Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n
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A47993
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A letter from a gentleman in Ireland to his friend in London upon occasion of a pamphlet entituled a vindication of the present government of Ireland under His Excellency Richard Earl of Tyrconnel.
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1688
(1688)
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Wing L1386; ESTC R30938
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10,133
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15
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Duties and Days Labour ruin'd them who as soon as the English Manners prevailed among them as they were introduced with difficulty enough there was need of the Authority of Acts of Parliament to constrain them for their own good lived plentifully and in convenient Houses had their share of the current Coyn and proportion of all other Necessaries to the life and well-being of Man which now they want insomuch that several of them have been heard to Curse my Lord Tyrconnel for to his Government they attribute their Misery and acknowledge they never liv'd so well as under the Lirection of the English Rulers nor expected to do so again till they were restored to the Helm See the force of Truth which compels a confession of it even from the mouths of its Adversaries One may easily perceive by our Author's manner of arguing where the Shooe pinches he is really concern'd that Ireland is not altogether an independent Kingdom and in the hands of its own Natives he longs till the day when the English Yoak of Bondage shall be thrown off Of this he gives us broad hints when he tells us that England is the only Nation in the World that impedes their Trade That a man of English interest will never Club with them as he phrases it or Project any thing which may tend to their advantage that will be the least bar or prejudice to the Trade of England Now why a man of English interest unless he will allow none of that Nation to be an able and just Minister to his Prince should be partial to ruine one Kingdom to avoid the least inconveniency of the other contrary to the positive Commands of his King I cannot imagine For since it is the Governour 's Duty to Rule by Law and such Orders as he shall receive from His Majesty I know no grounds for our Author 's Arraigning the whole English Nation in saying That no one man among them of what Perswasion soever will be true either to the Laws or his Majesties positive Orders which shall seem repugnant to the smallest conveniencies of England This is a glory reserv'd only as it seems for his Hero my Lord Tyrconnel The Imbargo upon the West-India Trade and the Prohibition of Irish Cattle are the two Instances given It were to be wished indeed for the good of that Kingdom that both were taken off and I question not but to see a day wherein it shall seem proper to the King and an English Parliament to Repeal those Laws a day wherein they will consider us as their own Flesh and Blood a Colony of their Kindred and Relations and take care of our Advantages with as little grudging and repining I am sure they have the same and no stronger Reason as Cornwall does at Yorkshire There are instances in several Islands in the East-Indies as far distant as Ireland is from England that make up but one Kingdom and Govern'd by the same Laws but the Wisdom of England will not judge it time fitting to do this till we of Ireland be one Man's Children either in Reality or Affection we wish the latter and have made many steps and advances towards it if the Natives will not meet us half way we cannot help it let the Event lie at their own Doors But after all I see not how those Instances have any manner of relation to the English Chief Governours in Ireland they were neither the Causes Contrivers nor Promoters of those Acts. The King and an English Parliament did it without consulting them if they had 't is forty to one My Lord of Ormond and the Council whose stake is so great in Ireland would have hindered it as much as possible Our Author's Argument proves indeed That 't is detrimental to Ireland to be a subordinate Kingdom to England and 't is plain 't is that he drives at let him disguise it as much as he will but the Conclusion he would prove cannot at all be deduced from it Shortly I expect he will speak plainer and in down right terms propose That the two Kingdoms may be Governed by different Kings Matters seem to grow ripe for such a Disloyal Proposition If these Acts and not the subjection to an English King were the Grievances they would be so to the British there as well as to the Natives but tho' we wish them Repealed we do not repine in the mean time if the British who are the most considerable Trading part of that Nation and consequently feel the ill effects of those Acts more sensibly can be contented why the Natives should not acquiesce in it unless it be for the forementioned Reasons I cannot see Our Author allows that there are different ways of obeying the King 't is a Point gained for us and proves there may be such a partiality exercised in executing His Majesty's Commands as may destroy the very intent of them and yet taking the matter strictly the King is obeyed but a good Minister will consider his Masters intention and not make use of a word that may have a double sense to the ruine of a Kingdom nor of a latitude of power wherewith he is intrusted to the destruction of the most considerable Party in it Far be it from us to think it was His Majesties Intention to depopulate a flourishing Country to undo multitudes of laborious thriving Families in it to diminish and destroy his own Revenue to put the Sword into Mad-mens hands who are sworn Enemies to the British No! His Majesty who is willing that liberty of Trade as well as Conscience should equally flourish in all parts of his Dominions that recommends himself to his Subjects by his impartiality in distributing Offices of Trust and from that practice raises his greatest Argument to move his people to Repeal the Penal Laws never intended that some general Commands of his should be perverted to the destruction of that people his intention is to protect His Majesty Great as he is cannot have Two Consciences one calculated for the Latitude of England another for Ireland We ought therefore to conclude in respect to the King that His Commands have been ill understood and worse executed and this may be done as our Author confesses and the King undoubtedly obeyed but such an obedience is no better than a Sacrifice of the best Subjects the King has in this Kingdom Our Author has given very good Reasons why the Natives may be well content with their present Governour but I cannot forbear laughing at those he has found out to satisfie the poor British with My Lord Tyrconnel's most Excellent Charitable English Lady His high sounding Name Talbot in great Letters a Name that no less frightens the Poor English in Ireland then it once did the French a name which because he is in possession of I will not dispute his Title to but I have been credibly informed that he has no relation to that most Noble Family of Shrewsbury though my Lord Tyrconnel presumes to