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
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
to rouse them out to weed them not to rake them over not to tread them down but utterly to root them up this lesson the Tyrant himself taught me for demanding once of him by way of Parable how Land might be freed from certain ravenous Fowls that annoyed it he advised us to watch where they bred and fire their Nests about their Ears let us go then and fall upon these Cormorants which shrowd themselves in our possessions and let us destroy them that neither nest nor root neither seed nor stalk neither branch nor stump remain of this cursed and ungracious Generation He had scarce ended his Oration when the People with shouts of Joy extolled him as the Defender of their Lives and Liberties assuring him of their utmost assistance and so joining their Forces they with a running Camp in a very short time cleared every corner of the 〈◊〉 of the Norwegians razing their Castles to 〈…〉 killing all that resisted and banishing 〈…〉 whereby every Prince again recovered his own Government The Histories of Denmark relate that some time before this Fridlenus King of the Danes arriving in Ireland besieged Dublin but perceiving it hard to take by reason of the strength of the Walls he contrived to catch a number of Swallows who had their Nests in the Houses within the City and tying Wildfire to their feet they flying home set the Houses on Fire which whilst the Citizens endeavoured to quench they entred the City after which Gonno the third King of Denmark though a Pagan Married Thyra Daughter to the Christian King Etheldred of Brittain by whom he had two Sons Canute and Harold who first invaded England and then Ireland where at the Siege of Dublin Canute was slain who for his Valour was so extreamly beloved by his Father that he vowed to kill him with his own hands who should bring him Tydings of his Death Gonno was now very old and blind pleasing himself in nothing more than hearing of the Victories of his Sons when therefore Q. Thyra had notice of her Sons Death which neither she nor any other durst discover to him she contrived to clothe her Husband all in Mourning and prepared all other things usual at a Funeral and then used many lamentable expressions of grief for the loss of some Friend which Gonno perceiving wo is me said he you then fignifie the Death of my Son Canute whereunto she answered that he himself and not she had now discovered the Truth whereupon for grief thereof he instantly gave up the Ghost We find little material in the Irish Chronicles from this time till the Conquest thereof by King Henry the Second which how it was occasioned I shall now relate In the year 1167. Dermot Macmur King of Leinster possessed all the East parts of the Isle along the Seacoasts using great cruelty toward the Lords and Gentry it happened that Morrice King of Meath going far into the Country Dermot in the mean time stole away his Queen by her consent which Morrice upon his return resolving to revenge represented it to Roderick O Conor King of Connaught and Monarch of all Ireland beseeching his assistance against the vile Adulterer the People of Leinster detesting both Dermot and his quarrel for his former Tyrannies universally forlook him so that he was forced to fly to King Henry the Second for succour who was then imployed in his Wars in France Henry had before cast an eye upon Ireland because they always assisted the French with men and Adrian an Englishman being now Pope he obtained his consent for the Conquest thereof upon condition of reducing the Inhabitants to Christianity who were almost turn'd barbarous at this very time Dermot offered him his service of which he was very joyful but having Wars with France he had not opportunity to go with him and therefore taking an Oath of Fidelity and Obedience from him he took him into his Protection and for his more speedy assistance sent him into England honourably attended with Letters Patents to this effect ' Henry King of England Duke of Normandy and Aquitain and Earl of Anjou to all our Faithful Subjects Englishmen Normans Welchmen and Scots and to all other Nations whatsoever subject to our Dominion fendeth Greeting When these Letters shall come to your hands know ye that we have received Dermot Prince of Leinster into the bosom of our Grace and Benevolence wherefore whosoever of our loving Subjects within our Dominions will aid assist and restore him as our Leige-man and Faithful Subject be you assured that you have not only our license but shall receive our favour and thanks for the same with these Letters he arrived at Bristow where he agreed with Richard Strongbow Earl of Pembroke to give him his only Daughter in Marriage for which the Earl was the next Spring to settle him in his Kingdom which was to descend to him in right of his Wife after Dermots decease in the mean time Robert Fitz Stephens and Maurice Fitz-Gerald his Brother Gentlemen of Wales promised Dermot that if he would assure them an Estate in the Town of Wexford for ever they would assist him to begin the recovery of his Country while the Earl of Pembroke was providing stronger Forces and accordingly Dermot going over privately before they with Thirty Knights Sixty Esquires and Three Hundred Archers landed in Ireland being the first Englishmen that ever came thither and marching toward Wexford Dormet met with them with five Hundred Men and joining their Forces they soon took the Town of Wexford which was freely given to Fitz Stephens according to their Covenant and their Army daily increasing they prevailed so much that Roderick the Monarch assembled all the Petty Kings to defend their Country at length an Agreement was made whereby Dermot was restored to his former Estate and more Forces arriving from England Dermot incouraged thereby resolved to be revenged of those of Dublin who had been great Enemies to him and his Father and marching thither they soon submitted themselves to him Now arrived the Earl of Pembroke with a considerable aid wherewith he made such notable Conquests that King Henry growing jealous of his greatness sent an Edict to recal all the English out of Ireland but the troubles raised by Thomas Becket Arch-bishop of Canterbury hindred the Prosecution thereof Pembroke was then in Dublin where he was closely besieged by the Irish under Roderick Dermot dying some time before and was at last reduced to such extremity that they resolved to Sally forth and dye like men rather than starve and so issuing out with not above two or three hundred men they valiantly assaulted their Enemies Camp consisting of near Thirty Thousand with so much resolution that with great slaughter of them they obtained a Glorious Victory chasing their Enemies till night came on and then returning Triumphantly with abundance of Provisions and Rich Spoil into the City Roderick himself hardly escaping with his Life after which the Earl of
afforded none at all for a long time though the Fryars in their white Habits went in Solemn Procession and threw Holy Water therein It would be almost endless to give a particular account of all the Detestable Cruelties and Murders acted by these incarnate Devils upon the Innocent English of whom they destroyed near three Hundred Thousand in a few Months being chiefly Animated thereto by their Villainous Priests upon the account of their Religion and therefore they often declared their Despight to the Bible as being directly contrary to their Cursed Principles and Practices In one place they burnt two English Bibles saying It was Hell Fire they burnt They laid another in a puddle of Water and then stamping on it said a Plague on it This Bible hath bred all the quarrel A Rebel perswaded a Man and his Wife to joyn with them in the Massacre who protested that rather than they would forsake their Religion they would dye upon the Sword 's point he would then have had the Woman burn her Bible but she refused saying she would rather dye than do it Whereupon they were both cruelly Murthered they Murthered Mr. Bingham a Famous Minister and cutting off his Head put a Gag in his Mouth and laying the leaf of a Bible before him bid him Preach saying his Mouth was open and wide enough During these horrid Barbarities there were several Indications of Divine Displeasure apparent in divers places the truth of which was sworn to and affirmed by Witnesses of Credit and Reputation As in the Province of Munster near the Silver Works where while the Rebels were Massacring a great number of Protestant Men Women and Children on the Lords Day Afternoon a most Loud and Dreadful Noise and Storm of Thunder Lightning Wind Hailstones and Rain happened though it was fair all the Day before which much affrighted the Murtherers themselves who confess it to be a sign of Gods Anger against them for their Bloody Cruelty At Portnedown Bridge where so many thousand Protestants were drowned the remaining Inhabitants were so Terrified with the noise of Spirits and Visions for Revenge that they durst not continue thereabout and some of the Rebels themselves said to others that the Blood of some of those that were knockt on the Head and afterward drowned in this River remained on the Bridge and could not be washt away There appeared sometimes Men sometimes Women Breast high in the River with Hands lifted up crying out with fearful Schreicks and Voices Revenge Revenge Revenge and it was not long ere Divine Justice overtook them Many thousands of the most Notorious Murtherers who perished by the Sword and Plague that followed it so that it was computed that in a few years scarce any of these Miscreants remained alive but were sent to their own place to give an account of their Tremendous Brutalities The King having made a Truce with the Scots who were entred with an Army into England to demand the Redress of their Grievances and the Forces on both sides being Disbanded he made a Journey into Scotland in the beginning of August 1641. and continued there till the latter end of October when this Horrid Rebellion happened Owen O Covally the first Discoverer of the Plot brought the first Letters to London and received as a Reward 500 l. in Money and an Annuity of 200 l. a year and presently the Parliament provided for the Relief of Ireland and the Lords of the Council and the Lords Justices there had with the Arms that were in Dublin Armed many well-affected Gentlemen and several Active Commanders were sent out of the City to defend the adjoyning Places from the Approach of the Rebels at which time the Parliament sent over Twenty Thousand Pounds for a present supply but could not relieve them with any Forces till December following when Sir Simon Harcourt Arrived with Seasonable Supplies of men and money and Raised the Seige of Drogheda which had been much straitned by Sir Phelim O Neal and the Rebels and the English recovered Dundalk Neury and several other Towns and Castles out of their Hands But though the Rebellion brake out in October 23. Yet the King who was now returned from Scotland did not proclaim them Rebels till Jan. 1. following and then gave strict Command that only 40 Proclamations should be printed and that none of them should be Published without the Kings Express Order which the Parliament among other things afterwards Taxed him with Who Replyed thereto That he was unwilling to make the Irish Desperate and utterly undoe his Protestant Subjects who were then too weak to withstand so Potent a Rebellion and that the Lords Justices of Ireland required only 20 as many of themselves well knew Yet this proceeding unhappily increased the Jealousies that began to arise between the King and his English Parliament because it was publickly discourst that it had not been done at all but that some Worthy Protestant Lords had earnestly advised him to proclaim them speedily that a better course might be taken against them and to wash off that foul Stain from himself by prosecuting severely those wicked Villains who reported every where That they had Authority from the King to Seise upon the Holds of the English Protestants that they were the Queens Souldiers and rise to maintain the Kings Prerogative against the Puritan Parliament of England That they told the poor Protestants it was for no purpose to fly for safety into England for that Kingdom would be as much distrest as theirs and that the King intended to forsake his Parliament in England and make War against them and that then they would come over having done their their Work in Ireland and help the King against his English Parliament The Lords therefore advised him by all means to purge himself of these Accusations than which there could not be greater on Earth Soon after the Earl of Leicester was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland the Earl of Strafford being Beheaded some time before at Tower Hill But the Relief of that Bleeding Kingdom was much obstructed by the wide Breaches which daily happened between the King and the Parliament particularly upon his going Jan. 4. Attended with 300 Armed Gentlemen into the H. of Commons and Demanding 5 Members to be delivered him which the Parliament declared to be An High Breach of their Priviledges a great Scandal to the King and his Government a Seditious Act manifestly tending to the Subversion of the Peace and an Injury and Dishonour to the said Members there being no Legal charge or accusation against them and that there could be no Vindication of those Priviledges unless his Majesty would discover the Names of those who advised him to such unlawful Courses After this the Parliament considered of a Bill for Pressing Souldiers to be sent out of Scotland to Ireland as being near but the King excepted against it while it lay in the House of Lords as a Diminution to his Prerogative Whereupon the Parliament in
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
Besiege Dungannon but finding little hopes of reducing it quickly he resolves to go to Kilkenny and the Marquess of Ormond and the Lord Inchequeen retiring without hindring his March he took in several strong Towns and Forts and at length Attacks Kilkenny with such Vigor that he took it in 6 days time after which he Besieges Clonmell a strong Garrison during which Colonel Reynolds and Hewson attack Trim and the Lord Broghill Defeats the Bishop of Ross who designed to relieve Clonmell which soon after was taken by Assault and a great carriage made because of their Obstinacy in defending the same After this Cromwell having in 10 Months done the Work of so many years returns to England and Colonel Ireton being made Lord Deputy is sent over thither there being only Lymrick Waterford Galloway and some few Castles in the hands of the Irish the first of which was Surrendred to him Oct. 29. 1651. But he dying Collonel Edmond Ludlow Succeeded him as Lieutenant General of the Army of that Kingdom The War was now almost at at end and the Lord Claurivard being in Galloway sends a Letter to Ludlow to desire him to appoint Commissioners to meet with others for the composure and conclusion of this wasting bloody War which Ludlow refused but sent him word That if the Irish would submit they should have such Articles and Conditions as were fit for them This prevailed on several Parties as the Lord Muskerries Fitz Patricks and the Odroyrs to come in and submit upon condition they might Transport their Forces into the Service of the King of Spain The Earl of Ormond and the Lord Inchequeen not pleased with the sace of Affairs left that Kingdom some time before and went to France and in 1652. the remaining Irish under the Lord Clanrick and having received several Defeats by the English Forces May 12. Galloway was Surrendred and afterward the whole Country was Reduced to the Obedience of the English Parliament Sir Phelim O Neal the Arch-Rebel being likewise taken Hanged and Quartered The last of the Irish who held out in the Boggs and Fastnesses was General O Brian who at length finding the weakness of his Party and weary of his sculking condition obtained the usual Articles of Transportation upon which Articles it was reckoned that from the year 1652. to 1653. near 27000. Irish had departed the Kingdom and the rest were Transported into the Province of Connaught environed on one side by the Sea and lockt up by Rivers and Garrisons on the other out of which they were not to stir under a severe penalty By this means the Country was much Depopulated and the Lord Fleetwood and the Commissioners in Ireland sent over Letters that some English Colonies might be sent thither to inhabit great Priviledges being offered to them that would Transport themselves and accordingly went over to better their Fortunes and in a short time this Harassed and Ruinated Kingdom began to flourish again both in Tillage Buildings and all other Accomodations I have been very brief in relating any thing of the Affairs of England or of the Actions of Oliver Cromwell in this Kingdom having already published 2 Books one the History of the Wars of England with all the most Remarkable passages till the Death of King Charles I. And his Tryal and last Speech at large And another called the History of the Life and Actions of Oliver Cromwell with his Death and Burial both of the same value with this to which I refer the Reader for further satisfaction In 1654. The Lord Fleetwood was Sworn Lord Deputy of Ireland Serjeant Steel was made Lord Chancellor and Serjeant Pepys Lord Chief Justice Collonel Hammond Corbet with others being made of the Privy Council they ordered that March 1. 1654. should be the longest time allowed to the Irish to Transport themselves out of that Kingdom under very severe penalties But a while after Oliver Cromwell having taken the Government upon himself with the Title of Lord Protector in July 1655. Henry Cromwell his Son was made by him Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the place of the Lord Fleetwood all things still continuing very quiet there The same year Arch-Bishop Usher of Armagh dyed a Prelate of incomparable Learning and Piety upon whose Funeral the Protector expended 200 l. After the Death of Oliver Cromwell his Son Richard Succeeded but in a short time was removed from the Government by M. General Lambert and the Army and the Remnant of the Long Parliament restored in 1659. who sent Dispatches to the Lord Henry to Surrender the Government of Ireland to Chancellor Steel and Lord Chief Baron Corbet which he did without opposition and to oblige the Parliament the more signified by an Express that he was preparing to come for England with all speed to give them an account of that Kingdom which he had left in a very good conditon and hoped that his Successor might reap more Content in the Government than he hath found After his Arrival he applyed himself to the Council of State and had Liberty by an Order to go into the Country or whither he pleased But the Nation being Discontented at the continual Fluctuations of the Government the Long Parliament being soon after turned out again by the Army the People generally desired a Free Parliament And General Monk marching out of Scotland with his Army and Reinstating the Parliament and restoring the Excluded Members in March 1659. they Dissolved themselves having sent out Writs for Electing a New Representative to meet April 25 following and about the same time Sir Charles Coot in Ireland declares himself for a Free Parliament and thereupon possest himself of Dublin Castle having before Surprized Galloway from Collonel Sadler in this manner He invited him and his Officers all Zealots for the long Parliament to his House over the Water to be merry which done Sir Charles pretended a desire to drink a glass of Wine in Galloway privately with the Collonel So they two Secretly took a Boat with each a Servant and being on the other side Sir Charles said Collonel Sadler I am resolved for a Free Parliament and to have this Garrison you have a Sword about you draw and fight or else ingage your Honour you will make no disturbance in the Town upon our Admission and my Declaration To which Sadler Surprized and Troubled answered He would Acquiesce upon this he caused the Gate to be opened and Sir Charles having declared himself the Souldiers cryed out A Coot a Coot and a Free Parliament After this he secured Sadler and Sir Hardress Waller at Dublin and immediately all Ireland declared themselves satisfied in this Change offering their Lives and Fortunes in the Defence of the Parliament then Assembled and soon after a Convention was called at Dublin in Nature of a Parliament to provide for the safety of the Kingdom from whence the Lord Shannon Sir John Clothworthy and Major Aston were sent as Commissioners to England where the Parliament
he would allow them and at the same time gave Orders for the great Guns and Mortars to be ready if they refused to consent to them who seeing the Generals resolution and finding no other remedy at length Octo. 3. the Articles of Capitulation were signed consisting of 2 parts The first relating to Civil Affairs which were signed by the Lord Justices the General and the Persons deputed by the Garrison The other in reference to Military Affairs which were subscribed by the Generals on both sides Such of the French and Irish as had a mind to pass the Seas were to have Liberty for their present convenience to stay in the English Town and Island till they could be shipt away and the Castles of Ross Clare with all other Places and Castles that were then in possession of the Irish were forthwith to be delivered to the English In pursuance of this Agreement one Gate of the Town was delivered up that Evening and the next day the Lord Cutts marched into the Irish Town and took possession of it with seven Regiments of Foot At this very time nows came that divers French Men of War with Transport Ships were on the Coasts and endeavoured to put into some places distant from Lymerick either not knowing the Harbours or being uncertain how affairs stood there but at length it seems they had certain knowledge that Lymerick had submitted and upon what Terms and one Article being That such of the Irish and French as had a mind to leave the Kingdom and go to France might stay to expect a free Passage thither without distirbance the French being hereby asured not to be attacked by our Men of War they boldly appeared on the Coasts of Kerry being about twenty five Men of War and twenty five Transport Ships with some Fire-Ships having aboard 1000 Arms Wine Brandy and other Provisions And that it might be thought their design in coming was only to carry off the Frenh and Irish that were unwilling to stay Monsieur D'Vssen the late French Governour took the first opportunity to give notice of them to M. G. Talmash who was appointed by the General to command in Lymerick whereupon it being judged most convenient that they should Transport themselves in French Ships than to trust ours in the Enemies Port The Transport Ships were admitted to come into the River Shannon but the Men of War and Fire ships to keep out at Sea and those Transport-Ships to have Liberty to take on board such as would freely imbarke But the Irish Noblemen and Gentlemen having been made too sensible of the French insolency in their own Countrey resolved not to trust to their kindness in France and therefore many of them as well as some Chiefs of the Rapparees came in and freely took the Oath of Fidelity to their Maiesties But others being promised great advantages in France were persuaded by Sarsfield Sheldon and other Commanders to imbark with them and make their Fortunes in the service of the Late K. James Nov. 1. The Irish intirely left the English Town of Lymerick and part of them went aboard the French Ships one of which that carried 400 Men with several valuable goods ran upon a Rock and about 100 were drowned Dec. 22. The remainder of the Irish being about 2600 Men Women and Children were by Sarsfield imbarqued from Cork to France though he thought to have carried off a far greater number but several whole Regiments deserted him upon advice of the ill Treatment the Irish already landed in France had received where the Officers were generally displaced or made to serve in lower Stations and French men put over their heads After this Coll. Foulk Governour of Dublin had Orders to disband the Irish Regiments that came over to us upon the surrender of Lymerick except 1400. who were sent into the service of the Emperor of Germany Ireland being thus happily reduced to the Obedience of their Majesties General Ginkle went to Dublin where he and the rest of the gallant Commanders were received with a general joy and the highest marks of respect to their merits who had been so serviceable to the Kingdom Soon after the General imbarqued for England and was received very graciously by Their Majesties and created Earl of Athlone the Parliament likewise sending their thanks to him for his good services desiring him to communicate the same to all the Officers that served under him in this Expedition And he together with them was highly entertained with a noble Treat by the City of London The Lords Justices were very diligent to settle matters in Ireland which now began to breath again after such ruins and devastations as had been made by the brutish Irish And the Parliament in England abrogated the Oath of Allegiance in that Kingdom and ordered another Oath to be taken Sir David Collier was made Governour of Lymerick In August 1692. The Ld Vi. Sydney being constituted L. Leiuetenant of Ireland arrived there and was received with loud peals of Cannon and Complimented by the Nobility and after having taken the Oath the sword was delivered to him and the day ended with acclamations of Joy and Bonesires And soon after his Excellency issued out Writs for calling a Parliament in that Kingdom who met accordingly and his Excellency in an Eloquent Speech declared The happiness they enjoyed by being restored to this great Priviledge since the Kingdom could not so well be recovered to any degree of settlement legally as by a Parlirment constituted and setled and that behoped they would make use of at to pass such Laws as might tend to the firm settelment of the Conuntrey upon the Protestant Interest and that it would be a great satisfaction to his Majesty to see them established in peace and prosperity having had so great and glorious a part releiving them from the calamities under which they laboured After this the Commons presented their Speaker and proceeded to swear their Members They then ordered an Adress of Thanks to be drawn up to his Majesty and another to the Ld. Lieutenant and then passed 1. An Act of Recognition of Their Majesties undoubted Title to the Crown of Ireland 2. For incouraging Protestant Strangers to settle in that Kingdom 3. For an Additional Excise upon Beer Ale and other Liquors 4. For taking Affidavits in the Countrey After which the Parliament was Prorogued to April and from thence to Sept. 1693. A List of the Nobility in the Kingdom of Ireland 1693. SIR Charles Porter Kn. Lord Chancellor Dr. Mich. Boyle Lord Archbishop of Armagh Primate of Ireland Dr. â—r March Archbishop of Dublin Dr. Narcissus March Archbishop of Cashell Dr. Joseph Vesey Archbishop of Tuam Rich. Earl of Cork Lord Treasurer DVKES Butler Duke of Ormond Schomberg D. of Linster EARLS Fitzgerald E. of Kildare O Bryon E. of Thomond Burk E. of Clanriccard Touchett E. of Castlehaven Boyle E. of Cork Mc. Donnel E. of Antrim Nugent E. of Westmeath Dillon E. of Roscomon Ridgeway