moors but especially the County of Kilkenny was almost desolaâ—e Munster by the Dissentions between the Earls of Desmond and Ormond was almost ruined especially Tipperary and Kerry the Barony of Ormond was over-run by Pierce Grace and Thomond was as bad as the rest by the Wars between Sir Daniel O Bryan and the Earl of Thomond Connaught was almost wasted by the Fewds between the Earl of Clanrickard and Mac William Outer and other losser Contests And Vlster which for some time had been the Receptacle and Magazine of all the Preys and Plundcr goâ—â—en out of the other Provinces and so was riches than the rest was in open Rebellion under Shane O Neal. As for Religion Hooker 114. these was but small Appearance of it the Churches uncovered and the Clergy scattered and scarce the Being of a God known to those ignorant and barbarous People therefore for the present it was resolved to fortifie the Pale against O Neal and to remedy the rest of the Mischiefs as fast as they could Ormond and Desmond were now in England bandying their Cause before the Queen and Council but they differing in Matter of Fact it was necessary to examine their respective Witnesses by Commission in Ireland and upon return thereof the Queen undertook to determine their Controversies and the Earls were by Recognizances in Chancery of twenty thousand Pounds bound to stand to the Queens Award But whilst this was doing Sullevan 87. Sir John of Desmond with great violence and outrage invaded and fired part of Ormond's Estate and killed his Brother which nevertheless did not hinder but that this Matter was afterwards appeased Mac Carthy More the Chief of that Name a great Lord of Munster went over to the Queen and surrendred his great Estate unto her which she reconveyed to him by Letters Patents and when he had sworn Fealty she paid the Charges of his Journey and made him Earl of Glencar and Baron of Valentia on the twenty fourth day of June 1565. and on the eighteenth day of July O Sullevan Bear likewise took a Patent for his Estate Lib. M. wherein was inserted a Proviso That he pay such Rents and Services as are due to the Earl of Glencar But that the Reader may perceive the Slavery of that Age and Nation I will shew him by what Services O Sullivan More who was himself a great Lord and is by the Irish stiled Prince of Dunkerran held his Estate of Mac Carthy More Which were as followeth First To aid him with his whole Strength on Summons and to be the Marshal of his Army Secondly Every Arable Plow-land to pay five Gallow-glass or Kern or six shillings eight pence or a Beef for each at the Election of Mac Carty More Thirdly That Mac Carty shall have half a Crown for every Ship that comes to Fish or Merchandize in O Sullevan's Harbors Fourthly To have Merchandizes brought thither at the same Rate as O Sullevan has his Fifthly To entertain Mac Carty More and his Train two Days and Nights at Dunboy and at all other times he has occasion to travel that way to entertain Mac Carty and his Body-Servants and to quarter the rest on the Country Sixthly He is to send Horse meat to Palliâ—e for Mac Carty's Saddle Horses and pay the Groom three shillings four four pence out of every arable Plow-land Lastly He must find the Hounds Grey-hounds and Spaniels of Mac Carty whenever they come and one shilling and eight pence per annum to the Huntsman out of every arable Plow-land But to proceed Shane O Neal was so much dissatisfied at the Nobilitating of Mac Carty that he carried himself exceeding arrogantly despising the English Titles of Honour and to Commissioners that were sent to parly with him 1566. he said That though the Queen were his Sovereign Lady yet he never made Peace with her but at her seeking And That she had made a wise Earl of Mac Carty More but that he kept as good a Man as he That he cared not for so mean a Title as an Earl Hooker 114. That his Blood and Power was better than the best and that therefore he would give
charge for Gallowglasses number and time certain viz. Meat and Drink one day in a Fortnight Soroheen more was an equivalent for the other in Quirrens of Butter and Srones of Oatmeal South alias Tax or Tallage is a Contribution towards the payment of the Lords Debts or any other extraordinary occasion vide Cuttings Stanihurst a Treatise in Latin of the Conquest of Ireland by Richard Stanihurst Sullevan the Catholick History of Ireland written in Latin anno 1621. by Philip O Sullevan Siurirupes Carig ni shure alias Carrick in Com' Typerany T. Termon-lands are Lands belonging to the Church and were priviledg'd from Taxes and it seems the Termon was the Clergy-mans Tenant or Servant Turbarii Kernes Irish Foot-Souldiers lightly arm'd Tagh of Land is 60 acres Tuethia the Territory of Mac Swiny na doo in Com' Donegall Tirconell the County of Donegall Tybrach a Castle within two miles of Carrig and not Typerary as is by mistake supposed pag 40. Trowses are Britches and Stockings made to sit as close to the Body as can be Tate is sixty Irish acres V. Vriell is the County of Louth Vallis Juncosa Slevelogher the Mountain between the Counties of Cork and Kerry W. Ware Sir James Ware 's Annals of Ireland Ware de Presul the same de praesulibus Hiberniae Ware de Antiq. the same de Antiquitatibus Hiberniae ERRATA APparatus pag. 1. read 150 of the same miles broad p. 26. read Squaleing Engine Pag. 9. line 16. read irrita p. 11. l. 24. r. Birne p. 13. l. 11. r. next day p. 18. l. 41. r. inheritance p. 20. l. 28. r. Army was p. 23. l. 7. r. Tuam p. 27. l. 35. r. extirpate p. 37. l. ult r. and he without delay p. 44. l. 33. r. extraordinary p. 52. l. 44. r. Combatants l. 46. r. Nor the strong p. 57. l. 2. r. beholding to Ireland p. 63. l. 3. r. fideli p. 69. l. 38. r. Carbry p. 73. l. 46. r. and tho' the Britton had p. 109 l. 23. r. by methods p. 111. l. 20. r. Lucy p. 117. l. 7. r. and the King by his Patent p. 121. l. 17. r. Custodium p. 129. l. 5. r. and wounded the Earl p. 153. l. 34. r. Athy p. 157. l. 34. r. Heir Male p. 183. l. 21. r. Xeesh p. 190. l. 15. r. from his Journey p. 200. l. 16. r. in the world p. 208. l. 16. r. Clogher p. 211. l. 39. r. blows p 213. l. 19 r. repostum l. 42. r. James p. 234. l. 8. r. sixteen hundred p. 260. l. 9. r. quieted p. 261. l. 1. r. Finin O Driscoll l. 37. r. at four p. 271. l 40. r. if they prove p. 321. l. 43. r. 1565. p. 324. l. 5. r. Alexander Oge p. 325. l. 3. r. by Affane p. 329. l. 13. r. offenders in Parliament p. 367. l. 43. r. Thomas Butler alias Becket p. 368. l. 18 r. combat p. 370. l. 8. r. at wars p. 399 l. 30 r. aspersions p. 417. l. 20. r. gap p. 418. l. 19. r. root p 420. l 8 r. at loose fight p. 421. l. 15. r. O Birnes p 422. l. 9. r. figary l. 31. r. he deposed p. 425. l. 30 r. Barret l. 44. r. hereupon p. 426. l. 32. r. disown'd a Truce I do hereby License a Book written by Mr. Richard Cox intituled HIBERNIA ANGLICANA or The Second Part of the History of Ireland to be Printed and Published Given at the Court at Whitehall the 18 th day of February 1689-90 Shrewsbury Let this Book intituled HIBERNIA ANGLICANA or The Second Part of the History of Ireland be Printed Nottingham Febr. 18. 1689-â—â— HIBERNIA ANGLICANA OR THE SECOND PART OF THE HISTORY OF IRELAND From the CONQUEST Thereof by the ENGLISH To this Present Time By the Author of the First Part. ΕΙΚΩΠΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΗ 61. Indeed that Sea of Blood which hath been cruelly and barbarously shed in Ireland is enough to drown any Man in eternal both Infamy and Misery whom God shall find the malicious Author or Instigator of its Effusion Earl of Clarendon against Cressy 71. Was not the Rebellion begun and carried on by the King's Roman Catholick Subjects Was there one Man but Catholicks that concurr'd in it And did they pretend any other Cause for it but Religion In the SAVOY Printed by Edward Jones for Joseph Watts at the Angel in St. Paul's Church-yard Matthew Gillyflower in Westminster-hall Charles Harper in Fleet-street and Samuel Crouch in Cornhill MDCXC TO THE KINGS Most Excellent MAJESTY GREAT SIR IT is noted by the Lord Bacon in the Life of the Wise and Victorious Prince King Henry the Seventh That it was his Custom to be First or Second in all his Warlike Exploits and that it was his Saying when he heard of Rebels That he desir'd but to see them What Your Majesty has lately published to the Two Houses of Parliament is of the same Spirit and Policy But This is not the only Parallel between Your Majesty and that Great King for He also came from Abroad yet with this Distinction that His Coming was only to assert his Particular Claim whereas the Coming of Your Majesty was of Vniversal Concern it being to free us all who were at the Brink of Idolatry and Bondage To whom then GREAT SIR should I Dedicate this Second Part of the History of Ireland but to Your Majesty who now Dedicates Your Self to the Redemption of Ireland and being thus far in Possession of the Subject I am already preparing to Record all Your Majesty's Glorious Atchievements and am in certain expectation of a greater Theme than ever that Kingdom could hitherto boast 'T is true Your Majesty hath herein the Power of Two Kings to Oppose but 't is no ill Symptom that by what you have already done the One of them has been constrained to send his Plate and the Other his Cannon to the Mint Nor ought we to think better of Irish Armies or Irish Courage than is thought by those who judge Both well paid for when but rewarded with Copper 'T is certain The Bulk of that Nation are already surfeited with the Stratagem of that Imaginary Coin they feel the Fruits of contending for a French Interest by the Slaughter Sickness and Defolation of the Year past so that 't is possible Humane Nature may at length be too hard for the Priest and the Politician too and that when by Your Majesty's Presence they behold their Ruin at hand they may give more Exercise to Your Mercy than to Your Sword It was truly observed by Your Majesty in Your late Gracious Speech That in the speedy Recovery of Ireland the Place and Honor of England did consist and that hereby alone Taxes could cease So that as Your Majesty is now willing to expose Your Person for those Great Ends 't is not to be feared but the Nation will second Your Majesty with such Royal Supplies as may make it a short and not a lingring Work for not only in This but
the preposterous Courses they took For they were taught That the Pope was by Divine Right Universal Monarch and Governor of the World P. W. Remonstrance in Preface 6 7. and had Independent Sovereign Authority over Kings and Subjects in Temporal as well as Spiritual Concerns That he might Deprive and Dethrone Kings and had Power of both Swords to which every Soul upon pain of eternal Damnation was bound to give Obedience That he had power to absolve from all Oaths and that those who are slain in the Quarrel of the Church against an Excommunicated Prince die true Martyrs of Christ and their Souls fly to Heaven immediately So that it is no wonder that a People for the most part abounding in Ignorance and Bigotry tempted by the Hopes of Profit in the Plunders and Success of the War and stimulated by a National Malice against the British should be guilty of all that Cruelty and Treachery which they thought Meritorious and was in their Opinion conducive to their main Design of Extirpating the Protestants This tedious and bloody War which was at first begun by the Papists against the Protestants to support the King's Prerogative and suppress the Puritans as they pretended met with such prodigious Turns and Vicissitudes in the Progress of it that the most virulent Faction of the Papists joyn'd with the Puritans and fought for them against the King and against one another and all the Parties in the Kingdom which were * King Ormond Parliament Cooâ— Covenanters Lord of Ardes Supreme Couucil Preston Nuncio Owen Roe Five did one time or other in the War fight against the Faction it had formerly sided with But because this War was on the King's part managed by the Marquis since Duke of Ormond first in the Quality of Lieutenant General and afterwards as Lord Lieutenant it is necessary that according to my former Method I give some Account of Him which perhaps cannot be better done than from a MS. I accidentally met with wherein there are some short memorable Strokes of Him and his Family not unfit to be communicated to the Reader and therefore I have transcribed it as followeth 1. He was born at Clerkenwell in London on the Ninteenth of October 1610. and died at Kingstonhall in Dorset-shire on the 21th of July 1688. This was the 78th Year of his Age in which time he had seen Four Kings and served Three of them for 57 Years with an unshaken Zeal to the Crown 2. That he had seen Three Generations above him as maâ—â—ely his Father Thomas Viscount Thurles his Grandfather Walter Earl of Ormond and his great great Uncle Thomas Earl of Ormond who being a Black Man was commonly called by the Irish Thomas Duff This Thomas who was also Earl of Ossory was a Man of high Courage and Endowments and much favoured by Queen Elizabeth as being also Kinsman to her Mother He was Knight of the Garter Lord Treasurer of Ireland and General of the Army there He lived to the Age of Eighty seven Years and in the Reigns of Five Kings and Queens and died in 1614. So also had his Grace seen Three Generations below him as namely his Son Thomas the Renowned Earl of Ossory his Grandson James the present Duke and his great Grandson Thomas who was playing in the Room before him but a few Hours before his Death 3. That he had for some Years sat with Two of his Sons the said Thomas Earl of Ossory and Richard Earl of Arran in the House of Peers in England and his eldest Son was Knight of the Garter at the same time with Himself 4. That if the Siding and Partaking with the House of Lancaster in the Ancient Quarrels with the House of York which divided and at one time or other involved the whole Nation may pass for nothing it will not appear in all the Records that any Staln of Disloyalty was ever imputed to any that were the Chief Branch of this Family for Five hundred Years 5. That his Grace not to count what Titles they had before was the Twelfth Earl of Ormond and the Seventh of that Name of James He who was the Second James and styl'd The Noble Earl as being by his Mother de Bohun Great Grandson to King Edw. I. was thrice Lord Justice of Ireland And the Fifth James being by Hen. VI. made also Earl of Wiltshire Knight of the Garter and Lord Treasurer of England was Five times made Lord Deputy and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and had a Patent of it for Twelve Years His late Grace the Seventh James was Lord Lieutenant Four times which in all took in about Twenty four Years And if we shall reckon how many of this Family and how often they have been concern'd in that Government it thus appears That from the 31 Hen. 3. 1247. when Theobald Butler Lord of Carrick was made one of the Lords Justices to 1 Jac. 2. 1684. that his Grace was dismist from being Lord Lieutenant there have in the space of Four hundred thirty seven Years been Ten of this Family who have Seven and twenty times been either Lords Justices Lords Deputies or Lords Lieutenants of that Kingdom These Instances are perhaps sufficient to give the Reader some farther Curiosity to know by what Steps this Great Man grew up into the World who had a various and difficult Part in those Revolutions that befel Three Kingdome and the Monarchs thereof And inasmuch as they seem to reflect some Light on part of the following Story I will venture to add what I also found in the same Manuscript as followeth That the said Thomas Duff having no other Issue than his Daughter the Lady Elizabeth he first married her to his Nephew Theobald Viscount Tullough who was a Protestant as well as himself But he soon dying Childless and the young Widow being made very considerable in her Fortune by the Father's Indulgence there came Sir Richard Preston a Scotchman who being much favoured by King James and fortified by His Credentials he obtain'd the Lady and was made thereupon Lord Dingwell in Scotland and Earl of Desmond in Ireland This Earl soon began to stretch and enlarge his Pretensions to the Estate But Earl Walter the Heir at Law opposed him King James was pleased to take upon Him the Arbitration between them but did it with such partiality as Earl Walter thought that he chose rather to be thrown into the Fleet as for Contempt than to submit There he lay a Prisoner for Eight years together his whole Estate Sequestred and Extended his County Palatine of Tipperary which had been Three or Four hundred years in the Family seised by Quo Warranto into the King's Hands and he reduced to a shameful Want The Duke of Buckingham was active in this Oppression but the Cry of it grew so lowd at last that the King relented for what he had done In these Troubles it was that his Grace's Father Thomas Viscount Thurles coming over to prosecute in
their Solicitations and Attempts with an unshaken Steadiness It was pity so true a Nobleman should not fall into better Times and among a better People he might then have been as Eminent for doing of Good as now he appears Valuable in the resisting of Evil. And thus we are come to the End of a War which as it was rashly and cruelly begun so was it by the Confederates with such Cowardise and Folly carried on that excepting One Defeat given to the Scots they never had Advantage in any One Pitch'd Battel over the British And what could be more Tragical and Infamous to them at last than that they should from the Hands of those they always villified be compell'd to beg and glad to accept the worst of all Terms namely Transplantation to such as staid and of Banishment and Transportation to the rest But how surprising are the Revolutions of this World that from these Ashes and thus scatter'd to the Four Winds there should be a Foundation laid for that Fortune which the wandring Irish found by meeting in Foreign Parts the succeeding King and the Duke of York and by their Indulgence to be able not only to set up again but as at this day to expel their Conquerors and even to menace the Tranquillity of England The Links of this Mysterious Chain are so wonderful that I can hardly forbear a short Prospect of them in the Particulars following As first to observe How the Monarch of Three Kingdoms King Charles the First sat peaceably here at Home when Scotland began to Invade him How a great Number in England siding with the Scots put His Majesty into some Straits How the Irish taking advantage hereof fell to the murthering of His Protestant Subjects in that Kingdom How his Majesty sent presently His Authority and Commissions to suppress those Rebels while He at home was by others opprest and at last overthrown and His Children driven into Banishment How in consequence hereof the same Usurpers pass into Ireland and there compleating what His said Majesty's Commission could not they there subdue and drive the Irish into the like Banishment Here then the Crysis began That both Prince and Rebel-Subjects being forced to depend on Strangers and both driven by the same Hand into a State of Common Misery it was natural enough to forget how Things before had stood between them and only to look forward either how to be reveng'd or how to subsist King Charles the Second being at the Usurper's Instance expelled also from France he makes Conditions with Spain and calls to Him from other Services all His scattered Subjects and in this it must be allow'd the Irish made a Considerable Part. But if it be true that with these New Friends He then secretly grew reconciled unto their Religion also 't is no wonder if they got farther into Favour than what before they had deserv'd 'T is also easie to believe That as His Majesty's Restauration drew nigh the Irish obtain'd from Him all the good Words imaginable so that when He came into England He lay under this Contradiction of having promis'd to the Protestants of Ireland whose Commissioners met Him at Breda the Security of all they had gotten as to the Irish before the Re-possession of all they had lost The English spared not on their part to fortifie the Promise they had by a Charge of general Guilt on the Irish And the Irish were as lowd in the Justification of their Innocence So that to reconcile this Perplexity there was Advantage taken from what Both averr'd in persuading the English to restore what might belong to an Innocent and the Irish to forego their Hopes if upon Trial they should appear to be Guilty However to make this go easier down on either side there was a Notion set up and strangely imbib'd of a prodigious Stock of undisposed Acres which were sufficient to satisfie not only the Disappointments of some but even the Expectations of all Upon this an Act is fram'd by the English and tho' by the Tenor and Contexture of it nothing was more improbable than the Qualifications of Innocence yet by Favour in a Majority of Commissioners sent and instructed how to execute that Law the Irish prov'd fortunate beyond all expectation The Duke of York was always more open and avowed in his Patronage of them from the beginning and frequent Essays were made by his Power with the King to advance and distinguish them by Marks of Favour But the King was so cautious of His own Safety and He Reigned so long that the English had time to flourish For there was an Army kept up of Seven thousand Protestants and all the Commands and Offices both Civil and Military were in the Hands of the English However as His Royal Highness drew nigher to the Throne and as his Influence with the King increas'd so began this Flourishing State of the Protestants to be undermin'd And no sooner had he gotten the Scepter but he began openly to execute what surely was before intended and the whole Frame and Contexture of the English Government was subverted and dissolv'd However we live to see as at this day how dearly King James hath paid for that Experiment and for the Hopes He had and the Attempts he made of an equal Success in England And this also is worthy of some Remark That those very Protestants in the Army of Ireland who were driven out by His Command and took Refuge in Holland should so soon return under the Prince of Orange out now Happy King and assist in driving Him not only out of England but to take Refuge in Ireland Where these Windings and Revolutions will end God Almighty only knows but since we have so hopeful a Prospect that they may determine to the Honor of His Majesty to the Advantage of the English Nation the Restauration of the Irish Protestants and the Re-establishment of True Religion in that Kingdom I see no Reason to doubt but that I may be able to give you a joyful Account of all these Things in my Third Part. AN APPARATUS OR Introductory Discourse TOUCHING The Controverted Points in this HISTORY BECAUSE contrary Interests have perplexed this Affair and prevailed with a Party sometimes to stifle and sometimes to disguise the Truth and because the Papists have represented several Parts of this History not only in another manner and in a more soft and palliating Stile than I have done but have reported sundry considerable Matters of Fact quite contrary to what I have related it will be necessary to make a particular Examination of their most material Allegations and a strict scrutiny into my Assertions and the Proofs of them or Reasons for them and because I would not interrupt the Series of the History with these inquiries I thought it convenient to insert them here by way of Introduction But before I descend to particulars it is necessary to settle this great Preliminary that will run through the whole and
what little jealousie he had of it was seasonably imparted to the Lords Justices by the Letter mentioned Page 65. as his surprize at that unexpected Rebellion is expressed in his Letter to the Earl of Ormond recited Appendix 49. The next thing in Dispute The Sixth Question is The Number of those that were Massacred which Sir William Petty computes not to exceed 37000 Not the twentieth part of what is reported says the Earl of Castlehaven not exceeding some hundreds says P. W. not above 400 says the Author of the Settlement and Sale of Ireland not above 4000 says R. S. in his Collection of Murders To which I answer That by Depositions upon Oath it does appear that many thousands of British were murdered and many more came to untimely Deaths by the Cruelty of the Irish and this is an undeniable way of Arguing That all the British that did not escape did perish by that Rebellion and though the Difficulty still remains to ascertain the number of those that escaped yet it is certain they could not be half of what were in the Kingdom because the Towns that were left for their Refuge were not capable to Receive or Entertain so great a number and even those that did escape to Towns did perish in heaps by reason of the ill usage they had received from the Irish And indeed Sir W. Petty does allow this method of Calculation but his mistake is occasioned by leaving out an Item that I conceive should have been added and that is the number of those born in Ireland and transported thither out of England and Scotland during the interval between 1641. and 1652. for his Compution runs thus British in Ireland anno 1641. 266550 British alive anno 1652. 150000 Ergo there perished in the War but 116550 Whereof one Third in the first Year of the Rebellion and the rest from thenceforward But he should have added That in those ten Years from 1641. to 1652. there were born in Ireland and there came thither out of England and Scotland in all about 300000 Souls and he should have added a proportion of that number to the other and then he had been near the Computation which other Judicious Men have made in that matter But others well knowing that the greatest part of the British that were in Ireland did really perish in the first year of that Rebellion do deny that there was any such Number there as is pretended to have been Massacred and one of them is so vain to say That the Irish were a hundred to one But whoever considers that the British Plantations in Munster had been setled forty years before and that of Vlster almost thirty years that half the Kingdom was the Propriety of Protestants that there were no less than 100000 Scots as the Earl of Strafford affirmed upon his Tryal that the Earl of Cork alone had above 10000 Protestant Souls upon his Estate that all the Officers of State War and Justice and most of the Mechanicks were British will find no Grounds for that Objection However I will not pretend to determine the Number but this I will say That it was great enough to draw the Curse of God and the Revenge of Man upon the infamous Authors of that Massacre as it afterwards did The next Objection is The Seventh Question That the Rebellion was not General but was begun by a few desperate Persons in the North and therefore the Popish Members of Parliament did readily agree to a Protestation against it Review 31. in a Session of Parliament on the 16th of November Quidam nobiles in Vltonia conspirant says Mr. Beling Page 2. To which I answer That the beginning of all Rebellions is by a few or at least there do but few appear in them at first but never any Rebellion in the world increased faster or became more General than this whereby it is manifest that the Design and Conspiracy was Universal and so Rory Macguire told his Brother-in-Law Colonel Awdly Mervin on the 27th of October That all Ireland was by that time in their hands and those that are Ingenious of that Party do confess it to be so P. W. Pref. to Remonstrance 12. their own Procurator P. W. does acknowledge That it was an Vniversal Rebellion and that all the Irish Papists a very few excepted P. W. Letters 54. that it was the National Sin of the whole Catholick Party by Participation were concerned in it O Reylye's Wife said The Lords of the Pale were the Ringleaders and Colonel Planket affirmed That all the Popish Lords had contracted before-hand and Patrick O Bryan testified the same upon Oath and named the Lord of Gormanstown particularly The Lord Macguire confessed That those of the Pale were privy to the Plotting of the Rebellion and Macmahon declared That all the Popish Lords and Gentlemen in Ireland were Engaged in the Plot and that twenty out of every County were to be detached for the Surprize of the Castle of Dublin There was not one County shall I say a Catholici intra Dublinium numero hereticis superiores paratissimi erant ad Vrbis deditionem concurrere vindiciae eversae 91. Temple 46. City in the Kingdom exempt from the Rebellion and in the Province of Vlster only there were 30000 Irish-men in the Rebellion by the 5th of November and I must do Father Ponce the Right to acknowledge That he is more just than to shelter his Party under this pitiful and false Subterfuge and therefore he frankly confesseth That they were all in the b Faedus initur ab omnibus vindiciae eversae 6. Conspiracy and that not the Great Men only but the c Non proceres modo sea eujusâ—bet conditionis per universum Râ—gnâ—m Cathoâ—â—â— Catholicks of all Conditions throughout the whole Kingdom were concerned And certainly it is Incumbent upon these Advocates to shew that those whom they would clear from this Rebellion did publish any Protest or Manifesto against it or d As the Marquis of Clanâ—ickard and some few others did fight against the Rebels or assist the Assaulted English but on the contrary it is manifest by the Decrees of the Assembly That they would suffer no Neuters amongst them But what need any more to be said than that a few could not have perpetrated the Murders and Robberies they have committed The Irish were not so stout nor the British so tame to be served so by a few It appears by Dr. Jones his Examination that the Conspirators at Multifernam computed their Number to be 200000 Men and the Event shewed they had no less but I will close all with the Expression of the Congregation at Kilkenny in May 1642. viz. There is the Vnanimous Consent and Agreement of almost the whole Kingdom in this War and Vnion And the saying of the King to the Protestant Agents at Oxford Anno 1644. when they offered to prove that it was a General Conspiracy and Rebellion
and other the Contents of their Petition His Majesty replyed It needed not any more than to prove the Sun shines when we see it The next Objection is The Eight Question That the Lords of the Pale and the Earl of Castlehaven in particular were necessitated for their own safety to joyn with the Rebels Vindiciae Catholicâ—â—â— 3. finding no Protection from the Government for the Lords Justices might easily have suppressed the Insurrection at first but they desired it might encrease that so there might be more Forfeitures But this is Gratis dictum and without Foundation as appears not only by the Commissions and Arms given to several Lords of the Pale which they perfidiously abused to the prejudice of the State Temple 33. and by the Lords Justices design to Arm all those of the Pale if need were but also by the very instance of the Earl of Castlehaven for tho' the Lords of the Pale went into Rebellion the Second of December yet he lived quietly at his House at Madingston many Months afterwards as himself Confesses and 't is certainly true that even he and the Marquiss of Antrim who was at his house came down to the English Army near Killcullen in March after to visit the Earl of O rmond and was kindly received by him and some few days afterwards being Victorious at the Battel of Killrush Castlehaven treated him at Madingston and mutual Civilities passed between them And about the same time he had such Correspondence with the State that he took upon him to intercede for the Lords of Gormanstown Slane and others so that he might have been safe enough if he pleased and was not under any necessity to go out into Rebellion as he afterwards did And tho' I believe that this Lord was not in the first Conspiracy yet it will appear by what has been said in the Answer to the former Objection that most of the other Lords of the Pale were nor indeed could the Irish have undertaken the Rebellion without them for they were not able to carry on the War by themselves P. W. Remonstrance 595. without the Assistance of the Old English for as Peter Welsh very well observes It is well known that the Irish never signified any thing considerable in any of their Vndertakings and had been presently crushed in this if the English Colonies had not joyned with and supported them But whoever frames an Idea of those times in his own thoughts and reads the passionate Letters of the State for Succours cannot conceive any thing so ridiculous as that the Lords Justices delighted in those sad Spectacles of misery which daily flocked to Dublin or in the report of the most barbarous Inhumanities every day committed on their Friends and Country men but above all the continual Danger they were in themselves and their disadvantage and loss by the Rebellion do sufficiently vindicate them from endeavouring to make this Rebellion more general and formidable than really it was But what did the Lords Justices get by this Rebellion or did they Act or send any dispatch without the Council or did they not importune Aid from England even to the degree of being troublesome or did they not ask enough to make a speedy end of the War or had they a Free-hold in their Places or an unconroulable Power while they held them or what solid Foundation is there for all the Clamour that the Irish have made in this Case against the Lords Justces The Ninth Question The Ninth Question will be whether King Charles II. upon his Restoration stood obliged by the Articles of the Peace made Anno 1646. or the other Peace made Anno 1648. because the Lords Muskery Taaf and others did not faulter in their Allegiance from that time forward and therefore could not forfeit the benefit of those Articles To which I Answer That the Peace of 1646 cannot come in Dispute not only because the Congregation of the Popish Clergy at Waterford did publickly declare against it and Limerick Waterford and Clonmel c. never received it and the Irish Armies perfidiously broke it by indeavouring treacherously to intercept the Lord Lieutenant near Kilkenny and afterwards actually besieging him in Dublin but also because the general Assembly the proper Representative of their Party and Nation did publickly disown and reject that Peace by their Declaration recited Appendix 36. And as for the Peace of 1648. it was made with a Society or a Confederate Body and not with particular Persons and if that Society hath no Right to the benefits of that Peace it is certain that no particular Person can have any because his Claim and Title to it is as he is a Member of that Body Politick and his Case is the same with that of an innocent Freeman in a Corporation whose Charter is forfeited However this Body Politick or Imaginary is composed of particular Men and may forfeit its whole Right by the fault of some of its Members for malum ex quocunque defectu but if the greater part be Guilty there can be no ground for a doubâ— This being Premised it appears by the 29th Article That the Confedrates and their Garisons Towns and Forts were to be Commanded Ruled and Governed in chief upon occasion of necessity as to Martial and Military Affairs by such as the Lord Lieutenant should appoint But this Clause of that Article of the Peace was entirely violated by the Towns of Wexford Ross Waterford Clonmel Limerick and Galway even to the degree of depriving his Majesty of all the benefits and advantages he expected from this Peace and at length to the loss of the whole Kingdom Secondly Those Towns were to be restored to his Majesty whenever the Articles of the Peace were performed on his Part but the Confederates by their own Fault and their own Act gave them up especially Limerick and Galway to the Kings Enemies These were the Jewels his Majesty bought so very dear and yet the Confederates are so unreasonable to expect the Price without delivering the thing contracted for And if they Reply That those Towns were forced from them and without their fault yet that if true as it is not would not Entitle them to the benefits of the Peace For if a Man sell Land and it be evicted from him before he delivers Possession no Body will say he has Right to have the Purchase-Money from the Buyer and yet that is a parallel Case Nor have the Confederates the least Spark of Equity on their side because they might have surrendred the Towns to their King and ought to have done so but they neither did that nor submitted to his Authority as far as they had promised and therefore since they did take upon them to keep these Towns it is certainly at their Peril if they lose them Thirdly They did dissolve and renounce this Peace and the Kings Authority which is the first and chiefest Article tho' placed by way of Introduction for the
Congregation at James-town Excommunicated the Lord Lieutenant and Declared against his Authority and they and the Assembly at Loghreah forced him out of the Kingdom Galway treated with the Duke of Lorrain and received his Ambassadour and that Town and Limerick and several Lords and Gentlemen did joyn in a Commission to treat with foreign Princes as appears Appendix 47. All the Kingdom did at length submit to the Kings Enemies and most of the Confederates took the Engagement to that Government which certainly dissolv'd the Articles of Peace and all Covenants with his Majesty with which that Engagement was inconsistent I should not insist upon it that the Peace was null and void from the beginning and impossible to be performed because the King could not repeal Acts of Parliament much less give away those Estates which were sold to the Adventurers for valuable Consideration by Act of Parliament but that the Confederates had by a previous Engagemen there recited p. 205. which P. W. stifly denies and my Lord of Oâ—â—ery probably had not seen pre-ingaged themselves to return to their first Confederacy if the Articles of the Peace were not fully performed to them Lastly Those Articles were not to be binding unless they should be confirmed by the next Parliament and since they missed of that Ratification they are totally vanished and dissolved and have no manner of Obligation upon any Body Another Question may be made The Tenth Question Whether the Quarrels of the Confederates against the Marquiss of Ormond were founded upon a prejudice to his Person a hatred to his Religion or an aversion to his Authority To which I Answer That their Dissatisfaction with that Lord was not at all in respect of his Person or any Qualifications he had except that of a Protestant Vice-Roy but their hatred to him was partly upon the Account of his Religion but chiefly upon the Score of his Authority for altho' they load his Memory with innumerable false and scandalous Aspersions yet those of Heretick and Idolater of Majesty are not the lâ—ast spiteful nor as they thought the least infamous But after all they can forge or say They confess It would be the same thing if any other of the same Religion should have the Government out aliquis alius ejusdem professâ—onis invidiae in Catholicos says the Bishop of Fernes pag. 34. Noâ— in ullam aliam pacem cum Ormonio aut ullo alio Heretico prorege Nuncius conveniret says Father Ponce pag. â—79 and he fairly gives the Reason of it for a Heretick will never be fond of Popery says he Summe timendum est quemâ—unque adversae Religionis non satis prospecturum Catholicae And tho' the Vice-Roy were a Roman Catholicks yet as long as the Prince that Authorizes him is a Pretestant or King of England they will not be satisfied and the Reason of this is plain viz. That such a Vice-Roy must obey the Commands of his Heretick Master P. W. Letters pag 12. and must preserve Ireland in Subordination to England whereas their main drift was to make it Independent or to alienate it to a Foreigner yet this Assertion would hardly be believed but that we can back it with an instance in the Case of the Marquiss of Clanrickand whom they affronted and traduced as bad as they did the Marquiss of Ormond and Father ponce his Book is written to vilifie that Noble Lord who had no fault in him except his Religion nevertheless they treated him with that degree of Insolence as to threaten his Lieutenant General P. W. Remonstrance 585. to rent the Army from him if he did not dismiss his Confessor immediately they also gave up the Towns and particularly Galway without consulting him tho' he was at hand and they treated with foreign Princes contrary to his Express prohibition and others that he did Authorize had the Confidence to vary from his Instructions and to decline his Name and Authority And what better can you expect from a People which as P. W. observes are wholly given up to be instructed by Anti-remonstrant Priests P. W. Letter to the Earl of Essex pag. 19. known maintainers of the most Anti-Christian Maxims of Disloyalty even to the unsheathing of Swords and cutting of Throats And Lastly It may be demanded Whether all and every of the Irish be guilty of those Crimes and Qualities that in this History may seem attributed to them under the indefinite Appellation of Irish To which I Answer That they are not all Guilty but on the contrary there are undoubtedly very many Lords and Gentlemen of worth and virtue in that Kingdom who abhor and detest those Cruelties and Treacheries which the Generality of their Country men have exercised upon the English nor had I the least design to condemn the Innocent with the Guilty or to asperse any Man of Honour or Worth and therefore tho' I have good Warrant even from Scripture Phrase and Example to use the indefinite Expression when nevertheless many particulars are not comprehended in it yet to avoid all Ambiguity or Mistake in this matter I do here once for all advertise the Reader That where ever he finds the word Irish he understand it only of the Irish Rebels or of the Commonalty or Generality of that Nation as the Sense will best direct him THE REIGN OF JAMES I. KING OF England Scotland France AND IRELAND HITHERTO the Irish Historians have represented their Countrey-men Analecta Hiberniae Sparâ—im as if they were influenced by the most abstracted Considerations of Religion and Honour Ogigia in Preface pag. 4. and as if they were agitated by a generous desire of their Native and Original Liberty and excited by an unparallell'd Loyalty to their Ancient Monarchy to resist and endeavour to shake off the Violences and Usurpations of England whilest one Generation following another in Imitation of their Godly and Worthy Ancestors have gallantly endeavoured to deliver their enthralled Nation from Oppression as Pope Urban VIII words it in his Bull and therefore their Historians do boast of the multiplied Rebellions of the Irish as so many brave Efforts to rescue their Nation from the Bondage of those English Collectors of Peter-pence whom they would hardly vouchsafe to style their Kings But now that the Royal Family of the Stuarts hath ascended the Throne to whose Sacred Blood the Irish Nation hath contributed whose Pedigree is founded on the Famous Irish Milesian Princes Prospect Epist Dedic now that the Irish have got their own Countrey-man for their King a King whose Ancestors and first Predecessors were of their own Blood Propositions at Oxford 1642. a Prince not only of Irish Extraction but such a one as is of the Royal Line and even by the Irish Law ought to be King of that Island and was as they say the One hundred twenty first King of Ireland in a direct Line from Adam Ogigia in epist whereof Eleven were before the Flood
Twenty six before they came to Ireland and Fifty one in Ireland whereof Twenty four were Monarchs and Thirty three in Scotland and so succeeded by Hereditary Right from his Illustrious Irish Ancestors Now I say that they have gotten such a Rightful Hereditary King Analecta Hiberniae the Reader must not expect to hear of any more Irish Rebellions but on the contrary that their peaceable and Loyal Deportment will distinguish between Rightful and Usurping Princes Consanguinei Regis analecta Hib. 208. and that now theâ—â— own Kindred is restored to them we may expect to find that they will take pleasure and delight and a conscionable Pride as they phrase it to be Ruled and Commanded by their own Relations Ib. 276. Germen Hibernorum spes seminis jubar sanguinis and that their great Endeavours for the Kings of England of that Line to whom they are tyed by the Bond of * Cui obligati sumus vinculo sanguinis Consanguinity will be the Work of a Simpathy of Blood if there be any Truth in the Reports or Flatteries of the late Irish Historians or in the Speech of the present Recorder of Kilkâ—nny But alas these thin Pretences which in Ireland are thought Stratagems are easily seen through in England where it is believed that there is something more Criminal in Heresie then can be expiated by Extraction and therefore they expect that the Royal Family of the Stuarts whilst it continues Protestant must have their share of opposition and disturbance even from their own Irish Country-men and with as malicious Circumstances as any other Protestant Princes have had and how far they were in the right of it is Summarily related in my Epistle to the Reader but shall here be more at large explained JAMES VI. King of Scotland 1602. Succeeded the Deceased Queen Elizabeth on the Throne of England by unquestionable Right Ir. Stat. 2. Jac. 1. cap. 1. I say unquestionable notwithstanding the Book published against his Title and Right of Succession by Parsons the Jesuit under the name of Doleâ—an for the material Allegations of that Author are notoriously false and which is worse himself knew that they were so as Peter Walsh hath assured us Letter to the Bishop of Lincoln p. 212. and it is manifest to all the World that the King was the only Son of Mary Queen of Scots Daughter of King James the Fifth Son of James the Fourth by Margaret his Wife who was the eldest Daughter of Henry the Seventh by Elizabeth Heiress of the House of York and so was Heir to both the Families of York and Lancaster And was therefore Proclaimed King without any opposition Secretary Cecill himself reading his Title as also Queen Elizabeth's Will at Whitehall Gate on the 24th day of March 1602. And as to Ireland CHARLES Lord MOUNTJOY continued Lord Deputy 1603. and was afterwards made Lord Lieutenant of that Kingdom and having received Letters from the Council of England with a Proclamation of the new King he first Signed the Proclamation and all the Council did the like in Order and then with great Solemnity they published and proclaimed the same in Dublin on the Fifth of April and about the same time he received kind and gracious Letters from the King then in Scotland by one Mr. Leigh whom therefore the Lord Deputy Knighted The Earl of Tyrone who was brought to Dublin in Company with the Lord Deputy on the 4th day of April could not refrain from Tears on the News of Queen Elizabeths Death nor can we blame him for it for besides the unsecurity of the Pardon or Protection he relyed on being derived from a Princess that was Dead and an Authority that was determined before it was executed He had also lost the best opportunity in the World either of continuing the War with advantage or of making a profitable and meritorious Submission to the new King nor did he want Pretences and Circumstances that would have made his free Submission highly valuable and exceeding honourable however since he had missed the Season of doing better he thought it prudent to do the best for himself that his Circumstances would permit and to secure the Protection and Estate that were promised him and accordingly the 6th day of April the Lord Deputy did not only renew his Protection in King James his Name but soon after gave him Liberty to return to Ulster to settle his Concerns but first the Earl put in his Hostages and also renewed his Submission in a set Form of Words wherein he abjured all foreign Power and Jurisdiction in general Morison 279. and the King of Spain's in particular and renounced the Vraights of Ulster and the name of O Neal and all his Lands except such as should be granted to him by the King and he promised future Obedience and to discover his Correspondence with the Spaniard And at the same time he wrote to Spain for his Son Henry but without effect for he was afterwards found strangled at Brussels no Body knows how and on the 15 th day of April O Rourk in like manner by his Letters humbly offer'd to submit to his Majesties mercy which Offer was accepted These Great men having thus submitted and the Kingdom but especially Ulster being so wasted and destroyed that the Famine encreased to the degree of eating one another as I have already mentioned in my former Part. And the number of the Irish being exceedingly lessened by their many tedious and obstinate Rebellions and those that remain'd except Cities and Towns being so poor that the very estated Men had not wherewithal to stock or cultivate their Land nor had any improvements left upon their Estates Bello peste inedia fatigati Analecta Hib. 207. except perhaps a dismal Castle and a few pittiful Cabins One might expect that this miserable Condition which required a long interval of Rest and Peace to amend it would oblige these People to live peaceably and Loyally under this new King of their own Lineage And perhaps it might have done so if the Universities of Salamanca and Validolid had not about this time sent over their Determination of that knotty Point that Vexata Questio Whether an Irish Papist may obey or assist his Protestant King Which they resolved in the Negative by two Assertions Sullevan's Cath. History 203. 1. That since the Earl of Tyrone undertook the War for Religion and by the Pope's Approbation it was as meritorious to aid him against the Hereticks as to fight against the Turks And 2. That it was mortal Sin any ways to assist the English against him and that those that did so can neither have Absolution nor Salvation without deserting the Hereticks and repenting for so great a Crime But this New Declaration of two such famous Universities and the Impatience of their busie Priests set them a madding again so that they wanted nothing but Power to make a more general and formidable
Parliament in Ireland till the Eleventh Year of this King's Reign Sullivan 211. and that Sullivan himself brings this very Neal Garuff on the English side again Anno 1608. But to proceed Sir ARTHUR CHICHESTER was sworn Lord Deputy on the Third of February 1604. and soon after establish'd a new Circuit for Judges of Assize for the Province of Connagh 1604. and retrived the Circuit of Munster Davis 265. which had been discontinued for Two hundred Years It must be observed That until this time the Papists generally did come to Church and were called Churchâ—Papists but now the Priests began to be seditious and did not only scandalize the Publick Administration of Affairs but also took upon them to review and decide some Causes that had been determin'd in the King's Courts and to oblige their Votaries on pain of Damnation to obey their Decision and not that of the Law they did also forbid the People to frequent the Protestant Churches and they publickly rebuilt Churches for themselves and erected or repaired Abbies and Monasteries in several Parts of the Kingdom and particularly at Multifernam in the County of Westmeath Killconell in the County of Gallway Rossariell in the County of Mayo Buttivant Kilkrea and Timoleague in the County of Cork Quin in the County of Clare Garinlogh in Desmond and in the Cities of Waterford and Kilkenny Sullivan 206. Intending says Mr. Sullivan to restore the Splendor of Religion And as many as pleased sent their Children to Foreign Seminaries without control And perhaps all this might have passed if they had not as foolishly as impudently publish'd every where and in all Companies That the King was of their Religionâ— 1605. But then the Government was necessarily obliged for the Vindication of his Majesty and to prevent the Growth of Popery and suppress the Insolence of the Papists to publish a Proclamation on the Fourth of July 1605. commanding the Popish Clergy to depart the Kingdom before the Tenth of December following unless they would conform to the Laws of the Land But this Proclamation being too faintly executed as Laws against Popery have hitherto always been produced more Noise than Effect so that it did little service in Ireland and yet furnished the Irish Papists with matter of Complaint beyond Seas where they usually make a great Clamour for a small Matter But on the Fifth of November was discovered the Damnable Popish Plot well known in England by the Name of The Gunpowder Treason the Design of it was to blow up at once the King the Nobility and the Principal Gentry of that Kingdom then assembled in Parliament The Papists did for some time with great Artifice and Confidence impose upon the World that this was a Plot of Cecill's making but finding at length that that Cobweb Pretence was too thin and was easily seen through they laid the blame upon a few desperate Villains as they always do when the Fact is too notorious to be denied But now that Matter is pretty well setled by the Confession of * Wilson Hist of K. James p. 32. Weston of the Earl of Castlehaven the Lord Stafford and Peter Walsh This Year the barbarous Customs of Tanistry and Gavelkind were abolish'd by Judgment in the King's Bench Davis's Reports and the Irish Estates thereby made descendible according to the Course of the Common Law of England and the City of Cork and the Liberties thereof were separated from the County of Cork and made a distinct County of it self reserving nevertheless Places in the City for a Gaol and a Court-house for the County at large In the Year One thousand six hundred and six 1606. the famous Robert Lalor Vicar-General of Dublin and other Diocesses in Leinster for disobedience to the aforesaid Prolamation was apprehended in the City of Dublin it being the Custom of these Ecclesiastical Spies to lurk about the Metropolis of every Kingdom he was in Michaelmaâ— Term indicted upon the Statute of 2 Eliz. cap. 1. for advancing and upholding Foreign Jurisdiction within this Realm but he humbled himself to the Court and voluntarily and upon Oath on 22d December 1606. made a Recognition in haec verba First He doth acknowledge that he is not a lawful Vicar General in the Diocess of Dublin Kildare and Fernes and thinketh in his Conscience that he cannot lawfully take upon him the said Office Item He doth acknowledge our Soveraign Lord King James Davis Rep. 83. that now is to be his Lawful Chief and Supream Governor in all Causes as well Ecclesiastical as Civil and that he is bound in Conscince to obey him in all the said Causes and that neither the Pope nor any other Foreign Prelate Prince or Potentate hath any Power to controll the King in any â—ause Ecclesiastical or Civil within this Kingdom or any of his Majesties Dominions Item He doth in his Conscience believe that all Bishops ordained and made by the Kings Authority within any of his Dominions are lawful Bishops and that no Bishop made by the Pope or by any Authority derived from the Pope within the Kings Dominions hath any Power or Authority to impugne disannul or controll any Act done by any Bishop made by his Majesties Authority as aforesaid Item He professeth himself willing and ready to obey the King as a good and obedient Subject ought to do in all his lawful Commandments either concerning his Function of Priesthood or any other Duty belonging to a good Subject Upon this Confession he was indulged with more Liberty and the free Access of his Friends and would undoubtedly have been enlarged the next Term if he had not privately denied what he had publickly done protesting that his Confession did not extend to the Kings Authority in Spiritual Causes but in Temporal only this being told to the Lord Deputy it was resolved to try him upon the Statute of 16. R. 7. cap. 5. of Premunire and it was discreetly done rather to Indite him upon that than upon any new Statute made since the Reformation Davis Rep. 85. that the Irish might be convinc'd That even Popish Kings and Parliaments thought the Pope an Usurper of those exorbitant Jurisdictions he claim'd and thought it inconsistent with the Loyalty of a good Subject to uphold or advance his unjust and unreasonable Incroachments on the Prerogative of the King and the Priviledge of the Subject which tended to nothing less then to make our Kings his Lacquies our Nobles his Vassals and our Commons his Slaves and Villains Upon this Indictment he was tryed and found Guilty and upon his Tryal his aforesaid Recognition which he made upon Oath was publickly read which netled him exceedingly and the rather because he was asked whether he had not denied this Confession to some of his Friends to which he answered that he had not but only told some of them that he had not own'd the Kings Supremacy in Spiritual Causes which he said was true for the word
Godfather and to whom he had Sold Three thousand Acres of Land for ready Money Hereupon Sir Cahir invited Captain Hart to Dinner and he came accordingly with his Wife and the little Child Sir Cahir's Godchild and were liberally treated but after Dinner Captain Hart was called aside and plainly told by O Dogharty that he had received Affronts from the English and especially from Sir George Pawlett who they say gave him a Box on the Ear and was resolved to be revenged and in order to it he must have Culmore which if the Captain would quietly surrender he should receive no harm but if not then the Lives of himself Wife and Child should pay for his Obstinacy and thereupon several armed Men rushed into the Room and kept a swaggering to make those Threats the more terrible nevertheless Captain Hart's Courage was Proof against them all and thereupon Sir Cahir ordered the armed Men to execute him But in the Nick of time in came both their Wives and Hart's Wife immediately fell into a Swoon at this dismal Spectacle Whereupon the Lady Dogharty was exceedingly troubled and disswaded her Husband from this violent Course Upon this Sir Cahir sent his own Lady and Captain Hart into another Room and only kept Harts Wife and some few Soldiers with him and as soon as she came to her Self he told her that unless she would go along with his Soldiers and get them a Peaceable entrance into Culmore her Self her Husband and Child should be murdered at which she was so terrified that she submitted to the undertaking and went with the Rebels to the Castle that Night and told the Centry a formal Story that her Husband had broke his Leg Whereupon she was without scruple admitted in by the Soldiers that knew her Voice but the fatal Consequence of this Folly was the Murder of all the Garison not excepting her own Brother who had come thither to see her and the Plunder of all they had so that she was utterly undone altho' her Life and her Husbands was saved Moreover being fledged with this Success the Rebels about two a Clock in the Morning attempted the Fort and Town of Derry so surprizingly that they took them with little or no Resistance May 1 1608. and they Murdered the Garison and the Governour Sir George Pawlett and plundered the Town and burnt it to Ashes they also took the Bishop of Derry's Wife and Children whom they kept Prisoners and then proceeded to besiege the Castle of Lifford Undoubtedly the Government well enough understood that this Rebellion was designed to be the most general that had ever been in Ireland Bellum statuit ducere usque ad adventum O Nelli c. quos a Christianis Principibus adjutos auxilio redituros sperabat Sullivan 210. and that the Confederates had better Assurance or at least a stronger Expectation of Foreign Aid than in any Rebellion heretofore and that the Censures of Salamancha and Valledolid had convinced all the Popish Clergy of the Unlawfulness to assist a Heretick Prince or People against the Church and therefore it was resolved in Council to nip this Rebellion in the bud if possible and accordingly Sir Richard Wingfeild was first sent with a Detachement to hold the Rebels in play and was followed by the Lord Deputy and the rest of the Army Nevertheless O Dogbarty held out five Months with various Success and perhaps had done so much longer * Sullivan 212. Succours being coming to him from all parts of the Kingdom if he had not been Slain by an accidental Shot which ended this Rebellion with his Life there were some of the Rebels taken and executed who Mr. Sullivan says died Martyrs for denying the King's Supremacy and yet he confesses they were concern'd in this Rebellion So gross are the Cheats which the Irish Historians and Priests do put upon their deluded Countrey men The King was highly provoked at this Ingratitude of the Rebels whom he had formerly pardoned and restored and therefore caused such of them as were alive to be Outlawed and both them and the rest to be afterwards attainted by Parliament whereby part of the Counties of Donegall Tyrone Colerain Eermanagh Cavan Armagh containing 511465 Acres of Land was forfeited or escheated to the Crown and the whole was surveyed and most part of it disposed of in the manner following that is to say To the Londoners and other Undertakers 209800 The Bishops Mensall Lands 003413 The Bishops Terâ—ions and Erenacks 072780 The College of Dublin 009600 For Free-Schools 002700 To Incumbents for Gleab 018000 The Old Gleabs 002268 To Deans and Prebends 001473 To Servitors and Natives 116330 The Impropriations and Abbey-Land c. 021552 The Old Patentees and Forts 038214 To New Corporations 008887 Restored to Macguire 005980 Restored to several Irish 001468 There hath been given already a short hint of the Commission of Grace or rather the Commission for Remedy of defective Titles and it seems there were several Commissions that had a Tendency that way viz. To establish and secure the Subjects in the quiet Possession of the Estates they enjoy'd for on the 4th of June 1606 the King by his Letters Patents dated at Hatfeild did authorize and impower the Lord-Deputy and other Commissioners to Bargain Sell c. any Mannors Lands c. forfeited or otherwise belonging to the Crown to any Person in Fee-Simple and discharged of all mean Profits And on the 15th of July following a Proclamation was published to this effect That if any Person deriving Title since 27 Hen. 8. shall before the 25th of July 1607 petition the Commissioners for a new Patent he shall have one on an easie Fine and without discovery of his Title And that whereas a former Commission of the 19th of July 1605 impowered them to take Surrenders of those that held by Tanistry and had no Title but Possession if any such will make their Surrenders at any time before the said 25th of July 1607 they shall have new Patents granted to them immediately after such Surrender And now by another Proclamation of the 19th of June 1609 1609. the Period of time was enlarged and the Subjects were assured that their Surrenders should be accepted and Regrants should be made to them notwithstanding any Mesne Signiory saving the Rents and Services to the Mesne Lords as formerly and reserving the established Composition and Rent to the King And because the Cities and Towns of Dublin lib. F. F. F. 175. Waterford Corke Limerick Tredagh Galway Wexford Ross Youghall Kinsale and Knockfergus had submitted to the King's Pleasure as to the Customs and Poundage his Majesty did by Letters of the 3d of March 1608 order the Lord-Deputy to renew their respective Charters with addition of reasonable Privileges And about the same time the City of Waterford petitioned the Lord-Deputy that they were oppressed and overburdened in finding Quarters for 100 Soldiers whereas they ought not to find Quarters for
more than 50. There were a great many Projects in England for the Plantation of Ulster 1610. but many things that seem'd speclous in the Theory were afterwards found disadvantageous or impracticable Sir Francis Bacon's Notion was signified by his Letter to the King and is to be found in his Reâ—â—scitatio pag. 255. but it is not so exact as rest of that Great Man's Works However the Lands designed for the Undertakers were this Year disposed to them and two Books of Articles were printed for their better direction and it was particularly mention'd in their Agreements That they should not suffer any Labourer that would not take the Oath of Supremacy to dwell upon their Lands But the incomparable City of London was the Soul and Life of the intended Plantation and therefore the Lords of the Council in his Majesty's behalf entred into Articles with that City the Twenty eighth day of January 1609. to this effect First That Twenty thousand Pounds be levied by the City Fifteen thousand Pounds of it to be expended in the Plantation and Five thousand Pounds in clearing and buying Private Titles Secondly That Two hundred Houses be built at Derry and room for Three hundred more and Four thousand Acres profitable Land to be laid thereto and that the Bishop and Dean shall have convenient Plots for their Houses Thirdly That a hundred Houses be erected in Colerain and room for Two hundred more and Three thousand Acres to be annexed thereto and the King to maintain a Bridge for ever Fourthly That the whole County of Colerain be cleared by the City from all Claims except three or Four Irish Free-holders and the Bishop and Dean of Derry and the City to have the whole Territories of Glancanken and Killetragh and the Patronage of Churches Fifthly That the aforesaid Four thousand and three thousand Acres pay a Fee-farm Rent of Fifty three Shillings and four Pence and be held in Free Burgage and all the rest in Common Socage Sixthly That the City shall have all Customs Tonnage Poundage c. for Ninety nine Years at Six shillings eight pence per Ann. and the Fishing of the Ban and Laghfoyl as far as it ebbs Seventhly The City to have liberty to transport Prohibited Goods growing on their own Lands and the Office of Admiralty in the Counties of Tyrconell and Colerain Eighthly That no Flax Hemp Yarn or Raw Hides be transported from Derry or Colerain without Licence of the City-Officers Ninthly That their Land be freed from all Patents of Privilege and all Compositions and Taxes Tenthly That they have the Castle of Culmore keeping a Ward in it Eleventhly That the Liberties of each Town shall extend three Miles each way and shall have such farther Liberties as shall be thought fit on view of the Charters of London Cinque-Ports Newcastle and Dublin Lastly That the King shall keep necessary Forces a convenient time and that the City shall have Seven years to make demand of any thing reasonable and necessary which cannot be now foreseen and that an Act of Parliament shall pass to ratifie these Articles and the City to build sixty Houses in Derry and forty in Colerain with sufficient Fortifications by November next and to finish all by November 1611. But afterwards on the Twenty eighth of March 1611. the Londoners finding that they could not possibly accomplish their Undertaking within the appointed time petitioned the King that they might be permitted to proceed in their Buildings at Colerain and leave alone Derry till the next Year which was granted provided they would finish Colerain that Summer and fortifie or rather inclose Derry It seems the King and Council of England resolved to proceed effectually to the Reformation of Ireland by making Laws and by putting those that were made in execution and by putting that Kingdom under a regular and methodical Government and in order to it on the twenty fourth day of June 1611. the Lord Carew was sent Commissioner to Ireland to inspect Affairs there and to endeavor to lessen the Publick Charge and to inhance the King's Revenue and to provide for a Parliament He had Five Pounds a day allow'd him from the twentieth of May and Four hundred Pounds Imprest he received in England and was to sign next to the Deputy all Orders of Council-board And tho' the Lord Deputy complain'd that the Forts of Halbowling Castle-ni-park Duncannon Gallway and the Castle of Limrick were not finish'd and repair'd and that the Londoners did not proceed to build at Derry tho' they did at Colerain and that it was necessary to keep a considerable Force in the Kingdom nevertheless the Lord Carew and Council did proceed to lessen the King's Charge 13893 l. by reforming the Army which they reduc'd to 176 Horse 1450 Foot and 123 Warders contrary to the Deputy's Opinion who was therefore traduc'd as partial to Military Men and it seems that immediately the Fort of Castle-ni-park that is the Stone-work of it was built and afterwards a Blockhouse was also erected down lower and almost level with the Water and they also setled the Customs in all parts of the Realm On the thirteenth of July 161â— the former Proclamation of the fourth of July 1605. against Titular Bishops Jesuits Friars c. was reviv'd but so faintly executed that I find mention only of the Titular Bishop of Down and four Friars to have been apprehended thereupon There were also Orders issued to tender the Oath of Supremacy to all Magistrates Justices of the Peace and other Officers and to displace those that would not take it And in August there was an Inquisition by Jury to discover the Breaches of Articles made by the Planters and Undertakers in Munster and particularly Whether any Irish contrary to the Plantation-Covenants were permitted to inhabit or dwell on the Lands granted to the Undertakers Moreover there was a general Muster of the Signiory-men or English Inhabitants on the Plantation-Lands at which no body was found so well supplied with British Tenants as Sir Richard Boyle afterwards Earl of Cork for there were mustered of his own Tenants at Tallow Eighty Horsemen One hundred eighty six Pikemen Two hundred and fifty Shot and Six Halberdiers It is observed That all the Goods and Merchandizes exported and imported this Year did not exceed the Value of 211000 l. and before this time there was so little Foreign-Trade that Seven Years Customs probably from the beginning of the King's Reign to April 1609. did amount to no more in the several Ports than as followeth viz. Â l. s. d. Seven Years Customs in Wexford 36 08 10 Ross 53 10 09 Drogheda 215 02 08 Carigfergus 399 06 07 Youghall 70 00 00 Kingsale 18 02 03 Derry Ballyshanon 35 03 10 Cork 255 11 07 Dingle 01 06 06 Waterford 716 03 07 Dublin 1890 02 01 Dundalk 65 19 06 Gallway 72 17 06 Limrick 141 09 06 Dungarvan 00 13 11 But it seems that this was only the Custom of Prohibited Goods and the
even to intimate some Menaces of Rebellion and in a manner delineated and discrib'd how it would be Imanaged And the same day the Papists of the House of Commons did likewise write to the Lords of the Council in England about the new Corporations and the wrong done their Speaker Everard and they exaggerated their Complaints to that degree as if their Extremities and Sufferings were so strange and so intolerable that they wanted Words to express or Patience to bear them and they laid all the blame on the Principal Officers and Counsellors of State And on the twentieth of May the same Men petition'd the Lord Deputy to dispence with their Attendance in the House of Commons because they were afraid of their Lives and they desir'd he would shew them by what Authority those sat in the House that were now in possession of it and they demanded to have a sight of the King's Letters the Grants and Charters of the New Corporations and of the Returns of Elections And the next day being the 21th of May they petition'd the Lord Deputy again importing That if they might be secure of their Lives and have the Benefit of the Law and that the Returns may be rectified that then they would repair to the House and present the Speaker All which the Lord Deputy granted and promis'd and thinking that they sincerely meant as they spoke his Excellency went to the Upper House in expectation that they would joyn with the rest of the Lower House and attend him with the Speaker But in stead of that on the same day they petition'd again That the new Burgesses might be first excluded and not admitted into the House till their Case was debated and determin'd altho they well enough knew that what they propos'd was unpracticable until first a Speaker was setled But their Business was to baffle and avoid this Parliament if possible to effect which they little matter'd what vain Pretences they made use of And therefore tho the Lords had nothing to do with the Lower House yet to make a Clamour as if they had been wonderfully abus'd they also petition'd the Lord Deputy the same 21th of May to the effect aforesaid and in their Petition asserted That the Lord Deputy's Commission did not authorize him to make New Corporations and concluded with a Request to be excused from attending the Parliament and to have leave to wait on the King in England The Deputy told them That the Affairs of the Lower House did not concern them and therefore commanded them to attend their own House and to proceed in a Parliamentary way to the Business of the King and Kingdom But they persisted in their Obstinacy and on the 23th of May they sent him a Writing in the Form of a Petition whereby they positively refus'd to come to Parliament until the King should take some better order to settle Matters as to the Lower House for tho the Houses were distinct yet they made but One Body and were but One Parliament and they protested against all Laws that should be made in their absence and that if any be made the Subjects will reject them as disorderly and unjustly enactedâ— And this was followed with a Petition of the Commons on the 25th of May wherein in a very sawcy and undutiful manner they pressed the Lord Deputy for a sight of the King's Letters about the New Corporations and for their Charters and the Returns of all the Elections and for a Copy of his Commission to hold that Parliament and for License to send Agents to England to acquaint the King with their Complaints Nevertheless the Lord Deputy by Proclamation commanded them to their respective Parliament houses to pass the Act of Recognition of his Majesty's Title assuring them that no other Bill should be read that Session And he also sent a Messenger to every Lord particularly to Summon him to attend the House But the Commons were so far from complying that on the same day viz. the 26th of May. they presented him with a Petition Recognizing the King's Title but utterly refusing to sit in the House unless their Speaker Everard might be approved and the new Burgesses rejected And the next day the Lords did in like manner by Letter Recognize the King's Title but refus'd to come to their House until the Affairs of the Lower House were rectified and setled Nevertheless both the Popish Lords and Commons had such a great Attendance and there was so great a Concourse at Dublin from all parts of the Kingdom which probably did wait but for some Pretence to be in Action that the Government did not think fit to imprison any of the Mutineers but took a wiser Course by adjourning the Parliament that so his Majesty's Pleasure might be farther known The Recusants lost no time but sent over Agents to the King and levied a Tax upon the People to bear their Charges altho' the Deputy publish'd a Proclamation to prohibit any body to contribute to the Charge of the Agents or to levy any Tax for that purpose and assur'd the People that the Agents went over for their own private Business or Caprichio and not for the Publick Good Nevertheless it appears by the Examination of John O Drea and Donough O Drea Lib. T. T. 175. taken upon Oath before Sir Lawrence Parsons that the Tax levied by the Priests and Jesuits for these Agents was Two shillings of a Yeoman and Five shillings of a Gentleman and that the Lords Barry Roch and others carried Priests and other Firebrands of Sedition with them to the Parliament at Dublin to instruct them how to behave themselves there and that there was a Dispensation brought over from the Pope by Fryar Thomas Fitzgirald unto the whole Kingdom of Ireland or rather all the Papists in it authorizing them to forswear themselves in all Matters moved unto them by the Protestants provided they do it equivocally Ita quod interna mentâ— secus opinentur and that the Deponent saw and read it It seems that the King who was of a peaceable temper and to save Charges had improvidently reduced the Irish Army to Seventeen hundred thirty five Foot and Two hundred and twelve Horse was willing to end this Matter in the mildest manner he could and received the Irish Agents kindly and the better to inform himself in this Affair he sent for the Lord Deputy into England and order'd him to substitute Lords Justices Doctor THOMAS JONES Lord Chancellor Sir RICHARD WINGFIELD Marshal who were sworn the Fourth of March 1613. 1613. They had little to do in Ireland because by the Presence of the Lord Deputy and the Irish Agents in England that Kingdom was become the Scene of Irish Affairs which were so well managed by the Lord Deputy that the King was fully convinc'd of the Seditious Designs of the Irish and therefore on the 21th day of April at the Council-Tale at Whitehall he made the following Speech before the Irish
be are answered to the King and included in the Green-wax Money hereafter mentioned Secondly That by reducing doubtful Rents to a Third part it would make that Third part an easie Rent to the Subject and certain to the King and so 1800 l. doubtful Rents would be per Annum 600 l. Those doubtful Rents are so manag'd that in Munster they have yielded 180 l. per Annum and in Conaugh 11 l. 17 s. 3 d. but we can make nothing of them in Ulster Thirdly That the Composition in Munster is diminish'd and so many Lands are conceal'd as would yield per Annum 229 l. 14 s. 4 d. The last Composition was setled by Indenture Anno 1604. since which many Undertakers have recovered some of the Lands liable to Composition and they pay a greater Patent-Rent and therefore the Composition abates pro tanto Fourthly That the Composition of Conaught is defective 500 l. per Annum It was always incertain because Waste-land did not pay but whilst it was inhabited It was Anno 1622. 3569 l. 13 s. 9 d. Irish but since most part of Letrim which paid 138 l. is escheated to the Crown so that the remaining Composition of that County is but 26 l. 13 s. 4 d. but the new Patent-rents are 1175 l. 18 s. 0 ½ d. and the whole Province pays 3526 l. 11 s. 8 d. Irish per Annum which is less than it was Anno 1622. Fifthly The Composition of Twomond is abated per Annum 40 l. It paid then 687 l. 2 s. 2 d. and since is increas'd 1 l. 11 s. 0 ½ d. and no more Sixthly The Undertakers of Ulster for Breach of Covenants may be raised per Annum 2000 l. They are rais'd 1212 l. 9 s. 4 d. from Easter 1630. Seventhly The Rents of New Plantations in the King's County and Queen's County not yet in Charge per Annum 500 l. They come to 603 l. 10 s. 2 d. Eighthly That an Increase of Rent may be advanc'd on new Leases and the Composition of the County of Wicklow after Sir William Harington's death will be per Annum 200 l. It is so Ninthly The Court of Wards may be improv'd per Ann. 1700 l. It yielded then 3365 l. 2 s. 2 d. and Anno 1629. it advanc'd to 7000 l. but because of the Graces granted 1628. it is diminish'd above half Tenthly That the Royal Fishings may be set for 500 l. per Annum Not yet set Eleventhly That Respite of Homage might be improv'd 50 l. per Annum It was then 92 l. 4 s. 3 d. it is now 244 l. 15 s. Twelfthly That his Majesty's part of the Customs may be advanc'd above what they yield now to 2500 l. per Annum They were then 9686 l. 0 s. â— d. and are now 11050 l. out of which there are considerable Deductions Thirteenthly That the profit of the Seals and Fines on Original writs and the Half-fees on Latitats would yield 200 l. per Annum more than they did Then they yielded 373 l. 5 s. now 482 l. 12 s. and the Latitats 74 l. Fourteenthly That Felons Goods would communibus Annis advance 50 l. Anno 1622. they amounted to 66 l. 2 s. 10 d. and this Year to 232 l. Fifteenthly That the Green-wax Money might increase 4000 l. per Annum It was then 2006 l. 11 s. 1 d. it is now 4398 l. Sixteenthly That Fines in Star-chamber might advance 1000 l. per Annum Anno 1618. they amounted to 2246 l. but now decrease because whilst the Six score thousand Pound is paying Juries are not fined for not presenting Papists Seventeenthly That First-fruits and Twentieth paâ—â—â— may raise 300 l. per Annum The Twentieth part is certain 695 l. 13 s. only some not yet rated for which Commissions are gone out and the First-fruits are casual Eighteenthly That the Rent of Carrigfergus will be per Annum 40 l. But it is not payable till the Walls are finished By this Calculation which in some things is under but in most is over the right Mark it will appear that these Commissioners tho' they were learned active and wise Men yet being Strangers to Ireland they were at a loss in managing that Kingdom as probably all Strangers will be That do not consult the Inhabitants of that Country and how the Conduct of these Commissioners in Matters of Government was relished by the Earl of Strafford may be read Rushworth 171. But it is time to leave them and attend HENRY CARY Viscount Falkland Lord Deputy who was Sworn on the 8th day of September 1622. at which time Bishop Usher preached before him on Rom. 13. He beareth not the Sword in vain and in his Sermon advised That if his Majesty were pleased to extend Clemency to Recusants that yet they might not be suffered To give the Protestants publick Affronts nor to take Possession of their Churches before their Faces the reason of his saying so was because the Fryars of Multifernam were erecting a new Abby at Molingar and because that Mr. Anker going to read Prayers in a Church of his in Westmeath found an old Priest and forty People with him in the Church who were so bold to bid Mr. Anker depart until the Priest had done his Business However the Papists took such Exceptions at this Sermon and made such a noise about it as if the Bishop had advised that the Sword which had been so long born in vain should now be exercised to their Destruction That how groundless soever this Clamour was the Bishop was fain to Preach an Explanatory Sermon to appease it This Year there happened a dreadful Fire in Corke which consumed the greatest part of that City and on the 8th of March the King sent a Letter to make Malcolm Hamilton Archbishop of Cashell and Bishop of Emely and to Grant him in Comendam the Chancellorship of Down and the Parsonage of Davenis and to give him the Profits that accrued in the Vacancy And the like Order was sent to make Archibald Hamilton Bishop of Killalla and Ardconry and on the 10th of March Sir Edward Villars was made Lord President of Munster in the room of the Deceased Earl of Thomond In the time of this Lord Deputy several Popish Magistrates that had refused the Oath of Supremacy contrary to the Stat. of 2. Eliz. c. 1. were censured in the Star-Chamber on the 22d of November 1622 1622. at which time Bishop Usher made that Excellent Speech about the Lawfulness of that Oath which is published in his Answer to the Jesuite Malone 1623. and on the 21st of January 1623 there issued a Proclamation against the Popish Clergy Secular and Regular ordering them to depart the Kingdom within Forty days after which all Persons were prohibited to converse with them And on the 21st day of March 1624. Doctor Usher was made Archbishop of Armagh And thus stood the Government of Ireland during the Reign of King James which ended by his Death at Theobalds on the 27th day
of March 1625 having in his Life-time created the Irish Nobility hereafter mentioned viz. February 23d 1603. Rory O Donell Earl of Tyrconnel February 23d 1615. Sir Arthur Chichester Baron of Belfast since Earl of Donegal July 14th 1616. Brabazon Baron of Ardee since Earl of Meath September 29th 1616. Sir Richard Boyle Baron of Yough-hall afterwards Earl of Corke May 25th 1617. Ridgeway Baron of Galenridgeway since Earl of London-Derry July 20th 1617. Moor Baron of Melefont since Earl of Drogheda Septemâ—er 6th 1617. Touchet Earl of Castlehaven and Baron Orior February 17th 1617. Lambert Baron of Cavan since Earl of Cavan Ibid. Bourk Baron of Brittas May 8th 1618. Hamilton Baron of Strabane January 31st 1618. Blunt Baron Mountjoy Ex. June 29th 1619. Mac Donald Viscount Dunlucâ— since Earl and Marquess of Antrim February 19th 1619. Sir Richard Wingfeild Viscount Powerscourt July 1620. Preston Earl of Desmond Viscount Dunmore Ex. May 1621. Dockwray Baron of Culmore Ex. Ibid. Blany Baron of Monaghan March 1st 1621. Henry Power Viscount Valentia Ex. Theo. Butler Viscount Tullagh THE REIGN OF CHARLES I. KING OF England Scotland France AND IRELAND CHARLES the only surviving Son of the Deceased King James 1625. by undoubted Right succeeded his Father in all his Dominions on the 27th day of March 1625 and was accordingly Proclaimed the same day and on the 23d day of June following he was Crowned at the Abby of Westminster with great Solemnity and as to Ireland HENRY Viscount FALKLAND was continued Lord Deputy and other inferior Officers likewise were confirmed in their respective Places but the Affairs of England being not a little out of Order the Irish took advantage thereof to be very high and insolent at home to which they were much encouraged by the Bull of Urban the 8th of the 30th of May 1626. to the English Catholicks exhorting them rather to loose their Lives then to take Noxium illud illicitum Anglicanae fidelitatis Juramentum 1626. quo non Solum id agitur ut fides Regi servetur P. W. Remonstrance 11. sed ut sacrum Universae Ecclesiae sceptrum eripatur Vicariis Dei Omnipotentis that pernicious and uâ—lawful Oath of Allegiance of England which his Predecessor of happy Memory Paul 5th had condemned as such Hereupon it was found necessary to increase the Army to the number of Five thousand Foot and Five hundred Horse the Charge whereof amounted unto 64240 l. 1 s. 2 d. which was more then the Kings Revenue out of which the Civil List was nevertheless to be paid so that it was necessary to find out some other Bund for the support of the Army and until that could be done the Lord Deputy and Council on the 14th of September by their Letters did recommend several Troops and Companies of the Army to the Counties and Towns of the Kingdom to be maintained for three Months and so from three Months to three Months until the last day of March 1628 and this whole Charge or Incumbrance on the Countrey was estimated at 36951 l. 6 s. 7 d. ½ and in the King's Letter of the 22d of September 1626. to raise this Army and that the Countrey should maintain it with Money Cloaths and Victuals his Majesty promises in lieu thereof to Grant certain Graces to the Countrey and particularly to suspend the Composition But the Gentlemen that were Agents from Ireland did to ease the Kingdom from that oppression offer to pay 40000 l. a Year for three Years in the nature of three Subsidies and to pay it quarterly from the first of April 1628. which was accepted of and the same was Paid accordingly until the first day of October 1629. On the 16th of May 1626. 1626. The King reciting a Complaint of Sir Samuel Smith's against the Lord Chancellor and that there was difference between the Lord Deputy and Chancellor 1. Because the Chancellor refused to Seal some Patents offered to him 2. Because he denied to appoint Judges for Circuits when thereunto required by the Deputy 3. Because he refused to appoint Justices of Peace at the Lord Deputies Nomination and made one Justice of the Peace against his Express prohibition to which the Lord Chancellor made Answer That in the first Case there was matter of Equity Convenience of State and Question in Law unresolved and that in the sesond Case he had directions in the time of King James and that in the third Case it was the Priviledge and Jurisdiction of his place Therefore the King orders That the Chancellor bear fitting respect to the Lord Deputy who is his Majesties Representative and as to the Matters in Debate if the Chancellor refuse to Seal any Patent in question for Reasons of State that the Cause be debated in Council and if then they think it fit and the Chancellor still refuses till he has appeal'd to his Majesty as he may it shall be at his Peril if the State suffer by his delay if the Question be in Law that the Judges decide it and if the Chancellor be not satisfied therewith he ought to appeal to the King for farther Directions and particularly about the Patent for Tanning Leather As to the Second if the Chancellor will not appoint Judges as the Lord Deputy desires that then it be refer'd to the Council-board and their Sentence be definitive as to that And as to the Third the Chancellor will not refuse to make any Man a Justice of the Peace recommended by the Lord Deputy if he does that then the Order of the Council-Table shall govern that Matter and in all these Cases it becomes the Chancellor to repair to the Deputy and acquaint him with his Reasons whenever he refuses And as for Sir Samuel Smith's Complaint his Case was that he had the sole Nomination of those that should be Licensed to Sell Aquavitae and did set that Priviledge to one Miagh for the County of Cork the King appoints the Chief Justice Chief Baron and Sir John King to Arbitrate that Matter and to make Reparation to Miagh whose Patent must be called in because he is an infamous Person and unfit for that Trust and a new Patent for that County must be Granted to whom Sir Samuel Smith shall name In the same Month of May the King sent an Order to the Lord Deputy to make a Lord High Steward c. for the Tryal of the Lord of Dunboyn by his Peers upon an Indictment found against him in the County of Typerary for killing a Man and in January after the Earl of Marleburgh Duke of Buckingham and the Lords of Pembrook Dorset Grandison Conway and Carlton and Sir Richard Weston were made Commissioners or rather a Committee for Irish Affairs And on the Eighth of February Edward Brabazon Baron of Ardee was ordered to be Earl of Catherlogh but for what Reasons I know not he had not that Title but was afterwards made Earl of Meath And on the Second of March his Majesty sent an Order
that Our Realm are to be admitted to Sue their Liveries Ouster le Mains and other Grants depending in Our Court of Wards taking only the Oath here under expressed and any other Oath to be forborn in that Case And the Natives of that Kingdom being Lawyers and who were heretofore Practisers there shall be admitted to practise again and all other Natives of that Nation that have been or shall be Students at the Inns of Court in England for the space of Five Years and shall bring any Attestation sufficient to prove the same are also to be freely admitted by the Judges there to practise the Law taking only the said Oath I A. B. do truly acknowledge profess testifie and declare in my Conscience before God and the World That our Sovereign Lord King CHARLES is Lawful and Rightful King of this Realm and of all other His Majesty's Dominions and Countries And I will bear Faith and true Allegiance to His Majesty His Heirs and Successors and Him and Them will defend to the uttermost of my Power against all Conspiracies and Attempts whatsoever which shall be made against His or Their Crown and Dignity and do my best endeavor to disclose and make known unto His Majesty or His Heirs and Successors or to the Lord Deputy or other Governor for the time being all Treasons and Traiterous Conspiracies which I shall know or hear to be intended against His Majesty or any of Them And I do make this Recognition and Acknowledgment heartily willingly and truly upon the true Faith of a Christian So help me God XVI All Compositions in the Court of Wards or Alienations made bona fide for valuable Considerations Intrusions Primier Seisins Ouster les Mains and Liveries are to be reduced and limited to the Eighth part of the true Value of the Lands and Hereditaments so to be Compounded for And all Wardships and Custodies of Lands during the Minority of Our Wards are to be moderately valued according to the Discretion of the Judges of that Court Provided That if any Alienations shall be made whereby We shall be prevented of Primier Seisin and Relief of Wardship and that sufficiently proved In all such Cases Our said Court of Wards is not to be restrained to the limitation of the Rates of the Alienations as aforesaid but our Officers of the same are to impose such reasonable Rates and Values as may recompence Us in some measure of those Duties and Profits which otherwise should have accrued unto Us if no Alienation to Uses had been made XVII Our Court of Wards is not to make any Inquiries further then to the last Deceased Ancestor except it be by Special direction from Us. XVIII All Escheators and Feodaries are to be specially directed where any Freeholders Estate in Land doth not exceed the worth of Five Pound English yearly in the true improved value to return the Offices taken of such Land into the proper Courts without Charge to the Subject or other Fees to any Court or Officer save only Ten Shillings Sterling to the Officer that shall take and return the Office but no Charge is to be set upon the said Lands nor any Process to issue upon the said Inquisitions but only for our Reliefs due upon the Tenures Provided that if any such Freeholder have the value of one Hundred Marks English in Chattels Real or Offices then this Grace is not to be extended to him although his Estate in Land be under Five Pound per Annum XIX In General leading Cases that Court is to be regulated according to the Laws and Courses practised here in England whereof Our Judges here shall deliver their Opinions if it shall be desir'd And our Judges of that Court there are to nominate some of the best Quality of the several Counties to be joyned in Commission with the Feodary or Escheator to take Inquisitions XX None of the Clerks or inferior Ministers of that Court or Servant to any of the said Court is to be a Commissioner for taking Offices Not intending hereby to exclude the Officers of the said Court and others who by their Places are to be Commissioners XXI No Grants of Intrusions or Alienations or Leases of Mens Lands are to be made out of that Court to any before the Party interessed shall have personal warning and Affidavit returned thereof who is to be preferred before any other if he come in the next Term after the Office is returned and will accept it at the Rates thought fit by the Court. XXII Upon a Contempt in that or any other Court the first Attachment is to be directed to the Sheriff and if he make not a good return and the Party come not in during that Term to purge his Contempt then the further Process is to be directed to the Persuivant and no further in our Court of Wards Our Exchequer in this Point is to proceed according to the Law and Ancient Custom of that Court and our other Ancient Courts are to bold their Ancient Course and not to permit any Innovations of sending Messengers or other Officers XXIII For reducing and moderating of Fees taken by Officers and Clerks in our Courts there whereof great Complaint is made It is Our Pleasure That a Commission be directed under our Great Seal of that Our Realm to the Persons nominated in a List Signed by Us and herewith sent unto you for the regulating of Fees of all Courts Spiritual and Temporal according to the Form of a like Commission Granted here in England to some of Our Council here and others whereof a Copy is transmitted unto you upon return whereof an Act of State to pass for Establishing the same accordingly untill there may be an Act of Parliament XXIV For the better settling of our Subjects Estates in that Kingdom We are pleased That the like Act of Grace shall pass in the next Parliament there touching the limitation of our Titles not to extend above Sixty years as did pass 21 Jacobi Regis wherein are to be excepted the Lands whereunto We are intituled by Offices already taken and those already disposed of by our Directions And We are further Graciously pleased for a more ample Testimony of Our Goodness to Our Subjects of that Kingdom to direct hereby That from henceforth no advantage be taken for any Title accrued to Us Sixty years and above Except only to such Lands in the Kings County and Queens County whereunto We are intituled by Offices already taken within the said Term of Sixty years and which are not yet Granted nor Lawfully conveyed from Us and Our Crown XXV And We are Graciously pleased and accordingly do hereby require You That You give present Order for the Inhabitants of Conaught and County of Clare to have their Surrenders made in the time of our late most Dear Father inrolled in our Chancery there as of the time of our said Father according to the Date of the said Surrenders and allowing what Fees were formerly paid for
the Eighteenth of May there was an Order of Reference to him in the Controversie between the City of Dublin and the Merchants-Strangers from whom that City demanded Three pence per Pound Custom And on the Eighteenth of July he got an Order to the Lord Willâ—ot 〈…〉 General of the Army in Ireland to surrender that Office to him He had also the King's Letter of the Sixteenth of October to the Lords Justices That the Port-â—orn and Tithes belonging to the Chief Governor should be given to his Servants And he also obtain'd his Majesty's Commission of the Seventeenth of October to levy what Forces he should think fit or find necessary and an Order of the same Date to be paid the Charge of such Journeys and Progresses as he should think fit to make And Matters being thus fitted to his mind THOMAS Viscount WENTWORTH was on the Twenty fifth day of July sworn Lord Deputy 1633. to whom the Bishop of Kilmore and two other Bishops and the Inhabitants of the County of Cavan sent a Petition Bishop Bedel's Life containing some Complaints against the Army and some Proposals for the Regulation of it which was very ill resented at that time and interpreted to be a Mutinous and Insolent Attempt and brought the Bishop of Kilmore who was supposed the Author and Promoter of it under his Excellency's Displeasure until that Prelate afterwards explain'd himself averring That he did not intend by lessening or discountenancing the Army to expose with the Publick Peace his own Neck to the Skeins of the Romish Cut-throats But the Contribution or Tax of 20000 l. per Annum to which the Country had consented for two Years was now almost expired so that it was necessary to call a Parliament wich met the Fourteenth day of July 1634. 1634. at Dublin and granted Six entire Subsidies but not without the opposition of some Papists one of which moved That the Matter concerning the Subsidies might be put off to another time and then be again considered of This Parliament also passed an Act for the Confirmation of Patents afterwards to be past on the * Dated 29 June 1634. Commission of Defective Titles and then was Prorogued to the Fourth day of November following At the same time there was also a Convocation of the Clergy and preparatory to it the Precedency of the Archbishop of Armagh before the Archbishop of Dublin was determin'd and setled by his Majesty's definitive Sentence And this Convocation to manifest their Agreement with the Church of England did receive the Thirty Nine â—â—â—â—cles of that Church into the Confession of Faith of the Church 〈◊〉 Ireland nevertheless without aâ—rogating any of the Canons of the Convocation held Anno 1615. And a New Book of Canons for the most part agreeing with that of England was then compiled for the better Government of the Church of Ireland By vertue of these Six Subsidies which amounted to above 240000 l. and were payable Half-yearly the Lord Deputy was enabled to pay a Debt of 80000 l. due from the Crown and to support the Charge of the Kingdom without any Supply of Money from England This Lord Deputy had formerly obtain'd his Majesty's Order of the Sixteenth of January 1633. for the free transportation of so many Horses and Mares out of England as he the Lord Deputy should give Licence for by which means he changed Five hundred Foot of the Army for Six hundred Horse which were extraordinary good ones his own Stables exceeding that of any former Governors And indeed generally the whole Army was neither so well paid nor so well disciplin'd in any other time as it was in his On the Twenty fourth of September 1634. the King reciting That King James had by his Commission of the Tenth of August 1603. renewed or revived the Court of Castle-chamber as himself likewise had done by his Commission of 5 October 1625. and that now some Disputes are arisen whether that Court can sit out of Term or more than twice a Week His Majesty Orders That it it may sit when and as often as the Commissioners please and that a new Commission issue to that Purpose And about this time Emerus Mac Mahon afterwards Titular Bishop of Clogher discovered to Sir George Ratcliff a Plot for a general Insurrection in Ireland and Confess'd that himself had been imploy'd for some years in foreign Courts to solicite Aid to carry on a Rebellion which it seems they thought fit to adjourn to a more proper Season But on the 14th of November the Parliament met according to the Prorogation and sate till the 14th of December and were then Prorogu'd to the 26th of January from which time they sate till the 21st day of March and then it was again Prorogu'd to the 24th day of the same Month and sate from thence to its Dissolution which was on the 18th day of April 1635. I need not mention the Acts made in these several Sessions of Parliament because they are many and are to be found at large in the Printed Book of Statutes it is enough to say That they cull'd out all the choice Statutes that were made in England since the 20th of Henry the 8th that were proper for the Kingdom of Ireland and added to them some good new Laws that were peculiar to that Countrey The Parliament being thus ended and closed with an Act of Indemnity the Lord Deputy and Council made a Progress into Conaught to inquire into his Majesties Title to several Lands in that Province and on the 11th of July at Abby-boyle to still the Jealousies and Alarms the People were under at this great Inquisition they published an Act of Council 1635. That it was not his Majesties intention to take any thing from his People that was justly theirs and therefore that those who had effectual Letters Patents should have the full benefit of them as if they were found Verbatim in the great Office then to be taken provided the Patents or the Enrolment thereof were shewn to the Council-board before Easter Term next and by it approved to be good and effectual in Law and the like was done in other Counties of Conaught and so this great Inquisition which was one of the Spring-heads and Fountains of the succeeding Rebellion was with great Diligence and Success carried on and effected and the Kings Title was found to most part of that Province and a noble English Plantation was design'd Whereupon the Patentees and particularly the Lord Dillon of Costilo produced their Patents to the Council-board and it appearing those Patents were Granted by Virtue of a Commission 4 Jac. 1. wherein there was no direction about the Tenure it grew to be a Question whether the Patents to hold by Knights Service as of the Castle of Dublin were warranted by that Commission or valid in Law and after much debate it was solemnly adjudg'd That those Patents were void And this Case is well known to the Lawyers by the
Lord Deputy He was sworn on the Third of April and was an intimate Friend of the Lord Lieutenants and was suspected to have imployed Agents to raze out of the Journal-Book of the House of Commons some Instructions that were agreed upon by that House for a Committee to Impeach the Earl of Strafford but it is certain he did what he could to hinder that Committee from going to England And besides Persuasions Rushw 469. he proceeded to forbid them that voyage upon their Allegiance Nevertheless they all got away privately some from one Port and some from another and came safely to England This Committe were the Lords Gormanstowne Killmallock Costilo and Baltinglass for the Upper House Nicholas Plunket Sir Robert Digby Richard Fitz-Gerrald and Nicholas Barnwall for Leinster Sir Hardress Waller John Welsh Sir Donough mac Cartby for Munster Robert Linch Geoffry Browne and Thomas Burk for Connught and Sir William Cole and Sir James Mountgomery for Ulster and they carried with them a Remonstrance from the Irish Parliament against the Earl of Strafford whom they prosecuted effectually and were under-hand so to do by the Discontented part of the Parliament of England And because this Remonstrance contains a great part of the History of those Times I have thought necessary to add it in haec verba To the Right Honourable the Lord Deputy The Humble and Just Remonstrance of the Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the Parliament Assembled SHEWING THat in all Ages since the happy Subjection of this Kingdom to the Imperial Crown of England Rushw 11. it was and is a Principal Study and Princely Care of His Majesty and His Noble Progenitors Kings and Queens of England and Ireland to the vast Expence of Treasure and Blood that their Loyal and Dutiful People of this Land of Ireland being now for the most part derived from British Ancestors should be Governed according to the Municipal and Fundamental Laws of England that the Statute of Magna Charta or the Great Charter of the Liberties of England and other Laudable Laws and Statutes were in several Parliaments here Enacted and Declared that by the means thereof and of the most prudent and benign Government of His Majesty and His Royal Progenitors this Kingdom was until of late in its growth a flourishing Estate whereby the said People were heretofore enabled to answer their humble and natural Desires 〈◊〉 comply with His Majesty's Princely and Royal Occasions by their Free Gift of One hundred and fifty thousand pounds Sterling and likewise by another Free Gift of One hundred and twenty thousand pounds more during the Government of the Lord Viscount Faulkland and after by the Gift of Forty thousand pounds and their free and chearful Gift of Six intire Subsidies in the Tenth Year of His Majesty's Reign which to comply with His Majesty 's then Occasions signified to the them House of Commons they did allow should amount in the Collections unto Two hundred and Fifty thousand pounds although as they confidently believe if the Subsidies had been Levied in a moderate Parliamentary way they would not have amounted to much more than half the Sum aforesaid besides the Four intire Subsides granted in this present Parliament So it is may it please Your Lordship by the occasion of the ensuing and other Grievances and Innovations though to His Majesty no considerable Profit this Kingdom is reduced to that extream and universal Poverty that the same is lesâ— able to pay Subsidies than it was heretofore to satisfie all the before-recited great Payments And His Majesty's most Faithful People of the Land do conceive great Fears that the said Grievances and Consequences thereof may be hereafter drawn into Precedents to be perpetuated upon their Posterity which in their great Hopes and strong Beliefs they are persuaded is contrary to His Royal and Princely Intention towards His said People Some of which said Grievances are as followeth I. The general apparent Decay of Trades occasioned by the new and illegal raising of the Book of Rates and Impositions upon Native and other Commodities exported and imported by reason whereof and of extreme Usage and Censures Merchants are beggar'd and both disenabled and discouraged to Trade and some of the Honourable Persons who gain thereby are often Judges and Parties and that in the conclusion His Majesty's Profit thereby is not considerably advanced II. The Arbitrary Decision of all Civil Causes and Controversies by Paper Petitions before the Lord Lieutenant and Lord Deputy and infinite other Judicatories upon Reference from them derived in the nature of all Actions determinable at the Common Law not limited into certain Time Cause Season or Thing whatsoever and the Consequences of such Proceedings by receiving immoderate and unlawful Fees by Secretaries Clerks Pursuivants Serjeants at Arms and otherwise by which kind of Proceedings His Majesty loseth a great part of His Revenue upon Original Writs and otherwise and the Subject loseth the Benefit of his Writ of Error Bill of Reversâ—l Vouchers and other legal and just Advantages and the ordinary Course and Courts of Justice declined III. The Proceedings in Civil Causes at Council-board contrary to the Law and Great Charter not limited to any certain Time or Season IV. That the Subject is in all the Material Parts thereof denied the Benefit of the Princely Graces and more especially of the Statute of Limitations of 24 Jac. granted by His Majesty in the Fourth Year of His Reign upon great Advice of the Councils of England and Ireland and for great Consideration and then published in all the Courts of Dublin and in all the Counties of this Kingdom in open Assizes whereby all Persons do take notice that contrary to His Majesty's Pious Intentions His Subjects of this Land have not enjoyed the Benefit of His Majesty ' Princely Promise thereby made V. The Extrajudicial Avoiding of Letters Patents of Estates of a very great part of His Majesty's Subjects under the Great Seal the Publick Faith 〈◊〉 the Kingdom by Private Opinions delivered at the Council-board without Legal Evictions of their Estates contrary to Law and without Precedent or Example of any former Age. VI. The Proclamation for the Sole Emption and Uttering of Tobacco which is bought at very low Rates and uttered at high and excessive Rates by means whereof thousands of Families within this Kingdom and of His Majesty's Subjects in several Islands and other Parts of the West-Indies as your Petitioners are informed are destroyed and the most part of the Coin of this Kingdom is engrossed into particular Hands insomuch that your Petitioners do conceive that the Profit arising and engrossed thereby doth surmount His Majesty's Revenue Certain or Casual within this Kingdom and yet His Majesty receiveth but very little Profit by the same VII The universal and unlawful Encreasing of Monopolies to the Advantage of a Few the Disprofit of His Majesty and Impoverishment of His People VIII And the extreme cruel Usage of certain late Commissioners and
other Stewards of the British Farmers and Inhabitants of the City and County of London-Derry ☞ by means whereof the worthy Plantation of that Country is almost destroyed and the Inhabitants are reduced to great Poverty and many of them forced to forsake the Country the same being the first and most useful Plantation in the large Province of Ulster to the great weakning of the Kingdom in this Time of Danger the said Plantation being the principal Strength of those Parts IX The late Erection of the Court of High-Commission for Causes Ecclesiastical in these necessitous Times the Proceedings of the said Court ' in many Causes without Legal Warrant and yet so supported as Prohibitions have not been obtained though legally sought for And the excessive Fees exacted by the Ministers thereof and the Encroaching of the some upon the Jurisdiction of other Ecclesiastical Courts of this Kingdom X. The exorbitant Fees and pretended Customs exacted by the Clergy against the Law some of which have been formerly represented to your Lordship XI The Petitioners do most heartily bemoan that His Majesty's Service and Profit are much more impaired than advanced by the Grievances aforesaid and the Subsidies granted in the last Parliament having much increased His Majesty's Revenue by the buying of Grants and otherwise And that all His Majesty's Debts then due in this Kingdom were satisfied out of the said Subsidies and yet His Majesty is of late as the Petitoners have been informed in the House of Commons become indebted in this Kingdom in great Sums And they do therefore humbly beseech That an exact Account may be sent to His Majesty how and in what manner his Treasure is issued XII The Petitioners do humbly conceive just and great Fears at a Proclamation published in this Kingdom in Anno Domini 1635. prohibiting Men of Quality or Estates to depart this Kingdom into England without the Lord Deputy's Licence whereby the Subjects of this Kingdom are hindred and interrupted from free Access to Address to His Sacred Majesty and Privy-Council of England so declare their just Grievances or to obtain Remedies for them in such sort as their Ancestors have done in all Ages since the Reign of King Henry the Second and great Fees exacted for every of the said Licences XIII That of late His Majesty's Attorney-General hath exhibited Informations against many ancient Burroughs of this Kingdom into His Majesty's Court of Exchequer ☜ to shew cause by what Warrant the said Burroughs who heretofore sent Burgesses to Parliament should send Burgesses to the Parliament And thereupon for want of an Answer the said Privileges of sending Burgesses were seised by the said Court Which Proceedings were altogether coram non Judice and contrary to the Laws and Privileges of the House of Parliament and if way should be given thereunto would tend to the Subversion of Parliaments and by consequence to the Ruin and Destruction of the Commonwealth And that the House of Commons hath hitherto in this present Parliament been deprived of the Advice and Counsel of many profitable and good Members by means thereof XIV By the Powerfulness of some Ministers of State in this Kingdom the Parliament in its Members and Actions hath not its natural Freedom XV. And lastly That the Gentry and Merchants and other His Majesty's Subjects of this Kingdom are of late by the Grievances and Pressures before said and other the like brought very near to Ruin and Destruction And the Farmers of Customs Customers Waiters Searchers Clerks of Unwarrantable Proceedings Pursuivants and Gaolers and sundry others very much enriched whereby and by the slow Redress of the Petitioners Grievances His Majesty's most faithful and dutiful People of this Kingdom do conceive great Fears that their Readiness approved upon all Occasions hath not been of late rightly represented to His Sacred Majesty For remedy whereof the said Petitioners do humbly and of right beseach your Lordship That the said Grievances and Pressures may be speedily redressed and if your Lordship shall not think fit to afford present Relief that your Lordship might admit a select Committee of this House of Persons uninteressed in the Benefit arising of the aforesaid Grievances to be licensed by your Lordship to repair to his Sacred Majesty in England for to pursue the same and to obtain fitting Remedy for their aforesaid and other just Grievances and Oppressions And upon all just and honourable Occasions they will without respect of particular Interest or Profit to be raised thereby most humbly and readily in Parliament extend their utmost Endeavors to serve His Majesty and comply with His Royal and Princely Occasions And shall pray c. As soon as the Lord Deputy had notice of this Remonstrance and perceived the Fury of the Irish Parliament he took occasion to Prorogue it on the Twelfth day of November but whatever he could do was ineffectual to stem the Tide which now ran too violent against him And therefore being heart-broken with his own and the Earl of Strafford's Misfortunes he died suddenly on the Third day of December 1640. Whereupon ROBERT Lord DILLON of Killkenny-West afterwards Earl of Roscomon Sir WILLIAM PARSONS Knight and Baronet Master of the Court of Wards were on the Thirtieth of December sworn Lords Justices 1640. But the Lord Dillon beings for his Intimacy and Alliance with the Earl of Strafford obnoxious to the aforesaid Irish Committee he was at their Instance removed and Sir WILLIAM PARSONS Master of the Court of Wards Sir JOHN BORLACE Master of the Ordnance were sworn Lords Justices on the Tenth of February to whom the King by his Letters of the Fourth of January before sent Orders at the Request of the Irish Committee That the Irish Subsidies which heretofore were Forty thousand Pounds should be reduced to a less Sum than formerly and that all Letter 's sent to the Chief Governor or other Publick Officers touching Publick Affairs or the Subjects Private Interests should be entred in the Signer-Office in England to the end the Subjects upon occasion might take Copies thereof and that all Dispatches from Ireland should be safely kept apart for the easier and readier recourse thereto and that His Majesty approves of the Repair of His Subjects to appeal to Him notwithstanding any Prohibition in Ireland to the contrary and orders That no body be prosecuted or molested on that score and that the Irish Committee shall have Copies of all Records Certificates Orders of Council Publick Letters or other Entries that are necessary to manifest or prove their Grievances And this Letter was on the Tenth of February 1640. by the Irish Parliament then sitting ordered to be entred amongst the Records and Ordinances of that House And soon after Rushw 15. the Irish Parliament did vote the following Grievances to be transmitted to their Committee in England which it seems were couched in Two Petitions one to the King and the other to the Parliament and both carried over by John Bellew
and Oliver Castells 1. That the Nobility wer over-taxed in the Subsidies 2. And were kept Close Prisoners tho' not Impeach'd of any Capital Crime 3. And could not get Licence to absent unless they leave their Proxy with one of the Chief Governors naming 4. That some have Titles of Honour that have no Lands in the Kingdom 5. That the Nobility were stop from going to Petition the King 6. That Trade is decayed by Illegal Taxes as Twelve pence apiece on Hides 7. That Causes are arbitrarily decided at Council-board and in other improper Judicatories 8. That Paâ—ents are made void extrajudicially on private Opinions 9. The Monopolies of Tobacco Starch Sope Glass Tobacco-pipes c. 10. The Procedings of the High-Commission 11. The exorbitant Fees and pretended Customs exacted by the Clergy 12. The Proclamation against buying Gunpowder but out of the Store and restraining Hunting within Seven Miles of Dublin 13. That the Parliament in its Members and Actions hath not had its natural Freedom 14. That the Subject is denied the Benefit of the Act of Limitation 15. The taking excessive Fees 16. The Seizing of Linen Yarn and Cloth for not being exact according to Rule 17. The Oppressions of Officers And in this Parliament on the Fourth of March Captain Audley Mervin brought up an Impeachment of High-Treason from the Commons to the Lords against Sir Richard Bolton Lord Chancellor John Lord Bishop of Derry Sir Gerrard Lowther Lord Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas and Sir George Ratcliff and made an eloquent Speech on that Occasion The Charge consisting of Three Articles was General for subverting the Laws and introducing Arbittary Government by extrajudicial and unjust Decrees for inflicting infamous Punishments by Pillory c. on Persons of Reputation and subverting the Rights of Parliament But it seems there was a Dispute raised Whether the House of Lords in Ireland had Power of Judicature in Capital Cases Whereupon Captain Audley Mervin made a most excellent Speech in the Lords House in Parliament 24 May 1641. And afterwards he Impeached Sir George Ratcliff then in the Gate-house Westminster in the Parliament of England of the aforesaid Articles and adds That he joyned with the Earl of Strafford in taking out Eighty thousand Pounds out of the Exchequer to buy Tobacco and that he countenanced Papists to build Monasteries c. On the Sixteenth of March 1640. Secretary Vane sent the Lords Justices the following Letter by His Majesty's Command Right Honorable HIS Majesty hath commanded me to acquaint your Lordships with an Advice given him from abroad and confirm'd by His Ministers in Spain and elsewhere which in this distemper'd Time and Conjuncture of Affairs deserves to be seriously considered and an especial Care and Watchfulness to be had therein Which is That of late there have passed from Spain and the like may well have been from other Parts an unspeakable number of Irish Churchmen for England and Ireland and some good old Soldiers under pretext of asking leave to raise Men for the King of Spain whereas it is observed among the Irish Fryars * * In Spain there a Whisper runs as if they expected a Rebellion in Ireland and particularly in Connaught Wherefore His Majesty thought fit to give your Lordships this notice that in your Wisdoms you might manage the same with that dexterity and secrefie as to discover and prevent so pernicious a Design if any such there should be and to have a watchful Eye on the Proceedings and Actions of those who come thither from abroad on what pretext soever And so herewith I rest Your Lordships most humble Servant HENRY VANE In the mean time the Earl of Strafford came to his Tryal in England and it was the most Solemn that ever was in that Kingdom and at length he was Attainted by Act of Parliament and accordingly beheaded on the 12th day of May 1641. and the Earl of Leicester was the same day appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in his stead His Tryal is excellently wrote at large by Mr. Rushworth to which I must refer the curious Reader but because every Man has not that Book by him I have Cursorily extracted so much of it only as I thought pertinent to his History wherein if I have not been very exact it was because the Inquisitive may easily inform themselves as well as I by having recourse to the Original which I had not leisure to examine more carefully than I have done The Third Article which is the First relating to Ireland is that he should say That Ireland was a conquer'd Nation and that the King might do with them what he pleased and that the Charters of the Corporations were worth nothing and did bind the King no farther than he pleased To which the Earl Answers That he never spoke those words and that the Scope and Intent of what he did say was to ingratiate his Majesties Government to the People and that his words were well accepted at that time however they come to be resented now That the Charters of Dublin were Anno 1634. brought before the Council and still are in the hands of the Clerk of the Council because besides other Abuses the Papists of that City engrossed all the Trade and denied Liberty to such as came out of England to set up there which he hath so far remedied as that there are Three Englishmen now in Dublin for One that was there when he came to the Government and the Charters are not Condemned but enjoyed to this day so that he aim'd at a Reformation in favour of the English but did not design the Destruction of the Charters The Fourth Article was That the Earl of Cork having begun a Suit at Law to recover a Possession he had lost by Colour of an Order from the Lord Deputy and Council the Lord Deputy threatned to imprison him unless he would surcease his Suit saying That he would have neither Law nor Lawyers dispute or question his Orders and that he said upon another the like Occasion That he would make the Earl of Cork and all Ireland know that so long as he had the Government there any Act of State there made or to be made should be as binding to the Subjects of that Kingdom as an Act of Parliament and that he question'd that Earl in the Castle-Chamber upon Pretence of a Breach of an Order of Council-Table To this the Earl of Strafford answered That the Council-Table was a Court of Record in Ireland wherein they proceeded formally by Bill Answer Examination of Witnesses c. and therefore the Orders of it are binding and ought to be obey'd he denies he compar'd it to a Parliament and denies that the Earl of Cork was prosecuted for disobedience of an Order of Council only The Fifth Article was That in time of Peace 12th of December 1635. he did give and procure to be given Sentence of Death against the Lord Mountnorris at a Council of War for saying of an Accidental
conceived they were greatly distressed and wished That he could use Means whereby they might be eased Hence he discoursed with Trueman who was but a silly Fellow and got from him Words whereby he discovered a Good-will to the Scotch Nation and some Discourse about the Castle of Carigfergus insomuch that he got Trueman's Letter to recommend him into Scotland whither he pretended a Desire to go to serve under their Command Upon this Giles produced the Letter in Evidence against him and so he was condemned and executed And this I take to be the Substance of what was offered for or against the Earl of Strafford On the Eleventh of May the Irish Parliament sat again 1641. and the Colonels John Barry Taaf Garret Barry and Porter having Orders from England to transport Four thousand of the Irish Forces to Spain some of the Popish Members of the Lower House did urge divers Arguments to hinder that Design As First That the Irish might gain Experience abroad and return to be evil Instruments at home Secondly That Ireland wanted Men for Husbandry Thirdly That Spain was an Hereditary Enemy to England and therefore might infect these Men with dangerous Principles concluding That they did not know how soon those very Regiments acquainted with every Creek in the Kingdom might be returned on their own Bowels having naturally a Love to their Religion which such an Incendiary as Spain might inflame with the highest prejudice So shamelesly did they cloak their Designs ' of stopping these Soldiers to assist in the following Rebellion under these Cobweb pretences of the Publick Good However their Project succeeded to their mind and notwithstanding the Contract with the Spanish Ambassador for their Transportation the Soldiers were from time to time delay'd and Garret Barry and his whole Regiment and most of the rest did afterwards joyn in the Irish Rebellion This Session of Parliament was spent by the Papists who were the most numerous Party in the House in fruitless Declarations and Protestations private Petitions and Votes upon needless Queries These last together with the Judges Answers to them are to be found at large Burlace Append. 1. 2. I shall only recite one of them viz. Quere 15. Whether the issuing of Quo Warranto's against Burroughs that anciently and recently sent Burgesses to Parliament to shew Cause why they did so be Legal And if not What Punishment ought to be inflicted upon the Occasioners Procurers and Judges of and in such Quo Warranto's To which the Answer is That the Proceedings in such Quo Warranto's are coram non Judice illegal and void and the Right of sending Burgesses to Parliament is questionable in Parliament only and the Occasioners Procurerâ— and Judges in such Quo Warranto's and Proceedings are punishable as in Parliament shall be thought consonant to Law and Justice Moreover some Members of this Parliament who had the following Rebellion in their Design did in order to inform themselves of the Quantity of the Stores Ammunition and Provisions and the Place where they were deposited suggest That there was a Plot by some of the Lord Stafford's discontented Servants to destroy the Parliament and therefore procured a Committee of both Houses to be appointed to search the Rooms under the Place where they sat which they did but sound no Powder there Then they desired to see where the Stores were but the Lord Justice Burlace who was Master of the Ordnance denied them that Request which they took very ill The Popish Party did also oppose the Disbanding of the new Army raised by the Earl of Strafford however it was at length effected on the Tenth day of * Rather July quaere August and the Arms and Ammunition were carefully brought into His Majesty's Stores In the mean time it being convenient to give the Members a short Recess to attend their Harvest and their other Occasions and there being no sudden expectation of the Irish Committee's Return from England the Parliament by their own Consent was on the Seventh of August adjourn'd to the Ninth of November which for want of greater cause of Complaint was afterwards reckon'd amongst their Grievances But contrary to all Mens expectation the Irish Committee of Parliament in the latter end of August return'd loaden with Graces and Favours for that Kingdom particularly in reference to the Customs especially of Wooll and Tobacco whereof the Lords Justices sent immediate notice to the several Ports of the Kingdom and in this short Interval of Parliament busied themselves in framing such Bills to pass the next Session as the Committee had obtain'd His Majesty's Consent unto And in this quiet and serene Condition was the Kingdom of Ireland not suspecting the least Disturbance from the Papists who were not under any Persecution upon the account of Religion their Clergy exercising their Functions as safely and almost as publickly as the Protestants They were obliged to the King by the easiest of Governments and the Graces and Concessions he had lately vouchsafed unto them and they were fastned to the English by all the Ties of Interest Friendship Marriage and which is more in their esteem Gossipping and Fostering And they were engaged to propagate the Publick Peace by their own happy free and flourishing Condition for now the Papists without taking the Oath of Supremacy freely enjoyed the Offices of Sheriffs of Counties Magistrates of Corporations c. But all this was over-ballanced by their Bigotry and National Malice which opened one of the bloodiest Scenes that ever was seen in the World For on Saturday the Twenty third of October 1641. being a Day dedicated to St. Ignatius Temple 16. a fit Patron for such a Villany broke out a most desperate and formidable Rebellion an universal Defection and general Revolt wherein not only all the mere Irish but almost all the Old English that adher'd to the Church of Rome were openly or secretly involved The Conspirators pitched upon the Day because it was Market-day at Dublin and therefore a Concourse of People would the less be perceived or suspected and they chose the time of Year because Harvest was in and the Half-years Rent generally in the Tenants Hands and because the Season of the Year would hinder Relief from England until the next Spring before which time they hoped to have effected all their Designs It was a premeditated Rebellion Lord Justices and Councils Letter foretold by Sir Henry Bedingfeild a Roman Catholick of Norfolk in April before and suspected by the King as appears by Sir Henry Vane's Letter ante pag. 64. And it was in contrivance partly at home and partly abroad before the Troubles either of England or Scotland began Memoirs 22. It was communicated to the English Papists by the Popish part of the Irish Committee then in England Husbands 2. part 247. And it was finally concluded and resolved on at the Abby of Multifernam and the * Dr. Jones's Examination Appendix 9. Scheme of the Government
and gave more Colour and Umbrage for the Suspicions that were then entertained of Him than any other Action of that Time could do And indeed this single Act of theirs did His Majesty more mischief than all the pretended Loyalty of that Party since that time can atone for However to obviate the dismal Effects of that impudent Forgery as much as they could the Lords Justices did Burlace Append 3. by their Proclamation of the Thirtieth of October 1642. publish that Sham to be false and scandalous And it is very observable That this Contrivance of theirs from whence they hoped to derive so much Advantage was the Occasion of their Ruin for the King to vindicate himself from this gross Aspersion was necessitated to devolve the Management of the War upon the Parliament and to consent to the Act of Adventurers which dispos'd of most part of the Rebels Estates and indeed to humour them in every thing relating to Ireland and particularly in giving up Carrigfergus to the Scots And on the same Fourth of November Temple 50. the Parliament of England voted 1. That Twenty thousand Pounds be forthwith supplied for the present Occasions of Ireland 2. That a convenient Number of Ships shall be provided for the Guarding of the Sea-coasts of that Kingdom 3. That this House holds fit that Six thousand Foot and Two thousand Horse shall be raised with all convenient speed for the present Expedition into Ireland 4. That the Lord Lieutenant shall present to both Houses of Parliament such Officers as he shall think fit to send into Ireland to Command any Forces to be transported thither 5. That Magazins of Victuals shall be forthwith provided at Westchester to be sent over to Dublin as the Occasions of that Kingdom shall require 6. That the Magazins of Arms Ammunition and Powder now in Carlisle shall be forthwith sent over to Knockfergus in Ireland 7. That it be referred to the King's Council to consider of some fit Way and to present it to the House for a Publication to be made of Rewards to be given to such as shall do Service in this Expedition into Ireland and for a Pardon of such of the Rebels in Ireland as shall come in by a Time limited and of a Sum of Money to be appointed for a Reward to such as shall bring in the Heads of such Principal Rebels as shall be nominated 8. That Letters shall be forthwith sent to the Justices in Ireland to acquaint them how sensible this House is of the Affairs in Ireland 9. That the Committee of Irish Affairs shall consider how and in what manner this Kingdom shall make use of the Friendship and Assistance of Scotland in the Business of Ireland 10. That Directions shall be given for the drawing of a Bill for the Pressing of Men for this particular Service for Ireland In the mean time the Lords Justices and Council did all that was possible for the Preservation of the Kingdom They on the Fifth of November dispatched a second Express to the King and another to the Lords of the Council and then and not before wrote to both Houses of Parliament and sent a Duplicate of it to the King and they formed a thousand of the stripped English into a Regiment under Sir Charles Coot and soon after they raised two Regiments more under the Lord Lambert and Colonel Crawford They also took care to Victual the Castle of Dublin and to clear an old Well that was in it and to do all things necessary to fit it for a Siege And to prevent any Surprize that might happen by the great Concourse of People to the Castle they removed the Council to Cork-house and often sat there in Council which was a great Oversight and might have been Fatal to them if the Lords of the Pale who soon after went out into open Rebellion had had the Courage to seise upon them there as they easily might have done On Saturday the Sixth of November Philip O Rely Knight of the Shire and the Irish of the County of Cavan sent an insolent Remonstrance to the Lord Justices by Doctor Jones whose Wife and Children they had at their Mercy and impowered him to assure their Lordships That there should be a Cessation of all things till the return of his Answer But tho' the Lords Justices gave a Civil Answer to it and sent the Remonstrance to the Lord Lieutenant to whom the King had ordered them to apply themselves about the Affairs of Ireland yet the very next Munday being the Eigth of November and before any Answer could come these Remonstrants Rendezvoufedâ— at Virginia a Town in the County of Cavan and proved the fiercest Rebels of all and by the Eleventh of December had taken the whole County of Cavan except the Castles of Keighlah and Croghan which were also surrendred to them the Fourth of July 1642. and Thirteen hundred and forty English Persons were thence according to Articles conveyed to Tredagh On the Eleventh of November the Lords Justices published another Proclamation prohibiting all unnecessary Persons from repairing to Dublin which the Irish took very ill and made a great noise about it tho' no Person of Quality or Business was in the least restrained by that Proclamation But their Design was to pick Quarrels and to manage all Accidents to that purpose On the Twelfth of November the County of Wickloe appeared in its proper Colours they murdered or robbed all the English Inhabitants within that County and burnt the principal Houses and laid Siege to Fort-Carew which the Lords Justices had not Means to relieve The Counties of Letrim Longford West-Meath and Louth were already infected and Wexford and Caterlogh followed the bloody Examples of their Neighbours and even the County of Kildare it self began to put on a terrible Countenance and the Irish of the Pale having gotten Arms from their English Neighbors under pretence of opposing the Rebels were the better able to do Execution on those stupid Protestants that so foolishly parted with them to their National and Hereditary Enemies The Lords Justices had by Proclamation Prorogued the Parliament to the Twenty fourth of February but at the Importunity of some Irish Lawyers who pretended great Affection to the King and earnest Desires to quench the Rebellion the Parliament which was a very thin one was permitted to meet on the Sixteenth of November and then it was visible that more were tainted with the Infection than appeared openly in Rebellion for the Popish Members did with great Cunning and Artifice endeavour to varnish or excuse all the Actions and Cruelties of the Rebels and those who seemed most to discountenance the Insurrection did nevertheless cover it over with such a Veil treat of it so nicely and handle it with so much tenderness as if themselves most of them being of the Conspiracy were immediately to participate of the Punishment as well as they were clandestinely involved in the Plot They would by do means have
them called Traytors or Rebels but advised rather to use the soft Expression of DISCONTENTED GENTLEMEN But the Protestants scorning to be put upon so one of them express'd himself so briskly and so judiciously that the Irish finding they could not get a better agreed with much ado to the Protestation against the Rebels recited here Append. 12. And so having sate two days the Parliament was Prorogued to the Eleventh of January having first appointed a Committee of Both Houses to Treat with the Rebels and a Commission issued accordingly but the Traytors were so pufft up with their innumerable Victories over the naked and unresisting English that they tore the Order of Parliament and the Letter that was sent them and refused to Treat But the Lord Dillon of Costilo who since the Rebellion broke out was by His Majesty's former Orders sworn Privy Counsellor was deputed by the Popish Lords to attend the King and the Lord Taaf and Mr. Burk went with him but before he Embarked he presented the Lords Justices and Council a scandalous Letter See it Append. 3. in nature of a Remonstrance from the Rebels of the County of Longford which nevertheless was framed in the Pale wherein amongst other things they demand Freedom of Religion and a Repeal of all Laws contrary thereunto And this produced the Vote of the Eighth of December in the Parliament of England That they would never give Toleration of the Popish Religion in Ireland or any other of His Majesty's Dominions These Irish Agents hapned to be intercepted by the Parliament and imprison'd and their Papers being rifled it was found to be one of the Private Instructions to the Lord Dillon to move That no Forces might be sent over to Ireland but that it might be left to the Remonstrants to suppress the Rebellion 2 Temple 9. But afterwards they made a shift to escape out of Prison and diligently followed the King's Camp and effectually sollicited the unhappy Cessation Husbands's Collections 2 part 247. which afterwards ensued and whereof this Longford Remonstrance was the Parent and Foundation But what regard these Lords had to His Majesty's Service will appear by their vain Expressions in a Letter to the Lord Muskery Anno 1642. viz. That tho' it did not stand with the Convenience of His Majesty's Affairs to give him Publick Countenance yet that the King was well pleas'd with what he did and would in time give him Thanks for it Which being dscovered to the Parliament by Mr. Jepson a Member of that House begat strange Jealousies of His Majesty's Proceedings then tho' now it is manifest those Expressions related to the Cessation that was in Enbryo and not to the Rebellion which the King always abhorr'd In the mean time the King sent some Arms from Scotland to Sir Robert Steward and others in Vlster on the Eighteenth of November and Commissions to raise Forces Particularly the Lord Mongomery had Commission to raise 1000 Foot and 500 Horse and he did raise the Foot and three Troops of the Horse And on the Nineteenth the Lords Justices had an Account that His Majesty had left the Management of the Irish War to the English Parliament and the Order of Parliament was sent to them together with 20000 l. in Money and a Commission to the Earl of Ormond to be Lieutenant-General of the Army and also the following Order of Both Houses of Parliament viz. THE Lords and Commons in this present Parliament being advertised of the dangerous Conspiracy and Rebellion in Ireland by the treacherous and wied Instigation of Romish Priests and Jesuits for the bloody Massacre an Destruction of all Protestants living there and other His Majesty's Loyal Subjects of English Blood tho' of the Romish Religion being ancient Inhabitants within several Counties and Parts of that Realm who have always a former Rebellions given Testimony of their Fidelity to this Crown and for the utter depriving of His Royal Majesty and the Crown of England 〈◊〉 the Government of that Kingdom under pretence of setting up the Poâ—â— Religion have therefore taken into their serious Consideration how the mischievous Attempts might be most speedily and effectually prevented wherein the Honor Safety and Interest of this Kingdom are most nearly and fully concerned Wherefore they do hereby declare That they do intendâ— serve His Majesty with their Lives and Fortunes for the Suppressinâ— of this wicked Rebellion in such a way as shall be thought most effectualâ— by the Wisdom and Authority of Parliament and thereupon have ordereâ— and provided for a present Supply of Money and raising the Number of Six thousand Foot and Two thousand Horse to be sent from England being â—â—e full Proportion desired by the Lords Justices and His Majesty's Councâ— resident in that Kingdom with a Resolution to add such further Succours as the Necessity of those Affairs shall require They have also resolved of providing Arms and Munition not only for those Men but likewise for His Majesty's faithful Subjects in that Kingdom with store of Victuals and other Necessaries as there shall be occasion and that these Provisions may more conveniently be transported thither they have appointed Three several Ports of this Kingdom that is to say Bristol Westchester and one other in Cumberland where the Magazins and Storehouses shall be kept for the Supply of the several Parts of Ireland They have likewise resolved to be humble Mediators to His Most Excellent Majesty for the Incouragement of those English or Irish who shall upon their own Charges raise any Number of Horse or Foot for His Service against the Rebels that they shall be honourably rewarded with Lands of Inheritance in Ireland according to their Merits And for the better inducing the Rebels to repent of their wicked Attempts they do hereby commend it to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland or in his absence to the Lord Deputy or Lords Justices there according to the Power of the Commission granted them in that behalf to bestow His Majesty's gracious Pardon to all such as within a convenient Time to be declared by the Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy or Lords Justices and Council of that Kingdom shall return to their due Obedience the greatest part whereof they conceive have been seduced upon false Grounds by the cunning and subtile Practices of some of the most malignant Rebels Enemies to this State and to the Reformed Religion and likewise to bestow such Rewards as shall be thought fit and published by the Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy or Lords Justices and Council upon all those who shall arrest the Persons or bring in the Heads of such Traytors as shall be personally named in any Proclamation published by the State there And they 〈◊〉 hereby exhort and require all His Majesty's loving Subjects both in this and in that Kingdom to remember their Duty and Conscience to God and his Religion On the Twentieth day of November the Lords Justices wrote again to the Earl of Leicester Lord Lieutenant for Supplies of
Alexander Mac Donald alias Culkittagh who gave him a severe Attack whereupon the Scots gave way and the whole Party was routed and Six hundred Protestants slain And soon after the Rebels animated with this Success besieg'd Colerain but the Lord of Antrim not only perswaded the Irish to raise that Siege but also sent Provisions and other relief into the Town believing that this obliging Carriage would prevail with the Town voluntarily to put it self under his Protection but in that he found himself mistaken In this Extremity was the Province of Ulster so that every Man that was left was necessitated to betake himself to Arms whereby such a Competent force was raised as put a stop to the Career of the Rebels there were Three Troops and Three Regiments of Foot under Sir Robert Stewart Sir William Stewart and Colonel Audly Mervin in and near London-Derry and these were called the Lagan Forces Sir John Clotworthy had a Regiment and a Troop in the Town of Antrim and the Lord Conwey had the like at Lysnegarvy and the Lord of Ardes Sir James Mongomery Colonel Hill Captain Chichester Sir Arthur Tyringham and Sir Hans Hamilton had likewise some Forces in the County of Downe all which did Service but none did that prodigious Execution upon the Rebels as Sir Frederick Hamilton's Regiment at Mannor Hamilton and Sir William Cole's Regiment at Iniskilling But it will be fit to inquire how the Irish Affairs were managed in England where the Parliament upon whom the King had devolv'd the Management of the Irish War did during his Majesty's absence in Scotland heartily espouse the Cause of the Irish Protestants and not only voted briskly for their Relief as hath been already mentioned but did also effectually set all Engins at work for the Preservation of that Kingdom and appointed a particular Committee for Irish Affairs And now when the King was return'd to London His Majesty expressed no less Zeal in that Matter and Detestation of that Rebellion than the Parliament had done They seem'd to vie with one another who should do most to save that Island and to revenge that barbarous Massacre committed upon the Protestants there and yet at length by unhappy Differences that arose between Themselves both of Them were hindred from doing what each of Them design'd So that whilst Englishmen were destroying each other in Civil Wars here the British in Ireland were expos'd to the Insults of a numerous and inveterate Enemy without their Garisons and to the want of all Necessaries within them But to proceed 1641. On the Twenty eighth of December the King sent the following Message to the House of Lords Husbands's Collect. 33. viz. His Majesty being very sensible of the great Miseries and Distresses of His Subjects in the Kingdom of Ireland which go daily increasing so fast and the Blood which hath been already spilt by the Cruelty and Barbarousness of those Rebels crying out so loud and perceiving how slowly the Succours design'd thither go on His Majesty hath thought fit to let your Lordships know and desires you to acquaint the House of Commons therewith That His Majesty will take Care that by Commissions which He shall grant Ten thousand English Voluntiers shall be speedily raised for that Service if the House of Commons shall declare that they will pay them But the Disturbance about the Impeachment of the Five Members hapning so soon after this as it did suspended the further Debate of that Matter and tho' the Commons on the Fifth of January adjourn'd their Committee for Irish Affairs to Guildhall Ibidem 64. yet the next Vote relating to Ireland that I find is that which center'd in an Order of Both Houses dated the Twenty ninth of January to apprehend and examine all such suspected Papists as are going to Ireland and to stay all Arms Ammunition Money Corn c. intended for the Relief of the Rebels and to send back or prosecute such wandring Irish Papists as lately landed in the West And in a day or two after there was a Complaint That notwithstanding this Order the King had licensed several Papists to transport themselves to Ireland who had joyned with the Rebels and Mr. Pym speaking freely of that Matter in a Conference amongst other things he said That since the Stop upon the Ports by both Houses against all Irish Papists many of the Commanders now in the Head of the Rebels have been suffered to pass by His Majesty's immediate Warrant And afterwards the Parliament instanc'd Colonel Butler Mr. Nettervill Sir George Hamilton the Lord Delvin and Four more Whereupon His Majesty by His Message of the Second of February expostulated with them and affirms That the Licence to Butler Nettervill and Hamilton was before he had any Intimation of that Order and that tho' they were Papists He had reason to believe they would not joyn with the Rebels and desires them to clear Him from that Aspersion by a Publick Declaration But in January there was a Treaty with the Scots Commissioners about the Relief of Ireland Whereupon they made these Proposals viz. COncerning the Proposition made to us Husbands's Collect. 57. 22 January from the Committees of Both Houses for the transporting presently to Ireland of the Two thousand five hundred Men now on foot in Scotland we having no Instruction for that end cannot by our selves condescend otherwise than upon the Closure of the Treaty but shall most heartily represent it to the Council of Scotland and second the same with our earnest Desires That every thing may be done which may contribute to the Preservation of that Kingdom and may testifie our brotherly Affection to this And that we may be the more able to move the Council to condescend to the same we desire the Propositions following to be granted 1. That Provision of Victuals be presently sent to Carrickfergus to be sold to our Soldiers at reasonable Rates answerable to their Pay 2. That an Order be set down how they shall be paid there and from whom they may require the same 3. That they have the Command and Keeping of the Town and Castle of Carrickfergus with Power to them to remain still within the same or to enlarge their Quarters and to go abroad into the Country upon such Occasions as their Officers in their Discretion shall think expedient for the Good of that Kingdom And if it shall be thought fit that any Regiments or Troops in that Province shall joyn with them that they receive Orders from the Commanders of our Forces 4. That Provision of Match Powder and Ball be presently sent to Carrickfergus and what Arms Ammunition or Artillery shall be sent over with them from Scotland that the like Quantity be sent from hence to Scotland whensoever the same shall be demanded 5. That a part of the Thirty thousand Pounds of the Brotherly Assistance be presently advanced to us which altho' in a just Proportion to these Men it will amount but to Seven
that hereafter he will be pleased upon the humble Suit of both Houses of Parliament to give His Royal Assent to such Bills as they shall tender unto him for the setling of those Propositions and all other things necessarily conducing thereunto Ibid. 86. And on the Twenty fourth of February His Majesty returned His Gracious Answer in Approbation of these Votes in haec verba viz. That as he hath offered and is still ready to venture His own Royal Person for the Recovery of that Kingdom if His Parliament shall advise him thereunto so He will not deny to contribute any other Assistance he can to that Service by parting with any Profit or Advantage of his own there and therefore relying on the Wisdom of His Parliament doth consent to every Proposition now made to him without taking time to examine whether this course may not retard the reducing of that Kingdom by exasperating the Rebels and rendring them desperate of being received into Grace if they shall return to their Obedience It would be too tedious to relate all that was done in this Affair of the Adventurers and therefore all that I shall mention here upon that Head is That these Votes produced several Acts of Parliament in Confirmation of them and raised the Sum of 400000 l for the Irish War But on the 9th day of March in the Declaration presented to the King at Newmarket Husbands 97. the Parliament inserted this Article viz. That the Rebellion in Ireland was framed and contrived here in England and that the English Papists should have risen about the same time we have several Testimonies and Advertisements from Ireland and that is a common Speech amongst the Rebels wherewith concur other Evidences and Observations of the suspicious Meetings and Consultations the tumultuary and seditious Carriage of those of that Religion in divers parts of this Kingdom about the time of the breaking out of the Irish Rebellion the Deposition of O Conally the Information of Master Cole Minister the Letter of Tristram Whitcombe the Deposition of Thomas Crant and many others which we may produce do all agree in this the publick Declaration of the Lords Gentlemen and others of the Pale That they would joyn with the Rebels whom they call the Irish Army or any other to recover unto His Majesty His Royal Prerogative wrested from him by the Puritan Faction in the House of Parliament in England and to maintain the same against all others as also to maintain Episcopal Jurisdiction and the lawfulness thereof these two being Quarrels upon which His Majesties late Army in the North should have been incensed against us To which His Majesty Answers thus Ibid. 106. If the Rebellion in Ireland so odious to all Christians seems to have been framed and maintained in England or to have any countenance from hence We conjure both Our Houses of Parliament and all Our loving Subjects whatsoever to use all possible means to discover and find such out that we may joyn in the most exemplary Vengeance upon them that can be imagined But We must think Our self highly and causelesly injured in Our Reputation if any Declaration Action or Expression of the Irish Rebels any Letter from Count Rosettie to the Papists for Fasting and Praying or from Tristram Whitcombe of strange Speeches uttered in Ireland shall beget any Jealousie or Misapprehension in Our Subjects of Our Justice Piety and Affection it being evident to all Understandings That those mischievous and wicked Rebels are not so capable of great Advantage as by having their false Discourse so far believed as to raise Fears and Jealousies to the Distraction of this Kingdom the only way to their Security And we cannot express a deeper sense of the Sufferings of Our poor Protestant Subjects in that Kingdom than We have done in Our often Messages to both Houses by which We have offered and are still ready to venture Our Royal Person for their Redemption well knowing That as We are in Our own Interest more concerned in them fo We are to make a strict Accompt to Almighty God for any Neglect of Our Duty or their Preservation And on the 15th of March 113. from Huntington the King sent this Message viz. That he doth very earnestly desire that they will use all possible Industry in expediting the business of Ireland in which they shall find so chearful a Concurrence by his Majesty that no Inconvenience shall happen to that Service by his Absence he having all that Passion for the reducing of that Kingdom which he hath expressed in his former Messages and being unable by words to manifest more Affection to it than he hath endeavoured to do by those Messages having likewise done all such Acts as he hath been moved unto by his Parliament therefore if the Misfortunes and Calamities of his poor Protestant Subjects there shall grow upon them tho' His Majesty shall be deeply concerned in and sensible of their Sufferings he shall wash his hands before all the World from the least Imputation of Slackness in that most necessary and pious Work Whereupon the Parliament Voted the next day Ibid. That those Persons that advise His Majesty to absent himself from the Parliament are Enemies to the Peace of this Kingdom and justly to be suspected to be Favourers of the Rebellion in Ireland Resolved c. 1642. That those Persons that advised His Majesty to this Message are Enemies to the Peace of this Kingdom and justly to be suspected to be Favourers of the Rebellion in Ireland The Year 1642. began with Sir Symon Harcourt's Expedition against Carrickmain in the County of Dublin on the Twenty sixth of March which proved fatal to him nevertheless his Lieutenant-Colonel Gibson took the Castle and put all within it to the Sword refusing to give Quarter to those obstinate Rebels that had slain his beloved Colonel And about the same time all the Popish Priests that could be found in Dublin were by the Lords Justices sent in French Bottoms to France In the beginning of April 1642. Doctor Jones afterwards Bishop of Meath and Seven other Divines who by Virtue of a Commission dated the 23d of December 1641. had taken many Examinations about the Rebellion and the Murders Plunders and Robberies committed by the Irish did out of their Depositions form a Remonstrance and being recommended by the Lords Justices and Council they did Present it to the Commons House of Parliament in England It set forth That the Rebellion was occasioned by the ancient Hatred which Papists bear to Protestants and by their Surfet of Freedom and Indulgence in that Kingdom That the Design was to eradicate the Protestant Religion and the Professors of it that the Rebellion was general and of a long Contrivance that sometimes they pretended the Kings Commission and sometimes spoke Contemptibly of his Majesty that they designed to extirpate all of English Extraction even the very Papists that they kicked Bibles up and down and
another place where there may not be the same Danger to Us. We expected that since We have been so particular in the Causes and Grounds of our Fears you should have sent Us word That you had published such Declarations against future Tumults and unlawful Assemblies and taken such Courses for the suppressing of Seditioâ—â— Sermons and Pamphlets that our Fears of that kind might be laid aside before you should press our Return To conclude We could wish that you would with the same strictness and severity weigh and examine your Messages and Expressions to Us as you do those ye receive from Us for We are very Confident that if you examine our Rights and Priviledges by what our Predecessors have enjoyed and your own Addresses by the usual Courses of your Ancestors Ye will find many Expressions in this Petition warranted only by your own Authority which indeed we forbear to take Notice of or to give Answer to lest we should be tempted in a just Indignation to express a greater Passion than we are yet willing to put on God in his good time We hope will so inform the Hearts of all our Subjects That We shall recover from the Mischief and Danger of this Distemper on whose good Pleasure We will wait with all Patience and Humility But as soon as the Lords Justices and Council of Ireland had Notice of his Majesties intentions to come personally into Ireland they wrote him a dutiful Letter of Thanks and Encouragement to proceed in his intended Voyage which may be seen at large Husbands Collections 148. And on the Thirteenth of August 1642. His Majesty sent a Message to the House of Commons To retract an Order they had made to dispose of One hundred thousand Pound of the Adventurers Money contrary to the express Words of that Act of Parliament and to the great prejudice of the Affairs of Ireland To which they Answer that That Message is a high breach of Priviledge that they Heartily designed the relief of Ireland and have been retarded and diverted from that Pious and Glorious work by the Traiterous Counsels about the King as may appear 1. By His Majesties not Countenanceing them in their Endeavours for that End 2. By His Majesties so late issuing of Proclamations against the Rebels and then limiting the number to Forty 3. By discouraging the Adventurers by his Absence from the Parliament 4. By refusing Commission to Lord Wharton for whom the Parliament had prepared Five thousand Foot and Five hundred Horse to Land in Munster 5. By calling away the most useful Men from that Service as Charles Floyd Engineer Captain Green Comptroller of the Artillery and others 6. By seizing on Six hundred Cloaths near Coventry that were designed for the Service of Ireland and by doing the like to Three hundred Suits of Cloaths and a Chest of Medicaments near Chester 7. By seizing the Draught Horses designed for Ireland at Chester 8. By quartering Soldiers in the common Road towards Ireland so that no relief can pass to that Kingdom 9. By withdrawing the Captains Ketleby and Stradling and their Frigats from guarding the Irish Coast 10. By receiving a Petition from His Majesties Catholick Subjects of Ireland complaining of His Puritan Parliament of England and desiring that since His Majesty does not come to them they may come to him Nevertheless they do protest before Almighty God that they have as great a Compassion and Sorrow for their distressed Brethren in Ireland as if themselves were in their Case and will endeavour to relieve them notwithstanding the Obstructions of all Opposers and that tho' they were forced to borrow that One hundred thousand Pound upon a great Exigency yet it shall be without prejudice to the Affairs of Ireland because they will make a real and speedy Repayment of the same that it may appear whether the King and his Cavaleers or the King and his Parliament do most affect and endeavour the setling of true Religion and a firm and constant Peace within that bleeding and distressed Kingdom To this the King made a Reply which in Effect was That He did not design to prejudice the Service of Ireland but refus'd to give Commissions because He was not sure but they would be made use of against himself and that He sent Proclamations against the Irish Rebellion both in number and time as the Lords Justices desired And as to this latter Point I can assure the Reader that I have seen Authentick Copies of the Lord Justices Letters and that they did write at first but for twenty Proclamations and in a Second Letter they desired but Forty which accordingly they had sent them and therefore I have very much wondered at an Objection so groundless which nevertheless made a great noise at that time But it is also necessary to inquire how the Irish managed their Affairs and what Methods they us'd to cement their Confederacy and manage the War And first We shall find their Titular Clergy assembling in a Congregation at Kilkenny on the Tenth of May where they made Orders which are recited at large Burlace Appendix 7. and are to this effect That whereas their War is undertaken against Sectaries and Puritans for Defence of Religion Maintenance of the King 's Rights and Prerogative for their Gracious Queen so unworthily abused for the Honor Safety and Health of the Royal Issue for the Liberties of the Kingdom and their Lives and Fortunes as by the unanimous Consent of almost the whole Kingdom in this War and Union appears They therefore declare that War openly Catholick to be Just and Lawful And whereas the Adversaries do publish Letters and Proclamations to be the King 's which are not His none such are to be believed until it be known in a National Council whether they truly proceed from Him left to His own Freedom and that there be an Oath of Union or Association and that there be no distinction of Families or Provinces or between Old and New Irish and that there be a Council of Clergy and Nobility in every Province and a General Council of the Kingdom and that Embassies from one Province shall redound to the Good of all and especially to that Province which hath most need of such Supplies as shall be sent by Foreigners and such Embassadors shall negotiate for a Neighbouring Province according to its Exigencies and that a faithful Inventory be made of the Burnings Murders and Robberies done by the Puritans with Circumstance of Time and Place and a faithful sworn Messenger be appointed to that purpose in every Parish and that Prisoners be not enlarg'd without Consent of all the Provinces and that Adversaries to one Town or Province shall be so to all and that Peace be not made but by Common Consent of the whole Kingdom and an Oath to be taken to that purpose ☜ and all Refusers of that Oath to be held Enemies and prosecuted as such and that the Clergy preserve Peace and Unity amongst the
Warrant from Mr. Nicholas Plunket And on the Fourteenth of November they nam'd their Supreme Council viz. LEINSTER Archbishop of Dublin jurat Viscount Gormanstown jurat Viscount Mountgarret jur resid Nicholas Plunket jur resid Richard Beling jur resident James Cusack jur resid CONAUGH Archbishop of Tuam jur Viscount Mayo Bishop of Clonfert jur resid Sir Lucas Dillon jur Patrick Darcy jur resident Jeofry Brown jur resident MUNSTER Viscount Roch jur resid Sir Daniel O Bryan Edmond Fitzmorris jur Doctor Fennell jur Robert Lambart jur resid Geo. Comyn jur ULSTER Archbishop of Armagh jur resid Bishop of Down jur resid Philip O Reyly jur resid Colonel Mac Mahon jur Ever Macgenis jur Tirlagh O Neal. They also appointed Provincial Councils and ordered That the Supreme Council may authorise One or more to sollicit Aid of Foreign Princes to advance this Common and Holy Cause and may give them Instructions And on the Fifteenth of November they appointed the Lord Mountgarret to be president and Richard Shea to be Clerk of the Supreme Council And that the Officers of the Army calling to their Assistance one or more of each Province should concert the Measures of carrying on the War And that the Supreme Council shall send an Agent to the King to inform Him of the Motives and Causes of this Holy War and of the Grievances of the Kingdom And they appoint Sir Richard Barmwall Muster-master General and order Four thousand Pounds in Money to be new Coined And on the Sixteenth of November they ordered 31700 Men to be raised in the following Counties whereof 5300 Foot and 520 Horse were to go to the Army and the rest to be for the Defence of the Country and the Garisons viz. Â Â Â Foot Horse West-Meath 3000 whereof for the Army 500 50 Meath 3000 Â 500 50 Kildare 3000 Â 500 50 Wexford 3000 Â 500 50 Kings County 2800 Â 500 30 Queens County 2400 Â 400 40 Wickloe 2400 Â 400 40 Dublin 2000 Â 300 50 Kilkenny City 3000 Â 500 50 Louth 1700 Â 300 20 Longford 3000 Â 500 50 Catherlogh 2400 Â 400 40 Â 31700 Â 5300 520 And on the Nineteenth of November they order'd That the King's Revenue be duly gathered up for the making a Common Stock for the Use of the Kingdom And on the Twentieth they appointed the Lord Brittas John Kelly John Baggot James Darcy Maurice Fitzharris and Maurice Baggot a Committee to enquire after Protestants Goods and Lands in the County of Limerick And on the 21th day James Cusack who before the Rebellion was one of the King's Council and Clerk to the Commission of Grace was appointed Attorney-General And it was ordered That Soldiers be Cessed on all Persons and Places that are refractory in paying their Quotâ— of the Contribution and that every Burgess shall have Five shillings per diem and every Knight of a Shire Ten shillings per diem during the Assembly and for Ten days before and after it and that the Earl of Castlehaven devise an Order of Knighthood concerning the Honor of St. Patrick and the Glory of the Kingdom And so on the Ninth of January this Assembly was Dissolved leaving the Government in the Hands of The Supreme Council who notwithstanding his Majesty's Proclamation of 1 January 1641. under His own Signet to the contrary acted as a SEPARATE STATE and contrary to their own Oath of Maintaining the King's Prerogative and their Pretence of taking Arms for it they usurped all the King's Prerogatives even to that of Coining Money and sending Ambassadors to Foreign Princes and to the Granting of Letters of Mart and Reprisalâ— whereof the Reader may see a Precedent Burlace pag. 97. And thus Matters â—ood in Ireland in the Year 1642. In the close of the last Year we left our small Army near Ross 1643. which tho' Victorious was nevertheless in a sad Condition being meanly â—â—oatlied in Fed and worse Paid so that tho' the Lords Justices and Council did send a pressing Letter to the Lieutenant General to keep the Army abroad because there was no Subsistence for them in Dublin and the better to enable him thereunto they sent him Six thousand Pound of Bisket and Ten Barrels of Powder and the like quantity of Match and Musket Bullet yet the Wants of the Army were so great in all manner of Necessaries that it was impossible to keep the Field and therefore they returned to Dublin It is one of the most difficult things in the World to keep an ill-paid Army in exact Discipline for the Soldier that is denied his Due will expect a Connivance upon any Extortion that is less than Equivalent to his Pay and from one Degree it passes to another till it Centers in Licentiousness and thus it happened in Dublin the Officers at first winked at the little Rapines of the Soldiers till at length they openly plundered the Markets but this was the way to spoil all and by discouraging the Market Folks to starve themselves therefore it was strictly prohibited by a severe Proclamation and some Offenders were made Examples whereupon many of the Officers of the Army on the Fourth of April 1643 presented the Government with a very bold and threatning Remonstrance quod vide Appendix 20. which they say was another Cause of the ensuing Cessation But General Preston having again besieged Ballynakill Colonel Crawford on the Eleventh of April marched from Dublin with Thirteen hundred Foot and One hundred and thirty Horse to raise that Siege but he could not perform it and so that place was surrendred But I should have mentioned that the Lords Justices and Council to prevent any Peace or Cessation with the Irish did send His Majesty a most excellent Letter of the Sixteenth of March 1642. recited at large here Appendix 4. which it seems was not well relished at Court for not long after Sir William Parsons who was a great Promoter of that Letter was removed and thereupon accused of Treasonable misdemeanours by Major Butler and Sir Francis Warren but there being more of Malice than Truth in that Impeachment it came to nothing however Sir JOHN BURLACE and Sir HENRY TICHBURNE were Sworn Lords Justices on the Twelfth of May and on the Twenty fifth of the same Month the Pope sent over his Bull of Indulgence to the Confederates which is to be found here Appendix 15 and was published by the Irish even after the Cessation was concluded But the Lords Justices and Council were tyred in contriving ways to support the Soldiery and at length they thought upon an Excise and by their proclamation of the Twenty fourth day of June imposed it for Six Months unless other relief for the Army should be sent in the mean time This Excise was exceeding high amounting to half the value of the Commodity in lieu whereof the Retailer was permitted to advance his Price a Moiety more than
Title nor Protestation of the Confederates his Prudence and Integrity in continuing the Irish Parliament were highly commended But that he should be able to get a greater Sum of Money from a beggarly Enemy than the Parliament of England had sent over at any one time till then could never be sufficiently applauded and to this effect Secretary Nicholas writes in his Letter of the Ninth of October and adds That it is believed there that the Irish will not observe the Cessation and therefore advises his Excellency to be upon his Guard and to take care the King 's good Subjects do not suffer by their violation of it and that the young Lord Moor pursuant to Ormond ' s Recommendation hath all his Father's Offices granted unto him But the Parliament of England had different Sentiments of this Cessation they inveighed against it as destructive to the dispossest Protestants of Ireland who were kept out of Possession by it another Year at least They said it was a Discouragement to the Adventurers whose Satisfaction was likewise delay'd hereby They said it gave an opportunity to the Rebels to recruit their Forces and to supply all their Wants But that which troubled them most was that they perceiv'd the King design'd to draw some of the Protestant Forces and hoped for some of the Popish Army from Ireland to assist Him against the Parliament In short they were enraged to that degree that they Voted to Impeach the Marquis of Ormond as a Traytor against the Three Kingdoms and to disable him of his Lieutenancy and of all Command in Ireland and they also made a formal Declaration against the Cessation which is inserted at large here Appendix 18. In answer to which the King published The Grounds and Motives of the Cessation which in effect were That the English Army in Ireland could no longer subsist without Supplies and that the Parliament took no care to send any but on the contrary the Earl of Warwick intercepted those that His Majesty sent and that the Parliament endeavor'd to draw the Scotch Army out of Ireland into England So that in fine there was an absolute Necessity of this Cessation as preparatory to a Peace which nevertheless he will never admit unless it be such a Peace as may be agreeable to Conscience Honor and Justice But all this did not satisfie those that were perishing for want of their Estates and Properties which the Rebels possest and were yet farther inrag'd by the fresh Insolences and Violences daily committed by the Confederates so that their Sufferings depriv'd them of that Moderation which at another time would have considered the Distresses of the Crown the Necessities of the Army and the other powerful Motives to this Temporary Agreement In like manner the Estates of Scotland declar'd against the Cessation and the Adventurers at London petition'd against it and even some of the Cavaleers were so dissatisfied at this unfortunate Truce that many of the Earl of Newcastle's Army laid down their Arms and the Earl of Holland withdrew from Oxford Whitlock's Memoirs affirming That after he had heard of the Cessation his Conscience would not give him leave to stay any longer there And some others of Quality afterwards followed his Example And indeed it appear'd by the Sequel that the Cessation was a mere Plot of the Confederates to ruin those by Treaty whom they could not destroy by the War Not that it would have proved so if it had been honestly perform'd according to their Stipulations and Pretences but that by a thousand Tricks and Subtilties they contraven'd every Point of it and besides the opportunity of reinforcing and furnishing themselves which no body blames them for they left nothing undone that could tend to the Ruin of the English For whereas before the Cessation the Army lived mostly upon what they forced from the Enemy that Course being stopped by the Truce there was no way left to support them but the 30800 l. promised by those Articles and which was depended upon for that purpose but most part of that Money was delivered in by such Driblets and so very long after it was due that it did little Service to those that were to receive it But that was not the worst for the Rebels made use of another Stratagem which no body could suspect and that was a Prohibition to all their Party not to sell Provisions to the English even for ready Money There was no Defence against this Flail and therefore many Places were deserted by the Warders who were starved out of them by this Contrivance Carlo Athy Leix Trim Dundalk and Naas suffered much in this Particular but it was worse with the Garisons in Conaught as appears by their Declaration of Grievances sent to the Lord Lieutenant wherein they affirm a Conspiracy amongst the Irish to starve them and that the Irish County Councils had issued out Warrants to seize the Goods and Estates of such Confederates as should buy or sell or use any Traffick with the English as appears Appendix 19. They also committed many secret and some publick Murders Peter St. George was so served at the Castle of Letrim where William St. George was likewise mortally wounded and it is reported but how truly I cannot say of a malicious Jesuit that sheltered himself at Kinnegad well known thereabouts by the name of Father Roe that he committed many Murders even in the Highway but this is more certain that the English were fain to pay Toll or Tribute for passage through the Irish Quarters in many places and that particularly at St. Johnston's Bridge great Sums of Money were extorted upon that score Moreover they had by cunning and secret Intrusions into deserted Castles and old Houses two or three days before the Cessation gotten Possession of much more Land than did belong to them or than they could have kept in time of War nevertheless this Possession though obtained by Fraud or Violence was detained by them under the umbrage of that Treaty They had also another Liberty by these Articles viz. To declare in whose Quarters they would choose to be and by this fetch whole Baronies were lost and particularly the Baronies of Barrymore and Imokilly scituate between Cork and Youghall and which had been always in the English Quarters and under the Protection of those Garisons did a day or two before the Cessation declare themselves to be in the Irish Quarters and so were privileged even to the Gates of Cork and Youghall from Contribution to those Garisons until the beginning of the year 1645. But besides the Breaches of the Cessation in Conaught contained in their Declaration of Grievances and the Complaints of Munster mentioned hereafter Appendix 17 there were several other Violations of those Articles as 1. That the Earl of Castlehaven after he had notice of the Cessation did nevertheless batter the Castle of Desert in the Queen's County and when he had taken and plundered it he shewed them the Articles of the
respective Lieutenants tho' very unwillingly whereupon Major Jones one of the Agents declined the Voyage rather than remove his Company and so His Majesties Letter of the Twenty seventh of February arriving on the Twenty ninth of March whereby Sir Charles Coot 1644. and Captain Parsons were Licensed to attend His Majesty with the rest of the Agents they had Sealed Letters of Recommendation to Secretary Nicholas and took Ship the Second of April and came to Oxford the Seventh and on the Eighth kissed the Kings hand and presented their Petition which is to be found at large Burlace Appendix pag. 62. setting forth That the Irish Rebellion was raised out of Detestation to his Blessed Government and for rooting out the Protestant Religion and for dispossessing His Majesty of that Kingdom without the least occasion given by His Majesty or his Protestant Subjects c. upon reading whereof the King was pleased to say THAT HE KNEW THE CONTENTS OF THE PETITION WAS TRUTH AND THAT IT COULD NOT BE DENIED and thereupon it was thus indorsed His Majesty being very sensible of the Petitioners Losses and Sufferings is ready to hear relieve them AS THE EXIGENCY OF HIS AFFAIRS WILL PERMIT and wisheth the Petitioners to propose what they think fit in particular for His Majesties information and the Petitioners remedy and future Security The King also told them That the Irish protested upon their Salvations to him that at first the Conspiracy was not General but that those of the Pale were forced into Rebellion by the Governours of Ireland and that if the Parliament had permitted him to go into Ireland when he desired he doubted not but he should soon have suppressed the Rebellion But the Agents to leave nothing undone that might justly advance their Cause did take Notice of the false and Scandalous Remonstrance of the Confederates from Trim as they called it which being Printed by Thomas Burk the Irish Printer at Waterford with His Majesties Arms affixed thereon was now with Ostentation and Insolence published at Oxford and they made so smart an Answer thereunto as was beyound Reply both which Remonstrance and Answer are in Substance recited Appendix 5. and 6. they also together with that Answer 27 April 1644. presented unto the King the Proposals mentioned Appendix 21. These Writings were referr'd by the King to the Committee for Irish Affairs some of which were so disaffected to the Protestants of Ireland that they said The Proposals were drawn by the Close Committee at London and they wonder'd His Majesty would receive such a Mutinous Petition But the Petitioners were Men of Courage and would not be easily daunted 30 April they went next day to the Lord Cottington Chief of the Committee and prayed a Copy of the Irish Proposals He made strange of it as if he knew no such thing and told them That they meant the Irish Remonstrance They replied That was in Print and common and they did not mean It but they meant the Irish Propositions His Lordship told them If any such were it was â—it they should have a Copy but that he knew of no such thing altho' he really was present at the Committee April 19. when those propositions were read and by him and the rest with Charge of inviolable Secresie given to Sir William Stewart and the other Commissioners from the Council Hereupon the Agents address'd themselves to Sir William Stewart and the other Commissioners from the Council of Ireland desiring them to get them Audience from the King before Matters went too far in the Treaty and to obtain a Copy of the Irish Demands To which the next day Sir George Ratcliff return'd answer That they had acquainted the Lords of the Committee with the Desires of the Agents and that they were offended that the Agents should be so forward in prejudicating His Majesty's Justice and Theirs and that they should be heard before the Conclusion of the Treaty The next day being the First of May the Agents were sent for to the Committee and their Instructions and Proposals and the Order of Concurrence of the Irish House of Commons being read the Earl of Bristol told them That the King and the Committee were sensible of the prejudicate Opinion the Agents had of their Justice in pressing to be heard and by their belief of vulgar Reports but that the Agents could not be more careful of the Protestants Persons and Religion than they were The Agents replied That if they had erred in pressing to be heard it proceeded from their Zeal to the Service and for the Preservation of that Remnant of poor Protestants that intrusted them and out of a desire His Majesty and their Lordships might be rightly informed of their past Sufferings and present Calamities and desired to be admitted to Proof of Particulars Hereupon they were ordered to withdraw and being afterwards call'd in again they were commanded to subscribe their Propositions which they did and then were ordered to attend the Primate Usher the Bishop of Downe Sir George Ratcliff c. in the Afternoon which they did and were told by them how offensive the Heighth and Unreasonableness of their Proposals were and that the Committee sent them the Message mentioned Appendix 21 to which they immediately return'd the Answer there likewise recited Hereupon Sir George Ratcliff told them That whilst they continued so high in their Demands they must expect nothing but War They answer'd They were ill provided for it but would rather run the hazard of it than have a dishonorable and destructive Peace and that they could not make farther Alterations in their Proposals without betraying their Trust Sir George replied That if they would abate Three parts of them he was sure the Fourth part would not be granted them That they were sent to preserve the Protestants but that if the Irish Agents return'd without a Peace they would destroy the Remainder of the Protestants since the King was not in a Condition to help them and therefore desired the Agents to think of some way of securing them They answered That there were Five Months of the Cessation unexpir'd within which Time Means of Relief may be found and if not it were better to quit Ireland for a time than to make a destructive Peace Then Sir George asked How the English should get out of Ireland They said By keeping the Irish Agents in England till it is done He replied That he would rather advise the King to lose Ireland than break His Faith with the Irish Agents who came to Treat with Him upon His Word and that it was not likely if the Irish had not good Conditions of Peace that they would forbear Arms till the end of the Cessation On the next day the Agents gave Secretary Nicholas a new Set of Propositions to the same effect with the former only a little more moderate to be presented to the King But on the Seventh of May Sir William Saintleger being come to Oxford told the
they explain this not to Import any thing inconsistent with the Peace nor to breed an Interruption or Impediment of it but to farther its Performance And tho' this Declaration notwithstanding any Explanation they could make of it was diametrically opposite to the Nature and Design of a Peace because this would reduce them to the Obedience and Condition of Subjects and that would still keep them up in the Condition of a Separate State yet there was a deeper Intrigue in this Matter viz. That if they would not part with their Association it necessarily followed that they could not part with their Army which was the Ligament and Support of it And therefore notwithstanding Glamorgan's Concessions yet that Earl must have Patience and wait for the expected Succors until the King should publickly ratifie what his Lordship had privately done and they did not doubt but the same Necessities continuing or rather encreasing would compel His Majesty to comply with their Expectations And in order to bring about their Designs they continued the Treaty with Ormond until the 21th of November and to cloak their Intrigues the whole Assembly on the Ninth of September did Vote That they would send Ten thousand Men to aid the King and would refer to His Majesty's Pleasure such things about Religion as Ormond either had not Power or not Inclination to grant But on the Fifteenth of November following they did in effect invalidate that Vote by alledging That they never undertook the Transportation of the Ten thousand Men to help the King but intended only their Assistance therein Nevertheless I must not conceal that the Anti-Nunciotists do aver That they design'd sincerely to send Succours to the King and to conclude a Peace with the Marquis of Ormond on the Terms afterwards agreed on and to refer the Secret Articles about Religion to His Majesty's Pleasure wherein they doubted not of as much Condescension as His Majesty could safely give because it had been so promis'd to them by the Earl of Glamorgan But the Nuncio arriving in Ireland in the nick of this Business quite altered their Measures and confounded their Affairs And whether it be so or not is scarce worth our Inquiry since we are sure of these few Truths That the Confederates sent no Succors at all to the King nor made the Peace till it was too late and did most perfidiously break it almost as soon as it was made But we must make room for a very extraordinary Man John Baptista Rinuccini Archbishop and Prince of Firmo the Pope's Nuncio who arrived in the River of Kilmair on the 22th day of October He sent before and brought with him 2000 Swords 500 Petronels 20000 Pound of Powder and Five or Six small Trunks of Spanish Gold and had in his Train 22 Italians besides several Clergy-men His Frigat which carried but 21 Guns was closely pursued by Captain Plunket in a Parliament Ship and had certainly been taken or sunk if the Cook-room of the English Ship had not accidentally taken Fire Never were People more troubled at a Disappointment than were the Seamen at this and yet scarce any Disappointment was ever more lucky For this Nuncio afterwards renew'd the fatal Distinction between Old Irish and Old English and split the Irish into * * Clerum ac populum primum diviserit mox inter se comiserit ac siâ— utriusque ruinae viam patefecerit Beling in Preface Factions which very much contributed as well to their Infamy as their Ruin He was receiv'd at Killkenny by the Supreme Council with extraordinary Joy and Respect and in a solemn manner was conducted to the Castle and in the great Hall he made an Oration in Latin to the Lord Viscount Mountgarret President of the Council Sancte jurat nâ—hil se contra 〈◊〉 regis commoda moliturum Beling 15. and amongst other things he did religiously swear to attempt nothing prejudicial to the King Nevertheless he was so little mindful of that Oath and had so small regard to the Peace and true Interest even of the Papists of Ireland that tho' he knew that the King in hopes of Succors from that Kingdom did so earnestly desire a Peace that the Fanaticks revil'd him with being an Humble Suitor to the Rebels for good Terms yet he made advantage of the King's Necessities and refus'd any Agreement that should not restore the Ecclesiastical Revenues and the Splendor of Popery and accordingly he positively wrote to his intimate Friend the Bishop of Killalla That if the Supreme Council should agree with Ormond he would take all the Bishops with him and leave the Kingdom But the Reader must take notice that all this while Ormond and the English were totally ignorant of the secret Negotiations of the Earl of Glamorgan until after the Defeat at Sligo which hapned on the 17th of October at which time the Titular Archbishop of Tuam was slain and in his Trunks was sound amongst other Papers a Copy of the Articles made with the Earl of Glamorgan which discovered such an Ocean of Contrivance and Intrigue as amazed the whole Protestant Party The Articles of this Peace and the Commission it was sounded upon and the Oath taken subsequent to it are all mentioned Appendix 27. which were so destructive to the Protestant Religion that Ormond and the Cavaliers could not believe that the King ever intended them in which Opinion they were confirm'd by the Asseverations of the Lord Digby That the Earl of Glamorgan had no such Commission or if he had it was surreptitiously obtain'd But however that were it was necessary to vindicate His Majesty's Reputation in an Affair so disobliging and scandalous and therefore the Lord Digby did on the 26th of December Impeach that Earl of Suspicion of Treason at the Council-board whereupon he was committed to Pâ—ison and a * * Earl of Roscomâ—n Lord Lambart Sir Jam. Ware Committee was appointed to take his Examination and an Account of this whole Proceeding was on the Fifth of January sent to the King whose excellent Answer thereunto is here recited verbaâ—im Appendix 28. But the Earl of Glamorgan upon his Examination confessed That he made those Concessions but that it was done under mutual Oaths of Secresie and That he conceived he had Warrant for what he did and That he did it with design to serve His Majesty and not to hurt the Protestant Religion Circumstances considered and That he conceives those Articles are not Obligatory to His Majesty and That he did not engage His Majesty's Faith or Honor further than by shewing his Authority and leaving it with them And then he gave the Committee Counterparts of all the Writings between him and the Irish And tho' the King was exceeding angry at the first News of this Affair as what he foresaw would be made use of by the Parliament to justifie all the Aspersions they had laid upon him in point of Popery yet when he had calmly considered that the Earl's
not a little influencd by the Queen and upon her account by the French who had an Agent in the Scots Camp they pretended Zeal for the King's Re-establishment and the Cardinal did really give the Lord Digby 10000 Pistols for the Service of Ireland which he brought to the Marquis of Ormond in July Nevertheless by what they did to the Irish Agents in France and the sequel of the whole Affair it is manifest that they were Ambodexters and their Interest lying in the Confusion and Desolâ—tion of these Kingdoms they did what they could to keep them embroil'd However the King confided much in this French Agent and it was he that managed the Treaty between His Majesty and the Scots and either he did really obtain or persuaded the King that he had got from them these following Concessions viz. 1. That they would not endeavour to Force his Conscience 2. That they would afford a safe Retreat amongst them to all His Majesties faithful Servants and Adherents And 3. That by Force or Treaty they would endeavour to reestablish him in his just Rights And upon these Terms the King went from Oxford to the Scots Camp near Newark from whence they removed him to Newcastle And whilst he was there lying under the deep Resentments of the Ingratitude and Perfidy of the Irish Rebels who always heightned their Demands as his Necessities encreased and clogg'd their Promises of Succours with harder Conditions than were fit to put upon any Christian not to say their King viz. the Subversion of the Religion he profest he was prevail'd upon by his Letter of the 11th of June 1646. to prohibit the Marquis of Ormond from Treating with them any â—arther To this Letter the Lord Lieutenant and Council returned the following Answer That they will not proceed in the Treaty and that the Rebels have three Armies in the Field viz. Munster Army which is before Bunratty Conaught Army which is before Roscomon and Ulster Army which hovers towards Dublin and that the Parliament Frigats are in the Harbor and all over the Coast hindering Provisions c. from coming to them and that the Cessation will determine the 13th of July and that they have but 13 Barrels of Powder and want all other Necessaries for the War and therefore they hope to renew the Cessation for a month and in the mean time do earnestly pray for Supplies adding That they cannot be sure that those that unprovoked fell upon them in a time of Quiet will not break a Cessation as soon as they find themselves baffled in their Expectations of a Peace And as to the unfortunate Battel at Bemburb wherein the Lord Blany was slain and the Lord Mongomery was taken Prisoner as soon as it was over Mr. Annesly and Mr. Beale by their Letters importuned the Lord Lieutenant to declare against the Irish which at that time he could not presently do in regard of the Cessation that was not then expired but upon the Tenth of June the Lord Folliot Monroe and Sir Charles Coot joyned with the others in an Address to the Marquis of Ormond to the same purpose and the Lord Folliot and Mr. Galbreth came with it although they had no safe Conduct or Passport for doing so which is the more strange because those Commissioners Mr. Annesly and Beale had refused a Pass to a Messenger Ormond would have sent to the King unless they might know his Errand and because in this Address they did not give Ormond the Title of Lord-Lieutenant Nevertheless his Excellency answered them That he would joyn with them and as soon as the Cessation expired viz. 13 July would declare against the Common Enemy Provided they would submit to His Majesties Authority But they who had all their Support from the Parliament could not do that and so this Negotiation determined without effect And in this condition stood Affairs when on the Fourth of July 1646. the Lord Digby one of the Secretaries of State and afterwards Earl of Bristol returned to Dublin from France and assured the Marquis of Ormond That notwithstanding the King's Letter of the Eleventh of June which was extorted from him by Duress and proceeded from Ignorance of the posture of Affairs in Ireland and particularly of the Advances of the Treaty of peace it was His Majesties Pleasure That a Peace should be concluded with the Irish and that he had a positive verbal Message from the King to that purpose and thereof he made a solemn and formal Protestation before the Lord Lieutenant and Council which being reduced to Writing was entred at large in the Council-Book at Dublin on the Twenty eighth of July and thereupon they proceeded to the Conclusion of the Peace which was perfected on the Thirtieth of July and is contained in the Articles mentioned Appendix 24. And the next day they wrote to His Majesty a full account of what they had done and desired His Majesty to send them no more Verbal Orders especially such as contradict the Written ones lest they want Vouchers of their Obedience to His Majesties Commands and be thought Disloyal in doing those things which nothing but Duty could make them do The Peace being thus made was solemnly Proclaim'd in Dublin and by General Preston in his Camp and the King at Arms and those of the Heralds-Office to the number of Ten with all their Formalities were on the Sixth of August sent to Proclaim it in the other Cities and Corporations of the Kingdom of whose Journey I will give an account in due time The Lord-Lieutenant did also send a kind Letter of the Third of August to Owen Roe to invite him to Dublin to give his Assistance towards the Settlement of the Nation and that General did on the Seventeenth return a very civil Answer importing That as yet he had no authentick Notice of the Peace from his former Masters but as soon as he should have it he would hasten to pay his Duty to the Lord-Lieutenant And on the Eleventh of August the Protestant Clergy made a grateful Remonstrance of Thanks to His Excellency for his Care of Religion and the Kingdom In the mean time the restless and indefatigable Nuncio had summon'd all the Popish Clergy to Waterford under pretence of an Apostolick Visitation and to prepare for a National Synod the famous Nicholas French Bishop of Ferns was Chancellor of this Congregation which being assembled notwithstanding their holy Pretences did nothing else but consult how to break the Peace they had so lately consented to and being puft up with the Success their Forces had met with this Summer and taking advantage of the distressed condition of His Majesty and his Army these Holy Fathers made short work with the Peace for on the 12th of August which was just a Fortnight after it was made they declared all those perjur'd that would submit to it and by solemn * * Appendix 30. Decree rejected it as not having sufficiently provided for the Liberty and Splendor of
stupendious Revolution was That General Preston and his Army being mostly of the Pale and in whom English Blood and Honor should have had more prevalence than to suffer them to be guilty of so manifest and perfidious Violation of a Peace so lately made with their own King should be persuaded to joyn with Owen Roe and the Ulster Irish in so ill a Cause and even against his Interest and yet it is certain that they were tainted so early that tho' Owen Roe march'd through their Quarters to intercept Ormond yet none of them sent him the least notice and when the Marquis sent to Preston to come to him to consult about those Affairs Preston excused it with a Pretence of Sickness Nevertheless the Nuncio would not trust him until he had tied him by an Engagement to oblige his Honor and an Oath to bind his Conscience both which are recited Appendix 32. And upon the noise of Preston's Defection the Lord Lieutenant sent him an Expostulatory Letter to which he return'd the following Canting Answer May it please your Excellency IN Answer to Yours of the Eighth of this Instant I return That finding the Peace that was Concluded and Published destructive to my Religion and Liberty of the Nation to the Maintenance of which together with His Majesty's Just Prerogatives I had formerly sworn and associated my self I called together my Regiments and issued new Commissions for reinforcing of my Army my Intention being therein no other tha◠complying with my former Resolution and Engagement which I desire may be accorded with Assurance whereby we may be the better enabled to comply with His Majesty's Necessities in serving Him Which is the only Ambition of My Lord Your Lordships most humble Servant T. PRESTON Kilka 10 October 1646. But let us return to the Nuncio who by the Artifice and Industry of the Popish Clergy was become the Generalissimo of Two Armies which being united made up 16000 Foot and 1600 Horse with which he marched towards Dublin and was so confident to take it by a General Assault at his first Approach and express'd it with such Arguments of Probability that it was generally believ'd in his Camp so that Colonel Fitz-Williams pretending Kindness to Ormond did by his Letter of the 22th of September give him notice of the Danger and advis'd him to prevent it by confirming Glamorgan's Concessions and concludes That then Preston will live and die for His Majesty And to this Advertisement the Marquis on the 26th of September return'd the following Answer SIR IF I could have assured the Clergy my Lord of Glamorgan's Conditions I had not retired hither they are Things I have nothing to do with nor will have If they be valid in themselves they need no Corroboration if invalid I have no Power to give them Strength I cannot believe General Preston so regardless of his Honor as to appear in a way of Hostility before Dublin which were in the highest degree to violate the Loyalty he professeth the many Assurances given me by himself and in his behalf by others and above all the Honor of his Profession But if all that can be called Faith between King and Subject and betwixt Man and Man shall be so infamously laid aside together with all hope of Reconciliation Nature will teach us to make the best Resistance we can and God the sure Punisher of Treachery and Disloyalty at last will bless our Endeavors with Success or our Sufferings with Patience and Honor. Your Servant ORMOND But we must leave this mighty Army on their March and visit the Marquis of Ormond who was so enraged at this unexcusable Perfidy of the Confederates that he resolved to think no more of Treating with them but on the contrary prepared for the utmost Resistance And he was likewise very much confirmed in those Resolutions by the Opinion of the Lord Digby whom he had left Resident at Kilkenny and who in his Letter of the 24th of September hath this Passage My Lord there is no dealing with this People but by Force You see by the short Letter how they forge large Offers and improve others for their Ends. Hereupon Resolutions were unanimously taken in Council to Address to the Parliamet for Succors as shall be hereafter related at large in its proper place And the Lord Lieutenant and Council did write to the King ☞ That the Irish having perfidiously violated the Peace had begun a new War to wrest the Kingdom from His Majesty and transfer it to the King of Spain or the Pope to avoid which they were forced to apply themselves to the Parliament And the same day they wrote to the Lord Mayor and City of London for Assistance and assur'd them that the City Debts seiz'd in the beginning of the War were but borrow'd in extremity and that an exact Account are kept of them and they will be justly repaid by the King in due time And hereupon the Captain of the Parliaments Ship that carried the Commissioners over furnish'd the Lord Lieutenant with Thirty Barrels of Powder There was nothing more could be done for the Preservation of Dublin but to invite the Parliament Forces of Ulster to its Assistance which was not neglected and many of them were passionately inclin'd to the Service as knowing that the whole Kingdom would suffer very much in the Loss of that City But the Chief Commanders and the Parliament Commissioners would not consent unless Tredagh might be put into their Hands To which Ormond replied That he was in Treaty with the Parliament and therefore could not part with Tredagh till that were finished but desires them to reinforce his Garisons or divert the Common Enemy by taking the Field However the Irish were afraid of this Conjunction and therefore Owen Roe from Athy on the Ninth of October invited the Lord Lieutenant thither to treat with the Nuncio but Ormond knew there was no good Musick to be made upon that String and therefore the next day from Trim he return'd an Expostulation Why they were in Arms and desired them to restore Athlone and Athy To which Owen Roe replied the same day from Kilka That those Garisons are in surer Hands for the King now than they were in before whilst they were kept by Men inclined to the Parliament But tho this Irish General was so high being the Favorite of the Nuncio and his Party yet General Preston was not so but foreseeing the Fate and Scandal of the perfidious Breach of the Peace both he and his Army were somewhat cold in the Affair Besides this there was a National Emulation between the Two Armies O Neal's being Old Irish as the others was of the Old English and this was increas'd by the Insolence of the former and the Envy of the latter For Owen Roe and his Party who had been lately Victorious at Bemburb and had never submitted to the Peace because the Nuucio did reject it thought themselves justly entitled to the Reputation of
being the better Soldiers and the better Catholicks Whilst the other being the Civiliz'd Inhabitants of the Pale look'd upon the Northern Army as a sort of Barbarians And therefore the Lord Digby writes thus to the Lord Lieutenant from Grangemelan 13 October All here of the Nuncio and O Neal ' s Parties is the height of Insolency and Villanies O Neal ' s and Preston ' s Armies hate one another more than the English hates either of them O Neal has Eight thousand Foot whereof Five thousand well Armed and Eight hundred Horse the worst in the World he designs on Naas Matters standing thus General Preston On the Nineteenth of October made some Proposals to the Lord Digby to which he return'd this Answer by Sir Nicholas White That if Preston would submit to the Peace the Lord Lieutenant would break off the other Treaty but cannot do it after the Provisions and Country are destroy'd because then he will be tied by the Teeth to the Parliament on whom he must depend for Bread That he shall have reasonable Security of Religion but must decline the extravagant Expectations of the Nuncio That they shall have the Penal Laws repeal'd and not be disturb'd in the Possession of the Churches they now have until His Majesty's Pleasure cut of Restraint be known And for security hereof they shall have the Engagement of the Queen the Prince of Wales of the Crown of France and of the Marquis of Clanrickard and that Preston shall have a considerable Command and so shall as many of Owen Roe's Officers as will comply But an Answer must be sent before the Lord Lieutenant be necessitated to destroy his own Quarters And this General Preston did also send Sir James Dillon to offer the Command of his Army to the Lord of Clanrickard and that they would submit to the Peace if they might be secur'd in their Religion But as Clanrickard would not meddle without Ormond's Consent so Ormond began to be shie of Preston and not to regard what he said because he had promis'd him not to shoot a Gun at any English Garison and yet he did now assault and take Castlejordan which breach of his private Promise more sullied his Reputation with Ormond than did his Contravention of the General Peace Moreover whilst they pretended fairly and talk'd of Peace they nevertheless march'd on and destroy'd the English Quarters and therefore when the Lord Tâ—â—f on the 23th of October sent a healing Message to the Lord Lieutenant in behalf of Preston and in order to revive the Peace he smartly answered That now they had destroyed his Quarters and taken several of His Majesty's Castles and murdered His Subjects without any cause of Complaint they begin to talk and but to talk of Accommodation And when Preston replied That the Peace was disadvantagious to the Catholicks and was therefore rejected the Marquis answered That Oaths are not necessary to bind one to his Benefit and therefore are useful only when they oblige to Disadvantage and if they may for that Reason be violated all Faith amongst Men is destroy'd Whereupon on the Thirtieth of October Preston writes That he will send the Lord Lieutenant Propositions in two or three days which accordinly were sent on the Second day of November and were signed by both the Generals together with a Letter as followeth viz. May it please your Excellency BY the Command of the Confederate Catholicks of this Kingdom who offer the inclosed Propositions we have under our Leading Two Armies Our Thoughts are best to our Religion King and Country our Ends to establish the First and make the Two following secure and happy It is the great part of our Care and Desires to purchase your Excellency to the effecting of so blessed a Work We do not desire the effusion of Blood and to that purpose the inclosed Propositions are sent from us We pray to God your Consideration of them may prove fruitful We are commanded to pray your Excellency to render an Answer to them by Two of the Clock in the Afternoon on Thursday next be it War or Peace We shall endeavor in our Ways to exercise Faith and Honor and upon this Thought we rest Your Excellencies most humble Servants T. PRESTON OWEN O NEILE 1. That the Exercise of the Romish Religion be in Dublin Tredagh and all the Kingdoms of Ireland as free and as publick as it is now in Paris in France or Bruxels in the Low-Countries 2. That the Council of State called ordinarily the Council-Table be of Members true and faithful to His Majesty and such of which there may be no fear or suspicion of going to the Parliament Party 3. That Dublin Tredagh Trim Newry Carlingford and all Garisons within the Protestant Quarters ☞ be Garison'd by Confederate Catholicks to maintain and keep the said Cities and Places for the use of our Sovereign Lord King Charles and his Lawful Successors for the Defence of this Kingdom of Ireland 4. That the present Council of the Confederates shall Swear truly and faithfully to keep and maintain for the use of His Majesty and His Lawful Successors and for the Defence of the said Kingdom of Ireland the above Cities of Dublin and Tredagh and all other Forts Places and Castles as above 5. That the said Council and all General Officers and Soldiers whatsoever do Swear and Protest to fight by Sea and Land against the Parliamentarians and all the Kings Enemies And that they will never come to any Convention Agreement or Article with the said Parliamentarians or any the Kings Enemies to the prejudice of His Majesties Rights or of this Kingdom of Ireland 6. That according to Our Oath of Association We will to the best of Our Power and Cunning defend the Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom the Kings Rights the Lives and Fortunes of the Subjects His Excellency is prayed to make Answer to the above Propositions at furthest by Two of the Clock in the Afternoon on Thursday next But it seems that these Proposals were thought so insolent and unreasonable that it was not fit to Countenance them with an Answer In the mean time the Lord Lieutenant had sent to the Lord Clanrickard to come to him with what Assistance he could and this Lord who was always Loyal and abhorred the violation of the Peace did his Endeavour to bring a considerable Party with him but as he words it in his Letter of the Second of November The sharp Sword of Excommunication had so cut his Power and means that he could bring with him but one Troop of Horse to Tecroghan however his Presence was very considerable and as it gave great Comfort to the Lord Lieutenant so it gave mighty hopes to Preston who believed that Clanrickard who for his exemplary Loyalty would be confided in by one side and for his Religion might be trusted by the other was a fit Mediator to reconcile both Parties and accordingly he applyed himself to that Lord and by the
or Clergy but to Men of Estates that are dispossessed as appears by the Limitation of its Continuance viz. until they can possess so much of their own Estates That the Covenant hath been already pressed and imposed in all parts of Ireland that are under the power of the Parliament and therefore they must be secure against that and if there be no Ordinance of Parliament to impose it the Commissioners may the better undertake it shall not be imposed That tho' his Lordship if he were to continue the Government would submit to Ordinances of Parliament that relate to Government of the Army or the like yet he would not to Ordinances of Religion against his Conscience and doth not scruple now that the people shall be obliged to Ordinances of the former sort and the Commissioners Declaration That they intend no other will give Satisfaction in this point That there was time enough to get the King's Orders That the Delivery of Oxford was forced by Extremity and yet was not done without the King's Direction That Inferences must not be made against any thing that is expressed And besides the first Article To procure His Majesties Direction the Seventh Article Mentions That if in the mean time till they can get the King's Orders they supply the Garisons it shall be well husbanded c. So that this Matter is fully and doubly expressed in those Proposals And lastly There is no Satisfaction given about the Dissolution of the present Parliament in Ireland which would be the Ruin of the Protestants of that Kingdom But because the Kingdom might not be deprived of the Supplies the Commissioners brought and that neither side may be prejudiced until the King's Pleasure may be known and their Instructions from the Parliament enlarg'd the Lord-Lieutenant propos'd 1. That the Officers and Soldiers may be landed and put in one or more Garisons and to receive Orders from his Excellency and the Governor of the place and submit to the Martial Law 2. That 3000 l. be lent his Excellency to support the Army â…” Money and 1 â— Victuals 3. That the Commissioners engage their Soldiers shall remove at the end of six Weeks unless an Agreement be made in the mean time and till then do no Prejudice to the Government 4. That his Lordship will engage they shall have free Egress c. at six Weeks end But the Commissioners thinking that the Exigencies of the City and Army and the danger to lose both would force the Lord-Lieutenant to comply refused these Proposals and repeated That his Lordship had offered to the Parliament to put all his Forces and Garisons under their sole Command the King unconsulted with therein which his Lordship did by his Letter of the Two and Twentieth of November positively deny And so this Treaty broke off and the Commissioners carried their Men and Supplies to Ulster But though the Lord Lieutenant had a fair excuse for refusing the Parliament Commissioners since they did not bring His Majesty's Orders according to the express mention thereof twice made in his Propositions yet he was very uneasy in regard of the Protestants under his Command and accordingly in answer to one of the Lord Digby's importunate Letters he thus expâ—esseth himself Nov. 18. 1646. It is an hard Task I have to break with the Parliaments Commissioners and keep my Reputation with my own Party to whom these Commissioners offered Security in their Fortunes Supplies in their Wants and Assistance against the Irish that have destroyed them in all the Interests that are dear to Men besides I must perswade my Party to return to intolerable and inevitable Wants and to rely once more upon the recently broken Faith of the Irish And in the same Letter he excepts against letting the Irish into Garisons and against promising to obey the Orders of Queen or Prince and against the words Free Exercise of Religion To all which the Lord Digby gave plausible Answers on the 20th and writes That Preston languished for his Commission and that he need do no more than write a kind Letter to that General and so at length he was overcome and did on the 25th day of November write to Preston and the next day gave a Commission to Clanrickard to be Lieutenant General of the Army and he was received as such by General Preston's Forces drawn up in Battalia The Terms of this new Reconciliation appear in the Marq. of Clanrickard ' s Engagement Appen 33 which one would think is as full as could be desired however the Nuncio and his Minion Owen Roe were not satisfied with them the Nuncio on the 20th of November urged the Marquis of Clanrickard That the Churches of Dublin might be included in his Engagement but Clanrickard replyed That it is more plausible to refuse Obedience to the King till he become Catholick than until being a Protestant he refuse to part with his own Churches Your Grace said he ought to content your Self with the Glory of Setling all the Garisons and in a manner all the Power in the Kingdom in Catholick Hands and to have secured the Catholick Religion with at least as great Extent and as great Freedom and Lustre under a King of a different Faith as that of his own Profession However it is not doubted but the Nuncio did secretly * * Nuntius Prestonio mandat ut fâ—â—dus cum prorege renovet Beling 38. promote this Pacification not with a design it should stand but in expectation of these three Advantages 1. That being by Sickness and want of Forâ—â—ge necessitated to raise the Siege this Agreement would make their Retreat safe which else might be dangerous Ormond's Horse being much better than theirs 2. The Disappointment of the Parliaments Commissioners would make an everlasting Fewd between them and Ormond And 3. Preston's Forces being in the English Garisons might find an opportunity to master some of them Nevertheless it was necessary that Owen Roe should decline the Agreement for else all the Kingdom would have complyed with it as believing that the Nuncio wanted either Power or Will to oppose it and therefore on the 17th of November he decamped and marched into the Queens County where he ravaged over the Country and destroyed all that he could not keep But Preston stayed in the Camp and on the 27th of November received the Marquis of Clanrickard as Lieutenat General of the Army and was himself made Major General and he and his Officers signed the Engagement mentioned Appendix 34 to obey the Peace and by Letters under his own Hand invited the Lord Lieutenant to march with him to Kilkenny and Waterford to reduce those Cities to conformity which he said would be effected by his Excellency's Appearance only before those places whereupon Ormond coâ—â—â—nted but was by Sickness detained for some few days from the intended March. But contrary to his expectation General Preston decamped and on the second of December from Naas writes to his Excellency That the
Professing our Resolutions are with all real Service to the utmost of our Power to manifest the sincerity of our Acknowledgment and Affections unto you and to perpetuate to Posterity the Memory of your Excellencies Merits and our Thankfulness We have appointed this Instrument to be entred into both Houses and under the Hands of both Speakers to be Presented to your Lordship 17th die Martii 1676. Intr. per Vaâ— Savage Dep. Cler. Parl. Rich. Bolton Canc. Maurice Eustace Speaker Int. 17th die Martii 1676. per Philip Fernely Cler. Dom. Com. To which his Excellency returned the following Answer My Lords and Gentlemen VVHAT you have now Read and Deliver'd hath much surprized me and contains matter of higher Obligation laid upon me by you than thus suddenly to be answered yet I may not suffer you to depart hence without saying somewhat to you And first I assure you that this Acknowledgment of yours is unto me a Jewel of very great Value which I shall lay up amongst my choicest Treasures it being not only a full Confutation of those Calumnies that have been cast upon my Actions during the time I have had the Honour to serve His Majesty here but likewise an Antidote against the Virulency and Poison of those Tongues and Pens that I am well assur'd will be busily set on Work to traduce and blast the Integrity of my present Proceedings for your Preservation And now my Lords and Gentlemen since this may perhaps be the last time that I shall have the Honour to speak to you from this Place and since that next to the words of a dying Man those of one ready to banish himself from his Country for the good of it Challenge Credit give me leave before God and you here to protest that in all the time I had the Honour to serve the King my Master I never received any Command from him but such as spake him a Wise Pious Protestant Prince zealous of the Religion he professeth the Welfare of his Subjects and industrious to promote and settle Peace and Tranquillity in all his Kingdoms and I shall beseech you to look no otherwise upon me than upon a ready Instrument set on Work by the Kings Wisdom and Goodness for your Preservation wherein if I have discharged my Self to his Approbation and yours it will be the greatest Satisfaction and Comfort I shall take with me where-ever it shall please God to direct my Steps And now that I may dismiss you I beseech God long to preserve my Gracious Master and to restore Peace and Rest to this aifflcted Church and Kingdom But it is necessary to cast an Eye upon the rest of the Provinces and first on Munster where we shall find that the Castle of Bunratty was surpriz'd by the English in the close of the last Year and that the Earl of Glamorgan with Three thousand of the Men design'd for England was gone to recover that place he possed himself at Six-mile-bridge and made that his Camp and his Magazine but in the beginning of April the Garison sallyed and killed Captain Magrah and many of the Thomond Men aud beat their Party and not only burned Six-mile-bridge but scowred the whole Country to within Three mile of Limerick Hereupon Glamorgan appointed a Rendezvouz at Clonmel designing to make a Second Attempt but whilst he was contriving to impeach and imprison the Lord Muskery that Lord by his Interest and Diligence was too hard for him and obtained the Command of the Army which he presently conducted to the Siege of Bunratty nevertheless that place held out Six weeks after he came before it and at last surrendered upon honourable Articles The Supream Council removed to Limerick to Countenance this Siege and Insiquin to divert it ravag'd over all the Country to the very Gates of Limerick until the Earl of Castlehaven in pity to the Confederates gathered 1000 Horse whereby Insiquin being hindred from farther Preying the Country was oblig'd to return to his Garisons and in the mean time the Lord Broghill took the Lord Muskrye's strong Castle of Blarny which was more than a Counterpoise for his Success at Bunratty And what was done the rest of the Summer in Munster I do not any where find saving that the Lord of Insiquin took the Castle of Piltown but that on the Twentieth of February the Lord Lisle the Parliaments Lord Lieutenant arrived at Cork with 30000 l. in Money seven Pieces of Battery 1000 Muskets and 100 Barrels of Powder He did his utmost to amend whatever he found in disorder and in March visited Tallow Lismore Formoy and Youghall and had Knockmone delivered unto him but when he returned to Cork he began to be jealous of Insiquin and spent some of his time in fruitless Endeavours to displace him And in Ulster I find nothing more done than what hath been already related of the Battel of Bemburb saving that the Commissioners in the later end of October whilst Owen Roe was at the Siege of Dublin and to divert him from it sent out Seven hundred Horse and Dragoons from Lisnegarvy and they ravag'd over the Counties of Cavan Monaghan Louth and Westmeath and destroyed Owen Roe's Quarters and burnt many of his Villages and abundance of Corn and demolished Carickmacross and after a Fortnights stay abroad they brought home as many Cattle and as much other Plunder as they could drive or carry As also That the Lagan and Eniskilling Forces being joyned met Owen Roe near Clownish and gave him a small Defeat And as for Conaught it seems that General Preston took Roscomon about Midsummer and reduced most part of that Province for on the Tenth of December Mr. Annesly Sir Adam Loftus Sir John Temple and Sir Hardress Waller being then in England made a Report of the State of Ireland to the Parliament as followeth viz. That all Leinster opposes the Parliament and so doth Conaught except Sligo and five or six Castles wherein the Parliament hath Six Hundred Horse and Fourteen Hundred Foot but that in Munster the Parliament hath Cork Kinsale Youghall and Bandon and in them Four Thousand Foot and Three Hundred Horse and that all Ulster is theirs except Charlemont Dunganon and Montjoy which the Irish have and Newry and Greencastle which Ormond hath and in that Province the Parliament have Eight Thousand Foot in seventeen Regiments whereof Three Thousand Five Hundred Scots and Five Thousand old British and Eight Hundred and Fifty Horse in seventeen Troops and that the Irish are well supplied with Horse Arms Ammunition and Men and have Twenty Thousand Foot and Two Thousand Five Hundred Horse in Arms. But since we have related what the Confederates did at home it is fit that we should also enquire what they did abroad which we may give a shrewd Guess at by the following Papers the first being an Extract of a Letter sent to the Queen by the Bishops of Dublin Cashel and Elphin in the name of the Congregation on the Fifteenth of August 1646.
The second is part of a Letter to the Marquis of Clanrickard Dated at Paris the Tenth of February 1646. And the third is an Account of Mr. Jeofry Baron his Embassy to France THat Glamorgan was The Letter to the Queen for this only Reason imprisoned That being a Catholick he was carrying to the King such Catholick Succours as might deserve His Majesty's Favour to himself and the Catholicks of Ireland That the Kingdom being clear'd of the common Enemy by the Catholicks of Ireland which we suppose may be easily done this Summer we may all unanimously go to assist our King That we dislike the late Peace because all things are referred to the Pleasure of the King which we would readily submit to if he were not environ'd on all sides with the Enemies of our Religion and so far off from Your Majesty And in the mean time the Armies Garisons and Jurisdiction of the Confederates even the Supream Council it self are subjected to the sole Authority and Dominion of the Marquis of Ormond a Protestant Viceroy But we have no small hopes and Confidence in Your Majesty's gracious and effectual Intercession with the Pope That Bounds being set to the Protestants within which their Armies and Government may be confin'd they may not disturb the Catholick Religion the Churches nor Ecclesiastical Persons or Things QUod Glamorganus eo solo capite detrudi in Carcerem quod Catholicus ad Regem ferit Catholicorum Subsidia quibus sibi Catholicis Hibernis Regios Favores promeretur Ut purgata ab Hoste Communi per Catholicos Hiberniae quod satis facile ni fallimur poterat hoc Autumno fieri unanimos ire ad nostri Regis Subsidium Pax ideo nobis displicet quia omnia referuntur ad Arbitrium Suae Majestatis i.e. Regis quod subiremus libentissime si ab Hostibus nostrae Religionis undequaque cincta à MAJESTATE Vestra tam procul non esset Interim subjici Exercitus Arma Castra omnem Confederatorum Jurisdictionem ipsum Concilium Supremum soli Authoritati Dominio Marchionis Ormoniae Proregis Protestantis Non modica nobis restat Spes Fiducia in Majestatis Vestrae benigna efficacissima Intercessione apud Summum Pontificem ut praescripto Protestantibus limite intra quem eorum Arma Imperium contineantur ne Religionem Catholicam Ecclesias Ecclesiasticasque personas acres turbare liceat THE new Agent of the Supream Council The Letter to the Marquiss of Clanrickard Colonel Fitz-Williams is very violent in his Office It is believed that Hartegan hath inchanted or infected the Employment insomuch that all his Successors prove like to him He the Colonel is very liberal in the disposing of Places and Offices in the Kingdom He told the Countess of Arundel That he could make the Earl her Husband if he pleased Lord-Lieutenant and 't is imagined he says the same of the Marquis of Worcester to his Friends that is That he shall be Lord-Lieutenant and this was just Hartegan's way of Proceeding Shall we never have a discreet Person come from those parts who may impartially do our Affairs here Such a Party would Advantage and Honour your Country Colonel Fitz-Williams hath said in great heat That Dublin should be taken as soon as Mr. Baron returned and that the Confederates are so puissant that he wisheth with all his Heart that there were in Ireland 40000 English and Scots that they might have the Honour to beat them And another said The Confederates had taken Dublin if it were not for their Respect to the Queen Her Majesty declares That tho' she hath sent Mr. Winter Grant yet it is only with reference to the Marquisses of Ormond and Clanrickard to be consulted with and without their Advice and Consent he is not to engage her Majesty's Authority in any one thing Colonel Fitz-Williams endeavoureth now by his Friends to get a good Opinion in this Court from our Queen and he clasheth with Dr. Tirrel and pretendeth at Court That he suffers for adhering to my Lord of Ormond and our King's Party however at his Arrival here Hartegan was not more violent than he was against my Lord of Ormond and that Party MR. Jeofry Baron landed at Waterford on Friday the Eleventh of March 1646. and came the next day to Kilkenny The Account of Mr. Barons Ambassy and being indisposed two or three days he came not into the Assembly till the Sixteenth at which time being asked for an account â—f his Negotiation he answered That for the most part it consisted in the Letters he had brought with him and made some scruple to communicate them to any other than a sworn Council because the matter required Secrecy At length a Committee was appointed to peruse the Letters and Sir Lucas Dillon the Chairman reported from that Committee That it was requisite the Letters should be read in the Assembly which was done accordingly The first was a Letter of 30 January from Dr. Tirrell one of the Irish Agents importing That the Repture of the late Peace did at first seem to both the Courts in France to trench far upon the publick Faith of the Kingdom but when some slight Objections were solidly refuted and full Information given then the Rejection of the Peace was confirmed by the King and Queen of France and by Cardinal Mazarine but when they heard of the Return of the Irish Forces from Dublin they suspected their Weakness and Division wherefore he advises them to unite their Forces and attack that City again and make themselves Masters of the Kingdom and thereby they will regain the good Will of the King and Queen of France And that the Queen and Prince of Wales are coming to Ireland and advises not to agree upon slight Terms for when they come the Irish will have their Wills The second was a Letter from the King of France of 26 September to this effect That being well informed of the Inclinations the Kingdom hath to him he will take a particular Care of their Interests c. The third and fourth were from Cardinal Mazarine containing general Promises and that the Settlement of His Majesty of England would much rejoyce the King of France The Fifth was from Colonel Fitz-Williams Assuring them That if they would provid a good Reception from the Queen and Prince in Ireland most of their Demands would be granted That the Queen denies to have any Power to treat with the Irish but that she will send for it That the French will sâ—â—d Ships for Two Thousand Irish That if they aid Antrim in Scotland the Scots must look to their own Country and without them the Parliamentarians can do the Irish no hurt That the Presbyterians and Independents will certainly fall out That the Irish should not decline any of their Proposals for Peace for he is sure they shall have all Only he Supplicates them to leave one Church open in Dublin for the King's Religion lest the
the want of Provisions in the Navy his Highness did also raise some Forces which he sent to the Relief of Scilly and he also sent a Bill of 5000 Pistols to the new King Hereupon the Parliament sent their Sea-Generals Blake and Dean to block up this Fleet in Kinsale-Harbour which they did effectually all the Summer and took the Guinny-Frigot that was abroad and tho' the Prince did in person sollicite Waterford Cork and other Sea-ports for Assistance to sit out some Fire-ships yet at length it was resolved rather to let the Winter Storms remove the Enemy than to encounter them at so great disadvantage especially since the Prince could not be sure of his Men of whom so many deserted daily that it was found necessary to hang up ten of those Straglers for a terrour to the rest In the mean time Owen Roe sent a Message to his Highness That since he and Ormond had drawn and tasted of each others bloud he would never joyn with the Marquess but if his Highness would take the Command of the Kingdom he and all his would readily submit to One of the Bloud Royal. But this was counted a Complement which the Proposer knew the Prince could not accept of however it occasion'd that Capt. Leg was sent to hasten the King into Ireland but his Ship being taken he was for a long time imprison'd at Plimouth and by a Court-Martial condemn'd to die In the mean time the Prince was in great straits for all Necessaries and tho' he contracted his charge to the well Manning of four Frigats only besides his Flag-Ships yet there being no Supply from abroad Want over-took him even in this narrow Model and Reducement so that he was forc'd to rely on what his own personal Interest or Love to his Majesty's Cause could in so tottering a Conjuncture perswade People to lend And it was at this time that the Generous Loyalty of a private a Robert Southwell Esq Gentleman of Kinsale did signalize itself in furnishing the Prince with a considerable quantity of Provisions without which his Highness could not have gone to Sea and altho' at this time when Munster was meditating a Revolt to Cromwell which it soon after accomplished this action was of dangerous consequence to the Gentleman that did it yet he survived that danger and lived to be well considered for this Service by the Act of Settlement and as Marks of his Majesty's favour to be made one of the Council of Munster and Vice-Admiral of that Province and the Prince being enabled thereunto by these Supplies put to Sea and got safe to Lisbon But it is time to return to the Second Accident which I mentioned and that was The Departure of the Nuntio which happened in this manner The General Assembly of the Irish having approved of the Cessation with Insiquin and being exceedingly troubled at the Excommunication which the Nuntio had fulminated against all the Adherents thereunto and consequently against themselves they did not only imploy an Agent to prosecute their Appeal to the Pope but did also on the 19th of October write a Letter to the Nuntio then at Galway which Letter was signed by their Speaker and ordered him to withdraw out of the Kingdom at his peril and in it was enclosed a Schedule of Greivances occasioned by him and whereof they intended to impeach him to the Pope Tanquam qui huic parricidio occasionem dedissâ—t Beling 173. and it was also accompanied with a severe Declaration against all those that should correspond with his Reverence Whereupon finding that he had been one unhappy Cause of the King's Murder says Mr. Beling he took Ship at Galway on the 23d of February and returned to Rome where he was blamed by the Pope for acting so b Lemerarie se gesisti rashly Nevertheless the Irish could not be absolved from his unjust Excommunication for making a Truce with Insiquin P. W. Remonstrance 592. until they had done Penance in Forma Ecclesiae Consueta which imports an acknowledgement of the Crime But tho' the Nuntio was gone yet he had left Own Roe and his Army behind to support his Faction who together with the Marquess of Antrim did oppose the Peace because the six escheated Counties in Ulster were not restor'd to the old Irish Beling 165. and with these sided a Multitude of Fryers who railed against the late Peace and the scandalous Expulsion of the Nuntio and threatned inevitable Damnation to all those that should take part with the Lord-Lieutenant whereby the Peace became of little use to the King or advantage to his Affairs even whilst the Bishops and Secular Clergy adhered to it which was not long But on the 9th of March the King by his Letter from the Hague confirm'd the late Peace and ordered a new Great Seal to be made and to be disposed of to whom the Lord-Lieutenant should think fit and appointed the Lord of Insiquin to be Lord-President of Munster and the Marquess of Clanrickard to be Lord-President of Connaught if the Lord-Lieutenant find it convenient And thus ended the Year 1648. The Year 1649 opened with a Vote in the Parliament of England 1649. of the 28th of March That Oliver Cromwell should be General of all their Forces then in Ireland or that should be sent thither and accordingly he prepared dilligently for that Expedition But because besides his there were four other distinct Interests and Armies in that Kingdom viz. the King 's the Presbyterians the Supreme Council's and Owen Roe's it is necessary to treat of them separately to prevent confusion and that the Reader may the more clearly penetrate into the Intreigues of this Campaign And we will begin with the King 's both because it was his and because it was the most numerous and most considerable that of the Supreme Council being united unto it by vertue of the late Peace and many of the Presbyterians under the Lord of Ards falling into it afterwards it consisted of 3700 Horse and 14500 Foot under the Command of the Marquess of Ormond the Lord of Insiquin was Lieutenant-General of it and the Earl of Castlehaven was Lieutenant-General of the Foot and the Lord Taaf was Master of the Ordnance and thus composed part of this Army rendezvouz'd at Cashell on the 3d of May from whence Castlehaven was detach'd with a Party which took Rheban Maryburgh and Althy from Owen Roe's Souldiers with considerable slaughter and that being done it met at Cloghgrenan on the 26th of May and marching forward took Castle-Talbot Kildare Castlesalagh and Castlecarbry and on the 14th of June encamped at Naas And having rested two or three days they marched to Finglass and encamped there on the 18th of June and on the 19th a detached Party drew nearer Dublin and with some loss skirmished with the Enemies Horse and then return'd to Finglass and there Ormond received and dispos'd into convenient Quarters a great number of Papists whom Collonel Jones to
but the Foot fought stoutly even to club-Musket and push of Pike but the issue was that the Irish were totally routed and then the Horse did great execution in the pursuit which was continued farther than ever was heard of before viz. above thirty Miles for at Omagh Major King with his three Troops begun the pursuit afresh and gleaned up what had escaped from the Battle so that it was believed that 500 of all this Army did not escape and even the Bishop himself was also taken by Major a Afterwards Lord Kingston King and by order of the Lord-President was the next day hanged Nor is it amiss to observe the Variety and Vicissitude of the Irish Affairs for this very Bishop and those Officers whose heads were now placed on the Walls of Derry were within less than a Year before confederate with Sir Charles Coot and raised the Siege of that City and were jovially merry at his Table in the quality of Friends Nor must it be omitted that the Duke of Lorrain sent his Agent Collonel Oliver Synot into Ireland he landed on the 29th of April 1650 and made a great noise of his Master's affection to the King and his zeal to the Catholick Religion and pretended that he had brought Money with him and that he would lend 1000 l. for his Majesty's service on the Mortgage of any Town or Fort that was considerable Whereupon the Lord-Lieutenant appointed the Lords Taaf and Athenry and Jeoffory Brown to treat with him and proposed to Mortgage Galway for that Sum But at length it was found to be a juggle on Synot's side and that either he had no Money or no intention to part with it And the Secret of this Affair is that the Duke of Lorrain was engaged in a Negotiation at Rome to Legitimate some Children that he had by Madam de Causecroix in the life-time of his first Wife Nichol de Lorrain and the easier to accomplish his design he dissembled such an extraordinary Zeal for Religion as would transport his Arms into Ireland to the relief of the Catholicks there but when he had effected his business at Rome his Devotion to the Irish Service abated so that being seperately and at several times sollicited by the King and by the Agents of the Confederates to the first he answered That the King had nothing left in Ireland and therefore it was in vain to treat And to the others he answered That he could not treat with them any farther without the approbation of their King And so with his usual dexterity he extricated himself out of this Affair In the mean time Collonel Reynolds and Sir Theophilus Jones beat back some Forces that were sent to the Relief of Terroghan and disturbed a Consult that was held in Westmeath between the Lord-Lieutenant the Lords of Clanrickard and Castlehaven and the Titular Bishop of Clogher and they also in Trim Ballyhuse and Feynagh And thus matters still growing worse and worse and the Parliamentarians daily getting ground the Popish Clergy did Proprio Motu assemble at Jamestown on the 6th of August and on the same day did give Commission to the Bishop of Fernes and Hugh Rochford to Treat with forreign Princes as Appendix 46 and afterwards did several things more extravagant Nevertheless to dissemble the Matter and as preparatory to their Meeting they sent the Lord-Lieutenant the following Letter May it please Your Excellency THis Nation become of late the Fable and Reproach of the Christianity is brought to a sad Condition Notwithstanding the frequent and laborious Meetings and Consultations of the Prelates we find Jealousies and Fears deep in the hearts of Men Thorns hard to take out We see most Men contributing to the Enemy and rendring their Persons and Substance useful to his Mallice and destructive to Religion and the King's Interest This kind of Men if not timely prevented will betray irremediably themselves and us We find no Stock or Substance ordered for maintaining the Souldier nor is there an Army any way considerable in the Kingdom to recover what is lost or defend what we hold So as Humanely speaking if God will not be pleased for his Mercy 's sake to take off from us the heavy Judgments of his Anger we are in a fair way for losing Sacred Religion the King's Authority and Ireland The four Archbishops to acquit their own Consciences in the Eyes of God have resolved to meet at Jamestown about the sixth day of the next Month and to bring about as many of the Suffragans as may repair thither with safety The end of this Consultation is to do what in us lieth for the amendment of Errors and recovery of this afflicted People If your Excellency shall think fit in your wisdom to send one or more Persons to make Proposals for the Safety of the Nation we shall not want willingness to prepare good Answers nor will we despair of the Blessing of God and of his powerful Influence to be upon our sincere Intentions in that place Even so we conclude remaining June 14th 1650. For his Excellency the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland Your Excellency's Most Humble Servants Fr. Thomas Dublin Jo. Archiepiscopus Tuamen This Letter was answered by his Excellency as followeth AFter Our hearty Commendations We received yours of the 24th of July on the first of this Month and do with much Grief acknowledge that this Nation is brought into a sad Condition and that by such means as when it shall be known abroad and by Story delivered to Posterity will indeed be thought a Fable For it will seem incredible that any Nation should so madly affect and violently pursue the ways leading to their own Destruction as this People will appear to have done and that after the certain Ruine they were running into was evidently and frequently discovered unto those that in all times and upon all other occasions have had power to perswade or compel them to whatever they thought fit And it will be less credible when it shall be declared as with truth it will be that the Temporal Spiritual and Eternal Interest and Safety even of those that had this power and that have been thus forewarned did consist in making use of it to reclaim the People and direct them into the Ways of Preservation To be plain it cannot be denied but the Disobedience we have met with which we at large declared unto many of you who with divers others of the Nobility and Gentry were assembled at Loghreogh in April last was the certain ready way to the Destruction of this Nation as by our Letter of the first of May to that Assembly we made appear Ancient and late Experience hath made evident what power those of your Function have had to draw the People of this Nation to what they thought fit Whether your Lordships have been convinced that the Obedience which we desire should be given to his Majesty's Authority in Us pursuant to the Articles of Peace was the way
to preserve the Nation we know not or whether your Lordships have made use of all the means at other times and upon other occasions exercised by you to procure this necessary Obedience we shall not now determine Sure we are that since the said Assembly not only Limerick hath persisted in the Disobedience it was then in and aggravated the same by several Affronts since fixed upon the King's Authority but Galway hath been seduced into like Disobedience For want of due Compliance from those places but principally from Limerick it hath been impossible for us to raise or imploy an Army against the Rebels For to attempt it any where on the other side of the Shannon but near Lymerick and without the absolute Command of that City to secure it could be no other than the certain ruine of the Design in the very beginning of it the Rebels power being such as to dissipate with ease the foundation that should be laid there And to have done it on this side the Shannon was impossible since the Ground-work of the Army must be raised and supported from thence which whilst it was in forming would have exhausted all the substance of these parts and not have effected the Work For want of such an Army which with God's assistance might certainly have been long since raised if Limerick had obeyed our Orders the Rebels have without any considerable resistance from abroad taken Clonmell Tecroghan and Catherlagh and reduced Waterford and Duncannon to great and we fear irrecoverable Distress The loss of these places and the want of any visible power to protect them hath doublessly induced many to contribute their Substance and personal Assistance to the Rebels from which whether they might have been withheld by Church-censures we know not but have not heard of any such which issued against them And lastly for want of such an Army the Rebels have taken to themselves the Contribution which might considerably have assisted to support an Army and preserve the Kingdom If therefore the end of your Consultation at Jamestown be to acquit your Consciences in the Eyes of God the amendment of all Errors and the recovery of this afflicted People as by the Letter giving us notice of your meeting is professed We have endeavoured briefly to shew That the Spring of our past Losses and approaching Ruine arises from Disobedience and it will not be hard to shew that the Spring of those Disobediences arises from the Forgeries invented the Calumnies spread against Government and the Incitements of the People to Rebellion by very many of the Clergy That these Errors are frequently practised and fit for amendment is no more to be doubted than that without they be amended the affliction of the People will continue and as it is to be feared end in their utter Destruction Which if prevented by what your Consultation will produce the happy effect of your meeting will be acknowledged without questioning the Authority by which you meet or expecting Proposals from us Which other than what we have formerly and now by this our Letter made we hold not necessary And so we bid your Lordships Farewel From Roscomon the 2d of August 1650. Your Lordships very Loving Friend ORMOND To which the Congregation at Jamestown made the following Reply May it please Your Excellency WE received your Excellency's Letter of the second current Where to our Grief and Admiration we saw some Expressions that seem meant for casting a blame upon us of the present sad Condition of the Kingdom which we hope to answer to the satisfaction of your Excellency and the whole Nation In the mean time we permit this Protestation as we are Christian Catholick Prelates that we have done our Endeavours with all â—arnestness and candor for taking away from the hearts of the People all Jealousies and Diffidences that were conceived the occasion of so many Disasters that befel the Nation and that in all occasions our actions and co-operations were ready to accompany all your Excellency's Designs for Preservation of all his Majesty's Interests in this Kingdom Whose state being in the present desperate Condition we thought it our Duty to offer unto your Excellency our sence of the only possibility we could devise for its Preservation and that by the intervention and expression of my Lord of Dromore and Dr. Charles Kelly Dean of Tuam who shall clearly deliver unto your Excellency our Thoughts and good Intentions as to this effect praying your Excellency to give full credit to what they will declare in our Names in this Business which will be still owned as our Command laid upon them and the Declaration of the sincere Hearts of Jamestown dated the 10th of Aug. 1650. For his Excellency the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland c. Your Excellency's Most Humble Servants Hen. Ardmach Jo. Archiepiscop Tuam Eugenius Killmore Nich. Fernensis Procurator Archiepis Dubliniensis Walt. Clonferten Procurator Leghlin Fr. Anto. Clonmacnocensis Episcopus Arthurus Dunensis Connerensis Th. Higgin Procurator Ossor Fr. Ricardus Kelly Procurator Kildar Rathbran Ord. Praed And the Message mentioned in the aforesaid Letter was on the 12th of August together with that Letter delivered in haec Verba and was the next day at his Lordship's request reduced into writing Viz. May it please Your Excellency WE being intrusted from the Clergy met at Jamestown to deliver a Message to your Excellency purporting their Advice what the onely Means is as they conceive that may serve to free the Nation from the sad Condition whereunto it is reduced at present do in Obedience to your Excellency's Command signified for giving in the substance of the said Message in writing humbly represent the same to be as followeth That whereas they doubt not your Excellency hath laboured by other hands to bring the best Aids that possibly could be had from abroad for Relief of this gasping Nation yet finding now in their Conscience no other Expedient or Remedy for the Preservation thereof and of his Majesty's Interests therein more prevalent than your Excellency's speedy repair to his Majesty for preventing the Ruine and Desolation of all and leaving the King's Authority in the hands of some Person and Persons faithful to his Majesty and trusty to the Nation and such as the Affection and Confidence of the People will follow by which the Rage and Fury of the Enemy may receive interruption They humbly offer this important Matter of Safety or Destruction of this Nation and the King's Interest to your Wisdom and Consideration hoping the Kingdom by your Excellency's presence with his Majesty and entrusting safely the King's Authority as above may with God's blessing hold out until relieved with Supplies from his Majesty The Prelates in the mean time will do what lieth in their power to assist the Person and Persons so entrusted The great Trust his Majesty doth repose in your Excellency the vast Interest in Fortune Alliance and Kindred you have in the Nation and your Experience in
the Management of Affairs of greatest consequence will we doubt not added to other the reasons proposed by us induce you to embrace this Advice as proceeding from our Pious Intentions that look only on the Preservation of the Catholick Religion the Support of his Majesty's Authority and the Estates Liberties and Fortunes of his Subjects of this Kingdom Which we humbly offer as August 13th 1650. Your Excellency's Most Humble Servants Fr. Ol. Dromore Char. Kelly Upon receipt of this Message his Excellency imparted it to the Commissioners of Trust who were very much surprized at it and desired his Lordship not to answer that point but rather to propose a Conference with them at Loghreagh on the 26th of August which accordingly he did and in expectation to meet them there he travelled to Loghreagh but they did not vouchsafe to come or to send any body to confer with his Excellency upon that Subject but they appointed the Bishops of Cork and Clonfert to attend him there and receive his Answer whereupon his Excellency on the last day of August sent them the following Letter An Answer to the Message delivered to Vs by the Bishop of Dromore and Dr. Charles Kelly Dean of Tuam from the Prelates met at Jamestown by vertue of their Letter desiring us to give full Credence to the said Bishop and Dean Dated at Jamestown the 10th of August 1650. The Substance of which Message may be reduced to these Particulars I. THe Message or Advice which is For our speedy Repair to his Majesty to procure Supplies for the Relief of this Kingdom leaving the King's Authority in the hands of some person or persons faithful to his Majesty and trusty to the Nation than which they say they can find no other Expedient or Remedy for the Relief of this Gasping Nation and Preservation of his Majesty's Interests therein or to prevent the Ruine and Desolation of all II. The reason of this Advice which is That through the Trust reposed in Us by his Majesty and Our own Interest in Fortune Alliance and Kindred in the Nation they hope those Supplies may more easily and speedily be obtained by Our Mediation than by any other means III. The Prelates promise undertaking That in the mean time which we understand to be during Our absence they will do what lieth in their power to assist the person or persons that shall be entrusted with the King's Authority Whereunto we answer That as the principal Motives inducing Us through some Hazards and many Difficulties to come into this Kingdom were the Obedience we owe to his Majesty's Command and our earnest desire to preserve this Nation in their Allegiance to Him wherein we always have and ever shall place our Interest and the Interest of such Kindred and Allies as will be guided by our Advice and Example so we shall always readily expose ourself to the like or greater Hazards and Difficulties to remove out of the Kingdom when We receive his Majesty's Command for it or shall be convinced that our Removal tends more to His Service and the Preservation of the Nation than our stay We confess that observing the Destructive Disobedience and Obstinacy of divers Persons and Places We were once of opinion that we might have done Our King and Country better Service by withdrawing Ourself than by continuing here by how much there would then have been less ground for Division when the Nation should be governed by one or more of their own Religion And sure we wereâ— that the stronger the Resistance were that should be made against the Rebels under what Conduct whatsoever the better it would be for the King and for the Nation And though We hold it not fit for Us even in point of Honour in flat terms to propose Our Removal which might have met with as great Misinterpretation as other Actions and Propositions of Ours intended for the good of the People have done yet in a Discourse had with many of the Prelates first at Limerick and afterwards here We did in a manner lead them to the Proposition they have now made And We freely acknowledge that if they and the Nobility and Gentry here met in April last had not in Writing and in Discourse given Us assurance that they not only desired Our stay but would endeavour to procure such Obedience to Us as might enable us with Hope and Success to have gone on in the War We should have made use of the Liberty given Us or Command then laid upon Us by his Majesty to have freed Ourself from the Vexation We have since endured and the Dishonour We foresaw We should be subject unto for want of that Power without which as we then told the said Bishops c. We should be able to do nothing considerable for the King or Nation Those Assurances We have transmitted to his Majesty as also Our Resolution to attend the Effects of them But those Disobediences still continuing We have again acquainted Him with the state of His Affairs here and do daily expect His pleasure upon the Representation We have made to Him without which unless forced by inevitable Necessity We cannot answer Our Removal out of the Kingdom Which is Our first and Principal reason why We might not comply with the Advice given Us. Another reason is That We plainly observe that though the Division is great in the Nation under Our Government yet it will be greater upon Our Removal For which in a free Conference We should have given such pregnant Evidence as We hold not fit this way to declare The Third is That though since the Meeting here where we were assured of such effectual Endeavours to procure Obedience to the King's Authority placed in Us the particular Disobediences We then instanced have continued and been improved by many other Affronts yet it hath pleased God to raise His Majesty Affairs elsewhere to so hopeful a Condition that may occasion His Majesty's sending us such Commands as we should be sorry should not find us upon the place In the last place it is most certain that no Meditation of ours will prevail with his Majesty for sending Relief and Supplies hither as the Representations We desire to be enabled to make of the Dutifulness and Obedience of the People where unto to dispose them We do again call upon You to make use of all the means within Your power Given at Loghreagh the 13th of August 1650. ORMOND But all this Labour might have been saved if his Excellency had known what these Prelates had done for on the very same day the aforesaid Message was delivered to the Lord-Lieutenant by the Bishop of Dromore and Doctor Kelly viz. the 12th of August and without expecting any answer to it they issued the fatal and bloudy Declaration and Excommunication at Jamestown against the Lord-Lieutenant and all his Adherents recited at large Appendix 47 wherein the Bishop of Ferns says they were Unanimous and boasts that this Rejection of the
hath been induced to declare the Peace concluded in this Kingdom in the Year 1648 to be void and that he is absolved therefrom taking for the principal grounds for such his Declaration the Unlawfulness of the Act. And howbeit we cannot without a very feeling sence of the Grief the Nation with just cause may entertain of the prejudice thereby brought upon them and the blemish cast upon those hearty Endeavours of theirs to restore his Majesty to his former Estate and Power over his Subjects look upon those unexpected Fruits of their Blood and Substance so chearfully spent in his Service yet it greatly comforts us to understand that notwithstanding that Declaration by some undue means obtained from his Majesty your Excellency is resolved by all the means that it shall please God to offer unto you and through all hazards in the behalf of this Nation to insist upon and assert that Peace and persist in so doing until your Excellency and such as shall be entrusted and authorized by the Nation shall have free and safe access unto his Majesty And as to those Proviso's which are expressed as necessary Conditions whereby his Majesty's Authority which notwithstanding that Declaration we still do embrace and reverence may be continued among us besides our general profession to act what lies in our power in the ways of his Majesty's Service and to your Excellency's satisfaction we do return the ensuing Answers And To the first Proviso Concerning the Revocation of those Acts Declaration and Excommunication issued by the Bishops met at Jamestown and the Assurance demanded that nothing in that kind shall be attempted for the future we do humbly answer That your Excellency to whom we have often expressed our Resentment of such their Proceedings may be confident we shall labour so far as in us lies to see your Excellency satisfied in this particular and to that end we will all or some of us with your Excellency's allowance and as you shall think fit repair to Galway to treat with the Prelates upon this Subject To the second We humbly return as answer That albeit we know that by those Censures of the Bishops met at Jamestown his Majesty's Authority was invaded and an unwarranted Government set up contrary to the Laws of the Kingdom and that we are assured no Subject could be justly warranted by that Excommunication to deny Obedience to his Majesty's Authority in your Excellency yet being of opinion that a publick Declaration of this kind in this Conjuncture of Affairs ought properly and would with more countenance and authority move from an Assembly than from us and that by such a publick Declaration now from us we should wholly obstruct the way to prevail with the Prelates to withdraw those Censures or Act what is desired by the former Proviso and likewise endanger what Union there is at present in opposing the Common Enemy and prejudice the hopes of a more perfect Union for the future wherein the preservation of the Nation doth principally consist We do therefore humbly beseech your Excellency to call upon an Assembly of the Nation from whom such a Declaration as may be effectual in this behalf and may settle those Distractions can only proceed Yet if in the mean time and before the meeting of that Assembly those Censures now suspended shall be revived we will endeavour to suppress their influence upon the People by such a Declaration as shall become Loyal Subjects and Men entrusted to see all due Obedience paid to his Majesty's Government over this Kingdom To the third We do humbly return as answer That we shall at all times and in such manner as your Excellency shall think fit to prescribe invite all or any his Majesty's Roman Catholick Subjects to such a Declaration which yet until we shall understand the Clergy's sence upon the first Proviso we do humbly represent as fit for a time to be forborn To the fourth We humbly return as answer That whatsoever your Excellency shall find to be properly within our power and will direct to be done for procuring a free Residence for your Person in any place you shall chuse within the Limits not possessed by the Rebels we shall readily obey your Lordship's Commands therein To the fifth We humbly return as answer That upon debate with your Excellency of the place fit for to be Garrisoned and the number of Men fit to be received thereinto we shall according to the Articles of Peace use our utmost endeavours to have such Garrison so agreed upon admitted To the last We humbly return as answer That as we have at all times heretofore been ready and willing your Excellency's Charge should be supported out of the Revenue of the Kingdom so we are now very ready to concur in assigning any of the Dues already accrued or such as shall grow due hereafter or to impose a new Applotment upon the Subject towards your Excellency's Maintenance Thus humbly taking leave we remain Junis 24th Octob. 1650. Your Excellency's Most Humble Servants Athunry Lucas Dillon Rich. Bellings Jeff. Browne N. Plunket R. Barnewall R. Everard Gerald Fennel Upon receipt of this his Excellency did Indict a General Assembly to meet at Loghreagh on the 15th of November and in the mean time did give his consent that some of the Commissioners of Trust should repair to Galway to treat with the Committee of the Congregation there and accordingly Sir Lucas Dillon Sir Richard Barnwall Sir Richard Everard Mr. Beling Mr. Brown and Dr. Fennel went thither and proposed First A Letter of the Lord-Lieutenant's to them from Ennis 23d of October already mentioned Secondly They shewed the King's Declaration made touching the Covenant and the Disavowing the Peace and acquainted them with the present Condition of the Kingdom as in relation to the King's Party engaged to the Covenant and in relation to the Independents and urged that the only seeming Safety to the Nation is in that of the Peace Thirdly They desired to know of that Committee what they conceived would most conduce to the Preservation of the Nation and themselves Fourthly They proposed that an Union cannot be had or preserved for preservation of the Nation without keeping the King's Authority amongst them for that many even considerable Men will instantly make their Conditions with the Enemy the King's Authority being taken away and that there is no hopes of having that Authority left but by revoking the Excommunication and Declaration for it will not be left by the Lord-Lieutenant nor undergone by Clanrickard but upon those Terms To these Proposals the Committe gave the following Answer upon which as far as they related to himself the Lord-Lieutenant made some Animadversions which I have opposed to the Answers in a different Colume The Committee's Answer First THE abovementioned Letter was read containing his Excellency's Undertaking for asserting the Peace and his Demand of two Proviso's to that end where we observe his Excellency informed his Majesty of certain
this is the greater that the * Clanrickard Person from whom you come with Authority is for several causes Excommunicated A Jure Homine and is at Rome accounted a great Contemner of the Authority and Dignity of Church-men and Persecutor of my Lord Nuntio and some Bishops and other Church-men some of his own Letter come fair for the proof hereof you may be pleased to call to mind that he though much and often moved thereunto never joyned with the Confederate Catholiques until he found the opportunity of bearing down the Pope's Nuntio and had the Lord of Insiquin who not long before dyed his hands in the blood of Priests and innocent Souls in the Church or Rock of St. Patrick in Cashel to close with him in Society of Army the Nation hath now no cause to joy in that Conjunction of those two Stars Do you think God will prosper a Contract grounded upon the Authority of such a Man if some other way be not found of reconciling him to us That therefore what is prophane may be holy and what is rotten sound say in the Name of the Nation with the Prodigal Child Surgam ibo ad Patrem dicam ei pater peccavi in Coelum coram te And even immediately go to his Holiness's Inter Nuntio in this City to make this happy Submission Quia nescit tarda Molimina Spiritus Sancti gratia This being done go on chearfully with your Contract with this most Catholique Prince who did he rightly know the business without such Submission would never enter upon a Bargain to preserve or rather restore Holy Religion in a Kingdom with Agents bringing their Authority from a withered accursed Hand and God will send his Angels of strength and light before that People at least many of them who lying in Darkness and shackled with the Irons of Excommunication c. And it was by the sollicitation of this Angry Bishop and the influence the Clergy had over them that the Agents waving the Authority of the Lord-Deputy that sent them were induced to joyn with the Lord Taaf and in the Name of the People and Kingdom of Ireland to make the following Articles with the Duke of Lorrain An Agreement betwixt Charles the Fourth Duke of Lorrain and Theobald Lord Viscount Taaf Sir Nicholas Plunket and Jeffery Brown Deputed and Authorized by the People and Kingdom of Ireland I. THE most Illustrious Duke is to be vested with Royal Power under the Title of Protector Royal of Ireland II. Because Religion is the prime End and Subject of the Treaty all is to begin with an imploring Application to the Pope for his paternal Benediction and Help that he will not be wanting in things Spiritual or Temporal in consideration whereof it is protested That constant perpetual Obsequiousness of Duty and Faithfulness shall be paid to his Holiness and the Apostolick See III. In consideration of this Royal Protector 's power granted the Duke is by War to prosecute the King's Enemies and afford him all possible Assistance IV. The said Duke is to do nothing in derogation of the King's Authority or Jurisdiction in Ireland but rather to amplifie it and having restored the Kingdom and Religion to its due pristine Estate is to resign chearfully the Kingdom to the King V. Before Resignation as aforesaid ☞ the Duke is to be re-imbursed all by him pre-impended in this Business and for this Re-imbursement a general and exact Obedience to the Duke in Faith and Fidelity from the Kingdom and People is made and to be observed without Reservation to any other Superiority whatsoever VI. The Duke is not to fail on his part to Expel out of Ireland Hereticks Enemies to the King and his Religion and to recover and defend all things belonging to the Faithful Subjects of Ireland VII The Duke is solely and absolutely to exercise all Military Power for the present and future in Ireland as to the Nomination of all Commanders ahd guiding all Martial Proceedings at his own pleasure and in his own person unless he in his absence substitute some other Catholique Person VIII The Duke is to introduce no Innovation in the Towns c. to him assigned repugnant to the Securities Priviledges Immunities Proprieties Lands Estates or Ancient Laws of the Irish reserving only to himself Authority to apply Remedies to any thing accruing wherein publick prejudice may be contained IX The Duke is not to interpose in Administration of Judicial or Civil Affairs but leave them to be proceeded in according to the Fundamental Laws and publick Form of the King 's Chief Governour and the Assembly instituted X. The Manner of calling Assemblies to be as formerly unless complaint arise against the Government or other extraordinary Emergencies hinder and then according to the Ancient Laws the cutting off the Assembly is to be at the pleasure of his Higness XI When the Work is done in Ireland by consent of a General Assembly the Duke promises to afford Assistance to the King against Rebelling Adversaries in other Kingdoms XII In case the Duke cannot go in person into Ireland it is free in his choice and pleasure to depute any other Man of Catholique Piety who shall be Independant in the Militia and in Civil Matters shall be received to all manner of Councils in the same right as any other Counsellor or Commissioner XIII All Cities Castles Lands taken from the English shall revert to the Owners if Catholicks who have connstantly persevered in the Catholick Quarters under the Duke yet the Duke's Military Power shall be entire over the same to garrison and dispose of them at his pleasure XIV All Pay to the Souldiers is to pass from the Duke as well out of the publick Revenues as the Duke's Coffers when that fails provided that the Duke's disbursements of his proper Money for publick Uses for the future to be repaid him as former Disbursements XV. All Goods of Enemies and Delinquents are to be converted to the publick Military Charges and towards rewarding great Merits by the Duke with Advice of the General Assembly XVI The Duke besides 20000 l. already contributed promises all further Accommodations and Supplements for War together with his power and industry what is not above the reach of his Faculties and beneath the Necessities of the War towards the Repayment whereof as well Principal as the Annual Provenue and Use thereof the whole Nation of Ireland is to be liable until the last Peny be paid and for Caution in the mean time the Duke is to be seized and possessed in his own hands of Galway Limerick Athenry the Castle and Town of Athlone ☜ and Waterford and the Royal Fort of Duncannon when recovered from the Enemy and these are to remain to him and his Heirs until full and intire Satisfaction receiv'd and to pay just Obedience and be Garrison'd and Commanded at his pleasure XVII In laying of publick Taxes and levying the same for the Duke's Satisfaction
the Duke to proceed by Advice of the General Assembly and all agrieved Parties in case of Inequality to seek Redress from the General Assembly XVIII For Liquidating and Stating the Duke's Disbursements a certain Method shall be agreed on between the Duke and the said Transactors but for the persons to be intrusted in that Charge the General Assembly is to alter them at their pleasure XIX The Duke shall make no Peace nor Cessation without the Lord-Deputy or General Assembly XX. The Lord-Deputy and General Assembly shall make no Peace without the Consent of the Duke ☜ July 12th 1651. Signed Charles of Lorrain But the Secret and Intâ—igue of these Articles lay where one would have least suspected it viz. in the second Article for though it seem to be meer Formality and to contain only matter of Respect and Complement to the Pope yet it was the most effectual Article of all and served the Duke to these two purposes first to oblige the Bishop of Ferns and such other giddy and restless Zealots that were Favourites of the Court of Rome and secondly to delay the Execution of the Agreement until this previous Article should be first performed and accordingly the Duke of Lorrain the Bishop of Ferns the Lord Taaf Sir James Preston and Sir Nicholas Plunket signed a formal submission to the Pope Vide The Submission at large Vindiciae eversae p. 85. in the Name of the Kingdom of Ireland and therein supplicated his Absolution from the Censures and Excommunication of the Nuntio and in the mean time till that could be accomplish'd his Highness thought it enough to Succour the Irish with the following Letters To the Marquess of Clanrickard SIR THE stay which the Gentleman Abbot of St. Katharine made with you and his long Navigation by the Northern Sea having brought much delay as well to his Return as to the disposal of Affairs here I could not sooner dispatch unto you than by this Galliot by which Mr. Plunket and Mr. Brown your Deputies have in charge more at large to give you to understand the conclusion of the Treaty I have made with them to the greatest advantage that one cou'd desire for the Good of the Catholick Religion the Service of the King and Re-establishment of the Kingdom which are the only Ends that I have proposed unto Myself Moreover the satisfaction which the Queen and Duke of York have shewen unto Me shall as I hope be followed by that of all good People the Fidelity of whom hath hitherto appeared without Reproach in a time when it seems they had no other recourse but to themselves I believe they will continue to make it good being as they are invited thereunto by the part which I have taken in their preservation preferring it to that of my own Dominions and to the urgent Necessities of my Affairs touching which and the Assistances which I am with all care and diligence possible preparing I beseech you to make known to the good and faithful Subjects of the Kingdom and in your own particular to take all assurance of the Esteem which I make of your person and the desire which remains with me on all Occasions to acknowledge its merit where I may make Myself known SIR From Bruxells Sept. 10. 1657. Your Affectionate Friend to Serve You Charles Lorrain To the MAYOR COUNCIL and CORPORATION of GALWAY Honoured Sirs OF the Agreements made between Me and the Agents of that Kingdom I leave to them to inform you more particularly of which they have taken the Charge I do not think that they will omit how unchangeable and constant I am notwithstanding the ill Rumours of your Affairs and the great and urgent necessity of my own I choose to prefer your Good before all Private and Publick Occasions of my own as well as I confide that you to the uttermost will remain constant in your Intent to Defend Religion and Country to a high great hope of your Fortitude Bear in mind that the Success of the Enemies is hitherto permitted by the Providence of God to the end to reserve the chief Glory of Vindicating the Kingdom and Religion to you and the Limericians As they have performed their part most nobly I doubt not but when the Occasion of promoting the Cause is offered you also will perform and shew the like Example of Constancy with happy Emulation In the mean time least the delay of supply which proceeded of the slow return of the Abbot of St. Katherine would put you in any doubt of my Mind while with all Care and Diligence to provide and send them Supplies I thought fit to hasten the sending thither of this Barque by which I might assure your hopes of me and for my hope of you Most Worthy People Your most Affectionate CHARLES LORRAIN Dated at Bruxells Sept. 10. 1657. But the Lord-Deputy was not at all satisfied with the Articles of Agreement or these Letters as will appear by his Excellency's Answer which was as followeth May it please your Highness I Had the Honour on the 12th of this Instant to receive a Letter from your Highness dated the 10th of September wherein you are pleased to express your great Zeal for the Advancement of the Catholick Religion in this Kingdom your great Affection to the King my Master and your good Opinion of this Nation and your compassion for their Sufferings and your great readiness to afford them Aid and Assistance even equal with your own nearest Concernments and that your Highness received so great satisfaction from the Queen and Duke of York as did much strengthen those Resolutions so as they might sooner appear but for the stay made here of Monsieur St. Katherine and his long Northern Voyage upon his return and referred what concern'd the Agreement to the relation of those Commissioners I had imployed to your Highness to treat upon that subject of Assistance and Relief for this Kingdom I with much alacrity congratulate your Highness's pious Intentions for the preservation of the Catholick Religion your Great and Princely Care to recover His Majesty's Rights and Interests from his Rebellious Subjects of England and the high Obligation you put upon this Nation by your tender regard of them and desire to redeem them from the great Miseries and Afflictions they have endured and the imminent Dangers they are in And it shall be a principal part of my Ambition to be an useful Instrument to serve your Highness in so Famous and Glorious an Enterprize And that I may be the more capable to contribute somewhat to so Religious and Just Ends First in discharge of my Conscience towards God my Duty to the King my Master and to disabuse your Highness and give a clear and perfect Information so far as comes to my Knowledge I am obliged to represent unto your Highness that by the Title of the Agreement and Articles therein contained made by those Commissioners imployed to your Highness ☞ and but lately come
into my hands they have violated the Trust reposed in them by having cast off and declined the Commission and Instructions they had from me in the King my Master's behalf and all other Powers that cou'd by any other means be derived from him and pretend to make an Agreement with your Highness in the Name of the Kingdom and People of Ireland for which they had not nor could have any warrantable Authority and have abused your Highness by a counterfeit shew of a private Instrument fraudulently procured and signed as I am informed by some inconsiderable and factious Persons ill-affected to His Majesty's Authority without any knowledge or consent of the generality of the Nation or Persons of greatest Quality or Interest therein and who under a seeming zeal and pretence of Service to your Highness labour more to satisfie their private Ambition then the advantage of Religion or the Nation or the prosperous Success of your Highness's generous Undertakings and to manifest the clearness of mine own Proceedings and make such deceitful Practices more apparent I send your Highness herewith an Authentick Copy of my Instructions which accompanied their Commission when I imployed them to your Highness as a sufficient evidence to convince them And having thus fully manifested their breach of Publick Trust I am obliged in the King my Master's Name to protest against their unwarrantable proceedings and to declare all the Agreements and Acts whatsoever concluded by those Commissioners to be void and illegal being not derived from or consonant to His Majesty's Authority being in Duty bound thus far to vindicate the King my Master's Honour and Authority and to preserve his just and undoubted Rights from such deceitful and rebellious Practices as likewise with an humble and respective Care to prevent those prejudices that might befal your Highness in being deluded by counterfeit shews in doing you greater Honour where it is apparent that any Undertaking laid upon such false and ill-grounded Principles as have been smoothly digested and fixed upon that Nation as their desire and request must overthrow all those Heroick and Prince like Acts your Highness hath proposed to your self for God's Glory and Service the Restauration of oppressed Majesty and the Relief of his distressed Kingdom which would at length fall into intestine Broils and Divisions if not forcibly driven into desperation I shall now with a hopeful and cheerful importunity upon a clear score free from those Deceits propose to your Highness that for advancement of all those great Ends you aim at and in the King my Master's behalf and in the Name of all the Loyal Catholick Subjects in this Nation and for the preservation of those important cautionary Places that are Security for your Highness's past and present Disbursements you will be pleased to quicken and hasten those Aids and Assistances you intended for the Relief of Ireland and I have with my whole Power and through the greatest Hazards striven to defend them for you and to preserve all other Ports that may be at all times of Advantage and Safe-guard to your Fleets and Men of War having yet many good Harbours left and also engage in the King my Master's Name for whatsoever may prove to your Satisfaction that is any way consistent with his Honour and Authority and have made my Applications to the Queen's Majesty and my Lord-Lieutenant the King being in Scotland further to agree confirm and secure whatsoever may be of advantage to your Highness and if the last Galliot had but brought 10000 l. for this instant time ☜ it would have contributed more to the Recovery of this Kingdom than far greater Sums delayed by enabling our Forces to meet together for the Relief of Limerick which cannot but be in great distress after so long a Siege and which if lost although I shall endeavour to prevent it will cost much Treasure to be regained And if your Highness will be pleased to go on chearfully freely and seasonably with this great Work I make no question but God will give so great a blessing thereto as that myself and all the Loyal Subjects of this Kingdom may soon and justly proclaim and leave recorded to Posterity that your Highness was the grâ—â—t and glorious Restorer of our Religion Monarch and Nation and that your Highness may not be discouraged or diverted from this generous Enterprize by the Malice or Invectives of any ill-affected it is a necessary Duty in me to represent unto your Highness that the Bishop of Ferns who as I am informed hath gained some Interest in your favour is a Person that hath ever been violent against ☜ and malitious to His Majesty's Authority and Government and a fatal Instrument in contriving and fomenting all these Divisions and Differences that have rent asunder this Kingdom the Introduction to our present Miseries and weak Condition And that your Highness may clearly know his Disposition I send herewithal a Copy of part of a Letter written by him directed to the Lord Taaf Sir Nicholas Plunket and Jeffery Brown and humbly submitted to your Judgment whether those expressions be agreeable to the Temper of the Apostolical Spirit and considering whose Person and Authority I represent what ought to be the Reward of such a Crime I must therefore desire your Highness in the King my Master's behalf that he may not be countenanc'd or intrusted in any Affairs that have relation to His Majesty's Interest in this Kingdom where I have constantly endeavoured by all possible Service to deserve your Highness's good Opinion and obtaining that Favour to be a most faithful Acknowledger of it in the Capacity and under the Title of Your Highness's Most Humble and Obliged Servant CLANRICKARD Athenree 20th Octob. 1651. These Letters were as pat to the Duk 's purpose as could be for it justified him in not sending Succours until there should be a New and more Authentick * Null is suppetias missurus antequam alius tractatus concluderetur Vindiciae Eversae 139. Treaty and it also justified his Answer not to Treat any farther with the Agents without his Majesty's †Progredi in tractatu noluit donec de regis voluntate constaret Ibid. Approbation Which being made known to his Majesty he sent the Lord Goring with Letters of the 6th of February from Paris to thank his Highness for refusing farther Treaty with the Irish Agents and to propose to enter into a new Treaty with him about the Relief of Ireland but the Duke by this time had finished his Intrigue at Rome and therefore gave a very short answer That his Majesty had nothing in Ireland to treat for The Year 1651 1651. could not well be otherwise than successful for on the one side the Irish were distracted and divided and on the other side the English Army was rendered Immortal by those constant and seasonable Supplies both of Men and Necessaries that were sent them from England so that notwithstanding their frequent Expeditions
to excuse my self from communicating to you such Observations as I have made On the contrary I have herewith sent you what I have already collected and will as often as you desire impart to you whatever shall fall under my Notice or Observation that is pertinent to your purpose The Interval between the end of the War and Cromwell's Death affords but little matter for an Historian for it was a time of profound Peace and spent in setting out of Lands setling of Titles in Building and Improvements and in transplanting the Irish into Connaught and imposing the Engagement The Government was managed by Commissioners of Parliament viz. Charles Fleetwood Lieutenant-General of the Army Edmond Ludlow Lieutenant-General of the Horse Miles Corbet John Jones and John Weaver Esquires but the Army was under the sole Conduct of Fleetwood In November 1653. the Commissioners of Delinquency sate at Athlone to determine the Qualifications of the Irish for Transplantation into Connaught and they continued eight Months but did not dispatch Business as was expected and therefore Judg Cook was fain to supply their Defect and some of the other Commissioners removed to Loghreogh to set out Lands to the Irish pursuant to Cook 's Decrees But in Anno 1654. Fleetwood was made Lord Deputy and so continued until August 1655. and then Henry Cromwell was made Commander in Chief of the Army and in the Civil Government Matthew Thomlinson Miles Corbet and Robert Goodwin were in Commission with him and to them Mr. Steel the Chancellor was afterwards added And it was in the year 1655. that the Civil Authority which had been discontinued in Cork since the year 1644. was revived and Sir William 〈◊〉 Maurice Roch Christopher Oliver John Morly John Hodder and other ancient Freemen of the City met and elected John Hodder Mayor and William Hodder and Philip Matthews Sheriffs And in the same year the City and County of Londonderry were restored to the Society of the Governour and Assistants of London of the new Plantation in Ulster within the Realm of Ireland this County being the forfeited Estate of O Cahan and other Irish Septs was by King James granted to this Society under certain Covenants of Improvement whereupon they laid out vast Sums of Money in the Management of that Plantation by building Derry Colerain and twelve Mannor-houses c. But Anno 1636. they were prosecuted in the Star-Chamber on pretence of breach of Articles and their Estates sequestred and Anno 1637. Sir Thomas Fotherly and Sir Ralph Whitfield were Commissioned by the King to make new Leases thereof And tho there did pass a Vote of Parliament Anno 1640. to null the Decree of the Star-Chamber yet by reason of the Irish Rebellion following so soon after they were not restored until this year but Anno 1662. King Charles II. gave a new Charter to this Society under which it flourished till of late But to proceed After Oliver's Death the new Protector made his Brother Henry Cromwell Lord Lieutenant and so he continued until the 7th of May 1659. and then the Parliament sent over Ludlow Jones Thomlinson Corbet and Berry to Govern that Kingdom but Ludlow returned in September so that he was not in Ireland when the following Revolution happened For the People being weary of so many Alterations and Changes and despising the Unsteadiness of the Government were generally inclined to the King's Restauration And this humour being fomented and discreetly managed centred in what they desired The Lords of Montgomery and Broghall Sir Charles Coot Captain Robert Fitz-Gerald Sir Theophilus Jones Sir Oliver Saint-George Sir Awdly Mervin Collonel Mark Trevor Collonel Warren and several others were concerned in this Affair January 1659. They surpriz'd the Castle of Dublin and Jones in it and they seized on Corbet and Thomlinson at a Conventicle in St. Warbert-street and they forced or persuaded Major-General Sir Hardress Waller to comply and so they declared for a Free Parliament The Government being thus in the hands of the Army was managed by a Committee or Council of Officers who upon the Petition of the a Alderman Dee Mayor and Aldermen of Dublin did as they had before design'd summon a Convention By this time the Lord Broghill and Sir Charles Coot were come to Dublin and they projected to suspend the Convention until they had modell'd the Army to their mind and got rid of Sir Hardress Waller But he suspecting their Design seized upon the Castle of Dublin so that they were fain to besiege him and in five days forced him to surrender and then they sent Him Jones Thomlinson and Corbet Prisoners to England But the Victorious Confederates were like to Clash amongst themselves one Party being for Articling with the King for the Confirmation of the Estates of Adventurers and Soldiers and the other Party being for His Majesties Restoration without any previous Condition but at length they agreed in this latter Sentiment and the Convention met on the 7 th of February Sir James Barry being their Chair-man Their first Act was to order a Fast and Humiliation for their Sins amongst which the Murder of the King was Enumerated and all their Actions were suitable to this beginning so that they seemed to contend with England which should be most forward in Restoring the King On the 16 th of February The Council of Officers published their Memorable Declaration for a full and free Parliament and the Re-admission of the Secluded Members in the Parliament of England And pursuant to it the Convention published a Declaration on the 12 th of March to the same purpose and afterwards viz. the 14 th of May they accepted of His Majesties Declaration of the 14 th of April from Breda and cheerfully concurr'd to His Restoration And as soon as this was done the Irish Papists who had fat still all this while and contributed nothing to this great Revolution thought to reap all the Benefit of other Mens Merits insomuch that several of them took Possession of their former Estates and this Grievance was so general that the Convention was necessitated on the 20 th day of May 1660. to issue a Declaration for preserving the Peace and quieting Possessions and on the first of June His Majesty in England issued a Proclamation to the same purpose This Convention gave His Majesty 20000 l. the Duke of York 4000 l. the Duke of Glocester 2000 l. and then leaving a standing Committee to Govern the Nation Adjourn'd till the first day of November following On the 18 th of October His Majesty be Letter approv'd of this Convention and so on the 22 d of January it met again Sir William Dumvill being Chairman and so continued until its Dissolution in May 1661. In the mean time the Government was in the Hands of Sir Charles Coot and Major William Bury who were sided Commissioners of Government and Management of Affairs in Ireland but not long after Sir Maurice Eustace Lord Chancellor Roger Earl of
the more Civility or Civil Education these Irish Rebels obtained by the care and pious inspection of the late English Governors which they did to recover and reclaim them the more dangerous Enemies they now found them and the more the English did Enrich Countenance and Favour those Rebels the more Scornful Ungrateful and Mortal Enemies they have shewn themselves unto those their Benefactors They consider farther and now find by dear experience that the Towns and Corporations all consisting of Papists though for the most part old English except Three of Four Towns lately Planted which are Protestants are apt upon every Inferrection against the English to run with the Country and hereby they will be able on the sudden to overwhelm them in lesser Numbers either in Town or Country so as the English can expect no refuge They consider farther that the Irish being Masters of the Body of that Kingdom Arm'd in great numbers for War and full of Malice and now far too Hauglity and Insolent to submit to such terms of Peace as may be safe for England or honourable for so Just and Pious a King as your Majesty and that if the Blood of Peace so unmeasurably shed by the Rebels who have now Enrich'd themselves by the Spoils of the British should be wiped out in a fained Submission it would embolden them and their Postevity hereafter upon all occasions to attempt the like again for their Advantage making the English but Slaves to gather Substance to satiate their cruel Malice and Lust whensoever they find themselves in case to Surprize them as they have done in several Ages They remember that in the best of former times the Irish did so exceed in number as that the Governors never could or durst fully execute the Laws for true Reformation for fear of Disturbance having some hope always by civil and faiâ— intreaty to win them into a Civil and Peaceable Life as if Peace should now be granted them before the Sword of Famâ—â—â—â—ave so abated them in number as that in reasonable time English Colonies might overtop them and and so perhaps frame the reside Into English Manners and Civil course of Life by Trades or other good Industry to take comfort in a quiet Life the English do plainly foresee it can never be safe for them to cohabit with them secure for England to enjoy them or likely that themselves separate from the English can ever digest into a People good to themselves or profitable to their King and Country We hope it will not be conceived out of what we have here written that we are Enemies to Peace nay we do from our hearts desire Peace and do pray the Eternal God of Peace to grant it to your Majesty in all your Dominions as the greatest Blessing on Earth that can be bestowed on the Sons of Men and we shall in due time with all our Power Skill and Industry under the Prudent Conduct and Direction of your Majesty endeavour to fix it here but we humbly crave leave to affirm that the settlement of it in this Kingdom will be of a different consideration from the rest of your Dominions if we observe the present State of these Rebels the temperature and natural inclination of the Irish their Ancestors former deportment to the English in all Ages their antient and unchang'd Resolution to expulse them by Force or Fraud and their obdurate wilfulness to set up and maintain Popery here without permitting the Protestant Religion and although by a present Peace if the Rebels would consent to it we for our parts might hope to gain a breathing time and perhaps for some years a little profit out of our poor Estates here yet we are not so vile as to value any thing that shall concern our own particular when it may not consist with the due care which we ought and ever shall have of your Majesties Honour and Safety and the future safety and happiness of your Posterity and this your Kingdom And howsoever it be true that all the peril and damage we undergo and all the Arms we desire to have used and borne here is but by Gods Blessing to bring on a safe and lasting Peace yet we can no way apprehend that it can be so done till the Sword have abated these Rebels in Number and Power yet not to the utter extirpation of the Nation which is far from our thoughts though some to render us the more odious report so of us but to the Levelling of the Rebels so as they may fully know it is not their strength and Obstinacy but your own gracious Mercy and Indulgence that can make you shew your Princely love to Peace and which shall also put these Irish Rebels into such a Case as not so easily as now to relapse into their ever affected Commotions and Prosecution of their continued purpose to extirpate the English and shall also give your Majesty more liberty of Judgment who are fit objects of your Mercy or Justice to be applied as in your high wisdom you shall find cause We confess we are at this time in a very terrible want of means to support a War as we often and lately to the full declared thither whence only we must expect reinforcement and we foresee that unless Supplies of Mony Munition Arms Cloaths and other Habiliments of War be speedily sent us we have little hope to escape utter destruction and loss of the Kingdom yet seeing the cause of God and the perpetual safety of your Majesty your Prosperity and your Dominions under Gods Providence is the matter and ground of our so deep engagement and having had hitherto such experience of God's mighty Sustentation we cannot despair of his goodness in granting us even some expected aid And being now at a very low ebb through these wants yet having a wonderful comfort in the alacrity and constant courage of our Men of War amidst their exrteam Sufferings we dare say in the confidence of Faithful Subjects and Servants to your Majesty that if those Supplies can in any time come unto us we shall be able by Gods guidance to overcome and avenge the wickedness of these Unjust and Disloyal attempts against your Sacred Majesty and your good People and so find a way to that Peace which may befit the greatness and Wisdom of your Majesty to grant and which we heartily long for being at this time pressed with as much calamity as Men can bear yet not able in our Judgments to perceive that a present Peace can free us and the Protestants here from a certain though perhaps a Lingering Ruine and the dangerous consequences thereof And we in like manner affirm that nothing under God could have brought us to this hard Condition or subjected your Majesties affairs here to the hazard they now stand in but the unexpected failing of Privisions timely ministred unto us without which we always signified thither that this Kingdom could not be sustained out of any subsistance
here These things most Dread Sovereign are of so great and important consideration towards securing the future Peace and Safety of your Sacred Majesty your Royal Posterity your Kingdoms and good Subjects as we could not without breach of Faith and Loyalty to your Majesty forbear thus truly and plainly to represent them and howsoever the Rebels are pleased unjustly to traduce and calumniate us and our proceedings without any cause given on our parts other then our Faithfulness to you our most Dear and Gracious Lord and Master which Reproaches from them we are content for your sake to bear as we are ready to Sacrifice our Lives for you Yet we humbly beseech your Majesty to give us leave with the freedom of Faithful Servants to affirm to your Majesty in the presence of God to whom and to your Majesty we are accountable for uprightness in all our Councils and Actions that we fall upon no Expressions herein out of any hatred to the Persons of them or any of them or out of any sinister ends of advantage to our selves but only out of necessary duty to God and to your Majesty for whom we hope God hath reserved the high honour of that great work of full settlement and reformation of this your Kingdom to which none of your Royal Ancestors could attain although your Royal Father King James of Blessed memory made a fair entrance towards it by a sweet and peaceable way which glorious beginning of his the Rebels have quite overturned and defac'd And now having clearly and in zealous duty laid open our hearts to your Royal Majesty we in all humility submit and intirely depend on your Majesties Commands whether for Peace or War and shall with all fervency imploy our Bodies and Minds to execute whatsoever you shall in your high Wisdom prescribe humbly beseeching the Almighty Guider of all Humane Councils to grant you his Divine Assistance from the Wisdom which is ever about his Throne And so we humbly remain from your Majesties Castle of Dublin the 16th day of March 1642. Your Majesties most Loyal and most Faithful Subjects and Servants William Parsons Jo. Borlace La. Dublin Cha. Lambart Ad. Loftus Ge. Shurley Ger. Lowther J. Temple Tho. Rotheram Rob. Meredith Appendix V. An Abridgement of the Irish Remonstrance of Grievances THAT they being necessitated to take Arms for the Preservation of their Religion the Maintenance of His Majesties Rights and Prerogatives the natural and just Defence of their own Lives and Estates and the Liberties of their Country have often attempted to present their humble Complaints to His Majesty but were prevented therein by the Power and Vigilancy of the Lords Justices c. Who by the Assistance of the Malignant party now in Rebellion in England the better to accomplish the Extirpation of their Religion and Nation have hindred their Access to the Kings Justice which might have prevented much mischief and having notice now of a Commission to hear their Proposals in which are these words albeit we do extreamly detest the odious Rebellion which the Recusants of Ireland have without Ground or Colour raised against us our Crown and Dignity they conceive them to have proceeded from the misrepresentation of their Enemies and do protest they have been therein traduced to the King for that they never entertained any Rebellious thought against His Majesty his Crown or Dignity but are his faithful Loyal Subjects and desire to be owned so and as such they present the ensuing Grievances and Causes of the then present Distempers 1. That the Catholicks whom neither Reward nor Persecution could tempt from their Religion these 1300 Years are by the Statute of 2 Eliz. made incapable of Places of Honour or Trust their Nobles are become contemptible their Gentry debar'd from Learning in the Universities or Publick Schools and their younger Brothers for want of imployment are forced to live in Ignorance and Contempt at home or to their great discomfort and impoverishing of the Country to seek Education and Fortune abroad Misfortunes made incident to the Catholicks only their Number Quality and Loyalty considered of all the Nations in Christendom 2. That Men of mean Condition and Quality for the most part were placed in all Offices of Trust and Honour who being to begin a Fortune built it on the Ruines of the Catholicks and to ingratiate themselves scandalized the Papists and rendered them suspected and odious in England whereby arose the Opposition to the Graces promised or intended to the Natives by His Majesty or his Father and the false Inquisitions on feigned Titles against many Hundred years Possession and no Travers or Petition of Right admitted thereunto nor any Bar to it except Letters Patents which when produced were also declared void so that 150 of them were avoided in one Morning so little regard was had to the great Seal which is the publick Faith of the Kingdom And the Jurors were forced even by infamous Punishments to find such Inquisitions against their Consciences 3. That the Graces granted by the King and his Father were rendered unprofitable and fruitless to the Natives by the immortal Hatred of Sir William Parsons and the impeached Judges and their Adherents so that the publick Faith involved in those Grants was violated 4. That by the many wilful and erronious Decrees in the Court of Wards the Heirs of Catholicks were cruelly dealt with destroyed in their Estates and bred in Dissolution and Ignorance their Parents debts unsatisfied their Brothers and Sisters unprovided for Mesne Tenures unregarded Conveyances for valuable consideration avoided against Law and the whole Kingdom filled with Swarms of Escheators Feodaries Pursivants e. 5. That the Catholicks have without Reluctancy or repining contributed to all the Subsidies Loans and extraordinary Grants made to His Majesty amounting to Well near One Million of Pounds over and above his Revenue and thereunto were the most forward and thereof bore nine parts of Ten yet their Adversaries by the Opportunity of their continual Addresses to His Majesty to increase their Reputation in getting in of those Moneys and their Authority in distribution thereof to His Majesties great Disservice assumed to themselves to be procurers thereof and represented the Catholicks as obistnate and refractory 6. That the Army raised here with great charge was disbanded by the pressing importunity of the Malignant Party in England because they said it was Popish and therefore not to be trusted and although that Malignant Party did invade his Majesties Prerogative and Sir William Parsons and Sir Adam Loftus did declare that an Army of Ten Thousand Scots would come to Ireland to force the Catholicks to change their Religion and that Ireland would never do well without a Rebellion to extirpate the Remainder of the Natives and though Wagers were laid at the Assizes that within a Year no Catholick should be left in Ireland and though they saw the Irish Parliament unjustly incroach'd upon by the Acts and Orders of the Parliament of
angry at the Sitting of the Parliament and the Courts of Justice and have overturn'd all Laws and plucked them up by the Roots should yet keep such a stir about Fundamental Laws or that they should think themselves genuine Members of Parliament which is a Court of Peace and Order who have rent asunder all Bonds of Peace Order and Humane Society can they imagine that because they will Rebel we must have no Courts of Justice will nothing satisfy them but an universal concurrence in Confusion and is it because they are guilty of so many crimes themselves that they take liberty to speak evil of all others If this be the Liberty they Fight for certainly they espouse a very bad cause however it is better than Liberty of extirpating the Protestants which is what they really aimed at But they have no reason to complain of the Protestant Members of Parliaments either of his Majesties or his Fathers time they have Repealed many Acts that were prejudicial to the Natives but never made any that were so Are not the Persons they complain to have been Indicted in the King's Bench guilty of the Crimes they are accused of Have not those Soldiers that were Jurors Free-hold in the proper Counties and are they not capable to be Jurors according to Law These Remonstrants cannot deny these things and that their Rebellion forced these Gentlemen to be Soldiers and yet they complain as if it were unjust and a grievance But the allegation that any body under Protection or the Publick Faith was tryed for his Life is not true nor can they instance one and their Protestation against the Proceedings of Parliament is frivilous and vain And their desire to have a New which they call a Free Parliament whereunto they may be chose hath infinite inconveniences in it for then these Criminals will be acquitted and manage the most weighty affairs and either exclude or outvote the Loyal Protestant Subjects which have stuck by the Crown in this time of danger But the truth is that the Rebels have Murdered and Banished so many of the Protestant Free-holders and Inhabitants of Corporations that there can be very few if any Protestants in a new Parliament at this time whereby it would happen that what Protestants are left undevoured by the Sword ☜ should be destroyed by colour of Justice pursuant to their Oath of Confederacy And as to the place Dublin wants no other convenience but that of giving opportunity to Awe or Surprize the Chief Governour and the Members of Parliament and as to the Person that Nation doth not yield a Person of more honour and fortune than the present Lord Lieutenant the Marquess of Ormond And as to Poynings Act the Repeal or Suspension of it is desired to deprive the King of the Advice of his Privy Councils of England and Ireland and if it were done perhaps they would without his Majesties Knowledge transfer the Spiritual half of his Sovereignty to the Pope and attaint his Protestant Subjects and establish their Supream Council and alter the very form of Government but to be sure they would acquit themselves and deprive his Majesty of all the Forfeitures belonging to him by their attainders and therefore it is unfit at this time by suspending that Act to make such criminous Parties their own Judges Lastly These Remonstrants who so loudly clamour against others have nevertheless violated their own Publick Faith ☜ in breach of their Articles of the Cessation by taking and detaining several Places and Estates they were to restore by that agreement and by not paying any part of 30800 l. payable by those Articles at the time stipulated and in not paying above half of it yet to the Ruine of the Army that wanted it and depended upon it Appendix VII The Substance of the Lord Macguires Examination HE Saith Burlace Appendix 2 this Examination at large That the Inhabitants of Lainster were first engaged in the Rebellion and that Mr. Roger Moor first moved it to him that the design was to maintain their Religion and recover their Estates that the Lord of Mayo was in the First Conspiracy that they sent to consult the Irish in Spain and Flanders and received assurance of their assistance that the Earl of Tyrone sent them a Message that Cardinal Richlieu had promised him Aid and they sent him word that they would rise Twelve or Fourteen days before Alhollontide that the Gentry of the Pale were very loath that any of the Irish Army should be sent to Spain and opposed what they could in both Houses and had several consultations about that and to prepare for an Insurrection and that Colonel Plunket and the rest that were to carry Four Thousand Men to Spain proposed to Seize the Castle of Dublin with those Men and consulted with the Lord Macguire about it That the Lord Gormanstown was acquainted with the Plot and consented to it that the 5 th of October was the First day appointed and because all were not then ready it was changed to the 23 d. That Owen Roe had his Agent Captain Brian O Neal to promote the Conspiracy that they were all to rise on the same day that Mr. Moor and the Lord Macguire and the Colonels Plunket and Birne were with Two Hundred Men to Seize the Castle of Dublin and Sir Philem O Neale was to Surprize Londonderry and Sir Henry O Neale was to do the like to Carigfergus and Sir Con mac genis was to Seize the Newry and all were to carry it fair to the Scots till the business should be secure That Captain Con O Neal came to Dublin with fresh assurance of assistance from Owen Roe and Cardinal Richlieu and that but Eighty of the Two Hundred were come to Dublin the 22 th and therefore they intended to defer their Attempt until the Afternoon of the next day Appendix VIII The Lord of Gormanstown's Commission By the Lords Justices and Council William Parsons John Borlase Right trusty and well-beloved We greet you well WHereas divers most disloyal and malignant Persons within this Kingdom have tratierously conspired against His Majesty his Peace Crown and Dignity and many of them in execution of their Conspiracy are traiterously assembled together In a Warlike manner and have most inhumanly made Destruction and Devastation of the Persons and Estates of divers of His Majesties good and loyal Subjects of this Kingdom and taken slain and imprisoned great Numbers of them We out of our Care and Zeal for the common good being desirous by all means to suppress the said Treasons and Traitors and to conserve the Persons and Fortunes of His Majesties loving Subjects here in Safety and to prevent the further Spoil and Devastation of His Majesties good People here do therefore hereby require and authorize you to Levy Raise and Assemble all every and any the Forces as well Footmen as Horsemen within the County of Meath giving you hereby the Command in chief of all the
released and the informer dismissed with ten pounds and a Suit of Cloaths or some such Reward 5. Hereunto may be further added another not so plain as the former that about the same time the Lord Baron of Dunsany did ride in disguise throughout all the parts of Munster pretending to satisie his curiosity in the knowledge of Places and Persons he not being discovered until his return at the Birr where having offered himself to be bound for one of his Company he writ himself in his own stile being loath to leave under his Hand a testimony of his disguised Person and assumed Name Hereunto may be added a Motion made by the Recusant Party in the Parliament of Ireland for hindring the sending away of certain Colonels with their Forces raised in the Kingdom and pretended to be for Service of Foreign parts many wondring it should proceed from them but therein considering these their former Practices their intentions may be discovered to be far different from what others conceived thereof who assented thereunto the imploying so many Thousands abroad being a great weakening of the Forces they purposed for this their soon after following Rebellion To descend now from the Antecedents of this Treason to the falling in thereupon and lastly to the consequents and what thereby hath been intended supposing it to succeed and that it attained the desired effect which by them was not doubted of And first for the entrance thereinto howsoever that the ground-work were long since laid yet would they not have it so to seem But new occasion must be found as the sole Cause of their breaking Out this being intended for the satisfying the minds of such of their own as have not hitherto been acquainted with the depth and mystery of this iniquity that they might not stand amazed at the suddenness of the undertaking or stand off from joyning with them in the worst part of their designs it being an apparent Rebellion The fittest means for this must have been by casting aspersions on the present Government which if long tolerated would prove extreamly dangerous not only to their Religion but their Lives and Posterity For effecting hereof reports were cast out that in the Parliament of England the cutting off of all the Papists in Ireland of what degree soever was concluded upon the Execution of that resolution being committed to the Counsel in Ireland The Lords Justices said they had laid down a day for this work being the 23 d. of November then next following and now last past or thereabouts for the better more secure and more secret managing of this pretended Plot such of the Popish Nobility and Gentry of both Houses as appeared in Parliament at Dublin should be secured And for the drawing together of the rest amongst other pretences this alledged to be one That his Majesties Rents were purposely omitted and not called upon in Easter Term with that earnestness as formerly and that such as made default should be Summoned to appear in Michadmas Term at Dublin and there surprised such of them as were in the Country wanting the Heads being easily cut off They say that this pretended Plot was I know not how discovered to them so that for the safety of their Lives and Profession they were inforced to stand upon their Guard and to Counter-work that day of the 23 d. of November laid for their Destruction by their declaring themselves in Arms on the 23 d. of October a Month before The serious part of this discourse was related to me by a Fryar intimate in their Counsel and by a Priest a Popish Vicar General thereby to give me satisfaction and to justifie their proceedings whose Names I do for the present forbear In respect of his Majesties Service By others also it was informed that this Plot was mainly intended in that Session of Parliament next after the Earl of Straffords beheading and the manner concluded upon In the Popish private meetings which were then observed to be frequent and by some suspected might prove dangerous and that for discovery of what provision of Arms and Ammunition our store of Dublin afforded it being by some suspected that most was sent before to Carrickfergus one of the Popish Faction in the House of Commons put one of the Protestant Members to move ☜ that some of the Earl of Straffords men had cast out some threatning Words against the Parliament in revenge of his Lord which could not be conceived to end in less than a Blowing up of the whole Houses of Parliament the Store lying under them whereupon a Committee of both Houses many of them prime Papists were appointed to make search in all the corners of the Store amongst these the Lord Mac Guire was one who was observed without ocasion to be liberal in disposing of Mony to some of the Officers of the Store in a way more than was ordinary with him The last Sessions of Parliament being Prorogued and the time drawing nigh for putting their design in Execution there was a great meeting appointed of the Heads of the Romish Clergy and other Laymen of their Faction said to be at the Abby of Mullifarnam in the County of Westmeath where is a Convent of Franciscans thereof openly and peaceably possessed for many years last past the day of their meeting being also on their Saint Francis day about the beginning of October last but the time and place I cannot considently affirm yet howsoever the several opinions and discussions are as follow like as I have received it from the said Fryar a Franciscan and present there being a Grardian of that Order where among many other things there debated the question was what course should be taken with the English and all others that were found in the whole Kingdom to be Protestants The Council was therein divided 1. Some were for their Banishment without attempting on their lives for this was given the Instance of the King of Spains expelling out of Granado and other parts of his Dominions the Moors to the number of many Hundred thousands all of them beirg dismissed with their Lives Wives and Children with some part of their Goods if not the most part that this his way of proceeding redounded much to the Honour of Spain whereas the slaughter of many Innocents wouls have laid an everlasting blemish of Cruelty on that State that the like usage of the English their Neighbors and to whom many there present owed if no more yet their education would gain much to the cause both in England and other parts That their Goods and Estates Seized upon would be sufficient without medling with their Persons that if the contrary course were taken and their Blood spilt besides the Curse it would draw from Heaven upon their cause it might withal incense and provoke the Neighbor Kingdom of England and that justly to take a more severe revenge on them and theirs even to extirpation if it had the upper hand 2. On the other
side was urged a contrary proceeding to the utter cutting off all the English Protestants where to the Instances of the dismissed Moors it was answered that that was sole act of the King and Queen of Spain contrary to the Advice of their Council which howsoever it might gain that Prince a name of Mercy yet therein the event shewed him to be most unmerciful not only to his own but to all Christendom besides That this was evident in the great and excessive charge that Spain hath been since that time put unto by these Moors and their Posterity to this day All Christendom also hath and doth still groan under the miseries it doth suffer by the Piracies of Argiers Sally and the like Dens of Thieves That all this might have been prevented in one hour by a general Massacre applying that it was no less dangerous to expel the English That these Robbed and Banished men might again return with Swords in their hands who by their hard usage in spoiling might be exasperated and by the hope of recovering their former Estates would be incensed far more than strangers that were sent against them being neither in their Persons injured nor grieved in their Estates that therefore a general Massacre was the safest and readiest way for freeing the Kingdom of any such fears 3. In which diversity of Opinions howsoever the first prevailed with some for which the Franciscans saith this Fryer one of their Guardians did stand yet others inclined to the Second some again leaned to a Middle way neither to dismiss nor kill And according to this do we find the event and course of their proceedings In some places they are generally put to the Sword or to other Miserable ends some restrain their Persons in durance knowing it to be in their hands to dispatch them at their pleasures in the mena time they being reserved eitheir for profit by their Ransom or for exchange of Prisoners or gaining their own Pardons by the lives of their Prisoners if Time would serve or by their death if the worst did happen to satisfie their fury The Third sort at the first altogether dismissed their Prisoners but first having spoiled them of their Goods and after of their Raiment exposed the miserable wretches to Cold and Famine whereby many have perished by deaths worse than Sword or Halter Hitherto of their Councils and the effects of them Now for their intentions all being reduced which God forbid into their Power and thereof they do as by some Law give such peremptory conclusions that it may well be wondred the thoughts of men professing themselves wise should be so vain and herein I do still follow mine Informer First Their Loyalty to his Majesty shall be still reserved Thus say they of the modest sort but both his Revenues and Government must be reduced to certain bounds His Rents none other than the antient Reservations before the Plantation and the Customs so ordered as to them shall be thought fitting Secondly For the Government such as would be esteemed Loyal would have it committed to the hands of two Lords Justices one of the antient Irish race the other of the antient British Inhabitants in the Kingdom Provided that they be of the Romish profession Thirdly That a Parliament be forthwith called consisting of whom they shall think fit to be admitted wherein their own Religious men shall be assistants Fourthly Poinings Act must be Repealed ☜ and Ireland declared to be a Kingdom Independent on England and without any reference unto it in any case whatsoever Fifthly All Acts prejudical to the Romish Reiligion shall be abolished and it to be Enacted That there be none other Profession in the Kingdom but the Romish Sixthly That only the antient Nobility of the Kingdom shall stand and of them Such as shall refuse to conform to the Romish Religion to be removed and others put in their room howsoever the present Earl of Kildare must be put out and another put in his place Seventhly All Plantation Lands to be recalled and the anuient Proprietors to be Reinvested in their formere Estates with the limitations in their Covenant expressed That they had not formerly Sold their Interests on valuable considerations Eightly That the respective Counties of the Kingdom be Subdivided and certain Bounds or Baronies assigned to the chief Septs and others of the Nobility who are to be answerable for the Government thereof and that a standing Army may be still in being the respective Governors being to keep a certain Number of men to be ready at all Risings out as they term it They also being to build and maintain certain Fortresses in places most convenient within their Precincts and that these Governors be of absolute Power only responsible to the Parliament Lastly For maintaining a correspondence with other Nations and for securing the Coasts That also they may be rendred considerable unto others a Navy of a certain number of Ships is to be maintained That to this end five Houses are to be appointed one in each Province accounting Meath for one of them That to these Houses shall be allotted an Annual Pension of certain Thousands of Pounds to be made up of part of the Lands appropriate to Abbies and a further contribution to be raised in the respective Provinces to that end That these Houses are to be assigned to a certain Order of Knights answerable to that of Malta who are to be Seamen And to maintain this Fleet that all prizes are to be appointed some part for a Common Bank the rest to be divided to which purpose the felling of Woods serviceable for this use is to be forbidden The House for this purpose to be Assigned to the Provice of Leinster is Kilmainham or rather Howth the Lord of Howth to be otherwise accommodated provided that he joyn with them that place being esteemed most convenient in respect of Situation For effecting of all which they cast up the Accounts of the whole Forces of this Kingdom ☜ that it is able to make up readily Two hundred thousand able men wanting only Commanders and some expert Soldiers for the present with Arms and Ammunition of all which they expect a speedy supply out of Flanders their own Regiments there Exercised being to be sent over and some Ships from Spain allotted for Service That this Kingdom being setled There are Thirty thousand men to be sent into England to joyn with the French and Spanish Forces and the Service in England performed jointly to fall upon Scotland for reducing both Kingdoms to the obedience of the Pope which being finished they have engaged themselves to the King of Spain for assisting him against the Hollanders And for drawing their followers to some Head and for giving the fairer Gloss to their foul Rebellion it is to be admired what strange and unlikely rumours of their own devising they cast abroad sometimes that many Sail of Spaniards are Landed now at one Port then at another that Drogheda
any of them shall joyn with us in this Act following J. A. B. Do in the Presence of Almighty God and all the Angels and Saints in Heaven and by the Contents of this Bible promise vow swear and protest to bear Faith and true Allegiance to Our Soveraign Lord King Charles and the Heirs and Successors of His Body begotten and will defend Him and Them as far as I may with my Life Power and Estate against all Persons that shall attempt any thing against His or Their Persons Honours Estates or Dignities and that I will in exposing my Self Power and Estate joyn with the Irish Army or any other to recover His Royal Prerogatives forcibly wrested from him by the Puritans in the Houses of Parliament in England and to maintain the same against all others that shall directly or indirectly endeavour to suppress or do any Act contrary to real Government as also to maintain Episcopal Jurisdictions and the Lawfulness thereof in the Church-Power Priviledges of Prelates the lawful Rights and Priviledges of the Subjects and I will do no Act or thing directly or indictly to prejudice the Publick Exercise of the Roman Catholick Religion in any of His Majesties Dominions and that I will joyn with and be assisting to the Members in the Common-weal for Redresses to be had of the Grievances and Pressures thereof in such Manner and Form as shall be thought fit by a lawful Parliament and to my Power as far as I may ☜ I will oppose and bring to condign Punishment even to the loss of Life and Liberty and Estate all such as shall either by Force or Practice Councels Plots Conspiracies or otherwise do or attempt any thing to the contrary of any Article clause or thing in this present Oath Vow and Protestatation contained and neither for Hope of Reward of Fear of Punishment nor any respect whatsoever shall relinquish this Oath and Protestation So help me God This Declaration and Oath was entred in the Counsel Book of Kilkeny and this a true Copy thereof Witness my Hand this Ninth of May 1644. Hierome Green Cler. Counsel Kilkeny Appendix XII The Protestation and Declaration of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in Parliament Assembled against the Irish Rebellion the 17th of November 1641. WHereas the happy and peaceable Estate of this Realm hath been of late and is still interrupted by sundry Persons ill affected to the Peace and Tranquility thereof who contrary to their Duty and Loyalty to His Majesty and against the Laws of God and the fundamental Laws of this Realm have traiterously and rebelliously raised Arms seized upon His Majesties Forts and Castles and dispossessed many of his faithful Subjects of their Houses Lands and Goods and have slain many of them and committed other cruel and inhuman Outrages and Acts of Hostility within this Realm The said Lords and Commons in Parliament Assembled being justly moved with a right Sense of the said disloyal Rebellious Proceedings and Actions of the Peesons aforesaid do hereby protest and declare that the said Lords and Commons from their hearts do detest and abhor the said abominable Actions and that they shall and will to their utmost Power maitain the Rights of His Majesties Crown and Government of this Realm and the Peace and Safety thereof as well against the Persons aforesaid their Abbetters and Adherents as also against all foreign Princes Potentates and other Persons and Attempts whatsoever And in case the Persons aforesaid do not repent of their aforesad Actions and lay down Arms and become humble Suitors to His Majesty for Grace and Mercy in such convenient Time and in such manner and form as by His Majesty or the chief Governour or Governours and the Councel of this Realm shall be set down The said Lords and Commons do further protest and declare that they will take up Arms and will with their Lives and Fortunes suppress them and their Attempts in such a way as by the Authority of the Parliament of this Kingdom with the Approbation of his Excellent Majesty or of His Majesties chief Governour or Governours of this Kingdom shall be thought most effectual Appendix XIII His Majesties Proclamation against the Irish Rebellion By the KING WHeras divers lewd and wicked Persons have of late risen in Rebellion in our Kingdom of Ireland surprized divers of our Forts and Castles possessed themselves thereof surprized some of our Garrisons possessed themselves of some of our Magazines of Arms and Ammunition dispossessed many of our good and loyal Subjects of the British Nation and Protestants of their Houses and Lands robbed and spoiled many Thousands of our good Subjects of the British Nation and Protestants of their Goods to great values Massacred multitudes to them imprisoned many others and some who have the Honour to serve us as Privy Councellors of that our Kingdom We therefore having taken the same into our Royal consideration and abhorring the wicked Disloyalty and horrible Acts committed by those Persons do hereby not only declare our just Indignation thereof but also do declare them and their Adherents and Abettors and all those who shall hereafter joyn with them or commit the like Acts on any of our good Subjects in that Kingdom to be Rebels and Traitors against our Royal Person and Enemies to our Royal Crown of England and Ireland And we do hereby strictly charge and command all those Persons who have so presumed to rise in Arms against us and our Royal Authority which we cannot otherwise interpret than Acts of high Rebellion and detestable Disloyalty when therein they spoil and destroy our good and loyal Subjects of the British Nation and Protestants that they immediately lay down their Arms and forbear all further Acts of Hostility wherein if they fail we do let them know that we have authorized our Justices of Ireland and other our chief Governour or Governours and General or Lieutenant-General of our Army there and do hereby accordingly require and authorize them and every of them to prosecute the said Rebels and Traitors with Fire and Sword as Persons who by their high Disloyalty against us their lawful and undoubted King and Sovereign have made themselves unworthy of any Mercy or Favour whereinour said Justices or other Governour or Governours and General or Lieutenant-General of our said Army shall be countenanced and supported by us and by our powerful Succours of our good Subjects of England and Scotland that so they may reduce to Obedience those wicked Disturbers of that Peace which by the Blessing of God that Kingdom hath so long and so happily enjoyed under the Government of our Royal Father and Us. And this our Royal Pleasure We do hereby require our Justices or other chief Governour or Governours of that our Kingdom of Ireland to cause to be published and proclaimed in and throughout our said Kingdom of Ireland Given under our Signet at our Palace of Westminster the First Day of January in the 17 th Year of
our Reign 1641. Appendix XIV The Oath of Association taken by the Irish Rebels The Preamble WHereas the Roman Catholicks of this Kingdom have been inforced to take Arms for the necessary Defence and Preservation as well of their Religion plotted and by many foul Practices endeavoured to be quite supprest by the Puritan Faction as likewise their Lives Esttates and Liberties as also for the Defence and Safeguard of His Majesties regal Power just Prerogatives Honour State and Rights invaded upon and for that it is requisite that there should be an unanimous Consent and real Union between ALL the Catholicks of this Realm to maintain the Premises and strengthen them against their Adversaries It is thought fit by them that they and whosoever shall adhere unto their Party as a Confederate should for the better Assurance of their adhering Fidelity and Constancy to the Publick Cause take the ensuing Oath The Oath of Association J. A. B. do profess swear and protest before God and his Saints and his Angels that I will during my Life bear true Faith and Allegiance to my Sovereign Lord Charles by the Grace of God King of Great Britain France and Ireland and to his Heirs and lawful Successors and that I will to my Power during my Life defend uphold maintain all his and their just Prerogatives Estates and Rights the Power and Priviledges of the Parliament of this Realm the fundamental Laws of Ireland the free Exercise of the Roman Catholick Faith and Religion throughout this Land and the Lives just Liberties Possessions Estates and Rights of all those that have taken or shall take this Oath and perform the Contents thereof and that I will obey and ratifie all the Orders and Decrees made and to be made by the Supream Council of the Confederate Catholicks of this Kingdom concerning the said publick Cause and that I will not seek directly or indirectly any Pardon or Protection for any Act done or to be done touching this general Cause without the Consent of the Major part of the said Council and that I will not directly or indirectly do any Act or Acts that shall prejudice the said Cause but will to the hazard of my Life and Estate assist prosecute and maintain the same Moreover I do further swear that I will not accept of or submit unto any Peace made or to be made with the said confederate Catholicks without the Consent and Approbation of the General Assembly of the said confederate Catholicks And for the preservation and strengthening of the Association and Union of the Kingdom that upon any Peace or Accommodation to be made or concluded with the said confederate Catholicks as aforesaid I will to the utmost of my Power insist upon und maintain the ensuing Propositions until a Peace as aforesaid be made and the matters to be agreed upon in the Articles of Peace be established and secured by Parliament So help me God The Propositions mentioned in the aforesaid Oath 1. THAT the Roman Catholicks both Clergy and Laity to their several Capacities have free and publick Exercise of the Roman Catholick Religion and Function throughout the Kingdom in as full Lustre and Splendor as it was in the Reign of King Henry the Seventh or any other Catholick Kings his Predecessors Kings of England and Lords of Ireland either in Ireland or England 2. That the secular Clergy of Ireland viz. Primates Arch-Bishops Bishops Ordinaries Deans Deans and Chapters Arch-Deacons Prebendaries and other Dignitaries Parsons Vicars and all other Pastors of the Secular Clergy and their respective Successors shall have and enjoy all and all Manner of Jurisdictions Priviledges Immunities in as full and ample Manner as the Roman Catholicks Secular Clergy had or enjoyed the same within this Realm at any Time during the Reign of the Late Henry the Seventh Sometimes King of England and Lord of Ireland Any Law Declaration of Law Statute Power and Authority whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding 3. That all Laws and Statutes made since the Twentieth Year of King Henry the Eighth whereby any Restraint Penalty Mulct Incapacity or Restriction whatsoever is or may be laid upon any of the Roman Catholicks either of the Clergy or of the Laity for such the said free Exercise of the Roman Catholick Religion within this Kingdom and of their several Functions Jurisdictions and Priviledges may be repealed revoked and declared void by one or more Acts of Parliament to be passed therein 4. That all Primates Archbishops Bishops Ordinaries Deans Deans and Chapters Archdeacons Chancellors Treasurers Chaunters Provosts Wardens of Collegiate Churches Prebendaries and other Dignitaries Parsons Vicars and other Pastors of the Roman Catholick Secular Clergy and their respective Successors shall have hold and enjoy all the Churches and Church-Livings in as large and ample Manner as the late Protestant Clergy respectively enjoyed the same on the First Day of October in the Year of our Lord 1641 Together with all the Profits Emoluments Perquisites Liberties and the Rights to their respective Sees and Churches belonging as well in all places now in the Possession of the Confederate Catholicks as also in all other places that shall be recovered by the said Confederate Cathollcks from the adverse party within this Kingdom saving to the Roman Catholick Laity their Rights according to the Laws of the Land Appendix XV. The Pope's Bull to the Irish HAving taken into our serious consideration the great Zeal of the Irish towards the propagating of the Catholick Faith and the Piety of the Catholick Warriers in the several Armies of that Kingdom which was for that singular fervency in the true worship of God and notable care had formerly in the like case by the Inhabitants thereof for the maintenance and preservation of the same Orthodox Faith called of old the Land of Saints and having got certain notice how in imitation of their Godly and Worthy Ancestors they endeavour by force of Arms to deliver their thralled Nation from the Oppressions and Grievous Injuries of the Hereticks wherewith this long time it hath been afflicted and heavily burthened and gallantly do what in them lieth to extirpate and totally root out those workers of Iniquity who in the Kingdom of Ireland had infected and always striven to infect the Mass of Catholick Purity with the pestiferous Leaven of their Heretical contagion We therefore being willing to cherish them with the gift of those Spiritual graces whereof by God we are ordained the only disposers on Earth by the mercy of the same Almighty God trusting in the Authority of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and by vertue of that power of binding and loosing of Souls which God was pleased without our deserving to confer upon us To all and every one of the faithful Christians in the aforesaid Kingdom of Ireland now and for the time Militating against the Hereticks and other Enemies of the Catholick Faith they being truly and sincerely penitent after Confession and the Spiritual refreshing of themselves with
many and pernicious to Ireland that this Parliament should betray the trust reposed in them if they did not declare against this Cessation and use all means in time to make it abortive and therefore they desire that it may be observed and taken notice of First From whence the Counsel and Design of this Cessation ariseth even from the Rebels and Papists themselves for their own Preservation for soon after they had missed of their intent to make themselves absolute Masters of that Kingdom of Ireland by their treacherous Surprises and seeing that this Kingdom did with most Christian and Generous Resolutions undertake the Charges of the War for the Relief and Recovery of Ireland Propositions were brought over from the Rebels by the Lords Dillon and Tafe at which time they were intercepted and restrained by the Order of the House of Commons after that they had the boldness even while their Hands were still imbrued in the Protestants Blood to petition his Majesty that their demands might be heard And for this purpose they obtained a Commission to be sent over into Ireland to divers Persons of Qality whereof some were Papists to Hear Receive and Transmit to his Majesty their Demands which was done accordingly and one Master Burk a Notorious Pragmatick Irish Papist was the chief Sollicitor in this business After this the Just Revenging God giving daily success to handfuls of the Protestant Forces against their great numbers so that by a wonderful Blessing from Heaven they were in most parts put to the worst Then did they begin to set on Foot an Overture for a Cessation of Arms concerning which what going and coming hath been between the Court and the Rebels is very well known and what Meetings and Treatties have been held about it in Ireland by Warrant of his Majesties Ample Commission sent to that effect and what Reception and Countenance most Pragmatical Papists negotiating the business have found at Court and that those of the State in Dublin who had so much Religion and Honesty as to disswade the Cessation were first discountenanced and at last put out of their Places and restrained to Prison as Sir William Parsons One of the Lords Justices there Sir John Temple Master of the Rolls Sir Adam Loftus Vice-Treasurer of Ireland and Treasurer at Wars and Sir Robert Meredith one also of the Council Table Secondly The Lords and Commons desire it may be observed that during all these Passages and Negotiations the Houses of Parliament were never acquainted by the State of Ireland with the Treaty of a Cessation much less was their Advice or Counsel demanded notwithstanding that the care and managing of the War was devolved on them both by Act of Parliament and by his Majesties Commission under the Great Seal to Advise Order and Dispose of all things concerning the Government and Defence of that Kingdom But the wants of the Army were often represented and complained of whereby with much craft a ground was preparing for the Pretext wherewith now they would cover the Counsels of this Cessation as if nothing had drawn it on but the extream Wants of their Armies whereas it is evident that the Reports of such a Treaty have been in a great part the cause of their wants for thereby the Adventurers were disheartened Contributions were stopped and by the admittance to Court of the Negotiators of this Cessation their wicked Councels have had that influence as to procure the Intercepting of much Provisions which were sent for Ireland so that Ships going for Ireland with Victuals and others coming from thence with Commodities to exchange for Victuals have been taken not only by Dunkirkers having his Majesties Warrant but also by English Ships commanded by Sir John Pennington under his Majesty And moreover the Parliament Messengers sent into several Counties with the Ordinance of January last for Loans and Contributions have been taken and imprisoned their Money taken from them and not one Peny either Loan or Contribution hath been suffered to be sent for for Ireland from these Counties which were under the power of the Kings Army while in the mean time the Houses of Parliament by their Ordinances Declarations and Solicitations to the City of London and the Counties free from the terror of the Kings Forces were still procuring not contemptible Aid and Relief for the distresses of Ireland Thirdly As the Lords and Commons have reason to declare against this Plot and Design of a Cessation of Arms as being treated and carryed on without their Advice so also because of the great prejudice which will thereby redound to the Protestant Religion and the encouragement and advancement which it will give to the practice of Popery when these Rebellious Papists shall by this agreement continue and set up with more freedom their Idolatrous Worship their Popish Superstitions and Romish Abominations in all the places of their Command to the dishonouring of God the grieving of all true Protestant Hearts the disposing of the Laws of the Crown of England and to the provoking of the wrath of a Jealous God as if both Kingdoms not smarted enough already for this sin of too much conniving at and tolerating of Antichristian Idolatry under pretext of Civil Contracts and Politick Agreements Fourthly In the Fourth place they desire it may be observed that this Cessation will prove dishonourable to the Publick Faith of this Kingdom it will elude and make null the Acts and Ordinances of Parliament made for the forfeiting of the Rebels Lands at the passing of which Acts it was represented that such a course would drive the Rebels to Despair and it proves so but otherways than was meant for despairing of their Force and Courage they go about to overcome us with their Craft Fifthly and Lastly What shall become of the many Poor Exiled Protestants turned out of their Estates by this Rebellion who must now continue begging their Bread while the Rebels shall enjoy their Lands and Houses And who shall secure the rest of the Protestants that either by their own Courage Industry and great Charges have kept their Possessions or by the success of our Armies have been restored Can there be any assurance gotten from a Perfidious Enemy of a Cossation from Treachery and breach of Agreement when they shall see a fit time and opportunity These and many other considerations being well weighed it will appear evidently that this Design of a Cessacion is a deep Plot laid by the Rebels and really invented for their own Safety and falsly pretended to be for the benefit of the Armies And whereas the Lords and Commons have no certain Information that the Treaty is concluded but are informed by several Letters that all the Protestants as well Inhabitants as Soldiers in that Kingdom are resolved to withstand that proceeding and to adventure on the greatest extremities rather than have any sort of peace with that generation who have so cruelly in time of Peace Murdered many Thousands of our Countreymen
without due process and Judgment of Law they have since then been put or kept out and may be answered of and for all the mean profits of the same in the interim and for all the time until they shall be so restored 19. That your Majesties said Protestant Subjects may also be restored to all their Monies Plate Jewels Houshold-stuff Goods and Chattels whatsoever which without due Process or Judgment of Law have been by the said Confederates taken or detained from them since the contriving of the said Rebellion which may be gained in kind or the full value thereof if the same may not be had in kind and the like restitution to be made for all such things which during the said time hath been delivered to any Person or Persons of the said Confederates in trust to be kept or preserv'd but are by colour thereof still withholden 20. That the establishment and maintenance of a compleat Protestant Army and sufficient Protestant Soldiers and Forces for the time to come be speedily taken into your Majesties Prudent Just and Gracious Consideration and such a course laid down and continued according to the Rules of good Government that your Majesties Right and Laws the Protestant Religion and Peace of that Kingdom be no more endangered by the like Rebellions in time to come 21. That whereas it appeareth in Print that the said Confederates amongst other things aim at the Repeal of Poyning's Law thereby to open an easy and ready way in the passing of Acts of Parliament in Ireland without having them first well considered of in England which may produce many dangerous consequences both to that Kingdom and to your Majesties other Dominions your Majesty would be pleased to resent and reject all propositions tending to introduce so great a diminution of your Royal and necessary Power for the confirmation of your Royal Estate and protection of your good Protestant Subjects both there and elsewhere 22. That your Majesty out of your grace and favour to your Protestant Subjects of Ireland would be pleased to consider effectually of answering them that you will not give order for or allow of the transmitting into Ireland any Act of general Oblivion Release or Discharge of Actions or Suits whereby your Majesties said Protestant Subjects there may be barred or deprived of their legal Remedies which by your Majesties Laws and Statutes of that Kingdom they may have against the said Confederates or any of them or any of their Party for and in respect of any wrongs done unto them or any of their Ancestors or Predecessors in or concerning their Lives Liberties Persons Lands Goods or Estates since the contriving and breaking forth of the said Rebellion 23. That some fit course may be considered of to prevent the filling or overlaying of the Commons House of Parliament in Irelaâ—d with Popish Recusants being ill affected Members and that provision be duly made that none shall vote or sit therein but such as shall first take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy 24. That the proofs and manifestations of the truth of the several matters contained in the Petition of your Majesties Protestant Subjects of Ireland lately presented to your Majesty may be duly examined discussed and in that respect the final conclusion of things respited for a convenient time their Agents being ready to attend with proofs in that behalf as your Majesty shall appoint In Answer whereunto it was replyed by the Committee of Lords and others of Irish affairs at Oxford 1. THat their Lordships did not think that the Propositions presented by the Protestant Agents to his Majesty and that Morning read before their Lordships were the sense of the Protestants of Ireland 2. That those propositions were not agreeable to the Instructions given the said Agents by the Protestants of Ireland 3. That if â—hose Propositions were not withdrawn they would lay a prejudice on his Majesty and his Ministers to posterity these remaining on Record if a Treaty should go on and Peace follow which the Kings necessity did enforce and that the Lords of the Committee apprehended the said Agents did flatly oppose a Peace with the Irish 4. That it would be impossible for the King to grant the Protestants Agents desires and grant a Peace to the Irish 5. That the Lords of the Committee desired the Protestant Agents to propose a way to effect their desires either by Force or Treaty considering the condition of his Majesties affairs in England To the First Note the Paâ—â—liament of Iâ—eland was interogated on the point and did declare their concurrence with what their Agents had done the Protestant Agents replyed That they humbly conceived that the Propositions which they had presented to his Majesty were the sense of the Protestants of Ireland To the Second That the Propositions are agreeable to the instructions given to the said Agents by the Protestants of Ireland and conduced to the well settlement of that Kingdom To the Third that they had no thought to draw prejudice on his Majesty or their Lordships by putting in those Propositions neither had they so soon put in Propositions had not his Majesty by his Answer to the Protestant Petition directed the same To the Fourth The said Agents humbly conceived that they were imployed to make proof of the effect of the Protestant Petition to manifest the Inhumane Cruelties of the Rebels and then to offer such things as they they thought fit for the security of the Protestants in their Religion Lives Liberties and Fortunes that the said Protestants had not disaffection to Peace so as Punishment might be inflicted according to Law as in the Propositions are expressed and that the said Protestants might be repaired for their great Losses out of the Estates of the Rebels not formerly by any Acts of this present Parliament in England otherwise disposed of which the said Agents desired might be represented to his Majesty and the Lords of the Committee accordingly To the Fifth that the said Protestant Agents were Strangers to His Majesties affairs in England and conceived that part more proper for the Advice of his Councils than the said Agents and therefore desired to be excused for medling in the Treaty further than the manifesting of the Truth of the Protestant Petition and purposing in the behalf of the Protestants according to the Instructions given them which the said Agents were ready to perform whensoever they should be admitted thereunto Touching which and other particulars there were many motions but the proofs they would have insisted upon by the importunity of other affairs never came to their due discussion Appendix XXII Instructions for the Agents who are to attend His Most Sacred Majesty on the behalf of His Majesties Protestant Subjects of Ireland 1. FIrst most humbly to represent unto His Most Sacred Majesty the Remonstrance or Petition of his truly obedient and loyal Subjects the Protestants of this his Kingdom of Ireland intituled To the King 's Most Excâ—llent Majesty
inconveniencies the Supremacy of Rome and take away or much endanger your Majesties supream and just Authority in Causes Ecclesiastical Administration of Honour and Power not to be endured the said Acts extending as well to seditious Sectaries as to Popish Recusants so as by the Repeal thereof any Man may seem to be left to chuse his own Religion in that Kingdom which must needs beget great Confusion and the abounding of the Roman Clergy hath been one of the greatest Occasions of this late Rebellion Besides it is humbly desired that your Majesty will be pleased to take into your gracious Consideration a Clause in the Act of Parliament passed by your Majesties Royal Assent in England in the 17 th year of your Reign touching Punishments to be inflicted upon those that shall introduce the Authority of the See of Rome in any Cause whatsoever 2. Prop. That your Majesty will be pleased to call a free Parliament in the said Kingdom to be held and continued as in the said Remonstrance is expressed and the Statute of the Tenth Year of King Henry the Seventh called Poyning'â— Acts explaining or enlarging the same be suspended during that Parliament for the speedy Settlement of the present Affairs and the Repeal thereof to be there further considered of Answ Whereas their desire to have a free Parliament called reflecteth by secret and cunning Implication upon your Majesties present Parliament in Ireland as if it were not a free Parliament We humbly beseech your Majesty to represent how dangerous it is to make such insinuation or intimation to your People of that Kingdom touching that Parliament wherein several Acts of Parliament have already past the validity whereof may be endangered if the Parliament should not be approved as a free Parliament and it is a point of high Nature as we humbly conceive is not properly to be discussed but in Parliament and your Majesties said Parliament now sitting is a free Parliament in Law holden before a Person of Honour and Fortune in the Kingdom composed of good loyal and well-affected Subjects to your Majesty who doubtless will be ready to comply in all things that shall appear to be pious and just for the good of the true Protestant Religion and for your Majesties Service and the good of the Church and State that if this present Parliament should be dissolved it would be a great Terror and Discontent to all your Majesties Protestant Subjects of the Kingdom and may be also a means to force many of your Majesties Subjects to quit that Kingdom or peradventure to adhere to some other party there in opposition of the Romish Irish Confederates rather than to be liable to their Power which effects may prove of most dangerous Consequence And we humbly offer to your Majesties Consideration your own gracious Expression mentioned in the Grounds and Motives inducing your Majesty to agree to a Cessation of Arms for one whole Year with the Roman Catholicks of Ireland Printed at Oxford the Ninteenth of October 1643. And let all our good Subjects be assured that as we have for these reasons and with Caution and Deliberation consented to the Proposition to peace and to that purpose do continue our Parliament there so we shall proceed in the accomplishing thereof with that Care and Circumspection that we shall not admit even Peace it self otherwise than it may be agreeable to Conscience Honour and Justice We also humbly desire that such Laws as your Majesty shall think fit to pass may be transmitted according to Poyning's Law and other Laws of Explanation thereof or of Addition thereunto now in force with great Contentment and Security to your Majesties Protestant Subjects but if the present Parliament be dissolved we humbly represent unto your Majesty that so many of your ablest and best Protestant Subjects have been murthered or banished by this Rebellion that few or no Protestant Freeholders will be found in the Countries Cities or Boroughs to elect and chuse Knights Citizens or Burgesses which will be most dangerous to your Majesties Rights and Prerogatives and good Subjects and may beget great disputes in After-times for the repealings of Poyning's Acts notwithstanding their seigned Expressions of their Loyalty yet it plainly appeareth they do not repose such Trust in your Majesties Justice as becomes Loyal Subjects to do and such they pretend themselves to be for that they seek thereby to prevent your Majesty and your Council of England and Ireland of so full a View and Time of Mature Consideration to be had of Acts of Parliament of Ireland before they pass as in prudence is requisite and hath been found necessary by the Experience of well near Two Hundred Years and if their intentions were so clear as they profess we know not why they should avoid the strictest View and Trial of your Majesty and your Councils of both Kingdoms this their desire tending to introduce a grand Diminution to the royal and necessary Power for the Conservation of your regal State and Protection of your good Protestant Subjects there and elsewhere and what special use they aim at in seeking such a repeal your Protestant Subjects as they know not the particular so can they conjecture of none unless the said Confederates have some design by way of surprize to obtrude upon your Majesty in their new desired Parliament some Acts of Justification of their ill-done Actions and for condemning such of your Protestant Subjects as have in their several Degrees most faithfully served your Majesty there which we the rather believe seeing they have vowed by their Oath of Association and the Bull lately published in Ireland since the Cessation the Destruction of the Protestants there when they have the Sword in their hands to put the same in Execution 3. Prop. That all Acts and Ordinances made and passed in the now pretended Parliament in that Kingdom since the Seventh Day of August 1641. be clearly annulled and declared void and taken off the File Answ We humbly desire that they particularize those Orders and Ordinances which may prejudice your Majesties Service for we are well assured that the Parliament now sitting in Ireland on Signification of your Majesties Pleasure therein will give your Majesty full satisfaction or repeal any unjust Orders or Ordinances whatsoever which may be prejudicial to your Majesty And there may be some Orders or Ordinances which may concern particular Persons in their Lives Liberties or Fortunes that may suffer unheard by the admitting of so general a Proposition which is meerly proposed as we humbly conceive to put a Scorn upon your Majesties Parliament now sitting there and to discourage your Protestant Subjects who have faithfully served your Majesty in that Parliament 4. Prop. That all Indictments Attainders Outlawries in the King's-Bench or elsewhere since the said Seventh Day of August 1641. and all Letters Patents Grants Leases Custodiums Bonds Recognizances and all other Records Act or Acts depending thereon or in prejudice of the said Catholicks
or any of them be taken off the File annulled and declared void First by your Majesties Proclamation and after by Act to be passed in the said free Parliament Answ This we conceive to be a very bold Proposition not warranted as we also conceive by any Example and tending to introduce an ill President in After-times for that was never seen that the Records were taken off the File but where there was some Corruption or Fraud or some illegal or unjust Carriage used concerning the procuring or making up of such Records and the same first we 'll proved upon due Examination and that may not only conceal but in some sort seem to justify their abominable Treasons Murders Cruelties Massacres and Plunders acted against your Majesties Person Crown and Dignity upon the Persons of your Majesties most Loyal Protestant Subjects in that Kingdom and encourage the Papists to do the like again besides the discouragement it may beget in your Majesties Officers and Subjects to do their duties in the like Insurrections which may happen hereafter which also may prove very prejudicial to your Majesties Rights and Revenues if the Records to support the forfeitures wherein many of them are or may be grounded should be taken off the File and Cancelled 5. Prop. That inasmuch as under colour of such Outlawries and Attainders Debts due unto the said Catholicks have been Granted Levyed and disposed of and of the other side that Debts due upon the said Catholicks to those of the adverse Party have been levyed and disposed of to publick use that therefore all Debts be by Act of Parliament mutually released or all to stand in Statu quo notwithstanding any Grant or Dispossession Answ We humbly conceive that in time of Peace and most setled Government when the course of Law and Justice is most open and best observed that Debts due unto the Crown actually levyed and paid in to your Majesties use ought not to be restored though the Records of the Forfeitures should be legally reversed which is far from the present Case and this Proposition tendeth to cross that just right of your Majesty and to make the disposition by the Confederate Papist Rebels of Debts due to Protestants and by the said Rebels by Fraud and Force levied and disposed in maintenance of their Rebellion which cunningly they call by the name of Publick use to be in equal degree to the debts owing by the Rebels and by them all forfeited and many of them by Law duly levyed which is a most unequal and unjust thing and the said Proposition cannot nor doth make offer to have the Pope's Confederates cut off from the debts due to them which they have justly forfeited but only for a colour of consideration to have the Protestants lose such Debts justly due to them as have been unjustly taken from them who have done no Act at all to forfeit them 6. Prop. That the late Officers taken or found upon feigned or old Titles since the Year 1634 to intitle your Majesty to several Counties in Connaught Thomond the County of Tipperary Limrick Killkenny and Wicklow be vacated and taken off the File and the Possessors thereof setled and secure in their antient Estates by Act of Parliament and that the like Act of Limitation of your Majesties Titles for the security of the Estates of your Subjects in that Kingdom be passed in that Parliament as was enacted in the One and Twentieth Year of his late Majesties Reign in this Kingdom Answ We know not of any Offices found or feigned Titles nor what the Confederates may demand in respect of any Graces promised by your Majesty which we intend not nor have any occasion to dispute but do humbly conceive that all those who have committed Treason in the late Rebellion subsequent to your Majesties Promise of those Graces have thereby forfeited the benefit thereof together with the Lands to which the said Graces might else have related and so their whole Estates are now justly fallen to your Majesty by their Rebellion which we conceive is of great importance for your Majesties Service to be taken into consideration As First with regard of the Statutes made in the present Parliament of England Secondly that necessary increase of your Majesties Revenue decayed by the present Rebellion Thirdly the abolishing the evil Customs of the Irish and preservation of Religion Laws and Government there Fourthly the satisfaction of the Protestant Subjects losses in some measure Pifthly the Arrears of your Majesties Army and other debts contracted for the War and for preservation of that Kingdom to your Majesty Sixthly the bringing in of more British on the Plantation Seventhly the building of some walled Towns in remote and desolate places for the Security of that Kingdom and your Majesties good Subjects there Eighthly the taking of the Natives from their former dependency on their Chieftains who usurped an absolute Power over them to the diminution of all Regal power and to the oppression of the Inferiors 7. Prop. That all Marks of Incapacity imposed upon the Natives of that Kingdom to purchase or acquire Lands Leases Offices or Hereditaments be taken away by Act of Parliament and the same to extend to the securing of Purchases Leases or Grants already made and that for the Education of Youth an Act be passed in the next Parliament for the erecting of one or more Inns of Court Vniversities Free and Common-Schools Answ This we conceive concerneth some of the late Plantations and no other part of that Kingdom and that the restriction herein mentioned is found to be of great use especially for the indifferency of Trials Strength of the Government and for Trade and Traffick and we humbly conceive that if other Plantations shall not proceed for the setling and securing of the Kingdom and that if no restraint be made of Popish purchasing or buylng of the Protestants out of their former Plantations where they were prudently setled though now cast out of their Estates by the late Rebellion and unable to plant the same again for want of means and therefore probably upon easie Terms will part from their Estates to the Confederates that those Plantations will be destroyed to the great prejudice of your Majesties Service and endangering of the Safety of that Kingdom Touching bearing of Offices we humbly conceive that their now Conformity to the Laws and Statutes of that Realm is the only Mark of Incapacity imposed upon them We humbly conceive that we ought not to expect to be more capable there than the Englssh Natives are here in England In like manner for Schools in Ireland there are divers setled in that Kingdom already by the Laws and Statutes of that Realm if any Person well affected shall erect and endow any more Schools there at their own Charges so that the School-masters and Scholars may be governed according to Laws Customs and Orders of England and the rest of Free-Schools here we cannot apprehend any just exception thereunto But
in England provided that nothing shall be concluded by both or either of the said Houses of Parliament which may bring prejudice to any of His Majesties Protestant Party or their Adherents or to any of his Majesties Roman-Catholick Subjects Party or their Adherents other than such things as upon this Treaty shall be concluded to be done or such things as may be proper for the Committee of Priviledges of either or both Houses to take cognizance of as in such cases heretofore hath been accustomed and such other things as shall be propounded to either or both Houses by the Lord Lieutenant or other chief Governour or Governours for the time being during the said Parliament for the advancement of His Majesties Service and the Peace of the Kingdom which Clause is to admit no construction which may trench upon these Articles or any of them 3. It is further concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between the said Parties and His Majesty is further graciously pleased that all Acts Ordinances and Orders made by both or either Houses of Parliament to the blemish dishonour or prejudice of His Majesties Roman-Catholick Subjects of this Kingdom or any of them since the Seventh of August 1641 shall be vacated and that the same and all exemplifications and other Acts which may continue the memory of them be made void by Act of Parliament 4. It is further concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between the said Parties and His Majesty is further graciously pleased that all Indictments Attainders Outlawries in this Kingdom and all the Processes and other proceedings thereupon and all Letters Patents Grants Leases Custodiams Bonds Recognizances and all Records Act or Acts Office or Offices Inquisitions and all other things depending upon or taken by reason of the said Indictments Attainders or Outlawries since the Seventh of August 1641 in prejudice of the said Catholicks their Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns or any of them or the Widows of them or any of them shall be vacated and made void in such sort as no memory shall remain thereof to the blemish dishonour or prejudice of the said Catholicks their Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns or any of them or the Widows of them or any of them and that to be done immediately after concluding of these Articles and at furthest before the First day of October next or in case the said new Parliament be called sooner than the said last day of November then Forty days before the said Parliament And that all impediments which may hinder the said Roman-Catholicks to Sit or Vote in the next intended Parliament or to choose or to be chosen Knights and Burgesses to Sit or Vote there shall be removed before the said Parliament provided that no man shall be questioned by reason of this Article for mesne rates or wastes saving wilful wastes committed after the First of November 1645. 5. It is further concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between the said parties And His Majesty is further graciously pleased that all debts do stand in state as they were in the beginning of those troubles and that no grant or disposition made or to be made thereof by vertue or colour of any Attainder Outlawry Fugacy or other Forfeiture whatsoever or otherwise shall be of force and this to be passed as an Act in the said next Parliament 6. It is concluded accorded and agreed by and between the said parties and His Majesty is graciously pleased that for the securing of the Estates or reputed Estates of the Lords Knights Gentlemen and Freeholders or reputed Freeholders as well of Connaught and County of Clare or Country of Thomond as of the County of Limerick and Tipperary the same to be secured by Act of Parliament according to the intent of the Five and Twentieth Article of the Graces granted in the Fourth year of his Majesties Reign the Tenor whereof for so much as concerneth the said Proposition doth ensue in these words viz. We are Graciously pleased that for the securing of the Inhabitants of Connaught and Country of Thomond and County of Clare that their several Estates shall be confirmed unto them and their Heirs against Vs and our Heirs and Successors by Act to be passed in the next Parliament to be holden in Ireland to the end the same may never hereafter be brought into any further question by Vs Our Heirs and Successors in which Act of Parliament so to be passed you are to take care that all Tenures in Capite and all Rents and Services as are now due or which ought to be answered unto Vs out of the said Lands and Premises by any Letters Patents past thereof since the first year of King Henry the Eighht or found by any Office taken from the said first year of King Henry the Eighth until the One and Twentieth of July 1615 whereby our late dear Father or any His Predecessors actually received any profit by Wardship Liveries primer Seisins mesne rates Oâ—ster le mains or fines of alienations without licence be again reserved unto Vs Our Heirs and Successors And all the rest of the premises to be holden of Our Castle of Athloane by Knights Service according to our said late Fathers Letters notwithstanding any Tenures in Capite found for Vs by Office since the One and Twentieth of July 1615 and not appearing in any such Letters Patents or Offices within which rule it is His Majesties pleasure and it is so concluded and agreed that the said Lands in the Counties of Limerick and Tipperary be included but to be held by such Rents and Tenures only as they were in the Fourth Year of His Majesties Reign Provided always and it is the intention of the said parties to these presents that the said Lords Knights Gentlemen and Freeholders or reputed Freeholders of the said Province of Connaught County of Clare and Country of Thomond and Counties of Tipperary and Limerick shall have and enjoy the full benefit of such Composition and Agreement which shall be made with His most Excellent Majesty for the Court of Wards Tenures Respites and Issues of Homage any clause in this Article contained to the contrary notwithstanding And as for the Lands within the Counties of Kilkenny and Wickloe unto which His Majesty was Intituled by Offices taken or found in the time of the Earl of Strafford's Government in this Kingdom His Majesty is graciously pleased that the state thereof shall be considered in the next intended Parliament wâ—â—rein His Majesty will assent unto that which shall be Just and Honourable And it is further concluded and agreed by and between the said Parties and His Majesty is further graciously pleased that the like Act of Limitation of His Majesties Titles for the security of the Estates of His Subjects of this Kingdom be passed in the said Parliament as was Enacted in the One and Twentieth Year of His late Majesty King James His Reign in England 7. It is further concluded accorded and
Fitz Girald at Kilkenny Noble Sir I Am now advanced thus far on my way home after my accustomed long fruitlessâ—attendance upon the publick affairs being hopeful that in all this time some good effects would have been produced out of the forward and chearful Resolutions and Endeavours observed in you and many other Noble Persons upon your departure from hence and the good concurrence that was expected from many others well affected to a happy and speedy settlement but after Nine Weeks expectation there hath nothing occurred to my knowledge but the following particulars which I shall distinctly set down both to prevent mistakes in you and clear the aspersions that may be cast upon others 1. By Vote of the Assembly the total rejection of the Peace and of all other both publick and private overtures and undertakings that had relation thereto destroying the only possible means that could have united the Kingdom unto any hopeful way of preservation as affairs now stand in the Kings Dominions 2. A new Union Sworn grounded upon impossible undertakings if not in the Propositions themselves at least in the most material circumstances of securing them thereby excluding all hopes of Peace and setling and confirming a lasting divided Government 3. That being compassed for some seeming satisfaction to those that were drawn into it a plausible shew of some other accommodation was contrived but that being brought up to Dublin by Mr. Doctor Fennel and Mr. Geffery Barron with much assurance given by divers of all the satisfaction that such a change of resolutions could produce there appeared but a Verbal Message of some few general Heads they refusing to give it in Writing or to testify under their Hands what they acknowledgd my Lord Lieutenant took Verbatim from them neither would they assume any Power to make any particular explanations and yet earnestly demanded Resolutions with expedition This unexpected delay and continued uncertainty in such a nick of time after so many former breaches on your parts and so many warnings and true intelligence given you by others of the King 's being delivered up to the Parliament the vast Preparations by them made for Reducing this Kingdom and even those most faithful to his Majesties Service in England as forward as any to joyn therein finding themselves destroyed by the failing of the Peace here and the promised Assistance thereupon Your not long since invading and destroying the only remaining Party Obedient to the Kings Authority the small regard had by you of the approaching dangers and the divisions fomented and still encreasing amongst your selves did by an unavoidable necessity as I conceive beget a resolution in my Lord Lieutenant and those of his Party about Dublin to try some other expedient for their preservation and redemption out of the languishing starving condition they have these many Years with much patience endured and for my own part having long observed the high Affronts and Disrespects put upon my Lord Lieutenant and many other of His Majesty's Ministers and Servants and the largest proportion of Malice cast upon them when they were most industrious in the preservation of the Kingdom hath produced the like resolutions in me to try my Fortune in some other Climate since my Three Years constant expence of time health and fortune for the advantage of the publick hath gained no other recompence than to be Printed against by Declarations Books and several other Papers the Forces of other Provinces poured down upon me to destroy my whole Estate those Forces under my Command thereby inforced to Disband the Officers and all other of my Servants and Followers prosecuted and nothing of means or quarter left me to maintain a Guard of Horse for my own Person my Wife and Family readily permitted to repair to Dublin but no allowance to return all which particulars put together I leave it freely to you to judge whether it be not high time for me to depart when the voice of the Kingdom represented in the Assembly have by a clear implication in their safe conduct declared their desires therein Since my coming hither I have seen some Letters and find much confidence in many that the whole Assembly and Clergy are now united to put a full power into my Lord Lieutenants hands and to make provision for his Lordship and his Party both for subsistence and maintenance of a War to which I may not presume to frame any Judgment at so late an hour of the day but this I conceive is most certain that if it doth not appear suddenly unanimously and clearly with a full power and trust and apparent provision to make it good it will hardly be relied upon and that failing there remains nothing for me to do but in another Country to labour the perfection of Praying as well for my Persecutors as Benefactors amongst the last of which you shall be still acknowledged and remembred by Tecrogham the 15th of March 1646. Your Affectionate Friend to Serve you Clanrickard Appen XXXVIII Articles of Agreement made concluded and agreed on at Dublin the Eighteenth day of June 1647. By and between the most Honourable James Lord Marquess of Ormond of the one part and Arthur Annesley Esquire Sir Robert King Knight Sir Robert Meredith Knight Collonel John Moore and Collonel Michael Jones Commissioners from the Parliament of England on the other part Not signed till the 19th FIrst it is agreed and concluded and the said Lord Marquess of Ormond doth conclude agree and undertake to and with the said Arthur Annesley c. That upon the nineteenth day of this month of June he will leave or cause to be left in the possession of the said Arthur Annesley c. the City of Dublin and all the rest of the places and Garrisons in his power and under his Command and the Ordnance Artillery Amunition Magazines and Stores there and likewise it is further agreed and concluded and the said Lord Marquess of Ormond doth conclude agree and undertake that upon the 28. of July next he will leave or cause to be left in the possession of the said Arthur Annesley c. Or any four of them the Sword and all other Ensignes of Royalty with all other things belonging to the Lord Lievtenant or Leivtenancy of the Kingdom of Ireland that shall be demanded before the said twenty eighth day of July and that in the mean time he will not intermeddle or take upon him to Command in any of the said Garrisons or places 2. Item It is agreed and concluded and the said Arthur Annesley c. do for and in behalf of the Parliament of England conclude agree and undertake to and with the said Lord Marquess of Ormond in the behalf of himself and others his Majesties Subjects that all Protestants whatsoever of the Kingdom of Ireland not having been in the Irish Rebellion though they have of late consented or submitted either to the Cessation of Arms or the Peace concluded with the Irish Rebels shall be
of the Country which you are to enlarge and second by your own expressions according to your knowledge and therefore desire in regard Ireland and Religion in it is humanely speaking like to be lost that his Holiness in his great Wisdom and Piety will be pleased to make the preservation of a people so constantly and unanimously Catholicks his and the consistory of the Cardinals their work And you are to pray his Holiness to afford such present effectual Aids for the preservation of the Nation and the Roman Catholick Religion therein as shall be necessary 2. You are to let his Holiness know that Application is to be made to our Queen and Prince for a settlement of peace and tranquility in the Kingdom of Ireland and that for the effecting thereof the confederate Catholicks do crave his Holiness's mediation with the Queen and Prince as also with the King and Queen Regent of France and with the King of Spain and all other Christians Princes in all matters tending to the avail of the Nation either in point of Settlement to a peace or otherwise 3. The confederate Catholicks ☜ having raised Arms for the freedom of the Catholick Religion do intend in the first place that you let his Holiness know their resolution to insist upon such Concessions and Agreements in matters of Religion and for the security thereof as his Holiness shall approve of and be satisfied with wherein his Holiness is to be prayed to take into his consideration the imminent danger the Kingdom is in according to the representations aforesaid to be made by you and so to proceed in matters of Religion as in his great Wisdom and Piety may tend best and prove necessary to the preservation of it and the consederate Catholicks of Ireland 4. You are to represent to his Holiness that the Confederates think to insist upon as security for such Agreements in Religion as his Holiness will determine that the Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy or other chief Governour or Governors of the Kingdom from time to time should be Roman Catholicks unless his Holiness upon the said Representation of State-Affairs here or for some other reason shall think fit to wave that proposition 5. You are to represent to his Holiness that the confederate Catholicks desire that all the Concessions to be made and agreed on for the setling of the Catholick Religion in this Kingdom be publish'd at the same time with the Temporal Articles of the Settlement if his Holiness on representation of the State of Affairs here or for some other Advantages shall not think fit to determine or suspend the Publishing of those or some of them for a time 6. You are to represent to his Holiness That no Change or Alteration is to be in any part of the present Government ☜ of the Confederate Catholicks until the Articles of Peace or Settlement pursuant to the present Authority and Instructions you and the Commissioners to the English Court in France have shall be concluded and published in this Kingdom by those intrusted in Authority over the Confederate Catholicks 7. You are to take notice That the Resident Council now named are the Persons to serve for the interval Government until the next Assembly of the Confederate Catholicks and the Assembly is at liberty to name others if they please and that no less than Eight of the said Residents concurring during the said Interval shall make any Act or Order obliging and according as it is provided in the former Arricles for the Interval Government in the late rejected Peace the Forts Cities Towns Castles and Power of the Armies of the Confederate Catholicks to remain and continue in their hands during the said Interval Government 8. You are to take notice That the Persons to be employed into France to the Queen and Prince are to finish their Negotiation with the Queen and Prince pursuant to their Instructions with all possible speed after they shall receive his Holiness's Resolutions from you out of Rome in the Matters referred as aforesaid to his Holiness and you are to use all possible diligence in procuring and sending his Holiness's said Resolution unto our said Commissioners employed to the Queen and Prince 9. In case his Holiness will not be pleased to descend to such Conditions as might be granted in Matters of Religion ☜ then you are to solicite for considerable Aids whereby to maintain War and to ascertain and secure the same that it may be timely applied to the Use of the Confederate Catholicks And in case a Settlement cannot be had nor considerable Aids that may serve to preserve the Nation without a Protector you are to make application to his Holiness for his being Protector to this Kingdom and by special instance to endeavour his Acceptance thereof at such time and in such manner as the Instructions sent by our Agents to France grounded on the Order of the Assembly doth import whereof you are to have a Copy 10. Though Matters be concluded by his Holiness's Approbation with the Prince and Queen yet you are to solicite for Aids considering our Distress and setting before him that notwithstanding any such Aids we have a powerful Enemy within the Kingdom which to expulse will require a vast Charge 11. You are to take with you for your Instruction and the better to enable you to satisfie his Holiness of the full State of Affairs here the Copies of the Instructions at Waterford the Articles of the late rejected Peace and Glamorgan's Concessions and the Propositions from Kilkenny to the Congregation at Waterford in August 1646. 12. If Moneys be receiv'd in Rome by you by way of Gift Engagement or otherwise you are to bring or send the same hither to those in Authority and not to dispose the same or any part thereof otherwise than by Order from the General Assembly or Supream Council and for all Sums of Money so by you to be received you are to give account to the Authority intrusted here over the Confederate Catholicks 13. You are to manage the Circumstance of your Proceedings upon the Instructions according as upon the Place you shall find most tending to the Avail of the Confederate Catholicks Tho. Dublin Tho. Cashel Thom. Tuamen Electus Ewerus Clougherensis David Ossoriens Joh. Episc Rapotensis Fr. Edmundus Laghlensis Franc. Ardensis Episc Rob. Elect. Cork Cluon Franciscan Patricius Ardagh Elect. Rob. Dromore Elect. Henry O Neal Rich. Bealing J. Bryan Rob. Devereux Gerrard Fennel Farren By the Command of the General Assembly N. PLUNKET Instructions for France Jan. 18. 1647. YOU are to present your Letters of Credence to his Most Christian Majesty and the several Letters you have with you to the Queen the Prince and Cardinal Mazarine declaring the special Affection of the Confederate Catholicks to His Majesties Service upon all Occasions wherein they may serve him You are to desire his Most Christian Majesty the Queen Regent and Cardinal Mazarine their favourable and friendly regard
continue free Traffick and Commerce with all his Majesties good Subjects of England and that we will not in the least manner prejudice any of them that shall have recourse to our Harbours either in their Bodies Ships or Goods nor shall we take any thing from them without payment of ready mony for the same And now that by his Majesties said Command we have proceeded to re-enter upon the work of his service in this Province we conceive no higher Testimony can be be given of his Majesties acceptation or of the estimation we bear about us towards their proceeding than by resorting unto them in person with his Majesties Authority and exhibiting unto them the incouragement and satisfaction they may receive in this assurance that as we bear an especial regard to their present undertakings and performances accompanied with a real sense of their former sufferings so least there should any advantage be derived unto those who endeavour to improve all opportunities of sowing sedition and distrust by this suggestion that the former differences in judgement and opinion which have induced persons to serve diversly under his Majesty and the Parliament will occasion prejudice or ill resentments to arise towards such Persons as have not formerly concurred in judgment with others in his Majesties service We do declare that we are qualified with special Power and Authority from his Majesty to assure them that no distinction shall be made in any such consideration but that all persons now interested and engaged in this cause shall be reflected upon with equal favour and regard and that we shall make it our endeavours so to improve and confirm his Majesties Gracious disposure towards them as that we will never call to memory any past difference in Opinion Judgment Action or Profession to the prejudice of any Member of this Army or any person relating to it but on the contrary shall be very ready to attest our good affections towards them in the discharge of such good Offices as shall be in our power in return whereof we shall only expect their perseverance in their present ingagements for his Majesties service with such alacrity constancy and affection as may suit with their late publick Declaration and Professions To whom we desire this assurance also may be inculcated that as we shall in the future use our utmost care and diligence to provide for their preservation from the like hardships to those they have formerly undergone so we have already employed our best industry and endeavours for the settlement of such a course as we may with most reason hope will in these uncertain times produce a constant and competent subsistence for them enabling them to make such a progress in their present undertakings as may with the accomplishment of the great ends thereof establish their own Honour and content Thus much we have thought fit to publish unto the world to furnish it with an evidence of strong conviction against us if we ever swerve to the best of our power from the just ways of maintaining the true Protestant Religion the Honour and Interest of his Sacred Majesty the just Rights of Parliament the Liberties of the Subjects and the safety quiet and wellfare of the people instrusted to our Care At Cork 6 Octob. 1648 Append. XLIII Articles of Peace made concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between his Excellency James Lord Marquess of Ormond Lord Lieutenant General and General of his Majesties Kingdom of Ireland for and on the behalf of his most Excellent Majesty by vertue of the Authority wherewith the said Lord Lieutenant is instrusted on the one part And the General Assembly of the Roman Catholicks of the said Kingdom for and on the behalf of His Majesties Roman Catholick Subjects of the same on the other part HIs Majesties Roman Catholick Subjects as thereunto bound by allegiance duty and nature do most humbly and freely acknowledge and recognize their Soveraign Lord King Charles to be lawful and undoubted King of this Kingdom of Ireland and other his Highness ' s Realms and Dominions And his Majesties said Roman Catholick Subjects appreheuding with a deep sence the sad condition where unto His Majesty is reduced As a farther testimony of their Loyalty Do declare that they and their posterity for ever to the utmost of their power even to the expence of their blood and fortunes will maintain and uphold His Majesty His Heirs and lawful Successors their Rights Prerogatives Government and Authority and thereunto freely and heartily will render all due obedience Of which faithful and loyal recognition and declaration so seasonablly made by the said Roman Catholickes His Majesty is graciously pleased to accept and accordingly to own them His loyal and dutiful Subjects And is further graciously pleased to extend unto them the following graces and securities 1. IMprimis It is concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between the said Lord Lieutenant for and on the behalf of His most Excellent Majesty and the said General Assembly for and on the behalf of the said Roman Catholick Subjects and his Majesty is graciously pleased that it shall be enacted by Act to be passed in the next Parliament to be held in this Kingdom that all and every the Professors of the Roman Catholick Religion within the said Kingdom shall be free and exempt from all Mulcts Penalties Restraints and Inhibitions that are or may be imposed upon them by any Law Statute Usage or Custom whatsoever for or concerning the free exercise of the Roman Catholick Religion And that it shall be likewise enacted that the said Roman Catholicks or any of them shall not be questioned or molested in their Persons Goods or Estates for any matter or cause whatsoever for concerning or by reason of the free exercise of their Religion by vertue of any Power Authority Statute Law or Usage whatsoever And that it shall be further enacted That no Roman Catholick in this Kingdom shall be compelled to exercise any Religion Form of Devotion or Divine Service other than such as shall be agreeable to their Conscience and that they shall not be prejudiced or molested in their Persons Goods or Estates for not observing using or hearing the Book of Common-Prayer or any other Form of Devotion or Divine Service by vertue of any Colour or Statute made in the second Year of Queen Eliz. or by vertue or colour of any other Law Declaration of Law Statute Custom or Usage whatsoever made or declared or to be made or declared And that it shall be further enacted that the Professors of the Roman Catholick Religion or any of them be not bound or obliged to take the Oath commonly called the Oath of Supremacy expressed in the Stat. of 2 El. c. 1. or in any other Statute or Statutes And that the said Oath shall not be tendered unto them and that the refusal of the said Oath shall not redound to the prejudice of them or any of them they taking the Oath of
bonds recognizances or any Record or acts office or offices inquisitions or any other thing depending upon or by reason of the said indictments attainders or outlawries shall in any sort prejudice the said Roman Catholicks or any of them but that they and every of them shall be forthwith upon perfection of these Articles restored to their respective possessions and hereditaments respectively provided that no man shall be questioned by reason hereof for measne rates or wastes saving wilful wastes committed after the first day of May last past 5. Item It is likewise concluded accorded and agreed and his Majesty is graciously pleased that as soon as possible may be all impediments which may hinder the said Roman Catholicks to sit or vote in the next intended Parliament or to choose or to be chosen Knights and Burgesses to sit or vote there shall be removed and that before the said Parliament 6. Item It is concluded accorded and agreed upon and his Majesty is further gratiously pleased that all debts shall remain as they were upon the 23. of October 1641. Notwithstanding any disposition made or to be made by vertue or colour of any attainder outlawry fugacy or other forfeiture and that no disposition or grant made or to be made of any such debts by vertue of any attainder outlawry fugacy or other forfeiture shall be of force and this to be passed as an act in the next Parliament 7. Item It is further concluded accorded and agreed upon and his Majesty is graciously pleased that for the securing of the Estates or reputed Estates of the Lords Knights Gentlemen and Free-holders or reputed Free holders as well of Connaght and County of Clare or Country of Thomond as of the Counties of Limerick and Tipperary the same be secured by Act of Parliament according to the intent of the 25. Article of the graces granted in the fourth year of his Majesties Reign the tenor whereof for so much as concerneth the same doth ensue in these words viz. We are graciously pleased that for the Inhabitants of Connaght and Country of Thomond and County of Clare that their several Estates shall be confirmed unto them and their Heirs against us and our Heirs and Successors by Act to be passed in the next Parliament to be holden in Ireland to the end the same may never hereafter be brought into any further question by Us or Our Heirs and Successors In which Act of Parliament so to be passed you are to take care that all tenures in capite and all Rents and Services as are now düe or which ought to be answered unto us out of the said Lands and premises by any Letters Pattents past thereof since the first year of King Henry the Eight or found by any Office taken from the said first year of King Henry the Eight until the 21. of July 1645. whereby our late dear Father or any his Predecessors actually received any profit by wardship liveries primer-seisins measne rates ousterlemains or fines of alienations without License be again reserved unto Us Our Heirs and Successors and all the rest of the premises to be holden of our Castle of Athlone by Knights service according to Our said late Fathers Letters notwithstanding any tenures in capite found for Us by Office since the 21. of July 1615. and not appearing in any such Letters Patents or Offices within which Rule his Majesty is likewise graciously pleased that the said Lands in the Counties of Limerick and Tipperarie be included but to be held by such Rents and Tenures only as they were in the fourth year of his Majesties Reign provided always that the said Lords Knights Gentlemen and Freeholders of the said Province of Connaght County of Clare and Country of Thoâ—â—â—â— and Counties of Tipperarie and Limerick shall have and enjoy the full benefit of such composition and agreement which shall be made with his most Excellent Majesty for the Court of Wards Tenures Respits and issues of Homage any clause in this Article to the contrary notwithstanding and as for the Lands within the Counties of Kilkennie and Wickloe unto which his Majesty was intituled by Offices taken or found in the time of the Earl of Straffords Government in this Kingdom his Majesty is further graciously pleased that the State thereof shall be considered in the next intended Parliament where his Majesty will assent unto that which shall be just and honourable and that the like act of Limitation of his Majesties Titles for the security of the Estates of his Subjects of this Kingdom be passed in the said Parliament as was enacted in the 21. year of his late Majesty King James his Reign in England 8. Item It is further concluded accorded and agreed upon and his Majesty is further graciously pleased that all incapacities imposed upon the Natives of this Kingdom or any of them as Natives by any Act of Parliament Provisoes in Patents or otherwise be taken away by Act to be passed in the said Parliament and that they may be enabled to erect one or more Innes of Court in or near the City of Dublin or elsewhere as shall be thought fit by his Majesties Lord Lieutenant or other chief Governour or Governours of this Kingdom for the time being and in case the said Innes of Court shall be erected before the first day of the next Parliament then the same shall be in such place as his Majesties Lord Lieutenant or other cheif Governour or Governours of this Kingdom for the time being by and with the advice and consent of the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon or any seven or more of them shall think fit and that such Students Natives of this Kingdom as shall be therein may take and receive the usual degrees accustomed in any Inns of Court they taking the insuing Oath viz. I. A. B. Do hereby acknowledge profess testifie and declare in my Conscience before God and the world that our Sovereign Lord King Charles is lawful and rightful King of this Realm and of other His Majesties Dominions and Countries and I will bear Faith and true Allegiance to His Majesty and His Heirs and Successors and Him and them will defend to the uttermost of my power against all conspiracies and attempts whatsoever which shall be made against his or their Crown and Dignity and do my best endeavour to disclose and make known to His Majesty His Heirs and Successors or to the Lord Deputy or other His Majesties Chief Governour or Governours for the time being all Treasons or Traiterous conspiracies which I shall know or hear to be intended against His Majesty or any of them and I do make this Recognition and acknowledgment heartily willingly and truly upon the true Faith of a Christian So help me God c. And his Majesty is further graciously pleased that his Majesties Roman Catholick Subjects may erect and keep free-Schools for Education of youths in this Kingdom any Law or Statute to the contrary notwithstanding and that all
Titles between party and party grown after these patents granted are to be left to the ordinary course of Law and that the Counsel-Table do not hereafter intermeddle with common business that is within the cognizance of the ordinary Courts nor with the altering of possessions of Lands nor make nor use private Orders hearings or references concerning any such matter nor grant any injunction or order for stay of any suits in any civil cause and that parties grieved for or by reason of any proceedings formerly had there may commence their suits and prosecute the same in any of his Majesties Courts of Justice or Equity for Remedy of their pretended rights without any restraint or interruption from his Majesty or otherwise by the chief Governour or Governours and Council of this Kingdom and that the proceedings in the respective Presidency Courts shall be pursuant and according to his Majesties printed Book of Instructious and that they shall contain themselves within the limits prescribed by that Book when the Kingdom shall be restored to such a degree of quietness as they be not necessarily enforced to exceed the same 14. Item It is further concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between the said parties and his Majesty is further graciously pleased That as for and concerning one Statute made in this Kingdom in the eleventh year of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth intituled led an Act for staying of Wool Flocks Tallow and other necessaries within this Realm and another Statute made in the said Kingdom in the twelfth year of the Reign of the said Queen intituled an Act c. And one other Statute made in the said Kingdom in the 13 year of the Reign of the said late Queen intituled an Exemplanation of the Act made in a Session of this Parliament for the staying of Wool Flocks Tallow and other wares and commodities mentioned in the said Act and certain Articles added to the same Act all concerning staple or native Commodities of this Kingdom shall be repealed if it shall be so thought fit in the Parliament excepting for Wool and Woolfels and that such indifferent persons as shall be agreed on by the said Lord Lieutenant and the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon Esq c. or any seven or more of them shall be authorized by Commission under the great Seal to moderate and ascertain the rates of merchandize to be exported or imported out of or into this Kingdom as they shall think fit 15. Item It is concluded accorded and agreed by and between the said parties and his Majesty is graciously pleased that all and every person and persons within this Kingdom pretending to have suffered by Offices found of several Countries Territories Lands and Hereditaments in the Province of Ulster and other Provinces of this Kingdom in or since the first of King James his Reign or by Attainders or Forfeitures or by pretence and colour thereof since the said first year of King James or by other Acts depending on the said Offices attainders and forfeitures may petition his Majesty in Parliament for relief and redress and if after examination it shall appear to his Majesty the said persons or any of them have been injured then his Majesty will prescribe a course to repair the person or persons so suffering according to Justice and Honour 16. Item It is further concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between tht said parties and his Majesty is graciously pleased that as to the particular Cases of Maurice Lord Viscount de Rupe and Fermoy c. they may petition his Majesty in the next Parliament whereupon his Majesty will take such consideration of them as shall be just and fit 17. Item It is likewise concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between the said parties and his Majesty is graciously pleased That the Citizens Free-men Burgesses and former Inhabitants of the City of Cork Towns of Youghal and Dungarven shall be forthwith upon perfection of these Articles restored to their respective possessions and estates in the said City and Towns respectively where the same extends not to the endangering of the said Garrisons in the said City and Towns In which case so many of the said Citizens and Inhabitants as shall not be admitted to the present possession of their houses within the said City and Towns shall be afforded a valuable annual Rent for the same until settlement in Parliament ☞ at which time they shall be restored to those their possessions And it is further agreed and his Majesty is graciously pleased That the said Citizens Free-men Burgesses and Inhabitants of the said City of Cork and Towns of Youghal and Dungarven respectively shall be enabled in convenient time before the next Parliament to be hold in this Kingdom to chuse and return Burgesses into the same Parliament 18. Item It is further concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between the said parties and his Majesty is further graciously pleased that an Act of Oblivion be past in the next Parliament to extend to all his Majesties Subjects of this Kingdom and their Adherents of all Treasons and Offences capital criminal and personal and other Offences of what nature kind or quality soever in such manner as if those Treasons or Offences had never been committed perpertrated or done That the said Act do extend to the Heirs Children Kindred Executors Administrators Wives Widows Dowagers or Assigns of such of the said Subjects and their Adherents who died on before or since the 23d of Octob. 1641. That the said Act do relate to the first day of the next Parliament that the said Act do extend to all Bodies Politick and Corporate and their respective Successors and unto all Cities Boroughs Counties Baronies Hundreds Towns Villages Tithings and every of them within this Kingdom for and concerning all and every of the said Offences or any other Offence or Offences in them or any of them committed or done by his Majesties said Subjects or their Adherents or any of them before in or since the 23d of Octob. 1641. Provided this Act shall not extend to be construed to pardon any Offence or Offences for which any person or persons have been convicted or attainted of Record at any time before the 23d of Octob. in the year of our Lord 1641. That this Act shall extend to Piracies and all other Offences committed upon the Sea by his Majesties said Subjects or their Adherents or any of them That in this Act of Oblivion words of release acquittal and discharge be inserted that no person or persons Bodies politick or Corporate Counties Cities Burroughs Baronnies Hundreds Towns Villages Tithings or any of them within this Kingdom included within the said Act be troubled impeached sued inquieted or molested for or by reason of any offence matter or thing whatsoever comprised within the said Act and the said Act shall extend to all Rents Goods and Chattels taken detained or grown due to the Subjects of the one party from the other
directions which shall issue to any such County for the applotting subdividing and levying of the said publick Assessements some of the said Protestant party shall be joyned with others of the Roman Catholick party to that purpose and for effecting that service and the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them shall have power to levy the arrears of all excises and other publick taxes imposed by the Confederate Roman Catholicks and yet unpaid and to call Receivers and other Accomptants of all former taxes and all publick dues to a just and strict account either by themselves or by such as they or any seven or more of them shall name or appoint and that the said Lord Lieutenant or any other chief Governour or Governours of this Kingdom for the time being shall from time to time issue Commissions to such person and persons as shall be named and appointed by the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them for letting setting and improving the Estates of all such person or persons as shall adhere to any party opposing his Majesties Authority and not submitting to the Peace and that the profits of such estates shall be converted by the said Lord Lieutenant or other chief Governour or Governours of this Kingdom for the time being to the maintenance of the Kings Army and other necessary charges until settlement by Parliament and that the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them shall have power to applot raise and levy means with indifferency and equality for the buying of Arms and Ammunition and for the entertaining of Frigots in such proportion as shall be thought fit by his Majesties Lord Lieutenant or other chief Governours of this Kingdom for the time being by and with the advice and consent of the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them the said Arms and Ammunition to be laid up in such Magazines and under the charge of such persons as shall be agreed on by the said Lord Lieutenant and the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them and to be disposed of and the said Frigots to be imployed for his Majesties service and the publick use and benefit of this Kingdom of Ireland and that the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them shall have power to applot raise and levy means with indifferency and equality by way of Excise or otherwise in the several Cities Corporate Towns Counties and part of the Counties now within the Quarters and only upon the Estates of the said Confederate Roman Catholicks all such sum and sums of mony as shall appear to the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them to be really due for and in the discharge of the publick ingagements of the said Confederate Catholicks incurred or grown due before the conconclusion of these Artieles and that the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them shall be authorized to appoint Receivers Collectors and all other Officers for such monies as shall be assessed taxed or applotted in pursuance of the authorities mentioned in this Article and for the Arrears of all former applotments Taxes and other publick dues yet unpaid and that the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them in case of refractoriness or delinquency may distrain and imprison and cause such Delinquents to be distrained and imprisoned And the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them make perfect books of all such monies as shall be applotted raised or levied out of which books they are to make several and respective abstracts to be delivered under their hands or the hands of any seven or more of them to the several and respective Collectors which shall be appointed to levy and receive the same And that a duplicate of the said books under the hands of the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them be delivered unto his Majesties Lord Lieutenant or other chief Governor or Governors of this Kingdom for the time being whereby a perfect account may be given and that the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of therâ—s shall have power to call the Councel and Congregation and the respective supream Councels and Commissioners General appointed hitherto from time to time by the said Confederate Roman Catholicks to manage their publick affairs and all other persons accountable to an account for all their Receipts and Disbursments since the beginning of their respective imployments under the Confederate Roman Catholicks 28. Item It is concluded accorded and agreed by and between the said parties and his Majesty is graciously pleased that for the preservation of the peace and tranquility of the Kingdom the said Lord Lieutenant and the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them shall for the present agree upon such persons who are to be authorized by Commission under the great Seal to be Commissioners of the Peace Oyer and Terminer Assises and Goal Delivery in and throughout the Kingdom to continue during pleasure with such power as Justices of the Peace Oyer and Terminer Assizes and Goal delivery in former time of Peace have usually had which is not to extend unto any crime or offence committed before the first of May last past and to be qualified with power to hear and determine all civil causes coming before them not exceeding ten pounds Provided that they shall not intermeddle with Titles of Lands provided likewise the authority of such Commissioners shall not extend to question any person or persons for any Shipping Cattle or Goods heretofore taken by either party from the other or other injuries done contrary to the Articles of Cessation concluded by and with the said Roman Catholick party in or since May last but that the same shall be determined by such indifferent persons as the Lord Lieutenant by the advice and consent of the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them shall think fit to the end that speedy and equal Justice may be done to all parties grieved And the said Commissioners are to make their Estreats as accustomed of peace and shall take the ensuing Oath viz. You shall swear that as Justice of the Peace Oyer and Terminer Assizes and Goal delivery in the Counties of A. B. in all Articles of the Commission to you directed You shall do equal right to the Poor and to the Rich after your Cunning and Wit and Power and after the Laws and Customs of the Realm and in pursuance of these Articles and you shall not be of Councel of any quarrel hanging before you and the Issues Fines and Amercements which shall happen to be made and all
conventionem dicti Reverendissimus D. Nicolaus D. Hugo Procuratores nostri aut quilibet illorum aget concludet aut determinabit virtute hujus nostrae Commissionis Dat. Galuiae quinto Octobris anno Domini 1650. Franciscus Aladensis Episcopus Procurator D. Joannis Archiepiscopi Tuamensis Fr. Thomas Archiep. Dublimensis Hiberniae Primas Joan. Rapotensis Episcopus Procurator Primatis Ardmachani Walterus Clonfertensis Episcopus Procurator Lacghiniensis Episcopi Fr. Antonius Episcopus Clanmacnosensis Fr. Arthurus Dunen Coneren The Commission to the Bishop of Fernes and Sir James Preston In Dei Nomine Amen MEmorandum quod anno Domini 1651. die vero mensis Aprilis septimo nos infra scripti tam nostro quam omnium fere Procerum Nobilium ac Popularium Catholicorum Regni Hiberniae Nominâ— nominibus quorum sensuum in hac parte consensuum certam exploratam notitiam habemus nominavimus constituimus elegimus deputamus omnibus quibus possumus modo via jure ac ratione Procuratores Agentes negotiorum nostrorum Gestores generales speciales ita ut specialitas generalitati non deroget aut è contra conjunctim etiam divisim si ita opus fuerit in casu mortis aut alterius inevitabilis necessitatis Reverendissimum in Christo Patrem ac Dominum D. Episcopum Fernensem clarissimum ac nâ—bilissimum D. D. Jacobum Prestonium Equitem Auratum ut supra ad agendum tractandum consulendum ac firmiter concludendum cum serenissimo Principe Carolo Duce Lotharingiae quem in Regium Protectorem Regni Hiberniae eligimus nostro omniumque praefarorum nominibus ad agendum cum praefata sua Celsitudine tam in super negotio principâ—li Protectionis memoratae quam in de aliis articulis propositionibus postulatis nostris conventis non conventis tale negotium quomodo concernentibus cum omnibus annexis connexis emergentibus dependentibus aliqua ratione concernentibus generaliter omnia alia in praemissis agendi faciendi ac si nos ipsi praesentes essemus Et quicquid in praedictis fecerint concluserint tractaverint consenserint convenerint cum praefato serenissimo Duce Lotharingiae seu cum ejus haeredibus aut assignatis suis seu cum ejus eorumque agentibus legatis procuratoribus seu aliis quibuscunque mandatum potestatem ad id specialem habentibus uno vel pluribus nos ratum gratum aeceptum habituros promittimus per presentes Et ad id nos ipsos Successores Haeredes nostros aliosque quos possumus in perpetuum obligamus Datum sub signis sigillis nostris anno dieque quibus supra in Praesentia testium infra scriptorum Galviae in Provincia Conaciae Regno Hiberniae praesentis mansionis nostrae seu refugii loco Fr. Thomas Archiepiscopus Dubliniensis Hiberniae Primas Robertus Corcagien Cloanen Episcopus Fr. Antonius Clunamacnosensis Episc Procurator Primatis Hiberniae Walterus Cluanfertensis Procurator Laghlinensis Franciscus Aladensis Episcopus Et nos major seu praetor Galuiensis confirmamus nostris Suffragriis ratificamus praedictum procuratorium et personas in eo nominatas nostros etiam procuratores ut supra constituimus die anno quibus supra cum infra scriptis de concilio nostro Append. XLVIII The Declaration and Excommunication of the Popish Clergy at Jamestown A DECLARATION of the Archbishops and other Prelates and Dignitaries of the Secular and Regular Clergy of the Kingdom of Ireland against the Continuance of his Majesty's Authority in the Person of the Marquess of Ormond Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for the Misgovernment of the Subject the ill Conduct of his Majesty's Army and the Violation of the Articles of Peace Dated at Jamestown in the Convent of the Friars Minors August 12. 1650. THE Catholick People of Ireland in the Year 1641 forced to take up Arms for the Defence of Holy Religion their Lives and Liberties the Parliament of England having taken a Resolution to extinguish the Catholick Faith and pluck up the Nation root and branch a powerful Army being prepared and designed to execute their black rage and cruel Intention made a Peace and published the same the 17th of January 1648 with James Lord Marquess of Ormond Commissioner to that effect from his Majesty or from his Royal Queen and Son Prince of Wales now Charles II hereby manifesting their Loyal Thoughts to Royal Authority This Peace or Pacification being consented to by the Confederate Catholicks when his Majesty was in Restraint and neither He nor his Queen or Prince of Wales in condition to send any Supply or Relief to them when also the said Confederate Catholicks could have agreed with the Parliament of England upon as good or better Conditions for Religion and the Lives Liberties and Estates of the People than were obtained by the above Pacification and thereby freed themselves from the Danger of any Invasion or War to be made upon them by the Power or England where notwithstanding the Pacification with His Majesty they were to dispute and fight with their and his Enemies in the three Kingdoms Let the World judg if this be not an undeniable Argument of Loyalty This Peace being so concluded the Catholick Confederates ran sincerely and cheerfully under his Majesty's Authority in the Person of the said Marquess of Ormond Lord Lieutenant of Ireland plentifully providing vast Sums of Moneys well nigh half a Million of English Pounds besides several Magazines of Corn with a fair Train of Artillery great Quantity of Powder Match Amunition with other Materials for War After his Excellency the said Lord Lieutenant frustrating the Expectation the Nation had of his Fidelity Gallantry and Ability became the Author of almost losing the whole Kingdom to God King and Natives which he began by violating the Peace in many Parts thereof as may be clearly evidenced and made good to the World I. The foresaid Catholicks having furnished his Excellency with the aforesaid Sum of Mony which was sufficient to make up the Army of 15000 Foot and 2500 Horse agreed upon by the Peace for the preservation of the Catholick Religion our Sovereign's Interest and the Nation his Excellency gave Patents of Colonels and other Commanders over and above the Party under the Lord Baron of Inchiquin to Protestants and upon them consumed the Substance of the Kingdom who most of them afterwards betrayed or deserted us II. That the Holds and Ports of Munster as Cork Youghall Kingsale c. were put in the Hands of faithless Men of the Lord of Inchiquin's Party that betrayed the Places to the Enemy to the utter endangering of the King's Interest in the whole Kingdom This good Service they did his Majesty after soaking up the Sweat and Substance of his Catholick Subjects of Munster where it is remarkaable that upon making the Peace his Excellency would no way allow his Loyal Catholick Subjects of Cork Youghall Kingsale and other Garisons
to return to their own Homes or Houses III. Catholick Commanders instanced by the Commissioners of Trust according to the Pacification and hereupon by his Excellency's Commission receiving their Commands in the Army as Col. Patrick Purcel Major General of the Army and Col. Pierce Fitz-Gerald alias Mac. Thomas Commissary of the Horse were removed without the consent of the said Commissioners and by no demerit of the Gentlemen and the said Places that of Major General given to Daniel O-Neal Esq a Protestant and that of Commissary of the Horse to Sir William Vaughan Kt. and after the said Sir William's Death to Sir Thomas Armstrong Kt. both Protestants IV. A Judicature and legal way of administring Justice promised by the Articles of Peace was not performed but all Process and Proceedings done by Paper Petitions and thereby private Clerks and other corrupt Ministers inrich'd the Subject ruined and no Justice done V. The Navigation the great Support of Ireland quite beaten down his Excellency disheartning the Adventures Undertakers and Owners as Capt. Antonio and others favouring Hollanders and other Aliens by reversing of Judgments legally given and definitively concluded before his Commissioners Authority By which depressing of Maritime Affairs and not providing for an orderly and good Tribunal of Admiralty we have hardly a Bottom left to transmit a Letter to his Majesty or any other Prince VI. The Church of Cloyne in our possession at the time of making the Peace violently taken from us by the Lord of Inchiquin contrary to the Articles of Peace no Justice nor Redress was made upon Application or Complaint VII That Oblations Book-monies Interments and other Obventions in the Counties of Cork Waterford and Kerry were taken from the Catholick Priests and Pastors by the Ministers without any Redress or Restitution VIII That the Catholick Subjects of Munster lived in Slavery under the Presidency of the Lord of Inchiquin these being their Judges that before were their Enemies and none of the Catholick Nobility or Gentry admitted to be of the Tribunal IX The Conduct of the Army was improvident and unfortunate Nothing hapned in Christianity more shameful than the Disaster of Rathmines near Dublin where his Excellency as it seemed to Ancient Travellers and Men of Experience who viewed all kept rather a Mart of Wares a Tribunal of Pleadings or a great Inn of Play Drinking and Pleasure than a well-ordered Camp of Souldiers Drogheda unrelieved was lost by Storm with much Bloodshed and the loss of the Flower of Leinster Weâ—ford lost much by the unskilfulness of a Governor a young Man vain and unadvised Ross given up and that by his Excellency's Order without any Dispute by Col. Luke Taaffe having within near upon 2500 Souldiers desirous to fight After that the Enemy made a Bridg over the River of Ross a Wonder to all Men and understood by no Man without any Let or Interruption our Forces being within seven or eight Miles to the Place wherein 200 Musqueteers at Rossberkine being timely ordered had interrupted this stupendious Bridg and made the Enemy weary of the Town Carrig being betrayed by the Protestant Ward there our Army afterwards appearing before the Place the Souldiers were commanded to fight against the Walls and Armed Men without great Guns Ladders Petards Shovels Spades Pickaxes or other Necessaries there being killed upon the place above 500 Souldiers valiantly fighting yet near Thomas-Town our Souldiers being of tryed Foot two to one and well resolved were forbidden to fight in the open Field having advantage of Ground against the Enemy to the utter disheartning of the Souldiers and People After this the Enemy came like a Deluge upon Calan Feathard Cashell Kilmallock and other Corporations within the Provinces of Leinster and Munster and the Country about rendred Tributary Then followed the taking of Laghlin and Kilkenny then that of Clonmell where the Enemy met with Gallantry Loss and Resistance Lastly Tecrohan and Catherlough two great Pillars of Leinster shaken down that of Tecrohan to speak nothing for the present of all other Places was given up by Orders Waterford block'd up is in a sad Condition Duncannon the Key of the Kingdom unrelieved since the first of December is like to be given up and lost X. That the Prelates after the numerous Congregation at Cloanmacnoise where they made Declarations for the King 's great advantage after printed and after many other laborious Meetings and Consultations with the Expressions of their sincerity and earnestness were not allowed by his Excellency to have employed their Power and best diligence towards advancing the King's Interest but rather suspected and blamed as may appear by his own Letter to the Prelates then at James-Town written Aug. 2. And words were heard to fall from him dangerous as to the Persons of some Prelates XI That his Excellency represented to his Majesty some parts of this Kingdom disobedient which absolutely deny any such disobedience by them committed and thereby procured from his Majesty a Letter to withdraw his own Person and the Royal Authority if such Disobediences were multiplied and to leave the People without the benefit of the Peace This was the Reward his Excellency out of his Envy to a Catholick Loyal Nation prepared for our Loyalty and Obedience sealed by the shedding of our Blood and the loss of our Substance XII That his Excellency and the Lord of Inchiquin when Enemies to the Catholicks being very active in unnatural Executions against us and shedding the Blood of poor Priests and Churchmen have shewed little of Action since this Peace but for many Months kept themselves in Connaught and Thomond where no Danger or the Enemy appeared spending their time as most Men observed in Play Pleasure and great Merriment while the other parts of the Kingdom were bleeding under the Sword of the Enemy This was no great Argument of Sense or Grief in them to see a Kingdom lost to his Majesty XIII That his Excellency when prospering put no Trust of Places taken in into the Hands of Catholicks as that of Drogheda Dundalk Trim c. And by this his Diffidence in Catholicks and by other his Actions and Expressions the Catholick Army had no Heart to â—ight or to be under his Command and feared greatly if he had mastered the Enemy and with them the Commissioners of Trust or the greater part of them and many thousands of the Kingdom also feared he would have brought the Catholick Subjects and their Religion to the old Slavery XIV We will not speak of many Corruptions and Abuses as passing of a Custodium upon the Abby of Killbegain worth in past Years to the Confederates well nigh 400 l. per Annum to Secretary Lane for 40 l. or thereabouts per Annum nor of many other such like to Daniel O Neil and others at an undervalue to the great Prejudice of the Publick XV. We do also notify to the Catholicks of the Kingdom most of the above Grievances and Breaches of the Peace being
of this half Million of Pounds hath come in in Money or been disposed of by Warrant from us we leave to be cleared by the Receiver-General's Accompts But we are confident it will not amount to the tenth part of half a Million of Pounds In the next Place they say We have frustrated the Opinion of the Nation held of our Fidelity Gallantry and Abilities and become the Author of losing the whole Kingdom to God King and Nation If the Nation held a greater Opinion of our Gallantry and Ability than there was cause for it we are sorry we came short of their Expectation But whatever it pleased God to bestow on us in those Gifts we faithfully employed it in the Cause we undertook and have not at all failed their Expectation in point of Fidelity Nor are we therein the Author of losing the Kingdom to God King and Nation as these Declarers have Rhetorically expressed themselves How they make good the last Assertion of their Preamble viz. That we began the Loss of the Kingdom by violating the Articles of Peace is next to be considered How We have been furnished with the aforesaid Sum of about half a Million of Pounds The Answer to the first Article We have told you in Our Answer to the Preamble If they urge Our giving Commissions which they call Patents to Protestant Officers as a Breach of the Articles of Peace and had purposed to have made it good they should have set down the Article violated by it But they have been so used to have Credit given to their Words upon Trust that whether what they say be true or false they are sure it will do their Work and That and not Truth is the thing they aim at We confess to have given Commissions to many Protestant Officers and that they and their Men were provided for as others of their respective Conditions And we do affirm that for their Fidelity Gallantry and Ability they deserved their Commissions and Pay full as well as any other of their respective Conditions And it is not true that they or the most of them or any of them that we gave Commissions to did betray any Person under their Command or ever deserted Us or the Cause we undertook True it is that We finding the Desire and Design of many of the People set on by the Declarers was to starve or otherwise destroy and break the Remain of the Protestant Party that came to Vs for these and other Reasons hereafter to be expressed ☞ We permitted them in June or July last to make their Conditions with the Enemy and so sent them away But that any one Place was betrayed by any of those Protestants cannot be instanced nor that any more than about three of them whereof one was a Major and the other two Lieutenants ever went away without Our License How many of them died valiantly doing their Duty or that were creully put to Death by the Enemy there are many amongst you that know It is very well known The Answer to the second Article that we put not the Holds or Ports in Munster into the Hands of any but left them in the Hands We found them as we had good reason to do those Persons without Capitulation having received Us as his Majesty's Lieutenant And if any of them have betrayed those Places as we conceive the Governours of Cork Kingsale and Youghall did not but were by others betrayed We are not reasonably chargeable with their Treachery And we believe they soaked as much of the Sweat and Substance of Munster and were as chargeable to that Province before as after the Peace Nor is it strange if they would not agree to a Peace that must have let in those that had been of a contrary Party to be Masters of the Holds they had before the Peace upon any occasion of their drawing forth till a full Settlement by Parliament till when the Consederate Roman Catholicks were to hold the Towns possessed by them but Provision was made that such as were not admitted to re-inhabit the Towns for we understood divers were ☜ were to have the full benefit of their Houses and Estates in the said Towns or Garisons So that what is remarkable in that in making the Peace we would not allow the return of those of Cork Youghall and Kingsale to their Houses we see not more than that as without they were debarred from it for a time neither the Army under the Command of the Lord Inchiquin nor the then Inhabitants of the Towns would be drawn to submit to the Peace so the Assembly being convinced thereof and of the great Danger it might bring upon the Kingdom to have them oppose the Peace consented to the Articles as it is expressed in the Book of the Articles of Peace But that which these Declarers would indeed have marked and collected out of their dark Note is that by this means these Towns were perhaps purposely given up by us to the Rebels For as they have infected the People they know them so ready to make the worst Construction of all Events that they need not speak plainly to them To this we have fully answered in our Answer to the second Article of the pretended Grievances The Answer to the third Article except the particular of Daniel O Neile who was not named in the said Article and for your clearer Satisfaction we shall recite that Answer as followeth Whoever looks upon the Articles of Peace recited in this Section This was an Answer to the second Article of the Grievances and upon the Composure of the Army ever since the Peace will find that we have done much more for the Satisfaction of this Nation than we were obliged unto For whereas if we had upon perfection of the Articles of Peace conferred two places of Command Honour Profit and Trust in his Majesty's whole Army in this Kingdom upon any two of the Roman Catholick Subjects of this Kingdom we had without Controversy fulfilled the literal Obligation that was upon us as to the point of Instances And if we had not divided the places equally betwixt Protestant and Roman Catholick we had performed the Articles to the Roman Catholicks in the most favourable Construction they could bear yet was the General of the Horse the Master of the Ordnance the Major-General the Lieutenant-General of the Horse and for a good while the Commissary-General of the Horse the Muster-Master General the Commissary-General of the Victuals and the Quarter-Master Generals both of Horse and Foot all of his Majesty's Roman Catholicks of this Kingdom Places certainly as they are more than two parts of three of the general places of an Army so are they of Honour Profit and Trust and most of these were conferred on such as were instanced unto us by the Assembly that concluded the Peace with us though that by the Articles there was not so much as a Power to instance either in the
occasion and we believe there is nothing contained in that Letter but is well known to be Truth and will be justified by many of best Quality in that Assembly What the words were which were heard to fall from us dangerous to the Persons of some Prelates when we are particularly charged with them we shall deny nothing that is Truth In the mean time let it be judged if we had such a desire of doing them hurt in their Persons whether in the Person of the Bishop of Killalloe who had signed this Declaration We had not in our Power a Subject whereon to have manifested our Disposition to revenge Whom yet the Bishops in a Letter of theirs to the Earl of Westmeath the Bishop of Leighlin and others which Letter is before recited upon another occasion do acknowledge to have been preserved by Our means Ante pag. 33. Part 2. though in the said Letter they untruly charge those they call Cavaliers with any Attempt or Purpose of doing the said Bishop's Person any further prejudice than to apprehend him and bring him before Us. As to the 11th Article Answer to the 11th Article We acknowledg to have represented to His Majesty That divers Places in this Kingdom were in disobedience to his Authority And that there were and are such places is a Truth as well known to these Declarers as any Work is known to the Workman that made it Which to have concealed from his Majesty had been to have betrayed the Trust by Him reposed in Us and to have taken upon Our Self the blame due to them We also acknowledg to have humbly desired his Majesty's leave to withdraw Our own Person out of the Kingdom in case those Disobediences were multiplied Which having received and those Disobediences being multiplied We had withdrawn Our Self from being an idle Witness of the loss of the Kingdom and the Ruin of many of Our Friends had not divers of these Declarers several times but more especially at Loghreagh disswaded Us from going and promised to do their uttermost endeavour to procure Us the Obedience We desired without which it was plain to all Men We could attempt nothing for the preservation of the Kingdom with hope of Success But We were not so bold as to direct his Majesty to remove his Authority or how else to dispose of it as the Declarers are But how really troubled they are that the People should be deprived of the King's Authority and the benefit of the Articles of Peace is apparent by this Declaration and Excommunication wherein they direct the People to return to their Association which is inconsistent with both And by the Answer of the Bishops at Galloway to the Commissioners whereof We shall have occasion to speak hereafter And where they charge Us with Envy to the Nation for doing Our Duty to the King We hope to have given such proof of the contrary as hath satisfied the most interested Men in the Nation And We conceive We could not have manifested Our Affection to it by a more Signal Instance than by offering to leave his Majesty's Authority in the Person of the Lord Marquess of Clanrickard and to withdraw Our Self to sollicite for Supplies when it was most probable they might be got finding that our being a Protestant gave these Declarers some advantage to withdraw the People from their Obedience to Us. As to the 12th Article Answer to the 12th Article we are not willing to look back so far as to the time when by his Majesties Command and Commission We bore Arms in the War against the Confederates but must justify Our Self that We were never active in unnatural execution against them but have many times suffered much Calumny for Our desire of preserving many of them that fell into our Hands as some in that Assembly can witness who were by Our means preserved and if they think fit may testify as much But if the Declarers oppose Our being active then to Our unactivity this last Summer as an Argument of Our want of desire to oppose the Enemy We answer That in the time they mention We had free election of Officers the absolute Power of Dublin and other Garrisons where We caused the Soldiers to be continually exercised their Arms kept in order and could in a short time when We pleased have drawn the Army together and marched with it where We pleased Advantages which rendred the Victories We gained full as easy as those gotten by the Enemy against Us have been upon the like advantage on their part It is true that all this last Summer We and the Lord Inchiquin have continued in Connaught and Thomond where there was no Enemy But it is also true ☜ that We were not suffered to have the means of preparing an Army fit to seek or oppose an Enemy as We have set down in Our Letter of the Second of August to the Bishops at James-Town recited formerly upon another Occasion And since they here mention the Lord Inchiquin with Us We think fit to mind divers in that Assembly to whom it is well known that many of the Bishops did long since upon several Occasions declare that all their Suspicion and the Suspicion the People held of Us was by reason of the Power the Lord Inchiquin had with Us. And that during his continuance in Imployment or the continuance of any of his Party in the Army it was not possible for them to remove that Suspicion out of the Minds of the People But that if his Lordship were once out of Command and his Party removed they doubted not full and chearful Obedience would be given Us. Hereupon his Lordship voluntarily withdrew himself from having to do with the Conduct of the Army ☜ yet is he by these Men charged for want of Activity When his Lordship had thus waved his Imployment and his Party were gone off and that they had wrought the like distrust of the remainder of the Party that came off to Us from Dublin and other Parts so that nâ—w We were forced likewise to send them away then they judgâ—â—â—t a fit time for them to declare also against Us. Then divers â—â—â—ops and other Church-men changed their Note and dealt undeâ—â—â—and with the Lord Inchiquin to stay in the Kingdom though We should go saying That the distrust and dislike of the People was only against Us and not against him Then they fell first to call their Meeting at James-Town and then to publish this Declaration from which they were with-held for fear all the time the foresaid Parties were with Us. This We suspected would be the issue of their working away the Protestant Party and of all their Promises Yet to leave them wholly without Excuse and to satisfy some that believed better of them We consented to part with those Men of whose Courage and Fidelity to his Majesty and Affection to Us We had good Experience and cast our Self wholly upon the Assurances these Bishops and
preceded their Declaration And if either his Majesty had refused them Hearing and Justice or if We had not submitted to his Determination there had been some colour for their proceeding as they did In the last part of their Conclusion they prepare the People with an Apology of the desperate State the Kingdom is left in by Us to bear the more patiently the utter loss of it under the Government they would set up and with a touch indeed of Episcopal Counsel to amend their Lives and depend upon God's Providence and Protection they dismiss them wherein what Example they have given Them We leave to the Judgment of God the Searcher of Hearts and the impartial Judg of the Thoughts and Actions of Men. In the Order attested by the Bishop of Clonfert for publication of the Excommunication which publication was made at Loghreagh the 15th of September it is expressed That the Order given to the Committee of Bishops at Galloway by the Congregation at James-Town was That in Case We would not depart the Kingdom upon their Advice and depute the King's Authority with Persons of Trust or that We denied to depart the Kingdom and no demonstration could be made how the Kingdom could be preserved under Our Government that then the said Declaration should be published It is further expressed in the said Order That We being solicited to the effect aforesaid with urgent Reasons absolutely denied to consent thereunto and that We neither did nor could demonstrate unto them any way of preserving the remainder of the Kingdom under Our Government and therefore according to the Trust reposed in them by the said Congregation they did publish the said Declaration denouncing to all Arch-bishops Bishops c. This is all We observe in this Order of Publication more than is contained in the Declaration at James-Town What We have to answer in this Order for Publication is breifly this They held it fit We should quit the Kingdom and depute the King's Authority with some Person or Persons of Trust that is pleasing to them We refuse so to do upon their Advice giving them some Reasons why We refuse and promising them more if they would at a free Conference hear them For not following this Advice without refuting the Reasons We gave for Our not going and without hearing or so much as asking what other Reasons those were which We were unwilling to write and yet would tell them at a free Conference by which Caution they might imagine they were of Moment they proceeded to their Declaration and Excommunication Here though We have formerly touched it let it be observed That having several Times and upon several Occasions offered to leave the Kingdom and to depute the King's Authority not to disparage the Nation with the * Clanrickard only Person in all respects fit for it and a Roman-Catholick this was not accepted of but We are made believe the Lord of Inchiquin being removed from any Charge of the Army and the Protestant Party gone there remained no further distrust or dislike of US and that then all Obedience would be given Us. All this and whatsoever else they advised being done on Our part Our Frigat which lay in Ire-Connaught whence We might have securely gone being sent away and the Harbours blocked up by the Rebels Ships they impose upon Us to effect an Impossibility namely to go out of the Kingdom without means of Transportation or else as far as in them lies We are rendred infamous throughout the World and to all Ages by their defamatory Libel Whatever Our Demerit had been and if We were the faithless the negligent the every-way unworthy Person they have described Us to be certainly they cannot free themselves from the guilt of so mean and base a Treachery Let it be next considered That if when a Company of Bishops or a Congregation of Arch-Bishops Bishops c. have a mind to set up themselves or any others as Governours over the Kingdom and this Power they assume at least in the interval of Assemblies and have now twice practised it and the Governor appointed by Royal Authority or when that is absent which should never be supposed by a just Representative of the Nation will not give them room by quitting the Government he is placed in at their desire without direction from the Power whence he derives his Authority or without unavoidable Necessity inforcing him if we say for his not doing a thing so contrary to the Trust reposed in him to the Sense of those intrusted by the People as the Commissioners of Trust were and contrary to the Sense of the most interested Persons of the Kingdom the foresaid Company of Bishops or Congregation may therefore with impunity deliver all Men to Satan that shall feed help or adhere to him It is in this Case easy to discover that such Bishops ☜ or a Congregation thus doing do aim at and will if so permitted easily compass the Supream Temporal Power If it be said they only do it upon evident Necessity for the preservation of the People in apparent Hazard of being lost and that in this Case only of so absolute necessity they pretend to such Power and when informed or convinced will lay it down to the King or Assembly We believe no King or State careful of their own preservation will allow they have this Power even in this Case For instance If the Bishops or Congregation of both Clergies of the Kingdom of Naples or of any Signiory under the State of Venice should pretend to a Power upon any Necessity whatsoever whereof the said Bishops and Congregation to be Judges of discharging the Subjects of the King of Spain from obeying the Vice-Roy of Naples or the Subjects of any Signiory under the State of Venice from obeying the Governor of any such Signlory appointed by the State directing them in the mean time to observe and obey such Form of Government as the said Congregation should prescribe till it should be otherwise ordered by the said King or State We suppose it would not pass for Orthodox Doctrine in that Roman-Catholick Kingdom or State that a Congregation is qualified with such Power Nor would the Necessity of their so doing nor yet the Sanctity of their Function or Persons protect them from severe Punishment That our King's Prerogative in that particular is as great in this Kingdom as the King of Spain's in Naples or that of the State of Venice in any Signiory of theirs it is Treason to deny as it is to affirm that in this Particular such a Congregation here hath more Authority than a like Congregation in that Kingdom or State But these Men have not only in this Case exceeded whatever at any time or in any place was pretended to by any of their Function but had less ground if less might be for such a Pretension than any others For here in a Solemn Assembly of the Nation a Peace was concluded most of the Bishops
Lord of Antrim might pass freely earnestly desiring him to undertake the Work but he the Lord of Antrim refused saying He would not go if Ormond would not go also yet was the Lord of Antrim by the pressing Solicitation of Colonel Barry aforesaid perswaded to send some one from himself to the King for intimating what was resolved for his Service and signifying the already disbanding those 8000 Men raised in Ireland by the Earl of Strafford This Dispatch was sent by Captain Digby Constable of the Castle of Dunluce in the North of Ireland belonging to the Lord of Antrim with those Dispatches the said Digby did overtake the King at York he being then on his way to Scotland and from York was Digby returned back to him the Lord of Antrim by the King signifying his Pleasure That all possible Endeavours should be used for getting again together those 8000 Men so disbanded and that an Army should immediately be raised in Ireland that should declare for him against the Parliament of England and to do what was therein necessary and convenient for his Service Upon receiving this the King's Pleasure by Captain Digby he the Lord of Antrim imparted the Design to the Lord of Gormonstown and to the Lord of Slane and after to many others in Lienster and after going into Vlster he communicated the same to many there but the Fools such was his Lordship's Expression to us well liking the Business would not expect our time or manner for ordering the Work but fell upon it without us and sooner and otherwise than we should have done taking to themselves and in their own way the managing of the Work and so spoiled it It being by us demanded of his Lordship how he intended it should be managed He answered That the Castle of Dublin being then to be surprized if the Lords Justices should oppose the Design the Parliament then sitting should declare for the King against the Parliament of England and that the whole Kingdom should be raised for the King's Service and that if the Lords Justices would not join in the Work they should be secured and all others who would or might oppose them should be also secured Which Discourse was freely made by his Lordship without any Caution given us therein of Secrecy yet was it demanded by us Whether his Lordship would give us leave to have the same signified to his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and to the Lord President of Munster His Lordship answered That he gave us free liberty so to do which his Lordship's Discourse we have for our better Remembrance reduced to Writing and testified the same under our Hands to be as aforesaid Signed Henry Clogher Henry Owen Having seen and read this Paper containing the Particulars of a Conference between Me and the Lord of Clogher and Colonel Reynolds and between me and the said Lord of Clogher and Mr. Henry Owen I do hereby acknowledg it to be the same in Substance with what passed excepting where it is said that Captain Digby was by the late King returned with a Dispatch to Me whereas the Dispatch was sent to me from the King by one William Hamerstone and whereas it is said that the said late King appointed that the Army with us to be continued and raised in Ireland should be employed against the Parliament it is to be intended if occasion should be for so doing And I do hereby aver the Truth of all so delivered with the other Corrections and Qualifications thereunto added Witness my Hand this August the 22d 1650. ANTRIM Observations on the Marquess of Antrim's Information FIrst it expresly clears the King from giving any Commission for the Irish Rebellion nor is there any thing in it that can charge his Majesty with the least Thought or Intention that his Protestant Subjects in Ireland should be either plundered or murdered nevertheless when an unthinking Reader finds that the Castle of Dublin was to be surpriz'd he runs away with the Notion that the Irish Conspiracy was pursuant to that Order and the King was in the bottom of that barbarous Rebellion and this perhaps was one design of this Information but the chief end of it was to abuse the World with a Belief that the King was not necessitated to a War with the Parliament by any thing then newly happened in 1642. but that he had projected it long before and had made this Preparation to put it in Execution Secondly This Information cannot be true but either Antrim deceived the World or Burk imposed upon him for besides that Ormond and Antrim was unfit to be joyned in a Commission as well because there were never any good Understanding between them as also because they were of different Religions and Interests how much more obvious and easy less scandalous and more effectual would it have been for the King to have made Ormond Lord-Deputy than to order him to surprize the Castle and the Lords Justices Moreover these 12000 additional Men could not have been raised without Noise and Time nor kept without Money nor Armed at all for there were not 12000 Arms in the Store 23 Octob. and yet 8000 of them were the Arms of the disbanded Men which they were to keep on Foot But it is yet more strange that before any Breach with the Parliament and whilst Matters tended to an Accommodation more hopefully than in some Months before the King should by such a rash and imprudent Action administer such cause of Jealousy to the Parliament at so unseasonable a time whilst he was absent in Scotland as would certainly put the Kingdom of England in a Flame and lose his Majesty the Hearts and Hands of more English Cavaliers than he could gain of Irish-Men But to put this matter out of doubt the King long before he went to York which was in the middle of August knew the Irish Army would be disbanded and therefore consented to license four Regiments to be levied out of them for the Service of the King of Spain as appears by the following Letter copied from the Original ORMOND I Have taken this Occasion by the recommending the Son of one of my faithful Servants to assure you that I very much esteem You and that I do but seek an Occasion to shew it you by more than Words as I commanded the Vice-Treasurer to tell you more fully and in particular concerning the blew Riband of which you may be confident only I desire you not to take notice of it until I shall think it fit The Particular for this Bearer George Porter is to permit him to make up a Regiment of the disbanded Army if he can do it by Perswasion to carry them out of the Country for the King of Spain's Service this is all So I rest Whitehall the 19th of June 1641. Your assured Friend CHARLES R. Moreover how much the King was surprized with the Irish Rebellion will also appear in his Letter to the Marquess of Ormond whom
Counsels near Your Majesty in opposition of the Parliament and favour of the Malignant Party of this Kingdom 6. It will bereave Your Parliament of that advantage whereby they were induced to undertake this War upon Your Majesties Promise that it should be managed by their Advice which cannot be done if Your Majesty contrary to their Counsels shall undertake to Order and Govern it in Your own Person Upon which and divers other Reasons We have resolved by the full and concurring Agreement of both Houses that We cannot with discharge of our Duty Consent to any Levios or raising of Soldiers to be made by your Majesty for this your intended Expedition into Ireland or to the Payment of any Army or Soldiers there but such as shall be employed and governed according to Our Advice and Direction and that if such Levies shall be made by any Commission of your Majesty not agreed too by both Houses of Parliament We shall be forced to interpret the same to be raised to the Terror of your People and disturbance of the publick Peace and hold our selves bound by the Laws of the Kingdom to apply the Authority of Parliament to suppress the same And We do further most humbly Declare That if your Majesty shall by ill Counsel be perswaded to go contrary to this Advice of your Parliament which We hope your Majesty will not We do not in that Case hold Our selves bound to submit to any Commissioners which your Majesty shall chuse but do Resolve to preserve and govern the Kingdom by the Counsel and Advice of Parliament for your Majesty and your Posterity according to Our Allegiance and the Law of the Land Wherefore We do most humbly Pray and Advise your Majesty to desist from this your intended Passage into Ireland and from all Preparations of Men and Arms tending thereunto and to leave the managing of that War to your Parliament according to your Majesties Promise made unto Us and your Royal Commission Granted under your Great Seal of England by Advice of both Houses in Prosecution whereof by God's Blessing We have already made a prosperous Entrance by many defeats of the Rebels whereby they are much weakened and disheartened and have no probable means of Subsistence if Our Proceedings shall not be interrupted by this Interposition of your Majesties Journey but that we may hope upon good Grounds that within a short time without hazard of your Majesties Person and so much dangerous Confusion to your Kingdoms which must needs ensue if you should proceed in this Resolution We shall be enabled fully to vindicate your Majesties Right and Authority in that Kingdom and punish those horrible Outragious Cruelties which have been committed in the murthering and spoiling so many of your Subjects and bring that Realm to such a Condition as may be much for the advantage of your Majesty and this Crown the Honour of your Government and the Contentment of your People For the better and mâ—re speedy effecting whereof We do again renew Our humble Desires of your Return to your Parliament and that You will please to reject all Counsels and Apprehensions which may any way derogate from that Faithfulness and Allegiance which in Truth and Sincerity We have always born and professed to your Majesty and shall ever make good to the uttermost with our Lives and Fortunes To this Answer The King made the following Reply We are so troubled and astonished to find the unexpected Reception and mis-understanding of our Message of the Eighth of April concerning our Irish Journey that being so â—â—ch disappointed of the Approbation and Thanks we looked for to that Declaration We have great cause to doubt whether it be in Our Power to say or do any thing which shall not fall within the like Interpretation but as we have in that Message called God to witness the Sincerity of the Profession of Our only Ends for the undertaking that Journey So We must appeal to all our good Subjects and the whole World whether the Reasons alledged against that Journey be of weight to satisfie Our understanding or the Counsel Presented to disswade Us from it be full of that Duty as is like to prevail over Our Affections For Our Resolving of so great a business without the Advice of Our Parliament We must remember you how often by Our Messages We made the same offer if you should Advise Us thereunto To which you never gave Us the least Answer but in your late Declaration told Us That ye were not to be satisfied with Words So that we had Reason to conceive you rather avoided out of regard to our Person to give Us Counsel to run that hazard than that you disapproved the inclination And what greater Comfort or Security can the Protestants of Christendom receive tâ—â—n by seeing a Protestant King venture and engage his Person for the defence of that Profession and the Suppressing of Popery to which We Solemnly protested in that Message never to Grant a Toleration upon what Pretence soever or an Abolition of any of the Laws there in force against the Professâ—rs of it And when We consider the great Calamities and unheard of Cruelties Our poor Protestant Subjects in that Kingdom have undergone for the space of near or full Six Months the growth and increase of the Strength of those barbarous Rebels and the evident Probability of foreign Supplies if they are not speedily suppressed the very slow Succours hitherto sent them from hence That the Officers of several Regiments who have long time been allowed Entertainment from you for that Service have not raised any Supply or Succour for that Kingdom That many Troops of Horse have long lain near Chester untransported 〈◊〉 the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland on whom We relyed principally for the Conduct and managing of Affairs there is still in this Kingdom notwithstanding our Earnestness expressed that he should repair to his Command And when We consider the many and great Scandals raised upon Our Selves by report of the Rebels and not sufficiently discountenanced here notwithstanding so many Professions of Ours And had seen a Book lately Printed by the Order of the House of Commons Entituled A Remonstrance of divers remarkable Passages concerning the Church and Kingdom of Ireland Wherein some Examinations are set down which how improbable or impossible soever may make an impression in the Minds of many of Our weak Subjects And Lastly when We duly weigh the Dishonour which will perpetually lye upon this Kingdom if full and speedy Relief be not dispatched thither We could not nor cannot think of a better way to discharge Our Duty to Almighty God for the defence of the true Protestant Profession or to manifest Our Affection to Our Three Kingdoms for their Preservation than by engaging Our Person in this Expedition as many of Our Royal Progenitors have done even in Foreign parts upon Causes of less Importance and Piety with great Honour to themselves and advantage to this Kingdom and
therefore We expected at least Thanks for such Our inclination For the Danger to Our Person We conceive it necessary and worthy of a King to adventure his Life to preserve his Kingdom neither can it be imagined That We will sit still and suffer Our Kingdoms to be lost and Our good Protestant Subjects to be Massacred without exposing Our own Person to the utmost hazard for their Relief and Preservation Our Life when it was most Pleasant being nothing so precious to Us as it is and shall be to govern and preserve Our People with Honour and Justice For any Encouragement to the Rebels because of the Reports they raised We cannot conceive that the Rebels are capable of a greater Terror than by the Presence of their Lawful King in the Head of an Army Besides it will be an unspeakable advantage to them if any Reports of theirs could hinder Us from doing any thing which were fit for Us to do if such Reports were not raised This would quickly teach them in this jealous Age to prevent by such Reports any other Persons coming against them whom they had no Mind should be employed We marvel that the Adventurers whose advantage was a principal Motive next the Reason before mentioned to Us should so much mistake Our Purpose whose interest We conceive must be much improved by the Expedition We hope by Gods Blessing to use in this Service this being the most probable way for the speedy Conquest of the Rebels and their Lands are sufficiently secured by Act of Parliament We think not Our Self kindly used That the Addition of so few Men to your Levies for a Guard to Our Person in Ireland should be thought fit for your refusal and much more that having used so many Cautions in that Message both in the smalness of the number in Our having raised none until your Answer In their being so raised only near their place of Shipping in their being there to be Armed and that not till they were ready to be Shipped In the Provision by the Oaths that none of them should be Papists all which appears sufficient to destroy all Grounds of jealousie of any force intended by them in opposition to the Parliament or favour to any Malignant Party any suspition should notwithstanding be grounded upon it Neither can it be understood That when We recommended the managing of that War to you that We intended to exclude Our Self or not to be concerned in your Counsels That if we found any expedient which in Our Conscience or Understanding We thought necessary for that great Work We might not put it in Practice We look upon you as Our great Council whose Advice We always have and will with great Regard and Deliberation weigh and consider But We look upon Our Self as neither deprived of Our Royal understanding or devested of any Right We had if there were no Parliament sitting We called you together by Our own Writ and Authority without which you could not have met to give Us faithful Counsel about Our great Affairs But We resigned not up Our own Interest and Freedom We never subjected Our Self to your absolute Determination We have always weighed your Counsels as proceeding from a Body entrusted by Us And when We have dissented from You We have returned You the Reasons which have prevailed with Our Conscience and Understanding with that Candor as a Prince should use towards his Subjects And that Affection which a Father caâ—â—xpress to his Children What Application hath been used to rectiâ—ie ouâ—â—â—derstanding by Reason or what Motives have been given to perswade our Affections We leave all the World to judge And then We must tell you howsoever a Major part may bind you in Matter of Opinion We hold our Self and We are sure the Law and Constitution of the Kingdom hath always held the same as Free to dissent till our Reason be convinced for the General good as if you delivered no Opinion For our Journey it Self The Circumstances of your Petition are such as We know not well what Answer to return or whether We are best to give any That part which pretends to carry Reason with it doth no way satisâ—ie Us The other which is rather Reprehension and Menace than Advice cannot stagger Us. Our Answer therefore is That We shall be very glad to find the work of Ireland so easie as you seem to think it which did not so appear by any thing known to Us when We sent our Message And tho We will never refuse or be unwilling to venture our Person for the good and safety of our People We are not so weary of our Life to hazard it impertinently and therefore since you seem to have received Advertisement of some late and great Successes in that Kingdom We will stay some time to see the event of those and not pursue this resolution till We have given you a second Notice But if We find the miserable Condition of our poor Subjects of that Kingdom be not speedily relieved We will with Gods assistance Visit with Succours as our particular Credit and Interest can supply Us with if you refuse to joyn with Us. And We doubt not but the Leagues We shall make in which We will observe punctually the former and all other Cautions as may best prevent all Fears and Jealousies and to use no Power but what is legal will be so much to the Satisfaction of our Subjects as no Person will dare presume to resist our Commands and if they should at their Perâ—l In the mean time We hope our forwardness so remarkable to that Service shall be notorious to all the World and that all Scandals laid on us in that business shall be clearly wiped away We were so careful that our Journey into Ireland should not interrupt the Proceedings of Parliament nor deprive our Subjects of any Acts of Justice or further Acts of Grace for the real benefit of our People that We made Free offer of leaving such Power behind as should not only be necessary for the Peace and Safty of that Kingdom but fully provide for the happy Progress of the Parliament And therefore We cannot but wonder since such Power hath been always left here by Commission for the Goverment of this Kingdom when our Progenitors have been out of the same during the sitting of Parliament And since your selves desired that such a Power might be left here by Us at our last going into Scotland What Law of the Land have ye now found to dispense with you from submitting to such Authority legally derived from Us in our absence and to enable you to Govern this Kingdom by your own meer Authority For our Return towards London We have given you so full an Answer in our late Declaration and in Answer to your Petition presented to Us at York the Twenty sixth of March last That We know not what to add If you will not provide for our Security with you nor agree to remove to
Great Britain France and Ireland c. for the Treating and Concluding of a Peace in the said Kingdom with His Majesties Humble and Loyal Subjects the Confederate and Roman Catholicks of the said Kingdom of Ireland of the one part and the Right Honourable Donnogh Lord Viscount Muskerry and others Commissioners Deputed and Authorized by the said Confederate Roman Catholick Subjects of the other part and thereupon many Difficulties did arise by occasion whereof sundry matters of great weight and consequence necessarily requisite to be condescended unto by His Majesties said Commissioners for the safety of the said Confederate Roman Catholicks were not hitherto agreed upon which retarded and doth as yet retard the Conclusion of a firm Peace and Settlement in the said Kingdom And whereas the Right Honourable Edward Earl of Glamorgan is intrusted and authorized by His most Excellent Majesty to grant and assure to the said Confederate Catholick Subjects further Grace and Favours which the said Lord Lieutenant did not as yet in that Latitude as they expected grant unto them and the said Earl having seriously considered of all matters and due Cirouâ—istances of the great Affairs now in agitation which is the peace and quiet of the said Kingdom and the importance thereof in order to His Majesties Service and in relation to a Peace and Settlement in His other Kingdoms and here upon the place having seen the Ardent desire of the said Catholicks to assist His Majesty against all that do or shall oppress His Royal Right or Monarchick Government and having discerned the Alacrity and Cheerfulness of the said Catholicks to embrace Honourable conditions of Peace which may preserve their Religion and other just Interests In pursuance therefore of His Majesties Authority under His Highness Signature Royal and Signes bearing Date at Oxon the Twelfth Day of March in the twentieth Year of His Reign Granted unto the said Earl of Glamorgan the Tenure whereof is as followeth Viz. Charles Rex Charles by the Grace of God King of England Scotland France and Ireland Defender of the Faith c. To our trusty and right welbeloved Cosen Edward Earl of Glamorgan greeting We reposing great and especial Trust and Confidence in your approved wisdom and fidelity Do by these as firmly as under Our Great Seal to all intents and purposes Authorise and give you Power to treat and conclude with the Confederate Roman Catholicks in Our Kingdom of Ireland if upon necessity any thing be to be condescended unto wherein our Lieutenant cannot so well be seen in as not fit for Vs at the present publickly to own Therefore We charge you to proceed according to this our Warrant with all possible secrecy and for whatsoever you shall engage your self upon such valuable considerations as you in your judgment shall deem fit We promise on the word of a King and a Christian to ratifie and perform the same that shall be granted by you and under your Hand and Seal the said Confederate Catholicks having by their Supplies testified their Zeal to Our Service and this shall be in each particular to you a sufficient Warrant Given at Our Court at Oxford under Our Signet and Royal Signature the 12 th day of March in the 20 th year of Our Reign 1644. To our right trusty and right well-beloved Cosen Edward Earl of Glamorgan It is therefore granted accorded and agreed by and between the said Earl of Glamorgan for and on the behalf of His most Excellent Majesty His Heirs and Successors on the one part and the Right Honourable Richard Lord Viscount Mountgarret Lord President of the Supream Council of the said Confederate Catholicks the said Donogh Lord Viscount Muskerry Alexander mac Donnel and Nicholas Plunket Esquires Sir Robert Talbot Baronet Dermot O Brien John Dillon Patrick Darcy and Geffery Brown Esquires Commissioners in that behalf appointed by the said Confederate Roman Catholick Subject of Ireland for and on the behalf of the said Confederate Roman Catholick Subjects of the other part in manner and form following that is to say 1. IT is granted accorded and agreed by the said Earl for and in the behalf of His most Excellent Majesty His Heirs and Successors That all and every the Professors of the Roman Catholick Religion in the Kingdom of Ireland of whatever estate degree or quality soever he or they be or shall be shall for ever more hereafter have and enjoy within the said Kingdom the free and publick use and exercise of the said Roman Catholick Religion and of their respectives function therein 2. It is granted accorded and agreed by the said Earl for and on the behalf of His Majesty His Heirs and Successors That the said Professors of the Roman Catholick Religion shall hold and enjoy all and every the Churches by them enjoyed within this Kingdom or by them possessed at any time since the Twenty Third of October 1641 and all other Churches in the said Kingdom other than such as are now actually enjoyed by His Majesties Protestant Subjects 3. It is granted accorded and agreed by the said Earl for and in the behalf of His most Excellent Majesty His Heirs and Successors That all and every the Roman Catholick Subjects of Ireland of what estate condition degree or quality soever shall be free and exempted from the Jurisdiction of the Protestant Clergy and every of them and that the Roman Catholick Clergy of this Kingdom shall not be punished troubled or molested for the exercise of their Jurisdiction over their respective Catholick Flocks in matters Spiritual and Ecclesiastical 4. It is further granted accorded and agreed by the said Earl for and on the behalf of His most Excellent Majesty His Heirs and Successors that an Act shall be passed in the next Parliament to be holden in this Kingdom the tenour and purport whereof shall be as followeth Viz. An Act for the Relief of His Majesties Catholick Subjects of His Highnesses Kingdom of Ireland Whereas by an Act made in Parliament held in Dublin the Second Year of the Reign of the late Queen Elizabeth Intituled An Act restoring to the Crown the ancient Jurisdiction over the State Ecclesiastical and Spiritual and abolishing all Foreign Power repugnant to the same And by one other Statue made in the said last mentioned Parliament Intituled An Act for the Vniformity of Common-Prayer and Service in the Church and the Administration of the Sacrament Sundry Mulcts Penalties Restraints and Incapacities are and have been laid upon the Professors of the Roman Catholick Religion in this Kingdom in for and concerning the use profession and exercise of their Religion and their Function therein to the great prejudice trouble and disquiet of the Roman Catholicks in their Liberties and Estates and a general disturbance of the whole Kingdom For remedy whereof and for the better setling increase and continuance of the Peace Unity and Tranquility of this Kingdom of Ireland His Majesty at the humble suit and request of the Lords and Commons
in this present Parliament assembled is graciously pleased that it may be Enacted And be it Enacted by the King 's most Excellent Majesty the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in this present Parliament assembled and by Authority of the same That from and after the First day of this Session of Parliament it shall and may be lawful to and for all the Professors of the Roman Catholick Religion of what degree condition or quality to have use and enjoy the free and publick exercise and profession of the said Roman Catholick Religion and of their several and respective functions therein without incurring any Mulct or Penalty whatsoever or being subject to any restraint or incapacity concerning the same any Article or Clause Sentence or Provision in the said last mentioned Acts of Parliament or in any other Act or Acts of Parliament Ordinances Law or usage to the contrary or in any wise notwithstanding And be it also further Enacted That neither the said Statutes or any other Statute Acts or Ordinances hereafter made in Your Majesties Reign or in the Reign of any of Your Highnesses most Noble Progenitors or Ancestors and now of Force in this Kingdom nor all nor any Branch Article Clause and Sentence in them or any of them contained or specified shall be of force or validity in this Realm to extend to be construed or adjudged to extend in any wise to inquiet prejudice vex or molest the Professors of the said Roman Catholick Religion in their Persons Lands Hereditaments or Goods or any thing matter or cause whatsoever touching and concerning the free and publick use exercise and enjoyings of their said Religion function and profession And be it also further Enacted and Declared by the Authority aforesaid That Your Majesties Roman Catholick Subjects in the said Realm of Ireland from the first day of this Session of Parliament shall be and be taken deemed and adjudged capable of all Offices of Trust and Advancement Places Degrees and Dignities and perferment whatsoever within your said Realm of Ireland Any Acts Statutes Vsage or Law to the contrary notwithstanding And that other Acts shall be passed in the said Parliament according to the tenour of such Agreement or Concessions as herein are expressed and that in the mean time the said Roman Catholick Subjects and every of them shall enjoy the full benefit freedom and advantage of the said Agreement and Concessions and of every of them 5. It is Accorded Granted and Agreed by the said Earl for and in the bâ—â—â—lf of His Majesty His Heirs and Successors That his Excellency the Lord Marques of Ormond Lord Lieutenant of Ireland or any other or others Authorized or to be Authorized by His Majesty shall not disturb the professors of the Roman Catholick Religion in their present possession and continuance of the profession of their said Churches Jurisdiction or any other the matters aforesaid in these Articles agreed and condescended unto by the said Earl until His Majesties pleasure be signified for confirming and publishing the Grants and Agreements hereby Articled for and Condescended unto by the said Earl 6. And the said Earl of Glamorgan doth hereby engage His Majesty's Royal Word and Publick Faith unto all and singular the professors of the said Roman Catholick Religion within the said Kingdom of Ireland for the due observance and performance of all and every the Articles Grants and Clauses therein contained and the Concessions herein mentioned to be performed to them 7. It is Accorded and Argeed That the said publick Faith of the Kingdom shall be ingaged unto the said Earl by the said Commissioners of the said Confederate Catholicks for sending Ten thousand men to serve His Majesty by order and publick Declaration of the General Assembly now sitting And that the Supream Council of the said Confederate Catholicks shall engage themselves to bring the said number of Men Armed the one half with Musquets and the other half with Pikes unto any Port within this Realm at the Election of the said Earl and at such time as he shall appoint to be by him Shipped and Transported to serve His Majesty in England Wales or Scotland under the Command of the said Earl of Glamorgan as the Lord General of the said Army which Army is to be kept together in one intire Body and all other the Officers and Commanders of the said Army are to be named by the Supream Council of the said Confederate Catholicks or by such others as the General Assembly of the said Confederate Catholicks of this Kingdom shall intrust therewith In witness whereof the Parties to these Presents have hereunto interchangeably put their Hands and Seals the 25 th day of August 1645. Glamorgan Signed Sealed and Delivered in the Presence of John Somerset Jeffery Barron Robert Barry Articles of Agreement made and concluded upon by and between the Right Honourable Edward Earl of Glamorgan and in pursuance and by vertue of His Majesty's Authority under His Signet and Royal Signature bearing Date at Oxford the Twelfth day of March in the Twentieth Year of His Reign for and on the behalf of His Most Excellent Majesty of the one part and the Right Honourable Richard Lord Viscount Mountgarret Lord President of the Supream Council of the Confederate Catholicks of Ireland Donnogh Lord Viscount Muskerry Alex. M. Donnell and Nicholas Plunket Esquires Sir Robert Talbot Baronet Dermot O Brien John Dillon Patrick Darcy and Jeffery Browne Esquires for and on the behalf of His Majesty's Roman Catholick Subjects and the Catholick Clergy of Ireland of the other part 1. THE said Earl doth Grant Conclude and Agree on the behalf of His Majesty His Heirs and Successors to and with the said Richard Lord Viscount Mountgarret Donnogh Lord Viscount Muskerry Alex. Mac Donnell and Nicholas Plunket Esquires Sir Robert Talbot Baronet Dermot O Brien John Dillon Patrick Darcy and Jeffery Browne Esquires That the Roman Catholick Clergy of the said Kingdom shall and may from henceforth for ever hold and enjoy all such Lands Tenements Tyths and Hereâ—itaments whatsoever by them respectively enjoyed within this Kingdom or by them possessed at any time since the Three and twentieth of October 1641. And all other such Lands Tenements Tyths and Hereditaments belonging to the Clergy within this Kingdom other than such as are actually enjoyed by His Majesty's Protestant Clergy 2. It is Granted Concluded and Agreed on by the said Richard Lord Viscount Mountgarret c. on the behalf of the Confederate Roman Catholicks of Ireland that Two parts in Three parts to be divided of all the said Lands Tyths and Hereditaments whatsoever mentioned in the precedent Articles shall for Three Years next ensuing the Feast of Easter which shall be in the Year of our Lord God 1646. be disposed of and converted for and to the Use of His Majesty's Forces employed or to be employed in His Service and the other Third part to the Use of the said Clergy resepectively and so the like