England he would Abrogate those Laws made against the Papists there He gave thanks likewise to Muskeny Plumket and others of that party promising a Pardon for all that was past But they were much troubled at the Treaty of Peace with the Parliament being sensible that one necessary condition thereof must be the Vigorous Prosecution of the War in Ireland The King to remove this fear writ to the Lord Lieutenant that he could not refuse to make a Peace with his Parliament only upon the account of those Irish it being a point not Popular Yet from that consideration the Lieutenant might raise an Advantage to hasten a Peace with them it letting them know their own Danger by being Excluded from all Hope of Pardon from the Parliament For saith he if we agree upon all other conditions it will not be convenient for me to disagree only concerning those Irish Therefore let them take what I offer while time is and hasten the Peace and when once my Faith is passed no Human force shall make me break it The Queen also being then in France writing to her Husband seemed to grieve much that at Uxbridge they were to Treat of Religion in the first place assuring him That if any thing severe against the Catholicks should be concluded and yet a â—eace not be made the King could not hope for any Assistance from the Catholick Princes or from the Irish who must needs think that after they had done their best they should at last be forsaken And often intreats the King that he would never forsake the Catholicks who had faithfully served him in the Wars c. The Commissioners met at Uxbridge but nothing at all was concluded at that Treaty so that the War must decide it in pursuance whereof both Parties strengthen themselves with fresh Forces and the Kings Army was very formidable but not content with so great a power of English Souldiers he seemed more earnest than before to get over the Irish he had committed the Business to Ormond to make an Absolute Peace but perceiving their Demands were too High so that nothing was effected he now imployed the Earl of Clamorgan Son to the Marquess of Worcester a zealous Papist and therefore more acceptable with the Rebels giving him full power to make a Peace and indulge to the Irish whatever might seem needful and this was Transacted so secretly that both the Lord Lieutenant Ormond and the Lord Digby Secretary of Ireland were ignorant thereof till it was afterward Discovered and made publick But the King finding it difficult to make such a Peace as would bring him certain Assistance otherwise that he might throw all that Envy upon Glamorgan impowred him unknown to the rest For so the Rebels sweetned with large promises unknown to Ormond might the better admit of Conditions just in shew and openly excusable and the King might draw from Ireland such Souldiers as would more firmly adhere to his side and whom he might trust as being the greatest haters of the English Protestants and dispairing of Pardon against the Parliament of England He therefore gave Letters of Authority to Glamorgan in these words Charles by the Grace of God King of England c. Defender of the Faith to our Trusty and well beloved Cosen Edward Earl of Glamorgan Greeting Being confident of your Wisdom and Fidelity We do by these Letters as if under our Great Seal grant unto you full power and authority to Treat with the Confederate Roman Catholicks in Ireland and to indulge them all those things which necessity shall require and which we cannot so Comodiously do by our Lieutenant nor our self publickly own at present Therefore We Command that you do this Businese with as much Secrecy as can be Whatsoever you shall think fit to be promised in my Name that I do attest upon the word of a King and a Christian to grant to those Confederate Catholicks who by their Assistance have abundantly shewed their zeal to us and our Cause Given at Oxford under our Royal Seal March 12. and 20 year of our Reign In pursuance of these Powers the Earl of Glamorgan assured the King He would Land 6000 Irish Papists in May following in Wales and with the Transport Ships block up Melford Haven having already to advance the same thirty thousand pound in Money 1000 Musquets 2000 Case of Pistols 800. Barrels of Powder besides his own Artillery and a certainty of 30000 l. more The K. likewise obliged the Earl of Antrim to joyn with the Marquess of Montross then in Arms in Scotland who ingaged to send 10000 Irish thither from Ireland where the passage was shortestito assist him but was very deficient therein being scarce able to send 1200 thither In 1644. the Parliament ordered the Arraignment of the Lord Macguire and Collonel Mahon who were Seised at Dublin the Night before the Discovery of the Rebellion there and had been in the Town ever since They were now brought to their Tryal at the Kings Bench Bar at Westminster where Macguire insisted much upon his Peerage but was over ruled and both found Guilty of High Treason by a Jury of Middlesex Gentlemen and executed at Tyburn In 1646. the Lord Lieutenant endeavoured to make the Cessation with the Irish a kind of a Peace which they condescended to upon the following Propositions 1. That the Exercise of the Roman Catholick Religion should be in Dublin and Drogheda and in the Kingdom of Ireland as free as in Paris and Brussels 2. That the Privy Council of Ireland consist of Members True and Faithful to his Majesty and who have been Enemies to the Parliament 3. That Dublin Drogheda Trim Newry Cathirly Carlingford and all Protestant Garrisons be Manned by the Confederate Catholicks to keep the same for the use of the King and Defence of the Kingdom 4. That the said Councellors Generals Commanders and Souldiers do Swear and Ingage to fight against the Parliament of England and all the Kings Enemies and that they will never come to any Agreement with them to the prejudice of His Majesties Rights and and the Kingdoms 5. That both Parties according to their Oath of Association shall to the best of their power and cunning defend the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom the Kings Rights and Liberties of the Subject This Peace was kept by some of the moderate Papists but was ill Resented both by the Parliament of England and the Popes Nuncio who infiuenced the most Serious Papists To put a stop to which the Parliament sent 2000 Men from Chester under Colonel George Monk with 3 Commissioners to the Lord Lieutenant at Dublin who refused to Deliver the City to them without the Kings Command So that after having Treated the Commissioners the English Forces were again Imbarqued and Landed at Belfast in Ireland whereby they did very good Service against O Neal and his Fellow Rebels who had of late been too Successful against the Protestants On the other side the Nuncio's Party
the rest of that Nation were always reckoned Aliens and absolute Enemies so that from Hen. II. to Hen. VIII none were admitted to be Subjects or received any benefit by the English Laws but such as purchased Charters of Denization and it was no Capital Offence to kill any of them since the Laws did neither protect their lives nor Revenge their Deaths so that living in the Bogs and Woods on the Mountains they upon all occasions declared their Malice and Hatred against the English Colonies planted near them However the English were still Owners and Possessors of the Kingdom and kept themselves almost Entire for the first Hundred years after their Arrival not suffering the Irish to live promiscuously among them but by an High Hand Kept them in due Obedience and Subjection to the Crown of England and when they afterwards grew more careless and intermingled among them whereby the english learnt their beastly Manners and Customs there were very severe Laws made against them so that in the Reign of King Edward III. It was declared High Treason to Marry with the Irish or to let them Nurse their Children and to use the Irish Language Names or Apparel was made a Premunire that is to lose their Estates and be perpetually imprisoned And though in after Ages the English endeavoured to Civilize the People and introduce the English Laws Language Habit and Customs among them thereby to reduce them to Civility yet such was their Rough Rebellious Disposition and their implacable Malice to the English that nothing could Attemper or Reduce them to any Tolerable patience or perswade them to live peaceably among them So that in all times as well when they were admitted into the Condition of Subjects as while they were Esteemed and Treated as Enemies they took all Advantages most perfidiously to rise up and imbrue their Hands in the Blood of their English Neighbours and Ireland hath long continued a true Aceldama or Field of Blood and a dismal Sepulchre for the English Nation for after their intermixing with the Irish they Barbarouslâ— Degenerated into their Manners and Customs inso much that-by their intestine Broils and the Mischievous Attempts of the Irish upon them the English from their first Access to Ireland till the Reign of Queen Elizabeth being above 380 years had no setled Peace nor Comfortable Subsistance amongst them but were in such perpetual Troubles and so over-worn with misery that they could scarce Survive the Universal Calamity that over-spread the face of the whole Kingdom Whereupon that excellent Queen in the beginning of her Reign out of her Pious Intentions and Affections to her People took care to Redress these Disorders and sending over Prudent and Religious Governors made a great Reformation by many good Laws Enacted against the Barbarous Customs of the Irish and for the Execution of Justice throughout the Countrey which were reduced into Shires and Sheriffs and others Ministers of Justice placed in them and the High Powers Usurpations and Extortions of the Irish were Restramed and several Destructive Customs Repressâ—d The two Presidential Courts of Munster and Connaught were then Instituted and special Order taken for Free Schools to be Erected for Educating Youth throughout the Kingdom But these and other Courses for the Advancement of True Religion and Civility were Highly Disagreeable to the loose Humours of the Natives who pretended the English Government was Insupportable and began Desperately to struggle for their Liberty several Plots were laid some by those who were of the Old English by Extraction and divers Rebellions and petty Revolts happened during that Queens Reign which she timely Supprest either by Force and Favour often Renewing her kindness to them upon their continued provocations Restoring some Rebellious Lords to their Forfeited Estates and Commands and Bestowing New Titles of Honour upon others But all was in vain the Malignant impressions of Irreligion and Barbarism Transmitted from their Ancestors either by Infusion or Natural Generation had so irrefragably Stiffened their Necks and hardened their Hearts that they still retained all their wicked Customs and Inclinations without change in their Affections or Manners having their Eyes inflamed and their minds inraged with Rancor and Revenge against the English Nation breathing forth nothing but their Ruine Destruction and â—tter Extirpation and resolving at once to Disburthen the whole Kingdom and their Posterity of them and deliver themselves from their Subjection to the Crown of England a desperate Rebellion was raised by the Earl of Tyrone who had received Titles of Honour from the Queen a Command of Horse and Foot great proportions of Land and other Favours which he now ingratefully Cancell'd ingaging most of the Irish and some English Degenerate Families in his Treacherous Designs and likewise calling in some Foreign Forces to his Assistance The Queen perceiving that no Obligations would secure the Irish Loyalty Resolved to Reduce them by Force which was done in a short time and Tyrone brought upon his Knees though not without the Expence of much English Blood above a Million of Money the Country miserably wasted and a general Desolation and Famine over-spreading the Land King James at his first coming to the Crown conceiving that the powerful Conjunction of England and Scotland would overcome the Irish and contain them in their due Obedience resolved not to take any Advantage of these Forfeitures and great Confiscations which he was most justly Intituled to by Tyrones Rebellion but restored all the Natives to the entire possession of their own Lands After which for six years the Countrey was indifferent quiet when Tyrone made a second Insurrection and drew in the whole Province of Ulster who were absolutely at his Devotion to joyn with him but his Plot failed him for not finding himself in a Capacity to Resist the English Forces he fled into Spain promising speedily to return with Forreign Succors but by the care of the Government this Designed Rebellion was quell'd in the beginning and Tyrone never came back After which King James being justly provoked by the High Ingratitude of these Traytors caused their Persons to be Attainted and their Lands to be Seized and Distributed them among Brittish Undertakers many of whom came over and Setled in the Province of Ulster with their Families and Built several good Towns and Castles in divers parts of the Country whereby much Civility was introduced and the whole Kingdom began to Flourish in Costly Buildings and all manner of Improvements and the very Irish seemed to be much satisfied with the Peace and Tranquillity they enjoyed King Charles the I. was no less Indulgent to them for in 1640. upon the Complaint and Remonstrance sent him from both Houses of Parliament then Sitting at Dublin Representing the Heavy Pressures they had suffered under the Government of the E. of Strafford he made present Provision for their Redress Constituting Sir William Parsons and Sir John Burlace Lords Justices of that Kingdom who declared against the late proceedings
their Petition to him Asserted That the King by taking notice of a Bill while in Debate in the House of Lords had broken the Fundamental Priviledge of Parliament which he ought not to do concerning any Bill till it be presented to him in due course of Parliament and desired Reparation They then desired that an Army of Scots should be sent thither and that they should have the keeping of the Town and Castle of Carick-fergus but the King said that he doubted this might be to the Damage of England The Scots Commissioners replyed That they were sorry his Majesty being their Native King should repose less Trust in them than their Naighbouring Nation had freely done So that at length this was granted It was thought to be the most Feasible way for Reducing Ireland that proportions of Land there should be shared among English Adventurers proportional to those Sums of Money they should Subscribe that so whosoever in Person or Purse should assist in Conquering the Bloody Rebels might be Recompensed if the Work were done and Propositions were framed in Parliament to that purpose which the King confirmed Though at first he laught at them and was heard to say That they were like to him who Sold the Bears Skin before the Bear was killed At length an Act was passed for impowring the Parliament to carry on that War till Ireland should be declared wholy Subdued and that no Peace nor Cessation of Arms should ever be made with the Rebels without consent of both Houses of Parliament The King then offered to go in Person thither but the Parliament thought it not fit to hazard his Person in such an Expedition The Queen about February went to Holland carrying with her most of the Crown Jewels which she had pledged for Money and Arms for the King her Husband and for which she was afterwards voted a Traytor by the Parliament the King having taken leave of her at Dover went with the Prince and Duke of York to Theobalds and from thence to Newmarket where both Houses Presented him a Declaration sent by two Lords in which they Repeat the old Grievances the War of Scotland the Rebellion in Ireland his entring the House of Commons his causless fear of Residing near London to the perplexing of the Kingdom the hindring the Relief of Ireland and incouraging the ill affected Party in the Kingdom To which the King answered with great Indignation extenuating some things and excusing others accusing them for raising needless Fears and Jealousies After which the King passed farther North to York upon which the Parliament voted That the Kings Absence so far Remote from his Parliament is not only an Obstruction but may be a Destruction to the Affairs of Ireland That when the Lords and Commons in Parliament shall declare what the Law of the Land is to have this not only questioned and controverted but contradicted and a command that it should not be obeyed is an High Breach of the Priviledge of Parliament That they which advise the K. to absent himself from his Parliament are Enemies to the Peace of this Kingdom and justly to be suspected as Favourers of the Rebellion in Ireland From York the King sent a Message to the Parliament April 8. 1642. That he would go in Person over to Ireland against those Bloody Rebels and intended to raise a Guard for his Person in Cheshire to carry thither of 2000 Foot and 100 Horse whom he would Arm from his Magazine of Hull But the Parliament having Intimation that the K. designed to Seise that Magazine to Arm himself against them sent Sir John Hotham thither who refused to admit him Entrance upon which the K. Proclaimed him Traytor and complained to the Parliament of the Affront who endeavoured to appease him but justified Hothams Act and declared that the Proclaiming him Traytor without process of Law was against the Liberty of the Subject and Laws of the Land The King daily Summoned the Gentry of the Northern Counties to attend him all York as a Guard for his Person which he declared was in danger from the Parliament who thereupon declared That it appears that the King Seduced by wicked Counsel intends to make a War against the Parliament who in all their Consultations and Actions have proposed no other end to themselves but the Care of his Kingdoms and the performance of all Duty and Loyalty to his Person That whensoever the King maketh War upon the Parliament it is a breach of the Trust Reposed in him by his People contrary to his Oath and tending to the Dissolution of the Government That whosoever shall Serve and Assist him in such Wars are Traytors by the Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom and have been so adjudged by two Acts of Parliament 11 Rich. II. and 1 Henry IV. and that such Persons ought to suffer as Traytors the King Justified himself in his Declarations and Proclamations against the Parliament which daily encountred each other So that all things tended to an absolute Rupture and presaged the Calamities of the Civil War which soon after followed For both sides flying to Arms and the Nation being divided into Parties several bloody Battels were fought and the whole Kingdom was in a Flame In 1643. The Parliament of England invited the Scots to come in to their Assistance with an Army of 21000. Horse and Foot ingaging to pay them an Hundred Thousand pound towards the Charge of Raising them On the other side the King to withdraw the Protestant Army out of Ireland for Aiding him against the Scots concluded a Cessation of Arms for a year with those Rebels and 3000 of the English Army were Imbarqued from thence to joyn with the King This Cessation was much complained of by the Parliament since it was not only for the benefit of the Irish Rebels who gave him 3000 l. for the Favour but also directly contrary to the Act which the King hath lately Signed That no Cessation should be made without the consent of both Houses Thus was Assistance brought to either side and that English Army which for almost a year had fought Valiantly and Victoriously against those Rebels was now brought over to fight against the Parliament of England The War still continued with much Vigor and great Slaughter was made throughout the Kingdom yet in the midst thereof some Glimmerings of Peace began to appear for in 1644. Conditions were proposed both by the King and Parliament and a Treaty began at Uxbridge between Commissioners from both Parties during which the care of the War was not neglected on either side the King endeavouring to bring over some Forces from the Duke of Lorrain and some Irish to his Assistance and by his Letters to the Lord Lieutenant to make a Peace with the Rebels or at least to continue the Cessation for a year and to promise and grant them the free Exercise of the Romish Religion assuring them that if by their Assistance he could but finish his War in
stand by them in Defence of their Lives and the Protestant Religion which they did believe by the Preparations they heard were making by the Enemy would be very soon invaded and the News they heard from London Derry did much Fortifie their Courage So that upon the Approach of the Irish Companies the Inniskillin Horse and Foot Advanced toward them but came no sooner in View ere the 2 Companies with the whole Rabble that was with them turned their Backs and fled without halting in very great Fear and Disorder and their Officers being then at Dinner at a Gentlemans House not far from thence hearing the Inniskillin Men were come out left their Dinners before they had half done and ran away after them and all of them got the next Day 24 Miles off in great Terror of the Inniskilliners who afterward performed many admirable Actions against the Irish King James's pretended Parliament Sate in Dublin from May 7. 1689. to July 20. following and in that short time entirely destroyed the Settlement of Ireland and outed both the Protestant Clergy and Laity of their Free-Holds and Inheritances by Repealing the 2 Acts of Settlement Whereby 2 thirds of the Protestants of the Kingdom held their Estates And the Real Estates of all that dwelt or staid in any place in the 3 Kingdoms who did not own K. James's Power or correspended with any such as they Term'd Rebels or were any ways Aiding Abetting or Assisting to them from Aug. 1. 1688 are declared to be forefeited and vested in the King By which Clause almost every Protestant that could write in the Kingdom had forfeited his Estate for the Pacquets went constantly from London to Dublin and back again from August 1688. to March following and few had Friends in England or the North but Corresponded with them by Letters and every such Letter is made by this Clause a Forfeiture of Estate They likewise passed an Act of Attainder whereby above 3000 Protestants were Attainted and their Estates forfeited to the King some for being in Arms but the greatest part for absenting themselves and going out of the Kingdom These proceedings were thought very severe by the Protestants since those that Armed themselves did not Attempt any thing even against those whom the Lord Deputy against the Laws of the Kingdom and the Interest of the Nation had intrusted with Arms and Imployments except in their own Defence when Invaded and Assaulted by them Neither was there one Act of Hostility committed wherein the Protestants were not on the Defensive Their Crime then if any was only that they were unwilling to be Robb'd and Plundered as their Neighbours were without opposition but Disarmed some of those who under Colour of being King James's Soldiers destroyed the Country this was all the Reason Tyrconnel had to proclaim them Rebels for Killing and Murdering his Majesties Subjects and with pillaging the Country whereas it was Notorious they never kil'd any but whom they found actually Robbing for killing of whom the Laws of the Kingdom not only indemnified them but likewise assigned them a Reward and it is as plain that the Protestants preserved the Country from being pillaged and for this they now forfeited their Estates As for those that were absent it would have been unwisely done for the Protestants that were gone to England to have returned again to a Ruinous Kingdom the Actual Seat of War where all the goods they had left behind were Imbezeled by Robbers and their Estates given to those Sons of Rebellion in 1641. And when Men of the best Estates in Ireland wisht themselves away and many were content to leave all and venture their Lives in little Boats to the Mercy of the Seas in the death of Winter reckoning any thing safer and easier than to stay under a Government which had effectually destroy'd all the measures of Right and Wrong and Condenmed so many Gentlemen to the loss of all without allowing them the favour either of being Tryed or Heard And of those that starâ— many of them were kill'd by the Soldiers Murthered in their Houses Executed by Martial Law starved and famished in Jay is and destroyed by many other Violences the Papists declaring That they designed to starve one half of the Protestants and hang the other and that it would never be well till this was done So that all King James's proceedings in that Kingdom clearly manifested his design to be the absolute inslaving it to Arbitrary Power and Popery by his Invading the Liberties and Estates and exposing their Lives to his peremptory Will and Pleasure This the Protestants in the North as well as others were very sensible of and therefore the People of London-Derry resolved to hold out to the last Extremity Some time before the English Navy being out at Sea to prevent Supplies from France Admiral Herbert with his Squadron had notice by his Scent-Ships that part of the French Fleet were abroad and stood for the Irish Coast whereupon he Sail'd after them and found them in Bantry-Bay whereupon drawing his Ships up into a Line and lying upon the Stretch he battered them extreamly from 10 in the Morning till 5 in the Afternoon at what time the French Admiral went off and stood farther into the Bay On our side we lost Captain Aylmer of the Portland with a Lieutenant and about 300 Seamen killed and Wounded the Damage of the French was equal to ours though they had the Bay to shelter them the Wind and a double number of Ships So soon as the English were gone the French weighed Anchor for fear of a second Engagement King James now sets forward with his Army toward London Derry where the Garrison had already Proclaimed King William and Queen Mary and had received from England 480 Barrels of Powder and Arms for 2000 Men with a Commission to Collonel Lundy to be Governor and promise of further Supply King James's Army consisted in about 12000 Men and a very good Train of Artillery his Generals were Monsieur de Mornont General of the French Horse the Sieur Piscina General of the Foot Collonel Hamilton Lieutenant General of the Irish Foot all under the Standard of France and consisting of several Regiments commanded by the D of Berwick and Fitz-James his Brother the Lord Nettervile Abercorn Collonel Shelden and Collonel Randleigh The King had some assurance given him that the Town upon his Approach would undoubtedly Surrender and that the very sight of so formidable an Army would fright them into a Compliance and therefore April 18. he advances with his Army before the Walls with flying Colours Orders were given that none should fire till the Kings Demands were first known but the People of London-Derry wondring to see Lieutenant General Hamilton approaching the Walls contrary to his ingagement not to come within 4 Miles of the Town imagined they were betrayed and fired their Guns upon them which being unexpected by the Enemy some of them fled others hid themselves and a great
pay tribute whereupon the Deputy caused him to be taken and tried by a Jury of Common Souldiers and then to be hanged up dividing his lands between some of the Mahons and the English Then Brian O Roch fearing he should be served in the same manner raised a Rebellion and being defeated fled into Scotland but at the Queens request was delivered up and was arraigned at Westminster for dragging the Queens Picture at an Horse-tail and for giving the Spaniards entertainment which being told him by an Interpreter for he could speak no English he said he would not be tryed unless the Queen her self were Judge but being informed this was the Law he only said ' If it must be so it must be so and was condemned and executed at Tyburn which he valued as little as if all had been in Jest In 1596 Tyrone with considerable forces raised a Rebellion and was proclaimed Traytor after which he gave the English a great defeat whereupon all Ulster Munster and Connaught were in Arms against the English at length the Earl of Essex was sent against him who instead of fighting made a Truce with him But afterwards the English so prevailed that Tyrone finding his condition desperate resolved to throw himself upon the Queens mercy without Conditions hereupon being admitted to the presence of the Deputy at the very entry of the Room he fell on his Knees begging pardon for his great fault against God and a most bountiful Prince the next day the Deputy took him along with him to Dublin intending to send him to England but before he could come thither the Queen died In King James his Reign Tyrone and all his adherents absolutely submitted to his Majesties pleasure who by an Act of Oblivion published by Proclamation under the Great Seal did forgive and utterly extinguish all offences against the Crown and all particular Trespasses between Subject and Subject to all who would come into the Justice of Assize by such a day and claim the benefit thereof by which all the Irishry who in former times were generally left under the Tyranny of their Lords Cheiftains and had no defence nor justice from the Crown were now received into his Majesties immediate protection The publick peace being thus established publick Justice was next setled by dividing all Ireland into shires and erecting Circuits in every Province and governing all things therein according to the Laws of England and lastly the Estates and possessions of the English as well as Irish were setled throughout the Kingdom to the great comfort and security of all men and thereupon ensued the calmest and most universal peace for above forty years that ever was seen in Ireland Yet the foundation thereof was not so strongly laid but it received a shake by the first Storm that threatned England For being ingaged in a War with France and Spain about the beginning of the Reign of King Charles the I. 1627. there was occasion for sending some additional Forces into Ireland for the security thereof upon which a Proposition was made to the chief of the Irish Nation by the Lord Deputy Falkland for contributing a competent sum of money toward the maintenance of those Forces to be established by the way of a standing Army to which they would not condescend without a Toleration of Religion first obtained though Arch-bishop Usher then Lord Primate of all Ireland in a great Assembly of Irish and English at Dublin used many cogent Arguments to persuade them to it and among others That their being Romanists would not exempt them the more from the danger of a Common Enemy as they might conjecture from the answer which the Duke of Medina Sidonia gave in this case in 1588. That his Sword knew no difference between a Catholick and an Heretick but that he came to make way for his Master Divers other notable instances he gave whereby he prophetically intimated what afterward fell upon Ireland in 1641. when above one hundred and fifty thousand Brittish Planters were most inhumanely massacred by the outragious Irish without the least provocation given to prepetrate such wicked and unparallell'd acts of Barbarism But before I proceed to give an account of that dismal Tragedy I will make some brief deduction of some former Transactions in this Kingdom and discover the beginnings and progress of the General Rebellion in 1641. Ireland for near five hundred years has continued under the Soveraignty of the Crown of England and presently after its first Conquest was planted with English Colonies long since worn out or generally become Irish and therefore hath in this last age been supplied with great numbers of People from England and Scotland to settle there The Irish as we have related want not many Fabulous inventions to magnifie the Original of their Nation but whether the Scythians Gauls Africans Goths or some other Eastern Nations that antiently inhabited Spain came and sate down there is very uncertain yet their Manners Customs words names and still retained Ceremonies seem very much to demonstrate their first rise from some of those People For it may be conjectured that as the Eastern Parts of Ireland bordering upon England were first planted by the old Brittains several of their words being still in use and as the Northern Parts were first inhabited by the Scythians from whom it was called Scyteland or Scotland So the South and more Western Ports thereof were peopled by the Maritime Parts of Spain being the next Continent not by the present Spanish Nation who are now a different mixture of People but it is probable by the Gauls who anciently inhabited all the Sea-coasts of Spain The whole Kingdom of Ireland was divided into five principal Cheiftains or Commanders that is Macmorough of Leinster Mac-cartye of Munster O Neal of Ulster O Connor of Connaught and O Malaghlin of Meath who were called Kings but as they had neither Hereditary Right nor Lawful Election so they were neither Anointed nor Crowned but made their way by the Sword and were invested with certain Barbarous Ceremonies and ruled with all manner of Tyranny the People being absolute slaves to all the savage Customs practised under their Dominion which continued till the reign of Henry II. King of England in whose time the undertaking for the Conquest of Ireland was very Successful being made by most Powerful though private Adventurers upon this occasion Dormet Mac-Morough King of Leinster being forced to fly his Countrey by the Kings of Conaught and Meath repaired to King Heary then personally attending his Wars in France and earnestly implored his Aid for recovering his Territories most Injuriously as he pretended taken from him The King refused to imbark in the quarrel yet graciously Recommended the Justice of his Cause to all his Loving Subjects and assured them that whoever would Assist Dermot should have free Liberty to Transport their Forces and be held to do very acceptable Service therein Whereupon Strangebow Earl of Pembroke resolved as a private
they were to encounter with to effect it and therefore moved the King that their Estates might be secured by an Act of Parliament with Liberty of Exercising their Religion only privately but Peters opposed this as a consideration too Worldly adding that if they would persue his measures he doubted not to see the Holy Church Triumphant in England Other Papists desired the King they might have Liberty to sell their Estates and retire into France and by his Intercession might be provided for in that Kings Dominions To which he replyed that before their desires came to him he had often thought of them and had as he believed provided a sure Sanctuary for them in Ireland if all those endeavours should be blasted in England which he had made for their Security and of whose Success he had not reason to despair adding many zealous Expressions of his extream kindness for the Catholick Church As that he resolved rather to dye a Martyr than not to settle the Roman Religion and that he would choose to dye the next day that design being compassed rather than live 50 years without effecting it having already been almost a Martyr for the Catholick Cause which had been the occasion of all his Troubles In pursuance of these Resolutions the King gave himself wholly up to the Conduct and Counsels of the Furious Jesuits being entred into their Society and was become a Lay Brother of that Order and consequently judged it Meritorious to extirpate and destroy Heresie especially being told That it would be a most glorious Action and that no doubt he would be Canonized for a Saint if he could Reduce 3 Kingdoms to their Ancient Obedience to the Holy See from which they had been so long Apostates and had Nurst up so many Damned Hereticks to the Disturbance of Holy Church But the present Lord Lieutenant being an Obstacle to the Vigorous progress of Popery in Ireland land the Jesuits resolved to remove him of which design a Person of Honour acquainted the King who absolutely denyed there was any such intention or that he had any thoughts of it nor did believe he ever should whilst both lived remove him from that Government though the Papists in Ireland confidently affirmed That he had before given assurance to Father Peters that Tyrconnel should be Lord Deputy and accordingly in 1686. he obtained that Government against all opposition the News of which so surprized the Protestants in Ireland that almost all that were able Deserted the Kingdom and flockt in great numbers to the Isle of Man Scotland and other places so great was their Terror and Consternation at these dreadful tydings and the dismal effects which they expected from his Management of Affairs at length Tyrconnel arrived there after having been kept a considerable time at the Sea side by contrary winds which seemed a Signal Act of providence to give warning and opportunity to the People to fly from the judgments just ready to fall upon that distressed Kingdom The Lord Clarendon Surrendred the Sword to him with an Admirable Speech concluding that as he had kept an equal hand of Justice to the Roman Catholicks so he hoped his Lordship would do to the Protestants But Popery was the Scene which must be Acted and the Protestants Trembled at the Terrible Consequences thereof whilst the Irish Triumpht and insulted over their Dejection reproaching them both as Englishmen and Protestants and usually calling them Fanatick Dogs and Damned Hereticks Yea so Barbarous were their Affronts and Indignities that the English were daily afraid of a general Massacre to be inhumanly put in Execution against them Tyrconnel now places Popish Judges and Officers in all the Courts of Judicature and then proceeds against the Charters of all the Cities and Corporations of the Kingdom He endeavoured to perswade the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Common-Council of Dublin to Surrender theirs to the King but meeting with much Opposition therein he in a Rage told them that this was the continuance of their former Rebellion having turn'd out all the Loyal Subjects in the last War of Ireland and would do so now if it were in their power whereupon they produced a Letter from King Charles I. Dated at Oxford containing great acknowledgments of their Signal Loyalty and Faithfulness to him with High Assurances of being Eminently rewarded if he were again Restored to his Crown But this availed nothing for the common saying of the Irish was that K. James would regard no Man for any Service formerly done to him his Father or Brother but only for future Service that he expected from them So that though the Citizens of Dublin sent a Gentleman on purpose to the K. with a Petition and Representation of their Case yet he would not regard him but upon first sight askt him if he had the Lord Deputies leave to come with this Petition and that he had those in Ireland that understood the Law better than himself and so turned from him and he was forced to go back again re infecta Yet the City of Dublin was resolved not to betray their Liberties but imploy'd the Council to defend their Charters but these Judges who had already broken through all inclosures of Law and Trampled upon the known Constitutions of the Kingdom that they were opposite to their Popish and Arbitrary Designs over ruled all their Pleadings and gave Judgment against them to the universal excessive Joy of the Irish and great Mortification of the Protestants Consonant to the Sentence against Dublin was Judgment given against all the Charters of the Kingdom except those who quietly Surrendred them The New Lord Deputy now chose him a Privy Council that all but three had scarce common Sense of which two of them would often complain saying that nothing could pass at the Council-Board of publick concern but their Country-men must first ask Teige ' if that would not spoil his Potato Garden but however they all agreed to inslaven and beggar their Country especially in matter of Trade as appeared by Tyrconnels first Proclamation with the Advice of his Council to break an Act of Parliament in taking off the Duty of Iron and this without asking the King leave but as soon as it was heard of in England a Proclamation came from thence forbidding this wise Act made by these Notable Statesmen and the Lord Bellasis swore in Council That Fool in Ireland was Fool and Mad-man enough to ruine 10 Kingdoms And Father Peters secretly Reprimanded him for his Political Blunder and writ to him if he acted not with greater Caution the King could not possibly preserve him in that Government This with the vast numbers of People that Deserted the Kingdom upon Tyrconnels coming Lord Deputy thither whereby the Towns and Cities were made almost Desolate and Traffick so ruined that the publick Revenue was sunk incredibly from the former value were so strongly pressed against him at the English Privy Council to his Disadvantage that he obtained the Favour of
K. James to meet and confer with him at Chester carrying along with him Judge Rice for his Councellor and a Subtle Fellow who told the King so many fine Stories there being none to contradict him that he was dismist contrary to the hopes and expectations of many who thought he would never have returned again L. Deputy When he took leave of several Privy Counsellors and Officers at his going to wait on King James at Chester Aug. 1687. He said I have put the Sword in your Hands And then in his usual Stile prayed God to damn them all if ever they parted with it again During Tyrconnels stay here the New Judges went their Circuits wherein they discovered the most gross partiality imaginable for though they found the Jayls full of Tories and Irish Robbers committed for several Notorious Crimes yet with the Assistance of Irish Sheriffs and Juries they were most of them Discharged without punishment either being indicted by wrong Names or else by taking off the Prosecutors with Threats That if they proceeded their Cattel would be stoln their Houses burnt or their Throats Cut which often happened And this was done in pursuance of one of the Lord Deputies Instructions from Court to them that they should by all possible means weaken the Protestant Interest which they so effectually performed that no Englshman was secure of any thing he had by their Exorbitant proceedings against them So that had these Barbarous Injustices and publick Oppressions and Violences in the several Law-Courts even such as never were till then heard of among Christians continued but a few years longer these without other means might have wholy Reduced the Kingdom into Irish Hands it being observed that never one Cause came before them upon a Tryal for Land but the Judgment was constantly given in favour of the Irish As to the Army in Ireland of which I have mentioned something before I shall add that when K. James came to the Crown they consisted in about 7000 Men as cordial to his Interest as possible both Officers and Souldiers Respecting him as their Master and Father and shewed a great forwardness to have assisted him against Monmoth and Arguile Yet he was no sooner setled in the Throne but he began to turn the most zealous of them out of his Service because he could not expect they would be useful to him in destroving the Protestant Religion and Liberties of the Subjects which was the Service he expected from them and therefore took ther Troops away and gave them to persons of mean or broken Fortunes and some of them unqualified by Law and no consideration was had to Loyalty or Merit unless a Man were a Papist of which there were too many Notorious Instances And the manner of their being Discarded was with so much falshood and Barbarity from Tyrconnel as might have shaken the Obedience of any Army but this in the World and caused them to have dispatcht so false a Wretch for in the Morning he would take an Officer into his Closet and with his usual Oaths Curses and Damnations would profess the greatest kindness and friendship assuring them of the Continuance of their Commissions and in the Afternoon would Cashier them with all manner of Scorn and Contempt nay while he was Caressing them he had actually given away their Commands As for the Soldiers and Troops he Marched them to some place so far distant from their Quarters that they were not much known and there after great Hardships stript the Foot of their Cloaths which they had payed for and the Troopers of their Horses Boots and Furniture bought with their own Money and turned them off to walk Barefoot some 100 others 150 Miles to their Houses and Homes And though they were promised something for their Horses yet their Attendance cost them twice as much as they expected and most of them after all got nothing By this means 2 or 300 Protestant Gentlemen who had laid out great part of their Fortunes and Contracted Debts to obtain Commissions were not left worth any thing but were turned out without reason or any consideration and 5 or 6000 Soldiers sent a begging an Hardship perhaps never put upon an Army before for no other reason but because they were English-Men and Protestants and Irish men and Papists were by K. James put in their places clearly Demonstrating that he had no regard to the Laws or the Preservation of that Kingdom and that he absolutely designed to Ruin the Protestant and Advance the Popish Interest in Ireland And the same Fate attended all the Protestant Civil Officers several of them being outed though they had places by Patent for Life Sheriffs Justices of Peace Officers of the Revenue c. who were all changed for Roman Catholicks and this before the News of the Glorious Expedition of his now Majesty the Prince of Orange and without any provocation or the least pretence of Disloyalty Dec. 9. 1687. Being Sunday in the Morning happened such an Inundation of Water at Dublin as was never known before carrying away Stone Bridges overflowing Houses for 3 Days together so that a great part of the City was much indamaged thereby to their great Detriment and loss and was the more remarkable because no great Rain only a few small showres had fallen the â—ight before which seemed to presage the deluge of Troubles that were impending over the poor English in that distressed Kingdom The Earl of Castlemain being returned to England from his Embassy to the Pope and having received no Preferment complained to the Pope who writ to his Nuncio to Address the King in his behalf and being seconded by Father Peters it was resolved in the Cabinet Council Dec. 23. that Jefferies the Lord Chancellor for tampring in the business of Magdalen Colledge should be put out and 3 of the Lords of the Treasury be made Lords Commissioners of the Great Seal and that Castlemain should be Lord Treasurer Peters roundly telling the King that the most effectual means for accomplishing his Design of Establishing the Catholick Religion was to let his Prime Ministers and the World understand That no Service they had or could do should protect them or be reckoned of any account if they boggled in the least Tittle or Circumstance relating to the Catholick Cause But still the Furious Jesuits and their Accomplices were very much unsatisfied that notwithstanding they had a Catholick King upon the Throne yet the Popish Religion made but small progress and there was but a mean harvest of Converts to the Roman Faith Nay not in Ireland where all the power both Civil and Military was in their Hands hereupon a Project is contrived to destroy the Act of Settlement there in hopes the Protestants would Rebel and Forfeit their Estates whereby they should have an opportunity totally to extirpate them out of that Kingdom and so be in a capacity in a short time to subdue England and Scotland likewise In Order hereto the Lord