two Men that rais'd their fortunes in the last Settlement and were making provision for the same Work again and 't is remarkable that 〈…〉 Brother to these here is as 't is said the most active among the Irish at this day and Sir 〈…〉 Houses the only Sacred place from violence in Dublin But of this Intrigue more may be expected and time will shew since the Honourable House of Commons have taken that matter into their prudent Consideration The deplorable Effects and Consequences attending the wrong measures taken for the reduction of that Kingdom are perhaps if duly reflected upon in all their Circumstances more doleful than the Massacre and Rebellion there in Forty One tho' 't is much less considered and it seems a Work becoming the great Council of this Nation to bring the Authors of it to condign punishment But to return to the last debate betwixt Tyrconnel and his Council They were all of them in amaze and in great confusion What to do they knew not all of them were unanimous in their Resolutions to submit except the Lord Chief Justice Nugent and the Lord Chief Baron Rice The Priests put off their Wolves cloathing and in most parts of the Kingdom turn'd Sparks with their Swords by their sides and Perriwigs upon their Heads In this Month the Irish assembled together in great Bodies by the name of Raperees armed with Slâ—eens and Half Pikes and what Robberies they left unacted upon the English in the Relation aforementioned those they now compleated killing their Cattle and robbing and pillaging their Houses Now their new Levies were Mustering every day and their Priests exercising the fresh rais'd Soldiers and Hamilton's Arrival from England put them upon new resolutions which necessitated the English to fortifie themselves and to associate together for their ownpreservation against which Proclamations were issued out in the North and at London-derry and then followed the same in other parts of the Kingdom commanding them home to their respective Dwellings and that such as did not immediately observe the Proclamation should be proceeded against by the Attorney General as Traytors This Proclamation was signed by several Protestants of the Privy-Council which was fatal to the English in regard that it possessed many of them with a belief that there was not so much danger as they were afraid of and others it put in fears of the Law. So that upon the whole matter they were diverted from any thoughts of making their defence and so were dispersed and scattered up and down and by that means became an easie Prey to the Irish Every day brought in new hopes and fears so that some got together again of the English near Kilkenny and the Queens County who were soon dispersed Still the Lord Deputy and Council remained in suspence what to resolve upon when upon a suddain they came to a conclusion whâ—â—h might quiet the Irish Lords that were for submission to the Prince and Government of England The Project was this That two Men should be pitched upon and sent over to the late King James in France only to set forth the impossibility of their holding out against England and then they were sure to obtain permission to make terms and so might surrender But this was a Jesuitical Stratagem contrived by Rice and Neagle and as one of them brag'd since carry'd on without the privity of any but the Lord Deputy and themselves For they were afraid of the Cowardly Temper of the rest whose inclinations were favourable enough to the Cause but wanted Courage and Resolution The Scheme being thus laid 't was moved at Conncil and took with general Applause Rice and the Lord Mountjoy were pitched upon to be sent and in the conclusion of this Affair at Council-Board the Lord Chief Justice Keating believing now that their hopes of King James were over thought to begin with the first to shew his Zeal and Affection to the Protestant Cause and in order to that moved that since they were resolved on this method that his Excellency would put a stop to the raising Men which was agreed to but not in the least observed Mountjoy and Rice proceed in their Negotiation year 1688 and take Shipping at Waterford but before they arrived at Paris the French Engineer Landed at Corke and from thence rid with all expedition for Dublin Then the face of things looked with a far different prospect to what they had done before and those little hopes which had supported the English till this time did now evaporate into nothing which put them upon a necessity of associating together and of getting into Castles and the best places of strength they had for the defence and preservation of their Lives In Connaught the Lord Kingstone behaved himself like the Son of so Noble a Father whose hand the Irish had felt in the former Rebellion In the North Sir Arthur Royden did the like but a fate attended him that he could not divert In Munster the English were thought to be more considerable than in any part of Ireland both for Horse and Foot of the latter more than three thousand and numbers of brave Gentlemen of gallant Courage and resolution and of will enough to back it to have drove the Irish out of that Province and to have march'd through the Kingdom Cork Bandon Kingsale and Youghall being offered to be delivered into their hands which was so openly and indiscreetly managed that it became the publick discourse for a Month together in every Coffee house in Dublin At this time there were not seven hundred old Soldiers in the whole County of Corke which forc'd Justin Mac Carthy to write daily to Tyrconnel that he could not hold out without a speedy supply of Men which yet Tyrconnel could not spare for he was afraid of an insurrection in the North and 't was believ'd in Dublin that if they in Munster had done any thing all parts of Ireland had been secure in the English hands except Lynster for that Tyrconnell could have spared none of his own Forces from himself and the new raised men then knew not the right from the left if same be true The fault lay but in two Men but that being publick time will shew it and my work here is to relate nothing but what there is good authority for Matters were now reduced to that extremity year 1688 that no course remained to preserve the English but that of making their escape for they were disarmed in one day throughout the Kingdom and that order executed with so much rigour that few persons of whatsoever quality were permitted to wear their Swords In the Corporations they shut up the Gates and suffered none to pass in or out without searching them strictly for arms and when they came to search in their Houses under pretence that the English had conceal'd their Arms they sometimes seiz'd upon what Plate or Money they could meet with during this hurly-burly which lasted for several days together
these Infamous Wretches whose Mercies are Cruelty to Tyrconnel's first steps in the Government as Lord Deputy in relation to which I shall now usher in at once the removing of the Judges though some of them were turned out before Tyrconnel came to the Sword As Sir Standish Harston Baronet one of the Barons of the Exchequer Sir Richard Reynolds Baronet one of the Judges of the King's-Bench and Johnson one of the Judges of the Common-Pleas The Consult was in London before Tyrconnel came to the Government whether the Judges should not be turned out before the Earl of Clarendon was removed to represent him odious to the People if he complyed or disobedient to the King if he seemed unwilling in the matter as they believed he would For they observed that he and the Lord Chancellor Porter began to startle at the Commands from England before they received any account of their removal and Porter publickly declared That he came not over to serve a turn nor would act any thing against his Conscience and as a Testimony of this he found at his return to London that he could not without some difficulty obtain the favour of kissing the King's hand but at length gaining admittance he humbly asked the King What he had done that he was so used For it had been a considerable expence to him to remove his Family To which the King replyed That 't was his own fault which was an expression not very unintelligible Porter went several times after to Court and stood in the King's Eye but he never vouchsafed to speak to him or to take the least notice of him But to come to the Judges it was not thought safe to turn them all out nor any more of them till the Government was in a hand that was Catholick For some of the Council I mean the Cabal were afraid of proceeding in their design too fast especially Powis who urged a slow Progress as accounting it most safe and this made him not be confided in as to their secret and blacker Designs though in his Lady they reposed an intire Confidence as being thought the greatest Politician among them and were not a little ambitious that the Earl of Shaftsbury in the Popish Plot had given her that Character This Debate concerning the Judges was long and often some were for making a clear riddance and to have the Reformation begin in the Courts of Judicature They having already the Military part of the Government in their hands might with greater Facility secure the Civil But the moderate Party prevailed and one in a Court to colour the actions of the rest must be left But that which stuck with them was that Sir William Davis Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench must not be moved for two Reasons The First was That he had been of the Duke's Party in the time of the Popish Plot behaving himself so loyal that he had been sent over if Dissolving the Parliament had not preserved him but this was the least part of his Strength The Second therefore and most prevalent Inducement was his Marriage with the Countess of Clancarthy whose Son had Married the Earl of Sunderland's Daughter and Sunderland was to be denied nothing Besides Sir William Davis was a Diseased infirm man given over for some years and to expedite his Journey for another World for he was a thoughtful man his Brother Judge Nugent the first Popish Judge that was put in pass'd Patent for Sir William Davis's place of Lord Chief Justice in reversion a sad Presage in those times where men must die when and how their Adversaries pleased This being resolved the choice was soon made Lord Chief Baron Hen makes way also for Rice and in Rice's room Sir Linch succeeds in the Common-Pleas In the High Court of Chancery was placed Sir Alexander Fitton a man notorious on Record so exempts me from the pains of giving the Reader a Character of him in this place but little regard was to be had to the man so long as he was fitted to that interest which was then promoting it being very remarkable That of what Perswasion soever they were which they employed at this time they chose men of the most branded Reputations and whose Principles were such as could brave Conscience The three Protestant Judges had their several Capacities and Inclinations for their Service the Lord Chief Justice Davis I speak not of for he was decreed to die and did soon after but the three Standards for the Cause were the Lord Chief Justice Keating for the Common-Pleas Lyndon for the King's-Bench and Baron Worth for the Exchequer The Lord Chief Justice Keating had always been a Servant of the Duke of Yorks was a Native of the place as the Irish call them his Family for many Ages there and Naturalized into Irish he was somewhat accounted to be Popishly inclined and therefore that Party thought themselves sure of him but he was a person of more sense than to pursue the Chace with greater expedition than safety He was rich and single and small hopes would not spur him on to an indiscreet forwardness however as to the main they questioned not his Affection to the Cause Lyndon though in his affection no friend to the Irish Government yet lay under the powerful temptation of a numerous Family and his not abounding in Riches made him the more Passive though he behaved himself the best of the three and when it laid in his power shewed himself an English-man Baron W was the Man they most depended upon and he was so well known that year W 't was in vain to pretend indifferency nor did he but was the first man in the Exchequer where there was more business than in all the Courts besides that struck the fatal blow in all Causes where the English were concerned as in the Sequel will appear in the Charters and private Causes of the English that came before him The Courts being thus setled the next thing year 1687 to be performed was calling in the Charters and here Tyrconnel endeavoured to proceed in the same method that the Lords Justices had done before in perswading the City to deliver up their Arms. But one art in State-Policy could not easily be imposed twice in a year and the English had a fresh Impression upon their Memories by what plausible perswasive Rhetorick they had been cajoled out of their Arms and now to have a like Delusion pass upon them in depriving them of their Laws was a colour not natural enough to deceive them a second time However this was the method of the proceeding Tyrconnel during the Lord Clarendon's Government had procured the King's Letter that all Roman Catholicks should be admitted into the freedom of all the Corporations of the Kingdom which Letter was artfully contrived with a great deal of sweetness and of endearing expressions as that it proceeded from his Majesty's great care of the general good of the Kingdom and was graciously designed by
A Full and Impartial Account Of all the SECRET CONSULTS Negotiations Stratagems and Intriegues OF THE Romish Party IN IRELAND From 1660 to this present Year 1689. For the Settlement of Popery in that Kingdom LONDON Printed for Richard Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard M DC LXXX IX TO THE READER TO Preface to the ensuing Pamphlet will I am sensible be attributed to a vain humour of the Age rather than to more important Considerations But however that may be the Apprehension of some yet the more Judicious will I doubt not be of another Opinion when they perceive a whole Series of the most profound Policies and Designs drawn with that rudeness and disproportion as equally requires their Candour as well as my Apology Indeed to give an exact pourtraicture of this Intriegue which in all its circumstances appears very extraordinary and surprizing would require Apelles his favourable chance or at least a more Artificial Representation than must be expected in the following Discourse All that I can pretend to is an Impartial Account of the Matter of Fact and that being chiefly aimed at will with sober Men be in some sort at least interpreted A Dispensation for the want of exteriour Ornament or however that may prove I deem'd it much more serviceable to the Publick to present the Reader with this rough draught rather than conceal that which with what imperfection soever 't is managed must needs be useful to all Protestants and especially at this Juncture For here the Reader has an Account of the first steps that were made in Ireland for the Introduction of Popery into that Kingdom together with a Description of what obstacles and repulses this Design met with how 't was still carried on notwithstanding its frequent Interruptions and Discouragements and by what private Cabals and after what secret Machinations Here is represented the admirable diligence of an indefatigable Romish Genius for the promotion of the Catholick Cause which in several periods of State and vicissitudes of that Government still kept its design on foot sometimes retreating a few paces backward when they found it necessary and at others not only retrieving that disadvantage but continuing a greater Progress when they met with occasions favourable to their Design which at last they carefully improved to that ripeness wherein it now stands and to which it has attained by an unparallel'd Violation of the Laws and Constitutions of the Realm by the most violent and unjust Proceedings in the Reign of the late King James of which you have an ample and copious Relation in the following Sheets Full and Impartial Account Of all the SECRET CONSULTS Negotiations Stratagems and Intriegues OF THE Romish Party in Ireland from 1660 to this present Year 1689. for the Settlement of Popery in that Kingdom c. WHEN the natural Consequent of our late intestine Differences had in a short time produced so many various Scenes of Government till by a circular Motion we center'd in our first Model and so like Pythagoras his transmigration of Souls were metamorphosed into so many differing Shapes till at last in the Year One thousand six hundred and sixty we became animated with our first Dispositions to Monarchy by the Restoration of King Charles the Second then it was that several Disputes arose which were Debated before the King and Council concerning the Settlement of Ireland the Lord of Santry Lord Chief Justice of Ireland a Man equally eminent for Law as well as Loyalty in an excellent and learned Speech represented to the Board the horrid Rebellion of Ireland together with those Barbarous and Inhumane Massacres which he had been an eye Witness of In Opposition to which Sir Nicholas Plunkett a Man also very skilful in the Law but a Knight of the Pope's making and one that had acted his part in all the Rebellion of Ireland assumed the Defence of the Natives of that Kingdom but as his Cause was too apparently bad to be maintained with any tolerable Success so was his Understanding in the Law inferiour to the Lord Chief Justice Santry's who carried the Debate with great Applause in the Opinion of all that heard it and had his Advice been accordingly pursued 't was thought few of the Irish would have got their Estates and at that time if by mistake the Lord of Ormond and Lord Anglesey had not joined with the Court-Party 't was believed that what the Lord Santry urged as Law must have prevailed in point of Right for in those days the Interest of the Duke of York which afterwards grew to a mighty height as you will perceive by the Sequel was not so powerful as to have prevented it That which he chiefly insisted upon as to matter of Law was That 't was most agreeable to the Law of the Land as well as most equal for the Subject to be Tried by the Common Law where they would meet with a fair and indifferent Tryal by Juries of their Neighbours and in this case could have no wrong done them but that the Court of Claims was like the Usurper's High-Court of Justice Arbitrary and Unlimited This touch'd the Irish to the quick for they being conscious of their Guilt most of 'em Indicted and Outlawed for Treason despaired upon their Trial at the Bar to make any considerable Defence The Government of Ireland was first put into year 1660 the hands of Lords Justices which were Sir Maurice Eustace Lord Chancellor the Earl of Mountrath and the Earl of Orrery the first a Lawyer the latter Men that had signally behaved themselves against the Irish during the whole Rebellion Under the Government of these Men a Parliament was called in the City of Dublin and the Convention which sat upon the King's Restoration dissolved The first thing they proceeded upon were the Bills sent them from England for by the Law of Ireland Intituled Poyning's Act the Parliament of Ireland can read no Bill in their House which proceeds not by these Steps First The Chief Governour and Council of Ireland draw up a Bill and send it over to the King and Council in England who either approve or correct it as they think convenient and so in the second place return it back to the Chief Governor and Council and these send it to the House of Commons who have only a Negative Voice and can neither alter nor amend a word of it This by way of Digression which differing so much from the Practice of the Parliament of England induced me not to think it altogether unpleasant or unnecessary to present the Reader with this brief Account of it But to return to the Parliament the variety of interests in that Kingdom gave birth to several Disputes among them for the accommodating whereof it was thought necessary at Court to send over a Lord Lieutenant for about this time a great Controversie arose among all Parties which was founded upon this occasion A new interest was set on foot in
as refus'd to joyn with them to that extravagant height were accounted Persons disaffected to the Government called Fanatick and Oliverian Dogs with the like Expressions of Calumny and Reproach But this was not all the most judicious of them were now so animated in their hopes that 't was impossible for them to bear them any longer with moderation or to contain themselves from the most violent Outrages and from instigating the Rabble to steal from and rob the English which at first was looked upon as the most Expeditious Contrivance whereby to expel them the Kingdom The Duke of Ormond foresaw what was now past remedy and told a Friend of his that nothing could now preserve the English but a precipitateness of the Irish For said he let my Countreymen alone and they will spoil their own business And so indeed they had in any time but this when it might be said according to our Saviour's Prediction That the time was come when they that destroyed the Protestants thought they did God service King James and his former but now more especial Favourites the Irish were now equally furious in their course and seemed to contend the one in his Commands the other in their forward Obedience which should exceed in their joynt design of extirpating Heresie The Duke year 1684 of Ormond was called over but before his departure laboured with an Indefatigable diligence to establish matters on such a foundation so as that it might not be easie for them to create a present change without a manifest violation and infringement of the Laws and Constitutions of the Kingdom The new Hospital a stately Fabrick near Dublin erected for poor Soldiers would he foresaw be made a Nest for Hornets which to prevent as well as possible he sate several days with the Council and Judges in private in the Castle and there made all the provision that could be for it against the imminent storm One remarkable Passage I must not omit to mention which demonstrates the great spirit of that excellent person At the aforesaid Hospital he appointed a Dinner for all the Officers of the Hospital and the Officers of the Army then in Dublin which being over he took a large Glass of Wine in his hand bid them fill it to the brim then stood up and called to all the Company Look here Gentlemen they say at Court I am now become an Old Doating Fool you see my Hand doth not shake nor does my Heart fail nor doubt but I will make some of them see their Mistake and so drank the Kings Health But upon his Arrival at Court found that King James's Bigotted Opinion would carry him to the most violent actions a dismal apprehension whereof as is believed at length broke his heart for though he was of a great Age yet was he of such health of Body and cheerfulness of mind that in course of nature he might have lived Twenty Years longer as his Mother did 'T was plain that the Irish could fasten no Calumnies upon him when the first thing they reproached him with was Cheating the Army in building the Hospital and that Robinson the Architect had inriched himself by it when indeed not to lessen any thing of his due Character Robinson shewed the parts of an Excellent Artist in the Contrivance and of an Honest Man in the Charge as men of Value and Experience in Building affirm Upon the Duke of Ormond's removal the Government year 1685 was put into the hands of the Lord Primate and the Lord Granard in the Quality of Lords Justices The Irish fell immediately to their old trade of making Plots but with this difference That whereas they had formerly been the Actors themselves they now placed them upon the English which they daily impeached of designs against the King and the Government The Grandees had the confidence to appear in Vindication of such Evidence as was given against the English though it was altogether as unreasonable as untrue and press'd the Lords Justices for Orders of Council to empower Irish Papists and Mongrel Protestants to examine them and to commit if they saw cause without Bail any person impeached This Arbitrary Power the Lords Justices and Council would not agree to yet were so hectored and insulted upon by them that they issued out Orders of Council to examin and commit but always they were directed to Protestants which wearied the Irish of that Stratagem One thing has been omitted which was that before the Duke of Ormond left the Government an Order came for regulating the Council which he left for the Justices to do and most of the English that were active of the Privy Council were turned out but as yet no Irish Papists put in The Irish Lords and Gentry repaired in great numbers to Dublin and as well Gentry as Commonalty of the Natives in all places reproached the Protestants and their Religion with all the Calumnies and Impious Reflections that the rankest Satyrists could invent At Leslip seven Miles from Dublin the Lord Clanriccard Sir Valentine Browne now created a Viscount by the late King James Colonel Moore and some others upon their Knees drank Confusion to all Protestants and their Religion This was taken notice of and the wiser sort of their Party blamed these Men for their forwardness as judging it could not be safe to go on so fast but to stifle the noise of it such as were Eye-witnesses of the Fact and threatened for not Pledging the Health were seized with Warrants and menac'd with having their Throats cut and the like terrifying Arts if they denied not the thing Sir Standish Harston one of the Barons of the Exchequer was threatened to be eased of his Employment if he took not off his Son-in-Law who reported the matter These daily repeated Insolences of the Irish made the Lords Justices weary of their Government and one of them the Lord Granard writ to England to be dismist But in a Consult of the Papists it was resolved to represent him as a Man fit to be kept in for that his interest was very prevalent in the North among the Scots and had for many years in King Charles's Reign been a Pensioner and had Five Hundred Pounds per Annum given him to distribute among the Presbyterian Clergy of which Perswasion his Lady was For the aforesaid Considerations and besides that he was a Popular Man in the Army 't was judged convenient to retain him in the Government For which end King James writ him a Letter with his own hand with great Promises and assurance that nothing should be acted prejudicial to the Protestant Interest which at that time this Lord was accounted to be zealous for however he has now prevaricated Monmouth's Rebellion soon broke out and year 1685 some were apt to believe that Granard was in suspence who to declare for but the Lord Primate was a person of firm and inviolable Loyalty and his unalterable steadiness hindered the other from deserting These two
Inhumane Expressions very ungrateful to a Christian Ear. These restless Endeavours of the Papists made the Earl of Clarendon find things very uneasie whereunto one Remarkable Passage not a little contributed which was reported to be thus That upon a Sunday Morning going to Church he perceived an Irish Officer he never saw before Commanding his Guard of Battle-Axes that attended his Person which exceedingly surprized him whereupon he made a stop demanding who he was and who put him there The Irish-man for they are naturally Pusillanimous and fearful was as much frighted as the Lord Lieutenant was disturbed but with some difficulty and in broken Expressions occasioned by fear told his Excellency he was a Captain put in by the Lord Tyrconnel His Excellency demanded of him When he replyed That Morning His Excellency bid 'em call the former Captain and dismiss this of Tyrconnel's The next day the Lord Lieutenant sent for Tyrconnel and questioned him for this Action who replyed He did nothing but by the King's Orders to which the Lord Lieutenant returned answer That whilst His Majesty intrusted him with the Government he would not be disposed by his Lieutenant General Complaints on both hands were made to the King and so ended Tyrconnel having compleated his design in modelling the Army goes for England and there consults with his Party to obtain the Government of Ireland The King Queen and Father Petres were for him but the whole Council of Papists oppos'd it still urging how unacceptable he was to the English others therefore were named in private by that Popish Party But all the while the Protestant side were wholly ignorant of any design to remove the Earl of Clarendon not questioning but that he stood upon a firm Foundation namely the Kings late assurance to the Earl of Rochester Lord Treasurer who was seemingly Prime Minister of State but not thought fit to be confided in as to those dark Secrets of the Catholick Designs About this time there was a general metting at the Savoy before Father Petres of the chief Roman Catholicks of England in order to consult what Methods were fittest to be pursued for the promotion of the Catholick Cause The Papists were universally afraid of the King's Incapacity or else unwillingness of exposing himself to the hazard of securing it in his Reign They were sensible that he advanced considerably in Age besides they were not ignorant of what almost insuperable difficulties they had to contend with before they could bring it to any ripeness Wherefore upon these Considerations carefully weighing and ballancing every Circumstance some were for moving the King to procure an Act of Parliament for the security of their Estates and only liberty for Priests in their own private Houses and to be exempted from all Employments This Father Petres Anathematized as Terrestrial and founded upon too anxious a Sollicitude for the preservation of their Secular Interests but if they would pursue his measures he doubted not to see the Holy Church triumphant in England And indeed his Politicks have taken but in a quite different manner than he expected for God be praised a Church triumphs in England as much superiour to his in Holiness as the means of its preservation have been in justice to his which were intended for its destruction Others of the Papists were for addressing the King to have liberty now that they might do it to sell their Estates and that his Majesty would intercede with the French King to provide for them in his Dominions After several Debates it was at last agreed upon to lay both Proposals before the King and some of the number to attend his Majesty with them which was accordingly done to which the King's return was That he had before their Desires came to him often thought of them and had as he believed provided a sure Sanctuary and Retreat 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 yet reason to despair This Encouragement to the Papists in England was attended with the most Zealous Expressions and Catholick Assurances of his Ardent Love to the Holy Church which he said he had been a Martyr for Thus we see how the Bigottry of this unhappy Prince transported him beyond all bounds and carry'd him to such Extravagancies in Government as the moderate of the English Papists themselves thought to be extream hazardous and insecure and would all of them have been content with a private exercise of their Religion as thinking it abundantly more safe rather than endanger the losing their Estates and Fortunes which they almost look'd upon as inevitable if such violent extream courses were followed But alas these self-preserving and the furious Principles of the Jesuits had no Congruity and the King was too much a Creature of the last to attend to any but their Counsels He said he was resolved to die a Martyr rather than not advance the Catholick Cause He had entered himself into the Order of the Jesuits and was become a Lay-Brother of that Society and so in consequence to his Profession must needs look upon it as meritorious to extirpate and destroy Heresie He was told that this would be a most glorious action and doubtless would be Canonized for it To reduce three Kingdoms to an entire obedience to the Holy See which had Apostatized so long and been the Nursery of so many Damned Hereticks who by their Heterodox Doctrines had created so much disturbance to the peace of the most Holy Catholick Church was doubtless the greatest action on this side Heaven and deserved no less than that for its reward No time nor story could parallel this Heroical Atchievement which would be commemorated to Eternal Ages This would be a Work of Supererogation indeed which would not only convey him to Heaven without touching at Purgatory but also lay up such an infinite over-plus of merits as being deposited in the hands of the Church and frugally applyed would not only preserve thousands of others from these Flames but waft them immediately into Abraham's Bosom These or the like we may suppose to have been the constant suggestions of the Jesuits which as they indeavoured to instill into the Kings mind with Tongues as smooth as Oyl and with the most prevailing Flatteries and Artificial Insinuations so on the other hand did he as greedily imbibe these Poisonous Doctrines as they could infuse them and eagerly swallow'd the Bait when all the while the Hook lay conceal'd and he so far intangled till 't was too late to discover it And now how can we suppose that a Prince thus wholly at the Devotion of the Jesuits swayed altogether by their Councils and upon every occasion consulting them as so many Oracles should resist the voice of these Charmers who Charmed so wisely in his byass'd opinion These Syrens kept a very harmonious Consort which they exactly tuned to the Key and accent of this Votary's fanciful
accounted it to be if he stood not in his Majesty's favour The King gave him no other Answer but that he must return to the Lord Deputy and there justifie himself this he reckoned to be hard upon him but waiting upon the Lord Sunderland for some order to carry back upon which he grounded his Trial 't was thought fit to name the Chief Judges to hear and to report back the Matter to the King as they should find it With this order he returns for Ireland together with a Letter of Recommendation from Sunderland to the Lord Deputy praying his Lordship to take Compassion of the Poor Man who was sufficiently mortify'd by what he had already suffered in the loss of his Secretaries Place and that if his Excellency should pursue him farther to the losing of his Commissioners Place in the Customs he was a Ruined Man for that the King had declared if Matters alledged against him were proved he should never have any Employment in his Dominions and in the Close added That Acts of Clemency were suitable to persons of his Excellency's Quality and Station c. But matters were now come to too high a pitch and the breach was too wide ever to be patched up together again as it had been once already by Judge Daly's mediation betwixt them Sheridon or some in his stead had even in Dublin whilst this was transacting spoke contemptibly of the Lord Deputy in order to applaud Sheridon as a Triumphant Conquerour For so the Populace had cryed him up in Dublin and the Protestant Party in Ireland out of Enmity to Tyrconnel which it seems they thought to be the worse man of the two though in reality Sheridon as an Apostate was the greater Villain Upon Sheridon's Arrival at Dublin he repaired to the Castle with his Papers but was not admitted to the presence of the Lord Deputy He then goes to the Custom-house and there sits among his Brethren The next day the Lord Deputy advises with the Judges what to do with him for his Stomach could not digest his enjoying any Place in the Kingdom whilst he continued Chief Governour The Judges Counselled to appoint a Day of Hearing and in the mean time to suspend him from sitting in the Custom-House Sheridon had this order sent him upon which he came to the Castle and disputed his being suspended as if not in the Lord Deputy's Power This Demeanour was an Aggravation to his former and upon farther consulting with the Judges 't was agreed That since much of the proof of Sheridon's Bribery depended upon the Officers concerned in the Revenue 't would be absolutely necessary to heap as much Ignominy and Disgrace upon him in that Province as was possible which to effect the Commissioners of the Customs were sent for and ordered to write to all the Collectors of the Kingdom not to keep any correspondence with Sheridon in regard that he was suspended from acting in the Revenue A day being appointed for Sheridon to come to an Hearing he moved for more time which was readily granted for at this time another blow from Rome came against Tyrconnel which required his best Ministers to divert which was as follows The Earl of Castlemain had for some time been returned from his Embassy to the Pope but was Invested in no Preferment which he complained of to his Holiness which was seconded by Father Peters upon the receipt of whose Letters his Holiness writes over to his Nuncio to Address to the King in his behalf who was as ready to gratifie him in something as the other to embrace it but at present there was no vacancy But to supply that Father Peters takes opportunity to strike at Jeffreys the Lord Chancellor for tampering in the business of Magdalen-College in order to which he roundly acquaints the King That the most effectual course whereby to accomplish his design by 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 deemed of any account if they failed in the least Iota or minutest Circumstance relating to the Catholick Cause This Argument was so pursued with a constant uninterrupted vigour by the Nuncio and Father Peters that 't was brought to the Cabinet and upon the Seventeenth of December at NIght in this Year it was resolved That Jeffreys should be put out and that three of the Lords of the Treasury should be made Lords Commissioners of the Broad Seal and that Castlemain should be Lord Treasurer This Resolve continued not ten days but upon the suddain the Scene changed and Jeffreys fixed more firm than ever The true cause of this was never known but 't was observed that the Queen and Sunderland adhered to him This administred fresh cause of disgust to Castlemain and to the Church Party for now it began to appear that Affairs moved by the French Interest in opposition to that of Rome Such insuperable Difficulties had the Folly of that poor unfortunate King exposed him to His Zeal and Affection led him to adhere to Rome but his dependance was intirely built upon France The Church Cabal embraced the opportunity of the Lord Deputy's and Sheridon's Quarrelling wherein to recommend Castlemain as a fit person for the Government of Ireland representing to the full how injurious those Scandalous Impeachments of the Lord Deputy and Sheridon had been to and how much they had retarded the Progress of the Catholick Cause Farther urging that Tyrconnel had proceeded by too slow a motion and that he had effected nothing but the turning out of a few Soldiers and discourageing and frightening away the Industrious English who might many of them by Indulgence and Encouragement have been prevailed upon to espouse their Religion That Castlemain was a Man of great Parts and of a fine curious Head for the accomplishing of such a Work as the Reducing and Converting of Hereticks This was soon sent to Tyrconnel and by his Pensioner in London Communicated to Paris which the Deputy acquaints his two Grand States-men Rice and Neagle with who to dissipate this approaching Storm sit up Night and Day even to the hazard of Rice's Life who was an Infirm Man. Their whole Consult was as appeared afterwards what Apology to make for their small Proficiency in Proselyting Men to their Religion or at least in indearing them to the espousal of the Romish Cause and Interest and after many Essays the most Authentick was that whilst the English were Masters of their Lands they feared not the Government but as Satan answered in the Case of Job Touch them but in their Estates and they will either run into Treason or Conversion This being resolved upon Rice and Neagle were to draw up the substance of an Act which they did in that nature as gave in a manner the Lands of the whole Kingdom into the power of the King and although the Catholicks were to have but half of their Estates yet the
other part was to be under such Qualifications as that the King might dispose of it to such as he found to be obedient Sons This if the King would have pursued a Parliament they could have had when they pleased fitted for their turn all Corporations being already put into Popish hands and all the Sheriffs of the Counties being Papists would be sure not to make returns to their disadvantage This Consult being come to this ripeness 't was year 1688 concluded that Rice should go over as Plenipotentiary in negotiating this Affair which was mannaged with that privacy and reservedness that not one of the Council knew of it till the Warrant was signed for the Yatcht to carry him over But as soon as this became publick the Lord Chief Justice Nugent flew about like lightening to all his Friends to make an interest to go over with Rice which Neagle and Rice privately opposed for as one of them told the Author he was good for nothing but to spoil a business when nothing could prevail he pretended some affairs of his own and so obtained leave to go over and for the honour of the business was joined with Rice to present that which was publickly to be offered but was not in any part of the cret intriegue to render the undertaking more prosperous For the Deliverance of the Irish Nation they Embark'd upon St. Patrick's Day but considering the bad success they met with they might as well have put him out of their Kalendar as by a particular order from Rome they had formerly done St. Luke because upon that Holy-day the English had obtained a great Victory over them in the last Rebellion But to return to the Irish Embassadors for so they were called here in England over they came and after Rice had paid a Visit to the Jesuits of whose Society he was once a Novice and had been educated in their Colledge he made his first Court to the Lord Sunderland Father Peters he found not favourable to his design but the French Faction was his chief dependance to whom he had always a recourse in his private Consults without communicating any thing to his Colleague whom he kept in great ignorance of the private intriegue of Castlemain against the Lord Deputy 'T was Rice's chief business to possess the Conclave with a great opinion of the Lord Deputy's extraordinary Zeal for the promotion of the Catholick Cause and that he had made a much greater Progress in it before that time if the want of a Parliament and the continuance of the Act of Settlement had not retarded that design without which Rice alledged That 't was impossible to make Converts or to Proselyte any to their Party who thought themselves Masters of the Kingdom whilst they had the Laws on their side and made it their boast That the King durst not attempt to meddle with them So that as Affairs stood there seemed a more rational probability that the Roman Catholicks should condescend to the Protestants than they to the Roman Catholicks Thus was Rice very active and industrious in urging and propagating the intriegue which when it was fully comprehended by his Party Father Peters was with much difficulty influenced so far as to join in it though at first he could not be prevailed upon to hear of it For he was absolutely byass'd for Castlemain's interest and being no Politician but a perfect fury and of an Imperious Temper was wont to contemn every thing that was not his humour But this Project being a work of expedition in Ireland and in his own Style to Convert or Confound the Hereticks there he at last embraced it and when once he became interessed nothing must be done but by his direction and advice so 't was concluded upon that the Project should be laid open before Sunderland and that when he was made Master of it he and Father Peters would wait on the King with it And to oblige Sunderland's more chearful and hearty concurrence in this Affaiâ— he was to be made sensible what signal advantages would be derived to his Lordship from so great a Revolution in that Kingdom a matter which required no great art so to instil it into him as to make it intelligible But notwithstanding Father Peters adherence to this Project yet did he continue in his former Inclinations for removing Tyrconnel And 't was believed that happy difference among the several Romish Factions was the prime occasion of diverting this fatal blow design'd for Ireland The business was in the Closet fully discours'd to the King by none but Sunderland and Peters who with the liberty of a digression I must acquaint the Reader was not infallible in keeping Secrets The King was soon fully inclined to the thing but how to pass it at the Council Hic labor hoc opus est there lay the stress of the business for he was very apprehensive that such as were opposite to Tyrconnel's continuance in the Government of Ireland would be more violent against his being there with a Parliament too great for such a Man whom the Council had in contempt Peters thought he could easily remove that obstacle by introducing the Popes recommendation of Castlemain but over that the French King had laid his hand to whom the poor King was become a Vassal Amidst these difficulties 't was hard to form a resolution but however 't was agreed to that the two Judges should be publickly introduc'd to the King with their project for calling a Parliament in Ireland and to lay at his Majesty's feet the deplorable condition of his Catholick Subjects there occasioned by the palpable injustice and oppression of the Act of Settlement which was so notorious that the vety Protestants themselves were ashamed of it and would gladly part with enough to satisfie the Irish in case that they might have a good Act of Parliament to secure the rest All this was put in practice and they brought to Whitehall where the King received their Project in writing and told them he would advise with his Council about it Now 't was the constant method of King James in any thing of weight or importance to consider it first in the Cabal before 't was proposed at Council-Board yet this thing upon which entirely depended the Settlement or ruine of a Kingdom had not that Sanction but was carried immediately to the Council which was matter of admiration to many but supposed to be done for one of these two Reasons either that the King was conscious that those of the Cabinet would not suffer it to proceed any farther but was in hopes so to influence the Judges and other Tools he had at the Council-Board to vote for it Or else that he would shew his indifferency in the matter that so it might not be thought any private intrigue The King brought this project the first Council-day and in few words acquainted the Council with its importance and contents and by whom presented to him no man spoke a